Click here for Printer Friendly version British Archives on Georgia /Adjara 1830 - 1921 This is the first to be researched in a series which will eventually publish facsimiles of documents in the British National Archives about all the countries and regions in the Caucasus. British Archives on Ajara will comprise the most important documents on Ajara from 1830 onwards. Ajara was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878 and of the Russian Empire until 1918, ruled by a British Military governor immediately after the First World War, then taken over by the independent state of Georgia before becoming part of the Soviet Union. It is currently an autonomous republic within the State of Georgia. The research for this publication was initiated by the President of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, Aslan Abashidze, who will be contributing a Foreword to the published volumes. The documents themselves are located in the archives of the UK Foreign Office, Admiralty, and War Office; and of the British Embassies in Constantinople and St Petersburg, and of the British consulates and vice-consulates in Batoum, Trebizond, Erzeroom, Tiflis, Poti and Odessa. Research work is currently in progress, and more information will be given when the precise number of volumes is known.