Sanigs

The Sanigs were a tribe inhabiting historical Heniochia, northwest shore of Kingdom of Colchis. Their ethnic identity is obscure and is the subject of a controversy. They are first attested in the works of Pliny, Arrian and Memnon of Heraclea.

Geography

Historical territories of Heniokhet-Sanikheti was divided into three parts:

old southern Heniochia, later coastal Abkhazia ;
Inner Heniochia ;
North Heniochia, later Jiketi of Abkhazia.

Sanigs inhabited the Inner Heniochia

Origin

Georgian scholars consider them to be Zans, while others maintain that they were proto-Svans. According to Arrian, they inhabited the area around Sebastopolis. Roland Topchishvili links some modern Georgian surnames with the Sanigs.
Abkhazians consider the Sanigs to be the ancestors of the Sadz and Zhaney, as evidenced by the territorial settlement of these peoples.