Vine culture in meskheti in old population gensus books

Abstract

The article considers the areas of vine-growing in Meskheti covering not only the part of Meskheti on the territory of present-day Georgia, but also beyond it – the basins of the middle and upper reaches of the rivers Chorokhi and Mtkvari. The study used several population census books drafted for fiscal purposes during the Ottoman reign and giving the valuable social-economic data about the part of the territory of Georgia occupied by the Ottomans. The study demonstrated that vine grew only in few villages of Meskheti, though it must have been one of the leading cultures before the Ottoman domination. This is evidenced by the old Turkish population census books, which make it clear that vineyards were sparsely scattered on the territory of the whole Governorate and grew in the Nahiyesis and couple of villages much distanced from one another. Such a scattered location of vineyards is undisputable evidence of vine-growing being well developed in this region at some time in the past. Today, most of the villages where people commonly grow vine are on the territory of modern Georgia (Samtskhe-Javakheti, Ajara). However, today, vine-growing is not developed in most of them. It is typical that vine grew even further south, in the upper reaches of the Chorokhi River and in the basins of the rivers Oltisistskali, Banistskali and Bardusistskali (presently, in Turkey).