Circassia

Circassia
Адыгэ Хэку

c.1500–1864


Flag of Circassia

Circassia in 1750.
Capital Sochi
Languages Adyghe, Kabardian
Religion Islam, Christianity, Traditional
Government Confederation
History
 -  Established c.1500
 - Russian–Circassian War 1763 – 1864
 -  Disestablished 1864

Circassia (Adyghe: Адыгэ Хэку,[1] Russian: Черке́сия, Georgian: ჩერქეზეთი, Arabic: شيركاسيا[2]) is a region and historical country in the North Caucasus and along the northeast shore of the Black Sea. It is the ancestral homeland of the Circassian people.

Name

The name Circassia is a Latinisation of Cherkess, the Turkic name for the Adyghe people, and originated in the 15th century with medieval Genoese merchants and travellers to Circassia.[3][4] The name Cherkess is traditionally applied to the Adyghe by neighbouring Turkic peoples (principally Crimean Tatars[5] and Ottoman Turks[6]).

Another historical name for the country was Zyx of the Zygii. The Zygii have been described by the ancient Greek intellectual Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis but sources are contradictory and the name probably referred to western Chechen tribes.

At the end of the 15th century a detailed description of Circassia and of its inhabitants was made by Genoese traveler and ethnographer Giorgio Interiano.[7]

Geography

Map of the expulsion of Circassians to the Ottoman Empire.

Circassia is located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Before the Russian conquest of the Caucasus (1763–1864), it covered the entire fertile plateau and the steppe of the northwestern region of the Caucasus, with an estimated population of between 3 to 4 million.

Circassia’s historical great range extended from the Taman Peninsula in the west, to the town of Mozdok in today’s North Ossetia–Alania in the east. Historically, Circassia covered the southern half of today’s Krasnodar Krai, the Republic of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and parts of North Ossetia–Alania and Stavropol Krai, bounded by the Kuban River on the north which separated it from the Russian Empire.

Sochi is considered by many Circassians as their traditional capital city.[8] According to Circassians, the 2014 Winter Olympic village is built in an area of mass graves of Circassians after their defeat by the Russians in 1864.[9]

History

Population

Under Russian and Soviet rule, ethnic and tribal divisions between Circassians (and other peoples) were promoted, resulting in several different statistical names being used for various parts of the Circassian people (Adyghes, Cherkess, Kabardins, Shapsugs). Consequently, there is an effort among Circassians to unite under the name Circassian (Adyghe) in Russian Censuses to reflect and revive the concept of the Circassian nation. The majority of the diaspora already tends to call itself "Circassian".

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Circassia.

References

  1. http://aheku.org/ (Russian)
  2. http://www.circassianews.com/ (Arabic)
  3. Latham, R. G. Descriptive Ethnology. London, J. Van Voorst, 1859. P. 50.
  4. Latham, R. G. Elements of Comparative Philology. London, Walton and Maberly, 1862. P. 279.
  5. Taitbout, De Marigny. Three Voyages in the Black Sea to the Coast of Circassia. London, 1837. Pp. 5-6.
  6. Guthrie, William, James Ferguson, and John Knox. A New Geographical, Historical and Commercial Grammar and Present State of the Several Kingdoms of the World ... Philadelphia, Johnson & Warner, 1815. P. 549.
  7. Biblioteca Italiana.Vita de' Zichi chiamati Ciarcassi di G. Interiano (Latin)
  8. Home thoughts from abroad: Circassians mourn the past—and organise for the future. The Economist. 2012-05-26.
  9. Spelen zijn op massagraven. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting 2014-02-03[
  10. Рашид ад-Дин. Сборник летописей. М.-Л., 1952. Т. 2. С. 39
  11. Колли Л. Кафа в период владения ею банком св. Георгия (1454—1475) // Известия Таврической Ученой Архивной комиссии. № 47. Симферополь, 1912. С. 86
  12. Kressel R. Ph. The Administration of Caffa under the Uffizio di San Giorgio. University of Wisconsin, 1966. P. 396
  13. "World: Europe Circassians flee Kosovo conflict". BBC News. 1998-08-02. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  14. "N.J. Circassians join international group to protest Winter Olympics in Russia". NJ.com.

Bibliography