Social and Cultural Peculiarities Of Adjarian Population in Adigeni Highland Communities (Based on the Example of Several Villages)

Abstract

Adjaria is one of the distinguished regions out of many parts of Georgia, its peculiarity is expressed in its everyday life, daily challenges, and particular lifestyle due to its social condition, ethnicity, and religion, speech, change of geographical area, etc. Adzharia is a specific region that overcame hardship by being with its motherland and did not forget its love for native land, its feeding roots during separation.

The paper refers to the peculiarities of the population migrated from Adjaria to the Adigeni highland communities, in particular: Sairme, Chela, Chechla, Kekhovani, Mokhe, Tsikhisubani, Apieti, Ghortubani, Zedubani, Naminauri, Dertseli and Kikibo, Kvabijvari… who have very interesting religious, social, cultural, ethnic features. Their real Georgian national values are maintained in their lifestyle, like vocabulary, dressing, ethic norms, including respect, modesty, generosity, selfless help of a person, understanding of senior and junior…attitude towards labor characterized for the person working on the land, endless love to the land, livestock breeding, special technology for dairy product production (cheese, butter, curds, dried curds…), the marriage issue, special understanding of the religious believes, cuisine combining Turkish and Georgian dishes and the rules of usages, etc.

First of all, I’d like to say that past and present are maintained together in the person from Adzharia, there is the battle of two religions, social and cultural existence linking to forcedly adopted religion, found in the social and economic conditions, agitated spiritual and material existence again with Christianity and merging the initial and present on a collapsed fundament which found the shelter to already existing at the beginning, to Christianity and such mixture influenced their worldview significantly.

Another phase for the resettled Adjaria people has been started in Adigeni when they had to live in the Christian environment again, it made their love of the native language and culture stronger and made national image sacred, Georgian was reflected in the customs, traditions, moral norms like hospitality, the issue of the relationship between senior and junior generation, love and respect of the friend, the issue of marriage, etc. new life, restoring of the family heart, revival and moving to the next stage. Their new residence brought the families to new breath and new life.

They demonstrate spiritual and material values together never forgetting the past, they are guides for the future and create an unforgettable history of the nation, they protect their land, nation, language, traditions for their entire life, they maintained the Georgian spirit till now, and transmit it to a new generation.