The Abasha ( ka, აბაშა, ), also known as the Abashistskali (Georgian: აბაშისწყალი) or Abashatskari (Mingrelian: აბაშაწყარი) is a river in western
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, running for in the municipalities of
Martvili and
Abasha,
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti ( Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი ) is a region (Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
. Its
catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...
area is .
Geography
The Abasha river begins at the confluence of the mountain streams Rachkhitskali and Toba, near the village of Baldi, at above sea level, and meets the
Tekhuri as its
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
tributary.
The Abasha forms a narrow canyon near the village of
Gachedili (Gochkadili), where the Abasha hydroelectric power station was built in 1928. In July 2010, an expedition from
Ilia State University discovered footprints of the herbivorous
dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
as well as
ammonites
Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...
,
brachiopods
Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the fron ...
, and
sea urchins
Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body covered by a spiny p ...
dating from the
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...
(100.5–65.5
Ma). In October 2010, the Gachedili canyon was made a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
by the government of Georgia.
Etymology and history
The legendary etymology of the
hydronym
A hydronym (from , , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a subset of top ...
"Abasha" is found in the 11th-century ''History of King Vakhtang Gorgasali'', part of
the Georgian Chronicles, which, relating the story of the Arab
invasion
An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
of 735, claims that the flooding river afflicted the "
Abash" contingent of the invading army, being subsequently named Abasha after this event.
Modern scholars see the hydronym as a compound of the male given name Aba and the adjectival suffix -''shi'' or, alternatively, the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
-derived word, ''ab'' (آب, "water") plus the diminutive -''cha''.
The Abasha traversed one of the principal districts of historical western Georgia. The important medieval church establishment of
Chqondidi was located in the Abasha valley. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a southeastern district of the
Principality of Mingrelia
The Principality of Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელოს სამთავრო, tr), also known as Odishi and as Samegrelo, was a historical state in Georgia ruled by the Dadiani dynasty.
States and territories disestablished in ...
was sometimes referred to as Abasha after the river.
See also
*
River Abasha Waterfall Natural Monument
*
Balda Canyon Natural Monument
*
Gachedili Canyon Natural Monument
References
{{Rivers of Georgia
Rivers of Georgia (country)