Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge ( ka, პანკისის ხეობა, links=no, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
region in
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 ...
, in the upper reaches of River
Alazani
The Alazani ( ) is a river that flows through the Caucasus. It is the main tributary of the Kura in eastern Georgia, and flows for . Part of its path forms the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, before it meets the Kura at the Mingəçevir ...
. It lies just south of Georgia’s historic region of
Tusheti
Tusheti ( ka, თუშეთი, tr; Bats: თუშითა, romanized: tushita) is a historic region in northeast Georgia. A mountainous area, it is home to the Tusheti National Park. By the conventional definition of the Europe-Asia boundar ...
between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th-century fortress of
Bakhtrioni
Bakhtrioni ( ka, ბახტრიონი, bɑχtʼrɪɔnɪ) is a ruined 17th-century fortress in the eastern Georgia (country), Georgian region of Kakheti, on the left bank of the Alazani river near its confluence with the Ilto. The fortress s ...
.
Administratively, Pankisi is included in the
Akhmeta municipality
Akhmeta ( ka, ახმეტის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Axmeṫis municiṗaliṫeṫi'') is the administrative – territorial unit in Eastern Georgia, in the region of Kakheti. The administrative center of Akhmeta munic ...
of the
Kakheti
Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta.
Kakhetians speak the ...
region. The area is about two and half miles wide and eight miles long.
From November 2000 until 2002, the valley
played host to an armed formation led by the Chechen commander
Ruslan Gelayev
Ruslan Germanovich Gelayev (; ; 16 April 1964 – 28 February 2004) was a Chechen military commander and prominent military figure of the Chechen resistance against Russia. Albeit a controversial figure, Gelayev was commonly viewed as an ''abre ...
, who had fled the
Second Chechen War
Names
The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...
. After the
September 11 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001, both Russian and American political figures made public allegations, which were subsequently either disproved or uncorroborated, that senior
Al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
leaders were present in the Gorge, and had acquired the nerve agent
ricin
Ricin ( ) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, ''Ricinus communis''. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body ...
.
The Gorge has occasionally been mentioned in subsequent reports linking it to
Salafi-jihadist activity.
As of 2019, the
Kist ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
accounted for the majority of the area's roughly 5,000 residents.
The Kists are
Vainakhs
The Nakh peoples are a group of North Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cultural similarities. These are chiefly the ethnic Chechen, Ingush and Bats peoples of the North Caucasus, including closely re ...
, usually of
Chechen roots, who have moved to the Pankisi area since the 19th Century. Kist culture combines Vainakh traditions with some influences from surrounding eastern Georgia.
History
The 17th century geographer and historian Prince
Vakhushti Bagrationi
Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი; 1696 – 1757) was a Georgian royal prince ('' batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, ''Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''Geo ...
, in his book ''
Description of Kingdom of Georgia'', writes that the inhabitants of Pankisi were
Georgian nobility of the
Aznauri ''Aznauri'' ( ka, აზნაური, ; pl. ''aznaurni'', აზნაურნი, or ''aznaurebi'', აზნაურები) was a class of Georgian nobility.
History
The word derives from Middle Persian ''āznāvar'', which, in turn, co ...
and
Tavadi
''Tavadi'' ( ka, თავადი, "prince", lit. "head/chief" an from ka, თავი ''tavi'', "head", with the prefix of agent ''-di'') was a feudal title in Georgia (country), Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually trans ...
classes, although his account makes clear that there were also peasants in the area.
He described them as intelligent, and as "skilled warriors."
Vakhushti described Pankisi itself as forested, with plentiful fruit trees, and
vineyards
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
that produced good
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
. He added that the harvests were good, and the forests rich in
game
A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
. Fish were also numerous, he wrote, especially "mountain
trout
Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
", and there were many cattle, and many pigs, but few sheep.
In the 1730s, the Pankisi valley was emptied of Georgian population: part of them were killed as a result of the invasions, and rest of them resettled elsewhere.
In 18th century Georgian legislation, the noble (Aznauri) Kobiashvili family of the
Kingdom of Kakheti
The Kingdom of Kakheti ( ka, კახეთის სამეფო, tr; also spelled ''Kaxet'i'' or ''Kakhetia'') was a late medieval and early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at ...
are mentioned as the lords of the Pankisi valley.
Georgia's 1989 census found that the Pankisi Gorge's population was 43% Kist, 29% Georgian, and 28%
Ossetian.
However, during the subsequent two decades the valley's ethnic composition changed again under the pressure of regional wars. Many of the valley's Ossetians fled from the
South Ossetia War and the
Georgian Civil War
The Georgian Civil War ( ka, საქართველოს სამოქალაქო ომი, ''sakartvelos samokalako omi'') lasted from 1991 to 1993 in the South Caucasian country of Georgia. It began in December 1991 with the c ...
, to settle in
North Ossetia-Alania
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
in the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
Chechens fled from the
two
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number.
Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...
wars
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...
in
Chechnya
Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
, which had attempted to secede from the Russian Federation, and some made their homes in Pankisi's villages.
By 2007, the Kists were the largest ethnic group in the area.
The 2014 census did not report a separate demographic breakdown for Pankisi, but found that the wider Akhmeta municipality was home to 5,471 Kists, who constituted roughly 17% of the municipal population. By 2019, Kists were reported to be a majority of Pankisi's roughly-5,000 inhabitants.
Etymology
According to Mate Albutashvili (also known as Kisti Chobani), the toponym Pankisi is of
Georgian origin. He writes that Pankisi derives from Pantisi which means "land rich in wild forest pears", (P’ant’a-პანტა) (pyrus caucasica) with the Georgian suffix -სი(si).
Pankisi Gorge crisis and local links to Salafi-jidhadism
The Pankisi Gorge crisis was a 2002 geopolitical dispute that arose as a direct result of the Second Chechen War, and which was shaped by the U.S. Global War on Terror and pre-existing tensions between Russia and Georgia.
From 1999, thousands of refugees from the war in Chechnya, 25 miles to the north, congregated in the valley, including some armed rebels.
By 2002, Ruslan Gelayev, a Chechen commander was reported to have gathered hundreds of armed men there.
Russia wanted Georgia to act against Gelayev's band, but Georgia was in dispute with Russia over South Ossetia and
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
, and declined to do so. On the contrary, Gelayev's force allegedly fought on behalf of Georgia in Abkhazia in 2001.
Both Russian and U.S. leaders made public claims during 2002 and 2003 that
Al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
was operating in the valley, and that a "Chechen network" associated with the organisation had learned to manufacture ricin, a lethal nerve agent. In Russia's case, the claims, which were unfounded, may have been made in an effort to persuade the U.S. to put pressure on Georgia to expel Gelayev and his men.
In the event, Gelayev led his column out of Georgia and back onto Russian territory in September 2003, after which Georgian authorities conducted an operation in the Pankisi Gorge.
It netted 15 alleged militants of Arab heritage, none of whom were thought to have been senior.
Nonetheless, in
in February 2003, the
Secretary of State claimed to know that associates of the Al-Qaeda leader
Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...
had
Powell showed a slide that depicted a purported Al-Qaeda network under the command of al-Zarqawi, including a bearded man named Abu 'Atiya located in Pankisi, Georgia.
Abu 'Atiya was reportedly arrested in Azerbaijan on 12 August 2003, and deported to Jordan.
In 2008, the valley was reported to be peaceful despite the nearby
Russo-Georgian war
The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...
, and substantial numbers of refugees from Chechnya remained living there
The former senior
Islamic State
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
leader
Tarkan Batirashvili, otherwise known as "Omar the Chechen," grew up in Pankisi, which was still home to some of his family as of 2014.
In 2014, Batirashvilii reportedly threatened to return to the area to lead a Muslim attack on Russian Chechnya.
However, the threat never came into fruition, and Batirashvili was killed during a battle in the
Iraqi town of
Al-Shirqat
Al-Shirqat is a town west of the Tigris in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, located 294 kilometres (183 mi) northwest of Baghdad. It is the main town of the Al-Shirqat District, and is near the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Assur.
History ...
in 2016.
Notable people
*
Zezva Gaprindauli
Zezva Gaprindauli ( ka, ზეზვა გაფრინდაული) was a leader during the Bakhtrioni Uprising of 1659. Leading the Tushetians during the uprising, they alongside the Georgian mountain tribes would attack the Safavid garris ...
, a leader of the 1659
Bakhtrioni uprising against the rule of
Safavid Persia
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beg ...
, fortified himself in the Pankisi fortress, but was later captured and executed.
*
Kakutsa Cholokashvili
Kaikhosro "Kakutsa" Cholokashvili ( ka, ქაიხოსრო ��აქუცაჩოლოყაშვილი; ; , ''Kaikhosro Chelokayev''; born 14 July 1888 – 27 June 1930) was a Georgian military officer and a commander of an anti-So ...
(1888-1930), commander of an anti-Soviet guerrilla movement, was born in the Pankisi village of Matani. He made his base of operations initially in Pankisi, and later, with the
Khevsurs in Chechnya.
*
Daro Sulakauri
Daro Sulakauri (born April 23, 1985) is a Georgian photojournalist and Visual artist. She was born in Tbilisi into a family of artist Her work explores the complex social and political realities of the Caucasus. Sulakauri is particularly known fo ...
(1985-present), Georgian photojournalist and documentary photographer known for her documentation of Chechen refugees living in the Pankisi Gorge.
Jihadists and North-Caucasian separatists
A number of transnational jihadists and North-Caucasian separatists - especially Chechens - were either born in, lived in, or passed through the Pankisi Gorge. Several fought in the first or second Chechen wars, were implicated in the Pankisi Gorge crisis, or fought in the
Syrian civil war.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*Shorena Kurtsikidze and Vakhtang Chikovani, ''Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: An Ethnographic Survey,'' Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2002.(http://escholarship.org/uc/item/64d7v9hj)
*Rebecca Ruth Gould, �
Secularism and Belief in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge" Journal of Islamic Studies 22.3(2011): 339–373.
*
Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program
Georgia joined the Iraq war as part of the United States-led coalition in August 2003. By 2008, Georgia had deployed 2,300 troops in Iraq, becoming the third largest contributor to the coalition forces in the Iraq War. In addition, the country p ...
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{{Authority control
Valleys of Georgia (country)
Geography of Kakheti