The issue of Georgian captives in the Crimea in the 18th century

Dagestani mountaineers were engaged in kidnapping people from eastern Georgia throughout the 16th - 18th сenturies. Part of the population kidnapped by the Dagestani mountaineers was dispatched to Istanbul by Turk merchants and part was transported to the North Caucasus, but most often, to the Crimea. In the course of time, the number of Georgian captives for slavery in the Crimea reached several thousand. According to King of Kartl-Kakheti Erekle II, in the 70s of the 18th century, their number made 32 thousand. After the end of the Russo-Ottoman war of 1768-1774, Georgian captives gained their freedom. At the end of 1771, Erekle II sent his envoys to Russia. One of the purposes of this mission was to settle the question of Georgian captives liberated in Crimea. Thanks to direct involvement of King Erekle II and Georgian diplomats, a significant part of Georgian captives managed to return to their homeland. Some of them stayed in Russia that was in the interests of the Russian state. The data on the captives who returned from Crimea to their homeland are reflected in Georgian historical documents.