Rattibha

Slagging off the Abkhasians - 1877
1. ABKHASIA is a somewhat undefined strip of the country lying between the great Caucasian Mountain range and the Black Sea, west of Swanetia and Mingrelia.

2. It is rich in fertile soil and forests, but the inhabitants are too inactive to reap the benefits and advantages conferred upon them by Nature.

3. Under Russian dominion since 1823 (their last ruling Prince-Michael-having solicited a Russian occupation of the country), they have in no way profited by the protection of a civilised government, while their neighbours, the Mingrelians, have prospered in wealth and education.

4 From 1771 to 1823 the Abkhasians were independent but they failed to better their lot as an independent race, as they have failed to do as subjects of an Empire which, to quote a hostile witness “improved the material condition & developed the internal resources of the country”

5. The "Hostile Witness" was Mr. Oliphant
you can read more of his observations here:
Travels in Circassia – Part II
abkhazworld.com
and here:
Patriots and filibusters or Incidents of political and exploratory travel, by Laurence Oliphant
abkhazworld.com

abkhazworld.com

6. In 1862 a deputation from Abkhasia came to England to implore the protection of the Queen of Great Britain against Russia; that is to say, against a Power which took Abkhasia under its sway at the express desire of the last ruling Prince of this territory (Prince Michael).

7. More on the above by Mr. Oliphant
The Trans-Caucasian campaign of the Turkish army under Omer Pasha; a personal narrative, by Laurence Oliphant
abkhazworld.com

abkhazworld.com

8. That Abkhasians should want to get rid of the Russians is not surprising. Doubtless, in the same way some of H.B.M.’s subjects would like to see the backs of the redcoats.

9. But it is better for the world at large that Providence has ordained the subjugation of tribes, whose hand is against every man, to an authority which exact and enforces observance of laws, and respect of property.

10. Recent events have shown that the Abkhasians as yet have no idea of either. That is why they welcomed the Turks, - they saw a way to escape from the restrain imposed by Russian rule upon their brigand instincts

11. But when the Osmanli (Turks) tried to subject them to the simplest discipline of warfare, they at once quarrelled with their allies. The latter, however, executed the disaffected among them, so that they found they had fallen out of the frying-pan into the fire.

12. Five months ago they were living peaceably enough.
Then a few emissaries of Turkey came into their country endeavouring to encourage discontent and rebellion, and in May the uprising of the Abkhas tribes took place, and Turkish troops disembarked at Soukhoum Kaleh.

13. Swanetians, Ossetes & Karatchai mountaineers
If the Turks reckoned upon the Swanetians, Ossetes, and Karatchai mountaineers joining them on their landing, they were counting their chickens before they were hatched...

14. ...and might have known better for in 1856 the Mahommedan tribes of the Caucasus gave no assistance to Osman Pasha, whose expedition to the Caucasus was as great a failure as the present one.

15. It may be surmised that the Abkhasians only joined the Turks in the hopes of plenty of plunder, for, when they discovered that the Nizam troops kept the boots, they thought about saying good-bye to their friends from over the sea as quickly as possible.
(Nizam-I Cedid Army)

16.
...and began to treat with Prince Shernoseedje, (Lieutenant-General H.S.H. Prince Mikhail Giorgievitch Shirvashidze [Hamid Bey], Prince of Abkhazia) the hereditary Prince of Abkhasia, a faithful subject of the Emperor of Russia, for their return and submission to the Czar.

17. However, when the Turks withdrew from the Caucasus, many of them, fearing the just wrath of the Russians, left their country, which has been dreadfully devastated and despoiled in the last few months. Soukhoum Kaleh, amongst other places, is a heap of rubbish.

18. The article continues...
"The Abkhasians are of a repulsive, savage appearance, neglectful of their person, and without much, if any, notion if religion"
Photograph: Abkhasians in 1867

19. Papakha & Bourka
They wear the common Caucasian woolly peaked hat (papakha) & the thick, shabby, sheepskin cloak (bourka) & live principally on lavàshi cakes made of maize, salted cheese, beans, fruit & hanseli, a kind of leek which all the tribes of the Caucasus are fond of

20. Saclas
They inhabit either underground hovels (saclas), thatched with twigs and straw, or huts raised on poles above the ground.

21. The local men had a poor reputation
ON THE BORDERS OF EUROPE AND ASIA
(South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Thu 14 May 1885 , Page 6)
trove.nla.gov.au

trove.nla.gov.au

22. Even in the times of Strabo..
"These people subsist by piracy. Their habits are the same even in a foreign country, they wander about on foot day and night, for the purpose of capturing the inhabitants and reducing them to slavery"