Principality of Abkhazia - The 16th-18th Centuries

The 16th-18th Centuries

In the 1570s, the Ottoman navy occupied the fort of Tskhumi, turning it into the Turkish fortress of Suhum-Kale (hence, the modern name Sukhumi). Abkhazia came under the influence of Turkey and Islam, although Christianity was but slowly replaced and it was not until the second half of the 18th century that the ruling Shervashidze family embraced Islam. Until then, Abkhazia, secured from large-scale invasions by its mountainous location and impassable forests, had retained independence and profitted from commerce in traditional Caucasian commodities, that of slaves not excepted.

Throughout the 16th-18th centuries, the Abkhazian lords were involved in the incessant border conflicts with the Mingrelian princes. As a result, the Shervashidze potentates were able to expand their possessions in the east, first to the river Ghalidzga, and then to the Inguri, which serves as today's boundary between Abkhazia and Georgia proper. After the death of the Abkhazian prince Zegnak circa 1700, his principality was divided among his sons. The oldest brother Rostom established himself as a prince of Abkhazia proper, also known as the Bzyb Abkhazia, on the coast from the modern-day's Gagra on the Bzyb River to the Ghalidzga, with the residence in the village of Lykhny; Jikeshia received Abjua between the Ghalidzga and the Kodori river; and Kvapu became a lord of a county on the coast extending from the Ghalidzga to the Inguri, subsequently known as the country of Samurzakan’o after Kvapu's son Murzakan. The highlands of Tzabaldal (Tzebelda, Tsabal) were without any centralized government, but were dominated by the clan of Marshania. Sadzny, formerly known as Zygia (Jiketi of the Georgian sources) extended north to Abkhazia proper between the modern-day cities of Gagra and Sochi, and was run by the Gechba clan. These polities included also several minor fiefdoms governed by the representatives of the Shervashidze-Chachba house or other noble families such as Achba (Anchabadze), Emhaa (Emukhvari), Ziapsh-Ipa, Inal-Ipa, Chabalurkhua and Chkhotua. All these princedoms were more or less dependent on the princes of Abkhazia proper.