Historiographical Conundrum
Writing the kingdom’s primary history was dominated by the Georgian and Byzantine supported by modern epigraphic and archaeological records.
The problem of the Abkhazian Kingdom, particularly the questions of the nature of its ruling family and its ethnic composition, is a main point of controversy between modern Georgian and Abkhaz scholars. This can be largely explained by the scarcity of primary sources on these issues. Most Abkhaz historians claim the kingdom was formed as a result of the consolidation of the early Abkhaz tribes that enabled them to extend their dominance over the neighboring areas. This is objected on the side of the Georgian historians, some of them claiming that the kingdom was completely Georgian.
Most international scholars agree that it is extremely difficult to judge the ethnic identity of the various population segments due primarily to the fact that the terms "Abkhazia" and "Abkhazians" were used in a broad sense during this period—and for some while later—and covered, for all practical purposes, all the population of the kingdom, comprising both the Georgian (including also Mingrelians, Laz, and Svans with their distinct languages that are sisters to Georgian) and possible modern Abkhaz (Abasgoi, Apsilae, and Zygii) peoples. It seems likely that a significant (if not predominant) proportion of the Georgian-speaking population, combined with a drive of the Abkhazian kings to throw off the Byzantine political and cultural dominance, resulted in Georgian replacing the Greek as the language of literacy and culture.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Abkhazia