PUBLIC OPINION ON SETLLING THE OSSETIANS IN TSKHINVALI

Abstract

The article describethe solid factors, which made the Georgian historians out the issue of the step-by-step settlement of the Ossetians in Georgia and offer an objective history to the public, namely: a) the deliberate falsification of the Georgian- Ossetian relations by Ossetian historians, and b) the tendency to declare the Ossetians as almost indigenous people on the territory of Georgia.
The present article, based on the relevant scientific literature and analysis of the relevant documentary material, proves that: a) the facts of settlement of the Ossetians in Georgia from the north are confirmed in the first half of the XVII century; b) an intense settlement of the Ossetians in Georgia was not started until the XVIII century; c) settlement of the Ossetians in Georgia became permanent with the support and lobbying of the Russian tsarist officials in the second half of XIX century;
The documents given in the Acts Collected by the Caucasian Archaeological Commission confirm that: a) the Ossetians were prohibited from freely entering Tskhinvali by the Russian tsarist officials due to their permanent attacks and motivation
of robbery of Georgian villages in Gori Region, b) based on the family lists compiled from the 1886 census and data from the 1917 Georgian census, there is no evidence of even a single Ossetian living in Tskhinvali by that time.
The first stage of the Ossetians’ settling Tskhinvali is associated with the Sovietization of Georgia. According to the official statistics, from February 25th, 1921 till 1922, 613 Ossetians settled in Tskhinvali, while according to the 1926 census, the number of the Ossetians living in Tskhinvali, had increased to 1152. Based on the archive materials and official statistics, it can be said for sure that from 1801 till 1920, Tskhinvali was purely a Georgian city and no Ossetians lived there. Only from the day of Sovietization of Georgia (February 25th, 1921), following the persecution of the Georgians, Tskhinvali became an Ossetian city in 70 years’ time. The accelerated process of Ossetization in Tskhinvali was the result of special lobbying of the Ossetians by high-rank officials of the Georgian government.