article Georgian Captives at Istanbul Market – The Moralizing Aspects of Historical Worldview in Georgian Literature

Abstract

One of the most striking and tragic phenomena of feudal Georgia was the practice of buying and selling Georgian captives. This unhealed wound, perceived as a shameful affliction, weighed heavily on the minds of Georgian writers. In classical Georgian literature, the first to raise his voice against this ugly practice was Prince Ioane Bagrationi in his work Kalmasoba (1813–1828). Alexander Orbeliani’s historical poem The Kind Old Man (1852) also addresses this topic. Ilia Chavchavadze’s the Janissary (1860), Akaki Tsereteli’s Bashi-Achuki (1896) and Uiaragho’s the Mamluk (1912) artistically depict the tragedy of those left without a homeland.

Georgia’s geopolitical situation facilitated the abduction and trade of human beings. Western Georgia, bordering the Black Sea, served for centuries as an arena for foreign incursions and internal conflicts. The trade in captives became particularly widespread and brutal from the eighteenth century onward. Numerous historical sources attest to the prevalence of human trafficking in Georgia, with extensive documentation preserved in the accounts of Catholic missionaries and travelers.

The route from Anaklia to Istanbul became a path of misfortune for Georgians, leaving a profound imprint on the national worldview. Georgian literature reflected upon these historical events through a moralizing perspective. In literary texts, the moral degradation of those who traded captives is unmasked, while the sorrow and grief for young Georgians lost to their homeland and forced into foreign service (The Janissary, The Mamluk) find poignant artistic expression. Clerics—Father Markoz in The Mamluk and Monk Ioane in Kalmasoba—are portrayed as exemplars of virtue and moral guidance. Religion is presented as a necessary force for the restoration of humane relationships, and the call to repentance and moral goodness is explicit. Georgian women, regardless of social standing, are depicted as figures of civic consciousness and profound spirituality (Bashi-Achuki, The Mamluk).

The unbearable cruelty and treachery of the feudal aristocracy are countered by moral integrity and self-sacrifice.

Portraying this profoundly painful historical experience through a moralizing lens served to diminish the prevailing national nihilism within Georgian society.