In the III-IV centuries, it included the southeastern mountain range of the Black Sea coast, the upper waist basin of the Chorokhi River. Later, the name spread to the surrounding coastal area. At the end of the 4th century, the Chanas were dug in the borders of Byzantium, in Cappadocia, Cilicia and Syria.[1]
In the 6th century, the territory of Chaneti was conquered by Byzantium. Christianity spread here in the same period. In the 13th century, the region came under the influence of the Kingdom of Georgia. In the 13th-14th centuries, it came under the Empire of Trabizon, although its eastern part was part of the principality of Samtskhi.
After the capture of Trebizond by the Turkish-Ottomans, Lazistan became one of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire. In 1463-1502, the eastern part of Chaneti was part of the Guria principality, in 1502-1535 it was part of Samtskhe-Saatabago, in 1535-47 it belonged to Guria again. Chaneti was finally captured by the Ottomans in 1547. During the Russo-Ottoman wars, the region passed from hand to hand. In 1921, the League of Nations recognized Lazistan as part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, but this remained only on paper, and Georgia's influence on the region turned out to be zero. Since 1921, most of the region became part of Turkey, a small part (village Sarfi) remained part of Georgia.
In 1878, by the decision of the Congress of Berlin, the Ottomans ceded a part of Chaneti, the present village of Sarfi and its surrounding region, which is currently part of Georgia.
