Adygs are the first people. Circassian tribes

From the first half of the 1st millennium BC. thanks to ancient Greek written sources, the names of the tribes that inhabited the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and the North Caucasus become known.

These are steppe Iranian-speaking nomads - Cimmerians, Scythians and their eastern neighbors Sauromatians. The middle and lower reaches of the Kuban River, the Eastern Sea of ​​Azov, the Taman Peninsula and the Trans-Kuban region were occupied by sedentary agricultural tribes, united by the name "Meots".

For the first time, the Meots and Sinds are mentioned by ancient Greek authors of the 6th-5th centuries BC. Hecatea of ​​Miletus, Hellanicus of Mytilene, Herodotus. The ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo, who lived at the turn of the new era, reports in more detail about them in his work.

Along the Black Sea coast, ancient authors indicate Kerkets, Torets, Zikhs and other tribes, some of which are classified as Meots. The main array of Meotian tribes is considered the indigenous population of the Northwestern Caucasus, belonging to the Caucasian language family. The Meots are referred to as one of the distant ancestors of the Circassians.

One of the main hypotheses about the ancient ancestors of the Circassians suggests that they were Meots. The tribal names of the ancestors of the Meotians: keshak, kashka, kason and Abkhazians - abeshla, absils. The Zikhs, who actively developed in the 5th-6th centuries in the Kuban, were also attributed to the Meotian tribes. Scientists suggest that the ancient tribes that lived in the North-Western Caucasus spoke the Abkhaz-Circassian language. In the book of Sheudzhen A.Kh., Galkin G.A. Tkhakushinova A.K. etc. "Land of the Circassians". Maykop, GURIPP "Adygea", several versions of the appearance of the Adygs in the North Caucasus are given.

Among them: Arabian, Turkish, Egyptian, Crimean, Khazar, Ryazan, Greek, Genoese, as well as "Cossacks-Cossacks - descendants of the Pyatigorsk Circassians", "Adygs-Antes - Slavic tribes", "Adygs-Kabardians - descendants of the Amazons", " Kabardians are the descendants of Genghis Khan, etc. But all of them do not have sufficient justification.

According to the Arabian version, the Circassians moved to the Kuban from Arabia.

According to the information collected in 1784 by the Governor-General P.S. Potemkin, the Kabardian princes "... derive their family from one prince, called Kes, who left Arabia and became the owner of all the mountain peoples." The legend that exists among the Adyghes says: "The Circassians descend from two brothers: Cher and Kes, who came from Arabia from the Kureysh tribe."

According to the work of S. Bronevsky (1823) “According to the own legends of the inhabitants, Kabarda in ancient times was ruled by one prince under the name of Inal, who descended from Keys, and this one came from Arabia and conquered the Circassians.”

Amateur historian Vitaly Shtybin talks about the divided Circassian people.

Yuga.ru has already been told about Vitaly Shtybin, a young entrepreneur from Krasnodar, who became so interested in Circassian history that he became a popular blogger and a welcome guest at specialized conferences. This publication - about what is common and what is the difference between the Adyghes, Kabardians and Circassians - opens a series of materials that Vitaly will write specifically for our portal.

If you are sure that Kabardians and Balkars live in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachays and Circassians live in Karachevo-Cherkessia, and Adyghes live in Adygea, then you will be surprised, but this is not entirely true. Adygs live in all these republics - they are one people, separated by artificial borders. These names are administrative in nature.

Adygs are a self-name, and the surrounding peoples traditionally call them Circassians. In the scientific world, the term Adygs (Circassians) is used to avoid confusion. There is only one main rule - the Adygs are equivalent to the name Circassians. There is a slight difference between the Circassians (Circassians) of Kabardino-Balkaria\Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea\Krasnodar Territory. It is noticeable in dialects. Kabardian and Circassian dialects are considered eastern dialects of the Adyghe language, Adyghe and Shapsug dialects are considered western. In a conversation, a resident of Cherkessk will not understand everything from the speech of a resident of Yablonovsky. Just as a typical inhabitant of central Russia will not immediately understand the Kuban hut, so it will be difficult for a Kabardian to understand the conversation of the Sochi Shapsugs.

The Kabardians call the Adyghes the grassroots Adygs due to geography, since Kabarda is located on an elevated plateau. It is worth noting that the term "Circassian" at different times applied not only to this people, but also to their neighbors in the Caucasus. It is this version that has been preserved today in Turkey, where the term "Circassian" refers to all immigrants from the North Caucasus.

In the Russian Empire, the Circassians (Circassians) did not have their own republics or autonomies, but with the advent of Soviet power, such an opportunity arose. However, the state did not dare to unite the divided people into one large republic, which could easily become equal in size and political weight to Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaijan.

Three republics were formed in different ways: Kabardino-Balkaria- which included Kabardians from the Circassians. To maintain balance, they were united with the Balkar Turks. Then formed Adyghe autonomy, which included all the remaining sub-ethnic groups of the former Kuban region. The mountainous part of the republic, like the city of Maykop, became part of it only in 1936. Shapsugs in the Lazarevsky district of the city of Sochi received their autonomy from 1922 to 1945, but it was liquidated forever. latest Karachay-Cherkess autonomy received in 1957 by the Adygs-Besleney, close in dialect to the Kabardians. In this case, the authorities also maintained an ethnic balance between them and the Abaza and Karachay Turks (relatives of neighboring Balkars) who inhabited the republic.

But what do the concepts "Shapsug", "Besleney", "Kabardian" and so on mean? Despite the one and a half century history of the Circassians (Circassians) within the Russian state, society has not got rid of the tribal (or scientifically - sub-ethnic) division. Until the end of the Caucasian War in 1864, the Western Circassians (Circassians) lived throughout the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea, south of the Kuban River to the Shakhe River in the Lazarevsky District of Sochi. Eastern Circassians (Circassians) lived in the south of the Stavropol Territory, in the Pyatigorsk region, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, on the flat parts of Chechnya and Ingushetia - between the Terek and Sunzha rivers.

Read also:

• Cuban studies without gaps. Krasnodar resident Vitaly Shtybin talks online about the Adyghe history of the region

As a result of the war, some of the sub-ethnic groups were expelled to Turkey - such as the Natukhays and Ubykhs, most of the Shapsugs, Khatukays, and Abadzekhs. Today, the division into tribal societies is not as pronounced as before. The sub-ethnic term "Kabardians" was left to the Circassians (Circassians) of Kabardino-Balkaria. They were the most powerful, numerous and influential Adyghe subethnos in the entire Caucasus. Their own feudal state, the status of trendsetters and control over the routes in Transcaucasia helped them to hold the strongest positions in the politics of the region for a long time.

In the Republic of Adygea, on the contrary, the largest sub-ethnic groups are the Temirgoevs, whose dialect is the official language of the republic, and the Bzhedugs. In this republic, all the names of sub-ethnic groups were replaced by the artificial term "Adyghe". There are no strict borders in the villages of the republics, everyone lives interspersed, so that in Adygea you can meet Kabardians, and in Kabarda - Temirgoevs.

The easiest way to remember the subethnic groups is in the following order:

- Eastern Circassians (Circassians): Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria; Besleneyites in Karachay-Cherkessia;

- Western Circassians (Circassians): Shapsugs in the Lazarevsky district of the city of Sochi; Temirgoys\Khatukays\Bzhedugs\Abadzekhs\Mamkhegs\Jegerukhays\Adamievs\
Mahoshevs\Zhaneevs in the Republic of Adygea.

But what about the Abazins who live in all the same villages, but mainly in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia? Abazins are a mixed people whose language is close to Abkhazian. Once upon a time they moved from Abkhazia to the plains of the northern slopes of the Caucasus and mixed with the Circassians. Their language is close to Abkhazian, which is related to the Adyghe (Circassian) language. Abkhazians (Abaza) and Circassians (Circassians) are distant relatives, much like Russians and Czechs.

Now, in a conversation with an Adyghe, a Circassian or a Kabardian, you can ask him what tribe (sub-ethnos) he is from, and you will learn a lot of interesting things from the life of the Adyghes (Circassians), and at the same time gain confidence as an expert on the structure of the amazing Adyghe (Circassian) society.

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archaeological culture Language Religion Racial type Related peoples Origin

Adygs(or Circassians listen)) is the common name of a single people in Russia and abroad, divided into Kabardians, Circassians, Ubykhs, Adyghes and Shapsugs.

Self-name - Adyghe.

Numbers and diasporas

The total number of Adygs in the Russian Federation according to the 2002 census is 712 thousand people, they live on 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 Adyghes in Adygea, the Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria.

Abroad, the largest diaspora of the Circassians is in Turkey, according to some estimates, the Turkish diaspora numbers from 2.5 to 3 million Circassians. The Israeli diaspora of Circassians is 4 thousand people. There are the Syrian diaspora, the Libyan diaspora, the Egyptian diaspora, the Jordanian diaspora of the Circassians, they also live in Europe, the USA and in some other countries of the Middle East, however, the statistics of most of these countries do not give accurate data on their number of Adyghe diasporas. The estimated number of Adygs (Circassians) in Syria is 80 thousand people.

There are some in other CIS countries, in particular, in Kazakhstan.

Modern languages ​​of the Adygs

To date, the Adyghe language has retained two literary dialects, namely Adyghe and Kabardino-Circassian, which are part of the Abkhaz-Adyghe group of the North Caucasian family of languages.

Since the 13th century, all these names have been supplanted by the exoethnonym - Circassians.

Modern ethnonymy

Currently, in addition to the common self-name, in relation to the Adyghe sub-ethnic groups, the following names are used:

• Adyghes, which includes the following sub-ethnonyms: Abadzekhs, Adamians, Besleneys, Bzhedugs, Egerukays, Makhegs, Makhoshevs, Temirgoevs (KIemguy), Natukhays, Shapsugs (including Khakuchis), Khatukays, Khegayks, Zhaneevtsy (Zhane), Chebasine (Tsopsy, Chebasin ), adele.

Ethnogenesis

Zikhs - so called in languages: common Greek and Latin, Circassians are called Tatars and Turks, they call themselves - “ adiga».

Story

Main article: History of the Circassians

Fight against the Crimean Khanate

Regular Moscow-Adyghe ties began to be established back in 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 a significant part of the population were Adygs. At the end of the 15th century, along the Don route, caravans of Russian merchants constantly came 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 could not to develop without the support of ethnic groups that considered the basin of the Black and Azov Seas to be their ethnosphere. These were primarily the 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 allies of Moscow met their ethnocentric goals. On the side of the Russians, part of the Nogais, who swore allegiance to the Moscow state, could come forward. But, of course, first of all, the Russians were interested in supporting the most powerful and strong West Caucasian ethnic group, the Adygs.

During the formation of the Moscow principality, the Crimean Khanate delivered the same troubles to the Russians and Adygs. For example, there was the Crimean campaign against Moscow (1521), as a result of which the Khan's troops burned Moscow and captured more than 100 thousand Russians, for sale into slavery. 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 tendencies that emerged by the middle of the 16th century 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 sub-ethnic groups it was most appropriate for Ivan the Terrible, whose plans were in the direction of the advance of the Russians along the Volga to its mouth, to the Caspian Sea. Alliance with the most powerful ethnic group S.-Z. K. was needed by Moscow in its struggle with the Crimean Khanate.

In total, three embassies from the northwest visited Moscow in the 1550s. K., in 1552, 1555 and 1557. They consisted of representatives of the western Circassians (Zhaneev, Besleneev, etc.), eastern Circassians (Kabardians) and Abaza, who turned to Ivan IV with a request for patronage. They needed patronage primarily to fight the Crimean Khanate. Delegations from S.-Z. K. met with a favorable reception and secured the patronage of the Russian tsar. From now on, they could count on the military and diplomatic assistance of Moscow, and they themselves were obliged to appear at the service of the Grand Duke-Tsar.

Also under Ivan the Terrible, he had the 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 as prisoners (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 Commonwealth, as a result of the Molodinsky battle, ended with the complete physical destruction of the Tatar-Turkish army and the defeat of the Crimean Khanate http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_at_Molodyakh

In the 70s, despite the unsuccessful Astrakhan expedition, the Crimeans and the 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 West Caucasian highlanders, Circassians and Abaza, their subjects, but this did not change the essence of the matter. The highlanders had no idea about this, just as the Asian nomads did not suspect in their time that China considers them to be its subjects.

The Russians left the North Caucasus, but entrenched themselves in the Volga region.

Caucasian war

Patriotic War

List of Circassians (Circassians) - Heroes of the Soviet Union

The question of the genocide of the Circassians

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 the control of the territories, the new authorities were forced to resettle the Circassians, who founded 12 auls in new places, and 5 in the 20s of the XX century.

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 culture has experienced various internal and external influences, including long-term contacts with the Greeks, Genoese and other peoples, long-term feudal civil strife, wars, mahadzhirstvo, social, political and cultural upheaval. The culture, while changing, has basically survived, and still demonstrates its openness to renewal and development. Doctor of Philosophical Sciences S. A. Razdolsky, define it as “a thousand-year-old worldview socially significant experience of the Adyghe ethnic group”, which has its own empirical knowledge about the world around it and transmits this knowledge at the level of interpersonal communication in the form of the most significant values.

moral code, called Adygage, acts as a cultural core or the main value of the Adyghe culture; it includes humanity, reverence, reason, courage, and honor.

Adyghe etiquette occupies a special place in culture as a system of connections (or a channel of information flows), embodied in a symbolic form, through which the Circassians enter into relations with each other, store and transmit the experience of their culture. Moreover, the Circassians developed etiquette forms of behavior that helped to exist in the mountainous and foothill landscape.

Respectfulness has the status of a separate value, it is the borderline value of moral self-consciousness and, as such, it manifests itself as the essence of genuine self-value.

Folklore

Behind 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 reports (reports), long before his travels, that is, before 1711, in Circassia they had the skills of mass smallpox inoculation.

Abri de la Motre left a detailed description of the procedure for vaccination among the Adygs in the village of Degliad:

The girl was taken to a little boy of three years old, who was ill with this disease and whose pockmarks and pimples were beginning to fester. The old woman performed the operation, as the oldest members of this sex are reputed to be 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, made a prick under the spoon of a little girl, secondly in the left breast against the heart, thirdly, in the navel, fourthly, in the right palm, fifthly, into the ankle of the left leg, until blood flowed, with which she mixed the pus extracted from the pockmarks of the patient. Then she applied dry leaves of the barn to the pricked and bleeding places, tying two skins of newborn lambs to the drill, after which the mother wrapped her in one of the leather covers that make up, as I said above, the bed of the Circassians, and thus wrapped she took her to yourself. I was told that she was to be kept warm, fed only porridge made from caraway flour, with two thirds of water and one third of sheep's milk, she was not allowed to drink anything but a refreshing decoction made from ox's tongue (Plant), a little licorice and a barn (Plant), three things not uncommon in the country.

Traditional surgery and bonesetting

About Caucasian surgeons and chiropractors, N. I. Pirogov wrote in 1849:

“Asian doctors in the Caucasus cured absolutely 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 known throughout the Caucasus that the removal of limbs, the cutting out of crushed bones, is never undertaken by Asian doctors; of the bloody operations performed by them to treat external injuries, only the cutting of bullets is known.

Crafts of the Circassians

Blacksmithing among the Circassians

Professor, doctor of historical sciences, Gadlo A. V., about the history of the Adygs in the 1st millennium AD. e. wrote -

Adyghe blacksmiths in the early Middle Ages, apparently, had not yet broken their ties with the community and had not separated from it, however, within the community they already constituted a separate professional group, ... Blacksmithing during this period was mainly focused on meeting the economic needs of the community ( plowshares, scythes, sickles, axes, knives, overhead 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, shield parts, etc.). What was the raw material base of this production, it is still difficult to determine, but, not excluding the presence of our own smelting of metal from local ores, we will point out two iron ore regions, from where metallurgical raw materials (semi-finished products - kritsy) could also come to Adyghe blacksmiths. This is, firstly, the Kerch Peninsula and, secondly, the upper reaches of the Kuban, Zelenchukov and Urup, where clear traces of ancient raw iron smelting.

Jewelery among the Adyghes

“Adyghe jewelers possessed the skills of casting non-ferrous metals, soldering, stamping, making wire, engraving, etc. Unlike blacksmithing, their production did not require bulky equipment and large, hard-to-transport stocks of raw materials. As shown by the burial of a jeweler in a burial ground on the river. Durso, metallurgists-jewelers could use not only ingots obtained from ore, but also scrap metal as raw materials. Together with their tools and raw materials, they freely moved from village to village, more and more detached from their community and turning into migrant artisans.

gunsmithing

Blacksmiths are very numerous in the country. They are almost everywhere gunsmiths and silversmiths, and are very skillful in their profession. It is almost incomprehensible how they, with their few and insufficient tools, can make excellent weapons. The gold and silver ornaments, which are admired by European weapon lovers, are 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. A large number of families are exclusively engaged in the manufacture of gunpowder and receive a significant profit from this. Gunpowder is the most expensive and most necessary commodity, without which no one here can do without. Gunpowder is not particularly good and inferior even to ordinary cannon powder. It is made in a rough and primitive way, therefore, of low quality. There is no shortage of saltpeter, as saltpeter plants grow in great numbers 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

The materials obtained during the study of the Adyghe settlements and burial grounds of the second half of the 1st millennium characterize the Adyghes as settled farmers who have not lost their coming from Meotian times plow farming skills. The main agricultural crops cultivated by the Circassians were soft wheat, barley, millet, rye, oats, industrial crops - hemp and, possibly, flax. Numerous grain pits - repositories of the early medieval era - cut through the strata of early cultural strata in the settlements of the Kuban region, and large red clay pithoi - vessels intended mainly for storing grain, constitute the main type of ceramic products that existed in the settlements of the Black Sea coast. Almost at all settlements there are fragments of round rotary millstones or whole millstones used for crushing and grinding grain. Fragments of stone stupas-croupers and pestle-pushers were found. Finds of sickles are known (Sopino, Durso), which could be used both for harvesting grain and for mowing fodder grasses for livestock.

Animal husbandry among the Circassians, in the 1st millennium AD

Undoubtedly, cattle breeding also played a prominent role in the economy of the Circassians. The Circassians bred 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 fat lowland pastures is a constant motif of heroic deeds in the Adyghe folklore.

Animal husbandry in the 19th century

Theophilus Lapinsky, who visited the lands of the Adyghes in 1857, wrote the following in his work “The Mountaineers of the Caucasus and their liberation struggle against the Russians”:

Goats are numerically the most common domestic animal in the country. The milk and meat of the goats, owing to the excellent pastures, are very good; goat meat, which in some countries is considered almost inedible, is tastier here than lamb. The Circassians keep numerous herds of goats, many families have several thousand of them, and it can be considered that there are more than one and a half million of these useful animals in the country. The goat is only under the 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 are plentiful in the eastern plains of the country, donkeys and mules are found only in the southern mountains. Pigs used to be kept in large numbers, but since the introduction of Mohammedanism, the pig as a pet has disappeared. Of the birds they keep chickens, ducks and geese, especially turkeys are bred a lot, but the Adyg very rarely takes the trouble to take care of poultry, which feeds and breeds at random.

horse breeding

In the 19th century, about the horse breeding of the Circassians (Kabardians, Circassians), Senator Philipson, Grigory Ivanovich reported:

The highlanders of the western half of the Caucasus then had famous horse factories: Sholok, Tram, Yeseni, Loo, Bechkan. The horses did not have all the beauty of pure breeds, but they were extremely hardy, faithful in their legs, they were never forged, because their hooves, according to the Cossacks, were as strong as bone. Some horses, like their riders, had great fame in the mountains. So for example the white horse of the plant Tram was almost as famous among the highlanders as his master Mohammed-Ash-Atadzhukin, a fugitive Kabardian and a famous predator.

Theophilus Lapinsky, who visited the lands of the Adyghes 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 owned by wealthy residents in the Laba and Malaya Kuban, now there are few families that have more than 12 - 15 horses. But on the other hand, there are few who do not have horses at all. In general, we can assume that on average there are 4 horses per household, which will amount to about 200,000 heads for the whole 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 found 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 settlements 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 in the early Middle Ages did not lose their significance, and some of them even turned into cities protected by fortresses (for example, Nikopsis at the mouth of the Nechepsuho River near the village of Novo-Mikhailovsky). The Adygs who lived in the Trans-Kuban region, as a rule, settled on elevated capes hanging over 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 fortified settlements prevailed here, consisting of a citadel-fortification fenced with a moat and a settlement adjoining it, sometimes also fenced with a moat from the floor side. Most of these settlements were located on the sites of old Meotian settlements abandoned in the 3rd or 4th century. (for example, near the village of Krasny, near the villages of Gatlukay, Tahtamukay, Novo-Vochepshiy, near the farm. Yastrebovsky, near the village of Krasny, etc.). At the beginning of the 8th century the Kuban Adygs also begin to settle in unfortified open settlements, similar to the settlements of the Adygs of the coast.

The main occupations of the Circassians

Theophilus Lapinsky, in 1857, wrote the following:

The predominant occupation of the Adyghe is agriculture, which gives him and his family a means of subsistence. Agricultural tools are still in a primitive state and, since iron is rare, very expensive. The plow is heavy and clumsy, but this is not only a peculiarity of the Caucasus; I remember seeing equally clumsy agricultural implements in Silesia, which, however, belongs to the German Confederation; six to eight bulls are harnessed to the plow. The harrow is replaced by several bundles of strong thorns, which somehow serve the same purpose. Their axes and hoes are pretty good. On the plains and on the less high 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 hold on for a long time and can carry from eight to ten centners. On the plains, a cart is for every two families, in the mountainous part - for every five families; it is no longer found in the high mountains. In all teams only bulls are used, but 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 Khapkhalovich - made a significant contribution to the development of Adyghe literature and writing, compiling and publishing in March 14, 1855 the first Primer of the Circassian language(in Arabic script), this day is considered the "Birthday of modern Adyghe writing" served as an impetus for Adyghe enlightenment.

• 1918 - the year of the creation of the Adyghe alphabet 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

1. Maksidov A. A.
2. Turkiyedeki Kurtlerin SayIsI! (Turkish) Milliyet(June 6, 2008). Retrieved June 7, 2008.
3. National composition of the population // Population census of Russia 2002
4. Israeli site IzRus
5. Independent English Studies
6. Russian Caucasus. A book for politicians / Ed. V. A. Tishkova. - M.: FGNU "Rosinformagrotech", 2007. p. 241
7. A. A. Kamrakov. Features of the development of the Circassian diaspora in the Middle East // Publishing House "Medina".
8. st.st. Adygs, Meots in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
9. Skylak of Karyandsky. Perippus of the inhabited sea. Translation and comments by F.V. Shelova-Kovedyaeva // Bulletin of Ancient History. 1988. No. 1. P. 262; No. 2. S. 260-261)
10. J. Interiano. Life and country of Zikhs, called Circassians. Remarkable Narrative
11. K. Yu. Nebezhev ADYGEZAN-GENOA PRINCE ZAHARIA DE GIZOLFI-OWNER OF THE CITY OF MATREGA IN THE 15TH CENTURY
12. Vladimir Gudakov. Russian way to the South (myths and reality
13. Hrono.ru
14. DECISION of the Supreme Council of the KBSSR dated 07.02.1992 N 977-XII-B "ON THE CONDEMNATION OF THE GENOCIDE OF THE ADYGES (CHERKESIANS) IN THE YEARS OF THE RUSSIAN-CAUCASUS WAR (rus.), RUSOUTH.info.
15. Diana b-Dadasheva. Adygs seek recognition of their genocide (Russian), Newspaper "Kommersant" (13.10.2006).

Look at the appearance of ancient Ukrainians and the subsection "Atamans of Kosh"
and all doubts about the origin of Ukrainians not from the white race will immediately disappear. Look at the vast majority of them

Ukrainians got all their attractive appearance from mixing with Russians.

COSSACKS AND Circassians: SEARCH FOR COMMON ROOTS

"Cherkasy are long-time residents of the Caucasus. Cherkasy appear in the history of Ukraine for the first time in 985, i.e. 20 years after the destruction of the Khazar state, which included Kasogs.
During the time of Vladimir Monomakh (about 1121), new crowds of Cherkasy settled on the Dnieper, driven by the Komans from the Don, where they "cossacked" along with the rabble of many other tribes. They served our princes for money in their civil strife. Then they Russified, adopted the Christian faith and became known under the name of the Cossacks, first Ukrainian, and then Zaporozhye.

A special speech is about the Cherkasy - the descendants of the Yas-Bulgars and the Turkic ancestors of the Zaporizhzhya and Don Cossacks. Cherkasy adopted Orthodoxy and became Slavic, but back in the 17th century. they distinguished themselves from Ukrainians and Russians. Here are just two of the many testimonies. In 1654, the hetman's envoy to the words of the Crimean Khan: “How ... your hetman and all you Cherkasy forgot my friendship and advice?” - replies: “What ... is your royal friendship and advice? You came ... to us, Cherkassy, ​​to help against the Polish king, and you ... only profited from Polish and ... Cherkasy polonyans, hired yourself full with your military people and became rich ... Cherkasy did not inflict any help ” . . Or here is another appeal of the Crimean Khan: "And now ... those Cossacks, Cherkasy." the Don and Black Sea Bulgars-Yases found themselves in the field of influence of two ethnonospheres - Russian and Volga-Bulgarian, which led to a split in their own Bulgaro-Yassky ethnonoosphere. One part of them became Slavic and became part of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, while the other part reunited with their relatives, the Volga Bulgars.
"In 1282, Baskak Tatarsky, from the Kursk principality, having called Circassians from Beshtau (Pyatigorye), inhabited the settlement with them under the name of Cossacks. But they committed robberies and robberies, until finally, Oleg, Prince of Kursk, by permission of the Khan, ruined their homes ", beat many of them, and the rest fled. These latter, copulating with Russian fugitives, repaired robberies for a long time. Their crowded gang went to the city of Kanev to Baskak, who appointed them a place of stay down the Dnieper. Here they built a town for themselves and called its Cherkassk-on-Dnieper, due to the fact that most of them were the Cherkasy breed, constituting a robber republic, which later became famous under the name of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks ... ". S. Bronevsky emphasizes this idea once again: “In the 13th century, the Circassians captured Kerch in the Crimea, made frequent raids, both on this peninsula and in other European countries. These gangs of Cossacks originated from them (that is, the Circassians).

Facts and only facts!

Let's start with linguistics!

The Ukrainian HATA (Turkic word) is built from adobe (a mixture of clay, manure and straw) (also a Turkic word), this alone shows where this technology was taken from.
How is the house enclosed? That's right, TYNOM (this is also a Turkic word)
How do they decorate the HOUSE surrounded by TYN? Correctly KYLYM (also a Turkic word).
What do Ukrainians wear? men? That's right, Turkic trousers, Turkic wide belts and hats.
Ukr. women wear PLAKHTA (also Turkism) and Turkic NAMYSTO.
What kind of army do Ukrainians have? Correct KOZAKI (also Turkism), what do they look like?
Just like the Pecheneg Turks, (which, by the way, Svyatoslav copied in his appearance), later the Polovtsians and Circassians looked the same: a tuft of hair not shaved at the back of the head, a sign of belonging to the Turkic military class, a Turkic earring in the ear (meaning what kind of son you are in family, if the only one, they took care of you), in the mouth LYULKA (Turkism) stuffed with TYUTYUN (Turkism) in the hands of BANDUR (Turkism). In what military units are the Cossacks?
In KOSHAH (Turkism). Their symbol is BUNCHUK (Turkism).
The Ukrainian HAY "let" (for example, hi live independent Ukraine) is related to the Kabardian khei "want".
GAYDAMAK - right-bank gangs of robbers, FROM TURKISH GAYDE-MAK - TO CONFUSE.
kurkul, kavun, kosh, kilim, bull, maidan, cauldron, kobza, kozak, leleka, nenka, hamanets, axe, ataman, bunchuk, chumak, kokhana, kut, domra, tyn, kat, hut, farm, nenka, tattoo, ruh, surma and richly something else - - all these are TURKIC WORDS!!!
THERE ARE MORE THAN 4000 TURKIC WORDS IN UKRAINIAN MOV!!!

Ukrainian surnames

The ending - KO has the meaning of “son” (kyo) in the Adyghe language, that is, in Ukraine, surnames were formed in the same way as in Russia, only in Russia “SON OF PETROV”, and the son remained simply Petrov (just like in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic , Slovakia), then in Ukraine they said: whose son is Petren's son, i.e. Petren-KO (in Turkic, Adyghe Son of Peter), etc., the same Turkic roots have surnames in -UK, -UK, (Turkic Gayuk , Tayuk, Kuchuk) Ukrainian Kravchuk, Mykolaichuk, etc.

In addition, a number of Ukrainian surnames remained absolutely Turkic Buchma, Kuchma (in Turkic it is a high pointed hat)!!!

Such a common Ukrainian surname as Shevchenko is of Adyghe origin, this surname appeared just at the time when the Kasogov and Cherkes tribes appeared in the Dnieper Cherkasy (hence the city of Cherkasy). It goes back to the word "sheudzhen", which the Circassians used to designate their Christian priests. Under the pressure of Islam, the Sheudzhens emigrated with part of the Circassians to Ukraine. Their descendants were naturally called "Shevdzhenko", "Shevchenko", it is known that in Adyghe "KO" means a descendant, a son. Another very common surname Shevchuk goes back to the Adyghe surname Shevtsuk. Mazepa is a Circassian surname, in the same form it exists in the Caucasus.

Compare these Adyghe and Tatar surnames with Ukrainian ones:
Kulko, Gerko, Zanko, Hadjiko, Kushko, Beshuko, Heishko, Shafiko, Nathko, Bahuko, Karahuko, Khazhuko, Koshroko, Kanuko, Hatko (c) (Hatk'o, "son of Hyat")
Maremuko - lit.: "son of holy Friday."
Tkheschoko - "son of God".
The famous Kabardian (Circassian) prince - Kemryuk.
Anchuk, Shevtsuk, Tatruk, Anshuk, Tleptseruk, the famous surname Khakmuchuk, Gonezhuk, Mashuk, Shamray, Shakhray.
Tatar khans - Tyuzlyuk, Kuchuk, Payuk, Kutlyuk, Konezhuk, Tayuk, Barkuk, Yukuk, Buyuruk.
Who is the Nobel Prize winner??? - Turk Orhan Pamuk. Almost our Kuzmuk.

There are many already Russified surnames, i.e. with the addition of -ov, for example:
Abroko - Abrokovs., Berokyo - Borokovs. Eguynokyo - Egunokov.

Now to Ukrainian toponymy

What do the "typically Slavic" names of settlements in central and western Ukraine mean??? KAGARLYK, DYMER, BUCHA, UZIN - (Kiev region), UMAN, KORSUN, KUT, CHIGIRIN, CHERKASY - (Cherkasy region), BUCHACH - (Ternopil region), TURKA, SAMBOR, BUSK - (Lviv region), BAKHMACH, ICHNYA - (Chernihiv region), BURSHTYN, KUTY, KALUSH - (Ivano-Frank. Oyul.), KhUST - (Carpathian region), TURIYSK - (Volyn region), AKHTYRKA, BURYN - (Sumy region), ROMODAN - (Poltava region, the names of the villages Abazivka, Obezivka in the Poltava region, come from the Circassian nickname Abaza), KODYMA, GAYSAN - (Vinnitsa region), SAVRAN - (Kirovograd region), IZMAIL, TATARBUNARY, ARTSIZ and a huge number? In Russia, there are also Turkic names of settlements, but the Russians settled foreign lands in the Urals, Siberia, and the North, and naturally left other people's already existing names.
What does it all say???
And he says that Kiev, having fallen into disrepair already in the 12th century, when the center of Russian life moves north along with the population of Russia, fleeing from the nomadic steppe for the forests, a new process of ethnogenesis begins on the territory of southern Russia, the remnants of the glades and northerners are mixed with numerous Turkic already semi-sedentary tribes - the remnants of the Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Torks, Berendeys. Later, Tatars, Nogai are added to this melting pot. A mixed Slavic-Turkic ethnic group arises, called the "Tatar people", and later called the Ukrainians.

Russians are closer to long-faced Caucasians, and Ukrainians are closer to Central Asian chubby Turks - this is known.

Adygs, the general name of a large group of related tribes in the past Sev. Caucasus, who called themselves Adyte and are known in Europe. and east. literature from the Middle Ages under the name of the Circassians. From modern The peoples of the Caucasus to A. include Adyghes, Kabardians and Circassians, who speak kinship. languages ​​that make up a special branch of the North-West. (Abkhaz-Adyghe) group of the Caucasus. languages, and retained many common elements in their material and spiritual culture. In ancient times, the Adyghe tribes lived in the south-west. Sev. Caucasus and the Black Sea coast. The Kuban tribes are usually mentioned by ancient authors under the collection. the name of the Meotians, and the Black Sea ones - under their own. names; of these, the ethnonyms Zikhi and Ker-Kets later also became collective. Approximately in the 5th c. Zikhs headed the one that existed until the 10th century. the union of the Adyghe tribes, and the name of the Zikhs replaced other tribal names of the Adyghes. In Russian chronicles from the 10th century. A. are already called kasogs, and in the eastern (Arabic and Persian-speaking) sources - kashaks, kesheks ("k-sh-k"). From the time of the Mong. invasion (13th century), the name Circassians spread (cf. the ethnonym of ancient times - Kerkets), although in the West. Literature sometimes retained the term "zihi". In the 13th-14th centuries. part A. advanced to B. - in the bass. R. Terek, where the Alans used to live, which means parts exterminated during the invasion of the Mongols and partially pushed back into the mountains; those who remained in place mingled with A. Thus, the Kabardian nationality was formed, and from other Adyghe tribes - the Adyghe nationality. The Adyghe population of the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Okrug consists partly of the descendants of the Western Adyghe (Besleney) tribes, partly from those who moved to the Kuban in the 20-40s. 19th century Kabardians.

B. A. Gardanov.

Used materials from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Adygi, Adyge(self-name) - an ethnic community, including Adyghe , Kabardians , Circassians. The number in Russia is 559,700 people: Adyghes - 122,900 people, Kabardians - 386,100 people, Circassians - 50,800 people. They also live in many countries of the world, mainly in the Near and Middle East, where, usually called Circassians, are settled compactly and often include Abaza, Abkhazians, Ossetians and other people from the Northern Caucasus - in Turkey (150,000 people), Jordan (25,000 people ), Iran (15,000 people), Iraq (5,000 people), Lebanon (2,000 people), Syria (32,000 people together with Chechens), about 250,000 people in total. The total number is over 1,000,000 people.

Languages ​​- Adyghe and Kabardian.

Believers are Sunni Muslims.

The ancient history of the Circassians and the formation of their community are connected with the regions of the Eastern Black Sea region and the Trans-Kuban region. In the first millennium BC, the ancient Adyghe tribes are already recorded in the Eastern Black Sea region. The process of formation of the ancient Adyghe community covered mainly the end of the first millennium BC - the middle of the first millennium AD. It was attended by the tribes of the Achaeans, Zikhs, Kerkets, Meots (including the Torets, Sinds) and others ethnically, apparently, not only the ancient Adyghes. According to Strabo, these tribes inhabited the territory in the southeast of modern Novorossiysk along the left bank of the Black Sea and in the mountains up to the modern city of Sochi.

The inhabitants of the coast were engaged in farming, but their main occupation was sea robbery. In the VIII - X centuries, the Adygs occupied lands in the Kuban region, including near the ancient Russian Tmutarakan principality. A number of military campaigns (,) of Russian princes against the Adygs-Kasogs are known. As a result of the Mongol conquests of the 13th century, the population was concentrated mainly in mountain gorges, which led to a high population density, to a lack of land among the mountaineers. The development of urban life was interrupted, the ethnic territory was reduced, mainly due to the Kuban region. In the XIII-XIV centuries, a part of the Kabardians became isolated. In the 16th - 18th centuries, the territory of the Adygs was the scene of numerous civil strife and wars, in which Turkey participated, Crimean Khanate, Russia, Dagestan rulers. The settlement area of ​​the Circassians (Circassia) covered the lands from Taman in the west to the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea in the east, including lands in the Kuban basin and along the Eastern Black Sea coast to the northwest of modern Sochi. However, a significant part of the land was economic land, mainly pastures for Kabardian horse breeding, and did not have a permanent population.

During the years of the Caucasian War ( - ) there is an internal self-organization of the Western Adygs - Adyghes. In the first third of the 19th century, a group of the Adyghe (Kabardian) population was formed in the Trans-Kuban region, later called the Circassians. The Caucasian war and the reforms that followed it largely changed the ethnic and demographic situation, especially with mahadzhirstvo - the resettlement of highlanders in the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until first world war, as well as the settlement of mountaineers on the plain.

The Circassians had a common social structure in many respects. In the 19th - early 20th centuries, many norms of customary law were preserved - the customs of blood feud, atalism, hospitality, kunachestvo, patronage, artificial kinship (milk adoption, twinning). The way of life of the privileged classes differed sharply from the life of the common people; social differences were reflected in clothing, its colors, cut. In public and family life, in addition to the customary law (adat), the norms of Muslim law (Sharia) were in force. Until now, the Circassians have largely retained a single traditional culture, the differences in which (especially in the economy, settlement, food) are determined mainly by natural and climatic conditions, vertical zonality. The community of the spiritual culture of the Circassians was preserved: the pantheon of deities, many traditions of social life (for example, the work of improvisational singers), traditional performances. Adygs are clearly aware of their historical unity.

The materials of the article by N.G. Volkova in the book: Peoples of Russia are used. Encyclopedia. Moscow, Great Russian Encyclopedia 1994.

Literature:

Deopik V. B., Adyghe tribes, in the book; Essays on the history of the USSR. III-IX centuries., M., 1956;

Nogmov Sh. B., History of the Adyghe people ..., Nalchik, 1958.

See also:

Adyghe - materials of the article by Yu.D. Anchabadze and Ya.S. Smirnova in the book: Peoples of Russia. Encyclopedia. Moscow, Great Russian Encyclopedia 1994

Kabardians, people in Russia, the indigenous population of Kabardino-Balkaria.