იაკობ გოგებაშვილი ქართული ბატონყმობის თავისებურებათა შესახებ
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Date
2021
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Abstract
For centuries, serfdom was the basis of the socio-political system of
Georgia. From a modern point of view, it is diffi cult to see anything positive in
this social institution, which often became a precondition for the violation
of human dignity and property. Numerous works by Georgian writers have
been devoted to exposing serfdom. However, it is also noteworthy that
some of the nineteenth-century Georgian thinkers distinguished Georgian
and Russian models of serfdom. For example, Alexander Orbeliani argued
that historically serfdom in Georgia did not have a brutal form and that
in ancient times worthy Georgian princes had a paternalistic attitude
towards serfs. In the article “Early Serfdom in Georgia” (“Tsiskari”, 1859, #
11) Alexander Orbeliani states: “It is true that the word serfdom existed in
Georgia, but Georgian serfdom had a diff erent character. Earlier the peasant
aspired to fi nd a master and be protected because he treated him like his
own child” (Orbeliani 1859: 216).
According to Alexander Orbeliani, the serf could visit the master at any
time, come for advice or beg. The master and the serf were often together, having dinner together, caring for each other, standing side by side in times
of trouble and famine.
Of course, such a view is largely romantic (which is why Alexander
Orbeliani was declared a reactionary by Soviet historiography and criticism),
but it should be noted that such a view is expressed not only by the writers
of the “Fathers’ generation”, but also by the prominent fi gures of the sixties
– Akaki Tsereteli and Iakob Gogebashvili.
Akaki Tsereteli wrote: “Until recently, serfdom had not had such a
character in Georgia as elsewhere; He was just an older-younger relationship
with each other ... Our old word “serf” does not mean a slave, but - a boy,
a young man. Rustaveli often calls Tariel and Avtandil serfs. So serfdom
meant equal, fraternal relations, not coercive domination.
In the letter “Serfdom in Russia and Georgia” (“Nakaduli”, 1911, # 2-4)
Iakob Gogebashvili also develops a very interesting opinion on this issue.
He points out that serfdom in Georgia has not been as brutal as in Russia,
because there stood between the two strata, a “third force” in the form of a
regular army, which was the masters’ weapon to punish serfs, and in Georgia,
there was no such mediator. After the establishment of Russian rule, an
army emerged between the nobility and the peasants, which widened the
gap between the social strata. “Serfdom had a diff erent character in Russia
and Georgia. There was a permanent army in Russia, defending its country
from outside enemies, and even helping the lords when angry serfs rebelled.
Georgia did not have a permanent army. Our country was mainly defended
by the peasantry itself. After the unifi cation with Russia, the serfdom took
on a diff erent character in us. The defence of our country from outside
enemies was undertaken by the Russian perpetual army. In the middle of
the lords and slaves came a new, third force - the regular army, and began
to sue the fi rst. The lords lost their fear of the peasants’ dissatisfaction
and demanded much more service from them”(Gogebashvili 1955: 401). At
the same time, according to Iakob Gogebashvili, if in the old days the lords
followed a simple life and were little satisfi ed, in the new time their needs
became more diverse, imitating the Russian aristocracy they began to live
in luxury, which ensured the peasant’s neck and thus ruined the historically
formed relatively humane character of Georgian serfdom.
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ქართული ლიტერატურა, ქართული ფეოდალიზმი, იაკობ გოგებაშვილი, Georgian literature, Georgian feudalism, Iakob Gogebashvili
Citation
იაკობ გოგებაშვილისადმი მიძღვნილი ქართველოლოგიური სამეცნიერო კონფერენცია, თეზისები, 2021 გვ.: 37-42/ KARTVELOLOGICAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO IAKOB GOGEBASHVILI, Abstracts, 2021, p.: 37-42