This article is about Adjarians only. For other ethnic Georgians of the Muslim faith, see Muslim Georgians.
Adjarians
აჭარლები, Ačarlebi
Distribution of the Adjaran dialect
Regions with significant populations
Georgia (mainly Adjara), Turkey
Languages
Adjaran dialect of Georgian language, Turkish language (minority)[1]
Religion
Sunni Islam Georgian Orthodox Church[2]
Related ethnic groups
Gurians, Lazs, Imerkhevians and other Georgians
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History of Georgia
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The Adjarians (Georgian: აჭარლები, romanized:ach'arlebi)[a], also known as Muslim Georgians,[b][4] are an ethnographic group of Georgians indigenous to Adjara in south-western Georgia. Adjarian settlements are also found in the Georgian provinces of Guria, Kvemo Kartli, and Kakheti, as well as in several areas of neighbouring Turkey.
Adjarians converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule of Adjara. Under the 1921 Treaty of Kars, Adjara was granted autonomy, to protect its Muslim faith. Despite their conversion to Islam, Adjarians have kept the Georgian language (with their own dialect) and traditions.[5] Still, their self-identification is ambiguous as their Islamic background is at odds with the Orthodox faith of their Georgian peers.[4] In the 1926 census, Ajars were categorized as a distinct ethnic group. In the 1939 census, they were included in the same category as Georgians.[6] Since Georgian independence, most Adjarians consider themselves Georgians,[7][2] but many Georgians see Muslim Adjarians as second-class "Turkicized" Georgians.[8][9][6][10][11]
^Balci, Bayram; Motika, Raoul (2007). "Islam in post-Soviet Georgia1". Central Asian Survey. 26 (3): 335–353. doi:10.1080/02634930701702399. ISSN 0263-4937. Indeed, the Turkish language has not disappeared from remote rural or mountainous areas of Adjaria, where the elders still speak it fluently.
^ abCite error: The named reference Nodia2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^George 2009, p. 121.
^ abGeorge 2009, p. 23.
^Khazanov, Anatoly Michailovich (1995). "People with Nowhere To Go: The Plight of the Meskhetian Turks". After the USSR: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Politics in the Commonwealth of Independent States. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-299-14894-2.
^ abToft, Monica Duffy (2003). The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory(PDF). Princeton University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-691-12383-7.
^George 2009, p. 183.
^"Ajarians | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^de Waal, Thomas (2 November 2018). The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-19-068311-5.
^"Toward Inclusion: Understanding the Path to Unity in Georgia". Civil Georgia. Retrieved 26 January 2024. Among ethnic Georgians, nationalist narratives dating back to the Soviet period highlight fears that minority groups could lay claims over Georgian territory. These fears were substantiated and entrenched by the traumatic experiences of the 1990s. A more fundamentalist narrative portrays minorities as guests or second-class citizens on Georgian territory, which should be subordinated to "true" Georgian national identity (Kartveloba). Against this backdrop, some minorities have perceived integration efforts as assimilation threats to their legitimate ethnic identities.
^Zviadadze, Sophie (1 January 2018). [link.gale.com/apps/doc/A566112065/AONE?u=anon~8291d5aa&sid=googleScholar&xid=66c91552 "The Unbearable Lightness of Being Muslim and Georgian: Religious Transformation and Questions of Identity among Adjara's Muslim Georgians"]. Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Gale Academic. pp. 23–43. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
Since Georgian independence, most Adjarians consider themselves Georgians, but many Georgians see Muslim Adjarians as second-class "Turkicized" Georgians...
freedom, many Adjarians gradually chose to convert to Islam during the 200 years of Ottoman presence. The nobility converted first. Adjarians were fully...
The Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Adjarian ASSR or Adzhar ASSR; Georgian: აჭარის ავტონომიური საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, romanized:...
in 1856. The regions of Batum and Kars, as well as those inhabited by Adjarians (Muslim Georgians) and Armenians, were also annexed to Russia in the Caucasus...
the Adjarian uprising, Hasbi managed to escape. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, thousands of Adjarians were...
settlements have both official Turkish and unofficial Georgian names. Adjarians Meskhetians Laz people Chveneburi Tuite, Kevin (1998), Kartvelian morphosyntax:...
chauvinistic Georgian nationalism which marginalised the Abkhazian, Ossetian, and Adjarian minorities in Georgia. On this trip, Stalin met with his son Yakov, and...
The Adjaran dialect is one of the Georgian dialects. It is primarily spoken within the borders of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Georgia, in two villages...
This last wave also involved Turkish-speaking Muslims from Upper Adjara. Adjarians were also known by their places of origin, such as Batumlular for people...
Chavchavadze Of the 4,970 inhabitants in 1872, about 4,500 were Muslim (Adjarians, Turks, Circassians, and Abkhazians). In the 1897 census, the Orthodox...
Leiden, Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. p. 214. ISBN 9789004173378. Adjarian, Hrachia. Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words]...
Angelica adzharica, the Adjarian angelica is a species of angelica in the carrot family that is endemic to Adjara in Georgia. It can be found in meadows...
chokha (mainly in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia), and the Adjarian chokha (mainly found in western Georgian provinces such as Adjara and Guria...
had a seal on a red background. 1978–1991 Under the Soviet Union, the Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (AASSR) had its own flag between 1921...
Иреиҳаӡоу Асовет 1938 1996 People's Assembly Adjara Supreme Soviet of the Adjarian ASSR Верховный Совет Аджарской АССР აჭარის ასსრ უმაღლესი საბჭო 1938 1991...
team, 1925 Circa 1900 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laz people. Adjarians Megrelians Pontic Greeks Chveneburi Chepni people Hemshin peoples Germakochi...
immigrate to Turkey. The Treaty of Berlin kept a similar provision. Many Adjarians left Adjara at that time. The Vilayet of Bosnia (Bosnia and Herzegovina)...
Nakhichevan ASSR, now Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Abkhaz ASSR, now Abkhazia Adjarian ASSR, now Adjara The 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR recognized sixteen...
form, made with a yeast dough filled with white Imeretian salted cheese. Adjarian (Acharuli/Adjaruli/Lazi), named for Adjara, a region of Georgia on the...
Georgia. Georgian dialects include Imeretian, Racha-Lechkhumian, Gurian, Adjarian, Imerkhevian (in Turkey), Kartlian, Kakhetian, Ingilo (in Azerbaijan),...