ხორბლის ფასი ფეოდალური ეპოქის საქართველოში

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Date
2018
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Abstract
The harvest of wheat and its price was very important during the Feudal Age. “Kartlis Tskhovreba” (Life of Kartli/History of Georgia) while mentioning the prosperity of state narrates: “and there was plenty of bread and wine in Kartli”. According to the same text “shortage of bread” was considered as punishment of God. Accounts are not informative for the prices on commodity in feudal Georgia. The price of the wheat is not an exception. But from the historical sources that we posses some conclusion could be drown. The oldest indirect account about the price of wheat is preserved in “Nikortsmindeli’s Charter” which is dated by the 2nd half of the 11th century. Based on the information of this document it is possible approximately to calculate the price of wheat. Ivane Javakhishvili was the first who paid attention to the prices on commodity based on “Nikortsmindeli’s Charter” and his one of the earliest works – “Economic History of Georgia” (Tpilisi, 1907) – contains the accounts concerning prices. The whole information is arranged by clauses. Prices of arable land and plough are calculated in equivalent to money of his period. But the author do not mentions the price of wheat. Ivane Javakhishvili again started collection of information concerning the prices in Medieval Georgia but this material is not published yet. The handwritten is preserved in his personal archive and is kept in Korneli Kekelidze National Center of Manuscripts. Mamuka Tsurtsumia recently has paid attention to the prices that “Nikortsmindeli’s Charter” contains. According to our calculation in the 11th century Racha the price for 1 kg wheat was approx. 0,27-0,28 gr. silver.It is disappointing that during the following four centuries since “Nikortsmindeli’s Charter” there is no direct of indirect accounts about wheat prices. Ottoman Census Books (defters) provide important information about wheat prices from the 16th century onwards. In this case we pay attention to three of them, those are: 1. The Great Defter of Gurcistan Vilayet of 1574; 2. The Great Defter of Gurcistan Vilayet of 1595; 3. The Great Defter of Tbilisi Vilayet of 1728. Accounts preserved in those three Ottoman Census Books could shed some light on the wheat prices in Georgia from the 16th to the first third of the 18th century. Our observation on Ottoman Census Books shows that the price of one kg wheat in the 16th century South-East Georgia was approx. 0,20-0,23 gr. silver. The same price was in Kartli in the first half of the 18th century. Wheat was approx. twice more expensive in West Georgia than in the other parts of Georgia. The rich information is accumulated about prices on commodity in the historical sources of the midst and second half of the 18th century (stories by foreign travelers in Georgia, historical documents and historical texts). The price on wheat is a little more increased in the second half of the 18th century and the average price for one kg wheat was 0,28 gr. silver. In addition I should emphasize that assessment of the price of wheat throughout the centuries is still quite nominal and does not include all exceptions. The prices on wheat and other commodity in certain situations were changeable. The powerful natural disasters, warfare, heavy tributes imposed by the conquerors and other factors had impact not only on the prices but, generally, over stability of country’s economy. All these are indicated in the historical sources and in certain cases we see increase of price double or threefold, or even more.
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https://geohistory.humanities.tsu.ge/ge/procedings/83-shromebi/170-shromebi-13.html
Keywords
ხორბალი, ფასები, აღწერები, გურჯისტანის ვილაიეთი
Citation
ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის საქართველოს ისტორიის ინსტიტუტის შრომები, XIII, თბილისი, 2018, გვ. 165-205 / Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute of Georgian History Proceedings, XIII, Tbilisi, 2018, pp. 165-205
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