Problems of One Surname and Its Property Ownership

Abstract

The paper studies the history of one lineage (the Manelishvilis) and other owners associated with them. The boundaries of the estate of this surname under the Ottomans and subsequently, following the establishment of Russian dominance here. Discussed are the consequences of their migration to Russia along with Vakhtang VI, and the quite successful path traversed by them in their public endeavors and state military careers due to their loyalty in relation to the Russian state. A brief overview is provided of how their activity at the court of the Russian Empire developed over a rather prolonged period, and alongside this, what they achieved on their career and public arenas.

In parallel, their condition in their own homeland was investigated, where their unquestionable ow­nership, over a quite extensive territory of the land of the present-day Kobuleti Municipality, was confronted with artificial problems.

Following the extension of Russian dominance over the Batumi District, the issue of the uncontested ownership of lands confirmed during the Ottoman rule was rendered disputable, due to the violation of the 1879 Treaty of Istanbul by Russian officials themselves. The noted lineage, together with their other co-owners, had to prove their unquestionable ownership in court proceedings, and this at a time when the Russian administration and authorities acted on the unprincipled principal characteristic of them – "It belongs to you, yet it does not belong to you!" Therefore, these legal disputes concluded with not very great success for the plaintiffs. They restored ownership over only a portion of their lands.

In the arrival of this outcome, presumably, a role was played by the two military defeats suffered near the approaches to Tsikhisdziri in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, in which the local Muslim Georgians played a decisive role.

The Russian government, taking all this into account, attempted to create such conditions in this region that its privileged upper class would not feel firmly established on their own land and water (homeland) and would not create unexpected, new problems for it.