Flag of the Abazins |
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| 50,000 est | |||||||||
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Abkhaz, other "Circassian" peoples |
The Abazins (ethnonym: Abaza or Asuwa) - one of the abkhaz-adyg the peoples of the Caucasus.
Abazins - people who live mostly in Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea of Russia.
An Abazin diaspora exists in Turkey,[1] Jordan, Syria, Egypt (which features the Abaza family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Egypt) , and other Islamic countries, most of which are descendants of refugees (muhajirs) from the Caucasian War with the Russian Empire. Their dominant religion is Sunni Islam.
Abazins originally inhabited in Sadzen, the western part of Abkhazia. First, they moved from Abkhazia to Abazinia in 14-15th century, and the second migration is related to 18-19th century. There are two dialects of Abazian in Karachay-Cherkessia—Ashkharua and Tapanta.
According to the 2002 census, there were 37,942 Abazins in Russia. Abazins speak the Abaza language, a Northwest Caucasian language closely related to Abkhaz.
There is also a significant Abazin presence in Turkey. An estimated number of 150,000 Abazins live in the provinces of Samsun, Yozgat, Adana and Kayseri-Uzunyayla (the long plateau). Most of them belong to Ashkharua clan, since they fought against the Tsarist army and emigrated to Turkey after losing the battle of Kbaada (Krasnaya Polyana of today's Sochi), whereas Tapantas fought within the Russian forces.
Tribes Abazins is found in the writings of the ancient authors beginning with the 5th century bc under the ехопум Abaza. For example - the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century b.c.) in their map of the ancient world in the list of peoples who lived on the shore of the Sea, along with other points and the tribe of the Abazgii. Strabo called Abazins (Abaza) and other related tribes Of the collective ехопум Zygii[2].