KSANI GORGE WITHIN SOUTH OSSETIAN AUTONOMOUS DISTRICT AND POPULATION PROTEST

Abstract

At the beginning of the 19th century, after the abolition of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, the Russian government began to plan and moderate the implementation of the imperial policy, the goal of which was the integration of different parts of Georgia into the Russian space and the complete assimilation of the people living here. The imperial court was interested in the creation of military-political enclaves in the Caucasus, which began with the establishment of separate administrative units for the mountaineers living in Georgia, as well as the Ossetians who settled in the Shida Kartli mountain range from the North Caucasus. In 1843, on the instructions of the military minister of the Russian Empire, Chernyshev, the governor of Georgia created two administrative units: Tush-Pshav-Khevsureti and Ossetian districts for the population living in the mountainous regions of eastern Georgia, which were previously included in the markets of Gori, Tbilisi and Telavi. The mountaineers and mountaineers living near the military road of Georgia were assigned to the Ossetian district.

The constitution adopted in 1921 granted great rights to the ethnic minorities living in Georgia. Chapter 14 in this supreme document of a democratic republic deals with this very issue. In the constitution, special attention was paid to the education and culture of national minorities. On February 25, 1921, the annexation of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia finally gave way to the Ossetian separatists, whose goal was to separate from the composition of Georgia.

On April 20, 1922, the decree "On the Organization of the South Ossetian Autonomous District by the Central Executive Committee of Soviet Georgia and the Council of People's Commissars of Georgia" was issued, which was signed by the chairman of the Central Executive Committee of Soviet Georgia P. Makharadze, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia S. Kavtaradze, and T. Kalandadze, secretary of the executive committee. Ancient Georgian villages were forced into the artificially created South Ossetia Autonomous District. Despite the great resistance of the population, the Ksani gorge, as well as a large part of Shida Kartli (Big and Little Liakhvi gorge, as well as Prone gorge) were included in the South Ossetian Autonomous District. Even more paradoxical was the fact that ten years after the creation of the district, the center of the historic Ksani Saeristavo, Akhalgori, which was the home of Georgians since ancient times, was renamed by the Soviet authorities and named Leningor in honor of the leader of the proletariat.

The Soviet Union disintegrated, passed into the past and was forgotten in the Soviet reality. It is surprising that the ideological leader of the Bolsheviks, V. Lenin's name only survived in the so-called Republic of South Ossetia. The old Georgian Akhalgori in the occupied Ksani gorge is still called Leningor today. Many villages in the Ksani gorge, where Georgians lived before the August 2008 war, were renamed by the rulers of the Republic of South Ossetia. Tinikaantkari was called Tinikata, Pavliaantkari - Pavliata, the Alevi - Aleu, the Kenkaankari - Kenkata, Midelaani - Midela, etc.

 Keywords: Ksni gorge; Ethnic minorities; South Ossetia autonomous district; Occupation; Bolsheviks;