MESKHETI

'Meskheti' is a mountainous area and a former province in the South-West of Georgia. The ancient Georgian tribes of 'Meskhi' (later 'Moskh') and 'Mosiniks' were the indigenous population of this region, identified by some authors with the Mushki known from 12th century BC Assyrian sources. A majority of the modern Georgian population (''Meskhs'') of Meskheti are descendants of these ancient tribes. The ''Mosiniks'' were one of the inventors of iron metallurgy. In the 2nd millennium-4th century BC Meskheti was a part of the Georgian Kingdom of Diaokhi, in the 4th century BC-6th century AD - part of the Kingdom of Iberia. In the 10th-15th centuries this region was a part of the united Georgian Kingdom. In the 16th century Meskheti was occupied and annexed by the Ottoman Empire. In 1829-1917 the region was a part of Tbilisi Province (''Tiflisskaia Gubernia''), in 1918-1921 part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, and in 1921-1990 part of the Georgian SSR. Since 1990 Meskheti (Samtskhe-Javakheti region) has been a province of the Republic of Georgia.

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See also

★ Shota Rustaveli

★ Georgia

★ History of Georgia

★ Zviad Kliment Lazarashvili

★ Lazarashvili

★ Georgian people

★ Culture of Georgia

★ Georgian language

★ Meskhetians