The Pankisi Gorge is located in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains just 60 miles from the Chechen border.
For the outside world, Pankisi tends to be best known for its former resident, Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Omar the Chechen, a prominent commander with the Islamic State terrorist group presumed killed by a US airstrike in March. Scores of other young men also have left to join Islamic militants in Syria.
A 'kist' lady shows off a hidden ancestral picture in her home. She is part of a singing ensemble and practises 'Sufism' - a mystical branch of Islam that emphasizes direct, personal encounters with God.
The gorge is inhabited by around 8,000 Kists, a Muslim ethnic minority related to the Chechens of the North Caucasus. Some have been lured by ISIS but these female 'Sufi mystics' have other priorities. They hope that their dhikr rituals will encourage the outside world to think of peace, rather than war.
Other than 'Kists' Muslims, there are also Chechen refugees who escaped over the mountains from two wars in their own lands over the last two decades. Some of those fleeing Chechnya brought Islamic fundamentalist ideas with them. This conservative strand is known here as “Wahhabism”, a loose term used to describe various forms of Sunni fundamentalist ideology.
The Pankisi Gorge has won greater notoriety as the home of Omar Shishani, a senior commander of so-called Islamic State (IS). The US military says he was killed in February 2016, (round about the time I visited the valley) .
Shishani was a former officer in the Georgian army. His real name was Tarkhan Batirashvili and his father still lives in the valley. He is thought to have inspired dozen of young men from Pankisi to join the fight in Syria.
Elder Sufi women performing the dhikr, a traditional Sufi ritual. The dhikr, which means “remembering” in Arabic, refers to both a silent, individual appeal to God, and a communal prayer that involves recitation and an exuberant dance intended to dispel fear, unlock personal potential and bring the participant closer to God.
In recent years, this remote rural area has been a region for ISIS recruiters.
Up to 200 Georgian nationals are believed to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS.
