Батыс Грузияның тарихи аймағы – Одиши

Historical district in western Georgia

Odishi was a historical district in western Georgia, the core fiefdom of the former Principality of Mingrelia, with which the name "Odishi" was frequently coterminous. Since the early 19th century, this toponym has been supplanted by Mingrelia (Samegrelo).

Like most historical regions of Georgia, Odishi had fluctuating borders. It was bounded by the Black Sea to the west and the Tskhenistsqali river to the east; to the northwest, Odishi bordered and at times expanded into Abkhazia; to the north were the mountains of Takveri, that is, the letter day Lechkhumi, and Svaneti; and the Rioni river formed the border between Odishi and Guria to the south. In its narrower sense, Odishi referred to a tract of land between the Inguri and Tekhuri rivers, bathed by the Black Sea. The chief town and largest settlement was Zugdidi. Chqondidi at Martvili served as the principal Christian cathedral. A Georgian demonym for the people of Odishi was odishari.

The etymology of Odishi is not clear. According to Georgy Klimov, in Mingrelian the term Odishi breaks down as Od ish i, where od goes back to Proto Kartvelian *ad (yellow azalea) and ish is a topoformative element. There also is an explanation of this name in Laz, Odi shi (Odişi) meaning "From Odi". The early 18th century Georgian scholar Prince Vakhushti, who included a detailed geographical account of the region in his Description of the Kingdom of Georgia, suggested a folk etymology of Odishi as meaning "once [odeshi] this land was ours." Natively, and in the early modern Georgian historical literature, Odishi was the name of both the district and the whole Dadiani ruled principality. The latter came to be known to the Europeans as Mingrelia after the principal group of people inhabiting it, but they were also familiar with Odishi as the name of one of the two principal subdivisions of the Principality of Mingrelia, the other being Lechkhumi. The Georgian equivalent of Mingrelia, Samegrelo, although referenced in much earlier records, did not enter the common usage until after the imposition of the Imperial Russian hegemony in 1804.