The Borchaly uezd[a] was a county (uezd) of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and later of the independent and Soviet republics of Georgia. Its administrative center was the town of Shulavery (present-day Shaumiani).[1][2] The area of the uezd roughly corresponded to the contemporary Lori Province of Armenia and the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia.
Borchaly uezd
Борчалинскій уѣздъ | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Location in the Tiflis Governorate | |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Viceroyalty | Caucasus |
| Governorate | Tiflis |
| Established | 1880 |
| Abolished | 1929 |
| Capital | Shulavery (present-day Shaumiani) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6,881.82 km2 (2,657.09 sq mi) |
| Population (1916) | |
| • Total | 169,351 |
| • Density | 25/km2 (64/sq mi) |
| • Rural | 100.00% |
HistoryEdit
The Debed river, formerly known as the Borchala (Russian: Борчала), gave the name of the uezd, however, the region was also known as Borchalo (ბორჩალო) in Georgian, Borchalu (Բորչալու) in Armenian, and Borchali (Azerbaijani: Borçalı) in Azerbaijani. The Turkic locals were resettled to the Debed river valley through the policy of Shah Abbas I (c.1571-1629) after his successful campaigns against the Kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti that led to the formation of several Qizilbash khanates. The region was later reincorporated into the Kingdom of Kartli in the 18th century, subsequently being incorporated into the Kartli-Kakheti monarchy in 1762. In 1801, through Russia's annexation of eastern Georgia, Borchaly became part of Russia's Georgia Governorate, which was eventually transformed to become the Tiflis Governorate.
Following the Russian Revolution and the short-lived independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia and the First Republic of Armenia, the Borchaly uezd became the site of a 2-week-war between the two countries in December 1918, until its British-brokered ceasefire starting 1 January 1919. Most of northern Lori centered around Alaverdi was transformed into a neutral zone and patrolled by British troops of the 27th Division, until their mid-1919 withdrawal. Armenian and Georgian troops replaced the British forces in the neutral zone following the latter's withdrawal. The Armenians later complaining that the Georgian force was unsuccessfully trying to convince Tatar and Russian villages in the neutral zone to agree to join Georgia.[3]
In late 1920, the neutral zone of Lori and the southernmost section of the Lori Uchastok which had been annexed to Armenia was with their permission reincorporated into Georgia for the safety of its inhabitants as a result of the Turkish-Armenian War. Georgia continued to administer the reunited Borchaly uezd until its Sovietization and the district's partition between the newly-formed Armenian and Georgian Soviet republics.
Administrative divisionsEdit
The subcounties (uchastoks) of the Borchaly uezd were as follows:[4]
| Uchastok | Russian name | 1912 population | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borchalinsky (Debed) | Борчалинскій участокъ | 33,923 | 727.97 square versts (828.48 km2; 319.88 sq mi) |
| Yekaterinenfeldsky (Bolnisi) | Екатериненфелдьскій участокъ | 23,797 | 913.64 square versts (1,039.78 km2; 401.46 sq mi) |
| Loriysky (Lori) | Лорійскій участокъ | 45,119 | 2,182.76 square versts (2,484.12 km2; 959.12 sq mi) |
| Trialetsky (Trialeti) | Тріалетскій участокъ | 53,031 | 2,212.59 square versts (2,518.07 km2; 972.23 sq mi) |
DemographicsEdit
Russian Empire census (1897)Edit
According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, the Borchaly uezd had a population of 128,587, including 70,501 men and 58,086 women. The plurality of the population indicated Armenian to be their mother tongue, with significant Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani), Greek, Russian, and Georgian speaking minorities.[5]
| Language | Native speakers | % |
|---|---|---|
| Armenian | 47,423 | 36.88 |
| Tatar[b] | 37,742 | 29.35 |
| Greek | 21,393 | 16.64 |
| Russian | 8,089 | 6.29 |
| Georgian | 7,840 | 6.10 |
| German | 2,496 | 1.94 |
| Ukrainian | 1,241 | 0.97 |
| Ossetian | 628 | 0.49 |
| Polish | 264 | 0.21 |
| Avar-Andean | 240 | 0.19 |
| Turkish | 162 | 0.13 |
| Jewish | 153 | 0.12 |
| Talysh | 151 | 0.12 |
| Persian | 121 | 0.09 |
| Kurdish | 108 | 0.08 |
| Italian | 106 | 0.08 |
| Kyurin | 102 | 0.08 |
| Lithuanian | 54 | 0.04 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 53 | 0.04 |
| Dargin | 27 | 0.02 |
| Assyrian | 19 | 0.01 |
| Belarusian | 19 | 0.01 |
| Imeretian | 17 | 0.01 |
| Chechen | 8 | 0.01 |
| French | 7 | 0.01 |
| Mingrelian | 6 | 0.00 |
| Chuvash | 4 | 0.00 |
| Latvian | 4 | 0.00 |
| Romanian | 3 | 0.00 |
| Czech | 1 | 0.00 |
| Other | 106 | 0.08 |
| TOTAL | 128,587 | 100.00 |
Caucasian Calendar (1917)Edit
According to the 1917 publication of the Caucasian Calendar, the Borchaly uezd had 169,351 residents in 1916, including 89,040 men and 80,311 women, 160,447 of whom were the permanent population, and 8,904 were temporary residents:[6]
| Nationality | Number | % |
|---|---|---|
| Armenians | 63,702 | 37.62 |
| Sunni Muslims[c] | 33,320 | 19.68 |
| Asiatic Christians | 30,762 | 18.16 |
| Shia Muslims[d] | 17,910 | 10.58 |
| Georgians | 10,419 | 6.15 |
| Russians[e] | 8,772 | 5.18 |
| Other Europeans | 3,601 | 2.13 |
| North Caucasians | 366 | 0.22 |
| Roma | 255 | 0.15 |
| Jews | 244 | 0.14 |
| TOTAL | 169,351 | 100.00 |
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
- ^
- ^ Later known as Azerbaijani.
- ^ Primarily Turco-Tatars.[7]
- ^ Primarily Tatars,[7] later known as Azerbaijanis.[8]
- ^ The Caucasian Calendar did not distinguish between Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedia: Tiflis Governorate (in Russian)
- ^ Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014), Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven and London, p. 164, ISBN 978-0-300-15308-8, OCLC 884858065, retrieved 2021-12-25
- ^ Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 159. ISBN 0-520-01805-2. OCLC 238471.
- ^ Кавказский календарь на 1913 год [Caucasian calendar for 1913] (in Russian) (68th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1913. pp. 164–175. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
- ^ Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 206–213. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
- ^ a b Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.
- ^ Bournoutian 2015, p. 35.
BibliographyEdit
- Bournoutian, George (2015). "Demographic Changes in the Southwest Caucasus, 1604–1830: The Case of Historical Eastern Armenia". Forum of EthnoGeoPolitics. Amsterdam. 3 (2).
- Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01805-2.
 | This Georgia location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Armenia location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Coordinates: 41°20′38″N 44°45′30″E / 41.34389°N 44.75833°E