Editing Adjara (section)

=== Ottoman period ===
The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] conquered the area in 1614. Although, the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|Ottoman millet system]] allowed its subjects extensive self-governance and [[religious freedom]], many Adjarians gradually chose to convert to [[Islam]] during the 200 years of Ottoman presence.{{sfn|George|2009|pp=99–100}}<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bennigsen|first1=Alexandre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nO0NAQAAMAAJ|title=Muslims of the Soviet Empire: A Guide|last2=Wimbush|first2=S. Enders|date=1986|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-33958-4|pages=207|language=en}}</ref> Despite this, the population never abandoned its native Georgian tongue and avoided demographic infuence from the Ottomans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gachechiladze|first=Revaz|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_New_Geo1rgia/hGVuBwAAQBAJ|title= The New Georgia: Space, Society, Politics|date=2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn= 9781317762560|page=25}}</ref> The [[Nobility of Georgia (country)|nobility]] converted to Islam first.{{sfn|Sanikidze|2018|p=249}} Adjarians were fully Islamized by the end of the eighteenth century.{{sfn|Sanikidze|2018|p=249}}