Toponims Representing Of Migration From Svaneti To Racha And Shida Kartli

Abstract

One of the interesting things for studying our past is onomastics which unites names, surnames, toponyms, zoonyms. A number of political events, battles, migration, immigration, encourages to create the new toponymic units and anthroponyms.

Our aim is to show new units in ShidaKartli and Racha determined by the migration from Svaneti and discuss the recorded materials in Racha.

On the right side of the river Didi Liakhvi there is so called „Khidasheli district“, the people with the surname Khidasheli came from Racha to Svaneti. They had a different surname but one of them killed a man and escaped the death together with his brother. They hid in the wood which was near the village of Nakieti. The villagers called that part „Khidasheli“.

There is a village Largvisi in Ksani gorge which was once a monastery. Largvisi holds Georgian-Svanetian toponymic meaning- in Svanetian dialect it means “the middle”.

Several families lived in Tskhinvali by the surname Svanadze from Racha. Ioane Bagrationi writes that “they are from Racha“ in his work.

According to the language peculiarity this surname was formed by Rachvelian dialect that is by names of „et“ suffix, we add the „n“ consonant and finally we get Svanaetni.

As for the Kipianis Ioane Bagrationi writes that their ancestor came from Svaneti and settled in Svaneti, Akhaltsikhe and Kartli. There is a village Kipiani in Kareli Region.