Wojciech Jagielski - All Laras Wars

Cover

ALL LARAS WARS

WOJCIECH JAGIELSKI

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Seven Stories Press

New York Oakland Liverpool

Copyright 2015 by Wojciech Jagielski
English translation 2020 by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

This publication has been subsidized by Instytut Ksiki
the POLAND Translation Program.

Originally published in Polish by Wydawnictwo Znak
under the title Wszystkie wojny Lary , 2015.

First English-language edition.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Book design by Jon Gilbert

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Jagielski, Wojciech, 1960- author. | Lloyd-Jones, Antonia,
translator.
Title: All Laras wars / Wojciech Jagielski ; translated by Antonia
Loyd-Jones.
Other titles: Wszystkie wojny Lary. English
Description: New York : Seven Stories Press, [2020]
Identifiers: LCCN 2020031054 (print) | LCCN 2020031055 (ebook) | ISBN
9781644210161 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781644210178 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Chechnya (Russia)--History--Civil War, 1994---Social
aspects. | Syria--History--Civil War, 2011---Social aspects. | Muslim
families--Biography. | IS (Organization)--Biography. | Joqolo
(Georgia)--History. | Grozny (Russia)--History. |
Khists--Georgia--Joqolo.
Classification: LCC DK511.C37 J341513 2020 (print) | LCC DK511.C37
(ebook) | DDC 956.9104/230923999641--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031054
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031055

Contents

Introduction

Lara missed the old days, when the Kists who lived in the green Pankisi Gorge were never troubled by the question of their identity.

Neither a girl nor an old woman, she tucked some unruly wisps of hair beneath her headscarf. For at least a hundred years after settling here we were oblivious, she told me. And why should we have needed to know more?

Many of the Kists blamed themselves for their own isolation. They so rarely crossed the mountains to visit their kinsmen in Chechnya, on the northern side, that eventually they forgot that anyone lived there at all. But in the distant past, that was where they had lived too, before migrating south. Now they wondered if theyd done well to rediscover the far side of the mountains and the big city lying beyond it. Opinion in the gorge was divided, and by no means did everyone share Laras view. Some thought the misfortunes she had suffered were influencing her speechanyone feeling such awful pain is bound to yearn for the past.

There were some who claimed theyd always been aware of their northern, Chechen origins. Ali, Laras younger cousin, insisted hed always known he was a Chechen. Lara and the other locals would smile indulgently and say he could remember no such thing. Of course they knew the old legends of how the Kists had come to the gorge across the mountains from Chechnya, but very few of them had ever set eyes on a Chechen before.

There were all sorts of stories about them, said Lara. About how wonderful, how rich and valiant they were. But all we really knew was that they existed, they were Muslims like us, and they lived on the other side of the mountainswhere exactly, very few of us were sure. Hardly anyone crossed over the mountains, because there was no reason to. So in fact it was impossible to say anything certain about them. To us, they were a bit like characters from a childrens fairy tale.

Although few people in the gorge had endured as much or suffered as much pain as she had, Lara never complained about her fate or the injustice done to her. She never paraded her misfortune or sought sympathy or consolation. The only time I ever heard a mild hint of grievance in her voice was when she was telling me about the plight of the entire Pankisi Gorge and its Kist inhabitants. And she was one of themborn, raised, and spending most of her life in this valley deep among the great canyons of the Caucasus.

For at least a century, maybe two, the Kists hadnt given any thought to their origins, though they knew perfectly well where their ancestors had come from. Theyd all heard the stories passed down through the generations about the migrants who had crossed to the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains over two hundred years ago and found shelter among the Georgian princes living there.

The princes had welcomed them with open arms and entertained them royally, in typical Georgian style. And then, in a sudden surge of emotionnothing unusual at a Georgian feast, where the table groans with food and theres a cup of young wine in every handthey informed the newcomers that if they liked it here in this green valley, they could stay forever. Theyd be given land for new farms, vegetable plots, gardens, and orchards, and theyd be able to graze their flocks on the highland pastures. The newcomers silently exchanged glances and, without needing to confer, agreed that theyd never find a better life than here. So they decided to settle in the gorge.

And no wonder, because there was no finer place on earth. The Georgian principality of Kakheti was like paradise. It lay in a flat basin, fenced off from the outside world by mountains that protected it from storms and severe winters, while the rivers and streams flowing from the rocky hillsides amply watered the local fields and pastures. The result was an abundant harvest of all sorts of crops, fruits and vegetables, succulent grass, flowers, and fragrant herbs, many of which had healing powers.

But for centuries, Kakhetis richesor, rather, legends about how copious and splendid they werehad attracted terrifying invaders eager to steal its wealth. With fire and sword, the Mongol horde of Genghis Khan, Tamerlanes troops, and the Persian and Turkish armies had all rolled through Kakheti, leaving no stone standing. Not even the neighboring tribes, the Avars and Lezgins, could resist the temptation to rob the Kakhetians and kidnap the famously beautiful Georgian women; nor could other looters from the Azerbaijani khanates. At last, the powerful Russians invaded from the north.

The strong stone walls, moats, and defensive towers the Kakhetians had built around their towns, villages, and churches were of no use at all. The constant attacks and invasions devastated Kakheti, reducing it to ruins again and again. Finally, the land was in such decline that the local princes decided to bring in warlike highlanders and give them land in exchange for their acting as guardians of the region, defending it against invaders. Exempt from the taxes and obligations mandatory for the common subjects, these men were to come forward at every summons, including if one of the Georgian kings decided to go to war abroad.

The kings didnt have to wait long for the new arrivals to start coming down to Kakheti from the highlands. The Kists were not the only race to be tempted by the promise of a life of plenty in the sunshine.