The Import of Gun Barrels and Their Price in Georgia in 17th — 18th cc.

Abstract

Fire arms were manufactured in Georgia from 17th — 18th cc. Because of this the fire arms were widely spread among the population. The Georgians actively used guns in the 17th and especially 18th cc. Furthermore, the production from Tbilisi spread to the neighbouring countries. Flintlock guns consisted of three major details: barrel, flintlock mechanism, and stock. The sources confirm that the flintlock mechanisms and stocks were produced locally. As to the gun barrels, the situation was quite different. Imported gun barrels from Crimea were generally used to produce fire arms in Tbilisi and the rest of Georgia. It was because of Crimean gun barrels that the most commonly used term for a gun in Georgia was “Kirimi”/”Khirimi”. The Ethnology and Modern History Guns Fund of the Georgian National Museum (Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia) also hosts hundreds of guns with imported Crimean gun barrels produced in the 18th c. Tbilisi. The import of gun barrels was well documented in the Georgian customs tax tariff, which enables the scholars to establish guns’ prices in those times.

Keywords

• Georgia
• Crimea
• fire arm
• Crimean barrel
• Tbilisi
• prices