Batumi in the 80s of the XIX Century (According to Davit Kldiashvili›s Memoirs «On the Way of My Life»)

Abstract

The memoir of the great Georgian writer Davit Kldiashvili: „On the Way of My Life“ contains valuable information about Batumi in the eighties of the XIX century. The writer settled there in 1882. Batumi was then Porto-Franco - a port with the right of free import and export of foreign goods. Not only Georgians but also Abkhazians, Russians, Armenians, Greeks, Turks, and Negroes lived in the city. Before the railway was built and Batumi was connected to Tbilisi, traffic to the city was mainly by sea. As for the educational centers, there was a civic school and a Georgian school of the Georgian Literacy Society. It was opened in the second year of the annexation of Batumi to gather and teach Muslim Georgians.

After the opening of the railway (1883) and the abolition of Porto-Franco (1886), Batumi, as a „place to seek wealth“, was inhabited by people from all sides: Georgian or foreigner, rich or poor. The locals, the Muhajirs, left their homes and settled in Turkey.

The goal of the Russian government was to displace the natives and settle the Russians. The writer describes several such attempts, for example: near Batumi, beyond Chorokhi, in so said Tkhilnari, the Russians settled quite a large village. They were given money, bread, and building materials, but the settlers could not tolerate the conditions here. They did not know how to grow corn, and the bread was stored in a damp place. They also contracted malaria. Those who survived fled without looking back. Instead, rich Russians settled on the shores of the Black Sea. Wealthy Armenians were also attracted by the city.

The memoirist particularly mentions the merits of the French agronomist, Michel D’Alfonse, and the German botanist, Resler. Wealthy villagers settled on the Green Cape under the leadership of M. D’Alfonse. He was the first to grow tangerines and various foreign plants. Resler was the first gardener of Batumi Boulevard.

Davit Kldiashvili interestingly describes the irreversible process of urbanization. Many peasants from the villages came to Batumi because the factories needed workers. In this case, too, the Russian government sought to relocate the necessary people from within Russia while evacuating the inhabitants. Grigol Volski and Ivane Meskhi came to the rescue of the Georgian workers, who somehow eased their situation.

David Kldiashvili’s memoirs are a very reliable historical source. It interestingly describes the metamorphosis that Batumi experienced in a short time, in the eighties of the XIX century.