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George II ascended the throne in 1072. After the Turks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, the kingdom found itself alone against the Seljuks.

In 1073, noble feudal lords revolted against George. The king was forced to make concessions and granted the rebels new estates. Meanwhile, Sultan Malik-Shah invaded the country and, having devastated Kartli, returned. Soon the Turks invaded the country again. This time, George II's army defeated the enemy. The king recaptured the Anacopia fortress.

In 1089, in the extremely difficult situation that had developed, the royal court decided to remove George II from governing the country and place his sixteen-year-old son David IV on the throne. Formally, George II remained king but did not participate in governing the country. It is not known exactly when George II died, but in 1108 he was still alive.

King of Iberia and Abkhazia. Son of King George II. One of the most outstanding statesmen. He contributed to the unification of the Georgian-Abkhazian principalities into a single strong centralized state. Examples of letters addressed to the kings and prominent dignitaries of Georgia have survived; in one of them, the King of Georgia David is titled "King of Kings of Abkhazia, Shaki (a part of Albania), Alania and Rus' ^[1]."

Hordes of nomadic tribes of Turkic Seljuks moved from Central Asia to the west and in the 60s of the 11th century approached the borders of Transcaucasia. The Byzantine Empire, having suffered several devastating defeats from the Seljuks, lost almost all of its Asia Minor provinces; the Turks captured Armenia and invaded Georgia. A difficult time came for the country. The Turks ravaged and burned cities and fortresses, villages and monasteries, plundered entire regions. From 1080, the so-called "great Turkomamia" began in Georgia, when the Turks, not content with plunder and violence, began to settle in the valleys of Georgia, settle here with their families and herds, destroying the irrigation system, cutting down orchards and vineyards, turning flourishing lands into pastures. Turkish garrisons were stationed in large cities and fortresses, their armed detachments roamed everywhere, plundering and raping; peasants left their villages and fled to the mountains, cities became empty. Only a small part of Western Georgia was protected from constant raids and devastation. At the same time, the country was obliged to pay annual tribute. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in this crisis situation, the short-sighted and weak-willed King George II (1072–1089) was in power. The progressive forces of the state forced the king to abdicate in favor of his 16-year-old son David. Thus, in 1089, David IV came to power, the greatest political figure of feudal Georgia, who received the nickname "The Builder" from the people.

The young king energetically set about solving the primary tasks: returning the productive population to their ancestral lands, reviving the country's economy and expelling the Turkic Seljuks. But to solve them, it was necessary to suppress the resistance of the reactionary forces in the person of the recalcitrant large feudal lords. Having decisively dealt with the most obstinate of them, David IV began to create small but combat-ready mobile military detachments from free (royal) peasants and service nobles-aznauri, who waged a systematic struggle against the Turkish gangs rampaging throughout the country, gradually suppressing their actions. This allowed the farmers who had taken refuge in the mountains to descend into the valleys and begin to revive the economy. David the Builder also skillfully used the improvement in the international situation associated with the Crusader campaign (First Crusade 1096–1099), which captured a number of Syrian cities and took Jerusalem: this significantly weakened the Turks and diverted their attention from Transcaucasia. In 1099, David stopped paying tribute, and Georgia effectively freed itself from Seljuk rule. Now it was possible to proceed with the final expulsion of the Turks, who still controlled large fortified cities in Eastern Georgia, and above all, Tbilisi. But for this, a combat-ready army and further consolidation of royal power were required.

The primary task was to carry out church reform. The church was a powerful and effective organization that enjoyed great influence, so David needed its support. At the same time, during the period of Arab rule, then Turkish domination, in conditions of feudal fragmentation, the church had greatly degenerated, the highest church positions were in the hands of representatives of the noble aristocracy, often unworthy and corrupt; such a church was a support for the reactionary feudal elite, not for the king. David the Builder launched a decisive offensive against the unhealthy forces in the church. In 1103, he convened an all-Georgian church council, whose sessions were held in two neighboring dioceses of Ruisi and Urbnisi (in Eastern Georgia, west of the city of Gori). The decisions of the Ruisi-Urbnisi Council removed unworthy church dignitaries and elected in their place persons who supported the king and were progressively minded; in addition, it was forbidden to use church property for personal enrichment, or for purposes contrary to the interests of the state. David IV effectively subordinated the church to the state, putting it at the service of the latter's interests. This was a tangible blow to the reactionary noble aristocracy and gave the king a powerful ideological weapon.

In parallel, David the Builder created a standing army of free service aznauri and royal peasants, paying special attention to their quality armament, strict organization and military-tactical training. By the beginning of the 12th century, the number of standing troops reached approximately 40 thousand. Now it was possible to begin a general offensive against the Turks. David the Builder struck the first blow against the Turks in the eastern regions of Georgia, expelling them from Kakheti and Hereti together with the local king, a Turkish henchman, and annexing these Georgian lands to his state. In response to this action, the Turks invaded the territory of Kakheti with a large army, but in 1105 at the Battle of Ertsukhi they were completely defeated. During 1110–1118, the Turks were expelled from the cities: Samshvilde, Rustavi, Gishi, Kabala and Lore; David IV was getting closer and closer to Tbilisi, occupying key points on the main roads leading to it. Already at that time, one tendency is visible in David's strategic plans: he strives not only to unite the Georgian lands, but also acts as a liberator of all Transcaucasia and the creator of a multinational state. Gishi and Kabala are cities of Shirvan (now Azerbaijan), and Lore was located in an area inhabited mainly by Armenians.

At the same time, David the Builder faced the question of increasing the contingent of the standing army. The internal human resources of the feudal country did not make it possible to effectively increase military forces, so David carried out a far-sighted and original measure: in 1118–1120, 40 thousand Cuman (Kipchak) families were resettled in Georgia from the North Caucasian steppes, each of which received a plot of land, obliging in turn to allocate one family member for permanent military service. Thus, an additional 40-thousand regular army was created. At the same time, the King of Ossetia recognized his dependence on Georgia, agreeing to pay annual tribute; this was the first vassal possession of Georgia in the North Caucasus.

The resettlement of the Cumans was timely, for the Turks, concerned about the prospect of losing Transcaucasia, decided to put an end to the successes of the Georgian king, and at their demand the Seljuk Sultan Mahmud, son of Muhammad, declared a holy war on Georgia. At the head of the coalition Turkish army, the sultan placed the famous commander Najm ad-Din Il-Ghazi (Ilghazi in Georgian sources), who had distinguished himself in battles against the Crusaders. Other distinguished Turkish commanders also took part in the campaign against Georgia. On August 12, 1121, on the Didgori field, near Tbilisi, David IV won a brilliant, or, in the words of the chronicler, a wondrous victory over the many times superior forces of the coalition Turkish army. According to the 12th-century Armenian historian Matthew of Edessa and Gautier, chancellor of the Principality of Antioch, the Muslim army numbered, respectively, 560,000 and 600,000 men (modern historians consider these numbers to be exaggerated by about half). The number of the Georgian army, according to Chancellor Gautier, was 80,000 men; Matthew of Edessa provides more detailed information about its composition: 55,600 warriors, of which 40,000 Georgians, 15,000 Cumans, 500 Ossetians and 100 Franks (apparently referring to the Crusaders). In any case, the difference in the number of troops was very significant, but the Georgian army won a complete victory. After the defeat of the Turkish hordes, David the Builder took Tbilisi (1122), which had been in the hands of foreign invaders for 400 years, and moved the capital of the united Georgian state here. A year later, he liberated the city of Dmanisi, the last stronghold of the Turks in Georgia. In 1124, at the call of representatives of the townspeople of the Armenian city of Ani, David IV liberated this ancient city from the Turks, thereby pushing the southern border of the Georgian Kingdom to the Araxes River basin. This was the last success of David IV. On January 24, 1125, the great Georgian king died.


^[1] Possibly, here Rusu corresponds to the possessions of the ruler Abukhavastro, who ruled Tzuketia, Tushetia, Khundzakh and all the pagans of those places. In Dagestani sources, the Avars, and sometimes other nationalities, are called Rus', or traced back to them. It is assumed a connection with the ancient pre-Turkic ethnic layer of Eastern Europe — the Arsii (Roses), Ros-Mosoks (Masakha Huns?) of Albanian and Armenian sources (Mosoks were called the Tushins, living in the upper reaches of the Alazani, to whom Alvani was granted). This explains many misunderstandings in connection with the reports of medieval Arabic sources about the Rus' (Roses). The History of Shirvan and al-Bab, Arabic sources identify the raids of the Saririans (Sarir – Khunzakh) and the raids of the Rus' on Arran. In N. Ganjavi, the leader of the Rus' Kintal (from the country of the Alans and Greeks) gathered an army from seven places. Kintal can be compared with the titles prince and nutsal, and seven places with the military-political union of the Didoians – Antl Ratl (seven lands).

Materials:

All rulers of Abkhazia

Abkhazian Kingdom. 786 CE
Anthroponymic repertoire of the "Divan of the Abkhazian kings". G. A. Amichba
Chronicle of the Abkhazian kings. F. Jordania 1902
Bgazhba O. Kh., Lakoba S. Z. History of Abkhazia from ancient times to the present day. 2007
Culture and ideology of early medieval Abkhazia (5th–10th centuries). Amichba 1999
"History of Abkhazia in dates". T. A. Achugba 2011
Circumnavigation of the Euxine Sea. Flavius Arrian
Naturalis Historia. Pliny the Elder 77–79. Latin-English 1969
Reports of ancient Greek and Latin writers about Scythia and the Caucasus. Latyshev 1947
Constantine Porphyrogenitus. On the Administration of the Empire: Text, translation, commentary. Litavrin 1991

Sample size: 20
Time range of admixture events: 914–1278 AD
Approximate date of the main admixture event: 1082 AD

The "Georgian" group, as a contemporary population, formed as a result of a main admixture event in 1082, occurring between 914 and 1278, involving the following groups:

First component in the "Georgian" group mixture (orange): Adygei (28.6%), Palestinian (0.4%), Hazara (0.4%), Brahui (0.3%), Naxi (0.3%), Druze (0.3%), IndianJew (0.1%), Indian (0.1%), Yi (0.1%), Hezhen (0.1%)

Second component in the "Georgian" group mixture (blue): Greek (19.5%), Armenian (12.4%), SouthItalian (6.3%), Cypriot (5.3%), Lezgin (5.1%), NorthItalian (3.9%), Syrian (3.0%), Jordanian (2.6%), EastSicilian (2.4%), Pathan (1.7%), Makrani (1.4%), Tuscan (1.3%), Druze (0.9%), Sindhi (0.8%), Bedouin (0.7%), Burusho (0.6%), Palestinian (0.3%), Brahui (0.2%), Kalash (0.2%), Balochi (0.2%), WestSicilian (0.2%)


History of the region of the "Georgian" group during the main admixture event, 1082 AD (914–1278 AD)

According to Dr. Hellenthal, in his reply letter above (... For our Georgian samples ... at least with our sample size of 20 individuals, we do not see evidence for any other (older) mixing events ...) they did not see evidence of an older admixture event in the mixture of the "Georgian" group, which means that the event described above is the main one for this group. This admixture event of the "Georgian" group exactly coincides with the periods of existence of the Abkhazian Kingdom and the subsequent Kingdom of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians, covering almost 80% of the territory of today's Georgia, Abkhazia and part of Turkey up to Trabzon (Sources in the Materials below. T.A. Achugba "History of Abkhazia in Dates," M. Bakhtadze, M. Vachnadze, V. Guruli "History of Georgia"). In Graph 1, three main parts of the "Georgian" group mixture are visible. These are the Adyghe, Greek and Armenian groups. Upon more detailed examination of the admixture of each group with each other, using the method described above in Example 1, one can see that these three main groups belong to opposite sides in this mixture (this is evident from the upward-curving lines in Example 2). The Adyghe group is one side, while for example the Greeks and Armenians are the other.

The predominant segments of Adyghe and Armenians can be explained by the fact that precisely during this period the region of central Georgia constantly passed from the hands of the Abkhazian kings to the Armenian kings and vice versa. The presence of Greeks in the region is also quite evident throughout the entire period under consideration. These are the kings themselves, their armies, religious figures and of course the Pontic Greeks who have lived in the region since the 5th century BC.

Below is the history of the period in dates (this is a more detailed version by T.A. Achugba, as no significant differences were found for the studied period with the version by M. Bakhtadze, M. Vachnadze and V. Guruli. Both works are in the Materials below):

888–893 AD – reign of King Bagrat I of Abkhazia. Rivalry continued between the Abkhazian and Armenian kingdoms over Kartli. Under him, a number of fortifications in Samtskhe were captured. However, in 888, the rulers of Tao-Klarjeti and Armenia (in 886, the Arab Caliphate formally recognized Ashot I Bagratuni as King of Armenia) on the Kura River inflicted a defeat on the army of the Abkhazian king. In the battle, the Ossetian Bakatar, who commanded the Abkhazian army, was killed.

893–922 AD – reign of King Constantine III of Abkhazia. Under him, the rivalry between the Armenian and Abkhazian kingdoms over Kartli continued. At the end of the 90s, Constantine gave his daughter in marriage to the son of the Armenian king Smbat, and in 904, taking advantage of the collapse of the Armenian kingdom, under conditions of Arab invasion, the Armenian king Smbat I ceded Kartli to Constantine III, and cemented this alliance by giving his daughter in marriage to Constantine III. From that moment on, the Abkhazian kings sat in Kutaisi, and sent their elder sons to Kartli. Kakheti and Hereti were also subject to the Abkhazian king.

914 AD – the eastern borders of the Abkhazian Kingdom were violated in connection with the invasion of the Arab emir Abu Qasim, who was pursuing the Armenian king Smbat I, who had taken refuge in the "mountains of Abkhazia."

920 AD – creation of an Abkhazian-Armenian-Byzantine military-political coalition against the Arabs.

922–957 AD – reign of George II, son of Constantine III. Many years were spent by George II in the struggle with his half-brother Bagrat, but he nevertheless managed to rule his state fully. Contemporaries called George II the most outstanding of the Abkhazian kings. Byzantium called George II the Christ-loving, God-loving exusiastes (ruler) of Abkhazia. No ruler of Abkhazia earned such a title. George II first appointed his eldest son Constantine as ruler of Kartli, who, attempting to seize his father's throne, organized a revolt against his father. However, the conspiracy was uncovered and Constantine died after torture. Then the ruler of Kartli, and later king of Abkhazia, became George II's other son – Leon III. Under him, the church of Chkondidi (Martvili) was built, he established a bishopric there and continued the Christianization of Alania.

945–957 AD – reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who preserved valuable information about the borders of the Abkhazian Kingdom and the table of ranks of the Abkhazian kings.

957–967 AD – reign of King Leon III of Abkhazia, who had previously been the ruler of Kartli.

964 AD – foundation by Leon III of the Kumurdo church (near Akhalkalaki). No later than 967 AD – construction by Leon III of the majestic Mokva Cathedral, under which an episcopal see was organized.

967–975 AD – reign of King Demetrius III of Abkhazia (brother of Leon III). His reign was filled with struggle against the younger son of George II, Theodosius. As a result of this confrontation, Theodosius was blinded. Demetrius III died childless.

975–978 AD – reign of King Theodosius III the Blind of Abkhazia. He became king after the sudden death of Demetrius III.

978 AD – the ruler of Kartli, the Abkhazian woman Gurandukht – sister of Theodosius III, together with her husband Gurgen Bagrationi and the ruler of Tao-Klarjeti David Kuropalates, deposed her brother Theodosius and made her son Bagrat III king of Abkhazia (according to the hierarchy of the Leonid royal dynasty – Bagrat II).

978–1014 AD – reign of the still "king of the Abkhazians" Bagrat III from the Bagratid dynasty. With him ended the history of the Abkhazian Kingdom, i.e., the "Kingdom of the Abkhazians," and a new era of statehood began – the "Kingdom of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians." The rulers from the Bagratid dynasty until the mid-13th century preserved the name of the Abkhazians in first place in their titulature. Bagrat III, after the death of David Kuropalates (1001), who bequeathed the Tao-Klarjeti kingdom to the Byzantine Empire, fought with the Byzantine emperor Basil II (976–1025) for the ancestral domain of Tao. The issue was resolved diplomatically. Tao went to Bagrat, who formally recognized his dependence on Byzantium. Bagrat III defeated the Kartlian feudal lords; for this he moved his mother Gurandukht from Kartli to Kutaisi. He annexed Kartli, Trialeti, Kakheti and Hereti to his possessions.

999 AD – construction under Bagrat III of the Bedia Cathedral, where he was buried. Here was found the Bedia Chalice with an inscription on it mentioning the "king of the Abkhazians" Bagrat and his mother Gurandukht.

1008 AD – death of Gurgen Bagrationi, father of Bagrat III.

1014–1027 AD – reign of King George I "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians," son of Bagrat III. He had to reconquer Kakheti and Hereti. George's policy to strengthen his position in the south ended in failure. A series of punitive expeditions by the Byzantine emperor Basil II in Eastern Transcaucasia forced George I to sign a peace treaty with Byzantium, under which he confirmed the formal dependence of his state on Byzantium, gave his son Bagrat as a hostage for three years and ceded fortresses and possessions in Tao-Klarjeti to the empire. George I was married twice: to the Armenian princess Mariam, and to the daughter of the Ossetian king Alde. From his first marriage he had a son Bagrat and daughters – Martha, Gurandukht and Kata; from his second marriage – a son – Demetrius.

1027–1072 AD – reign of Bagrat IV. In connection with the second marriage of King Bagrat to the Ossetian princess Borena (his first wife was the niece of the Byzantine emperor Romanos III Argyros – Helena), anti-Byzantine sentiment strengthened. Bagrat was repeatedly revolted against by his half-brother Demetrius. Demetrius chose the ancient capital of the Abkhazian Kingdom – Anacopia – as the center of resistance. Around 1032 AD – supporters of Tsarevich Demetrius and his mother Alda (an Ossetian, the second wife of George I) organized a conspiracy with the aim of overthrowing Bagrat IV from the throne and enthroning the young Demetrius. Demetrius and his supporters were unable to carry out their plan. In 1033, Tsarevich Demetrius surrendered Anacopia to the Byzantines and left for Constantinople.

1045 AD – Bagrat IV besieged Anacopia. The siege of the troops was led by Prince Otago Chachas-dze (the first mention of the surname Chachba). Having expanded his influence in the southeastern direction, Bagrat IV, as the son of an Armenian princess, received from the Armenian feudal lords the ancient capital – Ani with nine fortresses. However, the Byzantine Empire, having taken possession of Ani, sent an army led by Demetrius to Kartli, which forced Bagrat to lift the siege of Anacopia. The Byzantines held Anacopia for more than 30 years. The army of Tsarevich Demetrius defeated Bagrat's army and crossed the Likhi Range from the east. The sudden death of Demetrius then helped Bagrat to retain power.

1065 AD – seeking to gain the support of Byzantium, Bagrat IV gave his daughter Martha (Mariam) in marriage to Michael – son of the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas.

1068 AD – invasion of the Turkic Seljuk sultan into Eastern and Central Transcaucasia, forcing his detachment through the Likhi Pass to the eastern outskirts of Kutaisi. With counterstrikes by the troops of King Bagrat, with the participation of the troops of his wife's brother – the Ossetian king Dorgolel, the enemy was defeated. 11th–13th centuries – according to the historian Vakhushti Bagrationi (18th century), the territory of modern Abkhazia within the "kingdom of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" was divided into three voivodeships: Abkhazian (including historical Abasgia and part of Zikhia-Dzhigetia), Tskhumian (former western Apsilia and western Misiminia), Bedian (eastern regions of Apsilia and Misiminia and western regions of Lazica). In the 12th century, the Abkhazian and Tskhumian voivodeships united into one. During the time of Queen Tamar, this voivodeship appears as an established entity with its own administration, capital – Tskhum (Skhum) (in Abkhaz: Aiya) and the Abkhazian language. Tskhum was also the economic center of the region. Tableware and some jewelry were imported here. Potters, blacksmiths and carpenters worked in the city. The voivodeship was ruled by the clan – Chachba-Shervashidze. The double form of their surname is most likely the result of the crossbreeding of two clans – the local Chachba and the incoming Shervashidze – from the Eastern Transcaucasian Shirvan-shahs, whose possessions were captured by David the Builder.

1066 AD – report of the appearance of Halley's comet in the inscription of the Lykhny Church.

1072–1089 AD – reign of King George II "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" – son of Bagrat IV. The beginning of his reign was characterized by revolts of Kakhetian, Svan and other feudal lords. Mingrelia, Kutaisi and other regions of the kingdom were devastated. These events were followed by the devastation of Kartli and other regions of Eastern Transcaucasia by the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah. In the conditions of a deep crisis experienced by the Byzantine Empire, the invasion of the Turkic Seljuks into Transcaucasia forced the Greeks to change their policy towards the kingdom "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" – to remove the anti-Georgian garrison in Anacopia, to liberate many fortresses in the southeast captured by the Turks and transfer them to the possession of the king "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians." This turn of events was also facilitated by the fact that George II's sister Maria was successively the wife of two Byzantine emperors – Michael VII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates. The Turkic Seljuks in 1080 occupied Adjara, Mingrelia and Kutaisi. George II was forced to admit defeat, and went to the sultan in Isfahan as a sign of personal expression of his submission. His formal power was limited to the borders of Colchis. The feudal lords overthrew George, and power was transferred to his sixteen-year-old son – David.

1089–1125 AD – reign of King David IV the Builder "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians." At the beginning of his reign, the state was greatly weakened. However, a favorable foreign policy situation for him: the onset of a stable period in the development of the largest Christian state of Byzantium under the Komnenos dynasty (1081–1185); the conclusion of a dynastic marriage – David's daughter was married to a representative of the Komnenos dynasty; the weakening of the Seljuk state and the beginning of the era of the Crusades, which raised the prestige of Christian states in the region. To strengthen the military power of the state, David married the daughter of a Cuman prince and resettled 45 thousand Cuman families in Central Transcaucasia.

1121 AD – unrest on the territory of present-day Abkhazia, which was suppressed. David the Builder captured and punished representatives of the administration of the Abkhazian voivodeship in the vicinity of Pitsunda, which testifies to the individuality and distinctness of the Abkhazians, the presence of their own political orientation and leaders. On August 15 of the same year, the Battle of Didgori took place. The army of the Turkic Seljuks was defeated.

1122 AD – storm and liberation of Tiflis from the Muslim rulers in Transcaucasia and the transfer of the capital of the kingdom "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" there from Kutaisi. This was followed by the annexation of Shirvan with the city of Shamakhi and the ancient Armenian city of Ani and its surrounding regions and the transformation of the kingdom into a large federal multi-ethnic Christian state in the Caucasus. The Gelati Monastery was then built near Kutaisi.

1125–1156 AD – reign of Demetrius I, son of David IV. Under him, the state lost territories – the Seljuks again captured Ani and Ganja. Much time was taken by the struggle for the throne with his brother Vakhtang and his elder son – David, who in 1155 temporarily seized his father's throne, but soon died.

1156–1184 AD – reign of George III, younger son of Demetrius I. Under him, the tendency to consider the Bagratid kingdom as the successor of Byzantium in Transcaucasia intensified. George recaptured Ani, Dvin, the Christian part of Shirvan from the Seljuks, suppressed a conspiracy of feudal lords led by his nephew Demetrius. George was married to the Ossetian princess Gurandukht. Their daughter Tamar was crowned by her father and he ruled jointly with her for six years.

1184–1213 AD – sole reign of Tamar. The kingdom "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" reached its maximum power. Although the centralization laid by David the Builder declined: the nobility determined both the fate of the country and the queen herself. At first, Tamar was married to the Russian prince Yuri Bogolyubsky, and then to the Ossetian prince David Soslan, who was related to her by blood. Yuri Bogolyubsky, who fled to Byzantium, twice unsuccessfully invaded Transcaucasia. He was supported by Vardan Dadiani – Queen Tamar's governor between the Likhi Range and Nicopsia. Tamar's troops conducted military operations for almost two decades against Iranian, Turkish, Armenian and Byzantine feudal lords.

1208 AD – after the death of David Soslan, Tamar made her son George co-ruler, who was given the second name – Lasha (in sources – "George-Lasha" or "Lasha-George"), meaning in the "Apsarian" (Abkhazian) language "enlightener of the universe." According to Georgian, Armenian, Persian and other sources, Abkhazian detachments traditionally took an active part in almost all battles as part of the troops of the "Abkhazian-Kartvelian" kingdom.

1213–1222 AD – reign of George IV Lasha. He spent much time and effort on pacifying the periodically rebellious Ganja, Nakhchivan, Erzurum and other cities and regions of the kingdom. News of George's victories reached Pope Honorius III, who offered him to participate in another crusade. However, in 1220, a 20-thousand-strong Mongol army, sent by Genghis Khan, appeared at the eastern borders of the kingdom. In the first battle, the Mongols won against Lasha-George, and avoided the second.

1222–1245 AD – reign of Rusudan, younger sister of George-Lasha.

1225 AD – devastation of the Eastern territory of the kingdom by the Khwarazmian Shah Jalal ad-Din. Rusudan was forced to flee to Kutaisi.

1230 AD – coronation of Rusudan's 5-year-old son David "as king in Kutaisi." At the same time, the "Abkhazian Catholicosate" with its center in Pitsunda is again mentioned, which is evidence of the beginning of the disintegration of the kingdom "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians." Rusudan's subsequent actions were unsuccessful – Mongol invasions began. Mongol troops were stationed in Eastern Transcaucasia.

1243 AD – Rusudan recognized the supreme authority of Khan Batu and undertook to pay 50,000 gold pieces annually, and her son David VI was sent to the Great Khan of the Mongols for confirmation on the throne. The kingdom "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" was divided into eight tumens (provinces). One of them, along with modern Abkhazia proper, included Mingrelia, Guria, Adjara and Svaneti under the authority of the Dadiani. According to contemporaries, the population of this entire region was obliged to field 10 thousand warriors. In the same 1243, the united Georgian-Mongol army, led by Rusudan, invaded Asia Minor. It was resisted by the troops of the Erzinjan Sultan led by the "glorious Abkhazian" Dardin Shervashidze. In all probability, by that time representatives of the feudal elite of the Abkhazian voivodeship had ceased to obey the authority of Rusudan.

1245 AD – death of Queen Rusudan. After her death, the Mongols appointed two kings as her successors – David, son of Lasha (ruled 1245–1270) and David, son of Rusudan (ruled 1245–1293). They received Mongol names – Ulu (elder) and Narin (younger).
1259 AD – the final division of the territory of the state "of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" between the brothers; David-Ulu – son of Lasha – received the territory east of the Likhi Range, and the lands west of the Likhi Range – David-Narin, son of Rusudan. The "Kingdom of the Abkhazians and Kartvelians" became a thing of history. According to the Armenian historian Hayton (13th century), the eastern part came to be called – Georgia, the western – Apvas (Abkhazia). The eastern kingdom was directly subordinate to the Mongols, but the power of the Mongols over the western kingdom did not actually extend. The western kingdom itself, known in Georgian sources as Imereti or Likht-Imereti (in Georgian: "Country beyond the Likhi"), was not strictly centralized and consisted of several parts: Abkhazia, Mingrelia, Svaneti, Racha, Guria and others.

End of the 13th – 15th centuries – Genoese colonization in Abkhazia. The first mention in sources of the presence of Genoese in Abkhazia dates to 1280. In the settlements, the Italians had their own trading factories – settlements – separate from the Abkhazians. The following factories existed here: Casto (Khosta), Laiso (Liesh, Liyash – Adler Valley), Abkasia (Tsandripsh), Kakari (Gagra), Santa Sofia (village of Alakhadzy), Pezonda (Pitsunda), Cavo di Busco (Gudauta), Nicofia (New Athos), Sebastopolis – San Sebastian (Sukhum), Cavo Ziziba (Adzyubzha), Tamasa (Tamysh), Sant'Angelo (near the mouth of the Inguri River), etc.


Conclusions on the admixtures of the "Adyghe" and "Georgian" groups
Main article

Leonti Mroveli Life of the Kartlian Kings. Extract of information about the Abkhazians, peoples of the North Caucasus and Dagestan. Trans. from Old Georgian, preface and commentary by G.V. Tsulaya. M, 1979.

Text

P. 21
First of all, let us mention that the Armenians and Kartlians, Rans and Movakans, Erovs and Leks, Megrelians and Kavkasians – all [these peoples] had a single father named Targamos. This Targamos was the son of Tarshish, grandson of Japheth – son of Noah. This Targamos was a hero. After the division of languages, when they were building the Tower of Babel, languages were differentiated and scattered from there throughout the world. Targamos came with all his tribe and settled between two mountains inaccessible to man – Ararat and Masis. And his tribe was great and numberless, he acquired a numerous offspring, children and grandchildren of his sons and daughters, for he lived six hundred years. And the lands of Ararat and Masis did not contain them.

P. 22
To Egros, however, he gave the country on the seashore and marked the boundaries: to the east – the Lesser Mountains, now called Likhi; to the west – the sea; [to the north] – the small river of Khazareti, where the Caucasus Mountains adjoin. Egros erected a city and named it after himself – Egrisi. Now it is called Bedia.

P. 29
[Next follows a description of Pharnavaz's appearance, the story of his fear of Azon, legends of a prophetic vision and the discovery of treasures, and his appeal to the ruler of Egrisi, Kuji, for an alliance.]
[Pharnavaz] came to Kuji. Kuji said to him: "You are a child of the patriarch of Kartli and you should rule over me. Do not spare your wealth, so that we may multiply our army. If victory is granted to us, become our ruler, and let me be your servant."

They united and conspired with the Ovsi and Leks. Those rejoiced, for they were very burdened by paying tribute to Azon. The Ovsi and Leks came to them, and the armies multiplied. In Egrisi they gathered an innumerable host and marched against Azon:

P. 30
Then Saurnag brought with him all the [Durdzuks] – half of the race of the Kavkasians. Some of them he made nobles, the rest he settled in Mtiuleti, from Didoeti to Egrisi, which is Svaneti, and he took possession of all of them – the kindred of his mother – securely:

P. 31
Here Mirvan dismounted. Placing the horsemen in the rear, he led the foot units of his army and approached the gates [of the enemy] fierce like a dzhik, fearless like a tiger, and with a lion's roar on his lips.

P. 33
[Next follows a description of the beginning of the reign of Aderki – beginning of the 1st century AD.]
At that same time during the reign of Aderki, Andrew and Simon the Canaanite – two of the twelve holy apostles – came to Abkhazia and Egrisi. Saint Simon the Canaanite died there, in the city of Nicopsia, on the borders of Greece; Andrew, however, converted the Megrelians and departed along the Klarjeti road.

[Next comes an "insertion" with a description of early Christian propaganda in Georgia.]

[Insertion]

Thus, with sermons on their lips, they reached the country of the Svans.
The ruler of that country was a certain woman who believed in the apostles' preaching. And they multiplied the number of their disciples. And the great Andrew together with Simon entered the lands of Osetia, reached the city called Phostaphor, where they performed many miracles, converted and enlightened many people; from there they went to the lands of Abkhazia and came to the city of Sevaste, now called Tskhumi.
And there the blessed Andrew left Simon the Canaanite with his disciples, and himself went to the country of the Dzhiks. The people of this land – the Dzhiks – were hard-hearted and very evil in their deeds, unbelieving and without a shepherd. They not only did not heed the apostle's preaching, but tried to kill him. However, God's grace protected Andrew. Seeing their obstinacy and animal nature, he left the Dzhiks and departed. That is why to this day they remain in unbelief. The grave of Simon the Canaanite is in the city of Nicopsia, between Abkhazia and Dzhiketia, for there Saint Simon the Canaanite died.
And Saint Andrew then confirmed the Megrelians and Abkhazians in the faith and departed to Scythia:

Commentaries

P. 43
6. Megrelians – derived from Georgian Egri. One of the Kartvelian tribes, belongs to the Megrelian-Chan subgroup of the Kartvelian group of the Iberian-Caucasian family of peoples. The territory of their settlement was called Egrisi (Lazica of Byzantine authors). There is an opinion that the term Egrisi in Mroveli's chronicle has a collective meaning, since when listing the tribes on the territory of Western Georgia he does not mention the Abkhazians, Svans, etc. However, the sources of Mroveli's genealogical table indicate that under the ethnonym Megrelians in this case are meant such tribes of the Megrelian-Chan subgroup of the Kartvelian tribes as the ancient Colchians, Corzeni, Tibareni, Chalybes and others. The author of the Armenian "Geography" of the 7th century also defines Egrisi within these limits, clearly separating "Kokhis (= Colchis), which is Eger (= Egrisi)" from the territory of the settlement of the Apkhazes (as well as Svans, etc.).

Pp. 45–46
22–24. The northern borders of Egrisi (Lazica) outlined in Mroveli's chronicle, in the work of the historian Juansher Juansheriani, are referred to Abkhazia, about which it is said that it extended "from the river Clisura (Kelasuri?) to the Small River of Khazaria, where the peaks of the Caucasus reach." The textual dependence of this information is undoubted; and, most importantly, they speak of the historical continuity of Abkhazia with Egrisi. In connection with the description of the northern borders of "Egros's possessions," one should also point to the information from ancient written sources about "Old Lazica" in the Psekups River basin.

24a. Leonti Mroveli knows two rivers of Khazaria: the Small and the Great, under which it is customary to understand respectively the Kuban River and the Volga River. The left bank of the Kuban within its middle and lower reaches was inhabited by the supposed ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adyghe tribes – the Bruchi, who lived in the upper reaches of the Bolshaya Laba and Mzymta (according to the localization of Procopius of Caesarea: "between the Abasgians and the Alans").

25–25a. Bedia – a medieval Georgian-Abkhazian city, the ruins of which are located on the territory of Abkhazia (Ochamchire district). The construction of the city of Bedia is connected with the growth of the political significance of the Abkhazian Kingdom in the process of the formation of a unified Georgian feudal state (9th–11th centuries). The first architectural complexes in Bedia, which had church-administrative functions, were erected in the first half of the 11th century. In the 11th–12th centuries, the political significance of the Bedian eristavs increased. At the end of the 12th century, their possessions were included in the eristavate of Odishi headed by the local princes Bedia, who had their residence in Bedia. Due to geographical conditions and, above all, relative proximity to the central regions of Georgia, this region played an active role in introducing Abkhazia to the economic system and cultural-political life of the Georgian Kingdom.

Pp. 62–63
94. From the Old Armenian version: "And Pharnavaz sent a messenger to Kuji with the words: 'I have treasures with me, I will come to you and if you wish, we will use them against Azon.' Kuji said to Pharnavaz: 'You are the foremost of the house of the house-lords of Kartli and rule befits you, and now you are my lord and I am your slave.' Then the tribes of the Leks and Ovsi were informed, who were burdened by tribute to Azon. They gathered together, came to them with a numerous and powerful army; the Egeri also came."

Kuji – according to the chronicle, a representative of the Colchian ruling house. His reign in Colchis is dated by researchers to the 3rd century BC. Yu.S. Gagloiti, referring to the Sarmatian origin of the name Kuji – "Dog" (reconstructed on the basis of the modern Ossetian language), makes the following conclusion: "Obviously, Kuji was a Sarmatian commander who was in vassal dependence on the ruler of Kartli, the confirmation of which is supposedly the 'fact of joint actions of Kuji and the Ovsi on the side of Pharnavaz.'" The ancient anthroponymy of Georgia indeed bears traces of Sarmatian influence. But the Sarmatian names of some ancient Georgian rulers by no means testify to their foreign origin. The joint actions of Kuji and the Ovsi on the side of Pharnavaz were dictated not by the "Sarmatian origin" of the Colchian king, but by the unity of the political tasks of the peoples of the Caucasus, who stood up against a common enemy.

P. 64
102. This is the only, difficult to explain, testimony in Georgian sources about such extensive borders of Svaneti. There is an assumption that L. Mroveli used some source that has not come down to us; in addition, the existing information of Strabo about the multitude of Svans must certainly indicate the significant size of the territory of their settlement.

Pp. 65–66.

106. Dzhiks – a collective name for part of the Abkhaz-Adyghe tribes inhabiting the northwestern territory of the Caucasus. They are also mentioned in the Old Armenian version. Their ancestors under the name Zikhs, Zikhi, Zygi were known to ancient authors (Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, Flavius). The Dzhiks begin to play an active role in the political events of Georgia. Eustathius – a Byzantine writer of the second half of the 12th century – writes that "the Zygi are a very wild tribe."
In Byzantine and Georgian medieval sources they are called Dzhiks (Zikhs), in Arabic and Russian – Kosogs (Kashak). Under this name they are also known to some Caucasian peoples (the Ossetian name for the Kabardians is Kaesgon). In the Kartvelian languages, the ethnonym Kashag received different interpretations: direct (the Svan name for the Kabardians – Kashag) and figurative – social and metaphorical. The figurative interpretation of the ethnonym Kashag in various Kartvelian languages should indicate the versatility of relations between individual Georgian tribes and the Kosogs-Dzhiks. For example, in Georgian literature of the 17th century, the word Kashag means "tall slave." In modern Georgian literary and Megrelian languages, the same word in the form kachagi means "robber" and with a slight phonetic deformation kochagi – "brave fellow."

The very fact of the metaphorical meaning of the word "dzhik" in the Georgian chronicle of the 11th century, compiled on the basis of significantly earlier written and oral sources, should testify to the antiquity of the ties between Georgians and the tribes of the Northwestern Caucasus. Subsequently, the figurative meaning of the ethnonym dzhik expanded even more. For example, in S.S. Orbeliani: "Dzhik – similar to a tiger, but larger (in size), which the Persians call babr; they also call one region, bordering Abkhazia, by that name."

Appendix.

Information from the "Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali."

At that same time, the Greeks appeared in Abkhazia, for they owned the entire territory in the lower reaches of Egris-Tskhali, and from now on they captured the lands from Egris-Tskhali to Tsikhe-Goji: COPY

Materials:

Leonti Mroveli Life of the Kartlian Kings

Based on radiocarbon dating, scientists have established that volcanic activity of Elbrus occurred in 33180±700 and 21000±120 BC, and in the Holocene (late stage of the post-caldera cycle) it resumed several times — 8150±40, 6520±50, 6200±120, 5120±21 BC ^[1]. According to other estimates, the last strong eruption of the volcano occurred in the I–II centuries AD and a less intense one 900 years ago ^[2]. Volcanic ash from an ancient eruption of Elbrus (about 45 thousand years ago — Heinrich event 5), in particular, was discovered by an international team of scientists during research of Mezmaiskaya Cave.

Notes:

^[1] Geological structure of Mount Elbrus and problems of its age. Gazeev
^[2] Global Volcanism Programm