HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FORTRESS-CITY TUKHARISI BASED ON RECENTLY REVEALED EVIDENCES FROM THE LAST DECADE

Abstract

Tukharisi was considered to be one of the most ancient and important strategic points in the historiography of Georgia. It was located in the historical part of Meskheti, nowadays the territory belongs to Turkey and  in modern times the location is known as Tao-Klarjeti.  Tukharisi is frequently mentioned in various evidence-based Georgian and international evidence-based written sources of different periods of time. Although, several issues related to above-mention fact, including the identification of precise location could not be resolved so far.

In addition, based on various written evidences and according to diverse information sources, it is misleading whether it was a fortress, a fortress-city, a fortress-residence or a region ("country"). Accordingly, one of the research questions is considered to be the identification of an exact scale of Tukharisi.

Due to the lack of information about destination of the monument, localization of Tukharisi was considered to be a problem in the 18th century and accordingly, the source was no longer reflected in historical memory.  It is also worth to mention that research about mentioned issue has a history of around hundred years.

At the initial stage of the research, several arguments were defined. However, by the end of the 20th century, when a new phase of Tao-Klarjeti research conducted and when it also became possible for Georgian researchers to carry out intensive expeditionary research in Tao-Klarjeti, the research findings immediately changed.

In accordance with recently discoveries revealed by the researches in the last 10-15 years, researchers had an opportunity to develop new arguments about Tukharisi. In accordance with scientific literature review, several different options related to Tukharisi localization revealed, however, the comparison of the existing arguments does not allow to come up with an unified conclusion.

During the expedition carried out in 2015, the fragments of an unknown fortifress were discovered at the bank of the Chorokhi River. In accordance with the historical and geographical data, the fortifress should be known as Tukharis fortifress according to an evidence-based sources:

• In accordance with historical evidences, the fortifress is located at the edge of Chorokhi River;
• The one of central, Klarjeti-Tao conjunction road passed at that destination;
• The toponymy statement of “Bertha's Otkhtavi” [Georgian manuscript, 10th century] is on the one hand in line with “Khodis Khevi” which is located nearby fortress and on the other hand, it is in line with the geographic location of fortifress;
• According to the geographic data, the fortress is located on the border of Tao and Klarjeti, precisely on the side of Klarjeti, which is confirmed by evidence-based

By taking into consideration above, it can be assumed that if Tukharis existed as a fortress-city in the past time, it would most likely be located in the territory of the current fortress as well.

Keywords: Fortress-city Tukharisi; Tukharisi Castle; Tao-Klarjeti; Historical-geography; Borders of Klarjeti; Borders of Tao