Khevsur, a Christian people,
an offshoot of the old Georgian race, inhabiting
the mountain tract about the sources of tho
Argun, and they have long formed a barrier to the
fanatic Mussulman tribes of Daghestan and Upper Georgia.
The Christianity of the
Khevsur is of a loose kind, and tinged with
paganism. But his faith in the sign of the cross
is unbounded; he crosses himself at sight of a
church, crosses himself when he sneezes, crosses
himself when he lights a lucifer in a strong
wind, and wears the cross as a badge on his coat
of mail. The population of the Khevsurs, with
that of their kindred tribes of Pschaves and
Tuschetes, amounts to 11,546.
Proceedings of the Royal Geographical
Society of London, Volume 6;Volumes 1861-1862,
Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain),
Edward Stanford, 1862
Observers Of Three Holy
Days Each Week
Behind these lovely ladies
came gaunt Khevsurs, wearing chain coats of mail
and chain helmets. Their straight swords were
double-edged and each carried a small shield
decorated with applique figures. Their small,
wiry horses sniffed restively at the fumes of the
motor-cars, resenting more than did their ruddy
haired masters this anachronism of eight
centuries gap.
The Khevsurs wear the cross
on their clothing and are the champion
religionists of the world, for they observe the
Christian Sabbath, the Jewish Saturday, and the
Mohammedan Friday, and their religion is a
strange mixture of all three beliefs with
paganism. An early French traveler started the
story that they were descendants of some Prankish
Crusaders who fell in love with Georgian
womanhood and forgot the Holy Grail in the midst
of Georgian loveliness; but a matter-of-fact and
very erudite Georgian scholar in Tiflis spoiled
that story.
The National Geographic Magazine,
Volume 34, National Geographic Society, 1919
In the region of the upper
Aragva live the Khevsurs and Pshavs, offshoots
from the Georgian race. Both tribes consider
themselves Christian, although possessing many
pronounced Mahammedan traits. They shave their
heads, are polygamists, and, a la Muslim, won't
touch pork.
The Khevsurs—Khevi, from which their name is
derived, is a Georgian word, and means "
valley "— still believe in the most
mysterious deities, all very poetical and
fantastical; gods of the east and west, a god of
gods, a little god, an oak tree god, a wind
spirit, and a thunder controller.
Herbert, Agnes, Casuals In
The Caucasus: The Diary Of A Sporting Holiday. John
Lane, 1912