Adygs are one of the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus. They have been living on the territory of modern Adygea for several thousand years, being direct descendants of the ancient population of these places. They are reluctant to leave their homeland: the vast majority of Circassians (a little more than 95 thousand people out of 125 thousand) live in Adygea, and a little more than 20 thousand live in the neighboring Krasnodar Territory. And only a few thousand people moved to Turkey and the Middle East. However, the Circassians remain faithful not only to the land of their ancestors, but also to traditions, the observance of which is one of the requirements for a worthy person.
How society was built among the Circassians
In the old days, the Circassians were divided into many subethnic groups. By the twentieth century, these differences had practically disappeared, and now they speak of a single Adyghe people, sometimes using the synonym “Circassians.” The Circassians themselves call themselves "Adyghe". One of the largest groups within the Circassians are the Adygeis (along with the Kabardians or Shapsugs).
Despite the commonality of traditions and culture, the Circassian tribes in the old days differed in their method of governance. Some of them managed to introduce the beginnings of democracy and limit the power of the nobility. In these so-called democratic tribes, everything was ruled by elected elders. But in aristocratic tribes, princes led. However, what was common was that the life of the Adyghe tribes was based on a strict class hierarchy. Princes ruled, nobles fought, seizing other people's lands and defending their own, peasants and household slaves worked. Misalliances were not allowed: the prince could not marry a commoner.
A person of each class had to follow the rules prescribed to him. For example, the high-born Circassians practiced atalism: while still children, princely children were sent to the family of a noble person. There they were brought up, became acquainted with their rights and responsibilities (the code of conduct of the Circassians was called “Khabza”). The young prince appeared in his father’s house only after reaching his 16th birthday, and his daughter almost before marriage. Proper upbringing is still valued among the Circassians. A person must be cultured, moral, respectful and brave. For those who do not know how to behave properly, the Adygs still have a saying: “Aren’t you an Adyghe?”
Education of military valor
The main character traits of the Circassians, for which they were famous outside their land, were courage and military skill. They were raised as young Circassians from childhood. Over the cradle of a newborn boy, the grandmother sang songs about how brave and dexterous he would be. The grown-up child was put on a horse, taught to throw a knife, handle a dagger, and then shoot with a bow. The Circassians were skilled horsemen and sharp shooters. Anyone who showed cowardice in battle or fear of death was subjected to a humiliating procedure: they put on a dirty hat, put him on a sick horse, and paraded him around like that. Laughing at such a person was not only not prohibited, but also welcomed. The coward became an outcast, an outcast.
Perhaps, it was only with his courage that a real Circassian could attract attention to himself. Modesty was considered a virtue. The Adygs say: a person can only be in the spotlight three times in life - at the moment of birth, on the wedding day and on the day of death. Each of them is accompanied by its own traditions and ceremonies.
Having a baby: everything goes according to the rules
The fact that a child had appeared in the house was signaled by a flag hung on the roof of the house. A motley flag signifies the birth of a girl, while a plain flag indicates the birth of a son. Until the baby is one year old, his paternal grandfather must plant a tree in the yard of his house. The new family member himself will later take care of him. As this tree grows, so does the child gain intelligence and education.
The Circassians prepare everything necessary to care for the baby only after his birth. It is not customary to do this in advance. According to tradition, all bedding is brought by relatives on the mother's side. It is believed that sleeping on linen prepared by the father's relatives is a bad sign (in the future it will bring misfortune to the child in marriage). But the baby’s paternal grandmother puts him in the cradle.
Circassian wedding: the main thing is desire
Surprisingly, it is precisely in the matter of marriage that the Circassians, who are strict about observing traditions, demonstrate respect for freedom and rationality.
The girl is allowed to choose the groom according to her heart. The explanation for this is simple: the family should be strong and happy, divorces are not encouraged. And the best foundation of a strong family is love and mutual respect.
The process of choosing a bride or groom can be quite lengthy. Young boys and girls look at each other at holidays and festivities. Then the girl goes home and receives young people in her room. They get to know each other and talk. At the same time, they have quite a lot of freedom: a guy can visit several girls, and a girl can receive several guys. Having made a choice, the man comes to the woman he likes and proposes. If she agrees, a wedding day is set. True, even on this day she can take back her word - until the guests enter her house. It is not customary to be offended by a refusal, because this is done in a delicate manner, without explaining the reasons.
Like many others Caucasian peoples, the parents of the bride and groom are not present at the wedding. The young people are in different houses, in the company of their friends. The groom's relatives bring a certain symbolic amount to the bride's house - as a sign of respect, and not as a ransom. In turn, her parents transfer a dowry to their daughter’s new home. The bride's relatives are not supposed to stay in the house of the newly-made son-in-law for long, a couple of hours at most.
At the same time, the Adyghe wedding is cheerful and joyful. The bride is showered with sweets, grains and coins, and walks on silk to the house. When entering the house, they take her in their arms so that she does not accidentally step on the threshold under which the souls of their ancestors live. Everyone gives each other gifts. There are other customs - comic ones.
For example, the groom’s grandmother leaves home: they say, the new young mistress will drive me out of my family. The bride, in turn, persuades her to return, gives her sweets and assures that everyone will respect and love her grandmother. The "negotiations" end with hugs and a return home.
In the Adyghe family, a woman occupied a fairly high place. Yes, she obeyed her husband unquestioningly, but she was not allowed to beat or punish her, she was considered the mistress of the house. And although the Circassians have been Muslims since the end of the 18th century, polygamy was not welcomed among them and was rare.
How to see off on your last journey
Funeral rituals also developed quite a long time ago. They are based on Muslim customs. Prayers are read over the deceased and wrapped in white cloth; after the funeral, his clothes are distributed to loved ones. However, these rituals also contain old, pre-Islamic features. For example, in the first three days after the funeral, you cannot cook in the house of the deceased: neighbors and relatives bring food. Mirrors are hung in the house of the deceased, and the women of his family wear black. And although Islam usually prescribes not to cry over the dead, the Circassians do not follow this recommendation. Children are not allowed to attend the funeral: they are taken away from the house in which the accident occurred.
Traditions in modern times
Modern Adygs still honor many ancient customs. It is not customary to eat a lot, talk a lot and express your feelings in public. It is not considered shameful to ask for help from neighbors and relatives, who are obliged to come to the rescue. Traditions of hospitality are also respected: food is prepared for the guest best dishes, give best place and do everything to ensure his safety even on the way home.
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Adygs(or Circassians listen)) - the general name of a single people in Russia and abroad, divided into Kabardins, Circassians, Ubykhs, Adygeis and Shapsugs.
Self-name - Adyghe.
Numbers and diasporas
The total number of Circassians in the Russian Federation according to the 2002 census is 712 thousand people; they live in the territory of six subjects: Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Territory, North Ossetia, Stavropol Territory. In three of them, the Adyghe peoples are one of the “titular” nations, the Circassians in Karachay-Cherkessia, the Adyghe people in Adygea, the Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria.
Abroad, the largest diaspora of Circassians is in Turkey; according to some estimates, the Turkish diaspora numbers from 2.5 to 3 million Circassians. The Israeli Circassian diaspora numbers 4 thousand people. There is a Syrian diaspora, Libyan diaspora, Egyptian diaspora, Jordanian Adyghe diaspora, they also live in Europe, the USA and some other countries in the Middle East, but the statistics of most of these countries do not provide accurate data on the number of Adyghe diasporas. The estimated number of Circassians (Circassians) in Syria is 80 thousand people.
There are some in other CIS countries, in particular in Kazakhstan.
Modern Adyghe languages
At present, the Adyghe language has retained two literary dialect, namely Adyghe and Kabardino-Circassian, members of the Abkhaz-Adyghe group of the North Caucasian family of languages.
Since the 13th century, all these names have been replaced by an exoethnonym - Circassians.
Modern ethnonymy
Currently, in addition to the general self-name, the following names are used in relation to the Adyghe subethnic groups:
- Adygeis, which includes the following subethnonyms: Abadzekhs, Adamians, Besleneevtsy, Bzhedugs, Yegerukaevtsy, Mamkhegs, Makhoshevtsy, Temirgoyevtsy (KIemguy), Natukhaytsy, Shapsugs (including Khakuchi), Khatukaytsy, Khegayks, Zhaneevtsy (Zhane), Guaye, Chebsin (Tsopsyne ), adale.
Ethnogenesis
Zikhi - so called in the languages: common Greek and Latin, while the Circassians are called Tatars and Turks, call themselves - “ adiga».
Story
Main article: History of the Circassians
Fight against the Crimean Khanate
Regular Moscow-Adyghe connections began to be established during the period of Genoese trade in the Northern Black Sea region, which took place in the cities of Matrega (now Taman), Kopa (now Slavyansk-on-Kuban) and Kaffa (modern Feodosia), etc., in which significant part of the population were Circassians. At the end of the 15th century, caravans of Russian merchants constantly came along the Don Road to these Genoese cities, where Russian merchants made trade deals not only with the Genoese, but with the highlanders of the North Caucasus who lived in these cities.
Moscow expansion to the south I couldn't develop without the support of ethnic groups that considered the basin of the Black and Azov Seas to be their ethnosphere. These were primarily Cossacks, Don and Zaporozhye, whose religious and cultural tradition - Orthodoxy - brought them closer to the Russians. This rapprochement was carried out when it was beneficial to the Cossacks, especially since the prospect of plundering the Crimean and Ottoman possessions as Moscow's allies suited their ethnocentric goals. Some of the Nogais who swore allegiance to the Moscow state could take the side of the Russians. But, of course, first of all, the Russians were interested in supporting the most powerful and powerful Western Caucasian ethnic group, the Circassians.
During the formation of the Moscow principality, the Crimean Khanate caused the Russians and Circassians the same troubles. For example, there was a Crimean campaign against Moscow (1521), as a result of which the khan’s troops burned Moscow and captured more than 100 thousand Russians to be sold into slavery. The khan's troops left Moscow only when Tsar Vasily officially confirmed that he was a tributary of the khan and would continue to pay tribute.
Russian-Adyghe ties were not interrupted. Moreover, they adopted forms of joint military cooperation. So, in 1552, the Circassians, together with the Russians, Cossacks, Mordovians and others, took part in the capture of Kazan. The participation of the Circassians in this operation is quite natural, given the manifestations of mid-16th century century, there was a tendency among some of the Circassians towards rapprochement with the young Russian ethnos, which was actively expanding its ethnosphere.
Therefore, the arrival in Moscow in November 1552 of the first embassy from some Adyghe subethnic groups It could not have been more opportune for Ivan the Terrible, whose plans were in the direction of the Russians advancing along the Volga to its mouth, to the Caspian Sea. Union with the most powerful ethnic group N.-W. Moscow needed K. in its fight against the Crimean Khanate.
In total, in the 1550s, three embassies from the North-West visited Moscow. K., in 1552, 1555 and 1557. They consisted of representatives of the Western Circassians (Zhaneevtsev, Besleneevtsy, etc.), eastern Circassians (Kabardians) and Abazins, who turned to Ivan IV with a request for patronage. They needed patronage primarily to fight the Crimean Khanate. Delegations from North-West K. met with a favorable reception and secured the patronage of the Russian Tsar. From now on, they could count on military and diplomatic assistance from Moscow, and they themselves were obliged to appear in the service of the Grand Duke-Tsar.
Also, under Ivan the Terrible, he had a second Crimean campaign against Moscow (1571), as a result of which the khan’s troops defeated the Russian troops and again burned Moscow and captured more than 60 thousand Russians (for sale into slavery).
Main article: Crimean campaign against Moscow (1572)
The third Crimean campaign against Moscow in 1572, with the financial and military support of the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as a result of the Battle of Molodin, ended in the complete physical destruction of the Tatar-Turkish army and the defeat of the Crimean Khanate http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Molody
In the 70s, despite the unsuccessful Astrakhan expedition, the Crimeans and Ottomans managed to restore their influence in the region. Russians were forced out of it for more than 100 years. True, they continued to consider the Western Caucasian highlanders, the Circassians and Abazins, their subjects, but this did not change the essence of the matter. The mountaineers had no idea about this, just as at one time the Asian nomads did not suspect that China considered them its subjects.
The Russians left the North Caucasus, but gained a foothold in the Volga region.
Caucasian War
Patriotic War
List of Circassians (Circassians) - Heroes of the Soviet Union
The question of the Circassian genocide
New time
The official registration of most of the modern Adyghe villages dates back to the 2nd half of the 19th century, that is, after the end of the Caucasian War. To improve control of the territories, the new authorities were forced to resettle the Circassians, who founded 12 villages in new places, and in the 20s of the 20th century - 5.
Religions of the Circassians
Culture
Adyghe girl
Adyghe culture is a little-studied phenomenon, the result of a long period of time in the life of the people, during which the culture experienced various internal and external influences, including long-term contacts with the Greeks, Genoese and other peoples, long-term feudal feuds, wars, Mukhajirism, social, political and cultural shocks. The culture, while changing, is still fundamentally preserved, and still demonstrates its openness to renewal and development. Doctor of Philosophy S. A. Razdolsky defines it as “a thousand-year ideological socially significant experience of the Adyghe ethnic group”, which has its own empirical knowledge about the world around us and transmits this knowledge at the level of interpersonal communication in the form of the most significant values.
The moral code, called Adygag'e, acts as a cultural core or main value Adyghe culture; it includes humanity, respect, reason, courage and honor.
Adyghe etiquette occupies a special place in culture as a system of connections (or channel of information flows), embodied in a symbolic form, through which the Circassians enter into relationships with each other, store and transmit the experience of their culture. Moreover, the Circassians developed etiquette forms of behavior that helped them exist in the mountain and foothill landscapes.
Respectfulness has the status of a separate value, it is the borderline value of moral self-awareness and, as such, it manifests itself as the essence of true self-worth.
Folklore
For 85 years before, in 1711, Abri de la Motre (French agent of the Swedish king Charles XII) visited the Caucasus, Asia and Africa.
According to his official communications (reports), long before his travels, that is, before 1711, Circassia had the skills to mass inoculate smallpox.
Abri de la Motray left a detailed description of the smallpox vaccination procedure among the Circassians in the village of Degliad:
The girl was referred to a little boy of three years old who was sick with this disease and whose pockmarks and pimples began to fester. The old woman performed the operation, since the oldest members of this sex have a reputation for being the most intelligent and knowledgeable, and they practice medicine as the oldest of the other sex practice the priesthood. This woman took three needles tied together, with which she, firstly, injected the little girl in the stomach, secondly, in the left breast against the heart, thirdly, in the navel, fourthly, in right palm, fifthly, into the ankle of the left leg until blood began to flow, with which she mixed the pus extracted from the patient’s pockmarks. Then she applied dry leaves of the cowshed to the pricked and bleeding places, tying two skins of newborn lambs with a drill, after which the mother wrapped her in one of the leather blankets that make up, as I said above, the Circassian bed, and thus wrapped she took her to to yourself. I was told that she was to be kept warm, fed only porridge made from cumin flour, with two-thirds water and one-third sheep's milk, given nothing to drink except a coolant made from ox tongue (Plant), a little licorice and cowshed (Plant), three things quite common in the country.
Traditional surgery and chiropractic care
About Caucasian surgeons and chiropractors N.I. Pirogov wrote in 1849:
“Asian doctors in the Caucasus cured such external injuries (mainly the consequences of gunshot wounds), which, in the opinion of our doctors, required the removal of members (amputation), this is a fact confirmed by many observations; It is also known throughout the Caucasus that the removal of members and the cutting out of crushed bones are never undertaken by Asian doctors; Of the bloody operations they perform to treat external injuries, only cutting out bullets is known.”
Circassian crafts
Blacksmithing among the Circassians
Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Gadlo A.V., about the history of the Circassians in the 1st millennium AD. e. wrote -
Adyghe blacksmiths in the early Middle Ages, apparently, had not yet severed their connection with the community and had not separated from it, however, within the community they already constituted a separate professional group... Blacksmithing production in this period was focused mainly on meeting the economic needs of the community ( plowshares, scythes, sickles, axes, knives, chains, skewers, sheep shears, etc.) and its military organization(horse equipment - bits, stirrups, horseshoes, girth buckles; offensive weapons - spears, battle axes, swords, daggers, arrowheads; defensive weapons - helmets, chain mail, parts of shields, etc.). It is still difficult to determine what the raw material base of this production was, but, without excluding the presence of our own smelting of metal from local ores, we point out two iron ore regions from where metallurgical raw materials (semi-finished products-kritsy) could also be supplied to Adyghe blacksmiths. These are, firstly, the Kerch Peninsula and, secondly, the upper reaches of the Kuban, Zelenchuk and Urup, where they were discovered obvious traces of ancient cheese-making iron smelting.
Jewelry making among the Circassians
“Adyghe jewelers had the skills of casting non-ferrous metals, soldering, stamping, making wire, engraving, etc. Unlike blacksmithing, their production did not require bulky equipment and large, difficult-to-transport supplies of raw materials. As shown by the burial of a jeweler in a burial ground on the river. Durso, metallurgists and jewelers could use not only ingots obtained from ore, but also scrap metal as raw materials. Together with their tools and raw materials, they moved freely from village to village, increasingly breaking away from their community and turning into otkhodnik artisans.”
Gunsmithing
Blacksmiths are very numerous in the country. They are almost everywhere weapon and silversmiths and are very skilled in their profession. It is almost incomprehensible how they, with their few and insufficient tools, can make excellent weapons. The gold and silver jewelry that is admired by European gun lovers is made with great patience and labor with meager tools. Gunsmiths are highly respected and well paid, rarely in cash, of course, but almost always in kind. Large number The family is engaged exclusively in the manufacture of gunpowder and receives significant profits from it. Gunpowder is the most expensive and most necessary commodity, without which no one here can do. The gunpowder is not particularly good and is inferior even to ordinary cannon powder. It is made in a crude and primitive way, and therefore is of low quality. There is no shortage of saltpeter, as saltpeter plants grow in large quantities in the country; on the contrary, there is little sulfur, which is mostly obtained from outside (from Turkey).
Agriculture among the Circassians, in the 1st millennium AD
Materials obtained during the study of Adyghe settlements and burial grounds of the second half of the 1st millennium characterize the Adyghe people as sedentary farmers who have not lost their roots. Maeotian times plow farming skills. The main agricultural crops cultivated by the Circassians were soft wheat, barley, millet, rye, oats, and industrial crops - hemp and, possibly, flax. Numerous grain pits - repositories of the early medieval era - cut through the strata of early cultural strata at the settlements of the Kuban region, and large red clay pithos - vessels intended mainly for storing grain, constitute the main type of ceramic products that existed in the settlements of the Black Sea coast. Almost all settlements contain fragments of round rotary millstones or entire millstones, which were used for crushing and grinding grain. Fragments of stone crusher mortars and pusher pestles were found. There are known finds of sickles (Sopino, Durso), which could be used both for harvesting grain and for mowing fodder grass for livestock.
Livestock farming among the Circassians, in the 1st millennium AD
Undoubtedly, cattle breeding also played a prominent role in the Adyghe economy. The Adygs raised cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. The burials of war horses or parts of horse equipment repeatedly found in the burial grounds of this era indicate that horse breeding was the most important branch of their economy. The struggle for herds of cattle, herds of horses and rich lowland pastures is a constant motif of heroic deeds in Adyghe folklore.
Animal husbandry in the 19th century
Teofil Lapinsky, who visited the lands of the Circassians in 1857, in his work “The Highlanders of the Caucasus and Their liberation struggle against the Russians" wrote the following:
Goats are numerically the most common domestic animal in the country. The milk and meat of goats, due to excellent pastures, is very good; goat meat, which in some countries is considered almost inedible, is tastier here than lamb. The Adygs keep numerous herds of goats, many families have several thousand of them, and it can be assumed that there are over one and a half million of these useful animals in the country. The goat is only under a roof in winter, but even then it is driven out into the forest during the day and finds some food for itself in the snow. Buffaloes and cows abound in the eastern plains of the country; donkeys and mules are found only in the southern mountains. They used to keep a lot of pigs, but since the introduction of Mohammedanism the pig has disappeared as a domestic animal. Among the birds they keep are chickens, ducks and geese, and turkeys are especially common, but the Adygs very rarely take the trouble to care for poultry, which feeds and breeds at random.
Horse breeding
In the 19th century, about horse breeding of the Circassians (Kabardians, Circassians), Senator Philipson, Grigory Ivanovich reported:
The mountaineers of the western half of the Caucasus then had famous horse studs: Sholok, Tram, Yeseni, Loo, Bechkan. The horses did not have all the beauty of pure breeds, but they were extremely hardy, loyal on their feet, and were never shod, because their hooves, as the Cossacks called them “cup-shaped,” were as strong as bone. Some horses, like their riders, had great fame in the mountains. For example, the white horse of the factory Tram was almost as famous among the mountaineers as his owner Mohammed-Ash-Atajukin, a fugitive Kabardian and famous predator.
Theophilus Lapinsky, who visited the lands of the Circassians in 1857, wrote the following in his work “The Highlanders of the Caucasus and their liberation struggle against the Russians”:
Previously, there were many herds of horses in the possession of wealthy residents in Laba and Malaya Kuban, but now there are few families that have more than 12 - 15 horses. But there are also few who have no horses at all. In general, we can assume that on average there are 4 horses per yard, which will amount to about 200,000 horses for the entire country. On the plains the number of horses is twice as large as in the mountains.
Dwellings and settlements of the Circassians in the 1st millennium AD
The intensive settlement of the indigenous Adyghe territory throughout the second half of the 1st millennium is evidenced by numerous settlements, settlements and burial grounds discovered both on the coast and in the plain-foothill part of the Trans-Kuban region. The Adygs who lived on the coast, as a rule, settled in unfortified villages located on elevated plateaus and mountain slopes far from the coast in the upper reaches of rivers and streams flowing into the sea. The trading settlements that arose in the ancient period on the seashore did not lose their significance in the early Middle Ages, and some of them even turned into cities protected by fortresses (for example, Nikopsis at the mouth of the Nechepsukho River in the area of the village of Novo-Mikhailovskoye). The Adygs who lived in the Trans-Kuban region, as a rule, settled on elevated capes overhanging the floodplain valley, at the mouths of rivers flowing into the Kuban from the south or at the mouths of their tributaries. Until the beginning of the 8th century. Here, fortified settlements predominated, consisting of a citadel fortification surrounded by a moat and an adjacent settlement, sometimes also fenced on the floor side by a moat. Most of these settlements were located on the sites of old Meotian settlements abandoned in the 3rd or 4th centuries. (for example, near the village of Krasny, near the villages of Gatlukai, Takhtamukai, Novo-Vochepshiy, near the village of Yastrebovsky, near the village of Krasny, etc.). At the beginning of the 8th century. the Kuban Circassians also begin to settle in unfortified open settlements, similar to the settlements of the Circassians of the coast.
Main occupations of the Circassians
Teofil Lapinsky, in 1857, recorded the following:
The primary occupation of the Adyghe is agriculture, which provides him and his family with a means of livelihood. Agricultural implements are still in a primitive state and, since iron is rare, are very expensive. The plow is heavy and clumsy, but this is not only a feature of the Caucasus; I remember that I saw equally clumsy agricultural implements in Silesia, which, however, belongs to the German Confederation; six to eight oxen are harnessed to the plow. The harrow is replaced by several bunches of strong spikes, which somehow serve the same purpose. Their axes and hoes are pretty good. On the plains and on lower mountains, large two-wheeled carts are used to transport hay and grain. In such a cart you will not find a nail or a piece of iron, but nevertheless they last a long time and can carry from eight to ten centners. On the plain there is a cart for every two families, in the mountainous part - for every five families; it is no longer found in high mountains. All teams use only oxen, not horses.
Adyghe literature, languages and writing
The modern Adyghe language belongs to the Caucasian languages of the western group of the Abkhaz-Adyghe subgroup, Russian - to the Indo-European languages of the Slavic group of the eastern subgroup. Despite the different language systems, the influence of Russian on Adyghe is manifested in a fairly large amount of borrowed vocabulary.
- 1855 - Adyghe (Abadzekh) educator, linguist, scientist, writer, poet - fabulist, Bersey Umar Khaphalovich - made a significant contribution to the formation of Adyghe literature and writing, compiling and publishing the first Primer of the Circassian language(in Arabic script), this day is considered the “Birthday of modern Adyghe writing” and served as an impetus for Adyghe enlightenment.
- 1918 is the year of the creation of Adyghe writing based on Arabic graphics.
- 1927 - Adyghe writing was translated into Latin.
- 1938 - Adyghe writing was translated into Cyrillic.
Main article: Kabardino-Circassian writing
Links
See also
Notes
- Maksidov A. A.
- Türkiyedeki Kürtlerin Sayısı! (Turkish) Milliyet(June 6, 2008). Retrieved June 7, 2008.
- National composition of the population // Russian Population Census 2002
- Israeli website IzRus
- Independent English Studies
- Russian Caucasus. Book for politicians / Ed. V. A. Tishkova. - M.: FGNU "Rosinformagrotekh", 2007. p. 241
- A. A. Kamrakov. Features of the development of the Circassian diaspora in the Middle East // Medina Publishing House.
- Art. Art. Adygs, Meots in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- Skilacus of Cariande. Perippus of the inhabited sea. Translation and comments by F.V. Shelova-Kovedyaeva // Bulletin of Ancient History. 1988. No. 1. P. 262; No. 2. pp. 260-261)
- J. Interiano. Life and country of the Zikhs, called Circassians. Remarkable storytelling
- K. Yu. Nebezhev Adyghe-Genoa PRINCE ZACHARIAH DE GIZOLFI-LORD OF THE CITY OF MATREGI IN THE 15TH CENTURY
- Vladimir Gudakov. Russian path to the South (myths and reality
- Chrono.ru
- DECISION of the Supreme Council of the KBSSR dated 02/07/1992 N 977-XII-B "ON CONDEMNING THE GENOCIDE OF THE ADIGES (CHERKASSIANS) DURING THE YEARS OF THE RUSSIAN-CAUCASIAN WAR (Russian) , RUSOUTH.info.
- Diana Kommersant-Dadasheva. Adygs are seeking recognition of their genocide (Russian), Newspaper "Kommersant" (13.10.2006).
Declaration of Independence,
Addressed by the Confederacy
Princes of Circassia
To sovereign rulers
Europe and Asia (Continued. Starts in the left side column.)
Since then, the Circassians have repeatedly sent deputations to the Sultan in order to testify to their loyalty and secure a promise of help. However, each time these groups received a rather cold reception there. Equally unsuccessfully, the Circassians turned to Persia and, ultimately, to Mehemet Ali, who, although he expressed full gratitude to them, was far from providing real help.
In all these cases, the deputies of Circassia were ordered to talk with those who, being far away, had little idea of how unbearable the oppression on the part of Russia was, how hostile it was to their customs, faith, their happiness and well-being (otherwise why would the Circassians fight for so long against her?), how treacherous the Russian generals acted, how cruel the Russian soldiers were.
The conclusion is clear - no one is interested in exterminating the Circassians. However, no one seems interested in providing real help to the Circassians. Those hundreds of thousands of people who are now scattered along the deserted steep spurs and are waging war against our stubborn mountaineers, tomorrow will set foot on your fertile valleys, capturing them and turning you into prisoners.
Our mountains have become protective bastions for Persia and Turkey, but if we are not supported, these same mountains will become the gateway to these countries - the mountains are now the only cover for them. These are the doors of the house, closing which you can keep the warmth inside. However, among other things, our blood - Circassian blood - flows in the veins of the Sultan himself. His mother, the women of his harem are Circassian, his ministers and generals are Circassian. He is the stronghold of our faith and our nation, he owns our hearts, and we offer him our allegiance.
In the name of all that binds us, we call on the Sultan to show us sympathy and support. If he does not want or cannot protect his children, his subjects, remind him of the Crimean khans, whose descendants are among us.
This is exactly what our deputies were instructed to talk about where they were going, but no one took them seriously. However, those people would not have behaved this way if the Sultan had a good idea of how many loyal hearts and swords could come under his command as soon as he stopped making friends with Moscow.
We understand that Russia is not the only power in the world. We know that there are other powers stronger than Russia, which, although powerful, are lenient; they instruct the ignorant, protect the weak; they are not friends with Russia, but are its enemies: they are not at enmity with the Sultan, but on the contrary, they maintain friendly relations with him. We know that England and France were the greatest states on earth, they were the most significant and powerful when the Russians sailed here in fragile boats and asked us for permission to fish in the Sea of Azov.
We assumed that England and France would not show any interest in such a simple and poor people as ours, but we never doubted that these enlightened nations did not classify us as Russians. And, although we are unlearned, do not have artillery, generals, ships or treasures, we still hoped that we would be considered an honest people, completely peaceful when they did not touch us, and we hoped that these nations knew how we hate Russians, having on then there is every reason that we almost always defeated them in battle .
Therefore, it was especially offensive for us to learn that on all geographical maps issued in Europe, our land is designated as part of Russia; that agreements completely unknown to us were signed between Russia and Turkey, according to which Russia allegedly safely receives into its ownership the very warriors who made it tremble, and these mountains where no Russian has ever set foot; that Russian representatives are telling Europe that the Circassians are either their slaves or simply out-and-out scoundrels and bandits who cannot be softened by kindness and who do not want to obey any laws.
We call Heaven to witness and angrily protest against such lies and idle speculation, similar to women's gossip. For forty years we fiercely resisted enslavement by force of arms. This ink, like the blood we have shed, testifies to our independence. These words are the testimony of people who have never known and do not tolerate rulers over them, determined to defend their land; people who are not versed in the intricacies of diplomacy, but know well how to use weapons when the Russians approach.
Who is free to hand us over to anyone? We offered the Sultan our citizenship, our allegiance, however, if he is friends with Russia, he cannot accept this offer; Circassia is at war with Russia. Our proposal is the free expression of the will of the people: this is not a product that can be sold by someone who did not buy it.
Let then such a great power as England, to which our faces and outstretched hands are turned, not take part in our destiny at all, if this will only lead to injustice towards us. Let England then safely not notice Russia’s tricks, since it closes its ears so as not to hear the pleas of the Caucasian peoples. Let her believe the slanderers and judge by their words about people who are called barbarians and savages.
(Ends in right side column.)
The article is devoted to the research of the ancient history of the Circassians. It is based on materials from ancient archaeological cultures discovered directly on the territory of the formation of the Circassians. Great value ancient data is also available to reconstruct events written monuments. In the process of studying them, the relationship between the ancient Circassians and the ancient population of the Northern and Southern Black Sea region is revealed. Genetically related parallels with the most ancient pre-Indo-European population of the Mediterranean are revealed.
In the process of the formation of peoples and their separation from the primitive state, not only the territorial division of humanity occurred, but also the ethnopsychological division into friends and foes (us - them). Languages and cultures are evolving, national identity. The self-name of the Adyghe people – Adyge (Adykhe) – is directly related to this factor. The self-name is based on the letter d– symbolizing in the Adyghe language a symbol of belonging, property. Having analyzed the ancient legends of the Circassians, in particular, the information of Sh. Nogmov, we can conclude that, along with the ethnonym “Adyghe”, the identical “adyghe” was also used. Signs G And X at the end of the words of the Adyghe language are consonant and similar to each other, so we can conclude that the ethnonyms Adyghe And adihe had a long history of mutual circulation, or, most likely, adihe transformed to Adyghe over time. Perhaps this happened under the influence of the Abaza language. The Abazins mixed with the Circassians in a huge number for the entire period of their coexistence.
Ethnonym Adyghe(he) formed as follows: a + dy (our) + he (plural suffix at the end of Adyghe words). Thus, in the word “Adyghe” - “people” - the main semantic load is carried by the combination “dy”, a prefix meaning “our”.
The Circassians imagined the ecumene of their residence in the form of a land surrounded on all sides by the sea (ocean). The word country - Heku - is translated from Adyghe as “middle of the sea (ocean)”. We can conclude that the formation of the Circassians took place in close proximity to the sea, in in this case- the Black Sea basin, whose name sounds in Adyghe Akhyn - sea, our sea. Apparently in this era the foundations of the national behavioral identity of the Circassians - Adyghe Khabze, the laws and customs of the country of the Circassians were formed. In Adyghe Khabze, all norms of life and behavior of a person belonging to the Adyghe people are regulated. Over time, Adyghe Khabze became so popular and revered among the people that main feature The Adyghe mentality became the confession of Adyghe Khabze, which became a kind of national religion.
Anthropological materials allow us to classify the Circassians as an autochthonous, ancient population of the Caucasus. According to racial taxonomy, the Circassians mostly belong to the Pontic type of the Caucasian-Balkan race of the large Caucasian race. Some of the eastern Circassians belong to the Caucasian type. The prevailing opinion in science is that the Pontic type was formed in the process of gracialization of the massive protomorphic Caucasian type in conditions of high-mountain isolation. The Pontic population group is considered as an independent variant of racial taxonomy, which has significant antiquity. It developed on the basis of numerous local types Upper Paleolithic, during the Neolithic era in the Eastern Mediterranean. M.G. Abdushelashvili calls the Pontic type in the territory of residence of the Adygs - Adyghe and gives it the following characteristics: small cheekbone ornament, large thickness of the lips and horizontal position of the tip of the nose, a low percentage of convex shapes of the back and low height of the nose, long body length and a high percentage of light eyes, moderately developed hair on the face and body.
The Pontic type, in addition to the North Caucasus, was widespread in Western Georgia and Asia Minor. It is also important to identify the genetic relationship of the ancient population of these regions. According to the results of research by Z.V. Anchabadze, I.M. Dyakonova, S.A. Starostin and other authoritative researchers of ancient history, the Adygs and related Abkhazians are directly related to the ancient population of Asia Minor - the Khatts. It is very noteworthy that an Adyghe researcher at the beginning of the 20th century wrote about the relationship between the Circassians and the Khatts. N. Tsagov, who relied on the work of the famous Adyghe historian in Turkey Meta Dzhunatuko Izet-Pasha. The kinship of the Circassians and Abkhazians with the Khatts is determined, first of all, through the study of linguistic materials. According to scientists: E. Forer, B. Grozny, E. Laroche, Y. Messaroche, I.M. Dyakonova, I.M. Dunaevskaya's typology of the Adyghe-Abkhaz languages is very close to the Hutt language. In his research I.M. Dunaevskaya proves the deep parallelism of the prefixal structure of the verb of the Adyghe-Abkhaz languages and the Hutt language, including subjective-objective indicators. According to V.V. Ivanov, phonetic correspondences leave no doubt that in terms of its vocabulary, Hattic is the language of the ancient North Caucasian family, preserving many features common to Western Caucasian ones. The genetic kinship of the Circassians and Abkhazians with the Khatts is revealed by V.G. in his comparisons of the Nart epic with the Khatt myths. Ardzinba. Parallels are also found in religion and religious rituals. The study of the names of Khatt settlements similar to the Adyghe and Abkhaz ones is also important - Dahaps, Parpara, Aripsa. Based on the name of the Hutt settlement Dahaps lies the Adyghe word dahe, meaning “beautiful”, “wonderful”, and a common word in Adyghe toponymy and hydronymy dogs– river, water, as in the base Aripsa. Adyghe hydronymy is preserved to this day in Western Georgia: Ahyps, Hips, Lashyps, Dagarypsh (s), Rapsh (s), Supsa and others. According to Z.V. Anchabadze, the Adyghe origin of part of the toponymy of the North-Eastern part of Asia Minor is indisputable - Sinope, Akamapsis, Aripse, Apsarea, Duabzu etc. These studies are consistent with the thesis that the area of settlement of the Circassians and Abkhazians in ancient times was the entire Western Caucasus and adjacent areas of Asia Minor. At the same time, the bulk of the population of Circassians and Abkhazians was concentrated in the Western Caucasus. As O.M. points out. Japaridze, Circassians and Abkhazians belong to the culture of early agricultural tribes, identified mainly in the Western Caucasus.
The most ancient archaeological realities of the Circassians in the North Caucasus are the Dolmen and Maykop cultures (3rd millennium BC). The dolmen culture got its name from funerary monuments in the form of above-ground crypts, built from huge stone slabs, known in scientific literature called dolmens (from the Celtic “tol” - table, “men” - stone) (mid-III-II millennium BC). In the Caucasus, dolmens are found strictly in the territory of settlement of the Circassians and Abkhazians. According to Sh.D. Inal-ipa, the distribution area of dolmens, is basically the “original” homeland of the Circassians and Abkhazians. An interesting fact is that dolmens are found on the territory of the Iberian Peninsula (mainly the western part), the islands of Sardinia and Corsica.
Along with the Dolmen culture, the Maikop Early Bronze Culture (3rd millennium BC) was also widespread. It occupied the territory of the Kuban region and the Central Caucasus, i.e. region of settlement of the Circassians that has remained unchanged for thousands of years. The Maykop culture also has a genetic connection with the Mesolithic and Neolithic groups of the population of Abkhazia and Western Georgia: Guandara, Samele-Klde, Odishi, Matsis-Tsikhe, Tetramitsa, Sagvardzhile, etc. The Maykop culture, associated with the Circassians, contains a significant archaic layer dating back to the local Neolithic and even Mesolithic. Of great importance for the study of the tribes of the Maykop culture is the ancient slab with writing discovered in burials, called the phonetized syllabic pictographic pictogram. G.F. Turchaninov made an attempt to read the text of the letter based on the Abkhaz language. The writing of the Maykopians dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. Studying the monument ancient writing Caucasus, G.F. Turchaninov and his colleagues came to the conclusion that the letter is called Ashui, classifying the Abkhazians, Abazas and Ubykhs as Ashuis. In our opinion, it is hardly legitimate to consider the Ashui people as Abkhazians, Abazins and Ubykhs, excluding the Adygs. After all, the Adygs have common genetic origins with the Abkhazians, Abazas and Ubykhs.
There is also an Iranian concept of the origin of the Cimmerians, the basis of which is based on the fact that according to “available ancient sources” the Cimmerians were nomads. Proponents of this theory were A.A. Jessen, E.I. Krupnov, N.V. Anfimov, E.N. Alekseeva and others. It should be noted that the Circassians lived mainly on the plain and led a semi-nomadic lifestyle, changing the location of their settlements each time, within a certain ethnocultural territory. The houses in the settlements consisted of wicker rods coated with clay and were easily erected. And there is no sufficient reason to consider all Cimmerians to be nomads. On the Taman Peninsula, the Cimmerians lived sedentary lives. There was the city of Cimmerium, which was possibly the capital of the Cimmerian tribal union and in whose honor they received their name.
A detailed conclusion about the origin of the Cimmerians was made by N.L. Chlenova: “Firstly, the Northwestern Caucasus, the starting point of the Cimmerian campaigns in Asia Minor, has been inhabited by Abkhaz-Adyghe-speaking peoples since ancient times. Secondly, there is a coincidence of the distribution areas of the Abkhaz-Adyghe languages with the area of the Colchis, Koban and Kamennomostsko-Berezovsky cultures, which there is every reason to associate with the Cimmerians. Thirdly, the Cimmerians’ campaign in Asia Minor along the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus can be explained by the fact that this point ran through lands inhabited by related tribes speaking Abkhaz-Adyghe and similar languages. Fourthly, the North-Eastern part of Asia Minor plays a special role for the Cimmerians, where the “country of Gamir” was formed, where treasures of Koban-Colchian bronzes were found, which, as stated above, there is reason to attribute to the Cimmerians, and where in the 2nd millennium BC .e. lived the people “Kashki” or “Kaski” whose name is compared with the name of the Adygs “Kashag”, “Kasog”, their language was related to Khatt and Adyghe.”
Summing up the Cimmerian issue and taking into account the close interactions of the Circassians with the Iranian and Thracian peoples in the Northern Black Sea region, it can be assumed that the Cimmerians were a heterogeneous union of tribes, which was based on the Circassian-speaking substrate - the Cimmerian tribe.
The formation of the Cimmerian union occurred after the collapse of the Ashu civilization, which most likely occurred at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. A number of independent states and tribal unions were formed. In the 7th century b.c.e. Numerous hordes of Scythians poured from Central Asia, falling on Cimmeria. Unable to withstand a much larger enemy, the Cimmerians lost significant territory to the Scythians. Herodotus points out that the Scythians drove the Cimmerians west of the Don and into the Crimean steppes. The Cimmerians survived in the southern part of the Crimea under the name of the Tauri, and to the east of the Don and in the North-West Caucasus as the Maeotians.
From the 1st millennium BC the ancestors of the Circassians in the Caucasus are known under the collective name Meots. These were the Sinds, Kerkets, Achaeans, Geniokhs, Sanigs, Zikhs, Psessians, Fateis, Tarpits, Doskhs, Dandarii, etc. In the 6th century. b.c.e. The ancient Adyghe state of Sindika was formed, which entered the 4th century. b.c.e. to the Bosporan kingdom.
The most important evidence of the continuity of the Circassians to the ancient population of the North-West Caucasus are the following conclusions:
1). The dominant affiliation of anthropological materials from the most ancient burial grounds of the Black Sea region (Sindo-Maeotians, Taurians) is mostly of the Pontic (Adyghe) type (dolichocrania, mesocrania, high and narrow face, narrow sharply protruding nose, etc.).
2). Linguistic analysis Meotian ethnonymy, anthroponymy and toponymy revealing their Adyghe origin.
3). Continuity of the Meotian culture with the early medieval Circassians.
4). R. Zh. Betrozov asks the question, if the coastal tribes are Abkhazians, Sindo-Meotians are Indo-Europeans, where did the large Adyghe population, recorded in the early Middle Ages, come from? . If proponents of the Iranian concept are correct, it would be logical that there would have been a large core Iranian population in the North-West Caucasus and in the early Middle Ages.
5). Evidence from ancient authors and modern researchers allows us to conclude that the Sindo-Meotians are first-class sailors. The Iranian peoples, who, in fact, were nomads, were alien to navigation during the period under review, and vice versa, the Adygs and the feudal era, and in modern times demonstrated the process of continuity of ancient navigation. Investigating the Cimmerian invasion of the Middle East through the coast of the Western Caucasus, L.I. Lavrov (taking into account its complex terrain) came to the conclusion that it was mainly marine. This once again confirms the Adyghe-speaking nature of the Cimmerians.
Occupying the North-Western and South-Eastern Black Sea region in the past, the Circassians were the oldest pre-Indo-European population of the Mediterranean. IN ancient Greece the pre-Indo-European population is the Pelasgians and Leleges; Italy - Tyrrhenians, Ligurians, Siculi, Picenna, Umbrians; Sicana in Scilia; sardas in Sardinia and corsas in Corsica. Linear writing, which existed on the island of Crete, as a product of the developed Minoan civilization in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC, has structural similarities with the Adyghe-Abkhaz languages. N.Ya. Marr wrote: “The Circassians, Abkhazians and a number of other Caucasian peoples belong to the Mediterranean “Japhetic” race, to which belonged the Elamites, Kassites, Chaldians, Sumerians, Urartians, Basques, Pelasgians, Etruscans and other dead languages of the Mediterranean basin.”
There is also an archaeological identity of the Mediterranean, in particular the dolmens mentioned above. On the Iberian Peninsula, this relationship is still found today. The Basques, who have long been considered isolated peoples, are close in language and culture to the Adygs and Abkhazians. Research by V.I. Markovina, V.A. Chirikba and others allow us to talk about the genetic relationship of the Circassians and Abkhazians with the Basques. Back in 1896, Paul Kretschmer, in his research, suggested that the Pelasgian language was close to the Hutt language. Robert Eisberg, in a study of ancient Greek myths, came to the conclusion that the cycle of ancient tales about Trojan War arose under the influence of Hittite tales about the struggle between their own and foreign gods. The mythology and religion of the Greeks were formed under the influence of the Pelasgians, akin to the Khatts. To this day, related plots of ancient Greek and Adyghe myths are striking, in particular, the similarity with the Nart epic attracts attention.
To summarize, it must be emphasized that the localization of the study of the ancient history of the Circassians within the North-West Caucasus is, at least, biased and gives rise to many scientific inaccuracies and ambiguities. The study of the ancient history of the Circassians should be considered in an inextricable ethnocultural relationship with the ancient population of the Mediterranean. It is this approach that will help to objectively and comprehensively reconstruct the ancient history of the Circassians.
The territory of settlement of the ancient Circassians and related tribes coincides with the distribution area of the Pontic race in the Northern, Eastern and Southern Black Sea region (2nd millennium BC)
Zh.V. Kagazezhev
Kabardino-Balkarian Institute for Humanitarian Studies
There is a lot of controversy around the origin and designation of the Circassians as Circassians. This article does not provide all the arguments and historical facts that support the version presented below. Detailed coverage of every historical fact can bore the reader and blur the purpose of the article, so I want to draw attention to works that are both the cultural and historical heritage of mankind. But without a brief overview of Circassian society, its moral and ethical standards, it is impossible to imagine the emergence of the ethnonym “Circassian”, and what moral and psychological burden other peoples placed and place on the Circassians, calling the Circassians “Circassians”. Until now, in the minds of many peoples, “Circassian” means warrior.
According to the legends of the Adyghe heroic epic “Narther”, the Circassians, since the times of matriarchy, created the moral and legal code “Adyghe khabze” and the Adyghe etiquette “Adygage”. According to B.Kh. Bgazhnokov, in the “Adyghe khabze” there are no and, by definition, there cannot be norms that are not under the control of the Adyghe ethics, contradicting its principles and ideals. Finally, another very important conclusion follows from this: without turning to the nature of the Adyghe, it is impossible to understand and fully imagine the specifics of the Adyghe Khabze. “Adygheism is a mechanism of mental organization and ethical rationalization of facts and relationships, reality, a socially given way of constructing social reality. But at the same time, this is freedom of choice and the implementation of what is desired or possible within the framework of a certain moral continuum, when, despite all the diversity of styles of thinking and behavior, the spirit and general orientation of moral laws is preserved.” “In the system of Adyghe ethics there are five constants: tsIyhuge - humanity, nemys - respect, akyl - reason, lIyg'e - courage, nape - honor."
“During the period of feudalism, the dominant position in the social structure of Adyghe society was occupied by the class of professional warrior knights - uerk.” “The relations of the workers between themselves and other classes were determined and regulated by customary feudal law. But in addition to this, such institutions as uerkyyg'e - knightly ethics (or knightly moral code) and uerk khabze - knightly-noble etiquette arose and operated." “What are the features of knightly ethics, how does it look against the background of general Adyghe ethics or Adygheism? The first thing to note is the increased demands placed on a knight. In the uerkygye system, the circle of responsibilities associated with each of the named principles was much wider, more diverse, and, I would say, stricter than in general Adyghe ethics. For example, the attitude towards some elementary needs and desires reached the point of asceticism: the construction of comfortable dwellings, complaints about economic difficulties, illnesses, cold, hunger, heat, passion for clothes, and excessive curiosity were considered reprehensible. Moreover, living to see gray hairs seemed shameful. It was supposed to accept death at a young or young age, performing another feat, that is, to live a short but bright life, full of dangerous adventures. As for the princes (pshi) and the leading nobles (tlecotleshes), they were not workers in the proper class sense of the word. And thus they remained outside, or rather above, the “knight-peasant” opposition. Nevertheless, it was the princes who were considered and in fact were the elite of the Adyghe knighthood and the most zealous guardians and bearers of knightly ethics, in no way inferior to the warks in this regard.”
The history of the Circassians is a constant war for survival, for preserving the identity of language and culture. Many famous conquerors in different centuries testified to the complete defeat and conquest of the region occupied by the Circassians. However, this was not true. In the conditions of constant wars, the institute of equestrianism “zekIue” arose in Circassian society, where the laws of knightly ethics “uerkygye” were strictly observed. According to A.S.Marzeya, “the origins of the custom of horseback riding are very ancient and lie in the era of the so-called “military democracy.” Adyghe heroic epic“Narts,” which is over 3,000 years old, depicts the Narts as an extremely warlike and courageous people. Many plots of the Nart epic are based on military campaigns. “ZekIue” in the Adyghe language means a military campaign with the aim of seizing booty and gaining glory beyond one’s borders small homeland. But “zekIue” is not only a military campaign, but also a journey, that is, it is a process in time and space. During this journey, raids (teue) were carried out. But, in addition, during these campaigns visits were made, visits to friends, accompanied by feasts, mutual gifts, and new acquaintances were made among foreign and related peoples.
In terms of its significance in social life and in the spiritual atmosphere, the institution of equestrianism played a significant role in the life of the Circassians. According to the Circassians, it was much easier to give one’s life heroically defending one’s homeland than to achieve a reputation as a famous horseman. Therefore, the latter, in their opinion, is more difficult and more prestigious. “It was not the protection of villages and property that constituted the glory of the Circassian,” wrote N. Dubrovin, “but the glory of the rider, and this glory, in the opinion of the people, was acquired outside the homeland.” “The longer the campaign took place outside the homeland, the more prestigious it was. Hence the wide geography of the campaigns: the Dnieper, Volga, Don, Danube, Asia Minor and Central Asia, Transcaucasia, as evidenced by folk legends and historical documents. “According to I. Blaramberg, “until the Caucasian line was established, the Circassians penetrated all the way to the banks of the Volga and Don and suppressed all relations between Azov, Georgia and Persia.” “The beginning of a war, according to folklore, in the old days was accompanied by its official announcement. At the same time, within the framework of visual diplomacy, a communicatively significant object was used: a broken arrow was sent to the enemy - a sign of a declaration of war.”
To show their peaceful intentions to potential opponents, Circassian warriors left three arrows in their quiver, which were visible from afar, which is still preserved on the Circassian Circassian flag. In addition, they confirmed it with words, where, along with other words, it sounded keyword“asa” - peace, “dy asa” - we are peaceful. According to Sh. Nogmov (Adyghe-Circassian educator who lived in the North Caucasus in the first half of the 19th century), who refers to folklore data, the Adyghe-Circassians fought with the Huns, Avars, Khazars and other peoples.
According to Russian chronicles, Prince Svyatoslav in 965 defeated Khazar Khaganate. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, Svyatoslav brought with him many Kasogs, which was preserved in Adyghe legends about joint campaigns in the pre-Mongol period. For Rus', which had trade relations with other countries, it was important to know the political situation on the Black Sea coast. The Russians asked the Kasogs (Adyghe-Circassians), who traded or served with the Russian princes, about this. Often in response we heard the word “asaga” in different variations, which literally means “peace” from Kasogian, i.e. "asa" - peace. (The letter “k”, as a Russian prefix, serves in the word “kasog”, as a designation of where, to whom).
According to M.A. Kumakhov, in many Circassian words like “tyg’e” - gift, “bzhyg’e” - number, “vag’e” - arable land, “tyg’e” - writing - “g’e” (ga) is a common Adyghe suffix of the past tense in substantive participle formations.
According to the Russian chronicle, Prince Vladimir divided his possessions between his sons. The Tmutarakan principality (in Taman, North Caucasus) went to Mstislav. According to Karamzin, Tmutarakan later became a refuge for deprived Russian princes. This takes place in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”:
Oleg steps into Tmutorokan
In the stirrup there is gold -
And Yaroslav’s grandson hears the ringing,
Long-time great Vladimir Vsevolodovich,
And in Chernigov the gates are closed in the morning.
The fact that the Kasozh regiments led by Prince Rededi appeared before Mstislav’s squad suggests that the Kasozh regiments were not defeated by Svyatoslav. Rededya challenged Mstislav to a duel and died. According to the results of the duel and the law of that time, the family and possessions of the Kasozh prince Rededi began to belong to Mstislav. This is reflected in the poem “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”:
To the wise Yaroslav,
Brave Mstislav.
What Rededya stabbed
In front of the Kasog regiments
To the Most Holy Roman Svyatoslavich.
Subsequently, Mstislav married his eldest son Rededi to his daughter and with a united army returned to Rus', where in a number of battles he defeated his brother Yaroslav the Wise and in 1025 achieved the division of Rus' into two parts: western and eastern with Chernigov, where Mstislav reigned. Many Russians noble families, such as the Lopukhins, Ushakovs and others trace their origins to Rededi’s sons Roman and Yuri. All this testifies to the close connection between Russians and Kasogs (Circassians). But such a connection existed not only at the time described. According to the article by A.V. Shevchenko “Anthropology of the population of the southern Russian steppes in the Bronze Age,” an anthropological connection is traced between the population of the Bronze Age of the North Caucasus and the population of Central Europe.
“According to V.P. Alekseeva, the current Pontic group of populations is a gracified version of the protomorphic Caucasian type (1974, p. 133). Using craniological and somatological materials from speakers of the Adyghe-Abkhaz linguistic community, the largest researcher of the peoples of the Caucasus, M.G. Abdushelishvili, noted the anthropological similarity of the Adyghe type he identified with groups of northern origin (1964 pp. 78 - 79).”
To get to the Black Sea coast, the Slavs had to pass through the lands of the Kasogs (Circassians). This was the case not only in the 11th century, but also much later in the 15th century. Thus, Prince Matregi (today the city of Taman) Zakharya Guigursis (according to Genoese materials Zachary de Ghisolfi) was the son of the noble Genoese Vincenzo de Ghisolfi and the son-in-law of the Adyghe prince Berezokhu (Bazruk). Marriage to the daughter of Berzokh (1419) gave the city of Matrega, which belonged to Berezoch, as an inheritance to de Gisolf. From that time on, Matrega was under double subordination - the Genoese and the Adyghe princes. So, in 1482, Zacharias sent a letter to Genoa with a request to send a cash subsidy to pay compensation to the Adyghe (Circassian) princes, whom Zacharias could not refuse: “If you don’t give it to them, they will become enemies, but I need, in any case, to have them.” on your side." Having received no answer, Zachariah twice - in 1483 and in 1487 - turned to Ivan the Third, the Russian Tsar. From the above, we see that the phrase “through the Kasogs” among the Russians was naturally transformed into the abbreviated “Cherkas” (through the Kasogs). So the Russians later became
call Kasogs (Adygs-Circassians). According to Karamzin’s “History of Russia”, even before Mongol invasion Tmutarakan ceases to be mentioned in Russian chronicles as the possession of Russian princes. After the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' and the Caucasus, the ethnonym “Circassian” appeared in relation to the Circassians. It is quite possible that the Mongol-Tatars adopted the name from the Russians, changing the letter “a” to the letter “e” - Cherkasy to Circassian. The consonance of this ethnonym can be found in the languages of other peoples. From the Mongol-Tatar “Cherkess” means “crossing the path”, which also corresponds to the Russian name of the word “Cherkas” - through Kasogs. But even without the Russians, the Mongols, and before them the Polovtsians, Khazars and others, could not get around the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, where a large number of slaves and goods were brought for sale. The path to this shore lay through the lands of the Kasogs (Adygs - Circassians), who collected tribute or plundered. After the conquest of the Caucasus by the Mongol-Tatars, some of the Kasogs themselves became slaves and were sold en masse to the Middle East. Basically, from this environment the dynasty of the Mamluk sultans of Egypt was subsequently formed. In Egyptian chronicles of the 12th century, the Circassians are referred to as "Jarkas" - Cherkas. But for a long time, and after the three-hundred-year Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus', and under Ivan the Terrible, and under Peter the Great, and later, the Circassians were called “Cherkasy” by the Russians. So, in 1552, an official embassy from the Cherkasy (Adygs) arrived in Moscow. As it was recorded in the Russian chronicle: “The Cherkassy sovereigns and princes came to the Sovereign Tsar and the Grand Duke: Prince Mashuk, and Prince Ivan Ezbozlukov, and Tanashuk the Prince, beat with his brow.” In 1561, a significant event occurred: the marriage of Ivan the Terrible to the daughter of the senior prince of Kabarda Temryuk (Temirgoko) Idarov Goshaney, newly baptized Maria. Idarov’s eldest son, Soltanuko, was baptized. Other Idarovs (Kambulatovichs, Sungaleyeviches), starting from the 70s of the 16th century, gradually went to Moscow to serve the Russian sovereigns, were baptized and received the common family name of Cherkassky. By the middle of the 17th century, the Cherkasys firmly occupied a leading position among the boyar aristocracy in terms of wealth and political influence. One of the Cherkasskys was a pupil of Peter the Great, and the other was a Generalissimo, etc. Russian tsars, starting from the 90s of the 17th century, along with other titles, included “Kabardian lands of Cherkassy and mountain princes, sovereign” in their titles. Gradually, over time, the Turkic name “Circassian” replaced the name “Cherkas”. This was due to various reasons, including the active participation of the Circassians in the Mongol-Tatar, and subsequently Turkish conquests. The Circassians, like other peoples conquered by the Mongols, actively participated in the political life and military campaigns of the Golden Horde, which was noted by many historians of those times.
According to the Arab traveler Ibn-Batut, the Circassian-Adygs not only took an active part in the Mongol-Tatar wars, but also during the greatest power of the Golden Horde under Uzbek Khan there was a “Circassian quarter” in the capital Saraichik.
M.N. Karamzin refers to Russian chronicles, saying that Uzbek Khan visited the North Caucasus, going to the Cherkassy mountains. During the rivalry between Tokhtamysh and Tamerlane (Timur) in the Golden Horde in the 14th century, the Circassians sided with Tokhtamysh. After the defeat of Tokhtamysh, Timur directed his first blow in the Caucasus against the Circassians. As the Persian historian Nizam ad-din Shami wrote. The troops sent devastated and plundered the entire region from Azov to Elbrus. Even the last commander of Tokhtamysh Uturku was overtaken by Tamerlane himself in the area of Abasa (Abaza) near Elbrus.
International relations of the Circassians in the North Caucasus are described in many books and chronicles of many peoples, in particular in the book by A.M. Nekrasov “International relations and the peoples of the Caucasus in the 15th-16th centuries.” From the above we see that, starting from the 12th century, the Circassians were firmly called Circassians in all eastern (Arab and Persian) and Western European sources.
The spread of the ethnonym “Circassian” was facilitated by the military service of the Circassians in Ottoman Turkey and in a number of countries. Many Circassian women were the wives of sultans - pashas (generals). So in the 16th century at the very height of the Ottoman Empire eldest wife the Turkish Sultan Sulemen, nicknamed the Magnificent in Europe, and the mother of the official heir to the throne was the Circassian princess Konokova. During the siege of Sulemen I by Turkish troops Austrian capital Vienna, only one horseman was able to get into the city, who refused to surrender and was killed by the Austrians, in violation of the order of the then King of Austria Ferdinand - to be taken alive. Having found out the name and nationality of the hero, Ferdinand I named one of the squares in Vienna Circassian Square and erected a monument in honor of the hero for the edification of his descendants.
During the Russian-Caucasian War of 1763-1864. The ethnonym “Circassian” began to be widely used in relation to all residents of the North Caucasus, when there was no need to list nationality due to the disproportionate number of Circassians and the area they occupied in relation to other peoples of the Caucasus. The listing (mention) of all Russian and foreign writers, historians, poets, painters, artists who devoted their articles, poems, paintings, works about the Caucasian War and about the Caucasians, in particular about the Circassians, will take more than one page. But it is impossible not to mention A.S. Pushkin, the great Russian poet. As V.G. Belinsky wrote: “With the light hand of Pushkin, the Caucasus became a cherished country for the Russians.” Today, many, imitating the tsarist generals, when covering the history of the Caucasian War of the 19th century, portray the Circassians as “predators” who earned their living only by robbery. Then where do such lines come from in A.S. Pushkin’s poem “Prisoner of the Caucasus”: “The sun is already fading behind the mountains
There was a noisy rumble in the distance
People come from the fields to the village.
Sparkling blonde braids.
They arrived, the lights came on in the houses.
In addition to A.S. Pushkin, everyone who visited Circassia at different times noted the hard work of the Circassians. In addition, A.S. Pushkin in his quatrain notes the role of the Circassians in the Caucasus:
A money-loving Jew crowds among the crowd
Circassian - the wild ruler of the Caucasus,
Talkative Greek, silent Turk
Both an important Persian and a cunning Armenian.
The attitude of tsarism towards the highlanders and the attitude of the advanced part of the intelligentsia, who spoke out with sympathy for the highlanders and condemnation of tsarism’s methods of waging war, are polarly different. The senseless cruelty of the tsarist troops
in the Caucasus, the anti-human policy of the tsar and tsarist generals, endless military expeditions, regardless of losses (more than 25 thousand soldiers died in one year), when dozens of villages were destroyed in one campaign. There is plenty of evidence of this: from reports of tsarist generals to testimonies of foreigners who visited the Caucasus. I will only cite the notes of the commander-in-chief of the tsarist troops in the Caucasus, P.A. Ermolov: “We tried to cut out all the men, give the wives to the officers, and the belongings to the soldiers.” Today this can only be compared with fascism. In order to somehow justify all this to society, tsarist propaganda portrayed the mountaineers of the Caucasus, along with the Circassians, as savages, which was strikingly different from reality. Arriving in the Caucasus, the Russians, after the stagnant feudal Russia, were amazed at the way of life, thinking, hospitality, courage, love for the Motherland of the inhabitants of the Caucasus, and the spirit of freedom that reigned in the Caucasus.
Their faith, morals, upbringing,
I loved the simplicity of their lives.
Hospitality, thirst for abuse,
Free movements, speed,
And the lightness of the legs, and the strength of the hand...
The heroic struggle of the Caucasian peoples for independence ended in the tragedy of the entire Circassian ethnic group, when 90% of the main indigenous population of the North-West Caucasus - the Circassians and Abazas who survived the Caucasian War - were forced to emigrate to Turkey. “With the conquest of the Western Caucasus,” writes I.P. Korolenko, “the ancient people, called Circassians. The remnants of this people lingered in the Trans-Kuban region among Russian settlements.”
Of the many foreign writers, emissaries, and travelers who visited the Caucasus in the 19th century, who clearly identified the Circassians as Circassians, I would like to draw your attention to the famous French writer A. Dumas, who, traveling around Russia, visited the Caucasus in 1859. At this time, after the conquest of the Eastern Caucasus, tsarism deployed all its troops against the Circassians. A. Dumas, having traveled throughout the Caucasus, was unable to visit the Circassians due to military operations in the Western Caucasus. But, despite this, A. Dumas, having listed eleven peoples of the Caucasus and their habitats, notes the Circassians: “The Adyghe or Circassian tribe inhabits the space from the Kuban Mountain to the mouth of the river. Kuban, then stretches to the Caspian Sea and occupies Greater and Lesser Kabarda.”
The mass forced eviction of Circassians, Abazins and other peoples of the Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire is full of drama and covered by many writers and historians - eyewitnesses in many countries of the world. Thus, May 21 is celebrated by all Circassians around the world as the “Day of Mourning for those killed in the Caucasian War of the 19th century.” The history of the Circassian diaspora is full of heroism and drama, respect and pride for the Circassians, for their sons and daughters. A description of this story will take more than one book, so I will quote lines from the “Adyghe (Circassian) Encyclopedia”: “Today, over 3 million Circassians live in a number of countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Western Europe, USA, CIS, More than 40 countries in total. The number of foreign Circassians is several times greater than the size of the Circassian population of the North Caucasus. The majority of them live in Turkey, about 80 thousand in Syria, about 65 thousand in Jordan. Both in these countries and in Europe, the ethnonym “Circassian” was established for the Circassians.
Today, the Circassians living in their historical homeland, together with the Russians, have shared all the cataclysms and vicissitudes of history. Not a single work or publication related to the events of the 19th century in the Caucasus is prohibited in Russia today, no matter how bitter the truth may be. New Russia not the legal successor of the tsarist autocracy. B.N. Yeltsin, the first President of Russia, publicly outlined the official opinion and view of this war as colonial and aggressive, expressed sympathy and sorrow for the Circassians as the most affected in this war. The Adyghe-Circassians of the North Caucasus are oriented toward Russia with hope, and it is in our power to make this hope become faith in a bright future for Russia.
Today, in their historical homeland in Russia in Kabardino-Balkaria, Balkars among themselves call Kabardians Circassians. In the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea, Russians and other peoples unofficially call the Adyghe people Circassians. In Karachay-Cherkessia, all the living peoples, except the Abaza, call the Adygs Circassians. Only within themselves the Circassians are divided into Kabardians, Abadzekhs, Shapsugs, etc.
The Circassian people, territorially separated in their historical homeland, living scattered all over the world, remember their ethnic kinship, respect courage, humanity, openly and with dignity look into the future, preserving their language, enriching their culture, cultivating good neighborliness and love for their children. To the homeland, to your people. From time immemorial, throughout the world, Circassians were distinguished thanks to the law “Adygha Khabza”. The Circassians say: “If you have the Adyghe code in your mind, you will not get lost anywhere,” meaning that you will not lose your human face, you will come out of all situations with dignity, be it war, work, family, social life. But “the most terrible danger for any nation,” writes V.Kh. Bolotokov, “lies in the destruction of the gene pool and the national spirit, when the people, abandoning conscious national thinking, prefer to plunge into the ocean of the unconscious, to become a huge crowd, a corrupted and decayed rabble.” .
The ethnonym “Circassian” in relation to the Circassians is used all over the world. And in their historical homeland in Russia in the Caucasus, all Circassians, no matter how officially they are called, are unofficially called Circassians.
To summarize, I think that I was able to attract the attention of both readers and specialists to the most acceptable, in my opinion, version of the origin
an ethnonym that has come down from time immemorial, with which even in our time the whole world calls all Circassians by the glorious name - Circassian.