From Abhase — It is a five days' journey from Soukhcum- Kalch into Swannety by a path that leads through the village of Tzebylda, up the Dalsky-oustchelye,' and over the Ouharashkark pass. From Otchemtchyry on the coast, thirty miles to the south of Soukhoum-Kaleh, one path leads over the mountains of Arvass, Dartchouy, and Djvedy-sou; the other, from the banks of the Haltz's'ga, crosses the mountains of Larakwakwa, Baskapskara, Dartchouy, and Djvedy-sou.
From Ossety and Kabardah — Three tracks lead into the valley of the Ingour; the first from Tcheghemm to Moulachy, another by the valley of the Baksann to Betcho, and the third from KaratchaT to Tchoubehevy.
The first mention of ' Sawaneth ' in the annals of Georgia is in the reign of Fhamawaz, who appointed his son-in-law Koudj, erystav of that province, when it formed part of Egris. ' Souancth ' ' Oualchelyc is the Kuision for a pass.
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EARLY APPELLATIONS OF THE SWANNY. rir continued to be governed by an erystav, until that ruler, aided by his people, threw off Tor a time (1072-1089) the yoke of the king of Abhkhaseth, In that same century, according to Cedrenus,' the ' Suancs ' and Colchians were in the army of Pancratius, prince of Iberia, who sent ambassadors from Trebizond to the emperor, to signify his desire to confer with him at Byzantium. In the reign of Constantine, King of Imeritia, 1 293-1337, the ' Souanethi ' again rendered themselves free, and in 1361 they invaded Imeritia, dcstroyii^ KoutaTs, its capital. Bagrat, king of Karthly, subse* qucntly conquered them, and the Souanethi remained subject to Georgia until the partition of that kingdom by Alexander in 1424, after which period they enjoyed complete independence; and in a letter from Geoi^ (VIII. of Georgia), the sovereign of Persia, to Philip Duke of Burgundy in 1459, we see the Swannety designated as the Sasoni, and included among the forces about to form the coalition in the contemplated crusade against the Turks after their conquest of Constantinople.*
Strabo included the ' Soanes,' who lived in the mountains above Dioscurias, among the smaller nations of the Caucasus; they had a king, and 200,000 fighting men who were armed with poisoned arrows, which caused much suffering to those wounded by them, and, being a filthy people, were compared by the gec^rapher to the Phtheirophagi. The 'Souanes' are also mentioned by Procopius, among other authors, who clearly described the situation of their country.'
Few travellers have visited Swannety, and indeed the upper valley of the Ingour has been hitherto almost a terra incognita. Ninety years ago. Dr. Reineggs passed through the district, leaving
« Ced, Camp. HUt. 361.
■ Brosiet, AddUuttt, kc, p. 409. ' I'rocop. Deiili. Catk. iv. 2.
by Google us an account of the people as he found them.' In 1853, General Bartolomei, of Tiflis, visited Swannety;* in 1864 Dr. Radde went to study the botanical features of the valley,' and in 1 868 Messrs. D. W. Freshfield, A. W. Moore, and C. C. Tucker, members of the Alpine Club, traversed the district on foot upon the occasion of their making the ascent of Elbrouz.*
The country known as Swannety is divided into —
1. Swannety Dadian.
2. Independent Swannety. (Jabe).
3. Swannety Dadyshkylyany. (Tchouby),
1. Swannety Dadian is so named because in the seventeenth century, long after the partition of the kingdom of Georgia, that portion of the country became annexed to Mingrelia under the sovereignty of the Dadian, after that ruler, who was named Tchykowan, had made the conquest of Letchgoumm. It extends along the valley of the Tzhenys-tzkalys, from the sources of that river to Moury at the frontier of Letchgoumm. The natives are somewhat less wild and more inclined to agriculture than are those in the two other divisions; and although the people are abandoning their superstitions, it cannot be said that they are Christians. They speak the Geoi^ian dialect of Imeritia,
2. The Independent Swanny occupy the valley, of the Ingour, from that river's watershed to the commune of Lataly; their independence dated from the fifteenth century, but they glory
' Allgemeiiu hiiltirischt tcpo^aphische Bahrdbung da Kaakasus. Jacob Rrinqigs, St. Petersburg und Gotha, 1796, 3 vols.
■ Mlm. de la SKtian Catitasicnne dt la SocUU de CJograJihu Rusie. Ton. VI. See alto Tom. VII. for an article by M. D. Z. Bakradze, These are papers I have had no opportunity (or consult ii^;.
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• Freshfield, Tttcvrls in the Central Caucasus, &c
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