რუსეთის საეკლესიო პოლიტიკა საქართველოში და ქართულ-ოსური ურთიერთობების ეთნოპოლიტიკური კონტექსტი XIX საუკუნეში

(შიდა ქართლის მთიანეთის მაგალითი)

Abstract

From the beginning of the 19^th century, the intensive expansion and colonial policy implemented by Russia in Georgia created a special situation in the mountainous region of Shida Kartli, a historical-geographical region of eastern Georgia, which became an area of Georgian-Ossetian relations as a result of migrations.
The political and demographic situation in the region enhanced Georgian-Ossetian confrontation and alienation. Church, missionary and religious policy played an important role in forming the political reality and Georgian-Ossetian relations desirable for the empire.
The research aims to show the ethnopolitical context of the ecclesiastical rule of the Russian Empire in Georgia in the first half of the 19^th century in the case of the mountainous part of Shida Kartli; to evaluate the influence of Russia’s religious policy, missionary Organizations and ecclesiastical-administrative system on the formation of Georgian-Ossetian relations; to show how the ethnic terminology gained political connotation and the role that Russian church policy played in this respect.
At the beginning of the 19^th century, the Georgian national liberation movement and the anti-Russian struggle for regaining state independence were also supported by the Ossetian population of Shida Kartli; this meant that they approved of vassalage and loyalty to the Georgian state. From the 1820s-30s, Russian authorities started changing their policy towards the Ossetians in this region: they tried to turn the confronted anti-Russian forces into allies. Russia’s religious and ecclesiastical-administrative policy carried out in the highlands of Shida Kartli provided for the enhancement of the Ossetian unity on the territory of Georgia, the formation of new borders, changing of toponymic lexis and igniting Georgian-Ossetian confrontation.
The establishment of the „Eparchy of Ossetia“ (1814-1818) – an ecclesiastical-administrative unit – in the highlands of Shida Kartli, under which a missionary Organization „Ossetian Ecclesiastical Commission“ started operating, encouraged creation of new imaginary borders.
In 1843, the creation of an administrative-political unit – „Ossetian Okrug“ – actually legitimized new borders and established the toponym „Ossetia“ on the territory of Georgia. Implementation of such policy in the border region led to the loss of the territory of Dvaleti, a historical province of Georgia: in 1859, „Ossetian Okrug“ was deprived of the district of Nari (Dvaleti) and, at first, annexed it to the „Military Okrug of Ossetia“, created in the North Caucasus, and then to the „Terek Oblast“; later, the Soviet authority united it with „North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic“ (1924).
The term „South Ossetia“ was first applied concerning the territories of Shida Kartli that were inhabited by Ossetians in 1830 by the newspaper „Tiflisskie Vedomosti“ (Tiflis Gazette); however, in the 1860es of the 19^th century formally it was first mentioned in the reports of a missionary Organization the „Society for Restoration of Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus“, which was founded after the abolishment of „Ossetian Ecclesiastical Commission“. This laid the grounds for establishing a toponymic pair – „North Ossetia“ and „South Ossetia“.
Thus, one can identify the role of Russia’s church and religious policy in establishing the terms „Ossetia“, „Eparchy of Ossetia“, „Ossetian Okrug“, and „South Ossetia“ with respect to the territories of Georgia, namely those of Shida Kartli. Initially, this terminology was established through ecclesiastical-administrative and missionary policy, which was later consolidated employing political-administrative Reorganization. In order to enhance its influence and form new borders, the Russian Empire successfully incorporated the religious factor as a ‘non-violent’ instrument of gaining power and influence.
The toponymic lexicon of Shida Kartli Highland areas established during the Tsar’s Russia – „Ossetia“, „Eparchy of Ossetia“, „Ossetian Okrug“, and „South Ossetia“ – was transformed in the new political reality in occupied and Sovietized Georgia at the beginning of the 20^th century as „South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast of the Georgian SSR“ (1922).
The introduction of these terms in Georgian onomastics was an ethnopolitical and toponymic attack. The policy of Tsarist Russia laid the groundwork for the territorial claims of Ossetians in Georgia as early as the 19^th century, with consequences that later manifested as ethno-conflicts in modern times. Presently, a certain part of Shida Kartli (Tskhinvali region/former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast of Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic) is the zone of ethnic conflict and is beyond the control of the Georgian authorities.