Islam in Georgia

In Georgia, Islam spread following the establishment of Arab hegemony. The earliest documented communities of Georgian Muslims are attested in Tbilisi and Dmanisi during the 8th to 13th centuries. Intensive Islamization first started during the 16th to 18th centuries in southern Georgia and Achara [Adjara], regions subjugated and by the Ottoman Turks. In the 19th century, corresponding to the intensity of this Islamization process, the term "Ottoman Georgia" emerged to designate that segment of the population living within the borders of the Ottoman Empire; despite a portion becoming part of Georgia again, the majority retained their Muslim faith. The historical trajectory of the Meskhian Muslims proved tragic, as they were deported to Central Asia by the Soviet authorities in 1944.

Concurrently, the population of non-Georgian Muslims within the territory of Georgia approaches approximately 300,000 individuals. This demographic comprises Azerbaijanis settled in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli, as well as Leks [Lezgins], Kists, and Chechens, whose religious rituals incorporate certain syncretic elements of a paganized character.

The Acharan and Abkhazian Muslims are predominantly Sunnis. Conversely, the Azerbaijani populations residing in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli are Shiites, who maintain their own religious supervisor (Akhund) and are integrated into the Administration of Muslims. In the Tbilisi Mosque, Sunni and Shiite adherents perform their liturgical prayers together.

Literature: ნადირაძე ე., ­მსოფლიოს რე­ლიგიები, თბ., 1996; ­რელიგიები საქართველოში, თბ., 2008; Кривелев И. А., История религии, т. 1, М., 1975.

E. Nadiradze