TRAVELS IX CIRCASSIA. 395 



the Persians and Georgians, these colonies took part 

 with the latter, who, according to the chronicle, were 

 only ultimately conquered by the first Artaxerxes. 

 This veracious history then proceeds to describe the 

 invasion of Georgia by the armies of Alexander the 

 Great. After subduing the country, the conqueror 

 is said to have left as its governor a Macedonian 

 named Ason, who united, under his rule in Georgia, 

 the province of Abkhasia. The tyranny of this man, 

 however, roused the spirit of an enterprising young 

 Georgian, who traced his descent to Ouplos, the 

 grandson of the great-grandson of Koah, by name 

 Phaniavaz, and who, in conjunction with a certain 

 Koudji, lord of Abkhasia, conspired to overthrow the 

 Greek oppressor. They collected a large army in 

 Abkhasia, crossed the Ingour, as better men have 

 done since, in the face of the enemy, and utterly 

 routing Ason, Pharnavaz became king of Georgia, 

 giving his sister in marriage to his faithful ally, 

 Koudji, prince of Abkhasia, who thenceforward 

 owned his suzerainty. The Greek colonies at the 

 mouths of the Ingour, Kodor, Ehion, and other 

 places upon the coast, and who had sided with 

 Ason, managed, however, still to preserve their in- 

 dependence, although surrounded by a hostile popu- 

 lation. Such was the condition of Abkhasia about 

 two hundred and forty years before the Christian 

 era, and so it remained until included within the 

 limits of the vast empire of Mithridates. 



