Abstract:
Georgia is a country with great traditions. Throughout the historical
life, the Georgian people have developed a peculiar style of life and relationship.
The epistolary genre is very close to everyday life, so it naturally
reflects the customs that are felt in people.
Nikoloz Baratashvili’s letters give us very interesting information
about the old Georgian traditional wedding, hospitality and rituals of
consecration of holy places.
On April 15 and May 10, 1844, Nicholas wrote to his uncle, Zakaria
Orbeliani: “David Eristavi, the brotherinlaw,
asked for a hawk in Samachanklo.
Zakaria, you know, these people believe in you a lot. ”(Epistolary
Heritage of Georgian Writers of XIXXX
Centuries. Vol. I; 2011; 151). According
to the old Georgian tradition, matchmaking was a kind of money and was not a small amount for the society of that time. It seems that this tradition
is still remembered in 19th century Georgia, although it has a relatively
symbolic character in the case of Kato and the bride’s uncle is only asked
to choir.
In the card sent after the wedding in August 1844, Nikoloz Baratashvili
describes the news of Kato’s wedding in detail to Zakaria Orbeliani.
Baratashvili admired the shooting of so many guns, the crowd of people
and their shouts. Such largescale
weddings were a natural event for
Georgia at that time and emphasized the good material condition and
hospitality of the family ‒ (XIXXX
saukuneebis qartvel mweralta epistoluri
memkvidreoba [Epistolary Heritage of Georgian Writers of XIXXX
Centuries] Vol. I; 2011; 158]).
At the time when Nikoloz Baratashvili had to work, Georgia was in
a difficult political situation. The deportation of Georgian thinkers has
ruined the intellectual life of Tbilisi. There was no real public life in Tbilisi
during Baratashvili’s time. Such a “useless” life is described by the poet
in his letters to Grigol Orbeliani dated May 28, 1841 and October 18, 1841:
“If you want the story of the city, tell me the truth, there is a lot of gossip
and plague”; “Tbilisi is still a city useless for the mind and heart”. Earlier,
in a letter to Mikheil Tumanishvili on August 6, 1838, we read: “Do not be
angry for the silence, and from the dust there
is nothing in Tbilisi that is
soulstirring.”
(Epistolary Heritage of Georgian Writers of XIXXX
Centuries.
Vol. I; 2011; 159).
In his letters, Baratashvili gives a very detailed overview of the
internal political life of Tbilisi at that time. He mentions the Georgian
heroes involved in the battles: Mose ArgutinskyDolgorukov,
Officer
Giorgi Saginashvili and emphasizes Grigol Orbeliani’s special diplomatic
opportunity in suppressing the Guria uprising. While corresponding with
his uncle, Baratashvili hopes for Pozin’s work in Georgia and is kind to this
Russian official.
Such was, in general, the sociocultural
atmosphere of Baratashvili’s
time and the obstacles to the activities of the advanced Georgian
intelligentsia that followed the defeat of the 1832 conspiracy. It can be
boldly said that Nikoloz Baratashvili’s personal cards are an important fact
of the political and public life of Georgia in the first quarter of the 19th
century, an important document of the epoch.
