Gvantsa Gvantseladze[1]
Teymuraz Gvantseladze[2]
After the victories of Russian Empire in 1818-1864 Russian-Caucasus war and 1877-1878 Russian–Ottoman Empire war and crushing of the anti-Russian revolt of the Apkhazians in 1866, which were followed by the forced migration of Apkhazians, Circassians and the Ubykh – drastically changed the political, ethno-demographic, linguistic, confessional and cultural situation in the West Caucasus. It was most vividly seen in North-West Georgia (Apkhazia) and West Circassia (contemporary Krasnodar Region, Adygea and Karachay-Cherkessia). After the forced emigration of local Abkhazians, Ubykhs and Circassians to the Ottoman Empire, the names of abandoned villages and other geographical names disappeared; their place was taken by the settlements of speaking in different languages colonists and predominantly, they were given Russian names. Majority of these new toponyms were of an ideological character.
From socio-linguistic and other viewpoint, studying of newly formed names of the settlements of XIX century West Circassia and North-West Georgia (Apkhazia) is the subject of special interest. Among these geographical names, the following groups are distinguished:
- Toponyms dedicated for the immortalization of the names of Russian generals, officers and soldiers: for example, in Krasnodar region we still have a small town – Lazarevsk, this name is derived from the surname of Russian general Lazarev; following toponyms also belong to the same group: Golovinsk//Golovinka in Circassia (after the name of general Golovin); Ermolovka // Ermolovsk in Apkhazia (after the name of the mastermind of Russian-Caucasus war Field-Marshal A. Ermolov); Evdokimovka in Apkhazia (after the name of general N. Evdokimov, the one who victoriously ended the Russian-Caucasus war); Vorontsovka in Apkhazia, (in honor of Vorontsov, Viceroy in Caucasus) etc.
- Toponyms derived from the names of members of the royal dynasty of Russia: Ekaterinodar (contemporary Krasnodar) and the town Ekaterinograd (in Krasnodar region) were named after the Empress of Russia Ekaterina the Second; in 1838, the fortress near contemporary Sochi was named – Alexandria in honor of Emperor Alexander the First; Olginskaya in Circassia, in honor of Princess Olga; Elizavetinskaya appeared in Circassia, in honor of Princess Elizabeth; to the toponyms of the same origin belong: Aleksandrovskoe // Aleksandrovka, Olginskoe, Alekseeva, Andreevka…
- Toponyms, which indicate to the names of the initial settlements of non-Caucasian peoples, migrated to the Circassia and Apkhazia: Chernigovka, Starochernigovka, Novochernigovka, Poltavskoe, Estonskoe // Estonka…(in Apkhazia).
Two groups of toponyms, which are met only in West Circassia and are not registered in Apkhazia, attract the special interest:
- Toponyms, which immortalize the names Russian Army military detachments and regular unites of Сossacks – taking active participation in the conquest of the Caucasus and also the names of militia unites composed by Caucasians, living in different parts of the Caucasus: Apsheronskaya, Bakinskaya, Gruzinskaya, Dagestanskaya, Erevanskaya, Kabardinskaya, Nijhegorodskaya, Samurskaya, Tenginskaya, Pshekhskaya, Shirvanskaya, etc…
- Toponyms reflecting the atrocities of military actions. They are aimed at intimidation of the local population and raising the fighting spirit of Russian Army. To this type of toponyms belong the following ones: Upornaya “Steadfast”, Pregradnaya “Barricade”, Pobeditel “Victor”, Otvajhnaya “Brave One”, etc.
It is noteworthy that during the Soviet regime, apart from some particular toponyms, a massive change of geographical names of settlements with the communist toponyms is not noticed (majority of them are preserved intact even today).
[1] Tbilisi, Georgia
[2] Tbilisi, Georgia
