Tergdaleulebi () was a cultural, social, literary, and political movement in Georgia. The movement spearheaded the revival of Georgian nationalism during the second half of the 19th century and ensured the survival of the Georgian language, literature, and culture in Russian Georgia.
History
In 1801, eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was annexed into Russian Empire. Although incorporation into the empire ended Muslim invasions from south (Qajar Iran and Ottoman Empire) and brought peace to Georgia, the loss of sovereignty, as well as abolition of the autocephalous status of the Georgian Orthodox Church by Russian Tsar, gave rise to romantic nationalism which idealized Georgia's past and yearned for independence. However, any attempt to restore Georgian statehood, most notably 1832 Georgian plot, was suppressed by Tsarist authorities. Members of the Georgia's royal Bagrationi dynasty were deported to the Russian provinces and Russian viceroy was installed by Moscow to rule Georgia without giving it any kind of autonomy within the empire.
Against the backdrop of such development, "Tergdaleulebi" movement sprang in 1860s throughout Georgia. "Tergdaleulebi" translates as "those, who have drunken the water of the Terek river". Since the Terek river functions as the geographical boundary between Georgia and Russia, the term began to be used to refer to those young intellectuals who went to pursue education in Russian universities and brought to Georgia new European ideas from there. The movement originally arose from literary quarrels about linguistic questions, with "Tergdaleulebi" demanding to reform Georgian language in order to make it more accessible to ordinary people. While "Tergdaleulebi" wanted to remove what they considered as "orthographic and gramatical archaisms", their opponents considered this to be degradation of language. Dubbed as "the sons", Tergdaleulebi were involved in the literary quarrels between "the sons and the fathers", challenging their opponents with poems. Their main publishing outlets were Tsiskari and Sakartvelos Moambe. The movement mostly consisted of noblemen who have relinquished their privileges. They were opposed to Tsarism and serfdom, while promoting liberalism and nationalism. The term "Tergdaleulebi" was initially used as a pejorative by its opponents, who equated "drinking from the Terek river" with the abandonment of traditional Georgian costumes. "Tergdaleulebi" challenged old Georgian nobility which had pledged its allegiance to the Tsar. The movement was led by Ilia Chavchavadze, a Russian-educated Georgian tavadi (a feudal title in Georgia) who renounced his privileges. Tergdaleulebi were inspired by contemporary European movements and numerous revolutions which sprang up in Europe during their student years. They paid particular attention to the events in Italy and the struggle of Giuseppe Garibaldi, whom Chavchavadze admired for many years.
The movement's main goals were to revive Georgian identity, culture, language, literature and national church. They challenged the House of Romanov's policy of forced Russification. They promoted nationalism to protect Georgia from foreign influences, stimulated by the rule of the Russian bureaucracy and economic and demographic dominance of the Armenian bourgeoisie in the capital city of Tbilisi. In 1879, they founded Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians to promote Georgian language and literature among Georgians. The Society ran a network of schools, bookshops and libraries throughout the country; trained teachers, and sponsored Georgian-language journals and magazines. The organization was instrumental in Georgian national revival in the latter half of the 19th century. As the nobility declined and capitalism progressed, which strengthened Armenian economic dominance in Georgia, Chavchavadze established The Bank of the Nobility to protect Georgian land from being sold off by poor Georgian noblemen to rich Armenian bourgeoisie. He coined the phrase "Ena, Mamuli, Sartsmunoeba" ("Language, Homeland, Religion"), which is widely acknowledged slogan of Georgian nationalism. Chavchavadze and Tergdaleulebi were involved in founding many other public, cultural and educational organizations ("The Dramatic Society", "The Historical-Ethnographical Society of Georgia", etc.). Their main aim was to free Georgia from Russian political rule and Armenian economic dominance.