Editing Pankisi (section)

== History ==
The 17th century geographer and historian Prince [[Vakhushti of Kartli|Vakhushti Bagrationi]], in his book ''[[Description of the Kingdom of Georgia|Description of Kingdom of Georgia]]'', writes that the inhabitants of Pankisi were [[Georgians|Georgian]] nobility of the [[Aznauri]] and [[Tavadi]] classes, although his account makes clear that there were also peasants in the area. <ref name="wikisource.org">{{Cite web |title=აღწერა ჰერეთისა, კახეთისა და კუხეთისა, კუალად თუშეთისა და დიდოეთისა - Wikisource |url=https://ka.wikisource.org/wiki/%E1%83%90%E1%83%A6%E1%83%AC%E1%83%94%E1%83%A0%E1%83%90_%E1%83%B0%E1%83%94%E1%83%A0%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90,_%E1%83%99%E1%83%90%E1%83%AE%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90_%E1%83%93%E1%83%90_%E1%83%99%E1%83%A3%E1%83%AE%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90,_%E1%83%99%E1%83%A3%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%93_%E1%83%97%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A8%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90_%E1%83%93%E1%83%90_%E1%83%93%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%9D%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=wikisource.org |language=en}}</ref> He described them as intelligent, and as "skilled warriors."

Vakhushti described Pankisi itself as forested, with plentiful fruit trees, and [[vineyards]] that produced good [[wine]]. He added that the harvests were good, and the forests rich in [[Game (hunting)|game]]. Fish were also numerous, he wrote, especially "mountain [[trout]]", and there were many cattle, and many pigs, but few sheep.<ref name="wikisource.org"/>

In the 1730s, the Pankisi valley was emptied of Georgian population: part of them were killed as a result of the invasions, and rest of them resettled elsewhere.<ref name=":0" />

In 18th century Georgian legislation, the noble (Aznauri) Kobiashvili family of the [[Kingdom of Kakheti]] are mentioned as the lords of the Pankisi valley.<ref>{{Cite book |last=დოლიძე |first=ი |url=https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/87555 |title=ქართული სამართლის ძეგლები : ტომი V |date=1974 |publisher=თბილისი : მეცნიერება |pages=288–292 |language=ka}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=მამისიმედიშვილი |first=ხვთისო |title=პანკისის წარსული და თანამედროვეობა |publisher=[[Tbilisi State University]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-9941-13-034-2 |location=Tbilisi |publication-date=2008 |pages=19 |language=ka |trans-title=Pankisi Past and Modernity}}</ref>

Georgia's 1989 census found that the Pankisi Gorge's population was 43% Kist, 29% Georgian, and 28% [[Ossetians|Ossetian]].<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> However, during the subsequent two decades the valley's ethnic composition changed again under the pressure of regional wars. Many of the valley's Ossetians fled from the [[South Ossetia war (1991–1992)|South Ossetia War]] and the [[Georgian Civil War]], to settle in [[North Ossetia-Alania]] in the [[Russian Federation]].<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> Chechens fled from the [[First Chechen War|two]] [[Second Chechen War|wars]] in [[Chechnya]], which had attempted to secede from the Russian Federation, and some made their homes in Pankisi's villages.<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> By 2007, the Kists were the largest ethnic group in the area.<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> 

The 2014 census did not report a separate demographic breakdown for Pankisi, but found that the wider Akhmeta municipality was home to 5,471 Kists, who constituted roughly 17% of the municipal population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Data table: Results of Georgia's 2014 census - ethnicity by area |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250302055902/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |archive-date=2 March 2025}}</ref> By 2019, Kists were reported to be a majority of Pankisi's roughly-5,000 inhabitants.<ref name="Hauer-2019" />