Polacy w Gruzji i na Kaukazie w oczach podróżników zachodnich

Abstract

The author of the article treats the Georgian topic in the context of Polish affairs in an unconventional and innovative way. She shows how the Polish presence in the Caucasus, in Georgia, Cherkessia and Armenia, was portrayed by French and English travelers from the 16th to the late 19th century. Initially, the observations of Western European travelers mainly concerned Polish diplomats and merchants. Polish aristocrats-travelers appeared in the Caucasus in the 18th century, and in the 19th century, most Poles in the Caucasus were Polish patriots exiled for their participation in uprisings, forcibly conscripted into the Russian army, or those fighting against Russia on the side of the Circassians. The Western travelers also noted the presence of Polish Jews in the Caucasus, who would customarily run inns and trade.