Who is Chanchkhi Vest’arites?

Abstract

The article discusses colophons of the MS N60 Evangelion, preserved at the Iviron Monastery on Holy Mount Athos. The manuscript was copied in 1043 by the order of Ioane Chartulary, brother of St’epane Chartulary – an abbot of the monastery. In this case, the subject of our observation is the person’s name “Chanchkhi” mentioned in the colophon, also on the 16^th and 124^th versos’ of the manuscript. In the letter case there is given additional information about his name – his title, which is written with contraction: “Vs῀t’i” („ვს῀ტი“). The vestiaritai (Greek: βεστιαρῖται, singular: βεστιαρίτης, Geo. Vest’arit’i) were the corps of imperial bodyguards and fiscal officials in the Byzantine Empire. In my opinion, Vs῀t’i (ვს῀ტი) should not be the abbreviated form of Vest’arit’i, because according to the rules of contraction, in the case of vestiaritai , the presence of the Vs῀t’rt’i form in the manuscript was expected, and Vs῀t’i should be deciphered as Vestes (Geo. Vest’i ) – a title given to high-ranking generals of the empire. In any case, Chanchkhi must have been a high-ranking noble and well-known to the Byzantine imperial court.

According to the colophon, Chanchkhi is not the donor of the manuscript, but Ioane Chartulary appears as the donor. Thus, his mentioning by Ioane must indicate the fact that Ioane and St’epane Chartularies are members of the Chanchkhi family, especially if we remember that Chanchkhi is mentioned together with sons and brothers. Nothing is known about the origin of St’epane and Ioane Chartularies. By the time St’epane became the abbot of Iviron, the representatives of the Chordvani House had already lost the privilege of leading the monastery due to the efforts of the Greeks. However, one thing can be freely said that the Chartularies had to be representatives of an important patrimonial of South Georgia, otherwise, St’epane’s consecration as the head of the monastery could not have happened easily.

And yet, who is Chanchkhi Vestes and how did he appear at the Byzantine royal court?

At the end of the twenties of the 11^th century, during the reign of Bagrat IV (1027-1072), at times of the emperor Basil II and his successors, a number of Georgian noblemen emigrated from Georgia to Byzantine Empire, giving up their possessions in their homeland. Some of these nobles were later promoted to the Byzantine emperor’s court and held important positions.

Here is what “Chronicle of Kartli” tells us about this difficult period in the history of Georgia: “At the same time Vache K’arich’is-dze and Iovane the Bishop of Bana – departed for Greece, and with them many (other) T’ao aznauris. About a year later, King Konstantin dispatched the parakoimomenos with his numerous forces. Arriving, he invaded and ravaged the same lands that King Basil had laid waste. Entering Trialeti, he came up to the fortress of K’lde-k’arni, which at that time belonged to eristavteristavi (lit. duke of dukes) Lip’arit’, son of Lip’arit’. Lip’arit’ rallied other aznauris too. They took up a position at Gandza and engaged the enemy outside the fortress. When the parakoimomenos saw that he could not storm the fortress, he retreated. At the same time, Chanchakhi Paleli left for Greece. Ceding the fortress of Garq’lobi to the Greeks, he defected to them. Arjevan Hololas-dze yielded the fortress of Ts’erepti to the Greeks”.

The same story tells Sumbat’ Davitis-Dze: “And Bagrat’, son of Giorgi, ascended the throne. He was then in his ninth year. Аnd Vache K’arich’isdze and Ioane, the bishop of Bana, the aznauris of T’ao and others left for Greece with them. Some of them possessed fortresses, and others did not. They abandoned Bagrat’ and joined with Constantine, brother of Basil, and the successor of King Basil in Greece. The next year, King Constantine sent out his parakoimomenos with powerful forces and countless treasures. He had much more powerful troops than the King Basil. The same parakoimomenos with extraordinary cruelty devastated the lands more than the King Basil had done. He arrived at K’ldek’ari fortress, in Trialeti, occupied by the aznauris of Bagrat’, and they engaged in a small battle. The aznauris defected once more and seized the fortresses; Chanchakhi, eristavi of Shavsheti, gave away Ts’epti fortress and then left for Greece”.

I think there should be no doubt that Chanchkhi Vestes mentioned in the Athonian manuscript and Chanchakhi Paleli are one and the same person. In several manuscripts of “Chronicle of Kartli” Paleli’s name is given in the form – Chanchkhi . Thus, we can say with precision that his name was Chanchkhi and not Chanchakhi . That Chanchakhi Paleli must be from the village of Pala in Potskhov mentioned in “The Great Book of the Gurjistan Vilayet”, it has been certain for a long time in the scientific literature, the village of this name was still being witnessed in Potskhov in 1886. Chanchakhi / Ch’anch’akhi fortress is also located in Potskhov, which is associated with the name of Chanchakhi Paleli. This construction located in Jikists’q’ali valley was visited and described by the members of the Georgian expedition in 2014-2017. Chanchakhi fortress, which is an early construction (9^th-10^th centuries), according to the participants of the expedition, “together with Jaq’i fortress, it controlled the roads connecting with the internal and external world passing through the Chanchakhi valley, and especially the roads connecting to Art’aan-Art’anuj”. It seems to have been an important fortification point that did not lose its importance later either.

According to “Chronicle of Kartli”, Chanchakhi Paleli also owned the fortress of Garq’lobi. The fortress of Garq’lobi is located in Shavsheti, at the headwaters of Shavshetists’q’ali River. It seems that Chanchakhi’s possessions included not only Potskhovi but also the Shavsheti region. At the same time, Chanchakhi played an important role in the history of Georgia in the 11^th century, that is why the chroniclers especially noted his resignation from the service of Bagrat’ IV. The colophons and inscriptions of the Athonian manuscript (Ivir. georg. 60) confirm that Chanchkhi/ Chanchakhi, who moved from historical South Georgia to the Byzantine Empire in 1028, was promoted to the imperial court by 1043 and already carries the title of Vestes.