ქართულ-ოსური საგანმანათლებლო ურთიერთობები XVIII-XIX საუკუნეებში: ოსური ანბანი და პირველი ოსური ხელნაწერი და ნაბეჭდი წიგნები

Abstract

The development of the Georgian-Ossetian relations, which presumably has begun since the 4th century BC, includes many epochs. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Georgian-Ossetian literary, linguistic, and educational relations became particularly relevant. From this point of view, the following aspects should be noted: trends in the creation and development of the Ossetian alphabet; Gaioz the Rector and Georgian-Ossetian relations; Ioane Ialghuzidze and his contribution to the Georgian-Ossetian literary and linguistic relations; Ilia Chavchavadze’s newspaper Iveria and the Georgian-Ossetian literary relations; Kosta Khetagurov and the establishment of the Georgian school in Vladikavkaz, etc. It is important to emphasize those multilateral educational activities that were carried out by the society spreading the literacy among the Georgians and by the society spreading the literacy among the mountain dwellers. The establishment of parish schools and educational institutions has begun in Georgia since the nineteenth century, and so the number of schools has increased in the second half of the nineteenth century. The language of education was Russian and Georgian, but since the second half of the XIX century, the Abkhaz and Ossetian languages have also been taught in the Abkhaz and Ossetian settlements. There is unconfirmed data on the creation and use of Ossetian alphabets at different times concerning the use of the Aramaic, Roman, Greek, Georgian Mkhedruli and Khutsuri and Arabic alphabets, although such documents have not been confirmed in scientific circles, with the exception of the Zelenchuk inscription, which is made in Greek letters and dates back to the X century. We do not know whether the Greek alphabet was widely used. It should also be noted that the epitaphs found in North Ossetia, containing Ossetian given names, are completely made in Arabic and therefore cannot be used as evidence of the Arabic alphabet of the Ossetian language. Attention should be paid to the records of Julius Klaproth's journeys in the Caucasus at the beginning of the 19th century, where the scholar wrote down Ossetian words, although most of the records were made in the Latin alphabet, sometimes words written in Georgian and Arabic letters are found, although, as expected, there are various typical mistakes. The origin and development issue of the Ossetian alphabet is very interesting from the point of view of the Georgian-Ossetian literary and cultural relations. Moreover, the origin of the Ossetian alphabet is related to Georgian and Ossetian public figures. The creation of the Ossetian alphabet based on the Russian and Georgian alphabets is related to Georgia and the Ossetian Ecclesiastical Commission, the founders of which were Georgian public and religious figures. At the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century, two alphabets were created in parallel to each other, and religious books were published in both languages. In 1798, a book was published on the basis of the Slavonic church writing under the leadership of Gaioz the Rector, the same Archimandrite Gaioz, and the joint participation of Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev). In addition, the Ossetian alphabet of Ioane Ialghuzidze, created according to the Georgian script in the same period, has survived until the present time. We can say that these two alphabets were created at the same time, in parallel and were used in parallel. It is not known in what year Gaioz, together with Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev), created the Ossetian alphabet according to the Slavonic church alphabet. It is only known that in 1798 Gaioz together with Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev) translated a short catechism into the Ossetian language and published it in Russian and Ossetian languages: `Начальное учение человеком, хотящим учитися книг Божественнаго писания~. The book was printed at the Moscow Synodal Printing House. One can say that the Ossetian alphabet, based on the Slavonic writing, did not exist until the end of the 18th century, and the Ossetian alphabet, created by Gaioz the Rector and Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev), was the first Ossetian alphabet. The alphabet had a lot of flaws, specific Ossetian sounds were not properly reflected, which made it difficult to perceive and read the text. Four years after the publication of the first Ossetian book by Gaioz the Rector and Pavel Gentsaurov, another alphabet of the Ossetian language based on Georgian letters is confirmed. The first manuscript of the Ossetian alphabet, created by Ioane Ialghuzidze, dates back to 1802. Was there Ossetian writing based on the Georgian alphabet before Ioane Ialghuzidze? As some researchers point out, such an alphabet really should have existed, although this opinion cannot be confirmed by the relevant documents. Observations of the manuscripts and books published by Ioane Ialghuzidze show that all three types of the Georgian alphabet are used for Ossetian texts: Asomtavruli, Nuskha-khutsuri and Mkhedruli, which, in some ways, can be considered as a continuation of the existing tradition. Moreover, on the other hand, one might think that if this tradition really existed, then it was forgotten so far that it became necessary to publish the alphabet in Moscow. Ossetian books written in the Slavonic church alphabet were also published in Moscow. Why is the Ossetian alphabet created almost simultaneously, with a difference of 4 years, based on the Russian and Georgian alphabets? What political, educational and cultural influences can we talk about? Why is Georgia connected with the creation of both alphabets? In addition, why in the 20s of the 19th century, in the same period, were Ossetian books published in different fonts in Moscow? These questions give us reason to assume that the creation of the Ossetian alphabet based on the graphics of one language was not enough. If before Ioane Ialghuzidze there was an Ossetian alphabet based on the Georgian alphabet, it was not relevant, it was already forgotten and was not widely used. However, it was not appropriate for widespread use by the Ossetians who lived in the North Caucasus at that time, at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. However, the Ossetian alphabet, created by Gaioz the Rector and Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev) according to the Slavonic script, most likely was not sufficient for the Ossetian population, and it was necessary to use the Ossetian alphabet according to the Georgian script. It should also be noted that between the alphabet created by Gaioz the Rector and Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev) and the alphabet created by Ioane Ialghuzidze, as well as between the published books and manuscripts, several common trends are marked out: 1. The creation of both alphabets is related to Georgia; 2. The creators of both alphabets, in this case Gaioz the Rector and Ioane Ialghuzidze, received education at the court of Erekle II; 3. Church fonts are used in both alphabets: the Slavonic church writing and Nuskha�Khutsuri script, which was used for church purposes during this period; 4. The use of church alphabets in both alphabets, as well as translation and publication of religious texts, indicates that the aim of creating the alphabets was to popularize Christianity in Ossetia, along with the education and development of the Ossetians’ book-learning; 5. Specific Ossetian letters in both alphabets were replaced by similar letters; 6. Several church books were published in both alphabets which have parallel use; 7. Books in both alphabets were published in Moscow in the same period; 8. The books published by Gaioz the Rector and Pavel Gentsaurov (Kesaev) and Ioane Ialghuzidze are bilingual. In the first case - Russian-Ossetian, and in the second - Georgian-Ossetian; 9. The aim of bilingual books can be explained in several ways: bilingual books had an educational purpose and simplified the connection of the original - Russian and Georgian - with the translation - with the Ossetian. It can also be assumed that the bilingual books had the prospect of existing and future relationships with Russian and Georgian languages. 10. The two above mentioned alphabets did not develop further; 11. Despite the fact that the alphabets of Gaioz the Rector and Ioane Ialghuzidze did not have the future development of the Ossetian language, the practice of the parallel use of two alphabets, Russian and Ossetian, is confirmed in the 30s and 50s of the 20th century. By this time, two Ossetian alphabets were officially legalized: according to the Russian alphabet in North Ossetia, and according to the Georgian alphabet in South Ossetia. The creation of two types of the Ossetian alphabet in the 18th and 19th centuries point to the political, cultural and educational interest towards the Ossetians that Georgia had for many centuries and which was intensified by Russia during this period. Ossetian books have been published in Vladikavkaz and Tbilisi since the 40s of the 19th century according to the alphabet created by Shëgren on the basis of Slavonic writing.