Professor
Senior Research Specialist
The University of Georgia; Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology
Tbilisi, Georgia
vazhakiknadze@yahoo.com

In What Language Was the Original “Treaty of Georgievsk” Written During the Reign of Erekle II

The so-called Treaty of Georgievsk (1783) frequently attracts the interest of both scholars and enthusiasts, yet research has primarily focused on its political aspects. Equally important, however, is the linguistic dimension of the Treaty — that is, in which language the original document was written. During the Soviet period, discussion on this matter was largely excluded. The only hint that the original text was written in Russian is found in the second volume of Monuments of Georgian Law published by I. Dolidze, where the editor remarks: “According to our observation, the text must have been translated from Russian” (Tbilisi, 1965, p. 638). Detailed analysis and comparison of the Georgian text with the Russian original further supports this view. For instance, in the preamble it is stated: “The protection granted by the autocrats of all Russia towards the Georgians, their relatives, and their subjects, removes that engagement from the latter towards the former, which had previously been shown from the imperial title of Russia.” Also in the preamble: “Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, General-in-Chief of his cavalry, commander of the light cavalry, both trained and untrained” («повелевающего легкой конницею, регулярнои и нерегуларной»). A similar situation is observed in the articles themselves. For example, in Article Eight it reads: “With utmost mercy, he is granted the permanent title of ‘Chlen’ of the Holy Synod” (Всемилостивейше жалуя ему навсегда титул святйшего синода члена). These and numerous other passages attest that the original text was composed in Russian and only later translated into Georgian.

 

Keywords: Treaty of Georgievsk, Georgian language, Russian language