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Christianity was introduced to the population
in the 6th century, when they entered into
protection of the Byzantine Empire under
Justinian. With the rise of Islam in the 7th
century, the fall of Sassanid Persia and the
weakening of Byzantium, Abkhazia was formed as
a principality that came to affiliate with the
Khazar Khanate from around 800 A.D. as its
prince married a Khazar princess. In the 10th
century, Abkhazia became part of the Georgian
state of the time (the Bagratid dynasty),
during a period of anarchy between vassal
princes and nobility.
From around year 1000 there were several
Turkish-Mongolian invasions, and in the 14th
century the Georgian state fell. Bagratid rule
in Abkhazia was replaced by a feudal
principality under Ottoman sovereignty. Muslim
influence was again strong in the area,
especially after 1578, when Abkhazia became a
vassal principality under the Ottomans.
Islamization of the population culminated much
later, however-towards the end of the 18th
century. But Christianity was still the faith
of a large minority of the Abkhaz.
Russian annexation of the area, starting in
1801, brought Abkhazia increasingly under
Russian influence. Russian-Turkish
revalidation led to a split in the Abkhaz
elite, mainly along religious divisions. The
Russo-Turkish war of 1827-28 strongly enhanced
the Russians' position. Conflicts between
Russians and Abkhaz increased in the 1830s and
1840s, when the Russians used Abkhazia as a
base for campaigns against the Cherkess, that
are ethnically close to the Abkhaz.
Colonisation of the Abkhaz territory began
even before 1810, but Abkhaz self-administration
lasted until 1864.
Many Abkhaz emigrated in this period, and
there was a major uprising in 1866 as a
protest against Russian land reforms and
taxation system. In the 1870s approx. 200.000
Abkhaz (1/2 of the population) were forced to
emigrate, as they were declared to be
unfaithful subjects of the tsar. This out-migration
had two important consequences: Firstly, most
of those who left were Muslims, so that the
majority of the Abkhaz in Abkhazia was
suddenly Christian. The other main consequence
was that the Abkhaz became a minority in their
own land as large territories lay open to
immigration by Russians, Georgians and others.
Editor note: These information is from
datebase of Centre of Russian Studies (Norway)
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