The Abkhaz are among the most ancient people in the Caucasus. Their language and culture are closely related to those of the Abazin, the Adyg, the Kabardin, and the Cherkes (Cirkassian). The Abkhaz kingdom first arose in the eighth century and reached its peak in the tenth century. From the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, Abkhazia was part of the Abkhaz-Imereti State, and from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries it fell under Genoan influence. From the sixteenth century to the early nineteenth century, Abkhazia was a protectorate of the Turkish Sultanate.
Abkhaz rulers, like the Georgian Kings, sought assistance and protection from Russia. Prince Sefer Bek (Georgy) Shervashidze requested assistance from the Russian government in 1810, after which the Russians declared him be the hereditary prince of Abkhazia under Russia's supreme protection. On August 23, 1810 Sefer Bek took an oath of allegiance to Alexander I.
According to the 1812 Bucharest Peace Treaty, Turkey ceded Abkhazia and Megrelia to Russia.
About half the population of Abkhazia fled their homeland as a result of Caucasian wars of 1817 to 1864, and the uprisings against the Tsarist authorities in 1866 and 1872. Most of the refugees (Mahadjirs) settled in Turkey, where today there are, according to some estimates ,up to 500,000 Abkhaz.
In November of 1917, the People's Soviet took power in Abkhazia. In May of 1918, Abkhazia together with Daghestan, Chechnya, Ossetia, and Kabardia formed the North Caucasian Republic , also called the Mountain Republic. From 1918 to 1921, Abkhazia was occupied by Menshevik Georgia. In March of 1921, Soviets came to power in Abkhazia and established the independent Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia, which signed a "Special Union Treaty" with the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia in December 1921. In February of 1931, its status was transformed to the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Demonstrations demanding Abkhazia's independence from Georgia occurred in 1957, 1964, 1967, 1978, and 1989. On August 25, 1990 the Supreme Soviet of the Abkhazian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic declared its sovereignty as a Republic.
Authorities in Sukhumi interpreted the law establishing Georgian independence (passed by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic on April 9, 1991) as establishing two separate, independent republics: the Georgian Republic as well as the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. This is due to the fact that Soviet law held that when one union republic seceded from the Soviet Union, any autonomous entities within such a republic had the right to independently resolve the question of their relationship with the Soviet Union. (In a referendum on March 17, 1991, the majority of the population of Abkhazia voted for the preservation of the USSR).
Given the political standoff between Sukhumi and Tbilisi, the Georgian administration chose to use force to resolve the problem of maintaining that country's territorial integrity. On August 14, 1992, Georgian troops entered Abkhazia. Faced with fierce resistance from the local population, Georgian forces withdrew from the country on September 30. The conflict displaced between 200,000 to 300,000 refugees.
In accordance with the result of another referendum held on October 12, 1999, the Law on the Independence of Abkhazia was passed.
On August 26, 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a Law recognizing Abkhazia's independence. The Republic of Nicaragua followed suit and acknowledged Abkhazia's independence on September 6, 2008.
On September 9, 2008, the Russian and Abkhaz Ministers of Foreign Affairs signed the exchange of notes on the establishment of diplomatic relations at the Ambassadorial level.
On September 17, 2008, in Moscow, the Presidents of Russia and Abkhazia signed an Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, which was ratified by the State Duma and the Federation Council on October 29, 2008 and November, 12, 2008, respectively. On September 24, 2008 President Medvedev signed a law ratifying this agreement. This document lays out the fundamental parameters of and concerns for long-term cooperation between Russia and Abkhazia.
On October 25, 2008, the Russian President appointed Semyon Grigoriev Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from Russia to Abkhazia.
On November 13, 2008, Igor Akhba was appointed Ambassador of Abkhazia to Russia.
On December 16, 2008, Semyon Grigoriev ceremonially presented his credentials as Ambassador from Russia to the government of the Republic of Abkhazia in Sukhumi. On December 23, 2008, the Abkhaz Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Shamba, officially visited Moscow. The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between Russian and Abkhazia came into force.