Some Words about the work of the Kingdom of Abkhazia

Recently, the book of the young Abkhaz historian Naala Kaslandzia, “Genesis and Formation of the Kingdom of Abkhazia” (Sokhumi, 2017), was published. The questions of the genesis and formation of the Kingdom of Abkhazia are considered in it based on the study and critical analysis of Georgian, Armenian, Arab and Byzantine sources and special scientific literature.             The main goal of Abkhaz historiography is to create historiographical foundations and ideological base for the Abkhazian statehood. Therefore, Abkhaz researchers try to cover stages of the development of the “centuries-old Abkhazian statehood”. Studying the questions of the history of the Kingdom of Abkhazia plays an important part in this context.             N. Kaslandzia’s approach to the issues under discussion is generally the same as that of other Abkhaz historians: the Kingdom of Abkhazia was a national Abkhaz state, the Catholicosate of Abkhazia - an Abkhaz ecclesiastical organization. Despite this, unlike other Abkhaz researchers, N. Kaslandzia widely uses Georgian historical sources and recognizes their importance for studying the history of the Kingdom of Abkhazia.