the right to return home. Regardless, many Muhajirs attempted the return, whether by sea or by land, sneaking through Turkish and Russian checkpoints. Among the ones who managed to return to their homeland, was the father and family of Dimitri Gulia, who would become the founder of Abkhazian literature. In 1878, Uris (Ioseb) Gulia, who buried two of his children abroad, arrived in Batumi on a felucca together with his family, and from there, he went to Abkhazia. They didn’t allow him to return to his native village of Varche, on the right shore of River Kodori, so he was forced to settle on the left bank of the river, in the village Adzubzha. As Gulia recalled, their house in Adzubzha was right ruseTsa da osmaleTs Soris san-stefanos zavis dadebis Semdeg, muhajirebi pirvel rigSi baTumisken gaemarTnen, romelic jer isev osmaleTis SemadgenlobaSi Sedioda da afxazeTSi dabrunebas iqidan cdilobdnen. qarTveli sazogadoebriobis daxmarebiT afxazTa erTi nawili baTumsa da mis SemogarenSi damkvidrda, sadac afxazi muhajirebi 1864 wlidan cxovrobdnen. muhajirTa STamomavlebi dResac iq cxovroben, maT didwilad SeinarCunes TviTmyofadoba, sakuTari ena. baTumelma afxazma aslan smirbam erTxel aseTi ram dawera: `Cveni winaprebi iZulebulni iyvnen afxazeTidan ruseTis imperias gamoqceodnen. aWaraSi damkvidrebul afxazebs musrs avlebda SimSili da tifi. maSin aWarlebma da gurulebma daaweses `gadarCenis xarki~ _ Cveni winaprebisTvis saWmelsa da tansacmels urmebiT ezidebodnen. amis daviwyeba ar SeiZleba. es Cemi Taobis afxazebmac ki ician~. qarTveli sazogadoebrioba didi TanagrZnobiT Sexvda afxazTa muhajirobas, tragedias, ramac afxazi xalxi, faqtobrivad, fizikuri ganadgurebis safrTxis winaSe daayena. gamoCenilma qarTvelma mwerlebma da sazogado moRvaweebma: grigol orbelianma, ilia WavWavaZem, iakob gogebaSvilma, sergi mesxma, giorgi wereTelma, zaqaria WiWinaZem, petre Waraiam, niko janaSiam, iona meunargiam, Tedo saxokiam da sxvebma gulwrfeli TanagrZnoba gamoxates afxazTa mSobliuri mxaridan iZulebiT gasaxlebis gamo. bolos afxazTa mozRvavebam ruseTis mTavroba aiZula 1879 wlis 27 ianvars konstantinopolSi xeli moewera osmaleTTan xelSekrulebisTvis, romlis Tanaxmadac ruseTis xelisuflebam dauSva afxazebis nawilobrivi repatriacia xelSekrulebis xelmoweridan sami wlis ganmavlobaSi. amis Sedegad, 1882 wlis ianvrisTvis afxazeTSi 15 aTasamde muhajiri dabrunda. afxaz muhajirTa STamomavlebi amJamad cxovroben TurqeTSi, siriaSi, iordaniaSi da balkaneTis qveynebSi. muhajirobam afxazi xalxi, faqtobrivad, fizikuri ganadgurebis safrTxis winaSe daayena. muhajirTa STamomavlebi dResac unaxavi samSoblos siyvaruliT da dardiT cocxloben, romelic Taobidan Taobas locvasaviT gadaecema. beJan xorava
in front of their former house, and they could see the latter on the other side of the river, and would always feel sad when looking in its direction. After Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano, Muhajirs first headed to Batumi, which was still under Ottoman rule, and tried to reach Abkhazia from there. With the help of Georgian society, a number of Abkhazians settled in Batumi and its surroundings, where other Abkhazian Muhajirs had been living since 1864. Descendants of Muhajirs still live there to this day, and many of them have maintained their autonomy and speak Abkhazian. Batumian Abkhazian Aslan Smirba once wrote the following words: “Our ancestors were forced to flee from Abkhazia because of the Russian Empire. Abkhazians who settled in Adjara were massacred by famine and typhus. That is when Adjarians and Gurians established the “survival tribute” – providing our ancestors with food and clothes in carts. We cannot forget this. Even Abkhazians of my generation know this.” Georgian society met the Abkhazian Muhajirs and their tragedy with great empathy. Renowned Georgian authors and public figures Grigol Orbeliani, Ilia Chavchavadze, Iakob Gogebashvili, Sergi Meskhi, Giorgi Tsereteli, Zakaria Chichinadze, Petre Charaia, Niko Janashia, Iona Meunargia, Tedo Sakhokia and others expressed their sincere compassion for the Abkhazians, who had been forcefully exiled from their land. In the end, the continuous influx of Abkhazians made the Russian government repeal the law that denied Muhajirs the right to return to their homeland for three years, by signing an agreement with the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople on the 27th of January 1879. Up to 15,000 Muhajirs managed to return to Abkhazia until 1882. The descendants of Abkhazian Muhajirs now live in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and the Balkans. Muhajirism practically put the Abkhaz people under threat of physical disappearance from this earth. Descendants of Muhajirs still feel a surge of love and sharp pain at the thought of their neverseen homeland. These feelings are handed down from generation to generation as something as cherished as a prayer. Bezhan Khorava
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