Misimians
{{Short description|Mountainous tribe in the western Caucasus}}
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| regions = Northwestern part of the Caucasian Ridge
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Misimians ({{langx|el|Μισιμιανοί}}) were a tribe in the western Caucasus living in the mountainous side of South Caucasus, north of Sokhumi.{{Cite web |title=Strabo, Geography, BOOK XI., CHAPTER II., section 19 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0239:book=11:chapter=2:section=19 |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}
History
During the time of the Roman-Persian wars, the Misimians rebelled because of the attempts of Byzantium to give the territory of Bukhlon to the Alans. The uprising was brutally suppressed,{{cite book |last1=Бгажба |first1=О. Х. |last2=Лакоба |first2=С. З. |title=История Абхазии с древнейших времен до наших дней |date=2007 |publisher=Алашарбага |url=https://www.apsuara.ru/lib_b/bgzb117.php |access-date=7 March 2024 |chapter=Мисимиане}} and the territory of Bukhlon was given to the Alans.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnEkz-zzcUMC&q=%CE%BC%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%AF |title=Agathiou Scholastikou Peri tes Ioustinianou basileias bibloi pente. Agathiae Scholastici De imperio et rebus gestis Justiniani imperatoris libri quinque. Ex Bibliotheca & interpretatione Bonaventurae Vulcanii, cum notis eiusdem. Accesserunt eiusdem Agathiae Epigrammata cum versione latina |date=1729 |publisher=ex typographia Bartholomaei Javarina |language=el}}
Origins
Agathias wrote that the Misimians were "subjects of the king of the Colchians as are also the Apsilians though they differ from these in both language and customs" and that the Misimians and Apsilians had a similar way of life.{{cite book |author=Agathias |title=The Histories [books 3] p.66 |date= |publisher= |pages=66 |authorlink=Agathias}}
The ethnic composition of Colchis is a matter of controversy. Georgian scholars generally consider the Misimians to be a Kartvelian tribe,{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Graham |last2=Law |first2=Vivien |last3=Wilson |first3=Andrew |last4=Bohr |first4=Annette |last5=Allworth |first5=Edward |title=Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521599689 |pages=55–56}} identifying them with Ptolemy's Svano-Colchs and with Faustus' Egro-Svans. According to these scholars the self-identification of Svan Mushuan was changed into Misimian in Greek language.{{Cite book |last=Topchishvili |first=Roland |title=Svaneti and Its Inhabitants (Ethno-historical Studies) |pages=9}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nplg.gov.ge/dlibrary/collect/0001/000070/Georgian_Mountein_Regions.pdf |title=Roland Topchishvili - Svaneti and Its Inhabitants - (Ethno-historical Studies) |accessdate=2012-08-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310220525/http://www.nplg.gov.ge/dlibrary/collect/0001/000070/Georgian_Mountein_Regions.pdf |archivedate=2012-03-10|page=9}}{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=John |last2=Goldenberg |first2=Suzanne |last3=Schofield |first3=Richard |title=Transcaucasian Boundaries |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781135368500 |page=197}}N. Lomouri, Museum of Georgian Art, "Abkhazia in the Late Antique and Early Medieval Epochs" According to Gasviani, the Svan presence in the region is also supported by the fact that many of the toponyms are of Svan origin.{{Cite book |last=Გასვიანი |first=Გერონტი |url=https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/381257 |title=ნარკვევები შუა საუკუნეების სვანეთის ისტორიიდან |date=1991 |publisher=თბილისი : მეცნიერება |language=ka|pages=202,203}} Abkhaz scholars treat the Misimians as a population related to the Abkhaz.