Louis Maimbourg, Histoires des Croisades (1675-1676)

Louis Maimbourg (1610 - 1686) was an influential French Jesuit priest and historian who had written extensively on the religious history as well as the history of the Crusades. In 1675-1676 he published Histoires des Croisades pour la Déliverance de la Terre Sainte (translated into English in 1685) which was dedicated King Louis XIV. The book has little historiographic value since Maimbourg offers little in soundness of research or depth of analysis but it is still noteworthy for his observations on various peoples, including Georgians, that combine elements from earlier writers with contemporary  (17th century) perceptions. Passages such as the one cited below are noteworthy for showing the type of information shaped French and English readers' understanding/perception of Georgia.

The report of the victory which the Crusades of the West had obtained against the Sultans of Egypt and Damascus, being spread all over Asia, raised the Courage and hopes of the Christians in the East, and more particularly of the Georgians, who then were, and are at this day, the bravest among all those Nations. 

These People to whom that name was given, either from their particular Veneration of St. George, upon whom they call in their Combats; or by Corruption of the word Gurges, their Country being called Gurgistan, inhabit those Regions, which extend themselves from the West to the East, between the Euxine [Black] and the Caspian Sea, the Countries which anciently were called, Colchis, Iberia, a part of Albania, and also of the great Armenia as far as Derbent. 

[Georgians] were at this time [13th century] under the Obeisance of one King, who governed the whole Nation united into one Monarchy, and not divided as they are now, among many small Princes, who are not able to free themselves from paying tribute either to the Turk or Persian. They have been Christians ever since they were converted by a young Maid, a Christian Slave, in the Reign of Constantine the Great, and followed the belief and Ceremonies of the Greeks, although in some things they differ from them much, and especially in this. That they have nothing of that Aversion for the Church of Rome, which the Greeks have. They all shave the middle of their heads in form of a Crown, but with this difference among them, that the Ecclesiastics have it round, like that that of the Roman Churchmen, the other square, with great Mustaches, and a long Beard which reaches down to their very Girdle. 

[Georgians] are, in the main, People well proportioned and of a good Mind, kind and obliging to Foreigners, terrible to their Enemies, great Soldiers, extremely brave, even to the very Women, who like Amazons, will go to the Wars, and fight most valiantly; and they are so taken notice off for this Valour above all other of the Eastern Christians, that the Saracens either out of Fear or respect, permit them to enter with their Colours flying like Soldiers into Jerusalem, and without paying any thing when they come to visit the Holy Sepulchre. But they have this great Blemish that they are most intolerable Drinkers, and make little account of such People as will not debauch with them, having entertained a brutish persuasion, that it is impossible for any persons to be truly valiant, who are not excessive Lovers of drinking. So that they never go to the Combat till they have well drunk; for which purpose they always carry to the field, a Bottle of Wine tied to their Girdles, and before they begin the Battle they presently and with Cheerfulness toss it off to the last drop, and then furiously charge the Enemies, being elevated with the Wine and half drunk.

John Fryer, New Account of East-India and Persia (1698)

John Fryer (d. 1733) was English doctor and traveler who had visited Persia and wrote insightful memoir on his experiences. The eldest son of William Fryer, he graduated from the Trinity College in Cambridge in 1664 and later studied medicine at Pembroke College in Cambridge. After completing his studies he was appointed as a surgeon to the East India Company and sailed to India in 1672. He spent the next eight years traveling across India and Persia, publishing his observations in  "New Account of East-India and Persia, in Eight Letters" in 1698. Although Fryer's travelogue fails to rival those of his other contemporaries Jean Chardin, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier or François Bernier, it still contains many interesting observations on society, politics and natural history. 

In Letter V of his book, Fryer turns his attention to the Georgians he had encountered in Persia and below are his observations (original orthography retained).

The next neighbors, if not the same with the Armenians, were the Iberians, now called Georgians, who underwent the same calamities [Persian invasions and resettlements of the early 17th century] with them; but with a contrary disposition of Humour [state of mind], being a Martial People bred up to the Wars, [Georgians] now serve the Emperor [shah of Persia] as his best Infantry; of these, Forty thousand are at present in Arms under Military Pay, in and about Spahaun [Isfahan]. Their Country at this time bears the name of Gurgestan, from whence they are Christen'd Georgians; not from the famous St. George, but because they follow Husbandry [agriculture]. They were converted to the Christian Faith near the same time with the Armenians; which they still retain, and maintain their State and Country; but both Christianity and their Country are past their Vertical Point, and are upon their Declension [decline].

[Georgian] Princes , to uphold their Prerogative, are inclined to submit to the Persian Yoke with the Ignominy of Apostatizing, rather than by a stout defiance resist the Temptations and Allurements of Government under the Mahometan Bestiality: Such Power has the Ambitious Thirst of Rule.

[Georgians] are Proper, Fresh-colour'd, Well-limb'd People: Their Women so Fair and Beautiful, that the [Persian] Queen-Mother is always of the Family of the Georgian Princes; and for that reason is it their Children are so often sold to Infidels, because they make good Markets of them. Mars [God of War] has the Ascendent over this Nation, as Mercury [Patron of Commerce] has over the Armenians. There is therefore an inveterate Contrariety of Tempers between humour [states of mind] from them; and since the Armenians deserted the Greek Church, this Breach is widen'd ; being impatient at the performance of each others Services in the Churches, the Georgians frequently interrupt them in their Devotions, and doing despite to their Altars on their most Public Solemnities: Such Absurdities does Religion introduce, which should be the only means to cement and unite Mankind in the Bond of Humanity.

The Blame whereof must chiefly lye at the doors of their Prelates , whose obstinacy and Perverseness, abdicating all Force of Reason, are guided by no other impulse than the present Enjoyments of this Life , and keep on foot particular Piques and Animosities, purposely to distract and vex the Church, thereby to carry on their own interest or Ambition; Otherwise, how should it come to pass that those baptized under the same Symbol, and in many ( and the most difficult) Points of Religion are agreeing, should not be all of one Mind in every respect, unless the Idle Dreams and Malicious Practices of the Inorthodox should inculcate Debates and sow Divisions, only to be Head of a Party? 

Jean Chardin, Journal du voyage du chevalier Chardin en Perse & aux Indes (1673)

Born in Paris in a Hugenot (Protestant) family, Jean Chardin (1643-1713) spent much of his life traveling to the East because of his father's position as a jeweler and shareholder in the French East India Company. In 1664, the twenty year old Chardin set out on a long journey to Persia, traveling through the Ottoman Empire, Georgia and Armenia before arriving to Persia, where he served at the courts of Shah Abbas II and Shah Safi. After a trip to India, Chardin returned to France in 1670. In 1671, he published an account of the coronation of Shah Safi and in the same year set off for Persia, traveling through Georgia once more before arriving in Isfahan in 1673. He remained in Persia for several years before visiting India and returning home in 1677. 

With the start of the persecution of the Hugenots in France, Chardin moved to England in 1680. The first edition of his Travels appeared in London in 1686 - entitled "Journal du voyage du chevalier Chardin en Perse & aux Indes Orientales, par la Mer Noire & la Colchide..." - and was followed over the next decades by several expanded editions. Chardin's travelogue provides precious insights into the regions and societies that he had encountered on his journeys. He remains one of the best-informed European observers of Georgia and Safavid Persia.

This translation is based on the original 1686 edition, with original French text provided at the end of the post.

The complexion of the Georgians is the most beautiful in all the East; and I can safely say, that I never saw an uncomely countenance in all that country, either of male or female sex; yet I have seen many that have had Angelic faces, nature having bestowed upon the women of that country graces and features that can hardly be found elsewhere. So that it is impossible to behold them without falling in love....

The Georgians are innately very capable. They could be great savants [learned men] and masters if only they increase their knowledge of arts and sciences: but their education is so mean and paltry, that having nothing but bad examples before their eyes, they are altogether drowned in vice and ignorance. [Thus] they are generally cheats [fourbes] and rogues [fripons], perfidious, treacherous, ungrateful and proud [superbes]. They are impudent beyond imagination as to deny their own words and their very deeds; to put forth and maintain falsehoods; to demand more than is their due; to counterfeit deeds and forge lies. They are irreconcilable in their enmities, and never forgive. True it is, they are not easily provoked, nor do they readily admit those hatreds which they preserve inviolably when once conceived. 

And besides these vices of the spirit, no men are more addicted to their sensual pleasures, that is to say, to drunkenness and luxury. They plunge themselves into these filthy divertissements with so much more freedom because they are so common and not looked upon as scandalous in Georgia. The clergymen are as drunk as others, and keep beautiful female slaves [belles esclaves] as concubines, at which no body is offended, as being no more than what is generally practiced, and as it were authorized by custom. Furthermore the Superiour of the Capuchins assured me that he had heard the Catholicos or Patriarch of Georgia say that he who was not absolutely drunk could not be a good Christian, and deserved to be excommunicated. Besides this, the Georgians are likewise very great usurers: they never lend any Money without a pawn, and the lowest interest which they take is two in the hundred for a month. Neither are the women less vicious and wicked than the men. They have an extraordinary weakness [foible] for males, and certainly contribute more than they, to that torrent of uncleanness which overflows all the country. 

On the other side, the Georgians are civil and courteous, and more than that, they are serious [graves] and moderate. Their manners and customs are a mixture of various customs of the peoples that reside round about them. This is the result, I believe, of their commerce and dealings with variety of people, and the liberty allowed in Georgia to observe their own religion and customs, and to defend them in their discourse. You shall meet here in this country with Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Turks, Persians, Indians, Tartars, Muscovites and Europeans. The Armenians are so numerous that they exceed the Georgians. They are also more wealthy, and for the most part supply all the small offices and mean employments. But the Georgians are far stronger, more haughty, more vain, and more pompous. The difference between their spirits, manners and beliefs has caused a very great enmity between them. They mutually hate one another, and never marry into one anothers families. The Georgians are particularly disdainful towards the Armenians who are looked upon much about the same way as the Jews are in Europe.  

Jean Chardin, Travels (1673)

Western Georgian, as seen by French traveler Jean Chardin who visited Georgia in 1673. The drawing was first published in the 1686 edition of Chardin's travelogue but this version comes from the 1711 edition produced in Amsterdam. Looking at it, I am reminded of Italian traveler Giosafat (Josaphat) Barbaro who visited western Georgia in 1472 (two hundred years before Chardin) and noted that "they [Georgians] go with their heads rounded and shaven, leaving only a little around, after the manner of our abbots."

Juan Van Halen y Sarti, Memoirs of Don Juan van Halen (1828) - Part 5

Juan Van Halen y Sarti (1788 – 1864) was a Spanish military officer and adventurer who had a rather colorful life. During the Peninsular War (1808-1813) he initially supported the French and served King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, helping him escape to France in 1813. He then defected to the Spanish side but was investigated for his role during the war and sentenced to death. In 1817, he avoided death by escaping from prison and fleeing to Russia, where he was accepted into the military service and appointed a colonel in the Kavkazskii Dragoon Regiment deployed in Georgia. In 1819, Van Halen traveled to Georgia where he stayed for over a year and served under the leadership of General Alexey Yermolov. In 1821 Van Halen returned to Spain to support the revolutionaries who rebelled against King Ferdinand VII. After the revolution failed, Van Halen had to flee once again, traveling to the Caribbean. In 1830, he returned to Europe supporting the Belgian revolutionaries against the Dutch monarchy. After the new kingdom of Belgium was established, he moved to the Iberian Peninsula where he first supported Portuguese Liberals against King Miguel I and then fought against the Carlists during the First Carlist Wars in Spain. 

Van Halen died in El Puerto de Santa María (Cadiz, Spain), at the age of 76, in 1864.

In the late 1820s, Van Halen wrote (in Spanish) an interesting memoir describing his imprisonment in Spain in 1817-1818 and later service in the Caucasus in 1819-1821. The memoir was later translated into English and published in London in 1830.

The pretensions of the Georgian nobility, respecting their ancient origin, are as absurd as any in the world, and most of them claim their descent from David. This is the reason why the majority have a harp in their coat of arms. They are generally very proud, though they shew themselves so only to the natives, for they seldom venture to boast of such ridiculous pretensions to foreigners : the old men among the aristocracy being too well aware of their inferiority in point of education, and the young men knowing that whatever they have acquired in this respect, they owe it to the Russians. Among the Georgian princes the feudal system is still in existence, and, as was formerly the custom in Europe, their vassals follow them to the wars.

The Persian language is spoken among the higher class, as the French is in Europe. There are two dialects commonly used in Georgia; the one by the ecclesiastics in their religious performances, and the other by the civilians. The former is derived from the Greek and the Armenian, and. the latter from the Persian and the Turkish languages. As it invariably happens when one nation passes under the dominion of another, many Russian words have already been introduced into the Georgian dialect. The Georgians and the Armenians, unlike the rest of the Asiatic nations, write from left to right. Their literature, though it dates its origin from Tamar, has no claim to that appellation, and is confined to a few ballads; but the calamities in which Georgia has been involved by the frequent invasions of the Persians and other barbarians, account for the slow progress of learning. During the reign of Heraclius [king Erekle II of kartli-Kakheti, late 18th century] a new grammar was composed, which is still in use. Several classic works were also translated, and various schools established...  

Although the Georgian weddings are similar to the Russian, as far as regards the religious ceremony, they differ in other respects, particularly among the nobility. The marriages in this class are always contracted with a view to family interests, and very rarely through love and esteem. It was formerly the custom for the parents to betroth their children from the cradle, and their union often took place at so early an age, that the united years of the bride and bridegroom did not amount to twenty-four. It was by this means that the unhappy parents eluded the tribute both of girls and boys whom the Tzars of Georgia were obliged to send to the Mahometans [Muslims] when they were tributary to them. 

Another indispensable part of the etiquette was, that the betrothed persons should not have previously seen each other, a custom which, since their intercourse with the Russians, is not so much adhered to. The ceremony to which I alluded above, however, remains unchanged, such being the attachment of these people to their ancient customs.

The bride proceeds to the church covered with a thick veil, in which are two holes for the eyes, and the bridegroom leads her by the hand to the altar with the anxiety natural to one who has not the remotest idea of the physical or moral qualities of his bride. 

When the religious ceremony is concluded, they are conducted to the house of the girl's parents, amidst the firing of musketry, where the couple are placed in the middle of a saloon, the bride still covered with her veil; and all their friends sit around them, for several hours remaining in the same attitude, without uttering a single word, or taking any refreshment; whilst the bride and bridegroom, by their immobility, appear more like two figures on an altar than two human beings, the latter probably praying Heaven for a favourable denouement of this matrimonial drama. After this long penance, the bridesmaid lifts up the veil of the bride. It may be easily conceived the different impressions which this act must produce in the bridegroom, who, however, folds his wife in his arms, of course more than once, if his prayer has been listened to; and thus often love begins where etiquette ends.

Soon after my arrival at Teflis, General [Akhverdov], commandant of the artillery of the Georgian army, whose house I had much frequented, died in the flower of his age. Although I have always been of opinion, that some better means than funeral processions and parade might be devised to evince our regret for the loss of those we love and esteem, the friendly terms on which I had been with the family obliged me to accept an invitation to attend the funeral. 

I therefore repaired to the house of General [Akhverdov] at the appointed hour, where I found the body lying in state. The officers most attached to him acted as pall-bearers, and the military ceremony was in every respect similar to that used in Europe; but immediately after the corpse, the widow and children of the deceased advanced on foot in deep mourning. On our arrival at the church, [the widow] was led to the steps of the funeral monument raised in the middle of the church, where she remained during the long Greek requiem, offering the most afflicting spectacle imaginable ; and, as if this were not sufficient, the wretched lady and her children were conducted to the top of the monument, to take their last farewell of the mortal remains deposited in the coffin. The scene of distress which followed was of a truly heart-rending nature.

The Georgians observe the same rites in their funerals as the Russians; but some of their ceremonies differ. Thus the horse of the deceased (and there are very few men in Asia who do not possess a horse) always precedes the corpse, carrying the saddle invertedly. Behind the coffin come his relations, bearing his arms lowered almost to the earth ; and in the rear follow his whole family, mother, wife, brothers, sisters, and children, uttering at every moment the most lamentable cries.

In the church the women remain prostrate on the coffin for several hours, and immediately after the interment the funeral procession returns to the house in the same order as before. The men then withdraw, and the women seat themselves on the ground around the widow, all observing the most profound silence ; until one of those who is reputed the most eloquent among them, enumerates at intervals some of the good qualities that adorned the deceased, when the clamorous lamentations, groans, shrieks, and tears commence. The widow, whether she be inclined or not, scratches her face, tears her hair, and does all in her power to disfigure herself. This ceremony is repeated every day for several hours during the space of six weeks ; and thus the disconsolate relict undergoes a Lent of affliction. What artifices must be resorted to in order to cause their tears to flow for such a length of time ! But absurd as is the custom, it is very difficult to alter the usage here detailed.

In some of the provinces of the Caucasus, where the Christian religion is not professed, the same custom is observed. Our surprise, however, lessens respecting these long and weeping mourning, when we are informed that the women in this country are not allowed to marry a second time; for when they do so, they bring upon themselves the execration of their friends: a custom which is perhaps no less absurd than the former.

Juan Van Halen y Sarti, Memoirs of Don Juan van Halen (1828) - Part 4

Juan Van Halen y Sarti (1788 – 1864) was a Spanish military officer and adventurer who had a rather colorful life. During the Peninsular War (1808-1813) he initially supported the French and served King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, helping him escape to France in 1813. He then defected to the Spanish side but was investigated for his role during the war and sentenced to death. In 1817, he avoided death by escaping from prison and fleeing to Russia, where he was accepted into the military service and appointed a colonel in the Kavkazskii Dragoon Regiment deployed in Georgia. In 1819, Van Halen traveled to Georgia where he stayed for over a year and served under the leadership of General Alexey Yermolov. In 1821 Van Halen returned to Spain to support the revolutionaries who rebelled against King Ferdinand VII. After the revolution failed, Van Halen had to flee once again, traveling to the Caribbean. In 1830, he returned to Europe supporting the Belgian revolutionaries against the Dutch monarchy. After the new kingdom of Belgium was established, he moved to the Iberian Peninsula where he first supported Portuguese Liberals against King Miguel I and then fought against the Carlists during the First Carlist Wars in Spain. 

Van Halen died in El Puerto de Santa María (Cadiz, Spain), at the age of 76, in 1864.

In the late 1820s, Van Halen wrote (in Spanish) an interesting memoir describing his imprisonment in Spain in 1817-1818 and later service in the Caucasus in 1819-1821. The memoir was later translated into English and published in London in 1830.

The baths of Tiflis are situated at the eastern extremity of the city, at the foot of hill, and on the road leading to the southern provinces. The hot springs pour through the rocks into the baths, and are considered an excellent specific for rheumatic complaints, and for certain kinds of wounds. They serve likewise for the continual ablutions to which the Georgians, like all the Asiatics, are accustomed. The heat of these baths is from 12 to 50 degrees of Reaumur. The sulphureous smells which those from 30° to 40° emit, render them very unpleasant, those used for common purposes being from 12° upwards. They are open to the public night and day, through the whole week, except on Saturdays, when they are generally engaged by the Georgian women.

The basins for bathing are cut near the rock, and underneath the pipes through which the water flows. The baths are divided into three or four grottoes, each of a different temperature, and only one of which admits a little light through a small sky-light in the vault, which is constructed of brick, in the Arabian manner. The baths for the men are exclusively served by Tartars, who are accustomed to this kind of service.

When a person arrives at the bath, one of the Tartars conducts him to a platform covered with carpet, where he undresses previous to his entering the bath. At the door of the second grotto he is met by another Tartar, who, like all those employed in the interior of these dark vaults, which are scarcely lighted by the feeble glimmerings of a few lamps, is in a state of nature. Here he may be said to receive a vapour-bath, produced by the steam issuing from the hot springs. On his arriving at the entrance of the bathing grotto, a stranger is obliged to carry on his conversation by signs, as very few can make themselves understood by these men. The repeated process of compressing the body, twisting the limbs, making the joints play, and handling one like a sponge, &c. which then commences, has been so frequently described, that I will pass it over in silence, remarking only, that two hours after these ablutions, one feels an extraordinary improvement in the whole frame.

The women, especially those of the higher class, were formerly in the habit of spending four-and-twenty hours in these vaults; but now they only remain here during a few hours, though the whole of Saturday the baths are exclusively engaged for them. Besides bathing, the Georgian women make here their toilet, seated on Carpets brought by their attendants. Both old and young make use of a pomatum prepared by themselves, by means of which they preserve the colour of their hair, especially those of an advanced age. They also paint and varnish their faces with red and white, and their nails with yellow, whilst they tease themselves with endeavouring to make their eyebrows meet, which, in this country, is considered as essential to beauty.

When their toilet is ended, they lie down to sleep; and, on awakening, are served with various refreshments, chiefly consisting of fruits and preserves. Formerly, they never uncovered their faces before a stranger ; but at present that custom is so far abolished, that, though they still shew some shyness, they only veil whilst travelling, when they invariably ride astride on horse back, entirely dressed in white, and preceded by a running footman, who is armed with a stick.

On Sundays, the families assemble in the evening, which they chiefly spend in dancing, the ladies always by themselves, and in couples, the various attitudes they use being too wanton to permit the men to take a part in the dances, without, in some measure, transgressing the rules prescribed by decorum. There is some resemblance between these and the national dances of Andalusia, although the music of the former chiefly consists of timbrels and tambourines, and sometimes of a harp.

With respect to the beauty of the Georgian women, it differs according to the various provinces ; but those who are best entitled to the celebrity they enjoy for personal attractions, inhabit the country about the Caucasus. According to the opinion of persons who have had the opportunity of estimating their mental qualities, the Georgian women are endowed with lively imaginations, generous feelings, and vehement passions ; and, as most of the defects in their character arise more from habit and want of education than from nature, the improvement which they are daily making in the former will quickly cause them to disappear.

In Georgia, prostitution and adultery are almost unknown, though there still exists a custom among the lower class for the parents to give their daughters, for a small sum of money, to those who wish to live with them ; but, as this is done through the intervention of the police, this sort of commerce becomes, in some measure, legal, and prevents the children born under these circumstances from being abandoned.

The women, during the time they are thus united, observe the utmost fidelity, and are as careful and economical in their household concerns, as if they were linked to their companions by more binding ties. From the moment the parents have resigned their daughters, they have no further control over them, nor can they see them but with the permission of the temporary husband, or when they are called to take them back. As the man who forms this kind of connection must give a pecuniary guarantee to the police, if he wishes his children to be placed in the asylum for orphans rather than take charge of them, they become, from the moment of their birth, children of the government, who not only educate, but afterwards give them a profession analogous to their dispositions.

The Georgians of the lower class do not scruple to marry women who may have been thus living with other men ; and when they possess them and their dowry, their jealousy is such, that it surpasses all that is said of the ancient Spaniards. Generally speaking, the Georgian women, whether mistresses or wives, have such a strong attachment for the object of their affection, no matter what his age or personal appearance may be, that they look upon infidelity with the greatest horror.

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Narrative of the Embassy... (1406)

Ruy González de Clavijo (died 2 April 1412) was a Castilian traveller and writer, who, in 1403-1406, served as the ambassador of King Henry III of Castile to the court of Timur (Tamerlane). He kept a diary of the journey which he published in Spanish in 1582; an English translation was first prepared in 1859 and entitled "Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand AD 1403-6." Clavijo's account provides numerous interesting insights on the court of Timur but, unfortunately, contains only several brief references to Georgia.

"The Georgians are fine handsome men, and their religion is the same as that of the Greeks, but they have a different language."

"At this time the king of Georgia rebelled, and entered the land of Aumian and of Asseron [Erzerum], in Armenia, marching towards the city of Tabreez [Tabriz], and burning the villages, causing great terror amongst the people. The lord sent one of his knights, named Omar Toban, with six thousand cavalry, to this frontier, and ordered the people of Tabreez to join him, who made up a body of fifteen thousand cavalry. They marched out of Tabreez, and took up a position on the plains of Alatoa. The [Georgian] king, when he knew this, attacked them in the night, and defeated them with great slaughter, and those who escaped, fled to Tabreez. The noise and terror amongst the Moors of that city were great, and they were ashamed that the Kafirs should have conquered the Mussulmans, for they call the Christians by the name of Kafirs, meaning a people without laws; and Mussulman means those of the chosen and good law. Others said that this would not have happened if their lord had any luck, but that the fortunate Timour Beg was now dead." 

Théodore Leblanc, Croquis... (1833)

In 1828-1831, French painter Théodore Leblanc (1800-1837) traveled to Greece and the Levant where he produced a few dozen drawings from nature. He has a very peculiar style of drawing but it conveys certain intensity. Almost all of his drawings portray scenes from the Greek War of Independence but interestingly there is one drawing of a Georgian prince that he seems to have stumbled across during his travels. Unfortunately, it is unclear who the prince was... 

For more of Leblanc's drawings see his Croquis d' après nature faits pendat trois ans de sejour en Grèce et dans le Levant (Paris, Gihaut, 1833).

William Ainsworh, All Round the World (1870)

Views of Georgia in William Francis Ainsworth, All round the world: an illustrated record of voyages, travels and adventures in all parts of the globe. With two hundred illustrations, vol. Ι, London – Glasgow, W. Collins, 1870.

Friedrich Parrot, Journey to Ararat (1829) - Part 1

Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot (1791 - 1841) was a German naturalist and traveller, who spent much of his life in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Karlsruhe, Parrot studied medicine and natural science at the University of Dorpat and took part in several scholarly expeditions to the Crimea and the Caucasus in the 1810s. In 1816-1817 he traveled to Italy and Spain and upon return to Russia, became professor of physiology and pathology (and later professor of physics) at the University of Dorpat. In 1828-1829 Parrot traveled to south Caucasia, spending considerable time exploring Eastern Georgia and Armenia. During this expedition, he led a scientific expedition to the summit of Mount Ararat. He later published his account of the expedition entitled "Journey to Ararat."  

To hear of Tiflis, or to have visited Tiflis, never fails in Europe to excite a degree of interest, which seems neither to be justified by distance, nor any other striking peculiarity which that city possesses; an interest, too, which is so much the more extraordinary, since every stranger in Tiflis is so sure to express himself in the language of discontent, that it becomes at last inconceivable why every other foreigner is not deterred from venturing to visit such a place.

There is no doubt that Tiflis, both from its geographical and local position, would be one of the most delightful spots upon the earth, were it not that the mountains among which it lies, and which might otherwise contribute the most to render it agreeable, are totally divested of wood, and consequently deprived of those natural treasures, fertilizing and cooling rivers and fountains; for, if we except the flows from one of the western valleys between the warm mineral springs till it joins the Kur [Kura/Mtkvari], there is only one poor rivulet, which trickles down from the Narikaleh [Narikala], or rock-mountain, on the south side of the city, and distributes its scanty store to the vineyards in the town, into which it is only permitted to be turned for an hour or so under the superintendence of the police. The mountains about Tiflis are accordingly of no other use than to concentrate the rays of the sun, which would otherwise be kept off by the cool winds from the north and east, and give rise to those fiery blasts in the valleys, which strike the inhabitants like the air from a furnace, and, in all likelihood, occasion those diseases of the biliary organs which are endemic in the sultry districts of Georgia and Armenia.

The personal beauty of the Georgians would naturally attract the attention of Europeans, and secure a lively interest in their favour, if their intellectual condition were only in keeping with their outward bearing. The Georgian would win the esteem of all the world did he but unite with the symmetry of his person and the energy of his character a taste for useful occupation, and the laudable improvement of the faculties of his mind; while the women of Georgia would be admitted on all hands to have a just claim to the possession of the highest order of female loveliness, did they not prematurely impair the advantages which. nature has so lavishly bestowed upon them by the immoderate use of cosmetics, of apparel prejudicial to their health, and by their reckless licentiousness, instead of directing their thoughts to the regulation of their households, to economy, cleanliness, the education of their children, and the other duties proper to their sex.

It must be confessed that in this, as in all other cases, some praiseworthy exceptions will be found; but I only speak here of the general impressions which are made by Georgian society upon a stranger, and am therefore obliged to aver that there is a total want of industry, activity, and domestic feeling everywhere apparent; and though cleanliness and love of order have, in a few instances, gained a footing among the higher class, it is yet only as objects of imitation and luxury, not of necessity and habit.

The venerable existence of Tiflis in an Oriental form gives it another claim upon the sympathy of Europeans, when we reflect that it has found means to maintain its nationality, by an enormous expenditure of life, for 2000 years, against the Persians, Turks, and Caucasians; and it is only now, and by friendly intercourse with strangers, that that independence is threatened which hitherto has baffled the utmost efforts of Mohammedan and Pagan. Notwithstanding the presence and example of numerous strangers from Russia, Germany, and France, the Georgian still adheres to his own primitive agricultural implements, and defective system of cultivation in the field, the vineyard, and the garden. He is not even so far advanced in the construction of his mills as to supply himself with a good quality of flour: this has to be procured from the Russians. His antiquated wheel-carriages are still as clumsy and rude as they were in the Golden Age. He still, as of old, shaves off all the hair from his head, which he covers, when he goes into the broiling sun, with a heavy cap of sheepskin, well calculated, when aided by excesses in the use of wine, to produce a constant determination of blood to the brain. The native of Tiflis still makes it a daily practice to indulge, as of old, in the use of his disgustingly filthy sulphureous warm bath, where he exposes his body for hours to the heating and enervating influence of the vapour.

Yet all this is national and sanctioned by immemorial usage. What are we to think, though, of the merchant of Tiflis, with his stiff collar and Oriental robes? What of a coquetish Georgian lady, with a French capote instead of the veil of the olden time? Why must the houses of Tiflis, with their well-contrived flat roofs of clay, overgrown with weeds, to which the city is indebted for immunity from fires—though, even here, a violent storm of lightning, occurring during the height of the summer, will occasionally set the dry grass upon the housetops in a blaze—why, I ask, should this roof of the southern Asiatic, the place of his recreation and exercise, give place to the high, sloped tiling of the North? 

But the Georgian will one day have to deplore the total downfall of Georgian customs, under the influence of modern refinement; the main cause of all which changes must be sought in this truth, that no characteristics of a people, unless founded on pure religious feelings, can ever draw down a permanent blessing, or command respect; and this is the basis which the Georgian nationality has failed to establish.

Cesare Vecellio, Habiti antichi et moderni (1590)

Cesare Vecellio (c. 1530-1601) was Italian painter and engraver, who was a cousin of the great Titian. In 1548, he accompanied Titian to Augsburg where he worked as his assistant. In 1590 Vecellio published a remarkable book -  "Costumes anciens et modernes Habiti antichi et moderni di tutto il Mondo" containing drawings of about six hundred male and female costumes, mainly from Europe but also from Asia and Africa. Although the drawings often feature fictitious, or completely imaginary, elements, they are still very interesting for what they reveal about European perceptions of the peoples and cultures. Among these drawings is one showing Georgians.

Juan Van Halen y Sarti, Memoirs of Don Juan van Halen (1828) - Part 3

Juan Van Halen y Sarti (1788 – 1864) was a Spanish military officer and adventurer who had a rather colorful life. During the Peninsular War (1808-1813) he initially supported the French and served King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, helping him escape to France in 1813. He then defected to the Spanish side but was investigated for his role during the war and sentenced to death. In 1817, he avoided death by escaping from prison and fleeing to Russia, where he was accepted into the military service and appointed a colonel in the Kavkazskii Dragoon Regiment deployed in Georgia. In 1819, Van Halen traveled to Georgia where he stayed for over a year and served under the leadership of General Alexey Yermolov. In 1821 Van Halen returned to Spain to support the revolutionaries who rebelled against King Ferdinand VII. After the revolution failed, Van Halen had to flee once again, traveling to the Caribbean. In 1830, he returned to Europe supporting the Belgian revolutionaries against the Dutch monarchy. After the new kingdom of Belgium was established, he moved to the Iberian Peninsula where he first supported Portuguese Liberals against King Miguel I and then fought against the Carlists during the First Carlist Wars in Spain. 

Van Halen died in El Puerto de Santa María (Cadiz, Spain), at the age of 76, in 1864.

In the late 1820s, Van Halen wrote (in Spanish) an interesting memoir describing his imprisonment in Spain in 1817-1818 and later service in the Caucasus in 1819-1821. The memoir was later translated into English and published in London in 1830.

The costume of these various provinces differs but little. They all wear very wide trousers, two short tunics, the under one always of some bright colour, and the other of cloth, either blue or of a darker hue, the sleeves of which are very wide and open from the wrist to the elbow, and which, when thrown across over the shoulders, is considered among them as a signal for combat. A cap of black lambskin of Astrakhan, with a small crown of red cloth, and boots with long pointed toes, complete their attire. The Tartars, like the rest of the Mahometans [Muslims], are distinguished from the Christians and Armenians by their long beards, which they preserve with a fanatical zeal, and by the top of their cap being turned inside. All make use of the bourka, tied round the neck with a handkerchief, and which is the only winter covering known here.

The character of the Armenians, particularly of those who devote themselves to commerce, is not considered by the Georgians as the most exalted. Always calculating, and engaged in speculations, they would sooner bear with a thousand outrages than with the loss of an ounce of cotton ; but the government may safely reckon on them for any useful enterprise by which their commerce or industry is likely to benefit. In this case they are always ready with their loans.

The Georgians, on the contrary, cherishing the remembrance of the exploits which maintained them as an independent nation, are passionately fond of the profession of arms, and enthusiastic for every thing that is heroical and sublime. Their ballads, which are full of extravagant hyperboles, and fanfaronades on their national valour, contribute to keep alive their love for war, in which, like the rest of the Asiatics, personal courage is considered as the supreme virtue, a notion which they derive from the sort of guerilla warfare which they have hitherto pursued. 

The Georgians wear linen like the Europeans, especially since their intercourse with them. In general, they are tall and well-proportioned; have regular features, dark complexions, and black and expressive eyes. It would be difficult to find throughout Georgia a real native with light hair or blue eyes. 

There is a degree of haughtiness in their carriage and ostentation in their manners, which are not unbecoming men who are certainly capable of the greatest sacrifices; but they are treacherous and deceitful when once offended. They are greatly distinguished from the Armenians by their strong passions, which also render their countenances more animated.

The Tartars wear taffeta shirts, almost always of a red colour, and which they change only once a year, a circumstance which, notwithstanding their continual ablutions, must give a tolerable idea of their uncleanliness. They are generally very corpulent, have dark eyes, and their complexion is nearly a copper colour. They are serious and circumspect in their demeanour, valiant without boasting, industrious, and hospitable. They love war as a hunting expedition, and are as well suited for a rapid excursion as unfit for a slow and continued enterprise.

The general-in-chief [General Alexey Yermolov], well aware of the peculiar character of each of these nations, and wishing to give to it the greatest development possible, removed all the obstacles which obstructed the commerce of the Armenians, and - thus increased the public prosperity. He excited the noble ambition of the Georgian youth, by employing near his person and admitting into his army a great number of native officers who had conducted themselves honourably, and who deserved his confidence. And lastly, he imparted to the warlike character of the Tartars all the steadiness of which it is susceptible, by organizing their contingents in as regular a manner as the natural hatred of every Mahometan [Muslim] for discipline permitted.

The Khans, accustomed, by long abuse of power, to exercise in their provinces all species of tyranny, strove as much as was in their power to impede the uniform march and thwart the organization of the government of Tiflis; but the authors of these disorders, far from succeeding in their attempts, were quickly obliged to fly to another soil. The inhabitants of those provinces, however, being too well satisfied with this kind of administration, and having less tribute to pay when they depend on the authority of a military governor, are never very much inclined to second the continual endeavors of Persia or of the fugitive Khans to excite them to rebellion.

The enlightened policy of the government of Teflis, and the probity, firmness, and well-known prudence of General Yermolow, may very justly be said to have conquered the obstinacy of every party, and succeeded in uniting both Christians and Mussulmans under the same power and standard.

Emin Joseph Emin, Life and Adventures of Emin Joseph Emin (1792)

Joseph Emin (1726 - 1809) was an Armenian merchant and writer who spent most of his life trying to achieve the liberation of Armenia. 

Born into an Armenian merchant family in Iran, he followed in his father's footsteps in pursuing a career in trade. In 1744 Emin moved to India where he settled in Calcutta and successfully traded across much of Western Asia. 

An Armenian patriot, he desired to see his compatriots free from the Iranian and Ottoman yoke. While in Calcutta that Emin came into direct contact with the British and embraced European way of life. He was convinced that the Armenian path to freedom lay in the pursuit of Western education and practices. 

To facilitate this process, Emin travelled to Europe throughout the 1750s and 1760s, seeking support for the liberation of Armenia.  While in Britain, Emin befriended Lord Northumberland and other aristocrats, and, with their help, was admitted to the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. After graduating, he briefly served in the British army during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) in order to gain practical experience. 

Emin left Britain in 1759. He first visited Prussia, where he tried to secure Frederick the Great's support, before proceeding to Eastern Anatolia, where he intended to launch a movement to liberate Armenia. He visited the courts of the Armenian meliks of Karabagh and King Erekle II [Heraclius] of Kartli-Kakheti, seeking their support for his liberation plans. But neither party supported him at the time. So in 1761 Emin returned to Europe where he spent two more years trying to get support, including contacting the Russian imperial court. Emin's dream was to establish an independent kingdom of Armenia in alliance with Georgia and under Russian protection. 

In 1763 Emin returned to Georgia and met King Erekle II whom he urged to support Armenian liberation. Unable to convince the king, Emin travelled to the North Caucasus where spent four years among the tribes of Daghestan. 

In 1767, he traveled to Karabagh and Zangezur to incite a rebellion but could not overcome Armenian Catholicos Simeon who was staunchly opposed to any rebellion and refused to provide any support for Emin's schemes. Thus, Emin once again chose to solicit King Erekle's support. After another failed attempt at the Georgian court in 1767-1768, Emin decided to return to India and he spent years trying to convince Armenian merchant communities in India and Iran to raise funds for the Armenian liberation movement. Yet again, he failed again. 

Bitterly disillusioned, Emin remained in India for the rest of his life, and devoted his time and energy to keeping the idea of the liberation of Armenia alive. He wrote, in English, his two-volume autobiography where he described his numerous adventures. Entitled "Life and Adventures of Joseph Emin, 1726-1809," the book was first published in London in 1792 and was later expanded (with Emin's letters) and reprinted by Emin's great granddaughter in Calcutta in 1918.

In his autobiography (written in third person), Emin devoted several chapters to discussing his visits to the Georgian court, meetings with King Erekle and interactions with the Georgian nobility. He has little good to say about the Georgians, frequently accusing them of treachery and cowardice, and comparing them unfavorably to other peoples, above all the Armenians. Below is the passage from the book describing a battle between the raiding Lezgin party and the Georgian troops led by King Erekle II in 1767.

It was then the beginning of autumn [1767]; and, in the latter end of December, Shaverdy Khan of Ganja began again his undermining politics, writing letters to the Lazguis [Lezgins, residing in present-day Daghestan] for troops to reduce the great tribe of Shamsadin, who had put themselves under the prince’s protection; but Heraclius [Erekle II], fearing some ill consequence, sent five hundred Georgian horse[men] to Ganja, in order to keep the khan quiet. He, not minding them much, laid a scheme, on the arrival of the Lazguis, to put them all to the sword in cold blood. Since the Shamsadin tribe, like others, was divided into two parties, one for the prince, and the other for the khan, one party would have joined to put the design into execution; but, luckily for the Georgians, a young Armenian mountaineer, a new apostate to the Mohamedan faith, had been a few days before made a servant to Shaverdy; who being in bed and asleep, the young man, not contented with his new religion, took the gun hanging in the same room, and shot the khan to death, which ended all the mischief, and saved the lives of many thousands. The young man was put to the sword by the khan’s son, called Agajar Beg ; and from that time Ganja by degrees became a province under Heraclius.

[...]

It may not be improper to recapitulate here three remarkable circumstances in regard to the Armenian nation, which were of service to Heraclius. The first was, David his subject, discovering the horrid conspiracy of thirty-two Georgian noblemen, headed by Heraclius’s own uncle by his mother’s side, Prince Pala; the second, that Emin, when commanding the Lazguis, discomposed Shaverdy Khan’s government, by freeing the Colan Curd tribe mentioned before; the third, that the young mountaineer put an end to the khan’s life, when he was near recovering his dominions from disorder, and preparing to overset the prince’s power, who being just on the brink of downfall, was fortunately saved from one of his greatest rivals.

The Armenian merchants or tradesmen of Tiflis have served the prince and his family, on all occasions, with troops, money, quarters, provisions, and forage, for forty years last past, most truly and affectionately; yet the prince [Erekle II] was never mindful of them, nor showed them any regard. Emin cannot in conscience blame the poor prince on that head; he is rather to be pitied; since the force of his religion, and the holy ministers of the sacred Greek church, being predominant in his mind, he was not endowed with probity sufficient to shake off its spiritual influence; not resembling those great-souled heroes, who disdained partiality, and rewarded merit wherever it was found. Such has been the chief curse to some Christian powers, for the vengeance of the Almighty falling upon them, when Mahomed mounted on a camel from Arabia came to scourge them; and they are treated with indignity by all nations.

Emin, from day to day, flattered himself, through the smooth words of the prince, that he would assist him, by giving the command of a detachment to him. In this manner full nine months passed; but Heraclius could not afford to bestow on him a single abasy, nor any thing else, except half a Tabriz maund, or pound, of bread, (little ‘more than three English penny loaves,) half a maund of mutton, and half a maund of weak wine, for the allowance of two hungry persons. Emin and his relation Mussess, who through necessity were thankful for being taught economy by His Highness. Emin did not much mind it, having inured himself to living by that rule all his lifetime. Poor Mussess persevered as well as he could; but it must be supposed that he sufiered greatly. This way of victualling was on feast days; but on fast days they had no more than half a maund of bread and half a maund of wine: for the Armenians feast six months in the year, and fast six months without eating either fish or flesh. Those who can afford it, may have all sorts of fruits, fine olives, and pilau with oil; but God help those that are poor; they can enjoy nothing. In any part of Armenia they may have plenty of fruits, but not at Tiflis where everything is proportionably dear; it being in some sort a metropolis. 

In one of the last battles against the Lazguis, in the depth of winter, they were no more than a hundred men, each having an Emeral: the Lazghis were commanded by Michael the Centurion, an Armenian by birth, who had been taken captive when an infant, and brought up in Daghestan. This brave man happened to be one of the captains of the Lazguis sent to Solomon, prince of Emeral, as auxiliary troops. He came from Daghestan, joined his troops, and defeated 4o,ooo Turks and Dadians [?] belonging to a petty Georgian prince of the Turks party, whose country the Lazguis ruined and took slaves for their pay, to the number of one hundred, chiefly females. Others, more prudent, staid where they were, in Emeral Georgia, till the melting of the snow, knowing that prince Heraclius would not keep his covenant, made when they were invited by his son-in-law prince Archil, brother to Prince ‘Solomon. 

But this Michael being originally an Armenian, and credulous by nature, trusted to prince Heraclius’s honour, who having intelligence before of his intention to march through the snow on the Plain of Samigory (or the Three Miles) lay in his way near a forest, half a mile’s distance from the river Chabry, one the branches of the Cur. There he remained a fortnight, with four thousand chosen Georgians, cavalry and infantry. In the afternoon the Georgian sentries brought word that the Lazguis were coming, upon which every man mounted readily, but without any order, making a confused effeminate noise, with the sound of a long "i", as far as their breath could go. 

The Lazguis not apprized of the prince’s hostile intention, took it to be a hunting party. Before they came up, prince Heraclius’s eshikagesies, or aides-du-camp, said to Emin, “It is his Highness’s express command that you go out of his band to charge the enemy before.” 

[Emin] instantly obeyed, spurring and whipping his horse; but he was hardly gone ten yards, when the Georgians began firing behind him, and the Lazguis scarce fifty yards from him in front; so that he was between two fires, both taking aim at him. The Lazguis took him to be a Georgian, and the Georgians were glad of the opportunity to make an end of a poor single Armenian, whose great faith was his armour and shield. [Emin] called upon God, and rushed through the enemy without being hurt, so that he went round and stood at some distance to see the operation. While he was between, those two savages fired balls that flew close to his ears, and killed fifty Georgians, with some men of note, and as many of the Lazguis. 

Being opposite, Emin then fell upon them sword in hand, surprising them in close quarter; while the Lazguis, fighting like tigers, laughed and spit in the Georgians faces, calling them treacherous Caffirs [Infidels], for not keeping true to their word. Michael the Centurion signalized himself in a most surprising manner, as he was surrounded by three hundred Georgians for his share, and firing his piece, he killed one first, and not having time enough to load again, he clubbed it, and holding it by the muzzle, fell among the Georgians, and knocked down six or seven of them. When his firelock was broken, he drew his sword, and with his dagger in his left hand, defended himself, fighting and calling Heraclius by all manner of bad names. The prince took care to go upon a high eminence. Michael received nine balls through his body before he fell, pronouncing, "Lallah, Ilalah, etc."; then he laid himself down with as much composure as if he was going to sleep, and with his right hand under his head, looked as fresh as a rose. 

The Georgians behaved like savages; for when [Michael] was dead and gone, some of them came and took his head off, some his hands, some his feet, and others ripped open his chest to see his heart, which was amazingly large, and his liver was as black as jet; which puts me in mind of an expression of the sailors as a rebuke to a cowardly man, "Go your way, you white-livered fellow!" The appellation signifies that a black liver belongs to a brave man. When his son was taken he said that his father was seventy-two years of age. 

Forty of the Lazguis fought retreating composedly till they got to the top of an eminence, the ground being soft and mixed chiefly with saltpetre. In five minutes they dug holes with their daggers deep enough to entrench themselves; in the mean time the whole army of Georgians formed a circle round them. The Lazguis fought desperately. When any of them had exhausted his ammunition, he left his post, drew his sword, or clubbed his firelock like Hercules, came out of the entrenchment, rushed among the Georgians, and fought till he was destroyed. This continued till eleven o’clock at night, when the snow began to fall very thick, each flake being as big as an English shilling. Both sides were tired, partly by the cold, partly by the fatigue; those left in the entrenchment having no more powder or ball, cried out, Barish! (or peace,) on condition that the prince would grant quarter, and not molest them, to which his Highness consented; but after they came out, they were stripped stark naked; and after the army had marched back to the camp seventeen of them were put to the sword, and three only left, whom the prince ordered to receive a Tabriz maund of flour for four or five days journey, through snow half a yard deep, to the foot of Daghestan. 

Among them an Armenian boy, sixteen years of age, was taken prisoner and preserved. Emin had the curiosity to ask him, “Who were those twenty-four men among the dead, and not circumcised?” He said, “They are Armenians, brought from Armenia when children, and brought up as Lazguis in Daghestan; for the Lazguis seldom sell the Armenian boys to the Turks as they do the Georgians. The Armenian infants brought up by the Lazguis, turn out brave, and faithful to their masters; whereas the Georgians are not so, but false and treacherous. There is no occasion to say more; you have been in Daghestan, where you hardly saw a Georgian male slave made free, as we emancipate the Armenians, who live there like princes, and when they descend from Daghestan into Georgia for plunder, a few of them stand against thousands of Georgians. You have seen a proof of their behavior to-day, by Michael our leader; who, trusting to Heraclius’s false word, lost his life bravely." Emin then said, “Why did not those Lazguis keep the grown men and women as well as the children?” Then he said, “O, good Sir, how can you be so ignorant of the world. The Armenians will never turn Mahomedans, if they were cut to pieces; nor are their women so beautiful as the Georgians; and in their slavery they are most unhappy; they are therefore ransomed by their own countrymen, and become free again.”

That very night [King Erekle II] asked Emin the reason of his not bringing the heads of two Lazguis, which, as he had been told, he killed in the action. Emin swore by his honour that it was not true; and declared honestly, that he did not even fire his piece at them; when he had an opportunity, showing the pan of it to the prince, that it was fresh and the muzzle not at all dirty. The prince said, “ Why so, my, Emin Agha?" Emin said, “May it please your Highness, they are my best friends. I have been treated by them like their own eyes, as it is known to all men; it would be dastardly for any man of the least principle, to hurt his friends without provocation; especially as it is against the law of nations, to attack these brave men who were called at the desire of prince Solomon and your son-in-law prince Archil his brother, and became the chief instruments of rescuing their principalities out of the hands of the cruel Turks.”

 The prince, at this reasonable answer, hung his head, and after casting his eyes five minutes on the ground, said to him, “May God reward you according to your heart!”