Laz people
ლაზი

Lazs People ca.1900s
Total population
202,000 (1970 est.)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Turkey: 200,000[1]  Georgia: 2,000[2]
Languages
Laz, Turkish, Georgian
Religion
Sunni Islam in Turkey, Orthodox Christians in Georgia[3]
Related ethnic groups
Mingrelians and other Georgians

The Laz (Lazi (ლაზი) or Lazepe (ლაზეფე) in Laz; Lazlar in Turkish; Lazi (ლაზი) or Č’ani (ჭანი) in Georgian) are an ethnic group native to the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia. One of the chief tribes of ancient kingdom of Colchis, the Laz were initially early adopters of Christianity, and most of them subsequently converted to Sunni Islam during Ottoman rule of Caucasus in the 16th century.

The Laz of Turkey form two principal groups. One of these is indigenous to the eastern Black Sea province formerly known as Lazistan (modern Rize and Artvin provinces). The other group fled the Russian expansion later in the 19th century and settled in Adapazarı, Sapanca, Yalova and Bursa, in western and eastern parts of the Black Sea and Marmara regions, respectively. The Laz speak the Laz language, related to Mingrelian, Georgian and Svan (Kartvelian languages).^[4] Laz identity in Georgia has largely merged with a Georgian identity and the meaning of "Laz" is seen as merely a regional category,^[5] and are mainly concentrated in Ajaria.

Laz were converted to Christianity while living under the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Georgia. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the vast majority of Laz became Sunni Muslims of Hanafi madh'hab, and were ruled as part of the Lazistan sanjak.^{[citation needed]} There is also a very small number of Christian Laz in Georgia who were converted to Christianity from Islam.^[6]

History[link]

Kingdom of Lazica.

Part of a series on
Georgians ქართველები
The Kartvelian people
Nation
Georgia
Ancient Kartvelian people
Iberians · Colchians
Subgroups
Mingrelians · Svans · Adjarians · Khevsurians · Tushetians · Chveneburi
Culture
Music · Media · Sport · Calligraphy · Cinema · Cuisine · Dances · Costume · Calendar · Mythology · Architecture
Language
Alphabet · Dialects · Grammar
Religion
Georgian Orthodox Church Christianity · Catholicism Islam · Judaism Saint Nino · Saint George
Symbols
Borjgali · Cross of Bolnisi · Grapevine cross · Cross of Saint George
History of Georgia
v t e

The Laz people live in a geographic area which they refer to as Lazona (ლაზონა). Today, the entire area is part of the Republic of Turkey. Its history dates back to at least the 6th century B.C. when the first South Caucasian state in the west was the Kingdom of Colchis which covered modern western Georgia and modern Turkish provinces of Trabzon and Rize. Between the early 2nd century, B.C. and the late 2nd century A.D., the Kingdom of Colchis together with the neighbor countries, become an arena of long and devastating conflicts between major local powers Rome, Kingdom of Armenia and the short-lived Kingdom of Pontus. As a result of the brilliant Roman campaigns of generals Pompey and Lucullus, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory including Colchis, were incorporated into Roman Empire as her provinces.

The former Kingdom of Colchis was re-organized by the Romans into the province of Lazicum ruled by Roman legati. During Byzantine times, the word Colchi gave way to the term Laz. The Roman period was marked by further Hellenization of the region in terms of language, economy and culture. For example, since the early 3rd century, Greco-Latin Philosophical Academy of Phasis (present-day Poti) was quite famous all over the Roman Empire. In the early 3rd century, newly established Roman Lazicum was given certain degree of autonomy which by the end of the century developed into full the independence and formation of a new Kingdom of Lazica (covering the modern day regions of Mingrelia, Adjaria, Guria and Abkhazia) on the basis of smaller principalities of Zans, Svans, Apsilae and Sanigs. Kingdom of Lazica survived more than 250 years until in 562 AD it was absorbed by the Byzantine Empire. In the middle of the 4th century, Lazica adopted Christianity as her official religion. That event was preceded by the arrival of St. Simon the Canaanite (or Kananaios in Greek) who was preaching all over Lazica and met his death in Suaniri (Western Lazica). According to Moses of Chorene, the enemies of Christianity cut him in two halves with a saw.

The re-incorporation of Lazica with the Kingdom of Aphkhazeti into Byzantine Empire in 562 AD was followed by 150 years of relative stability that ceased in the early 7th century when the Arabs appeared in the area as a new regional power.

Geographical distribution[link]

Statue of a Laz man and woman. Arhavi (Ark'abi), Turkey

The ancient kingdom of Colchis and its successor Lazica (locally known as Egrisi) was located in the same region the Laz speakers are found in today, and its inhabitants probably spoke an ancestral version of the language. Colchis was the setting for the famous Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts.

Today most Laz speakers live in Northeast Turkey, in a strip of land along the shore of the Black Sea. They form the majority in the Pazar (Atina), Ardeşen (Art'aşeni) and Fındıklı (Vitze) districts of Rize, and in the Arhavi (Ark'abi) and Hopa (Xopa) districts of Artvin. They live as minorities in the neighbouring Çamlıhemşin (Vijadibi) and Borçka districts. There are also communities in northwestern Anatolia (Karamürsel in Kocaeli, Akçakoca in Düzce, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bartın), where many immigrants settled since the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and now also in Istanbul and Ankara.

The Laz in Georgia are chiefly centered in the country's southwestern autonomous republic of Adjara. The largest Laz villages in Adjara are: Sarpi, Kvariati, Gonio and Makho. The Laz also live in Batumi, Kobuleti, Zugdidi and Tbilisi.

An expatriate community of the Laz is also present in Germany where they have migrated from Turkey since the 1960s.

Culture[link]

The Laz language is not written, Turkish and Georgian serving as the literary languages for the Laz in Turkey and Georgia, respectively. Therefore, the Laz are typically bilingual. The Laz possess a colorful folklore. Their folk literature has been transmitted orally and has not been systematically recorded. The first attempts at establishing a distinct Laz cultural identity and creating a literary language based on the Arabic alphabet was made by Faik Efendisi in the 1870s, but he was soon imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities, while most of his works were destroyed. During a relative cultural autonomy granted to the minorities in the 1930s, the written Laz literature—based on the Laz script—emerged in Soviet Georgia, strongly dominated by Soviet ideology. The poet Mustafa Baniṣi spearheaded this short-lived movement, but an official standard form of the tongue was never established.^[7] Since then, several attempts have been made to render the pieces of native literature in the Turkish and Georgian alphabets. A few native poets in Turkey such as Raşid Hilmi and Pehlivanoğlu have appeared later in the 20th century.

The Laz music and dances are highly original, even though they have been developed in close contact with the neighboring peoples. The national instruments include Guda, kemenche (violin), zurna (oboe), and doli (drum). In the 1990s and 2000s, the folk-rock musician Kâzım Koyuncu attained to significant popularity in Turkey and toured Georgia.

Most of the Laz in Turkey belong to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, while the Laz in Georgia are the Eastern Orthodox Christians adhering to the national Georgian Orthodox Church. Their beliefs have survived in folk poetry and in some customs related to births, marriage, death, seamanship, the New Year, and harvest rituals.

Apart some research activities at universities in Georgia and Germany (University of Cologne), there has been done little to study the language and folk culture of the Laz.^[8] A degree of cultural assimilation into the Turkish medium is high, but there has been some recent upsurge of cultural activities aiming at revitalizing the Laz tongue and folk tradition.^[9]

The social organization of the Laz community is dominated by an elaborate system of kinship in which blood and milk brotherhood as well as elements of blood feuds have survived. The family is strongly dominated by the husband, but, even under Islam, the rule of monogamous marriage has been preserved.

Economy[link]

This section requires expansion.

The traditional Laz economy has been based on agriculture—known for production of hazelnuts until the 1960s, when the introduction of tea cultures which has since been growing in importance. It has largely eliminated the hitherto closed-economy, self-rearing way of life and encouraged many Laz to engage in trading, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union opened the border with Georgia.

The traditions of fishing, hemp cultivation, weaving of the material, ceramics and pottery are also widespread and trace their origin to the Classical antiquity.

Terminology[link]

The Turkish public uses the name "Laz" in a general way to refer to all inhabitants of Turkey's Black Sea provinces east of Samsun, and the word is often associated with certain social stereotypes.^[10] However, the Laz themselves are increasingly keen to differentiate themselves from other inhabitants of these regions. Also, the non-Laz does not want to be called "Laz", preferring to be called Karadenizli ^[11] ("of the Black Sea region"). The Laz language (Lazca in Turkish) is a Kartvelian language, also known as South Caucasian, unrelated to the Trabzon dialect of Turkish.

See also[link]

• Chveneburi
• Chepni
• Hamshenis
• Pontic Greeks
• Adjarians
• Canik

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Andrews, Peter (ed.). 1989. Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. pp. 497–501.
• Benninghaus, Rüdiger. 1989. "The Laz: an example of multiple identification". In: Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, edited by P. Andrews.
• Bryer, Anthony. 1969. The last Laz risings and the downfall of the Pontic Derebeys, 1812–1840, Bedi Kartlisa 26. pp. 191–210.
• Hewsen, Robert H. Laz. World Culture Encyclopedia. Accessed on September 1, 2007.
• Negele, Jolyon. Turkey: Laz Minority Passive In Face Of Assimilation. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.25 June 1998

External links[link]

• Documentary film about history of the Laz people
• Laz Cultur - Information about Lazs, Laz Language, Culture, Music (Turkish und Laz)
• Laz Cultur - Information about Lazs, Laz Language, Culture, Music
• Laz Cultur - Information about Lazs, Laz Language, Culture, Music and Laz Diaspora
• Information about
• - Georgian Patriarchate's Lazuri TV site
• - Batumi Lazs
• Recordings of traditional Laz music

Georgians
ქართველები
Kartvelebi

David IV Tamar of Georgia George V Petre Bagrationi Mary Eristavi Joseph Stalin Ekaterine Dadiani Konstantine Abkhazi Lamara Chkonia George Balanchine Rustaveli E. Shevardnadze John Shalikashvili Katie Melua Ambrosius I. Chavchavadze
Total population
c. 4.3[1] — 5 million
Regions with significant populations
Georgia 3,956,000[2]
Russia 198,944[3] European Union 250,000[citation needed]  United States 200,000[citation needed]  Israel 72,000[4]  Turkey 91,500[1]  Ukraine 34,199[5]  Greece 23,159[6]  Brazil 20,750[citation needed]  Azerbaijan 14,900[7]  Japan 14,000  Italy 12,670  Kazakhstan 4,990[8]  Singapore 3,500  France 2,500  Canada 2,500  Armenia 1,105  Argentina 1,050  Mexico 1,000  United Kingdom 3500
Languages
Georgian (including Mingrelian and Svan), Russian (about 10% of the population)[2]
Religion
Predominantly † Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Georgian Orthodox Church) (83.9%) also some Georgiano-Latin, Greek, and Armenian rites of the Roman Catholic Church (0.8%). Muslim minority (9.9%), chiefly Sunnis of the Hanafi school.[9] In diaspora (Chveneburis, Saingilo and Fereydanians) mainly Islam
Related ethnic groups
Laz

Part of a series on
Georgians ქართველები
The Kartvelian people
Nation
Georgia
Ancient Kartvelian people
Iberians · Colchians
Subgroups
Mingrelians · Svans · Adjarians · Khevsurians · Tushetians · Chveneburi
Culture
Music · Media · Sport · Calligraphy · Cinema · Cuisine · Dances · Costume · Calendar · Mythology · Architecture
Language
Alphabet · Dialects · Grammar
Religion
Georgian Orthodox Church Christianity · Catholicism Islam · Judaism Saint Nino · Saint George
Symbols
Borjgali · Cross of Bolnisi · Grapevine cross · Cross of Saint George
History of Georgia
v t e

The Georgians (Georgian: ქართველები, kartvelebi) are Caucasian ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.

The majority of Georgians are Eastern Orthodox Christian and largely adhere to the national autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church, which originated in the 4th century. There are also Georgian Catholic and Muslim communities in Tbilisi and Adjara.

The Georgian people went through a complex process of nation-formation and currently comprise a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners, dialect and, in the case of Mingrelians and Svans, language. The Georgian language, with its own alphabet and long written tradition going back to the 5th century, is the language of literacy and education of all Georgians living in Georgia as well as the official language of the country. Georgian, Mingrelian and Svan, together with Laz spoken by the related Laz people form the Kartvelian language family.

Located in Caucasus at the edge of Europe, the Georgian people have fought to protect their Christian identity in the face of immense pressure from the neighboring Muslim empires. By the early 11th century they formed a unified kingdom which emerged as a dominant regional power until it was weakened by internal divisions following the death of George V the Brilliant, the last of the great kings of Georgia. To ensure its survival as a Christian kingdom, the country was soon forced to forge an alliance with the Russian Empire, which was viewed as a replacement for the fallen Eastern Roman Empire, Georgia's traditional ally. Eventually being annexed by Russia in 1801, Georgians briefly regained national independence from 1918 to 1921, and finally, in 1991 from the Soviet Union.

Etymology[link]

Georgians call themselves Kartvelebi (ქართველები), their land Sakartvelo (საქართველო), and their language Kartuli (ქართული). According to The Georgian Chronicles, the ancestor of the Kartvelian people was Kartlos, the great grandson of the Biblical Japheth. Ancient Greeks (Strabo, Herodotus, Plutarch, Homer, etc.) and Romans (Titus Livius, Cornelius Tacitus, etc.) referred to early eastern Georgians as Iberians (Iberoi in some Greek sources) and western Georgians as Colchians.^[10]

Origins[link]

Most historians and scholars of Georgia as well as anthropologists, archaeologists and linguists tend to agree that the ancestors of modern Georgians inhabited the southern Caucasus and northern Anatolia since the Neolithic period.^[11] Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes.^[12] Some European historians of the 19th century (for example, Wilhelm von Humboldt and Paul Kretschmer) as well as Georgian scholars (R. Gordeziani, S. Kaukhchishvili and Z. Gamsakhurdia) came to the conclusion that Proto-Kartvelians might be related linguistically and culturally to the indigenous (pre-Indo-European) peoples of ancient Europe including the Etruscans, Pelasgians and Proto-Basques.

The Georgian people in antiquity have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Colchians and Iberians.^[13][14] East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th century BCE. However, western Georgian tribes (Moschians, Suanians, Mingrelians and others) established the first Georgian state of Colchis before the foundation of the Iberian Kingdom in the east.^[15] According to the numerous scholars of Georgia, the formations of these two early Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia, resulted in the consolidation and uniformity of the Georgian nation.^[16]

Proto-Georgian tribes:

• The ancient Jewish chronicle by Josephus mentions Georgians as Iberes who were also called Thobel (Tubal).^[17]

• Diauehi in Assyrian sources and Taochi in Greek, lived in the northeastern part of Anatolia, a region that was part of Georgia. This ancient tribe is considered by many scholars as ancestors of Georgians. The Georgians of today still refer to this region, which now belongs to present-day Turkey, as Tao-Klarjeti, ancient Georgian Kingdom. Some people there still speak Georgian.^[18]

• Colchians in the ancient western Georgian Kingdom of Colchis. First mentioned in the Assyrian annals of Tiglath-Pileser I and in the annals of Urartian king Sarduri II. Also included western Georgian tribe of the Meskhetians.^[15][19]

• Iberians also known as Tiberians or Tiberanians, in the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia.^[15]

Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation.^[20][21]

According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:

Appearance[link]

Alpine type of Georgian, Svan. Mestia (1888 -1900)

Georgians are classified as Caucasoids (Europoid or Europid),^[23] and often have brown hair and brown eyes.^[24] Georgians who have historically lived in alpine areas of less sunny western Georgia — especially Mingrelians and Svans- tend to have lighter features, with higher frequency of blond hair and light blue or green eyes.

Studies of human genetics suggest that Georgian Y-DNA typically belongs to Haplogroup J2, also found in Greece and Italy, as well as Haplogroup G.^[25]

Culture[link]

Language and linguistic subdivisions[link]

Georgian is the primary language for Georgians of all provenance, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages: Mingrelians, Svans, and the Laz. The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.

All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.

Dialects of Georgian include Imeretian, Racha-Lechkhumian, Gurian, Adjarian, Imerkhevian (in Turkey), Kartlian, Kakhetian, Ingilo (in Azerbaijan), Tush, Khevsur, Mokhevian, Pshavian, Fereydan dialect in Iran in Fereydunshahr and Fereydan, Mtiuletian, Meskhetian.

Religion[link]

Georgian Statehood

Kingdom of Iberia Kingdom of Colchis Kingdom of Diauehi Kingdom of Lazica Unified Georgian Kingdom Partitions Kingdom of Kartli Kingdom of Abkhazia Kingdom of Hereti Kingdom of Kakheti Kingdom of Imereti Kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti Georgian Principalities Principality of Svaneti Principality of Meskheti Principality of Abkhazia Principality of Guria Principality of Samegrelo Democratic Republic of Georgia Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Republic of Georgia Georgia

Wall Painting in Georgia's ancient Monastery, Shio-Mghvime

Christianity, first preached by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the 1st century, became the state religion of the Eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia in 327, although most of the Georgian population was already Christian.^{[26][27][28][29]} The final conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327 is credited to a Roman woman St. Nino of Cappadocia, a relative of the great martyr St. George, and Susanna, sister of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.^[30] The Georgians' new faith, which replaced pagan beliefs, allied them permanently with the Eastern Roman Empire, while placing them on the front line of conflict between the Christian and Islamic worlds. As was true elsewhere, the Christian church in Georgia was crucial to the development of a written language, and most of the earliest written works were religious texts.Medieval Georgian culture was greatly influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy and the Georgian Orthodox Church, which promoted and often sponsored the creation of many works of religious devotion. These included churches and monasteries, works of art such as icons, and hagiographies of Georgian saints. In addition, many secular works of national history, mythology and hagiography were also written. Today, 83.9% of the Georgian population, most of whom are ethnic Georgian, practices Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Cuisine[link]

The Georgian cuisine is specific to the country, but also contains some influences from other European culinary traditions, as well as those from the surrounding Western Asia. Each historical province of Georgia has its own distinct culinary tradition, such as Megrelian, Kakhetian, and Imeretian cuisines. In addition to various meat dishes, Georgian cuisine also offers a variety of vegetarian meals.

The importance of both food and drink to Georgian culture is best observed during a Caucasian feast, or supra, when a huge assortment of dishes is prepared, always accompanied by large amounts of wine, and dinner can last for hours. In a Georgian feast, the role of the tamada (toastmaster) is an important and honoured position.

In countries of the former Soviet Union, Georgian food is popular due to the immigration of Georgians to other Soviet republics, in particular Russia. In Russia all major cities have many Georgian restaurants and Russian restaurants often feature Georgian food items on their menu.^[31]

Geographic subdivisions and subethnic groups[link]

Geographical subdivisions[link]

Georgian youth in traditional costumes

The Georgians have historically been classified into various subgroups based on the geographic region which their ancestors traditionally inhabited.

Even if a member of any of these subgroups moves to a different region, they will still be known by the name of their ancestral region. For example, if a Gurian moves to Tbilisi (part of the Kartli region) he will not automatically identify himself as Kartlian despite actually living in Kartli. This may, however, change if substantial amount of time passes. For example, there are some Mingrelians who have lived in the Imereti region for centuries and are now identified as Imeretian or Imeretian-Mingrelians.

Last names from mountainous eastern Georgian provinces (such as Kakheti, etc.) can be distinguished by the suffix –uri (ური), or –uli (ული). Most Svan last names typically end in –ani (ანი), Mingrelian in –ia (ია), -ua (უა), or -ava (ავა), and Laz in –shi (ში).

The 1897 Russian census (which accounted people by language), had Imeretian, Mingrelian and Svan languages separate from Georgian.^[32] During the 1926 Soviet census, Mengrelians and Svans were accounted separately from Georgian.^[33] Mingrelian and Svan languages are both Kartvelian languages and are closely related to the national Georgian.

Outside of modern Georgia[link]

Laz people also may be considered Georgian based on their geographic location and religion. According to the London School of Economics' anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans,^[34] Lazs residing in Georgia frequently identify themselves as "first-class Georgians" to show pride, while considering their Muslim counterparts in Turkey as "Turkified Lazs".^[35]

Subethnic groups	Name in Georgian	Settlement area	Language (other than Georgian)	Approximate number	Difference(s) from mainstream Georgians (other than location)
Shavshians	შავში shavshi	Shavsheti	Imerkhevian dialect ?
Klarjians	კლარჯი klarji	Klarjeti	Imerkhevian dialect ?
Lazs	ლაზი lazi	Chaneti (Lazistan)	Laz language	50,000 (1970 est.)[36]	Religion: Muslim
Chveneburi	ჩვენებური chveneburi	Black Sea coast, Northwestern Turkey		60,000 (1979)[37]	Religion: Muslim
Ingilo	ინგილო ingilo	Saingilo	Ingiloan dialect	12,000	Religion: Muslim[citation needed]
Pereidneli (Fereydan Georgian)	ფერეიდნელი pereidneli	Pereidani	Fereidanian dialect

Linguistic subdivisions[link]

The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.

All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Georgia
• Culture of Georgia
• Georgian language
• Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church
• History of Georgia
• Demographics of Georgia
• European American
• Georgian American
• List of Georgians
• Peoples of the Caucasus
• Chveneburi — Georgians in Turkey
• Georgians in Iran