The history of the Circassians in the early Middle Ages is today one of the most poorly studied and difficult for scientific research. This is explained by the fact that written sources containing information about the Circassians during this period are extremely few in number and, as a rule, fragmentary. Modern treatment of this topic is dictated by the urgent need to identify the maximum full picture historical development of the Adyghe communities, which, like many other peoples, did not have their own written language and therefore the restoration of their history largely depends on taking into account and studying the written monuments left by others who owned written culture, peoples.
However, if we follow the meager sources devoted to this time, reconstructing only what can be established with varying degrees of reliability, then even then we are not guaranteed against misunderstandings of history, since historical life is undoubtedly richer than is possible present by sources. In turn, the strictest adherence to sources is impossible without an element of reconstruction.
Some authors give us valuable materials on historical geography, others on ethnography, toponymy and anthroponymy of the North-West Caucasus. Most full information contain the works of an Arab traveler and geographer of the 1st half of the 10th century. Al-Masudi, Byzantine emperor of the 10th century. Constantine Porphyrogenitus and the Arab geographer, a Sicilian who lived in the 12th century. Al-Idrisi. Fragmentary information about the Circassians in this period is contained in the works of Procopius of Caesarea, al-Khvarizmi (VIII-IX centuries), Ibn Sarabiyun and al-Battani. When comparing Byzantine and Arabic sources, we find, although not so obvious, quite interesting coincidences separate provisions.
The peoples inhabiting the territory of the North-Western Caucasus were known to Byzantine authors under the ethnonyms - Zikhs and Sagins by Procopius of Caesarea, Zikhs, Papagus and Kasakhs by Constantine Porphyrogenitus. The ethnonym “Zikhi” appears in the “Geography” of Strabo (1st century BC – 1st century AD). He is known to Claudius Ptolemy, Dionysius, Arrian and Stephen of Byzantium. Zikhia was later mentioned by the Byzantine authors Epiphanius and Theophanes the Confessor (VIII-IX centuries).
The early medieval Zikhs are one of the Adyghe tribes or tribal associations, which may have given their ethnic name to the entire Adyghe massif. It is more difficult to identify the Sagins with the Circassians. Procopius of Caesarea directly states: “Many tribes of the Huns settled beyond the Sagins.” In its construction, the Sagins occupied the territory that Constantine Porphyrogenitus later allocated to the Kasogs (Kasakhia), placing them on the border with the Alans behind the Zikhs in the interior of the mainland. The ethnonym “Kasog” in the form Kasogdiane was first mentioned in the “Walking of Epiphanius” (8th century).
The above facts allow us to assume the possibility of identifying the Sagins - Kasogdians - Kasogs. The Kasogs represented a group of Adyghe tribal associations, whose name in a number of sources of the 10th-12th centuries. covered the entire Adyghe ethnic substratum of the North-Western Caucasus.
The Arab-Persian tradition, unlike the Byzantine one, does not know the ethnonym Zikhs; the name Kasa or Kashak meant all Adyghe communities (“all living in the country of Kasa”). Although the earliest Arabic geographical works of al-Khwarizmi, Ibn-Sarabiyin and al-Battani give the coordinates of the Country of al-Yatiz, or Yazugus, located on the Black Sea coast and bordering the Taukiya Peninsula.
We find a systematic description of the Caucasus and its tribes in Chapter XVII of the famous historical and geographical work of Mas’udi, called “Meadows of Gold and Mine of Precious Stones.” Mas'udi places the Kashaks behind the kingdom of the Alans, and calls them a coastal nation.
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, whose information about the Northwestern Caucasus mainly goes back to information received by the imperial government in the first half of the 10th century, divides the country into three regions: Zikhia, Papagia and Kasakhia. However, Papagia is not an independent possession, but represents a part of Zichia.
As follows from another fragment of the same work by Constantine, these areas are divided according to Byzantine terminology into themes. He names the themes Derzines and Chilapert. Here he knew some villages (settlements): The village of Sipaksi (Sapakia) means “dust”; the village of Khumukh, named after the ancient man who founded it; the village of Episcomium.16 All these places, according to Constantine, are a day's ride from the sea and are famous for their springs, which cause a rash on the mouth. Probably, we are talking about mineral springs located in the Goryachy Klyuch area.
Masudi especially emphasizes the fragmentation of the Kashaks, who are attacked by the Alans and maintain their independence thanks to coastal fortresses. Constantine Porphyrogenitus also reports about Alan raids on these territories, explaining that the sea coast of Zikhia has islands, inhabited and cultivated. On one of them, Fr. Ateh, the most inaccessible and the Zikhs are saved during attacks by the Alans. Mas’udi sees the weakness of the Kashaks in front of the Alans in the fact that “they do not allow a king to be appointed over them who would unite them.”
Both authors provide valuable information about trading activities Circassians in the 10th century Due to objective circumstances, determined primarily by the geographical factor, trade occupied one of the most important places in the life of medieval Circassians. One of the largest shopping centers of that time was Tamatarkha (Tmutarakan). Konstantin Porphyrogenitus somehow avoids the question of who owned Tamatarkha. The latter looks to him not only as a city, but also as an independent region, stretching 18-20 miles to the river. Ukrukh, in which Kuban is usually seen.
More complete information about Tamatarch or Matrakh is given to us by an Arab author of the 12th century. Al-Idrisi. A number of historians believe that Idrisi’s information was borrowed from sources that have not reached us XI - trans. floor. XII centuries and belong to the Tmutarakan period.
According to al-Idrisi, Matraha is an ancient city, with many inhabitants and a clear system of government: “The lords of the city rule over those who neighbor them. Courageous, prudent and decisive."
The markets and fairs of Matrakha, as a large trading city, gathered many people both from the nearest districts and from the most distant countries. The route from Constantinople to Matrakha was the most important and developed trade route. This is evidenced by the relative accuracy and completeness of Al-Idrisi's information.
It should be noted that the very fact that Arab scientists studied the Circassians in the early Middle Ages is very noteworthy, since, according to tradition, the Arabs were mainly interested in the largest political divisions and associations. Thus, the Adyghe community in the early Middle Ages was an integral ethnopolitical entity, representing a powerful union of tribes united by a common territory and a common language, which had broad political, trade and ethnocultural ties with the outside world around them.
(excerpt from Ruslan Betrozov’s book “Adygs. The emergence and development of an ethnos”)
Adygs, the general name of a large group of tribes related by origin in the North.
Caucasus, who called themselves Adyte and known in Europe. and east literature since the Middle Ages under the name of the Circassians. From modern The peoples of the Caucasus include Adygeis, Kabardians and Circassians, who speak related languages. 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, Adyghe tribes lived in the southwest. North Caucasus and Black Sea coast.
The Kuban tribes are usually mentioned by ancient authors as collected.
named after the Meotians, and the Black Sea ones under their own name. names; Of these, the ethnonyms Zikhi and Ker-Ket later also became collective. Around the 5th century. The zikhs headed the union of the Adyghe tribes, and the name Zikhs supplanted other tribal names of the Adygs. In Russian chronicles from the 10th century. A. are already called Kasogs, and in eastern (Arabic and Persian-language) sources - Kashaks, Kesheks (“k-sh-k”). Since the time of the Mong. invasion (13th century), the name Circassians spread (cf. the ethnonym of ancient times - Kerkets), although in the West. In literature, the term “zihi” was sometimes retained. In the 13th-14th centuries. part A. advanced to B. - in the bass. R. Terek, where the Alans lived before, which means parts exterminated during the Mongol invasion and partially pushed into the mountains; those who remained in place mixed with Adygea. This is how the Kabardian people were formed, and from other Adyghe tribes - the Adyghe people. The Adyghe population of the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Okrug consists partly of the descendants of the Western Adyghe (Besleneevtsy) tribes, partly of those who moved to the Kuban in the 20-40s. 19th century Kabardians. B. A. Gardanov. Materials used from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia Adyghe, Adyghe , (self-name) - , Circassians. The population in Russia is 559,700 people: Adygeis - 122,900 people, Kabardians - 386,100 people, Circassians - 50,800 people. They also live in many countries of the world , mainly in the Middle and Middle East
, where, usually called Circassians, they are compactly settled and often include Abazas, 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 including 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 associated with the regions of the Eastern Black Sea region and Trans-Kuban region. In the first millennium BC, ancient Adyghe tribes were 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. The tribes of the Achaeans, Zikhs, Kerkets, Meots (including Torets, Sinds) and other ethnic groups, apparently not only ancient Adyghe, took part in it. 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. Residents of the coast were engaged in ice farming, but their main trade was sea robbery . In the 8th - 10th centuries, the Circassians 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 and a shortage of land for 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, part of the Kabardians became isolated. In the XVI -, Russia, Dagestan rulers.
The area of settlement of the Circassians (Circassia) covered 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 agricultural land, mainly pastures for Kabardian horse breeding, and did not have a permanent population. During the years of the Caucasian War (-), the internal self-organization of the Western Circassians - the Adygeis - took place. In the first third of the 19th century, a group of Adyghe (Kabardian) population was formed in the Trans-Kuban region, which later received the name Circassians. The Caucasian War and the reforms that followed largely changed the ethnic and demographic situation, especially related to the Mukhajir movement - the resettlement of mountaineers to the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until
first world war , as well as the settlement of highlanders on the plain. The Adygs had a largely common social structure. In the 19th - early 20th centuries, many norms of customary law were preserved - the customs of blood feud, atalystvo, hospitality, kunachestvo, patronage, artificial kinship (dairy adoption, twinning). The lifestyle of the privileged classes differed sharply from the life common people; social differences were reflected in clothing, its color scheme, cut.
In public and family life, in addition to customary law (adat), the norms of Muslim law (Sharia) were in effect. Until now, the Circassians have largely preserved their unified
traditional culture
, the differences in which (especially in economy, settlement, food) are determined mainly by natural and climatic conditions and vertical zoning.
The common spiritual culture of the Circassians was preserved: a pantheon of deities, many traditions of social life (for example, the work of improvising singers), traditional performances. The Adygs are clearly aware of their historical unity.
Materials from an article by N.G. Volkova in the book: Peoples of Russia were 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 people 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, indigenous population of Kabardino-Balkaria. Adygs- as a foreign name) - a people consisting of a group of nationalities (Adyghe, Kabardians, Circassians) in Russia (713 thousand people - 2002, census), as well as in the countries of the Middle East, the Balkans and Germany, where they are usually called as en: Circassians (i.e. Circassians), and en: Adyghe, despite the fact that the first name often includes all Abkhaz-Adyghe peoples, and the second often designates only Adyghe people. They speak the only Adyghe language (cm. Adyghe language And Kabardino-Circassian language), part of the Abkhaz-Adyghe group of Iberian-Caucasian languages. Adygs are Caucasians.
Currently, the Adyghe people of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic are mainly Circassians, including Besleneevtsi, in Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory - Abadzekhs, Bzhedugi, Temirgoyevtsi, Shapsugs, in the KBR - Kabardians.
1. Origin
The ancestors of the Circassians - the tribes of Krsketiv, Zikhiv, Meots, etc. - have been known since ancient times. At the beginning of the 19th century. in the eastern tribes of the Circassians (Khatukaivtsiv, Besleneivtsiv, Bzhedugs) there was, like the related Kabardians, a hierarchical feudal system; Western tribes (Natukhais, Shapsugs, Abazdekhs) did not have princes; free communal peasants predominated here. There were tribal traditions among the Circassians. According to religious views, Adyghe believers are Muslims. Old housing - a smear of wicker saklya. Clothing similar to Kabardian. Science, literature, public education in native language developed in the 20th century. The main part of the Circassians are farmers, cattle breeders, and gardeners; also work for industrial enterprises.
2. Adyghe (Circassian) subethnic groups
Of these disappeared as a result of the Caucasian war Khakuchi, Makhoshi, Khatukaitsi, and not so long ago Ubykh.
3. History
In ancient times, the Adyghe tribes lived in the western part of the North Caucasus in the Kuban and the eastern coast of the Black Sea. The Kuban tribes are usually mentioned by ancient authors as Meotians, and the Black Sea tribes under proper names. Among them, zikhs and kerkets later became common names. Around the 5th century, the Zikhiv tribe strengthened and headed the Adyghe tribal union, which lasted until the 10th century. At this time the name Zikhiv spread to other tribes. But since the 10th century in Rus', the Circassians have been called Kasogs, and in Arabic and Persian sources Kashakams, Keshekams (k-sh-k). Since the time of the Mongol invasion, the name of the ancient name Circassians has been spreading. For comparison, the Kerket tribe was known back in ancient times. In the 13th-14th centuries, part of the Circassians spread to the east where the Alans had previously lived, partially destroyed by the Mongols, and some were forced into the mountains by them.
3.1. Resettlement before and after the Russian-Caucasian war
After the end of the Russian-Caucasian War - years, the Russian Empire divided and resettled the Adygs (Circassians) who remained and divided one people into three: Adygeans, Kabardians and Circassians. The name Circassians was given by the Tatar-Mongols and Turkic peoples, and the self-name of all 12 tribes is Circassians
Before the conquest and eviction, the Adygs occupied the so-called Kabardian plane, a significant part of both slopes of the Caucasus Range, and the eastern shore of the Black Sea, the entire southern part of the present Kuban region, and the western part of the Terek region.
3.2. Genocide
On May 21, 1864, the Russian-Caucasian War, which began that year, ended. On the same day, a parade of Russian troops took place in Krasnaya Polyana, where the last battle took place. Mass deportations to the Ottoman Empire began. Less than 10% of the Circassian population remains in the Caucasus. The rest died in the age war, from an outbreak of plague, were forced out, and many drowned in the Black Sea while crossing to Turkey. The Circassians in Turkey still do not eat fish from the Black Sea.
Now, according to official data, about 2.9 million (according to unofficial data - 6-7 million) Circassians live abroad, but only 700-800 thousand live in their homeland. Poor Russian peasants, Cossacks, Greeks, and Armenians settled in the vacant places.
This day is not officially celebrated in any way. Russian Federation. But it is celebrated annually in three republics: Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea. And also the entire diaspora of the world. Various events are held, a procession, laying flowers on monuments, lighting a fire of memory. Genocide Day is celebrated by the majority of Adyghe people. Most Russians deny genocide [ ].
3.3. XX and XXI centuries
During the Soviet period, the Circassians received the status of the titular nation of Russia, but to limit nationalism, autonomy was organized with peoples who had a different culture and origin. This is how the Adyghe-Tatar republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia appeared. The territory also included many Cossack lands: Upper Kuban, Maykop, etc. During the Second World War, the Circassians, despite the occupation by German troops, mostly fought against the invaders, and in the end this saved them from the deportations of 1944.
Late Soviet period a number of concessions were noted: the transfer of the vast mountainous territory of the Adygea Autonomous Region, and during the period of “Perestroika” - a change to the status of a republic.
On August 31, 1999, at a meeting of many thousands convened by the Congress of the Circassian People (CCN), the issue of creating the Republic of Circassia was again raised.
In addition to demands for the creation of a Circassian republic, in recent years the International Circassian Association "Adyghe Khase", which includes the KCHN, has been advocating the reunification of closely related Adyghe, Kabardian and Circassian peoples with the creation of a unified Adyghe Republic.
The government of the Russian Federation does not recognize the genocide and destruction of the Circassians. The concealment of facts and documents on this topic continues. But the facts are confirmed by surviving documents, these are European, Arab, Turkish, etc., according to which the study of history takes place.
In October 2006, 20 Adyghe public organizations from Russia (in particular the Circassian Congress), Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Syria, the USA, Belgium, Canada and Germany appealed to the European Parliament with a request to recognize the genocide of the Circassians in the 18th-19th centuries. The appeal emphasizes that "the war waged by the Russian state in the 18th-19th centuries against the Circassians (Circassians) on their historical territory, cannot be considered as ordinary military actions": "Russia's goal was not only the seizure of territory, but also the complete destruction or departure of the indigenous people from their historical lands. Otherwise it is impossible to explain the reasons for the inhuman cruelty shown Russian troops in the Northwestern Caucasus."
Amateur historian Vitaly Shtybin talks about the divided Circassian people.
Yuga.ru has already been told about Vitaly Shtybin, a young Krasnodar entrepreneur 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 Adygeis, 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, Karachais and Circassians live in Karachevo-Cherkessia, and Adygeans live in Adygea, then you will be surprised, but this is not entirely true. The Circassians 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 scientific world use the term Circassians (Circassians) to avoid confusion. There is only one main rule: 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. The Kabardian and Circassian dialects are considered eastern dialects of the Adyghe language, while the 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 average person in central Russia will not immediately understand the Kuban balachka, so it will be difficult for a Kabardian to understand the conversation of the Sochi Shapsugs.
Kabardians call the Adyghe people the lower Adyghe people due to geography, since Kabarda is located on an elevated plateau. It is worth noting that the term “Circassian” at different times extended not only to this people, but also to its neighbors in the Caucasus. This is precisely the version that has been preserved today in Turkey, where the term “Circassian” is used to describe all immigrants from the North Caucasus.
IN 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 it formed Adyghe autonomy, which included all the remaining subethnic 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 Sochi received their autonomy from 1922 to 1945, but it was permanently eliminated. Last Karachay-Cherkess Autonomy received in 1957 by the Besleneev Adygs, who are close in dialect to the Kabardians. In this case, the authorities also supported the ethnic balance between them and the Abazas and Karachay Turks (relatives of the neighboring Balkars) who inhabited the republic.
But what do the concepts “Shapsug”, “Besleneevets”, “Kabardian” and so on mean? Despite the one-and-a-half-century history of the Circassians (Circassians) within the Russian state, society has never gotten rid of tribal (or, in scientific terms, subethnic) division. Until the end of the Caucasian War in 1864, Western 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 Pyatigorye region, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, in the flat parts of Chechnya and Ingushetia - between the Terek and Sunzha rivers.
As a result of the war, some of the subethnic groups were expelled to Turkey - such as the Natukhais and Ubykhs, most of the Shapsugs, Khatukais, and Abadzekhs. Today, the division into tribal societies is not as pronounced as before. The subethnic term “Kabardians” was reserved for the Circassians (Circassians) of Kabardino-Balkaria. They were the most powerful, numerous and influential Adyghe subethnic group in the entire Caucasus. Their own feudal state, the status of trendsetters and control over the routes in Transcaucasia helped them for a long time to maintain the strongest positions in the politics of the region.
In the Republic of Adygea, on the contrary, the largest subethnic groups are the Temirgoys, whose dialect is official language republics and bzhedugs. In this republic, all names of subethnic groups were replaced by the artificial term “Adyghe”. There are no strict boundaries in the villages of the republics; everyone lives interspersed, so in Adygea you can meet Kabardians, and in Kabarda - Temirgoyevites.
The easiest way to remember subethnic groups is in the following order:
— Eastern Circassians (Circassians): Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria; Besleneevites in Karachay-Cherkessia;
— Western Circassians (Circassians): Shapsugs in the Lazarevsky district of Sochi; Temirgoyites\Khatukayites\Bzhedugi\Abadzekhs\Mamkhegs\Egerukhaevites\Adamievites\
Makhoshevites/Zhaneevites in the Republic of Adygea.
But what about the Abazas, who live in all the same villages, but mainly in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia? The 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 (Abazas) and Circassians (Circassians) are distant relatives, much like Russians and Czechs.
Now, in a conversation with an Adyghe, Circassian or Kabardian, you can ask him what tribe (subethnos) he is from, and you will learn a lot of interesting things from the life of the Adyghe (Circassians), and at the same time gain confidence as an expert on the structure of the amazing Adyghe (Circassian) society.
Adygs are one of the ancient peoples North Caucasus. The closest peoples related to them are the Abkhazians, Abazins and Ubykhs. The Adygs, Abkhazians, Abazas, and Ubykhs in ancient times constituted a single group of tribes, and their ancient ancestors were the Hutts, Kaskas, and Sindo-Meotian tribes. About 6 thousand years ago, the ancient ancestors of the Circassians and Abkhazians occupied a vast territory from Asia Minor to the modern border of Kabarda with Chechnya and Ingushetia. In that distant era, this vast space was inhabited by related tribes who were at different levels of development.
Adyghe people(Adyghe) - the self-name of modern Kabardians (currently numbering more than 500 thousand people), Circassians (about 53 thousand people), Adyghe people, i.e. Shapsugs, Abadzekhs, Bzhedugs, Temirgoyevites, Zhaneevites and others (more than 125 thousand people). Adygs in our country live mainly in three republics: the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and the Republic of Adygea. In addition, a certain part of the Circassians live in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories. In total, more than 600 thousand Circassians live in the Russian Federation.
In addition, more than 3 million Circassians live in Turkey. Many Circassians live in Jordan, Syria, the USA, Germany, Israel and other countries. There are now more than 100 thousand Abkhazians, about 35 thousand Abazins, and the Ubykh language, unfortunately, has already disappeared, because there are no more Ubykhs.
Hutts and helmets are, according to many authoritative scientists (both domestic and foreign), one of the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, as evidenced by numerous monuments material culture, linguistic similarities, way of life, traditions and customs, religious beliefs, toponymy and much more.
In turn, the Hutts had close contacts with Mesopotamia, Syria, Greece, and Rome. Thus, the culture of Hatti has preserved a rich heritage drawn from the traditions of ancient ethnic groups.
About the direct relationship of the Abkhaz-Adygs with the civilization of Asia Minor, i.e. Hattami, as evidenced by the world-famous archaeological Maikop culture, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC, which developed in the North Caucasus, precisely in the habitat of the Circassians, thanks to active connections with their kindred tribes in Asia Minor. That is why we find amazing coincidences in the burial rites of the powerful leader in the Maikop mound and the kings in Aladzha-Hyuk of Asia Minor.
The next evidence of the connection of the Abkhaz-Adygs with ancient Eastern civilizations is the monumental stone dolmen tombs. Numerous studies by scientists indicate that the carriers of the Maykop and Dolmen cultures were the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs. It is no coincidence that the Adyghe-Shapsugs called the dolmens “ispun” (spyuen) (houses of the isps), the second part of the word is formed from the Adyghe word “une” - “house”, the Abkhaz word “adamra” - “ancient grave houses”. Although Dolmen culture associated with the ancient Abkhaz-Adyghe ethnic group, it is believed that the very tradition of building dolmens was brought to the Caucasus from the outside. For example, in the territories of modern Portugal and Spain, dolmens were built back in the 4th millennium BC. distant ancestors of modern Basques, whose language and culture are quite close to the Abkhaz-Adyghe (we talked about dolmens above).
The next proof that the Hutts are one of the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs is the linguistic similarity of these peoples. As a result of a long and painstaking study of the Hutt texts by such prominent specialists as I.M. Dunaevsky, I.M. Dyakonov, A.V. Ivanov, V.G. Ardzinba, E. Forrer and others established the meaning of many words, and identified some features of the grammatical structure of the Hutt language. All this made it possible to establish the relationship between the Hutt and Abkhaz-Adyghe languages.
Texts in the Hattic language, written in cuneiform on clay tablets, were discovered during archaeological excavations in the capital of the ancient Hatti Empire (the city of Hattusa), which was located near present-day Ankara; scientists believe that all modern North Caucasian languages of autochthonous peoples, as well as related Hattic and Hurrito-Urartian languages, descend from a single proto-language. This language existed 7 thousand years ago. First of all, the Abkhaz-Adyghe and Nakh-Dagestan branches belong to the Caucasian languages. As for the helmets, or kashki, in the ancient Assyrian written sources Kashki (Adygs), Abshelos (Abkhazians) are mentioned as two different branches of the same tribe. However, this fact may also indicate that the Kashki and Abshelo at that distant time were already separate, albeit closely related, tribes.
Besides linguistic relationship, the closeness of the Khatt and Abkhaz-Adyghe beliefs is noted. For example, this can be seen in the names of the gods: the Hutt Uashkh and the Adyghe Uashkhue. In addition, we observe similarities between the Hutt myths and some plots of the heroic Nart epic of the Abkhaz-Adygs. Experts point out that ancient name of the Khatti people is still preserved in the name of one of the Adyghe tribes, the Khatukaevs (Khyetykuei). Numerous Adyghe surnames are also associated with the ancient self-name of the Hutts, such as Khyete (Khata), Khetkue (Khatko), Khetu (Khatu), Khetai (Khatai), Khetykuey (Khatuko), etc. The name of the organizer and master of ceremonies of the Adyghe should also be correlated with the name of the Khatts ritual dances and games “hytyyakue” (hatiyako), whose duties are very reminiscent of the “man of the rod”, one of the main participants in rituals and holidays in the royal palace of the Hatti state.
One of the irrefutable proofs that the Hutts and Abkhaz-Adygs - related peoples, are examples from place names. Thus, in Trebizond (modern Turkey) and further in the northwest along the Black Sea coast, a number of ancient and modern names areas, rivers, ravines, etc., left by the ancestors of the Abkhazians - Circassians, which was noted by many famous scientists, in particular N.Ya. Marr. The names of the Abkhaz-Adyghe type in this territory include, for example, names of rivers that include the Adyghe element “dogs” (“water”, “river”): Aripsa, Supsa, Akampsis, etc.; as well as names with the element “kue” (“ravine”, “beam”), etc.
One of the major Caucasus scholars of the twentieth century, Z.V. Anchabadze recognized as indisputable that it was the Kashki and Abshelo, the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, who lived in the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. in the northeastern sector of Asia Minor, and they were related by common origin to the Hutts. Another authoritative orientalist is G.A. Melikishvili - noted that in Abkhazia and further south, in Western Georgia, there are numerous river names based on the Adyghe word “dogs” (water). These are rivers such as Akhyps, Khyps, Lamyps, Dagaryti, etc. He believes that these names were given by the Adyghe tribes who lived in the distant past in the valleys of these rivers.
Thus, the Hutts, who lived in Asia Minor several thousand years BC, are one of the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, as evidenced by the above facts. And we must admit that it is impossible to understand the history of the Adyghe-Abkhazians without at least a quick acquaintance with the civilization of Ancient Khatia, which occupies a significant place in the history of world culture. For the Hutt civilization could not but have a significant influence on culture. Occupying a vast territory (from Asia Minor to modern Chechnya), numerous related tribes - ancient ancestors Abkhaz-Adygs - could not be at the same level of development. Some have moved forward in economics, political order and culture; others defended against the former, but these related tribes could not develop without the mutual influence of cultures, their way of life, etc.
Scientific research specialists in the history and culture of the Hutts eloquently point to big role, which they played in the ethnocultural history of the Abkhaz-Adygs. It can be assumed that the contacts that took place over thousands of years between these tribes had a significant impact not only on the cultural and economic development of the ancient Abkhaz-Adyghe tribes, but also on the formation of their ethnic appearance.
It is well known that Asia Minor (Anatolia) was one of the links in the transmission of cultural achievements and in ancient times(VIII - VI millennium BC) developed here cultural centers producing farm. It was from this period that the Hutts began to grow many cereals (barley, wheat) and raise various types of livestock. Scientific research recent years irrefutably prove that it was the Hutts who first received iron, and through them it appeared among the rest of the peoples of the planet.
Back in the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. The Hutts began to develop trade significantly, which was a powerful catalyst for many socio-economic and cultural processes that took place in Asia Minor.
Local merchants played an active role in the activities of trading centers: the Hittites, Luwians and Hutts. Merchants imported fabrics and chitons to Anatolia. But the main item was metals: eastern merchants supplied tin, and western merchants supplied copper and silver. Ashurian (Eastern Semites of Asia Minor. - K.U.) traders showed particular interest in another metal that was in great demand: it was 40 times more expensive than silver and 5-8 times more expensive than gold. This metal was iron. The inventors of the method of smelting it from ore were the Hutts. From here, iron metallurgy spread to Western Asia, and then to Eurasia as a whole. The export of iron outside Anatolia was apparently prohibited. It is this circumstance that can explain the repeated cases of its smuggling, described in a number of texts.
The Hutts not only influenced related tribes that lived over a vast area (up to the modern territory of settlement of the Abkhaz-Adygs), but also played a significant role in the socio-political, economic and spiritual development of those peoples who found themselves in their habitat. In particular, for a long time there was an active penetration of tribes speaking the Indo-European language into their territory. They are currently called Hittites; with their noses they called themselves Nesites.
In my own way cultural development The Nesiths were significantly inferior to the Hutts. And from the latter they borrowed the name of the country, many religious rituals, and the names of the Hutt gods. The Hutts played a significant role in education in the 2nd millennium BC. powerful Hittite kingdom, in the formation of its political system. For example, the system government system The Hittite kingdom is characterized by a number of specific features. The supreme ruler of the country bore the title of Hutt origin Tabarna (or Labarna). Along with the king, an important role, especially in the sphere of cult, was played by the queen, who bore the Hattic title Tavananna (cf. the Adyghe word “nana” - “grandmother, mother”): the woman had the same enormous influence in everyday life and in the sphere of cult. - K.U.).
Many literary monuments, numerous myths, translated by the Hittites from Hattic, have reached us. In Asia Minor - the country of the Hutts - light chariots were first used in the army. One of the earliest evidence of the volitional use of chariots in Anatolia is found in the ancient Hittite text of Anitta. It says that for 1,400 infantrymen, the army had 40 chariots (there were three people in one chariot - K.U.). And in one of the battles 20 thousand infantry and 2500 chariots took part.
It was in Asia Minor that many items for caring for horses and training them first appeared. The main purpose of these numerous trainings was to develop the endurance in horses necessary for military purposes.
The Hutts played a huge role in the establishment of the institution of diplomacy in history international relations, in the creation and use of a regular army. Many tactical methods of military operations and training of soldiers were used for the first time by them.
The greatest traveler of our time Thor Heyerdahl believed that the first sailors on the planet were the Hutts. All these and other achievements of the Khatts - the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adyghe - could not pass by the latter. The closest neighbors of the Hutts in the northeast of Asia Minor were numerous warlike tribes - the Kaskas, or Kashki, known in the Hittite, Assyrian, Urartian historical sources throughout the 2nd and early 1st millennium BC. They lived along the southern coast of the Black Sea from the mouth of the Galis River towards Western Transcaucasia, including Colchis. Helmets played an important role in the political history of Asia Minor.
They made long trips, and in the 2nd millennium BC. they managed to create a powerful union consisting of 9-12 closely related tribes. The documents of the Hittite kingdom of this time are full of information about the constant raids of the Kaskas. They even managed to capture and destroy Hatusa at one time (early 16th century BC). Already by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. the casques had permanent settlements and fortresses, they were engaged in agriculture and transhumance. True, according to Hittite sources, until the mid-17th century BC. e. they did not yet have centralized royal power.
But already at the end of the 17th century. BC, there is information in the sources that the previously existing order among the Kaskas was changed by a certain leader Pikhuniyas, who “began to rule according to the custom of royal power.” Analysis of personal names, names of settlements in the territory occupied by the Kaskas shows, according to scientists (G.A. Menekeshvili, G.G. Giorgadze, N.M. Dyakova, Sh.D. Inal-Ipa, etc.) that they were related in language to the Hutts. On the other hand, many scientists associate the tribal names of the helmets, known from Hittite and Assyrian texts, with the Abkhaz-Adyghe ones.
Thus, the very name kaska (kashka) is compared with the ancient name of the Circassians - kasogi (kashagi (kashaks) of ancient Georgian chronicles, kashak - of Arabic sources, kasog - of ancient Russian chronicles). Another name for the Kaskovs, according to Assyrian sources, was Abegila or Apeshlayans, which coincides with the ancient name of the Abkhazians (Apsils - according to Greek sources, Abshils - ancient Georgian chronicles), as well as their self-name - Aps - ua - Api - ua. Hittite sources have preserved for us another name for the Hattian circle of Pakhhuwa tribes and the name of their king - Pikhuniyas. Scientists have also found a successful explanation for the name Pokhuva, which turned out to be related to the self-name of the Ubykhs - pekhi, pekhi.
Scientists believe that in the 3rd millennium BC. As a result of the transition to a class society and the active penetration of Indo-Europeans - the Nesites - into Asia Minor, a relative overpopulation occurs, which created the preconditions for the movement of part of the population to other areas. Groups of Hutts and Kasques no later than the 3rd millennium BC. significantly expanded its territory in the northeast direction. They populated the entire southeastern coast of the Black Sea, including Western Georgia, Abkhazia and further in the North - to the Kuban region, the modern territory of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic to mountainous Chechnya. Traces of such settlement are also documented by geographical names of Abkhaz-Adyghe origin (Sansa, Achkva, Akampsis, Aripsa, Apsarea, Sinope, etc.), common in those distant times in the Primorsky part of Asia Minor and in Western Georgia.
One of the notable and heroic places In the history of the civilization of the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, the Sindo-Meotian era occupies. The fact is that the main part of the Meotian tribes in the Early Iron Age occupied vast territories of the North-Western Caucasus, the region of the Kuban River basin. Ancient ancient authors knew them under the general collective name “Meotians”. For example, the ancient Greek geographer Strabo pointed out that the Maeotians included the Sinds, Torets, Achaeans, Zikhs, etc. According to ancient inscriptions discovered on the territory of the former Bosporan Kingdom, these also include Fatei, Psess, Dandarii, Doskhs, Kerkets, etc. All of them, under the general name “Meots,” are one of the ancestors of the Circassians. Ancient name Sea of Azov Meotida. Lake Meotia is directly related to the Meotians. In Adyghe this word sounds like “meuthyokh”; it is formed from the words “utkhua” - darkened and “hy” - sea, and literally means “a sea that has become cloudy.”
The ancient Sindian state was created in the North Caucasus by the ancestors of the Circassians. This country covered in the south the Taman Peninsula and part of the Black Sea coast to Gelendzhik, and from west to east - the space from the Black Sea to the Left Bank of the Kuban. Materials from archaeological excavations carried out in various periods in the territory of the North Caucasus indicate the proximity of the Sinds and Meotians and the fact that they and their related tribes have been in the territory since the 3rd millennium BC. spread to the current borders of Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya. In addition, it has been proven that the physical type of the Sindo-Meotian tribes does not belong to the Scytho-Sauromatian type, but is adjacent to the original type of Caucasian tribes. Research by T.S. Conductorova at the Institute of Anthropology at Moscow State University showed that the Sindians belonged to the European race.
A comprehensive analysis of archaeological materials of the early Sindian tribes indicates that in the period of the 2nd millennium BC. achieved significant success in material and spiritual culture. Scientists' research proves that already in that distant period, animal husbandry was widely developed among the Sindo-Meotian tribes. Even during this period, hunting occupied a prominent place among the ancestors of the Circassians.
But the ancient Sindian tribes were engaged not only in cattle breeding and hunting; ancient authors note that those Sinds who lived near seas and rivers also developed fishing. Research by scientists proves that these ancient tribes had some kind of cult of fish; for example, the ancient writer Nikolai Domassky (1st century BC) reported that the Sinds had a custom of throwing as many fish on the grave of a deceased Sind as the number of enemies killed by the person being buried. Sinds from the 3rd millennium BC began to engage in pottery production, as evidenced by numerous materials from archaeological excavations in various regions of the North Caucasus, in the habitats of the Sindo-Meotian tribes. In addition, other skills have existed in Sindik since ancient times - bone cutting and stone cutting.
The ancestors of the Circassians achieved the most significant successes in agriculture, cattle breeding and gardening. Many cereal crops rye, barley, wheat, etc. - were the main agricultural crops that were grown by them from time immemorial. The Adygs bred many varieties of apples and pears. The science of horticulture has preserved more than 10 names of Circassian (Adyghe) varieties of apples and pears.
The Sinds very early switched to iron, to its production and use. Iron made a real revolution in the life of every people, including the ancestors of the Circassians - the Sindo-Meotian tribes. Thanks to iron, a significant leap occurred in the development of agriculture, the crafts of the entire way of life of the ancient peoples. Iron has been firmly established in the North Caucasus since the 8th century. BC. Among the peoples of the North Caucasus who began to receive and use iron, the Sinds were among the first. This is evidenced by the fact that ancient authors recognized the Sinds, first of all, as a people of the Iron Age.
One of the largest Caucasian experts who devoted many years to studying ancient period history of the North Caucasus, E.I. Krupnov pointed out that “archaeologists managed to prove that the ancient bearers of the so-called Koban culture (these were the ancestors of the Circassians - K.U.), which mainly existed in the 1st millennium BC, could develop all their high skills only on based on the rich experience of their predecessors, on previously created material and technical base. Such the main one in this case was the material culture of the tribes that lived in the territory of the central part of the North Caucasus back in the Bronze Age, in the 2nd millennium BC.” And these tribes living in this region were, first of all, the ancestors of the Circassians.
Numerous monuments of material culture discovered in various regions inhabited by the Sindo-Meotian tribes eloquently indicate that they had extensive connections with many peoples, including the peoples of Georgia, Asia Minor, etc. and their trade was at a high level. It was during the Iron Age that it reached the highest level of its development. In particular, evidence of exchange with other countries is, first of all, various decorations: bracelets, necklaces, beads made of glass.
Scientists have proven that it was precisely during the period of the decomposition of the tribal system and the emergence of military democracy that many peoples began to have an objective need for signs to run their households and express their ideology - the need for writing. The history of culture shows that this is exactly what happened among the ancient Sumerians, in Ancient Egypt and among the Mayan tribes in America: it was during the period of decomposition of the tribal layer of these and other peoples that writing appeared. Research by specialists has shown that it was during the period of military democracy that the ancient Sinds also developed their own, albeit largely primitive, writing.
Thus, more than 300 clay tiles were found in the places where the Sindo-Meotian tribes lived. They were 14-16 cm long and 10-12 cm wide, about 2 cm thick; were made from raw clay, well dried, but not fired. The signs on the slabs are mysterious and very diverse. Specialist on Ancient Sindica Yu.S. Kruzhkol notes that it is difficult to abandon the assumption that the signs on the tiles are the embryo of writing. A certain similarity of these tiles with clay, also not fired, tiles of Assyrian-Babylonian writing confirms that they are monuments of writing.
A significant number of these tiles were found under the mountains. Krasnodar, one of the areas inhabited by the ancient Sinds. In addition to the Krasnodar tiles, scientists from the North Caucasus discovered another remarkable monument ancient writing - Maikop inscription. It dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. and is the oldest in the territory of the former Soviet Union. This inscription was studied by a major specialist in oriental writings, Professor G.F. Turchaninov. He proved that it is a monument to pseudo-hieroglyphic biblical writing. When comparing some signs of Sindian tiles and writing in the publication of G.F. Turchaninov, a certain similarity is revealed: for example, in Table 6, sign No. 34 represents a spiral, which is found both in the Maykop inscription and in the Phoenician letter.
A similar spiral is found on the tiles discovered in the Krasnodar settlement. In the same table, sign No. 3 has an oblique cross, as in the Maykop inscription and in the Phoenician letter. The same oblique crosses are found on the slabs of the Krasnodar settlement. In the same table in the second section there is a similarity between letters No. 37 of the Phoenician and Maykop writing with the signs of the tiles of the Krasnodar settlement. Thus, the similarity of the Krasnodar tiles with the Maikop inscription eloquently testifies to the origin of writing among the Sindo-Meotian tribes - the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs back in the 2nd millennium BC. It should be noted that scientists have discovered some similarities between the Maykop inscription and the Krasnodar tiles and the Hittite hieroglyphic script.
In addition to the above monuments of the ancient Sinds, we find a lot of interesting things in their culture. These are original musical instruments made of bone; primitive but characteristic figurines, various dishes, utensils, weapons and much more. But the emergence of writing, which covers the period from
III millennium BC to the 6th century BC.
The Sindhi religion of this period has been little studied. Nevertheless, scientists believe that they worshiped nature even then. For example, materials from archaeological excavations allow us to conclude that the ancient Sinds deified the Sun. During burial, the Sinds had a custom of sprinkling the deceased with red paint - ocher. This is evidence of Sun worship. In ancient times, human sacrifices were made to him, and red blood was considered a symbol of the Sun. By the way, the cult of the Sun is found among all peoples of the world during the period of decomposition of the tribal system and the formation of classes. The cult of the Sun is also attested in Adyghe mythology. Thus, the head of the pantheon, demiurge and first creator of the Circassians was Tha (this word comes from the Circassian word “dyge”, “tyge” - “sun”).
This gives reason to assume that the Circassians initially assigned the role of prime creator to the Sun deity. Later, the functions of Tha passed to Thashho - “main god”. In addition, the ancient Sinds also had a cult of the Earth, as evidenced by various archaeological materials. The fact that the ancient Sinds believed in immortal souls is confirmed by the skeletons of male and female slaves found in the graves of their masters. One of the significant periods of ancient Sindica is the V century. BC. It was in the middle of the 5th century. The Sind slave state is created, which left a significant mark on the development of Caucasian civilization. Since this period, animal husbandry and agriculture have become widespread in Sindik. Culture reaches high level; Trade and economic ties with many peoples, including the Greeks, are expanding.
Second half of the 1st millennium BC in the history and culture of Ancient Sindica is better covered in written sources of antiquity. One of the significant literary monuments on the history of the Sindo-Meotian tribes is the story of the Greek writer Polyenus, who lived in the 2nd century. AD during the reign Marcus Aurelius. Polyenus described the fate of the wife of the Sindian king Hecataeus, a Meotian by birth, Tirgatao. The text tells not only about her fate; from its contents it is clear in what relationship the Bosporan kings, in particular Sitir I, who reigned from 433 (432) to 389 (388) BC, had with the local tribes - the Sindians and Maeotians. During the period of the Sindhi slave state, the construction industry reached a high level of development. Solid houses, towers, city walls more than 2 m wide and much more were built. But, unfortunately, these cities have already been destroyed. Ancient Sindica in its development was influenced not only by Asia Minor, but also by Greece, which intensified after the Greek colonization of the Sindian coast.
The earliest indications of Greek settlements in the North Caucasus date back to the second quarter of the 6th century. BC, when there was a regular route from Sinope and Trebizond to the Cimmerian Bosporus. It has now been established that almost all Greek colonies in Crimea did not arise out of nowhere, but where there were settlements of local tribes, i.e. Sinds and Maeots. There were Greek cities in the Black Sea region by the 5th century. BC. more than thirty, actually from them it was formed Bosporan Kingdom. Although Sindica is formally included in the Bosporan kingdom and is strongly influenced by Greek civilization, the autochthonous culture of the ancient Sinds, both material and spiritual, developed and continued to occupy a prominent place in the life of the population of this country. Archaeological materials found on the territory of the Sindo-Meotian tribes eloquently prove that the technology for the production of various tools, weapons, objects made of bone and other raw materials, many monuments of spiritual culture are of a local nature.
However, jewelry items not produced locally were also found in large quantities, which indicates the development of trade between the Sindians and Maeotians with the peoples of Egypt, Syria, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, etc.
Centers for political and cultural life became Sindhi cities. Architecture and sculpture were highly developed in them. The territory of Sindiki is rich in sculptural images, both Greek and local. Thus, numerous data obtained as a result of archaeological excavations on the territory of the Sinds and Meots - the ancestors of the Circassians, and some literary monuments indicate that these ancient tribes wrote many wonderful pages in the history of world civilization. Facts indicate that they created a unique, original material and spiritual culture. These are original decorations and musical instruments, these are good-quality buildings and statues, this is our own technology for the production of tools and weapons, and much more.
However, with the onset of crisis in the Bosporan kingdom in the first centuries of our era, the time of decline of the culture of the Sinds and Maeots came. This was facilitated not only by internal reasons, but also, no less, by external factors. From the 2nd century AD. there is a strong pressure Sarmatians to the areas inhabited by the Meotians. And from the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 3rd century. AD Gothic tribes appear north of the Danube and the borders of the Roman Empire. Soon attacked ready and Tanais, one of the northern cities of the Black Sea region, which was destroyed in the 40s. III century AD After its fall, the Bosporus fell under the control of the Goths. They, in turn, defeated Asia Minor - the homeland of the Hutts, after which the ties of their descendants with the Sindians and Meotians - related tribes - were significantly reduced. From the 3rd century. The Goths also attack the Sindo-Meotian tribes, one of their main centers, Gorgippia, is destroyed, and then other cities.
True, after the invasion of the Goths in the North Caucasus, there has been some calm in this region and a revival of the economy and culture is taking place. But around 370, the Huns, Asian tribes, invaded Europe, and primarily the Northern Black Sea region. They moved from the depths of Asia in two waves, the second of which passed through the territory of the Sinds and Maeots. The nomads destroyed everything in their path, local tribes were scattered, and the culture of the ancestors of the Circassians fell into decay. After the Hunnic invasion of the North Caucasus, the Sindomeotic tribes were no longer mentioned. However, this in no way means that they have left the historical arena. Those related tribes that suffered least from the invasion of nomads come to the fore and occupy a dominant position. These next stages in the history of the ancient Circassians will be discussed in the next section of this work.
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