Gudamaq'ari (Gudamakari; ka, გუდამაყარი) is a small historical geographic area in northeast
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
on the southern slopes of the
Greater Caucasus
The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...
Mountains. Located along the river valley of
Aragvi, it is bordered by
Mtiuleti on the west,
Khevi on the north,
Khevsureti and
Pshavi
Pshavi ( ka, ფშავი) is a small historic region of northern Georgia, nowadays part of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti ''mkhare'' ("region"), and lying chiefly among the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains along the Pshavis Aragvi ...
on the east, and
Khando and
Ch'artali communities on the south. Gudamaq'ari is sometimes viewed as a part of
Mtiuleti. Modern administrative subdivision of Georgia places the area in the
Mtskheta-Mtianeti mkhare
A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as "region".
According to presidential decrees in 1994 and 1996, Georgia's division into regions is on a pr ...
(region).
History
The inhabitants of Gudamaq’ari – Gudamaq’relebi (გუდამაყრელები) – are first chronicled by the 11th century Georgian historian
Leonti Mroveli
Leonti Mroveli ( ka, ლეონტი მროველი) was the 11th-century Georgian chronicler, presumably an ecclesiastic. ''Mroveli'' is not his last name, but the adjective for the diocese of Ruisi, whose bishop he probably was.Rayfie ...
in connection with the conversion of
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...
/
Kartli
Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...
by
St. Nino
Saint Nino ( ka, წმინდა ნინო, tr; hy, Սուրբ Նունե, Surb Nune; el, Αγία Νίνα, Agía Nína; sometimes ''St. Nune'' or ''St. Ninny'') ''Equal to the Apostles and the Enlightener of Georgia'' (c. 296 – c. 33 ...
in the 330s. A strategic road running through this area played an important role in medieval Georgia and was much later, under the
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
n rule, connected to the
Georgian Military Road
The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, 'sakartvelos samkhedro gza'' , os, Арвыкомы фæндаг 'Arvykomy fændag'' is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative ...
.
[Images from the Georgia-Chechnya Border, 1970-1980: Visual Anthropology of the Peripheries]
References
Former provinces of Georgia (country)
Historical regions of Georgia (country)
{{Georgia-geo-stub