Samurzakano

Samurzakano (Georgian: სამურზაყანო, Samurzak'ano, Samurzaqano) is a historical region in southeast part of Abkhazia,[1] in western Georgia.

Samurzakano and Abkhazia under the Russian Empire in 1899.

Samurzakano was established as a fief of one of the branches of the Chachba in Abkhaz, (in Georgian Shervashidze) family at the dawn of the 18th century. It included the territory of the contemporary Gal district and part of Ochamchira district.

As Georgian Soviet Encyclopaedia, "in 1705 three brothers of the Abkhazian ruling family, surnamed Chachba (in Georgian Shervashidze) divided up their territory, one taking the north (from Gagra to the R. Kodor), the second the central Abzhywa region (from the Kodor to the R. Ghalidzga), and the third, Murzaqan, the southern part (from the Ghalidzga to the R. Ingur), and so this province, which was roughly equivalent to the modern Gal District, became known as Samurzaqano."

Notes

1. Abkhazia is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Abkhazia and Georgia. The Republic of Abkhazia unilaterally declared independence on 23 July 1992, but Georgia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. Abkhazia has received formal recognition as an independent state from 7 out of 193 United Nations member states, 1 of which have subsequently withdrawn their recognition.

References

• Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, v. 9, p. 37, Tb., 1985.
• კახა კვაშილავა, ისტორიული სამურზაყანო (XVII-XVIII სს. მიჯნა – 1840 წ.). საკვალიფიკაციო ნაშრომი ისტორიის დოქტორის /Ph.D/ აკადემიური ხარისხის მოსაპოვებლად, თბილისი, 2009
• Kakha N. Kvashilava. From the Historical Past of Samurzakano (The Turn of XVII-XVIII Centuries – 1840). Tbilisi, 2011 (in Georgian; Summaries in English and Russian)

Gallery

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  Barns in Saberio, 1884
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  Bazaar in Okumi
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  Okumi
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  Samurzakanians, 1913
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  School in Okumi
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  Samurzakano Militia standard, 1841