Russian Embassies to the Georgian Kings 1589 to 1605, Volume 1

By the early 16th century the loosely knit kingdom of Georgia had disintegrated from the strong monarchy of the middle ages to a number of small states and principalities. This internal disunity made the Georgians easy victims of the power politics of the neighbouring Ottoman and Safavid empires and by the end of the century the southward drive of the Russians intensified the struggle for military and diplomatic control over the whole of the Caucasian isthmus. As a result of this struggle 17 embassies were exchanged between the Russian tsars and the Georgian kings ruling in Kakheti during the years 1564-1605. Mr Allen and Mr Mango (who undertook the translation) have selected the documents relating to the embassies of 1589-90 and 1604-05. Although the writers seem to be frequently preoccupied with questions of protocol, their observations give a clear picture of both current Russian administrative and diplomatic practice and of the life and customs of the peoples of the Caucasus and Georgia. The texts are further enlivened by dramas such as the murder of the Kakhian king Alexander II and the secret negotiations for the marriages of the son and daughter of the Tsar Boris Godunov. The documents are of considerable geographical interest as they provide the earliest extant accounts of the crossing of the main chain of the Caucasus from north to south. Mr Allen provides both a detailed background introduction and full commentary and notes on the texts. Volume II also contains some valuable genealogical tables which clarify the complicated relationships between the Caucasian royal and princely families and their connection with the Russian, Ottoman and Persian ruling families. The main pagination is continuous with the next volume (Second series 139). This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1970. Cover......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 9 LIST OF MAPS......Page 15 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 16 FOREWORD......Page 19 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 27 NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND ON THE SPELLING OF PROPER NAMES......Page 31 ABBREVIATIONS......Page 35 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND......Page 37 2. GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND......Page 44 3. THE TEREK ROUTE THROUGH THE CAUCASUS......Page 48 4. 'THE FREE TEREK COSSACKS'......Page 54 5. 'TEREK-TOWN'......Page 56 6. THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHERN CAUCASUS: CIRCASSIANS AND KABARDANS......Page 60 7. THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS: OSETIANS, CHECHENS AND INGUSHES......Page 67 8. DAGHESTAN: KUMUKHS AND KUMYKS, KAYTAKHS AND AVARS......Page 74 9. THE GEORGIAN KINGDOMS......Page 85 10. EARLY RELATIONS OF KAKHETI WITH RUSSIA......Page 98 11. SHIRVAN AND AZERBAIJAN: THE PERSIAN PRESENCE IN CAUCASIA......Page 104 THE EMBASSY OF ZVENIGORODSKI AND ANTONOV (1589-90)......Page 125 1. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ROAD......Page 127 2. JOURNEY THROUGH KABARDA......Page 146 3. THE ROAD TO GREMI......Page 173 4. NEGOTIATIONS WITHKING ALEXANDER......Page 195 5. MATTERS TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL......Page 220 6. WORLD AFFAIRS AND THE FALCONER'S SON......Page 232 7. ARMOUR AND ARGAMAKS......Page 261 1. MONASTERIES AND CATHEDERALS IN AND AROUND MOSCOW......Page 273 2. SOME RUSSIAN MILITARY AND ADMINISTRATIVE TERMS......Page 275 3. RELIGEOUS CONTACTS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND GEORGIA......Page 277 4. THE KIZILBASHES......Page 278 5. RUSSIAN RELATIONS WITH THE CENTRAL ASIAN KHANATES......Page 279 6. THE RUSSIAN CONQUEST OF SIBIR......Page 281 7. THE TOWNS ALONG THE VOLGA ROUTE......Page 283 8. SHAH ABBAS AND HIS GEORGIAN CONNECTIONS......Page 297 9. DERBENT AND BAKU......Page 306 10. FURS, FISH TEETH AND CUIRASSES......Page 307 11. MURAT GIRAY......Page 310 12. THE PRINCELY FAMILIES OF KABARDA......Page 311 13. THE TERM KHOLOPY......Page 326 14. SHIKH MURZA OF THE OKOK AND 'THE LITTLE MOUNTAIN LANDS'......Page 327 15. METSK BATSK......Page 329 17. THE PERSONALITY OF SOLOKH OF LITTLE KABARDA......Page 331 18. THE ITINERARY OF THE AMASSADORS FROM SUNZHAFORT TO DARYAL......Page 332 19. THE DARYAL GORGE: ITS HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY......Page 341 20. (A) 'THE GREAT SETTLEMENT OF SONI AND THE MONASTERY OF THE IMMACULATE MOTHER OF GOD'......Page 351 20. (B) 'ARISTOP (ARISTOV) PRINCE OF SONI': NOTE ON THE ERISTAVS OF THE KSANI AND THE ARAGVI......Page 353 20. (C) 'SONI-LAND' (-SONSKAYA ZEMLYA): NOTE ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE ERISTAVATE OF ARAGVI......Page 358 21. THE RIVERS OF KAKHETI: THE ARAGVI, THE IORA (IORI) AND TH ALAZANI......Page 364 22. THE HORSES CALLED ARGAMAKS......Page 368 23. ST GEORGE OF ALAVERDI......Page 370 24. THE SACRED DECORATIONS OF A GEORGIAN CHURCH (AM)......Page 371 25. THE TOWN OF KRYM = GREMI......Page 373 26. ON ROYAL FALCONS AND FALCONRY IN RUSSIA AND GEORGIA......Page 375 27. KING SIMON I OF KARTLI......Page 385 28. THE VILLIAGE OF TOG OR TORGA......Page 386 29. THE ORGANISATION OF THE KAKHIAN ARMY......Page 387 30. THE BANNER OF KISIK (G. KISIQI)......Page 388 31. THE TOWN OF ZAEM, ZAGEM, ZEGAN, ZAKAM......Page 389 32. GENZA AND ARESHI......Page 391 33. SOME CHURCHES AND BISHOPRICS OF KAKHETI......Page 394 34. THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME 'WHITE TSAR'......Page 399 35. THE TITLE 'KRYM-SHEVKAL'......Page 400 36. PRINCE SULIMAN......Page 401 37. GEORGIAN MERCHANTS ABROAD......Page 402 38. THE IRON GATES OF DERBENT......Page 404 39. MOSCOW AS THE THIRD ROME......Page 405 40. ON THE IDEA OF A RUSSIAN POPE......Page 406 41. THE DIDO TRIBE......Page 407 42. KING ALEXANDER'S ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN LIFE......Page 408 43. KIZILBASH DAMASK AND CARPETS......Page 411 44. THE KALKAN OR KARAKALKAN MOUNTAINEERS......Page 413 Music as a Science of Mankind offers a philosophical and historical perspective on the intellectual representation of music in British eighteenth-century culture. A particularly rich field of investigation, developed between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.