Egrisi Saeristavo

The Egrisi Saeristavo (principality) was a territorial-administrative unit of the Kingdom of Kartli, located in western Georgia (as mentioned in Kartlis Tskhovreba - The Georgian Chronicles). It was established in the 3rd century BC by King Parnavaz, who appointed Kuji as the first eristavi of Egrisi. From that time, according to Georgian sources, the Egrisi Saeristavo existed—though with some changes—up until approximately the late 430s AD.

During the reign of Vakhtang Gorgasali, Inner Egrisi and Svaneti were united as a single Saeristavo (with Samnaghiri serving as the eristavi). However, foreign sources (primarily Roman-Byzantine) contradict the Georgian accounts. According to these sources, the territory attributed to the Egrisi Saeristavo was initially part of the Kingdom of Pontus, later under the Roman Empire, and finally within the Kingdom of Lazica.

It is likely that King Parnavaz did indeed establish the Saeristavo, but by the 1st century BC, it had already ceased to exist. As for the situation in the second half of the 5th century, Svaneti and some part of Egrisi’s territory were probably included within the Kingdom of Kartli, holding the status of a separate Saeristavo.

Source: ქართლის ცხოვრება. ტექსტი დადგენილი ყველა ძირითადი ხელნაწერის მიხედვით ს. ყაუხჩიშვილის მიერ, ტ. 1, თბ., 1955.

Literature: ბ ა ხ ტ ა ძ ე  მ., ერისთავობის ინსტიტუტი საქართველოში, თბ., 2003.

M. Bakhtadze