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Dagestani
mountaineers were engaged in kidnapping people from eastern Georgia
throughout the 16th — 18th сenturies. Part of
the population kidnapped by the Dagestani mountaineers was dispatched to Istanbul by Turk merchants and part was transported to
the North Caucasus, but most often, to the Crimea.
In the course of time, the number of Georgian captives for slavery in the Crimea reached several thousand. According to King of
Kartl-Kakheti Erekle II, in the 70s of the 18th century, their number made 32
thousand. After the end of the Russo-Ottoman war of 1768—1774, Georgian
captives gained their freedom. At the end of 1771, Erekle II sent his envoys
to Russia.
One of the purposes of this mission was to settle the question of Georgian
captives liberated in Crimea. Thanks to
direct involvement of King Erekle II and Georgian diplomats, a significant
part of Georgian captives managed to return to their homeland. Some of them
stayed in Russia
that was in the interests of the Russian state. The data on the captives who
returned from Crimea to their homeland are
reflected in Georgian historical documents.
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