Machabeli
Encyclopedia
Machabeli was a Georgian
princely house (tavadi
) which held a large fiefdom (satavado) in the province of Inner Kartli (central Georgia) called Samachablo
after their family name.
The origin of the family is not clear. According to a traditional account, they descended from one of the princes of the Abkhaz-Georgian feudal clan of Anchabadze
who had fled the disorders in Abkhazia
. Another version holds it that the Machabeli were an offshoot of the Tavkhelidze family who adopted their dynastic name after the village of Achabeti on the Great Liakhvi River where their initial domain was located. Beginning with the 15th century, the Machabeli grew in prominence and held various important posts at the court of the Georgian kings of Kartli
. Their fiefdom, Samachablo, covered a significant portion of what is now South Ossetia
, and enjoyed a degree of autonomy within the Kingdom of Kartli
from c. 1470 to 1800 when Georgia was annexed to Imperial Russia. The Machabeli house was confirmed in princely dignity by the Russian Tsar
in 1850.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
princely house (tavadi
Tavadi
Tavadi , "prince", lit. "head/chief" [man], from tavi, "head", with the prefix of agent -di) was a feudal title in Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually translated in English as prince...
) which held a large fiefdom (satavado) in the province of Inner Kartli (central Georgia) called Samachablo
Samachablo
Samachablo is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia, which currently lies entirely within the disputed South Ossetia Region. The name Samachablo derives from the Georgian aristocratic family of Machabeli who once held possession of the area...
after their family name.
The origin of the family is not clear. According to a traditional account, they descended from one of the princes of the Abkhaz-Georgian feudal clan of Anchabadze
Anchabadze
Anchabadze , also known as Achba , is an Abkhaz-Georgian family, and the oldest surviving noble house originating in Abkhazia, Georgia.The Anchabadze family is supposed to have its roots in the early medieval ruling dynasty of Abasgia...
who had fled the disorders in Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
. Another version holds it that the Machabeli were an offshoot of the Tavkhelidze family who adopted their dynastic name after the village of Achabeti on the Great Liakhvi River where their initial domain was located. Beginning with the 15th century, the Machabeli grew in prominence and held various important posts at the court of the Georgian kings of Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
. Their fiefdom, Samachablo, covered a significant portion of what is now South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
, and enjoyed a degree of autonomy within the Kingdom of Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
from c. 1470 to 1800 when Georgia was annexed to Imperial Russia. The Machabeli house was confirmed in princely dignity by the Russian Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
in 1850.