What is Meskheti?

Locals use the word “Meskheti” as a name for the Samtshke region which is part of the modern Georgian province of Samtskhe-Javakheti together with the regions of Javakheti and Tori. The original inhabitants of the Meskheti region are called “Meskethians”. 

Between the 2nd millennium and the 4th century BC ancient tribes settled in the area, and are the first known inhabitants of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Over the centuries, the Meskheti areawas part of different kingdoms and empires, occupied several times, but also enjoyed phases of autonomy.

During the Early Middle Ages Meskheti was part of the Kingdom of Iberia, then part of the Kingdom of Georgia. Before the Ottomans invaded the region in the 16th century, there was even a short period of Meskhetian independence under the autonomous rincipality of Samtskhe.      

But not for long. The Turks were followed by the Russians, who seized most of the Turkish territories in the area in 1829 after the Russian-Turkish war. And so Meskheti stayed under Russian and then Soviet rule until the end of the Soviet Union in 1990. This was only interrupted by a short period of three years after the First World War, when a Democratic Republic of Georgia tried to establish itself as an independent state but was soon annexed by the Russian Empire. 

And there is another dark chapter of Meskhetian history linked to the Soviet Union: Meshketian Turks, the former inhabitants of the Meskheti region along the border with Turkey, were deported to Central Asia by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in November 1944. Today Meskhetian Turks, some of them still with their original Georgian surnames, are spread all over the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Picture credits: beyondarts GmbH

Project “Increased regional added value in the tourism sectors of Georgia by Digital Heritage Tourism Guides” was funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds of Austrian Development Cooperation.