"evropuli qartia saqarTvelo "European Charter for Regional or ...

cized "scientific" theory was forced upon the Georgians; the similar information
was available for foreign countries. Naturally, the ideological
successor of the Tsarist Russia – the USSR continued the imperial politics
and tried to disintegrate the unified Georgian consciousness.
The strategic trends of the Soviet Russian bureaucracy are clearly
reflected in the report sent to Moscow during 1920-1921 by P. Sinitsin,
a military attaché of the authorized representation in Georgia. The excerpt
from hisreport is as follows: "the second step that can weaken the
Georgian chauvinism in territorial and material terms is separation of
Abkhazia from Georgia… at the same time special attention must be
paid to Samegrelo which differs from Georgia in terms of both language
and nationality and was always under the burder of Georgian rule… the
territory is large strategically as well, an it can be the subordinated under
the influence of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic"
(Gelava, 1993-1994, 270-272).
Following the revival of independence, from the last decade of the
20 th
century the four-century old tradition revived and the group of
scientist re-established the historical name – the Kartvelian
idioms/dialects to the Megrelian/Laz and Svan idioms. Naturally, a native
language for the Georgian (the Svan, the Megrel) is the Georgian
language and revival of tradition is happy news for the Georgians, espe-
ciallt for the Svans and the Megrels.
It is noteworthy that this important element of the real history of
Georgia and the Georgian traditional consciouness was always under
special protection by the Georgian scientific and public figures (Ilia
Chavchavadze, Iakob Gogebashvili, etc.).
Such motives emeger as a leitmotiv through the entire history of
19 th -20 th
centuries.
Who would ever think that such a reasonable rule, blessed by God
and appreciated by men would be opposed in our country, in Georgia?
But unexpected and impossible things happened, and it happened only
in our nation; neither Armenians nor Tatars or other Caucasians have
had even a single person with such absurd ideas claiming that schooling
must be implemented in local dialects rather than in native language"
("Iveria", 1902). The Georgian public and scientific thought fiercely
opposed each of the step of the Imperial ideology. Especially Svaneti
and Samegrelo regions were actively involved (Gvantseladze, Nachqebia,
Tabidze, 2007; Gujejiani, 2008).
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