r/Abkhazia • u/LividBumblebee6873 • 25d ago

I want to talk about Gal

Gal is for me one of the most interesting regions of Abkhazia. Its status, people, history and place in the country is very interesting and I would like to get to know it better. The fact it is overvelmingly Mingrelian gives it a spetial dinamic. Or how did Abkhazian government approached this place over the years.

If someone knows a lot about it, or better yet is from there, I would be greatful for the conversation.

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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2

u/[deleted] 24d ago

I would recommend looking into Murzakan regions history. -Sa prefix was a Georgian addition. It is now known as Samurzakan. From what I heard from locals; Murzakan name came from an Abkhazian prince; over the years in middle ages a lot of Mingrelians settled here due to land work and taxing pressure in their own feodal lands. With time and political changes; local Abkhazians were mostly assimilated and recorded to Georgian Church and changed their names... Indeed, there are a lot of families who claim to have Abkhazian roots, During the war, they did not took arms against Abkhazia and stayed.

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u/MtiuliBichi 24d ago

Mingrelians are Abkhazians, no need to differentiate them.

6

u/Abaza-6-7-13 23d ago

Mingrelians are Mingrelians, Abkhazians are Abkhazians don't try to muddy the waters.

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u/MtiuliBichi 23d ago

Mingrelians are the OG Abkhazians. The people you call Abkhazians are actually your own people, Abaza. It is only natural that the inhabitants of Gali district were almost entirely Mingrelian, since it is the last part of Abkhazia you people reached (in the XVIIth century) and you couldn’t assimilate in time.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

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u/MtiuliBichi 23d ago

We know that Mingrelia will take its stuff back.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

Yes brother Tushetia too.

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u/LividBumblebee6873 23d ago

I have heard of a program that allows people with suspected Abkhazian origin to change their nationality or their name. To my knowlidge it has only a slight succes and number of people who aply for such a correction only exceeds to a low hundreds.

Is there more you know about it?

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u/[deleted] 23d ago edited 23d ago

It is not a "program" progress by "suspicion", it is a right. It is not about "success" or failure. And they don't change their nationality. They are all Abkhazian nationals. You are mixing ethnic identity with national identity. Do not worry, they are aware of provocations and how State of Georgia try to use Gali issue with their manipulated narratives.

1

u/LividBumblebee6873 23d ago

Progress in such a initiativ probably cannot be measured if the are not certain expectation. I give you that.

Anyway, how are things in Gal currently? Is it inegrating into the rest of the country better than it used to? What I mean by that is that it used to be a no go zone in the 90s, there was a war, terorist partisan movement, it was kind of separated, and it is not a secret that inhabitants didn't harber a particular loyality tovard the governmrnt in Sukhum. How is it now? And did the approach toward it changed over the years?

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

All good now. It was not Gali vs Sukhum. It was Tblisi vs Sukhum. It is a small place, and everybody is aware of provocation and infiltration attempts. War is in the past. Everybody wants peace for the future. Don't worry. 

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u/Abaza-6-7-13 23d ago

This region was the heart of the former Samurzakan region. Abkhaz sources report that the Samurzakan region subsequently became heavily Mingrelianized. While I believe our claims are somewhat valid in many aspect I also honestly believe the Mingrelians were also ancient in this region (perhaps even more ancient than we) with significant population. Furthermore, as far as I know, those with the strongest national identity in the former Samurzakan region (i.e., those who called themselves Abkhaz) were generally those in Tkuarchal, while in Gal, the situation was more murky.