Grigol Khandzteli And Kutaisi

Abstract

The article presents the situation in Georgia of the VIII-X centuries in terms of linguistic, religious and domestic politics. The unity of the Georgian nation in all these components is emphasized. Historical-ecclesiastical and literary materials have rejected the notion that the Church of Western Georgia was Greek-speaking and was abandoned after the 10th century.

The article also presents a new attempt to cover Grigol Khandzteli’s life andactivities. In particular, from the time of his youth, his connection with the princes of Western Georgia and the care for United Georgia and the United Church.

Grigol Khandzteli’s visit to Kutaisi provokes special interest. The choice of Tevdor, Christopher and Hilarion in Abkhazia could not be accidental. Continuous cultural-linguistic, national, state-political relations with East-West Georgia was natural for them.

Grigol Khandzteli was not a stranger to the history of socio-political and cultural life in Kutaisi (Abkhazia). As for the language, Grigol seems to know Greek, but he did not need the language to communicate with his Kutaisi friends, since churchstate-script language had already been established and consolidated in the form we see on “pre- The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” texts and epigraphic sites by the time the Church was founded. Accordingly, the talk as if the spoken language of Western Georgia was Greek in the 10th century is groundless and unacceptable, both scientifically and nationally.