Kartuli Parikaoba (ქართული ფარიკაობა)

Clothing - The Khevsur Talaveri

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The most easily identified piece of Khevsur clothing would be the traditional Talaveri tunic. The Talaveri is in form constructed like a classic medieval tunic of a rather square design with a side neck closure, and heavy embroidered decoration on the front yoke, cuffs, and bottom of the garment. The highlanders of Khevsureti are recorded as far back as ~450BC as being excellent weavers, knitters, and cembroiderers by the greek historian Herodetus, who noted that their products would wear out, but never faded. Richly decorated with embroidered designs, often using a repeated cross motif, the talaveri is split from the hem to the waist at the sides to allow mobility in the legs, and is believed by many researchers to be the closest to the form of medieval Georgian garments.

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Khevsureti and the Khevsur people.

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The land of the Khevsur
Khevsureti, the land of the Khevsur people, is located high in the Caucasus Mountains in Eastern Georgia. The region consists largely of the Migmakhevi, Shatili, Arkhoti and the Aragvi river valleys and the slopes surrounding them. One important thing to note is that this region lies along the border with modern Chechnia, and historically, in the manner of highlanders the world round, the Khevsur and Chechens raided back and forth along the mountains stealing each other's livestock.


The Khevsur People
The Khevsur are a subgroup of the Georgian or Kartvelian people who speak the Georgian language and have been part of the modern nation of Georgia since the beginning. However, they are unusual in that they never had any feudal lord ruling them, but instead owed their allegiance directly to the Georgian monarch, electing leaders for the region and relying heavily on councils of elders to guide them. Khevsurs often served as bodyguards to the reigning Georgian monarch, and saw protecting their section of border as a duty of their people.

 

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