The establishment of the society for the restoration of orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus and its activities in the education of the Abkhazians

The events of the mid-60s of the 19th century became a turning point for the peoples of the Caucasus in many respects. There are fundamental changes in the socio-political and cultural life of the region. All this was due to both the energetic actions of the Russian government and the changes that took place among the Caucasian peoples. With the inclusion of the Caucasus into the Russian Empire, it became necessary to modify the actions of the autocracy in this region. Using various "levers", tsarism purposefully realized its main tasks in the region - the spread of Orthodoxy in the region and the formation of imperial identity and consciousness among the Caucasian peoples. The most important elements of such a civilizing policy in Russia are the secular school and enlightenment. Abkhazia, located in the northwestern part of the Caucasus, occupies an important strategic position. With the inclusion of Abkhazia into the Russian Empire, tsarism throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries sought to attract, first of all, the local elite into the all-Russian cultural space. The tsarist administration sought to create a strong system of government in the region, which would not have been possible without the involvement of competent officials from among the local population who knew the customs, life, familiar with the local living conditions. The government believed that the Society for the Restoration of Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus, on which great hopes were pinned, could become the most important instrument of tsarist policy in the Caucasus. This article discusses the formation of the Society for the Restoration of Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus, as well as some aspects of its activities in the field of education in Abkhazia.