THE BATS

The Bats language belongs to the Nakh group of the Caucasian languages. There are no dialects of Bats and neither is there a written from -- the Bats use Georgian as their literary language.

Until the middle of the 19th century the Bats lived in Tushetia, the mountain region of Northwest Georgia. The Tsova Gorge in Tushetia was inhabited by four Bats communities: the Sagirta, Otelta, Mozarta and Indurta. Later they settled on the Kakhetia Plain, in the village of Zemo-Alvani, where they still live. Administratively they are part of the Akhmeta district of Georgia. There are some families of Bats in Tbilisi and other bigger towns in Georgia.

No exact data exists concerning the exact population of the Bats. None of the censuses taken in the Soviet Union have counted them as a separate nation and they have been regarded as Georgians. According to the collection "The Languages of the Peoples of the USSR", which in its turn was based on the findings of the expeditions of the 1960s, the Bats number 2,500--3,000. Considering the tendency to assimilate, the number has probably declined since then.

Religion. The Bats are Christians. The first records of Christianity in Tushetia date from the 16th century, though the actual conversion could have taken place some centuries before. Christianity spread from Tushetia via the Bats to the Chechens and Ingushes. The strength of their faith manifested itself in a series of wars against the "non-believers", i.e. the Dagestanians who were Islamic, as well as in strong opposition to the Islamization policy of Persia in the 18th century.

While it is an acknowledged fact that the Bats language belongs to the Nakh group of languages, there is no agreement on the Bats' ethnic origin. Numerous interpretations exist but because of a lack of historical, ethnographic and anthropological material none can said to be definitive. There are two main areas of contention: a) were the first inhabitants of Tushetia Nakh or Old Georgian tribes? and b) from which do the Bats originate? For centuries there have been two communities next to each other in Tushetia, one speaking the Nakh language, the other Old Georgian. The general name for them is tush, according to their language either Tsova- or Chagma-Tushian. They formed one single material and intellectual unit with Old Georgian elements prevailing.

The descendants of the Old Georgian pagan tribes, whose ancestors had fled from Christianity to Tushetia, are regarded as Tushians. In the mountains some of the fugitives splintered off from other Old Georgian tribes. They were in close contact with the Nakh tribes which resulted in a new linguistic unit.

According to other hypothesis the Bats' ancestors are from the Chechen Kist tribe, who moved south and became isolated from their kindred tribes. Having contact with Old Georgian tribes they adopted their culture, but maintained their own language.

Anthropological research shows that the Bats or Tsova-Tushians are closer to Chagma-Tushians, holding an intermediary position between the Chagma-Tushians and Chechen Kist tribes.

Tushetia as a geographical unit is first mentioned in the 4th century BC. During the 12th--14th centuries it was a part of Georgia and after its collapse was absorbed into the kingdom of Kakhetia. In the 16th century Persia and Turkey became interested in Kakhetia and Tushetia. The next three centuries saw numerous fierce battles between Persia and Turkey, and the rulers of Kartli (Iberia) and Kakhetia, the overlords of the Tushians, constantly appealed for help to Russia. The Tushians played a significant role in the delegations sent to Russia. The Tushians also acted as negotiators between Georgia and Chechen-Ingush. In 1762 Irakli II managed to unite Kartli and Kakhetia and the new union, which also included Tushetia, was annexed to Russia in 1801. The event failed to ensure peace because in the middle of the 1800s the Tushians had to battle the Shamil and muridism. As a result of these battles the central government in Russia came to higly regard the fighting skills of the Tushians.

Before settling on the plains the Bats used to breed sheep. Sheep breeding required large mountain pastures and these were rented from the Chechens. Apart from the sheep, oxen and horses were also reared. Working the land was of minor importance, a situation which changed only in the second half of the 19th century after the Bats resettled to the plains. By the end of the 19th century the Bats were already using artificial irrigation and quite advanced fertilization and agricultural equipment. Sheep breeding still retained its prominence, because its products (cheese and wool) were the Bats main exports. The are records of the Bats having trade relations with France and England, though generally goods were exchanged with other mountain nations in Georgia or with the Ingushes and Chechens. The Bats homespun cloth achieved renown.

Historical records chronicle the Bats' strivings for education. Education as well as folk traditions and culture were closely connected with corresponding Georgian institutions, especially with the Christian church. The Bats consider Dmitri Tsiskarshvili, born in the 17th century, to be their first intellectual. He was educated at the Telavi and Tbilisi seminaries and later in the newly-founded St.Petersburg. By the 18th--19th century there were already several university graduates among the Bats. The year 1864 marked the beginning of a national education for the Bats with the opening of a primary school in the village of Zemo-Alvani. The languages used in teaching were Georgian and Russian, and amongst the subjects taught were biblical history, arithmetic and gymnastics. This movement toward education did not occur with Chagma-Tushians.

At the end of the 19th century nationalist and separatist ideas began to spread trough Bats society, however their social movement took place within the limits of the disorders in Georgia and the whole of the Caucasus. The changes in central government in 1917 led to a period of confusion lasting for decades. The national independence movement was confronted by two imperialistic forces: the White Guard supporters of Denikin and the Bolshevist Red Army. The Bats were able to repel the White Guard but not the attack of the Bolshevist 11th army. Soviet power was established in Tushetia at the end of 1920 and the region was annexed to the Soviet Union on December 30th, 1922 as a part of the Trans-Caucasus Federation. The imposition of Soviet authority failed to bring about any stabilization in the political situation. Strong nationalist feelings were preserved in Tushetia and these were manifest in both active and passive opposition. Soviet rule was finally consolidated amongst the Bats at the end of the 1930s with the introduction of collectivization and the accompanying liqvidization of all nationalists.

The first major changes in the Bats national development were brought about as a result of their resettlement to the plains in the middle of the 19th century. New conditions brought about a new way of life and changes in the Bats economy. Georgian language and culture gained more importance. In the mountains the Bats had been living in keeping with common laws and national traditions. There had been a tendency towards becoming more and more Georgian but after the establishing of Soviet rule the Georgian influence became even stronger. This was accompanied by the centralization of the economy. The fate of the Bats was more often decided in offices in Moscow and Tbilisi than in their own villages. In the 1970s only half of the inhabitants of the village of Zemo-Alvani could speak Bats and even then it was only used at home. Communication in the main was in Georgian.

Bats' society has been weakened also by the urbanization of the 1950s and 60s. Mixed marriages have become more common and everyday life and culture are now greatly affected by European urban culture and Soviet customs.

REFERENCES

1. Ю. Д. Дешериев, Бацбийский язык, Москва 1963
2. А. П. Лежава, Революционное содружество народов Грузии и Северного Кавказа в борьбе за победу Социалистической революции, Москва 1978
3. А. И. Шавхелишвили, Из истории горцев Восточной Грузии, Тбилиси 1983

MK

bartangs | bats | bezhtas