Adyghe
Encyclopedia
The Adyghe or Adygs also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic group
who were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.
Adyghe people mostly speak Adyghe
and most practice Sunni Islam
.
There remain about half a million speakers of Adyghe, about a quarter of them in the Russian Federation, mostly in the Republic of Adygea, besides smaller numbers in Kabardino-Balkaria
and Karachay-Cherkessia
. The majority of Adyghe today live in the Republic of Turkey (about 300,000 Adyghe speakers as of 2000).
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
estimates that there are as many as 3.7 million "ethnic Circassians" (meaning that only one in seven "ethnic Circassians" is a speaker of the Circassian language), of whom about 2 million live in the Republic of Turkey, 700,000 in the Russian Federation, about 150,000 in the Levant, and about 50,000 in western countries (Europe and USA).
The usual etymology presented for the name is Circassian
atté "height" to signify a mountaineer or a highlander, and ghéi "sea", signifying "a people dwelling and inhabiting a mountainous country, a region near the sea coast, or between two seas".
A common exonym for the Adyghe is Circassians, a term which occasionally applied to a broader group of peoples in the North Caucasus
. The name Circassian is of Italian
origin and came from the medieval Genoese
merchants and travelers who first gave currency to the name.
The exonym Cherkess is applied to the Adyghe by the Turkic peoples
(principally Kyrgyz, Tatar and Turkish
) and the Russians
.
The name Cherkess was usually explained to mean "Warrior Cutter" due to how fast they were able to cut down Russian and Turkish forces, but is derived from the circumstance of the Circassians never permitting the march of a foreign invader, or foreign soldier through their lands and is considered by some and is applied indirectly to the strenuous defense against invaders.
By others, the name is supposed to refer to the predatory habits among Adyghe tribes and Abazin. The Russians gave the collective name of Cherkess to all the mountaineers of Circassia
who are divided into many tribes.
The Adyghe people originate in the North Caucasus
region and they are considered to be one of the most ancient nations in the world. The Adyghe people were of the largest and most eminent nations in the North Caucasus, and are considered to be the first known settlers in the Caucasus
. The Caucasus was occupied by the Adyghe people as early as the Stone Age
period and traces of them date back as far as 8000 BC. In about 4000 BC the Maykop culture
existed in the North Caucasus region, which influenced all subsequent cultures in the North Caucasus region as well as other parts of the region which is now southern Russia. Archaeological findings, mainly of dolmens in North-West Caucasus region, indicate the existence of a Melineric culture in the region. The Adyghe kingdom was established in circa 400 BC.
The Adyghe people were never politically united, a fact which reduced their influence in the area and their ability to withstand periodic invasions from groups like the Mongols
, Avars
, Pechenegs, Huns
, and Khazars
.
Genetically, the Adyghe population has shared ancestry with European
, Central
as well as South Asian populations.
slaves which were gathered by the Arab sultans to serve their kingdoms as a military force. Others say that the Mamlukes were mostly Cumans and Kipchaks. During the 13th century the Mamluks seized power in Cairo, and as a result the Mamluk kingdom became the most influential in the Muslim world. The majority of the leaders of the Mamluk kingdom were of Adyghe origin.
Even after Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, the Adyghes continued to rule in Egypt until the 18th century. With the rise of Muhammad Ali Pasha, almost all the senior Mamluks were killed and the remaining Mamluks fled to Sudan
.
Today, several thousand Adyghes reside in Egypt and they are the descendants of these Mamluks. Until the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser
in Egypt the Adyghes were an elite group in Egypt.
prior to the 5th century. In the 15th century, under the influence of the Tatars
of Crimea
and Ottoman
clerics, the Adygs converted to Islam
.
Between the late 18th and early to mid-19th centuries the Adyghe people lost their independence as they were slowly conquered by Russia
in a series of wars and campaigns. During this period, the Adyghe plight achieved a certain celebrity status in the West, but pledges of assistance were never fulfilled. After the Crimean War
, Russia turned her attention to the Caucasus in earnest, starting with the peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan. In 1859, the Russians had finished defeating Imam Shamil
in the eastern Caucasus, and turned their attention westward. Eventually, the long lasting Russian–Circassian War ended with the defeat of the Adyghe forces, which was finalized with the signing of loyalty oaths by Adyghe leaders on 2 June 1864 (21 May, O.S.).
The Conquest of the Caucasus by the Russian Empire in the 19th century during the Russian-Circassian War
, led to the destruction and killing of many Adygs — towards the end of the conflict, the Russian General Yevdokimov was tasked with driving the remaining Circassian inhabitants out of the region, primarily into the Ottoman Empire
. This policy was enforced by mobile columns of Russian riflemen and Cossack cavalry. "In a series of sweeping military campaigns lasting from 1860 to 1864… the northwest Caucasus and the Black Sea coast were virtually emptied of Muslim villagers. Columns of the displaced were marched either to the Kuban [River] plains or toward the coast for transport to the Ottoman Empire… One after another, entire Circassian tribal groups were dispersed, resettled, or killed en masse" This expulsion, along with the actions of the Russian military in acquiring Circassian land, has given rise to a movement among descendants of the expelled ethnicities for international recognition that genocide was perpetrated. In 1840, Karl Friedrich Neumann
estimated the Circassian casualties to be around one and a half million. Some sources state that hundreds of thousands of others died during the exodus. Several historians use the term 'Circassian massacres' for the consequences of Russian actions in the region.
Like other ethnic minorities under Russian rule, the Adygs who remained in the Russian Empire borders were subjected to policies of mass resettlement.
The Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of the area south of Russia considered the Adyghe warriors to be courageous and well-experienced, and as a result encouraged them to settle in various near-border settlements of the Ottoman empire in order to strengthen the empire's borders.
s. The highest was the caste of the "princes", followed by a caste of lesser nobility, and then commoners, serfs, and slaves. In the decades before Russian rule, two tribes overthrew their traditional rulers and set up democratic processes, but this social experiment was cut short by the end of Adyghe independence.
The main Adyghe tribes are: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh, Hakuch, Hatukuay, Kabardey, Kemirgoy, Makhosh, Natekuay, Shapsigh (Shapsugh), Yegerikuay, Besleney. Most Adyghe living in Caucasia are Bzhedugh, Kabarday and Kemirgoy, while the majority in diaspora
are Abzekh and Shapsigh (Shapsugh). Standard Adyghe language is based on Kemirgoy dialect.
The ethnic religion of Circassians (Adyghes) was Habze- a philosophical and religious system of personal values and the relationship between an individual to others, to the world around him, and to the Higher Mind. In essence, it represents monotheism with a much-defined system of worshipping One God- the Mighty Tha (Tha, Thashxue). During the time of the settlement of Greek cities/colonies on the coast of the Black Sea there was an intermingling of cultures. Circassian mythology has noticeable aspects from Greek mythology. In return, there is evidence that Greek mythology also borrowed from Circassian legends. In the 6th century, under Byzantine influence, many Adyghes were Christianised, but under the growing influence of the Ottomans, many of them became Muslims. Throughout Circassian history the ethnic religion of Circassians has interacted with Christianity and Islam.
Christianity
reached and spread throughout the Caucasus and was first introduced between the 4th century and the 6th century under Greek
Byzantine
influence and later through the Georgians
between the 10th century and the 13th century. During that period, Circassians began to accept Christianity as their national religion, but did not fully adopt Christianity as elements of their ancient indigenous pagan beliefs still survived.
Islam
penetrated the northeastern region of the Caucasus, principally Dagestan
, as early as the 7th century, but was first introduced to the Circassians between the 16th century and in the middle of the 19th century under the influence of the Crimean Tatars
and the Ottoman Turks
. It was only after the Russian conquest of the Caucasus when Circassians as well as other peoples of the Caucasus were forced out of their ancestral homeland and settled in different regions of the Ottoman Empire did they begin to fully accept and adopt Islam as their national religion.
The Naqshbandi
tariqa of Sufi Islam was also introduced to the Circassians in the late 18th century under the influence of Sheikh Mansur
who was the first to preach the Naqshbandi tariqa in the northeastern region of the Caucasus and later through Imam Shamil
in the middle of the 19th century.
Today, the majority of Circassians are predominately Sunni Muslim and adhere to the Hanafi
school of thought, or law, the largest and oldest school of Islamic law
in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam
.
.
The majority of the Circassian people speak the Adyghe language, when the Kabarday tribe speaks the Adyghe language in the Kabardian
dialect. The language has a number of dialects spoken by the different Circassian tribes and the pronunciation of words is slightly different in each place in the world. The Adyghe language belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages
. It is spoken among all the Circassian communities around the world, with circa 125,000 speakers who live in the Russian Federation, some of whom live in the Republic of Adygea where the Adyghe language is defined as the official language. The world's largest Adyghe-speaking community is the Circassian community in Turkey — it has circa 150,000 Adyghe speakers.
Circassians consider the host to be like a slave to the guest in that the host is expected to tend to the guest's every need and want. A guest must never be permitted to labour in any way, this is considered a major disgrace on the host.
Every Circassian arises when someone enters the room, providing a place for the person entering and allowing the newcomer to speak before everyone else during the conversation. In the presence of elders and women respectful conversation and conduct is essential. Disputes are stopped in the presence of women and domestic disputes are never continued in the presence of guests. A woman can request disputing families to reconcile and they must comply with her request. A key figure in Circassian culture is the person known as the "T'hamade" , who is often an elder but also the person who carries the responsibility for functions like weddings or circumcision parties. This person must always comply with all the rules of Xabze in all areas of his life.
Circassian Xabze is well known amongst their neighboring communities.
The traditional female clothing was very diverse and highly decorated and mainly depends on the region, class of family, occasions, and tribes. The traditional female costume is composed of a dress , coat , shirt, pant , vest , lamb leather bra , a variety of hats , shoes, and belts . Holiday dresses are made of expensive fabrics such as silk
and velvet
. The traditional colors of females clothing rarely includes blue, green or bright-colored tones, instead mostly white, red, black and brown shades wear.
The traditional male costume includes a coat with wide sleeves, shirt, pants, a dagger, sword, and a variety of hats and shoes. Traditionally, young men in the warriors times wore coat with short sleeves – in order to feel more comfortable in combats. Different colors of clothing for males were strictly used to distinguish between different social classes, for example white is usually worn by princes, red by nobles, gray, brown, and black by peasants (blue, green and the other colors were rarely worn). A compulsory item in the traditional male costume is a dagger and a sword. The traditional Adyghean sword is called Shashka. It is a special kind of sabre
; a very sharp, single-edged, single-handed, and guardless
sword
. Although the sword is used by most of Russian and Ukrainian Cossacks, the typically Adyghean form of the sabre is longer than the Cossack type, and in fact the word Shashka came from the Adyghe word "Sashkhwa" which means "long knife".
dishes. In the winter and spring it was mainly flour
and meat
dishes. An example of the latter is known as ficcin.
The Circassian cheese
considered one of the famous type of Cheeses in the North Caucasus and world wide.
A popular traditional dish is chicken
or turkey
with sauce, seasoned with crushed garlic and red pepper. Mutton and beef
are served boiled, usually with a seasoning of sour milk with crushed garlic and salt.
Variants of pasta are found. A type of ravioli may be encountered, which is filled with potato or beef.
On holidays the Adyghe people traditionally make Haliva (fried triangular pasties with mainly Arabic cheese, Circassian cheese or potato), from toasted millet or wheat flour in syrup, baked cakes and pies.
In the Levant there is a famous Circassian dish which called Tajen Alsharkaseiah.
s or rugs worldwide for thousands of years, and they were making their mats from the Cortaderia selloana like other Caucasian nations.
Making mats was very hard work in which collecting raw materials is restricted to a specific period of time within the year. The raw materials were dried, and based on the intended colors, different methods of drying were applied. For example, when dried in the shade, its color changed to a beautiful light gold color. If it were dried in direct sun light then it would have a silver color, and if they wanted to have a dark color for the mats, the raw materials were put in a pool of water and covered by poplar
leaves .
The mats were adorned with images of birds, beloved animals (horses), and plants, and the image of the sun was widely used.
The mats were used for different reasons due to their characteristic resistance to humidity
and cold, and in retaining heat. Also, there was a tradition in Circassian homes to have two mats hanging in the guest room, one used to hang over rifles and pistols , and the other used to hang over musical instruments.
The mats were used to pray upon, and it was necessary for every Circassian girl to make three mats before marriage
; a big mat, a small mat, and the last for praying as a Prayer rug. These mats would give the grooms an impression as to the success of their brides in their homes after marriage.
Many Adyghe allocated in the Caucasus
region are Bzhedug and Temirgoy, while the majority of those in the diaspora (see next section) are Abadzeh
and Shapsug
.
which ruled Egypt from 1382 to 1517 was founded by Adyghe Mamluks.
Much of Adyghe culture was disrupted after their conquest by Russia in 1864. This led to a diaspora
of the peoples of the northwest Caucasus, known as Muhajirism
, mostly to various parts of the Ottoman Empire
.
The largest Adyghe diaspora community today is in Turkey, especially in Samsun
, Kahramanmaraş
, Kayseri
, Bandırma
and Düzce
.
Significant communities live in Jordan
,, Iraq, Syria, and Israel. Iraq
, Syria
(in Beer ajam
and many other villages), Lebanon
, Egypt
, Israel
(in the villages of Kfar Kama and Rehaniya
- for more information see Circassians in Israel
), Libya
, and Macedonia
. A number of Adyghe were introduced to Bulgaria
in 1864-1865 but most fled after it became separate from the Ottoman Empire in 1878. On May 20, 2011 the Georgian parliament voted in a 95 to 0 declaration that Russia had committed genocide
when it engaged in massacres against Circassians in the 19th Century.
A great number of Adyghe people have also immigrated to the United States
and settled in Upstate New York
, California
, and New Jersey
.
The small community from Kosovo
expatriated to Adygea in 1998.
The total number of Adyghe people worldwide is estimated at 6 million.
facilities in Sochi
are being built in areas that contain mass graves of Adyghe that were killed during ethnic cleansing
by Russia
in military campaigns lasting from 1860 to 1864.
Adyghe organizations in Russia
and the Adyghe diaspora around the world have requested that the construction at the site would stop and that the Olympics games would not be held at the site of the Adyghe genocide to prevent the desecration of the Adyghe graves.
who were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.
Adyghe people mostly speak Adyghe
Adyghe language
Adyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
and most practice Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
.
There remain about half a million speakers of Adyghe, about a quarter of them in the Russian Federation, mostly in the Republic of Adygea, besides smaller numbers in Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
and Karachay-Cherkessia
Karachay-Cherkessia
The Karachay-Cherkess Republic , or Karachay-Cherkessia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: -Geography:*Area: *Borders:**internal: Krasnodar Krai , Kabardino-Balkar Republic , Stavropol Krai ....
. The majority of Adyghe today live in the Republic of Turkey (about 300,000 Adyghe speakers as of 2000).
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization , formed in 11 February 1991, in The Hague, is an international organization of political organisations and governments representing self-proclaimed "indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories". The organization...
estimates that there are as many as 3.7 million "ethnic Circassians" (meaning that only one in seven "ethnic Circassians" is a speaker of the Circassian language), of whom about 2 million live in the Republic of Turkey, 700,000 in the Russian Federation, about 150,000 in the Levant, and about 50,000 in western countries (Europe and USA).
Name
The Adyghe people call and distinguish themselves from other peoples of the Caucasus by the name Attéghéi or Adyghe.The usual etymology presented for the name is Circassian
Circassian language
Circassian language may refer to:* any of the Northwest Caucasian languages* in a more narrow sense,** the Adyghe language ** the Kabardian language...
atté "height" to signify a mountaineer or a highlander, and ghéi "sea", signifying "a people dwelling and inhabiting a mountainous country, a region near the sea coast, or between two seas".
A common exonym for the Adyghe is Circassians, a term which occasionally applied to a broader group of peoples in the North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
. The name Circassian is of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
origin and came from the medieval Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
merchants and travelers who first gave currency to the name.
The exonym Cherkess is applied to the Adyghe by the Turkic peoples
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
(principally Kyrgyz, Tatar and Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
) and the Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
.
The name Cherkess was usually explained to mean "Warrior Cutter" due to how fast they were able to cut down Russian and Turkish forces, but is derived from the circumstance of the Circassians never permitting the march of a foreign invader, or foreign soldier through their lands and is considered by some and is applied indirectly to the strenuous defense against invaders.
By others, the name is supposed to refer to the predatory habits among Adyghe tribes and Abazin. The Russians gave the collective name of Cherkess to all the mountaineers of Circassia
Circassia
Circassia was an independent mountainous country located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia and was the largest and most important country in the Caucasus. Circassia was located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea...
who are divided into many tribes.
Origins
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
region and they are considered to be one of the most ancient nations in the world. The Adyghe people were of the largest and most eminent nations in the North Caucasus, and are considered to be the first known settlers in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. The Caucasus was occupied by the Adyghe people as early as the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
period and traces of them date back as far as 8000 BC. In about 4000 BC the Maykop culture
Maykop culture
The Maykop culture , ca. 3700 BC—2500 BC, was a major Bronze Age archaeological culture situated in Southern Russia running from the Taman Peninsula at the Kerch Strait nearly to the modern border of Dagestan, centered approximately on the modern Republic of Adygea in the Kuban River valley...
existed in the North Caucasus region, which influenced all subsequent cultures in the North Caucasus region as well as other parts of the region which is now southern Russia. Archaeological findings, mainly of dolmens in North-West Caucasus region, indicate the existence of a Melineric culture in the region. The Adyghe kingdom was established in circa 400 BC.
The Adyghe people were never politically united, a fact which reduced their influence in the area and their ability to withstand periodic invasions from groups like the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
, Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
, Pechenegs, Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, and Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
.
Genetically, the Adyghe population has shared ancestry with European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
, Central
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
as well as South Asian populations.
Mamluk period
Most of the Mamluks were originally Adyghe and TurkishTurkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
slaves which were gathered by the Arab sultans to serve their kingdoms as a military force. Others say that the Mamlukes were mostly Cumans and Kipchaks. During the 13th century the Mamluks seized power in Cairo, and as a result the Mamluk kingdom became the most influential in the Muslim world. The majority of the leaders of the Mamluk kingdom were of Adyghe origin.
Even after Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, the Adyghes continued to rule in Egypt until the 18th century. With the rise of Muhammad Ali Pasha, almost all the senior Mamluks were killed and the remaining Mamluks fled to Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
Today, several thousand Adyghes reside in Egypt and they are the descendants of these Mamluks. Until the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
in Egypt the Adyghes were an elite group in Egypt.
Russian conquest of the Caucasus and the exile of the Adygs
The Adyghe people converted to ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
prior to the 5th century. In the 15th century, under the influence of the Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
of Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
clerics, the Adygs converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Between the late 18th and early to mid-19th centuries the Adyghe people lost their independence as they were slowly conquered by Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in a series of wars and campaigns. During this period, the Adyghe plight achieved a certain celebrity status in the West, but pledges of assistance were never fulfilled. After the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, Russia turned her attention to the Caucasus in earnest, starting with the peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan. In 1859, the Russians had finished defeating Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil also spelled Shamyl, Schamil, Schamyl or Shameel was an Avar political and religious leader of the Muslim tribes of the Northern Caucasus...
in the eastern Caucasus, and turned their attention westward. Eventually, the long lasting Russian–Circassian War ended with the defeat of the Adyghe forces, which was finalized with the signing of loyalty oaths by Adyghe leaders on 2 June 1864 (21 May, O.S.).
The Conquest of the Caucasus by the Russian Empire in the 19th century during the Russian-Circassian War
Russian-Circassian War
The Russian–Circassian War refers to a series of battles and wars in Circassia, the northwestern part of the Caucasus, which were part of the Russian Empire's conquest of the Caucasus lasting approximately 150 years, starting under the reign of Tsar Peter the Great and being completed in 1864...
, led to the destruction and killing of many Adygs — towards the end of the conflict, the Russian General Yevdokimov was tasked with driving the remaining Circassian inhabitants out of the region, primarily into the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. This policy was enforced by mobile columns of Russian riflemen and Cossack cavalry. "In a series of sweeping military campaigns lasting from 1860 to 1864… the northwest Caucasus and the Black Sea coast were virtually emptied of Muslim villagers. Columns of the displaced were marched either to the Kuban [River] plains or toward the coast for transport to the Ottoman Empire… One after another, entire Circassian tribal groups were dispersed, resettled, or killed en masse" This expulsion, along with the actions of the Russian military in acquiring Circassian land, has given rise to a movement among descendants of the expelled ethnicities for international recognition that genocide was perpetrated. In 1840, Karl Friedrich Neumann
Karl Friedrich Neumann
Karl Friedrich Neumann , German orientalist, was born, under the name of Bamberger, at Reichsmannsdorf, near Bamberg....
estimated the Circassian casualties to be around one and a half million. Some sources state that hundreds of thousands of others died during the exodus. Several historians use the term 'Circassian massacres' for the consequences of Russian actions in the region.
Like other ethnic minorities under Russian rule, the Adygs who remained in the Russian Empire borders were subjected to policies of mass resettlement.
The Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of the area south of Russia considered the Adyghe warriors to be courageous and well-experienced, and as a result encouraged them to settle in various near-border settlements of the Ottoman empire in order to strengthen the empire's borders.
The Adyghes in the Middle East in modern times
The Adyghes who were settled by the Ottomans in various near-border settlements across the empire, ended up living across many different territories in the Middle East who belonged at the time to the Ottoman Empire and which are located nowadays in the following countries:- TurkeyCircassians in TurkeyThe Circassians in Turkey are with 2 millions one of the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. Among the Circassians in Turkey are also the closely related ethnic groups Abazins and Abkhazians counted...
, the country which contains today the largest adyghe population in the world. The Adygs settled in three main regions in Turkey – the region of TrabzonTrabzonTrabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
, located along the shores of the Black SeaBlack SeaThe Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, the region near the city of AnkaraAnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, the region near the city of KayseriKayseriKayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
, and in the western part of the country near the region of IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, this specific region experienced a severe earthquake in 1999. Many Adygs played key roles in the Ottoman army and also participated in the Turkish War of IndependenceTurkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
. - SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Most of the Adygs who immigrated to Syria settled in the Golan Heights. Prior to the Six Day War, the Adygs people were the majority group in the Golan Heights region - their number at that time is estimated at 30,000. The most prominent settlement in the Golan was the town of QuneitraQuneitraQuneitra is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an elevation of 1,010 metres above sea level...
. - JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. The Adygs had a major role in the history of the Kingdom of Jordan. They make up around 1% to 2% of the total population. Over the years various Adygs have served in distinguished roles in the kingdom of Jordan. An Adyghe has served before as a prime minister (Sa`id al-MuftiSa`id al-MuftiSaid Pasha al- Mufti was a Jordanian political figure of Circassian origin. Said Pasha received Emir Abdullah with a few Jordanian Sheikhs, when he came to Jordan and was leading the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman rule....
), ministers (commonly at least 1 minister should represent the Circassians in each cabinet), high rank officers, etc., and due to their important role in the history of Jordan it is Adyghe who form the Hashemites Honor guardHonor guardAn honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial unit, usually military in nature and composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their physical ability and dexterity...
at the Royal palaces, and they represented Jordan in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2010 joining other Honor guards such as the The Airborne Ceremonial Unit. - IsraelCircassians in IsraelThe Circassians in Israel refers to the Adyghe community who live in Israel.The Circassians in Israel are moderate Sunni Muslims, they tend to put an emphasis on the separation between their religion and their nationality...
. The Adygs initially settled in three places – in Kfar Kama, RehaniyaRehaniyaRehaniya is a predominantly Circassian village about 8 km north of Safed in northern Israel. It belongs to the Merom HaGalil Regional Council.-Background and history:...
and in the region of HaderaHaderaHadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
. Due to a MalariaMalariaMalaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
epidemic, the Adyghe settlement near Hadera was eventually abandoned.
Culture
Adyghe society prior to the Russian invasion was highly stratified. While a few tribes in the mountainous regions of Adygeya were fairly egalitarian, most were broken into strict casteCaste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
s. The highest was the caste of the "princes", followed by a caste of lesser nobility, and then commoners, serfs, and slaves. In the decades before Russian rule, two tribes overthrew their traditional rulers and set up democratic processes, but this social experiment was cut short by the end of Adyghe independence.
The main Adyghe tribes are: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh, Hakuch, Hatukuay, Kabardey, Kemirgoy, Makhosh, Natekuay, Shapsigh (Shapsugh), Yegerikuay, Besleney. Most Adyghe living in Caucasia are Bzhedugh, Kabarday and Kemirgoy, while the majority in diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
are Abzekh and Shapsigh (Shapsugh). Standard Adyghe language is based on Kemirgoy dialect.
Religion
Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
reached and spread throughout the Caucasus and was first introduced between the 4th century and the 6th century under Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
influence and later through the Georgians
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
between the 10th century and the 13th century. During that period, Circassians began to accept Christianity as their national religion, but did not fully adopt Christianity as elements of their ancient indigenous pagan beliefs still survived.
Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
penetrated the northeastern region of the Caucasus, principally Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
, as early as the 7th century, but was first introduced to the Circassians between the 16th century and in the middle of the 19th century under the influence of the Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
and the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
. It was only after the Russian conquest of the Caucasus when Circassians as well as other peoples of the Caucasus were forced out of their ancestral homeland and settled in different regions of the Ottoman Empire did they begin to fully accept and adopt Islam as their national religion.
The Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...
tariqa of Sufi Islam was also introduced to the Circassians in the late 18th century under the influence of Sheikh Mansur
Sheikh Mansur
Sheikh al-Mansur was a Chechen leader who led the resistance against Catherine the Great's imperialist expansion into the Caucasus during the late 18th century. He remains a legendary national hero of the Chechen people....
who was the first to preach the Naqshbandi tariqa in the northeastern region of the Caucasus and later through Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil also spelled Shamyl, Schamil, Schamyl or Shameel was an Avar political and religious leader of the Muslim tribes of the Northern Caucasus...
in the middle of the 19th century.
Today, the majority of Circassians are predominately Sunni Muslim and adhere to the Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
school of thought, or law, the largest and oldest school of Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
.
Language
Today most Adyghe speak Russian, English, Turkish, Arabic, French, German, and/or the original Adyghe languageAdyghe language
Adyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
.
The majority of the Circassian people speak the Adyghe language, when the Kabarday tribe speaks the Adyghe language in the Kabardian
Kabardian language
The Kabardian language, also known as East Circassian , is a Northwest Caucasian language, closely related to the Adyghe language. It is spoken mainly in the Russian republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia and in Turkey and the Middle East...
dialect. The language has a number of dialects spoken by the different Circassian tribes and the pronunciation of words is slightly different in each place in the world. The Adyghe language belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages
Northwest Caucasian languages
The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Abkhazo-Adyghean, or sometimes Pontic as opposed to Caspian for the Northeast Caucasian languages, are a group of languages spoken in the Caucasus region, chiefly in Russia , the disputed territory of Abkhazia, and Turkey, with smaller communities...
. It is spoken among all the Circassian communities around the world, with circa 125,000 speakers who live in the Russian Federation, some of whom live in the Republic of Adygea where the Adyghe language is defined as the official language. The world's largest Adyghe-speaking community is the Circassian community in Turkey — it has circa 150,000 Adyghe speakers.
Adyghe Xabze
Adyghe Xabze is the epitome of Circassian culture and tradition. It is their code of honour and is based on mutual respect and above all requires responsibility, discipline and self-control. Adyghe Xabze functions as the Circassian unwritten law yet was highly regulated and adhered to in the past. The Code requires that all Circassians are taught courage, reliability and generosity. Greed, desire for possessions, wealth and ostentation are considered disgraceful ("Yemiku") by the Xabze code. In accordance with Xabze, hospitality was and is particularly pronounced among the Circassians. A guest is not only a guest of the host family, but equally a guest of the whole village and clan. Even enemies are regarded as guests if they enter the home and being hospitable to them as one would with any other guest is a sacred duty.Circassians consider the host to be like a slave to the guest in that the host is expected to tend to the guest's every need and want. A guest must never be permitted to labour in any way, this is considered a major disgrace on the host.
Every Circassian arises when someone enters the room, providing a place for the person entering and allowing the newcomer to speak before everyone else during the conversation. In the presence of elders and women respectful conversation and conduct is essential. Disputes are stopped in the presence of women and domestic disputes are never continued in the presence of guests. A woman can request disputing families to reconcile and they must comply with her request. A key figure in Circassian culture is the person known as the "T'hamade" , who is often an elder but also the person who carries the responsibility for functions like weddings or circumcision parties. This person must always comply with all the rules of Xabze in all areas of his life.
Circassian Xabze is well known amongst their neighboring communities.
Traditional clothing
The Adyghe traditional clothing refers to the historical clothing worn by the Adyghe people.The traditional female clothing was very diverse and highly decorated and mainly depends on the region, class of family, occasions, and tribes. The traditional female costume is composed of a dress , coat , shirt, pant , vest , lamb leather bra , a variety of hats , shoes, and belts . Holiday dresses are made of expensive fabrics such as silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and velvet
Velvet
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed,with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel.The word 'velvety' is used as an adjective to mean -"smooth like velvet".-Composition:...
. The traditional colors of females clothing rarely includes blue, green or bright-colored tones, instead mostly white, red, black and brown shades wear.
The traditional male costume includes a coat with wide sleeves, shirt, pants, a dagger, sword, and a variety of hats and shoes. Traditionally, young men in the warriors times wore coat with short sleeves – in order to feel more comfortable in combats. Different colors of clothing for males were strictly used to distinguish between different social classes, for example white is usually worn by princes, red by nobles, gray, brown, and black by peasants (blue, green and the other colors were rarely worn). A compulsory item in the traditional male costume is a dagger and a sword. The traditional Adyghean sword is called Shashka. It is a special kind of sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
; a very sharp, single-edged, single-handed, and guardless
Hilt
The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard,grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A ricasso may also be present, but this is rarely the case...
sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
. Although the sword is used by most of Russian and Ukrainian Cossacks, the typically Adyghean form of the sabre is longer than the Cossack type, and in fact the word Shashka came from the Adyghe word "Sashkhwa" which means "long knife".
Traditional cuisine
The Adyghe Cuisine is rich with different type dishes, in the summer, the traditional dishes consumed by the Adyghe people were mainly dairy products and vegetableVegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
dishes. In the winter and spring it was mainly flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
dishes. An example of the latter is known as ficcin.
The Circassian cheese
Circassian cheese
Circassian Cheese is a cultural cheese and staple for Circassians that is very famous in Russia , and the Middle east countries and worldwide Circassian Cheese is a cultural cheese and staple for Circassians that is very famous in Russia (Republic of Adyghea, Kabardino-Balkaria,...
considered one of the famous type of Cheeses in the North Caucasus and world wide.
A popular traditional dish is chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
or turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
with sauce, seasoned with crushed garlic and red pepper. Mutton and beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
are served boiled, usually with a seasoning of sour milk with crushed garlic and salt.
Variants of pasta are found. A type of ravioli may be encountered, which is filled with potato or beef.
On holidays the Adyghe people traditionally make Haliva (fried triangular pasties with mainly Arabic cheese, Circassian cheese or potato), from toasted millet or wheat flour in syrup, baked cakes and pies.
In the Levant there is a famous Circassian dish which called Tajen Alsharkaseiah.
Traditional mats
The Adyghes were famous in making matMat
A mat is a generic term for a piece of fabric or flat material, generally placed on a floor or other flat surface, and serving a range of purposes including:* providing a regular or flat surface, such as a mousepad....
s or rugs worldwide for thousands of years, and they were making their mats from the Cortaderia selloana like other Caucasian nations.
Making mats was very hard work in which collecting raw materials is restricted to a specific period of time within the year. The raw materials were dried, and based on the intended colors, different methods of drying were applied. For example, when dried in the shade, its color changed to a beautiful light gold color. If it were dried in direct sun light then it would have a silver color, and if they wanted to have a dark color for the mats, the raw materials were put in a pool of water and covered by poplar
Poplar
Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....
leaves .
The mats were adorned with images of birds, beloved animals (horses), and plants, and the image of the sun was widely used.
The mats were used for different reasons due to their characteristic resistance to humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
and cold, and in retaining heat. Also, there was a tradition in Circassian homes to have two mats hanging in the guest room, one used to hang over rifles and pistols , and the other used to hang over musical instruments.
The mats were used to pray upon, and it was necessary for every Circassian girl to make three mats before marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
; a big mat, a small mat, and the last for praying as a Prayer rug. These mats would give the grooms an impression as to the success of their brides in their homes after marriage.
The twelve Adyghe tribes
The main Adyghe tribes are:- AbadzehAbadzekhAbadzekhs are a people of Adyghe branch.A significant part of them live in diaspora, which are descendants of refugees from the Caucasian War with the Russian Empire. Their dominant religion is Sunni Islam...
- Besleney
- Bzhedug
- Yegeruqay
- Zhaney
- Kabarday
- Mamheg
- NatuhayNatukhai peopleNatukhai are a people of the Adyghe branch, whom are the original dwellers of the far north west of historical Circassia, and their areas historically extended from Anapa in the North to Tsemez in the south, currently Novorossiysk in the Russian Federation....
- Temirgoy
- UbyhUbykh peopleThe Ubykh are a group who spoke the Northwest Caucasian Ubykh language, until other local languages displaced it and its last speaker died in 1992....
- ShapsugShapsugsShapsugs are a people/tribe of the Adyghe branch, who are currently living in Tuapsinsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Lazarevsky City District of Sochi, and in the Republic of Adygea in Russia...
- Hatuqwai
Many Adyghe allocated in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
region are Bzhedug and Temirgoy, while the majority of those in the diaspora (see next section) are Abadzeh
Abadzekh
Abadzekhs are a people of Adyghe branch.A significant part of them live in diaspora, which are descendants of refugees from the Caucasian War with the Russian Empire. Their dominant religion is Sunni Islam...
and Shapsug
Shapsugs
Shapsugs are a people/tribe of the Adyghe branch, who are currently living in Tuapsinsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Lazarevsky City District of Sochi, and in the Republic of Adygea in Russia...
.
The Adyghe diaspora
Adyghe have lived outside the Caucasus region since the Middle Ages. They were particularly well represented in the Mamluks of Turkey and Egypt. In fact, the Burji dynastyBurji dynasty
The Burji dynasty المماليك البرجية ruled Egypt from 1382 until 1517. It proved especially turbulent, with short-lived sultans. Political power-plays often became important in designating a new sultan. During this time Mamluks fought Timur Lenk and conquered Cyprus. Constant bickering may have...
which ruled Egypt from 1382 to 1517 was founded by Adyghe Mamluks.
Much of Adyghe culture was disrupted after their conquest by Russia in 1864. This led to a diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
of the peoples of the northwest Caucasus, known as Muhajirism
Muhajir (Caucasus)
Circassians, the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Caucasus were cleansed from their homeland at the end of the Caucasian War by victorious Russia, which by its manner of suppression of the Caucasus directed at the Crimean Tartars and Circassians can be credited with "inventing the strategy of...
, mostly to various parts of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
The largest Adyghe diaspora community today is in Turkey, especially in Samsun
Samsun Province
Samsun Province is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast with a population of 1,252,693 . Its adjacent provinces are Sinop on the northwest, Çorum on the west, Amasya on the south, Tokat on the southeast, and Ordu on the east...
, Kahramanmaraş
Kahramanmaras Province
Kahramanmaraş is a province of Turkey. Its provincial capital is Kahramanmaraş city, the traffic code is 46.-Districts:Kahramanmaraş province is divided into 10 districts :*Afşin*Andırın*Çağlayancerit*Ekinözü*Elbistan*Göksun*Kahramanmaraş...
, Kayseri
Kayseri Province
The Kayseri Province , in central Turkey, is an area that has been linked with mythological stories as well as important figures in Turkish history. It is located in Anatolia, and surrounded by the Mount Erciyes, the Mount Hasan and the Mount Ali...
, Bandırma
Bandirma
Bandırma is a city in northwestern Turkey with 113,385 inhabitants on the Sea of Marmara. Also, Bandırma is a district of Balıkesir....
and Düzce
Düzce Province
Düzce Province is a province in northwestern Turkey. It is on the coastline of the Black Sea and is traversed by the main highway between Istanbul and Ankara. The main town is Düzce...
.
Significant communities live in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
,, Iraq, Syria, and Israel. Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
(in Beer ajam
Beer ajam
Beer Ajam is a Circassian village in the province of Quneitra in the Syrian-controlled portion of the Golan Heights. It has been inhabited for about 150 years. Its first houses where built in 1872...
and many other villages), Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
(in the villages of Kfar Kama and Rehaniya
Rehaniya
Rehaniya is a predominantly Circassian village about 8 km north of Safed in northern Israel. It belongs to the Merom HaGalil Regional Council.-Background and history:...
- for more information see Circassians in Israel
Circassians in Israel
The Circassians in Israel refers to the Adyghe community who live in Israel.The Circassians in Israel are moderate Sunni Muslims, they tend to put an emphasis on the separation between their religion and their nationality...
), Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, and Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. A number of Adyghe were introduced to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
in 1864-1865 but most fled after it became separate from the Ottoman Empire in 1878. On May 20, 2011 the Georgian parliament voted in a 95 to 0 declaration that Russia had committed genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
when it engaged in massacres against Circassians in the 19th Century.
A great number of Adyghe people have also immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and settled in Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
The small community from Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
expatriated to Adygea in 1998.
The total number of Adyghe people worldwide is estimated at 6 million.
Controversy surrounding alleged desecration of Adyghe mass graves
The Olympic2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to be celebrated from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympic and...
facilities in Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
are being built in areas that contain mass graves of Adyghe that were killed during ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
by Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in military campaigns lasting from 1860 to 1864.
Adyghe organizations in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the Adyghe diaspora around the world have requested that the construction at the site would stop and that the Olympics games would not be held at the site of the Adyghe genocide to prevent the desecration of the Adyghe graves.
Depictions in popular culture
Over the years, Adyghes have been featured in various popular books and films:- The 1962 Academy Award winning British film Lawrence of ArabiaLawrence of Arabia (film)Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
included a scene in which the British title character is captured by Turkish officers at the city of Daraa. His blue eyes and fair skin are remarked upon, leading to the question "Are you Circassian?", to which he replies "Yes, effendiEffendiEffendi, Effendy or Efendi is a title of nobility meaning a lord or master.It is a title of respect or courtesy, equivalent to the English Sir, which was used in Ottoman Empire...
.". - In the 1840 Russian novel "A Hero of Our TimeA Hero of Our TimeA Hero of Our Time is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839 and revised in 1841. It is an example of the superfluous man novel, noted for its compelling Byronic hero Pechorin and for the beautiful descriptions of the Caucasus...
" the narrator tells the story of a beautiful Adyghe princess named 'Bela', whom a character abducts from her family. - The 2010 Jordanian film Cherkess, which takes place during 1900, depicts a unique encounter between the local Bedouin tribes and the Adyghes immigrants, in the region known today as Jordan, during the period in which this region was under Ottoman rule.
See also
- Nart sagaNart sagaThe Nart sagas are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form the basic mythology of the tribes in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay-Balkar and Chechen-Ingush folklore....
- Circassian beautiesCircassian beautiesCircassian beauties is a term used to refer to an idealized image of the women of the Circassian people of the Northern Caucasus. A fairly extensive literary history suggests that Circassian women were thought to be unusually beautiful, spirited and elegant, and as such were desirable as concubines...
- Circassian nationalismCircassian NationalismCircassian nationalism is the desire among Circassians to establish an independent Circassian state with the contours of the former Circassia before it was conquered by Russia...
- Circassian musicCircassian MusicCircassian music refers to music of the Circassians , people from Northern Caucasus, Russia. Their music demonstrates their traditions and habits.- Instruments :Circassian music is characterized by certain instruments, including:...
- Adyghe Autonomous Oblast
- Deportation of Circassians
- Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians
External links
- Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs. Assembled, translated, and annotated by John Colarusso. (English)
- circassia.blogsome.com ; Only the one independent on net!: information and observations
- More Nart Tales (English)
- Circassian World (English)
- Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia: Circassians (English)
- Circassians Culture News Video Music Photo Web Portal(English)
- The Cherkess Fund Organization (English)
- Justice For North Caucasus Group (English)
- CCI (Circassian Cultural Institute) (English)
- CEF (Circassian Education Foundation) (English), USA
- Mamluk Studies at the University of Chicago (English), USA
- Architecture of the Circassian Mamluks (English)
- EUROXASE (Federation of European Circassians) (English & Turkish), EU
- NART TV (National Adiga Radio & Television) (English & Circassian), Jordan
- KAFSAM (Kafkasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi) (English & Turkish), Turkey
- Adyghe Khassa Australia Circassian Association Australia (English), Australia
- Short description of the 12 Circassian tribes
- Map of the Diaspora
- Uniting all Adygs, Adyghe world wide network adigafreinds.com
- The Circassian Art official website
- Jordanians and their culture in Jordan, NY Times
- Western Caucasus: West Caucasian family’s (Abkhaz–Adyghe) community (facebook)