(a) Kartlians, Kakhetians, and Ingiloitsi 310,000
(b) Highlanders, i.e. Khevsurs, Pshavs, Tushes 20,000
(c) Imeretians and Gurians 380,000
(d) Adjartsi, Kobuletsi (in valleys near Artvin) 46,000
(e) Mingrelians 200,000
(f) Lazes (near Batum). The majority are still in Turkey 2,000
(g) Svans 12,000
To these may be added:--
The Apkhazi (near Sukhum) 32,000
and
The Ossets (south of the Caucasus) 53,000
There are also many Georgians in Turkey, and a few in Persia. The
numerous local appellations given above mean no more than Yorkshireman,
Cornishman, or Aberdonian do to us. If I succeed in impressing upon
my readers the fact that there is a politically homogeneous region
stretching from the steppe of Baku to the Black Sea, my labour will
not have been fruitless.
It is a significant fact that the pure Georgian language is now far
more generally spoken than it has been for many centuries, and that
the dialects are rapidly disappearing. This is due in a great measure
to the growth of a taste for literature, which is fostered by the
newspapers and other periodical publications. There are, besides,
many schools where the language is taught, for the Georgians have
hitherto escaped the fate of the Armenians, whose schools were closed
after the recent insurrection, and a society exists in Tiflis for
the dissemination of the national literature among the peasants. All
this has helped to produce a national feeling, stronger than any
that has existed since the fatal partition of the kingdom in the
fifteenth century. The petty jealousies between Kartlian, Kakhetian
and Imeretian have been forgiven and forgotten, and when Georgia's
voice is again heard in Asia she will speak with that authority which
belongs only to a united, patriotic people.
In order to understand the state of political feeling in Georgia during
the present century, it is necessary to remember what her previous
history has been. During a long period, stretching back to ages of
which we have only fragmentary records, the country had ever been
at war; often conquered, still more often conquering, never crushed,
this brave little state maintained its existence for a thousand years,
alone in the very midst of those fierce fanatics whose fame made
all allied Europe quake. At length, rent by civil war and ravaged
by the infidel, it wisely resolved to throw itself into the hands
of a Christian power able and willing to protect and avenge. After
availing themselves of Russia's help, it was but natural that the
Georgians should seek the repose of which they were so much in need;
and, though they were ever ready to fight against the common foe, yet,
with a few praiseworthy exceptions, they busied themselves little
with the internal administration of their land. Indeed, there was
no call for such interference as long as they were under the mild
and beneficent rule of that ideal Tsar, Alexander I., represented by
such worthy lieutenants as Tsitsishvili and Yermolov. They continued
to live thus contentedly and, it must be confessed, lazily for about
two generations; only ten years ago it used to be said in Tiflis,
"If you see a shopkeeper asleep, he is sure to be a Georgian." This
sleepiness is now at an end. Opinions may differ as to the cause of
the awakening; harsh measures on the part of Russia, whose policy in
Transcaucasia has been becoming more and more irritating ever since the
removal of Prince Vorontsov, in 1854, and culminating last year in the
enforcement of military service, have undoubtedly had some effect of
this kind, but unless there had been a simultaneous progress in the
intellectual and social development of the nation, this overbearing
legislation might have been sullenly submitted to without complaint.
There can be little doubt of the fact that the excessive precautions
taken by the police, with a view to put down political agitation of
any kind, have produced the very thing they are intended to prevent. A
country squire in talking to me, one day, about a little market-town
near his home, said, "They have posted a gendarme there. Until he
came nobody ever bothered about politics. Now there is nothing else
talked of." Some time ago the young Georgian nobles who were serving
in the Russian army became infected with the doctrines of revolutionary
socialism, and not a few suffered for their imprudence (e.g. the famous
Tsitsianov, in 1877); at the present time the national feeling has
become so strong as to leave no room for these ideas. Nevertheless,
during my stay in Tiflis, last summer, a rumour was rife to the effect
that a large number (a hundred or two) of young noblemen were about
to be exiled, in view of the visit of the Tsar, who was expected to
arrive at his new palace at Tsinondal, near Telav, in the autumn. The
fact that this report was believed by the parties interested, is a
powerful testimony to the arbitrary character of the proceedings of
the Russian police.
In the rural districts the people only know Russia as a foreign power
that sends them tax-collectors, justices of the peace, and other civil
servants, who perform obnoxious functions in a manner not calculated
to conciliate the ratepayers. It is notorious that the chinovnik has
an unpleasant reputation, even among his fellow-countrymen, and those
who consent to a temporary exile in Transcaucasia are not precisely
the flower of the profession, although their behaviour to Europeans
leaves little to be desired. The justices of the peace, as in Poland,
are directly appointed by the Minister of Justice at Petersburg;
all the evidence has to be translated into the official language,
and this accentuates the natural feeling of the litigants that they
are being tried by foreign laws arbitrarily imposed from without. The
personal character of the judges is, in many cases, not such as to
inspire respect for the law; the arrogant, bullying tone of these
personages is intolerable at any time, but especially when aggravated
by alcoholism. I shall never forget one scene in particular at which
I was present; a fine, tall mountaineer came humbly to present a
petition to a puny, besotted judge, who was a guest at the house
where I was staying; the representative of law and order was drunk,
hopelessly drunk, and treated the suppliant in such a manner that
I blushed to be in his company; I feared that the petitioner would
take summary revenge for the insult, but he restrained his wrath;
as he turned away there was on his face a look of hellish hatred,
and I do not think that he will trouble the court again as long as
he has a sharp kinjal of his own wherewith to settle disputes.
Whatever may be the cause of the awakening, there cannot be any
doubt of its reality. Nevertheless, it is hard to give any definite
description of the channels into which the national activity is finding
its way. In any case it may be safely said that the Georgian people
are not likely to imitate the imprudent conduct of their neighbours
the Armenians, who have, more than once, unseasonably provoked popular
movements which they had not the power to bring to a happy issue. The
character of the Georgians is too frank and open for the hatching of
plots; however strong their feelings may be, they know how to wait
until an opportunity arrives for the satisfaction of those feelings;
the perfect unanimity in the aims of the people renders an elaborate
organization unnecessary.
It is interesting to notice that the political ideals of the country
are borrowed from Western Europe. Excepting in Japan, perhaps, there
is no such instance of a people passing directly from feudalism to
liberalism. The grandsons of absolute monarchs, the men who little
more than a quarter of a century ago were large slaveholders, are
now ardent champions of the democratic idea, and loudly proclaim the
freedom, the equality, the brotherhood, of prince and peasant, master
and man. This is not the only case in which Georgia has turned her
back on Asia and opened her arms to Europe--Parisian fashions, German
rationalism, English sport and other products of our civilization
are beginning to have an influence; however, it is a consolation to
remember that the women, in every country the more Conservative and,
at the same time, more patriotic half of the community, may be counted
upon to restrain their husbands and sons from a too hasty advance in
the slippery paths of modern progress.
It must not be supposed that the Georgian people are forgetful of what
Russia has done for them in protecting them against Persia and Turkey;
they have no hatred for their Slav fellow-subjects, indeed, it is hard
to imagine how any one could dislike such an amiable individual as
the average Russian, not being an official; but on the other hand, it
must be remembered that this military aid is the only benefit Georgia
has ever received. It is true that roads have been made, but their
construction was only undertaken in order to facilitate the movement
of troops, and they are practically worthless for the purposes of
trade. The industrial and commercial development of the country has
been wholly neglected; and, at the instigation of the late editor of
the Moscow News, the transit of foreign merchandise was prohibited. At
the present time a few Russian capitalists are endeavouring to get a
footing beyond the Caucasus, but they experience some difficulty in
doing so, for the Georgians prefer to avail themselves of the services
of European investors; among others, the Rothschilds have not been slow
to see that Transcaucasian wines, ores and oils are worth attention.
Should Russia ever become involved in a great war, Georgia would
undoubtedly declare her independence, and endeavour to seize the
Dariel Road; the Armenians and Lesghians would also revolt, each
in their own way. It is idle to speculate as to the result of such
a movement, but it may interest the reader to know that it took an
army of more than a quarter of a million men to conquer the Lesghians
alone, in the time of Shamil. The Russians put so little confidence
in the loyalty of their Caucasian army, that they took care to send
a large part of it to Poland in January last, when there seemed to
be a prospect of war with Austria. This was a prudent measure; but,
after all, it does not matter so very much whether Georgian soldiers
mutiny in Georgia or Poland, Poles in Poland or Georgia, the essential
point at which diplomats hostile to Russia would aim is, of course,
to bring about perfectly simultaneous action on the part of all the
enemies of that power, both at home and abroad. It is superfluous
to add that the Georgian troops are the flower of the Russian army;
every schoolboy can ride and shoot like a trained man; their officers
are especially good, and there are at present many generals who are
worthy successors of Andronikov, Bagration and Loris Melikov.
The sympathy with which the Armenian national movement has been
regarded in Western Europe encourages the Georgians to hope that a
like feeling will be manifested towards them when the time is ripe
for action. It is especially upon England that their hopes are fixed,
for they are well aware of the fact that the existence of a strong,
independent state between the Black Sea and the Caspian would be
an enormous advantage to our country. The possibility of Armenians,
Georgians and Lesghians consenting to combine into one homogeneous
state is not to be thought of; but there is no reason why the
descendants of the three sons of Targamos, great-great-grandson of
Noah, should not, if they were free, form a defensive alliance for the
protection of common interests; the Lesghians have, in past times,
done good service against both Persians and Turks. In any case,
Georgia has a frontier which she is quite able to defend, and she
could always count upon the assistance of the mountaineers on the
northern side of the Caucasus. The Cherkesses (Circassians), whose
hatred of Russia is well known, have almost all migrated to Asia Minor.
It is sincerely to be hoped that the present good feeling between
the Georgian and Russian peoples may continue. If they were kindly
treated, and trusted with some measure of local government, I am
sure that the Christian peoples of the Caucasus would never cause the
Tsar's ministers any trouble; but if an attempt be made to crush the
national spirit, the descendants of the men who fought under Irakli
will, at least, show despots how men can die.