by N.

Abazadze
GADZHIYA – THE WEAPON OF MAN

"The Georgian mountaineers possess a

strange and, in our opinion, terrifying weapon with
which they can, without killing a man, shed blood
craved by those thirsting revenge. This weapon is
the flat iron ring spiked with half an inch long tines.
They put it on their thumb and swing it at the face of
their opponent aiming to cut it open."
G.Radde.1881

Pic.1 Gigia Tsiklaury holds his

gadjia. Khevsurety2007

Richard Burton, one of the earliest experts on weaponry, who had studied them thoroughly,
wrote the following: "The history of the sword is the history of mankind". Thus, it is impossible to
study weapons without studying people who invented and owned them, just as it is impossible to
understand completely the people without studying their weapons. During the long millennia of
human history men had to rely on their weapons to defend themselves and their freedom, to secure
their social position, career and welfare. Hence, weapons acquire their specific design, and especially
their shape and size appropriate to their purpose and use. All these attributes were consequences of
genetic predispositions of individuals with their unique biomechanics of movement. Genetic
predisposition was shaped not in a small measure by environment and traditions of the people.

Before deciding to put these observations on paper, I had wondered through highland
settlements of Georgia for number of years and suffered many bruises and scars on my own body in
order to grasp to some degree the very essence of the weapon, the pride and glory of my ancestors.
More than once I happen to heard in response to my questions: "Take it in your hand! Learn to master
the weapon if you want to understand it". Thus, the present material is based, both on my field records,
and my personal experience.

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 The topic of my discussion is one of the unique types of Khevsur weapons. The culture and
traditions of Georgian Middle Ages has so far survived to a great extant in small Khevsurety, and
therefore, one may call the region a veritable living museum. Here up to the second half of the 1950’s
actual medieval contest fights or tournaments were conducted and blood was spilled. All his life the
Khevsur was inseparable from his weapon: he grew with a weapon,
was baptized with a weapon and died up with a weapon in his
hands. When a male child had barely learned to crawl, a blade, a
toy or food were put before him and family members watched what
he would choose. If he chose the blade, it was the sign that the boy
was destined to become a courageous warrior, and he was brought
up accordingly. Weapon defines the spirit of the Khevsur; the
sword is his core, his spinal bones, the dagger represents his honor,
and the battle ring is his nature, his character.

Pic2. Khevsurety 1934

Gadjiya is the name for one of the various Khevsurs battle rings used in hand-to-hand fight.
Battle rings served for various purposes, and that explains their great variety. One type of the rings
was used for fight, other for kill, yet another for knightly duel. Gadjiya was a fitting tool for all these
cases. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the gadjiya represents a major defining aspect of the
Khevsur character.
One cannot overestimate the work of Professor Vaso Elashvili who did a thorough study of
this particular weapon; he classified the wide variety of these rings into three categories according to
the manner and purpose of their use: 1) pushing( striking) , 2) cutting, and 3) scratching. He grouped
them under one general name, satite, thus introducing a new term for identifying them. The word can
be approximately translated as fingerling, i.e. “designed-for-finger” (from the Georgian word titi, a
finger). This, however, may lead to some confusion if today one goes to Khevsurety and asks some
old-timer for а "satite." The visitor would be shown a thimble for sewing, for that is exactly what
satite means in contemporary Georgian. Of course, after some explanation the confusion would be
cleared and a battle ring would be fetched for the visitor. The name gadjiya, on the other hand, would
make it quite clear what one is interested to see.

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 In his book, 5 years in Pshavy and Hevsurety (1930),
Doctor of medicine G. Tedoradze uses thе name Gadjiya to
define the Кhevsur battle rings in general.
G.Teodoradze , illustration
“ Dying Khevsur with sword in hand” 1930

Before Teodoradze, in 19 century two other authors, Russian intelligence officer and spy
A.Zisserman, and General G. Radde in their memoirs also use same name as common, having failed
to distinguish functional characteristics of different rings. Though in 20 th century Khevsurs also came
to use this word as general, probably because this particular type became the most popular among
them, gadjiya in fact is only one type of a battle ring
Gadjiya (fig. 4) is an iron ring similar to a regular wide ring; on its surface it has three rows of
small tines. Some may be made of brass ( Chitaiya, G. Tedoradze). Gadjiya can be of three types:
tsalpira (single-row), orpira (two-row) and sampira (three-row)
in accordance to the number of rows of tines on them. The latter
was the most popular because of its multi-purpose use.
Just like other battle rings, gadjia was used to strike a
blow in close action. Blows were traditionally delivered to the
head and the part of the face covered with hair , as well as other
places not covered with clothe, for example, to the hands of the
opponent. The weapon was carried in a special small pocket
sewn on the shirt (perangi), on the left side for the right-handed
person, and on the right side for the left-handed ones (see fig. 6).
The Khevsur would wear a coat, chokha, over the shirt and thus,
gadjiya was hidden from the eyes of a stranger. Advantage of
such weapon was that it always remained with its owner even
during various festivities or on a visit when, according to the
tradition, all other weapons were to be submitted to managers of
the feast or to the host.

Gadjia by master Nadura Likokeli

From collection of V.Kiziria

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 The ring was used both for defense and for attack. A gadjiya,
suddenly whipped out from under the arm, may be quite terrifying and
could intimidate the opponent psychologically. And, of course, the most
important feature of the gadjiya was its ability to inflict heavily bleeding
wounds, unbearable pain and thus, force the opponent to admit the defeat
without seriously crippling or killing him An old Khevsur, Totia Arabuli

Pic.5 Mihat Ivane Tsiklauri

demonstrates how to grip
opponents hand
from the village of Tsinkhada, well known for his formidable fighting skills told us that once he had to
fight, using only gadjiya, against a man armed with a dagger. This and other similar cases prove that a
battle ring can be seen as equal to a dagger, not just an auxiliary weapon.
All types of Khevsur battle rings are put tightly only on one finger instead of two, three or four
fingers as modern type of strike weapons like brass knuckles, and therefore, it does not restrict
movement of the fingers. Thus, one can deliver a blow with the fist without inflicting wounds by ring;
one can also grab the opponent’s weapon, clothes or hand. Though rings of a certain type were also
used as auxiliary tools to cock a tight hummer of a flintlock gun or pull out ramrod stuck in the barrel
(Zisserman) yet authors like G. Chitana and V. Elashvili, support the assumption that these rings were
created for contest fights. But exactly because Zisserman mentions that the Khevsurs used to wear
the rings in military actions when battling against their adversaries, it allows to believe that these rings
were used not only in contest fights, but also in hand-to-hand combats that would occur during battle
clashes.
After the end of 13th century Georgia had no resources for a
regular army and had to rely on mobilizing the population in times
of need. Traditionally each male subject of the kingdom, his social
standing notwithstanding, had the right to keep and carry
weapons. Surrounded with hostile neighbors, the Khevsurs like
other Georgian tribes honed their military skills to the perfection.

Pic.6 “perangi” with little pocket under left arm

for caring a battle ring

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 With the annexation of the country by Russian empire in the beginning of the 19 th century the
rule of Georgia’s royal dynasty came to an end. With the loss of its independence the country’s old,
traditional military defense system broke down. The Khevsurs, now the subjects of the Empire, had to
defend themselves mostly from relatively small scale attacks of their northern neighbors all the way
almost till the 1950’s.
An american journalist, Richard Haliburton who visited Georgia at the beginning of the last
century, described a remarkable episode in his book Seven-mile Boots. One fine morning of the year
1915, inhabitants of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, were woken up by the clanking sounds of metal
and clapping of horse hoofs on the pavement. Looking out of their windows, they were amazed to see
a cavalry of medieval knights, armed cap-á-pie, with banners in their hands. They were the Khevsurs
who having heard that a war had broken out between the White tsar (Emperor of Russia) and
Germans, came down from the mountains to join the fight and restore their former glory.
Alas, this was not a war in which sabers and daggers could be used, and mails chains were
poor defense against machine guns. Weapon passing from fathers to sons, lost its military value.
Khevsurs were left only with their contest battles of medieval nature and fights, or "shugli". The time
cruelly discarded with those who did not wish to reconcile with the changes. Today Khevsur weapons
are reduced to far lesser status; they are sought-after items by exotic weapons’ fans for their
collections, by lovers of certain style of interior design to hang them on their wall, or are shown to
tourists armed with cameras. As for mail chains, one may come across to seeing small pieces of them
used for scraping left-over food from pots and pans.
It is important to understand the psychology of the Khevsurs, the people a greater part of
whose lives was spent in battles. They fought, spilling blood or were preparing for it. Consequently,
during periods of relative peace, internal conflicts became more frequent occurrences within their
community. Thus new situation changed military tactics and strategy of Khevsurs and so did the
weapons being adapted to the new circumstances. More aggressive types of rings went out of use and
less dangerous gained popularity.
It became dangerous to use rings capable to kill, such as "lesula", "magala" and "kherkhula"
(fig. 7). These types of rings could inflict deep and even mortal wounds. In his memoirs A. .Zisserman
wrote precisely about such rings with which “ one could hit the opponent in the head and wound him
as if with a dagger”.

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 The Kevsurs gave up these rings when the need to use them against
external enemy disappeared. Within their community the Khevsurs tried to
avoid deadly outcome in fights or duels since usually, according to their
adat [local laws], consequences of such outcome was severe penalty for
the murderer and all his family on whom heavy fee and various
restrictions were imposed, including a required blood for blood revenge.
These local laws and traditions intertwined with religious rules (rjuli) go
back to the first millennium. Only in the 14th century Georgia’s King
George the Magnificent compiled a code of laws to clarify the differences
in the customs practiced in the communities of the highlanders and the rest
of Georgia. Even today this codex is referred to as siskhlis samartali or
Blood justice".
It is interesting that even such relatively less harmful rings of
pushing type, as zurgana, khveula and tsikhvila (fig. 7) become less
popular among the Khevsurs since they lost their usefulness. Thus,
gadjiya replaced all types of rings mentioned above. It looked
intimidating, could caused bleeding wounds, allowed to deliver blows
easily without killing the opponent or inflicting grave injuries.
The most distinctive feature of gadjiya is its ring-shaped form,
about 2.8 or 3 cm wide. This form is identical for all three types of
gadjiya. Another metal band with sharp tines is welded upon its base.
These tines are not as long as on other scratching type rings and their
length ranges from 1.5 to 2 cm. It allows to deliver a powerful blow that
may result in a shock and may even damage one’s a bone. The rings with
lesser number of the tine rows were more dangerous and for that reason
single-row and two-row gadjiyas are gradually becoming obsolete. As for
three-row rings, with their wide band and a tight rows of short tines their
blow could not inflict deep wounds.

Pic.7Types of battle rings (from the top):

Herhula; Hveula; Tsiskvila; Goriani; Herhula;
Magala-hohbistvala

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 The technique of blows is rather elaborate. They could be divided into advancing (or
counterattacking) and reactive. By the direction of hand movements blows are divided into vertical,
i.e. from top to down which is called dakvra, circular - from below to upward, and horizontally
sideways, called mosma.
Blows usually followed each other in short series, alternating the attempts to stop and
neutralize the opponent attacking hand. The amplitude of series of blows
was the shortest possible which gave no opportunity to the opponent to
evade the line of attack by ducking down or other defensive move. The
attack causing profuse bleeding from the forehead of the opponent was
considered effective for it compelled him to give up the fight as flowing
blood would block the vision, in other words ‘blinding” him. The duration
of the fight was minimum, and witnesses would separate the fighters. It
was not allowed to deliver blows to the forbidden areas: the neck, the
throat, the face below the forehead; such blows were considered as signs of
cowardice.
Pic.8 92 year old
Batira Kerauli holds
his gadjia

While one hand was used to deliver blows, the other one would try to block or hold the
attacking hand of the opponent (hence reflecting dagger fighting technique), grab his collar or head.
The fighter would try to press the opponent’s head to his chest and thus deliver maximum number of
blows. The finishing blow ending the fight was the one which would tear off part of sculp, the skin
and hair and was called abgrucheba. In order to defend himself from the oncoming blows, one would
try to manipulate the distance between himself and the opponent. This was done by bending sideways
and back, bending forward, pulling or pushing away the opponent, ducking under the hand of the
opponent. Another defense move was blocking the opponent’s striking hand with elbow of the left
hand simultaneously keeping a hold of opponents collar, or gripping his armed hand. To free oneself
from the grip one would strike the wrist of the opponent’s holding hand. An old Khevsur, Gigia
Tsiklauri from the village of Roshki provided an interesting account of this method. He remembered
once when fighting shugli he delivered the first counterstroke to the outer side of the opponent’s hand
with which he had grabbed his shirt (perangi) close to his neck. The opponent, experiencing sharp

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pain, lowered his hand giving Gigia a chance to move closer at a convenient distance and to continue
his attack.
It should be noticed that many
people preferred to fight with daggers or
with broadsword rather than with gadjiya
because of the nature of wounds inflicted
with this weapon. Though wounds were
usually skin deep, they were very ragged.

Pic.9 Zurab Tsiklauri demonstrates

technique. Amgha village. Khevsurety 1993

As the Khevsurs themselves admit, it was difficult for doctors (dostakari) to sew up ragged
tissue; it was easier to treat dagger wounds. Injuries were treated with herbs and ointments, but healing
process was long and painful, sometimes lasting for months. If the wounds were inflicted within
permitted area and the skull was not punctured, the winner did not pay any “drama”
(payment/compensation). The loser had to use his own recourses for the treatment and endure sneers
for his defeat.
There were times when shugli (fight) could brake out anywhere and without attending
witnesses. In the memoirs G. Tedoradze remembers that he witnessed a fight where up to 60 people
were involved. When it was over, one person was dead and another fatally wounded. If wounds were
inflicted as a result of unfairly delivered blows, the fine was calculated according to the laws of
rdzhuli. Every aspect of the fight was taken into consideration: the reason of shugli, age of the parties
involved, behavior before and during the fight, character of inflicted wounds. There was a traditional
Khevsur method of evaluating the damage. The guilty party had to compensate the victim with as
many cows as many grains of wheat could be aligned along the length of the wound. If need be the
wounds of both parties were measured, and the guilty one paid the fine based on the difference of their
lengths. Compensation was used for treatment of the wounds and appeasement of the victim’s hurt
pride. The penalty that was to be paid was a substantial burden upon the family of the guilty person.
These customs may seem barbaric to the modern reader. However, when compared to the
similar rules of dueling in other parts of the world, the Khevsur laws regulating such fights seem
rather humane since their duels did not lead to death of either of the opponents. For example, the

8
doctor Tedoradze, who had studied the treatment methods of local doctors, described an 86 year
healer, Apeko Ochiauri from the Arkhoti gorge. The old
man had cured about 350 Khevsurs; 150 of them had
skull injuries, and only three of them died because their
wounds were very deep. This means that mortality rate
was quite low (less than 1%), and those sometime were
not just contest fights.

Pic.10 Totia Arabuli demonstrates received

types of wounds. Tsinhadu village.
Khevsurety 2006
Fighting skills were perfected with trainings and in fights. Quite often skirmishes would break
out because of women who sometimes even encouraged men to pass this test of manhood. When the
author of this article asked some Khevsur women what kind men they preferred, a learned one or a
good fighter, their choice invariably fell on the latter. By developing their fighting skills men acquired
qualities necessary for the harsh life in the mountains.
The Khevsurs community brought up men for uneasy life full of wars and battles. Since
childhood the Khevsur was accustomed to carrying weapons and got used to seeing blood under strict
supervision and control of the adults. Starting at age seven, a child was presented with a dagger as a
symbol of rite of passage to manhood; from now on he belonged to a tribe of soldiers (all men in
Khevsurety were considered soldiers). Boys were trained to conduct hand-to-
hand fights using rings designed especially for children; they were made of
wire of different thickness and were called nestari or sting (see fig. 11). They
used iron rings with specially welded short tines for delivering superficial
cuts and scratches. However, when I and my colleagues tried them out, it
turned out that these supposedly harmless rings for children were quite
formidable and could inflict painful cuts.
Pic.11 Child ring ‘Nestari”
From Elashvili’s book

In the 1906 issue of Psychology Bulletin, Doctor of Medicine E.V. Ericson wrote that having
conducted medical examination of Georgian army recruits he had discovered that 46% of them had
scars on their heads from injuries received at various times. The same was reported by doctor G.

9
Teodoradze: "You will seldom find a Khevsur without scars on his head and face. Those without scars
become objects of sneers and mockery. During my expeditions in Khevsurety I interviewed many old
men and none of them appeared without scars; some of them had a few dozen of them from a different
types of weapons. The majority of wounds were on their head and hands. Ninety-two-year-old Batira
Kerauli from the village of Khadu told me half jokingly: ‘It is impossible to grow old without scars.
If the person dies without a scar at least from a dog bite, he will not be accepted in the world beyond".
Khevsurs tend to give names of archaic nature to people and things around them. For example,
man’s name mgelika means a wolf cub, datviya is a bear, nadira – an animal, etc. One can see the
same tendency in naming fighting rings where the names rather accurately reflect the character or even
the shape of the weapon: lesula (sharpend), magala (tall), tsiskvila (water mill), kherkhula (saw-
tooth); khveula (twisted); "zurgana" (with small humps). Gadjiya most probably derives from the
word godji, a fang. In addition, Khevsurs divide various types of fight rings into subgroups and give
them names corresponding to their features. Thus, the rings
that belong to the class of magala can be subdivided into
magala-savartskhela (tall comb) with taller, thin tines in
tight rows, and magala-khokhbistvala (tall, pheasant’s eye)
that has smaller number of tines and is decorated with dots
that resemble pheasant eyes. There were rings called
magala-aftari (tall hyena), etc.

Pic.12 From age 7, boys were

required to wear dagers
A close study of the various types of the Khevsur rings, development of their shapes, design,
and names points at a long process of their evolution over centuries. They are clearly of the local
origin, not borrowed or brought in from outside. Quality of their casting and design of weapons made
of brass especially indicates how meticulously they were worked on. As a matter of fact, brass was the
popular metal of Khevsurs and a lot of items were made of it since poor mountaineers not always had
means for silver. Iron rings were made from worn-out horseshoes of both horses and donkeys. Master
would file off the spikes, cut a hole, and a ring was ready. Optionally he would cut out a few similar
shapes and weld them on a flat ring in a raw to create orpira or sampira.
As for genealogy of fighting rings, we may to agree with the Khevsurs themselves who assume
that the fighting ring could have developed from archer’s ring which means that the origin of fighting
rings is quite ancient. Pulling the bow-string with a ring on the thumb while shooting arrows was a

10
wide spread tradition in the East; it left us rich archaeological material about the Caucasus, and as well
as the entire East. Some such rings have rather specific shape that they could have been a prototype of
fighting rings. In any case, this assumption needs confirmation that the analysis of archeological
finds may provide.
Gadzhiya, like other types of Khevsur rings, is put on the thumb or tseri in Georgian, as well as
in Khevsur dialect. This is why ethnographers G.Chitaya, S. Makalatia, and others unite in their
studies all fighting rings under the general name satseruli meaning for tseri or for thumb. When a
man had the ring on, he would bend the thumb and hook his forefinger over it thus supported gadjiya
from below while other fingers were tightly clenched steadying the forefinger. In this manner, delivery
of a blow put pressure not on the thumb but on the entire fist increasing the force of the blow. It was
easily enough to put the ring on the thumb while taking it out of the pocket and hold it tightly held in
the fist. If satseruli was suspended on a string from the belt, it was also quickly put on the thumb
breaking the string off. There were other ways of gabbing and holding satseruli, and one would
choose the most advantageous option (fig. 13).
V. Elashvili discovered that certain types of rings were put on the middle finger (fig. 13, 16).
The rings used in this manner were usually more flat. Such were, for example, all types of life-
threatening rings: magala, lesula, or kherkhul used for
cutting and scratching. Magala is a flat single-row ring
and it could be rather loose when put on the thumb. For
that reason, additional rings rgoli or sachike were
required (fig. 14). If sachike was not at hand or there
was no time for a complicated combination, the ring
could be put on the middle finger. Such hold is rather
convenient for delivering not threatening life cuts or
scratching blows (fig. 16).
Pic.13 Illustration from Elashvili’s book
“Satiteni”. Ways to hold a different ring

In his book Satiteni, V. Elashvili describes yet another way of carrying rings (fig. 17). The
ring is put on the middle finger with its tines towards the palm. As the illustration below makes it
clear, the ring with three rows is actually a sampira gadjiya so this option could not not be very
practical (fig. 17) The problem is, that the majority of fighting rings like gadjiya with one-, two- or
three-row tines have a rather wide lower part in the form of half-moon with a diameter of 5 or 5.5 cm

11
 (fig. 4). The supporting base of a three-row gadjiya is wide, and it
pushes rather wide apart the forefinger and ring-finger; this in its
turn reduces the striking force of the fist and is rather
uncomfortable. This way one can deliver only a light scratch
wound at best. It is possible that there were gadjiyas with a
narrow base, but we have not found any such type.

Pic.14 from G.Chitaia book “Khevsurian satseruli”

Ways to wear flat rings with support of smaller rings “sachike”

Pic 15 ring Tsiskvila with supporting sachike

ring. From National Museum collection

Pic. 16 Alternative way (right way) to hold a flat ring if there are no
Sachike rings for support

Pic.17 Alternative way (wrong) to wear gadjia

found by V.Elashvili. Illustration from “Satiteni”

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 As a matter of fact, holding gajiya on a thumb with its tines toward the palm reminds the way
another fight ring, namely, a Japanese, kakute is held (fig. 18). The latter is the only weapon which is
quite similar to the gadjiya. This Japanese weapon is small in size, has about three short tines, and is
put on with the tines towards the palm. Kakute was used as an auxiliary weapon to grab the
opponent’s kimono and was among the weaponry carried by the Samurais patrolling palaces and other
residential quarters of their sovereigns. Today some hypothesize that kakute must have been a secret
weapon of the ninja. However, in our opinion this assumption hardly can be supported.

Pic.18. Japanise samurai ring Kakute

In spite some similarities gadjiya and kakute are not generically same
weapons. Kakute had very different function. It was not used as a striking
weapon for hand-to-hand fights. The spikes are quite short so they would
not damage one’s palm yet able to help grab the opponent. Reversing spikes
outward and trying to use for striking would be far from effective since kakute has one row of two or
three short, up to five millimeters long spikes sitting on narrow ring that do not allow delivering
powerful and effective blow, especially to the opponent in full dress. Beside narrow based single ring
cannot can’t avoid shifting , thus being not firm in place which very important during the fight, while
delivering multiple blows.
Pic.18 rings of Tsalpira type

The ring tsalpira, which is similar in shape to kakute, is more

dangerous. It has from eight to twelve tines up to two centimeters long.
Contrary to kakute it’s wide base is adapted for delivering a powerful blow and
its lower wide part in the shape of half moon steadies its movement. By trying
to hold it in a manner similar to the Japanese kakute (the tines palm side), one
can injure the hand. There is no doubt that these two types of weapons,
Khevsur and Japanese, have different origin and followed different course of
development. Khevsur fighting rings are unique in their own way, and have no analogues in the
world.
It should be mentioned that during the Soviet era it was hard for a Georgian to do research and
study Georgian traditions of military nature (manner of carrying weapons, contest fights, even games
and festivals that included elements of marshal arts). It was particularly difficult after the Khevsurs

13
involvement in the 1922 uprising for independence of Georgia under the leadership of Prince
Cholokashvili. In 1950 the majority of Khevsurs were forcibly relocated to the flatlands of the
Kakhety region that fundamentally changed this unique culture.
Yet Russian military experts took full advantage from learning Georgian martial traditions.
From the early years of the Soviet regime until 1938 dozen of secret expeditions , first by Military
Institute of marshal Frunze and later by NKVD sport sections were organized in the various regions of
Georgia, but all the material, photographed or sketched, was kept in special closed archives. These
secret materials included the data collected in special camps (for example, in Lagodekhy) run by the
representatives of RKKA (The Red Army of Workers and Peasants) and VChK (forerunner of
KGB). In these camps specially invited instructors studied Georgian martial arts: style of fight
known in Kakheti region, wrestling chidaoba ( became a core for creating well known today Soviet
SAMBO system) ,Khevsur fencing, and Georgian fistfight. Instructors of RKKA noted uniqueness of
Khevsur rings and tried to exploit Khevsur method adapting it in system for use by military and
police, in particular for neutralization of criminals, diversion agents and by special forces . In the
1950’s when Professor V. Elashvili started his research in this area, he frequently found himself under
pressure from authorities to drop his work and sometimes was even threatened with dire
consequences for his life.
Unfortunately attitude of Russian authorities that supervise such publications even today
remain hostile. Most of publications by Russian authors on Georgian traditional weapon are aimed
rather to obscure the topic, avoid facts and confuse the reader. As of Georgian battle rings two books
were published starting in 1993, "Martial Arts of the Planet" in two parts, edited by A.N.Medvedev,
and then a study by K.B. Asmalov in which drawings from Vaso Elashvili's book were reprinted.
Battle rings in above mentioned publications were mistakenly identified as weapons of Swanety
region, which is an entirely different region of Georgia. Thus readers that would want to continue
research were pointed in wrong direction.

At the conclusion, the author expresses his gratitude to the management of the Georgian
Historical Museum and the curator of the weapons department, Mamuka Kapianidze for his
cooperation and for providing the necessary material. And certainly he is most grateful to those old
Khevsurs, who had generously shared their knowledge. Many of them had died in recent years. Those
that remain are few but true to old tradition, dreaming to die with talavari (traditional Khevsur outfit)
on and a sword in their hands as their old tradition demands.

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 Illustrations:

Pic.20 Author learning “forbidden” or

restricted targets for strikes
Khevsurety 1995

Pic.21 Gigia explains technique to author

Khevsurety 2006

Richard Halliburton “Seven leagues boots”, 1935

Chitaia G. : «Khevsuruli saceruli» ,1930г
Radde G. : «хевсурия и хевсуры» ,1881г
Zissermann A.L. : «25 лет на кавказе» 1879г Sanct Peterburg

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Elashvili V. : Traditional folk system of youth training in Khevsurety.1959
Elashvili V : «Parikaoba» (khevsurian fencing), 1957
Elashvili V: «Satiteni» (khevsurian battle rings), 1960
Makalatia S. : «Khevsurety» 1948г
Teodoradze G. : «5 years in Pshavi and Khevsurety» Tbilisi1930
Орбелиани С.С : «ситквис кона» (переиздание)1928г
Пшавела В. «этнографические очерки» ст 72,73
Уложнение царя Гиоргиа V. Тб. Мецниереба 1988
Serge Mol: «Classical fighting arts of Japan» 2001г
Burton R. F.: «the book of the sword» 1987
А.Смирнов, Г.Кряжин : “Теории и практика физ.и военно-прикладных упражнении, пособия
для командного состава ркка и частей нквд” военное издателство 1937г

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Abazadze N. «Applied aspects of different types of Georgian edged weapon» not published

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