Mingrelian Rebellion of 1857

an antiserfdom uprising by Georgian peasants. It began late in 1856 under the leadership of a village blacksmith, Utu Mikava, and soon spread through almost all of Mingrelia. The rebels occupied several villages, and on May 12, 1857, they took Zugdidi, the center of the Mingrelian Principality. The rebels refused to fulfill feudal obligations, organized a new government and a judicial system, and fixed the prices of essential goods. Despite the peasants’ heroic resistance, the Mingrelian rebellion was crushed by tsarist troops and detachments of local landowners, and 38 of the rebel leaders were exiled to distant parts of Russia.