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Konstantin Kovács' record of songs in the village of Tquarchal (from the book).

The Song of the Kodor Abkhazians, by Konstantin Kovács (1930)

02 November, 2024

Konstantin Kovács’s The Songs of the Kodor Abkhazians is a seminal collection of ethnographic materials complete with musical notations, published in 1930 by the People's Commissariat for Education of Abkhazia...

Battle with the Chechens near Akbulat-Yurt

The Caucasian War: Zigzags of Russian Historiography, by Said-Khasan Muskhadzhiev

31 October, 2024

In May 2024 (20–23 May), the Abkhazian State University in Sukhum hosted a four-day International Scientific Conference titled ‘The Caucasian War: Lessons of History and Modernity,’ dedicated to the 160th...

Child-Rearing Traditions of the Adyghe (Circassian) People

The Adyghe (Circassian) Way of Raising Children, by Naima Neflyasheva

30 October, 2024

This article by Naima Neflyasheva, PhD, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, addresses traditional child-rearing practices in Adyghe (Circassian) families...

Abkhazian musicians, Abkhaz music

Mysteries of the 1925 Musical-Ethnographic Expedition, by Mirra Khotilashvili-Inal-ipa

29 October, 2024

This article, Mysteries of the 1925 Musical-Ethnographic Expedition, first appeared in Respublika Abkhazia (Issue No. 127, 9–10 November 2006) and was later republished in Аҧсуаҭҵаара / Abkhaz Studies (Issues 8-9...

Savouring Abkhazia: Where to Eat and What to Try

29 October, 2024

There's a saying that to truly know a place, you must taste its food. Tucked away between the majestic Caucasus Mountains and the shimmering Black Sea, Abkhazia is a treasure...

Illustration by Abkhazian artist Batal Dzhapua based on Maadan's story 'Aguzba Smail' (2024).

More About Abkhazia (Excerpt from a letter to A.P. Berge), by K. Chernyshev (1854)

23 October, 2024

This article, originally written by K. Chernyshev and addressed to A.P. Berge, provides a detailed account of Abkhazia's geography, social structure, and customs, as observed during the author’s year-long stay...

Opinion

Analysis

The Ibero-Caucasian hypothesis and the historiography of Abkhazia, by Kevin Tuite

04 June, 2022

The Rise and Fall and Revival of the Ibero-Caucasian HypothesisHistoriographia Linguistica Vol. 35:1/2 (2008), pp. 23–82 Kevin Tuite Professor of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal 8. The Ibero-Caucasian hypothesis and the historiography of Abkhazia (pp.53-65)8.1 P’avle Ingoroq’va, Giorgi Merčule, and the...

Blog

Andrei Sakharov on the relationship between Abkhazia and Georgia

24 February, 2022

In 1989 at the start of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict the late Academician Andrei Sakharov in one of his last articles called Georgia a ‘mini-empire’ (Ogonёk 1989, 31). Later, describing the relationship between Abkhazia and Georgia, he wrote: "I tend to justify...

Analysis

Nationalism, politics, and the practice of archaeology in the Caucasus

Nationalism, politics, and the practice of archaeology in the Caucasus, by Philip Kohl and Gocha Tsetskhladze

26 April, 2020

Nationalism, politics, and the practice of archaeology, edited by Philip L. Kohl and Clare Fawcett Cambridge University Press 1995 Nationalism, politics, and the practice of archaeology in the Caucasus (Part III Eastern Europe and Eurasia) pp. 149-174 By Philip L. Kohl and Gocha R...

Conflict

Old Parliament Building, Sukhum

Abkhazia: a problem of identity and ownership, by George B. Hewitt - Central Asian Survey

21 October, 2008

Abkhazia: a problem of identity and ownership  History and Documents Central Asian Survey, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 267–323, 1993 by George B. Hewitt The Abkhazians living in Turkey have preserved very well the customs, language and dances  carried  there  from  Abkhazia  by  their ...

History

Lapinski: Abkhaz people are the last in the Caucasus who still put up resistance to the Muscovites

23 May, 2020

In June 1861, on the initiative of the Ubykhs, a 'mejlis' (parliament) was constituted not far from Sochi; it was known as 'The Great and Free Assembly'. The Ubykhs, the Circassian Shapsughs and Abadzekhs/Abzakhs, and the Abkhazian tribes of Ahchypsy...

Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus.

How nations united: Formation of the Confederation of Caucasian Peoples

28 February, 2020

Everyone who is somehow familiar with the history of the Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia could not help but hear about the Assembly of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, which was soon renamed the Confederation. This is no...

Abkhazia Resettlement Construction 1941

Resettlement to Abkhazia

14 February, 2020

After most of Abkhazia’s indigenous Abkhazians were expelled to Ottoman lands firstly at the end of the Russian-Caucasian War (1864) and then following the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), their vacated lands immediately started to attract colonisation from such diverse incomers as:...

Abkhazians who took part in the 1866 Lykhny uprising. Photo by D. I. Yermakov (1867)

Thirty years of "guilt" (1877-1907), by Stanislav Lakoba

14 March, 2013

Reflections on Abkhazia: [14 August] 1992-2012 Immediately after the Caucasian War (21 May 1864), in June 1864 the independent princedom of Abkhazia was abolished, and the sovereign prince Mikhail Shervashidze (Chachba) was subjected to political repression; in 1866, he died in...

Editors' Picks

Myrzakan (Samurzakan) Abkhazians (1880-90).

On the Political and Ethnic History of Myrzakan (Samurzakano) in the 19th Century, By Denis Gopia

19 January, 2024

Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia Abkhaz Institute of Humanitarian Research Named after D.I. Gulia, AbIGI 2022 Аҧсуаҭҵаара / Abkhaz Studies. No.12. Sukhum. 2022. pp. 99-111  The article is also available in PDF format in both Russian (original) and English.

Rewriting History? A Critique of Modern Georgian Historiography on Abkhazia

12 October, 2023

In the book "Ответ историкам из Тбилиси (документы и факты)" (English: "A Response to Historians from Tbilisi: Documents and Facts"), Abkhazian historian Stanislav Lakoba addresses critical issues surrounding Georgian-Abkhazian relations. Drawing from extensive research and documentation, Lakoba delves deep into...

Russian President Boris Yeltsin welcomes Georgian Governing Council leader Eduard Shevardnadze in Dagomys, Sochi. (June 24, 1992).

The Hand of Moscow and the Sterility of Geneva, by Izida Chania

03 October, 2023

On September 30th, Abkhazia marked its Victory Day in the Georgian-Abkhazian war. In 1993, Abkhazia's Armed Forces successfully repelled Georgian troops, asserting control over the country's territory up to the Abkhazian-Georgian border along the Ingur River. Reactions to this day...

The Exodus of Abkhazians During the 19th Century: Resistance, Uprisings, and Exile

18 April, 2023

Throughout the 19th century, the Russian-Caucasian War brought about significant changes in the geopolitical landscape of the region. The conflict between the Russian Empire and the native peoples of the Caucasus led to significant population displacements, including those of the...

General Giorgi Mazniev (Mazniashvili) with his son Ivan.

Georgian policy towards Abkhazia in the period 1918-1921, by Vadim Mukhanov

19 August, 2022

This article has been written in Russian and is translated into English. Vadim M. MukhanovHead of Caucasus Department of The Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO). Russia. In 1917, i.e. in the first revolutionary...

A Georgian armored vehicle drives down a road. July, 1993. Sukhum, Abkhazia

Abkhazia is Abkhazia, by Stanislav Lakoba

15 October, 2008

Stanislav Lakoba Minister of Security in Abkhazia, former speaker of Abkhazian ParliamentA Report At A London Conference On North Caucasus and Abkhazia 23th April, 1993Central Asian Survey, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 97–105, 1995 I had a different beginning for my report...

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