Еще немного свидетельств о Грузии в 17 веке на англицком
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Les Six Voyages... (1676)
Thcse two Kings have each of them a Guard of Mahometan Horsemen under their own pay, and at present I believe there are in both Kingdoms near upon 12000 Mahometan Families.
they are very dexterous in shooting with Bow and Arrows, and are accounted the best Soldiers in all Asia. They compose a great part of the King of Persia's Cavalry, who keeps them in his Court at peculiar pay, and relies very much upon their fidelity and courage. There are several also in the Service of the Great Mogul.
Jean Chardin, Journal du voyage du chevalier Chardin en Perse & aux Indes (1673)
The Prince himself leads the same life, so that it is a hard matter every day to know where to find him. When the vassals of several lords are at difference, their masters decide the dispute: but when the lords are at variance among themselves, force and brute strength determine the quarrel, and the strongest side gets the better. There is not a gentleman in Mingrelia but has some quarrel or other. And therefore it is, that they always go armed, and as numerously attended as they can. When they ride, they are armed at all points, and their followers are as well; nor do they ever sleep without their swords by their sides; and when they go to Bed, they sleep upon their stomachs, with their swords underneath them.
Their Arms are a lance, bow and arrows, a straight sword, a mace and a buckler; but there are very few that carry firearms. They are very good soldiers, ride horses very well, and handle their lances with an extraordinary dexterity. They train children in the use of a bow starting at the age of four and they become so adroit that can shoot even the most smallest birds in flight.
Their Habit is peculiar; and unless they be the Ecclesiastical Persons, they wear but very little beard. They shave the top of their heads in a circle but allow the rest of their hair to grow down to their eyes, and then clip it round at an even length. They cover their Heads with a light cap of felt, very thin pared and cut into several half-moons around edges. In the winter they wear a fur bonnet: They are moreover so beggarly [gueux] and so wretched [miserables], that for fear of spoiling their caps or their bonnets in the rain, they will put them in their pouches, and go bare-headed. Over their bodies they wear little shirts [chemises] that fall down to their knees, and tuck into a straight pantaloon. Nor indeed is there any habit in the world more deformed then theirs. They carry a [long] rope at their girdles, to tie together such people or cattle which they rob from their neighbors or take in war. The nobles wear leather girdles four fingers broad, full of silver studs, at which they hang a knife, a whetstone, and a steel to strike fire: together with three leather purses, the one full of salt, the other of pepper, and the other with pack-needles, lesser-needles, and thread. The poor people go almost naked; such is their misery not to be paralleled anywhere else; not having any thing to cover their nakedness but a pitiful felt resembling the chlamys of the Ancients; into which they thrust their heads, and turn which way they please as the Wind sits; for it covers but one side of their bodies, and falls down no lower than their Knees. There are some, that are pared very thin to keep out the Water, which are not so heavy as the common sort; that are ready to weigh a man down, especially when thorough wet. He that has a shirt and a pair of pitiful drawers, thinks himself rich; for almost all of them go bare-Foot; and such of the Colchians as pretend to shoes, have nothing but a piece of a buffalo's hide, and that untanned too; this piece of raw hide is attached to their feet with a thong of the same: so that for all these sort of sandals, their feet are as dirty as if they went bare-foot.
Almost all the Mingrelians, both men and women, even the most noble and wealthy, rarely have but one shirt [chemise] and one pair of breeches [calleçon] at a time; which last them at least a year: in all which time they never wash them more than three times.
Pietro della Valle, "An Account of Georgia," (1627)
The number of Princes at this time is six; for in addition to the four of royal blood mentioned before, there are two others, who were chief ministers of the Mepet Mepe, and governors of two considerable portions of his dominions on the Black Sea, who revolting, seized upon and made themselves absolute lords of the provinces they governed.Acquiring in process of time, authority and reputation, they not only rose to an equality, but formed an alliance with the others. At present they are all upon an equal footing, and frequently intermarry; remembrance is however yet kept up of the distinction of the Mepet Mepe, for when he mounts his horse, the two princes formerly his vassals and ministers, when by, are wont to hold the one the bridle the other the stirrup as an acknowlegement of his sovereignty.As to the division of the country since its partition into six distinct Sovereignties, the Mepet Mepe is lord of a dominion in the centre of Georgia, called in the language of the country Imeriti [Imereti], the innermost, the strongest part of the whole, and undoubtedly the Iberia of the ancients. The name of the reigning Prince of this part is Ghiorghi or George [during della Valle's visit Imereti was ruled by King George III, r. 1605-1639); on addressing him, for shortness sake, he is not called Mepet Mepe, the only name he signs, but Ghiorgi Mepe or King George. The Turks, however, for reasons that I am ignorant off, call both the country and the ruling prince as Basciacive [Bashi-achuk] which means bareheaded.
Eastward of this state is another province called Kacheti [Kakheti], which, if I not mistaken, forms a part of the ancient Iberia, and probably of Albania. This is the dominion of a Prince descended from the youngest of the four brothers of the blood royal; his residence is the city of Zagain [Dzegami]. These princes, however, as well as the gentry of the country (for, unlike the usual custom of the east, the Georgians are distinguished by an hereditary nobility, and intermarry only according to rank as in Europe), these princes, I say, as well as the gentry called asnaures [aznauri] reside chiefly in and prefer the country, looking upon towns as suitable only to people following trades and commerce, which they consider beneath them; and so powerfully does this sentiment prevail among the Georgians, such even as are not aznaures, provided they be able to subsist otherwise, disdain to live in towns, and despise all handicrafts and trade, leaving the exercise of these to foreigners, such as Armenians and Jews, the number of whom in the country is very considerable, and others of similar activity.
Of the two Princes descended from the two other brothers of the blood royal, the one is Sovereign of a dominion south of Kacheti and Imireti. The name of the country is Cardel or Carduel [Kartli]. It forms part of the greater Armenia, and the name of its capital is Teflis.
The other Prince descended from the blood royal, held dominion over a country westward, comprising of a part of Carduel [Kartli](Самцхе-Саатабаго?): it bordered upon Armenia, Cappadocia, and the frontiers of Media. At present, this state no longer exists, as will be explained.
The two last Princes descended from the ministers of whom I have spoken, and not from the ancient Kings, possess dominions situated on the Pont Euxine or Black sea. The one towards the north is master of the country which lays between the Caspian mountains and those of Dadian; this region was populated by vagabonds [peuples ambulans et vagabonds], who followed the way of life resembling that of the Arabs, living inside tents, without fixed homes [logeant sous des tentes, sans maisons fixes], but of late years this custom has been changed and the country is one of the finest and best cultivated in all of Georgia. This province, the ancient Colchis, is called Mingrelia by the Turks. The Prince who reigns over it at present is young, his name, to the best of my recollection, is Levan [Levan II the Great, r. 1611-1657]
South of Mingrelia on the Black sea, and bordering on Cappadocia and Trebisond, reigns the remaining Prince not descended from the ancient Kings. This state called Guriel [Guria] and is in my esteem either a part of Cappadocia or Colchis.
Many noblemen, however, impatient of hardships, and most of the soldiers, with several among the people, moved by ambition and avarice, in order to participate the bounty of the [Shah] largely dealt out to those who change their religion, and some induced by necessity, have turned Mahometans, and still continue to do so. By means of these the army of Abbas has been frequently augmented; he employing these slaves [esclaves], as they are called, as a counterpoise against and to restrain the insolence of the Qizilbash. The number of these [Georgian] renegades in his service, exclusive of Armenians and Circassians, reaches 30,000. Some of them hold commands in the army, have governing positions, and have risen to various dignities, even to those of sultans and khans.
John Fryer, New Account of East-India and Persia (1698)
The next neighbors, if not the same with the Armenians, were the Iberians, now called Georgians, who underwent the same calamities [Persian invasions and resettlements of the early 17th century] with them; but with a contrary disposition of Humour [state of mind], being a Martial People bred up to the Wars, [Georgians] now serve the Emperor [shah of Persia] as his best Infantry; of these, Forty thousand are at present in Arms under Military Pay, in and about Spahaun [Isfahan].
François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz, Les Voyages et observations (1657)
The Gurgi or Georgians have long hair in the front but shave it on the back of the head, which is covered with a fur cap, in the manner of the Poles or Tartars.
Сообщение отредактировал Anri: 01 Январь 2018 - 18:57
Солнце скрылось за горизонтом, огни пожаров стали ярче. Отблески играли на масках владык Гранбретании.
- Итак, господа, мы покорили Европу, - сказал барон Мелиадус, магистр Ордена Волка, Главнокомандующий армии завоевателей.
Худой, как скелет, Мигель Хольст, эрцгерцог Лондры, магистр Ордена Козла, глухо рассмеялся:
- Каждая пядь этой земли принадлежит нам. Вся Европа и большая часть Азии! - В рубиновых глазах его маски сверкнул отсвет пожара.
- А скоро мы завоюем мир, - прорычал Адаз Промп, магистр Ордена Собаки. - Весь мир!..
Ладно, план такой: врываемся туда, рубим всех в мясо, забираем гримуар и валим (с) Бардин против зловещих крысюков