232 A Sketch of the present state of Georgia. [May, 



VI. — A Brief Sketch of the Present State of Georgia, now a Russian Pro- 

 vince. By Captain Robert Mignan, Bombay European Regiment, Fel- 

 low of the Linncean Society, and Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of 

 Great Britain and Ireland. 



The name of Georgia, which is applied by modern geographers to the 

 country south of Mount Caucasus, lying between the Euxine and Cas- 

 pian Seas, comprehends, according to the native historians, Kartueli, 

 Imeritia, Mingrelia, and Guria, under the general name of Iberia. It is 

 now exclusively applied to the four provinces, Kartalinia, Kakhetia, 

 Kisik, and Georgian Armenia. According to several writers, the appel- 

 lative Georgian is transmitted to us from the river Koor, Kooros, or 

 Cyrus ; and they add, that the inhabitants ought to be named Koor- 

 gians. By the Turks and Persians they have always been denominated 

 " Goorjees," and their territory " Goorjistan." 



This country must be considered as one of the most interesting on 

 the face of the globe. It is at this moment a small canton of Russia, 

 included within the limits of that huge empire, but happily, as yet, not 

 governed in so despotic a manner. In the map, it is situated in the 

 centre of the isthmus ; though I shall describe it as comprising the 

 territory between the great Caucasian ridge, and the river Arras, (the 

 ancient Araxes) on the Caspian side ; and the redoubt of St. Nicholas 

 below the mouth on the Phasis on the side of the Euxine. 



All was a blank, until the Russian Catherine, of notorious memory, 

 sent Guldenstaedt to traverse these delightful regions, trace the ri- 

 vers to their sources, make astronomical observations, examine the 

 natural history of the country, and collect vocabularies of all the 

 dialects he might meet with. He enumerates seven distinct nations, 

 divided into numerous tribes, each speaking its own dialect. The Cau- 

 casian isthmus contains innumerable small nations, They are compos- 

 ed of indigenous and primitive tribes, although some are doubtless the 

 remains of Asiatic hordes. Their physiognomy combines the charac- 

 teristic features of the principal races of Europe, and of Western Asia. 

 The writings of Moses, the allegory of Prometheus, the famous expedi- 

 tion of the Argonauts, and several traditions of the Scandinavians, all 

 combine to satisfy us that this kingdom was one of the most ancient of 

 the globe. "We know for certain, however, that Georgia was conquered by 

 the illustrious Nourchirvan, the contemporary and rival of Justinian ; 

 became a portion of the empire of the celebrated Sultan Mahmoud of 

 Ghiznee ; was invaded by Alp Arselan (the conquering lion) ; overrun 

 by Timour ; ravaged by Ismail ; conquered by Tamasp, in the reign of 

 our Elizabeth ; reconquered from the Turks by Shah Abbas : that, 



