Khevisberi (; lit. "an elder of the gorge") secular and ecclesiastical ruler of a Khevi in the Eastern Georgian highlands: He is an elderly man who follows a monk-like life. Khevisberi performs different rituals and ceremonies and supervises brewing of the sacred beer.
Historically, Georgian patriarchal highlander communities enjoyed a degree of autonomy and they were not integrating into the feudal system. they were rather electing their own council of elders and leaders, known as Khevisberi who functioned as a judge, priest and military leader and submitted themselves only to the Georgian monarchs.
In popular culture Alexander Kazbegi's novel "Khevisberi Gocha";Alexander Kazbegi. Khevisberi Gocha (1884). the 1964 film "Khevisberi Gocha (1964)" based on Alexander Kazbegi's novel.
References
Sources R. Metreveli, Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, XI, p. 451, Tbilisi, 1986