დიმიტრი ბაქრაძის (1826-1890 წწ.) მოგზაურობა სვანეთში

Abstract

Famous scholar Dimitri Bakradze traveled to Svaneti in 1860. At that time he was serving in the Chancellery of the Governor of Kutaisi. The scholar was motivated by two circumstances: he was interested in the role of Svaneti in the history of Georgia and he received an assignment from the Geographical Society to study the inscriptions of the cross-icons of Svaneti. Dimitri Bakradze started his journey from Kutaisi on September 8 and moved to Svaneti through Samegrelo, from the village of Jvari he went up the Enguri valley through the way called Lenkheri. The data of the travels of Dimitri Bakradze was published in 1864 (Bakradze D., Svaneti, ZKOIRGO, kn., V, Tifl ., 1864). The text is written in Russian, the inscriptions from the churches and cross-icons are presented in the original language − in Georgian. The transcription of toponyms is also accurately recorded. Dimitri Bakradze’s work has a great importance for the study of the history and culture of Svaneti, since Dimitri Bakradze is the first Georgian scholar of the XIX century, who describes the antiquities and life of Svaneti through direct observation. It is known that his trip was preceded by the descriptions of several officials of the Russian Empire in Zemo Savneti, but Dimitri Bakradze is distinguished by his great knowledge of Georgia, love for the region and objectivity, which adds special value to his work. Dimitri Bakradze reviews in detail the existing Greek and Georgian sources about Savneti, and analyses the role of the Svaneti Saeristavo and later Samtavro in the life of medieval Georgia. The second part of the work describes the roads, villages, geographical landscape, churches of Svaneti. Tells the stories of the kin groups of Gelovani and Ddeshkeliani. D. Bakradze pays special attention to the toponym, the architectural style of the churches, the sanctuaries preserved there, copies the inscriptions, lists the manuscripts and tells the stories of the priests working in Svanet at that time. In addition to the archeographic material, the ethnographic reality described by Dimitri Bakradze is also highly valuable. It is important to mention, that while describing the current situation, the scholar relies on the information provided by the locals and presents the worldviews and perceptions of the narrators. D. Bakradze recognizes the fetures of the common Georgian reality in Svan everydaylife. He deiscusses the forms of settlement, agricultural activities, describes the religious, residential and defensive buildings, the folk religious system of Svaneti, holidays, beliefs, folk songs and folklore, traditional law, clothing, jewelry, weapons, Svan physcal anthropological types; describes the high legal status of women in the community. D Bkradze focuses on the issues of the historical memory and analyses the attitude of the Svans to the memory of St. Tamar and describes the local legends about King Tamar.