Javakhians ( ka, ჯავახები) are an ethnic subgroup of

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

, mainly living in Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia. Javakhians are the indigenous population of Javakheti. In terminology, the name Javakheti is taken from "javakh" core with traditional Georgian –eti suffix; commonly, Javakheti means the home of Javakhs. Javakhians speak the

Georgian language Georgian (, , ) is the most widely-spoken Kartvelian language, and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its p ...

in Javakhian dialect. The self-designation of Javakhians is Javakhi.

History

Javakhians are one of the earliest Georgian tribes that inhabited southern Georgia from ancient times. The earliest mention of Javakhians was found in Urartu sources, in the notes of king Argishti I of Urartu, 785 BC, as ''“Zabakha”'' or ''“Zabakhian”''. It could mean that until the beginning of the 8th century B.C. Javakhians had been a self-governing tribe. According to Cyril Toumanoff, Javakheti was part of the Iberian

duchy of Tsunda A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

from the 4th or 3rd century BC. Saint Nino entered Iberia from Javakheti, one of the southern provinces of Iberia, and, following the course of the River Kura, she arrived in

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of T ...

, the capital of the kingdom, once there, she eventually began to preach Christianity, which culminated by Christianization of Iberia. Ukhtanes of Sebastia talks about the family tree of Kyrion, the Catholicos of Georgia. The literal translation of this text is as follows: Kyrion "came from the

in terms of country and lineage, from the region of the Javakhs." There can be no doubt that Ukhtanes believed Javakheti to be part of Georgia (Iberia), and the Javakhs to be Georgians.

References

{{reflist Ethnic groups in Georgia (country) Peoples of the Caucasus