Pietro della Valle, "An Account of Georgia," (1627) - Part 1

Pietro della Valle (1586–1652) was an Italian Renaissance traveler who left detailed accounts of Georgia and the Georgian communities in Persia. He was born into a distinguished noble family in Rome and received a thorough education in the arts and sciences. In 1611, he participated in the Spanish expedition against the pirates on the Barbary coast and later visited the Holy Land in 1614–1616. On his return journey, he decided to continue his travels and joined a caravan traveling to Persia, where he offered his services against the Ottomans to Shah Abbas. He spent the next five years in Persia before returning with his Georgian wife to Italy. Della Vale wrote a series of letters to a friend in Naples, which remains one of the best sources on 17th-century Persia. Besides his descriptions of Persian society and culture, he also left detailed observations on the Georgians living in Persia and seemed to have been impressed by their personal qualities, courage, and civilized courtesy. His notes contain information on the plight of the Georgian royal family in Persia and on the composition and arms of the Georgian forces in battle.

In 1627 Pietro della Valle presented the following account of Georgia to His Holiness Pope Urban VIII. I used the 18th century English translation and French edition of Voyages de Pietro Della Valle, gentilhomme romain dans la Turquie, l'Egypte, la Palestine, la Perse, les Indes Orientales, et autres lieux (Paris, 1745), VIII, 375ff.

The country, which is at present called Georgia, comprises all that known to the ancients under the names of Colchis and Iberia, with part of Armenia, and possibly of Albania. This tract, according to Strabo, includes the country of the Muscovites, for it extends in length from the most eastern extremity of the Pont-Euxin [Black Sea], where it begins, to the Caspian Sea; it has towards the east only a small maritime district of Albania, belonging at this time to the King of Persia; in which are situated the cities of Backu and Derbent, called by the Turks, Demircapi, which means the Iron Gates, and descending a little towards the south, a small portion of Scirvan [Shirvan], the capital of which is Schamachi [Şamaxı / Shemakhi], apparently a part of the ancient Media Atropatenis. A little towards the west Georgia is bounded by the Black sea. North of it are the Caspian mountains, branching from mount Caucasus and stretching from one sea to the other, inhabited at this time by certain barbarians and thieves, called Lezghi or Legzi, mostly Mahometans [Muslims], and some very possibly still idolaters or atheists. It is not improbable they may be the Soani or Phthirophages mentioned by Strabo. Finally, towards the south it has for boundary that part of Armenia bordering on Media, and lower down on the most western side, towards Trebisond, if I not mistaken, some part of Cappadocia.

The whole of this country, throughout which the same language is common to all the inhabitants, whom we call Georgians and who call themselves Carduel [Kartvel] was governed formerly, according to their account, by one king until he divided his dominions among his four children, all of whom he made sovereign princes. With the eldest, however, to whom he gave the middle and better portion of the division, he left a certain preeminence above the others, whence this prince is even, now respected by all the rest, is considered as the elder branch, and is honoured by the title of Mepet Mepe, which means King of Kings, the other princes taking the style of Princes of Georgia only.

The number of Princes at this time is six; for in addition to the four of royal blood  mentioned before, there are two others, who were chief ministers of the Mepet Mepe, and governors of two considerable portions of his dominions on the Black Sea, who revolting, seized upon and made themselves absolute lords of the provinces they governed. Acquiring in process of time, authority and reputation, they not only rose to an equality, but formed an alliance with the others. At present they are all upon an equal footing, and frequently intermarry; remembrance is however yet kept up of the distinction of the Mepet Mepe, for when he mounts his horse, the two princes formerly his vassals and ministers, when by, are wont to hold the one the bridle the other the stirrup as an acknowlegement of his sovereignty. As to the division of the country since its partition into six distinct Sovereignties, the Mepet Mepe is lord of a dominion in the centre of Georgia, called in the language of the country Imeriti [Imereti], the innermost, the strongest part of the whole, and undoubtedly the Iberia of the ancients. The name of the reigning Prince of this part is Ghiorghi or George [during della Valle's visit Imereti was ruled by King George III, r. 1605-1639); on addressing him, for shortness sake, he is not called Mepet Mepe, the only name he signs, but Ghiorgi Mepe or King George. The Turks, however, for reasons that I am ignorant off, call both the country and the ruling prince as Basciacive [Bashi-achuk] which means bareheaded.

Eastward of this state is another province called Kacheti [Kakheti], which, if I not mistaken, forms a part of the ancient Iberia, and probably of Albania. This is the dominion of a Prince descended from the youngest of the four brothers of the blood royal; his residence is the city of Zagain [Dzegami]. These princes, however, as well as the gentry of the country (for, unlike the usual custom of the east, the Georgians are distinguished by an hereditary nobility, and intermarry only according to rank as in Europe), these princes, I say, as well as the gentry called asnaures [aznauri] reside chiefly in and prefer the country, looking upon towns as suitable only to people following trades and commerce, which they consider beneath them; and so powerfully does this sentiment prevail among the Georgians, such even as are not aznaures, provided they be able to subsist otherwise, disdain to live in towns, and despise all handicrafts and trade, leaving the exercise of these to foreigners, such as Armenians and Jews, the number of whom in the country is very considerable, and others of similar activity.

As for [Georgians] their chief occupation is war [guerre], the ecclesiastical profession, which, however, few among them follow, as well as their own land [terres] in which many are employed and which are extremely productive not only of fruits of all descriptions, but also of silk which they collect in quantities. Most of the inhabitants possess some portion of land, and so many being employed in the field was the cause why they were termed "Georgians" by the ancient Greeks, meaning farmers [labourers]. This is why the towns in this country are few in number and inconsiderable, but the countryside is well populated in every part and dotted with good houses, although principally of wood. They have, moreover, many churches, well constructed in themselves, but commonly in state of indifferent repair.

The Prince who formerly reigned over this province of Kacheti is still alive, but has been deprived of his dominions, as I shall hereafter relate. He is called Teimuraz. Abbas, the present King of Persia, was friendly towards this prince, and on his wife dying sent his condolences to him through father John Thaddeus de St. Elizee, a barefooted Carmelite, who is at present in Persia but was at that time chief of the mission. Prince Teimuraz, who is of the Catholic faith [un religieux de notre communion] as well as in appreciation of this [Catholic priest] being sent by King Abbas, showed him great amity and was extremely kind to him, causing him to celebrate mass in his principal church in presence of the metropolitan, and intending himself to have been there on the occasion, though he was prevented by some reason. He also offered [John Thaddeus]  territory for the establishment of a convent of his order, and  building there a church. In short, the Prince himself as well as the metropolitan, whose name was Allah Verdi, a prudent man and well disposed to the Holy See, exhibited an extreme attachment and respect towards the Roman Church.

Of the two Princes descended from the two other brothers of the blood royal, the one is Sovereign of a dominion south of Kacheti and Imireti. The name of the country is Cardel or Carduel [Kartli]. It forms part of the greater Armenia, and the name of its capital is Teflis. It formerly was subject, (and, even in the memory of our fathers) to Prince Simon, who died afterwards in prison at Constantinople, famous in history for the wars he waged against the Turks. This Prince, from the letters written by him to Pope Paul III, of blessed memory, if those letters were truly of his writing, as I believe them to have been, was evidently well disposed towards the Holy See. One of these letters, together with the note previously addressed by that Sovereign Pontiff to the Prince, is included in a book published by Thomas de Jesus, a barefooted Carmelite, and entitled "De procuranda salute omnium Gentium." Lately, this state was governed by Luarsab, a young Prince of great promise, the grandson of the said Simon, but a few years ago while I was in Persia, he came to a wretched end, being put to death in prison where he had been confined for several years, without leaving any offspring, not having consummated with the bride to which he had been betrothed. His principality came afterwards under the dominion of another Prince of his house, his nephew, or cousin, but a Mahometan [Muslim], and not as an absolute Sovereign, but in vassalage under the King of Persia, as I shall describe.

The other Prince descended from the blood royal, held dominion over a country westward, comprising of a part of Carduel [Kartli]: it bordered upon Armenia, Cappadocia, and the frontiers of Media. At present, this state no longer exists, as will be explained.

The two last Princes descended from the ministers of whom I have spoken, and not from the ancient Kings, possess dominions situated on the Pont Euxine or Black sea. The one towards the north is master of the country which lays between the Caspian mountains and those of Dadian; this region was populated by vagabonds [peuples ambulans et vagabonds], who followed the way of life resembling that of the Arabs, living inside tents, without fixed homes [logeant sous des tentes, sans maisons fixes], but of late years this custom has been changed and the country is one of the finest and best cultivated in all of Georgia. This province, the ancient Colchis, is called  Mingrelia by the Turks. The Prince who reigns over it at present is young, his name, to the best of my recollection, is Levan [Levan II the Great, r. 1611-1657]. In 1615, a Jesuit from the establishment at Constantinople, who visited the Christians of this country to inform himself of their disposition, returned while I was still at Constantinople. I was with him, without any other company, for three or four days after he was taken ill on his return of a contagious disorder which reigned in that city. The good father related to me that he had seen this young Prince, at that time, but twelve years of age old; that the mother, who lived in a coarse, rustic manner, governed during his minority; that he had seen the Prince visit the church one day to offer up the head of a wild boar which he had killed; that the Prince had loaded him with kindness and showed great attachment to him, but that for want of knowing the language of the country, and of any who could interpret for them, they were at a loss to understand each other and incapable of treating on any matters. Nothing beyond that has transpired of the journey of this Jesuit, either owing to his dying of the plague, or his papers being lost in a tempest at sea....

South of Mingrelia on the Black sea, and bordering on Cappadocia and Trebisond, reigns the remaining Prince not descended from the ancient Kings. This state called Guriel [Guria] and is in my esteem either a part of Cappadocia or Colchis. The Prince's name I think, is Jese. Of his family, I believe, is the Metropolitan [Malakia II, who also ruled Guria in 1625-1639] now at the head of the whole of the Georgian church not subject to the King of Persia. Over that part dependent on the latter which lays more towards the east, there is another primate nominated by that Sovereign. The last succeed to that Allah Verdi, whom I before have mentioned; and was living while I was in Persia. A different one called likewise Allah Verdi, (if that name be not rather an appendage to the person holding the primacy [Catholicos Evdemoz I led Eastern Georgian Church in 1630-1638]), had a sister, at present in existence in Persia, where she was transported together with numbers of her nation on occasion of that famous transmigration of the Georgians, on which I shall touch as I proceed. This lady married the son of a sister of the old Allah - Verdi deceased. She has two sisters, one of which was gossip with me, I having stood as sponsor for three of her sons brought there on the migration from Georgia. They are at present living in Isfahan, where they have resided a number of years in a rather wretched state, as I was witness to it, suffering every privation rather than apostatize, the King refusing them any allowance, but upon condition of their changing their religion. They supported their misery with great patience, notwithstanding they had been educated in Georgia in profusion and grandeur, and after having disposed of all they had brought from their own country, they were supported by their labour, and occasionally by alms from the monks at Hispahan [Isfahan]. These good fathers continually protected them as well as the other Europeans resident there, each as long as we remained in that city relieving them to the extent of his ability.

Georgia has existed almost constantly from early time in the manner I have here described. As to present time, it has ever maintained itself independent, which is certainly a prodigy, considering its location between the two great empires of Persia and Turkey, and the determination they have constantly shown against them, rather on account of the religion of its inhabitants, than for any other cause; that they should so have upheld themselves, divided by party differences as their Princes frequently have been, almost without knowledge of artillery, with few or no fire-arms, with so small a number of subjects compared with their opponents, and what is above all, without the means of receiving succor from any other power, owing to their insulated position. These collective circumstances evince in their governors a great portion of courage; while, in spite of all attempts at oppressing them, with their sovereignty they have even to the present day upheld themselves, as have their subjects also, true votaries of the Christian faith. On this account it appears to me not only that they deserve great praise, but that the church itself is highly indebted to them for the bravery and prowess they have exhibited in the wars they have waged at one time with the Persians, at another with the Turks, frequently defeating their armies; and especially for the constancy with which they have defended and preserved the pure religion of Jesus.