The Adygs are one of the most ancient peoples of the 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.

Adygs(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.

The Hutts and Kaskis are, according to many authoritative scientists (both domestic and foreign), one of the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, as evidenced by numerous monuments of material culture, linguistic similarities, way of life, traditions and customs, religious beliefs, toponymy and much more. etc.

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 Maykop 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 Kasks, or Kashki, in ancient Assyrian written sources the Kashki (Adygs) and 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.

In addition to linguistic kinship, the closeness of the Hutt 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 Hutt myths and some heroic stories. Nart epic Abkhaz-Adyghe. Experts point out that the ancient name of the people “Khatti” is still preserved in the name of one of the Adyghe tribes, the Khatukaevs (Khyetykuey). 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 are related peoples are examples from place names. Thus, in Trebizond (modern Turkey) and further in the north-west along the Black Sea coast, a number of ancient and modern names of places, rivers, ravines, etc., left by the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, were noted, which was noted by many famous scientists, in in particular, N.Ya.Marr. The names of the Abkhaz-Adyghe type in this territory include, for example, the 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 millennia 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 - the most ancient ancestors of the 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 by specialists in the history and culture of the Hutts eloquently indicates the large role 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 the ancient era (8th - 6th millennium BC) cultural centers of the productive economy were formed here. It was from this period that the Hutts began to grow many cereal plants (barley, wheat), breed different kinds livestock. Scientific research in recent years irrefutably proves 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 living 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 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 terms of their 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 government system of 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 goal These numerous trainings were aimed at developing the horses' endurance necessary for military purposes.

The Hutts played a huge role in the establishment of the institution of diplomacy in history international relations, in creation and use 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 Hattians in the northeast of Asia Minor were numerous warlike tribes - the Kaskis, or Kashkis, known in Hittite, Assyrian, and Urartian historical sources during 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 political history 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 (Kashaki) of ancient Georgian chronicles, Kashak - Arabic sources, Kasog - Old 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 is occupied by the Sindo-Meotian era. 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 archaeological excavations, carried out in various periods in the territory of the North Caucasus, indicate the proximity of the Sinds and Maeots and the fact that their territory and 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 Caucasus scholars who devoted many years to studying the ancient period of the 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 its predecessors, on the 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 jewelry: 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 clan 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 writing.

In addition to the above monuments of the ancient Sinds, we find a lot of interesting things in their culture. These are also 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, in large quantities Non-local jewelry items were also discovered, which indicates the development of trade between the Sindians and Meotians with the peoples of Egypt, Syria, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, etc.

Sindian cities became centers of political and cultural life. 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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Engels F. Origin of the family, private property and the state // K. Marx and F. Engels. Op. T. 21

Engels F. The role of labor in the process of transformation of a monkey into a man // K. Marx and F. Engels. Op. T. 20

The Adygs are one of the most ancient peoples of the North Caucasus. The closest, related peoples to them are the Abkhazians, Abazins and Ubykhs. Adygs, Abkhazians, Abazins, Ubykhs in ancient times constituted a single group of tribes, and their ancient ancestors were the Hutts,

helmets, Sindo-Meotian tribes. About 6 thousand years ago, the ancient ancestors of the Circassians and Abkhazians occupied a vast territory from Asia Minor to modern Chechnya and Ingushetia. In that distant era, this vast space was inhabited by related tribes who were at different levels of their development.

Adygs (Adyghe) is the self-name of modern Kabardians (currently numbering more than 500 thousand people), Circassians (about 53 thousand people), Adyghe people, i.e. Abadzekhs, Bzhedugs, Temirgoyevites, Zhaneevites, etc.

(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 are located in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories. In total, there are more than 600 thousand Circassians in the Russian Federation.

In addition, about 5 million Circassians live in Turkey. There are many Circassians 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 longer any speakers of it - the Ubykhs.

The Hutts and Kaskis are, according to many authoritative scientists (both domestic and foreign), one of the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, as evidenced by numerous monuments of material culture, linguistic similarities, way of life, traditions and customs, religious beliefs, toponymy and much more. etc.

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.

The direct relationship of the Abkhaz-Adygs with the civilization of Asia Minor, i.e., the Khatts, is evidenced by the world-famous archaeological Maykop culture dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. e., which developed in the North Caucasus, 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 are monumental stone tombs - dolmens. Numerous studies by scientists prove that the carriers of the Maikop 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 Abkhazian word “adamra” (ancient grave houses). Although the dolmen culture is associated with the ancient Abkhaz-Adyghe ethnic group, it is believed that the tradition of building dolmens itself 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. e. distant ancestors of today's Basques, whose language and culture are quite close to the Abkhaz-Adyghe (about dolmens

we talked 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, the meaning of many words was established and revealed some features of the grammatical structure of the Hutt language. All this made it possible to establish the relationship between Khatt and Abkhaz-Adyghe

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

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 Kasks, or Kashki, in ancient Assyrian written sources the Kashki (Adygs) and 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.

In addition to linguistic kinship, 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 the similarity of the Hatti myths with some plots of the heroic Nart epic of the Abkhaz-Adyghe. Experts point out that the ancient name of the people “Hatti” is still preserved in the name of one of the Adyghe tribes, the Khatukaevs (Khyetykuey). Numerous Adyghe surnames are also associated with the ancient self-name of the Hutts, such as Khete (Khata), Kheetkue (Khatko), Khetu (Hatu), Khetai (Khatai), Khetykuey (Khatuko), KheetIohushchokue (Atazhukin), etc. The name of the Hutts should also be correlated the name of the organizer, master of ceremonies of the Adyghe ritual dances and games “hytyyakIue” (khatiyako), 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 are related peoples are examples from toponymy. Thus, in Trebizond (modern Turkey) and further in the northwest along the Black Sea coast, a number of ancient and modern names of places, rivers, ravines, etc., left by the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs, were noted, which was noted by many famous scientists, in in particular N. Ya. Marr. The names of the Abkhaz-Adyghe type in this territory include, for example, the 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 Caucasian experts 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. e. in the northeastern sector of Asia Minor, and they were related by common origin to the Hutts. Another authoritative orientalist, 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 and Kaskas, who lived in Asia Minor several millennia BC. e.,

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. Occupying a vast territory (from Asia Minor to modern Chechnya and Ingushetia), numerous related tribes - the most ancient ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs - could not be at the same level of development. Alone

moved forward in the economy, political arrangement and culture; others lagged behind the first, but these related tribes could not develop without the mutual influence of cultures, their way of life, etc.

Scientific research by specialists in the history and culture of the Hutts eloquently testifies to the role 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 (8th–6th millennium BC) cultural centers of the productive economy were formed here. It is with

During this period, the Hutts began to grow many cereals (barley, wheat) and raise various types of livestock. Scientific research in recent years irrefutably proves that it was the Hutts who first received iron, and it came from them to the rest of the peoples of the planet.

Back in the 3rd–2nd millennium BC. e. 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 (East Semites of Asia Minor - K.U.) traders showed particular interest in another metal that was in great demand: it cost 40 times more than silver and 5-8 times more than gold. This metal was iron. The inventors of the method of smelting it from ore were the Hutts. Hence this method of obtaining iron

spread to Western Asia, and then to Eurasia as a whole. The export of iron outside Anatolia was apparently prohibited. This circumstance may explain the repeated cases of its smuggling, described in a number of texts.

The tribes that lived over a vast area (up to the modern territory of settlement of the Abkhaz-Adygs) 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 the Hittites, but they themselves called themselves Nesites. By

In terms of 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. Huts played a significant role in education in the 2nd millennium BC. e. powerful Hittite kingdom, in the formation of its

political system. For example, the government system of 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 Hatti title Tavananna (cf. the Adyghe word “nana” - “grandmother, mother”) (the woman had the same enormous influence in everyday life and in the sphere of culture. - 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 combat use of chariots in Anatolia is found in

the oldest Hittite text of Anitta. It says that for 1,400 infantrymen in the army there were 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 the history of international relations, in the creation and use of a regular army. Many tactical techniques during 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 of the planet were the Hutts. All these and other achievements of the Khatts - the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs - could not pass without a trace. Nearest

The neighbors of the Hutts in the northeast of Asia Minor were numerous warlike tribes - the Kaskis, or Kashki, known in Hittite, Assyrian, and Urartian historical sources during the 2nd and early 1st millennium BC. e. They lived along the southern coast of the Black Sea from the mouth of the river. Galis 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. e. they managed to create a powerful alliance 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 develop at one time (at the beginning of the 16th century BC)

destroy Hatusa. Already by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the casques had permanent settlements and fortresses, they were engaged in agriculture and transhumance. True, according to Hittite sources, until the middle of the 17th century. BC e. they did not yet have centralized royal power. But already at the end of the 17th century. BC e. 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, in the opinion

scientists (G. A. Menekeshvili, G. G. Giorgadze, N. M. Dyakova, Sh. D. Inal-Ipa, etc.) that they were related in language to the Khatts. On the other hand, the tribal names of the Kasques, known from Hittite and Assyrian texts,

many scientists associate it with the Abkhaz-Adyghe. Thus, the very name kaska (kashka) is compared with the ancient name of the Circassians - kasogi (kashagi, kashaki) - ancient Georgian chronicles, kashak - Arabic sources, kasog - 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. e. 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. e. significantly expanded their 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 and Igushetia. 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 is occupied by the Sindo-Meotian era. The fact is that most of the Meotian tribes occupied vast territories in the Early Iron Age

Northwestern Caucasus, river basin area. Kuban. Ancient ancient authors knew them under the general collective name Meota. 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, they also included the Fatei, Psessians, Dandarii, Doskhs, Kerkets, etc. All of them, under the general name “Meots”, are one of the ancestors of the Circassians. The ancient name of the Sea of ​​Azov is Meotida. Lake Meotia is directly related to the Meotians.

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 their territory and related tribes have been in the territory since the 3rd millennium BC. e. spread to Chechnya and Ingushetia. In addition, it has been proven that the physical type of the Sindo-Meotian tribes does not belong to the Scythian-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 Sinds 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. e. 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 e. 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 carving 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 gardening has preserved more than 10 of their names.

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 him, a significant leap occurred in the development of agriculture, crafts, and the entire way of life of the ancient peoples. Iron has been firmly established in the North Caucasus since the 8th century. BC e. Among the peoples of the North Caucasus who began to receive and use iron, the Sinds were among the first. About

One of the largest Caucasian scholars, who devoted many years to studying the ancient period of the 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 (they were the ancestors of the Circassians - K.U.), in mainly prevalent in the 1st millennium BC. e., all his high skill

could only be developed on the basis of the rich experience of their predecessors, on the previously created material and technical base. Such a basis in this case was the material culture of the tribes that lived in the central part of the North Caucasus back in the Bronze Age, in the 2nd millennium BC. e." And these tribes were 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 at a high level among them There was also trade. In particular, evidence of exchange with other countries is various jewelry: 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 writing to manage their economy and express their ideology. 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 system that these and other peoples developed writing. Research by specialists has shown that the ancient Sinds also developed their own, albeit largely primitive, writing during the period of military democracy. Thus, in the places where most of the Sindo-Meotian tribes lived, more than 300 clay tiles were found. They were 14–16 cm long and 10–12 cm wide, about 2 cm thick; made from raw clay, well dried, but not fired. The signs on the slabs are mysterious and very diverse. Ancient Sindic expert Yu. S. Krushkol 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 unfired tiles of Assyrian-Babylonian writing confirms that they are monuments of writing.

A significant number of these tiles were found under the mountains. Krasnodar, in one of the areas inhabited by the ancient Sinds. In addition to the Krasnodar tiles, scientists of the North Caucasus discovered another remarkable monument of ancient writing - the Maykop inscription. It dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. e. 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 is 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 the letters No. 37 of the Phoenician and Maikop writing and 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. e. 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 time period from the 3rd millennium BC, should be considered a particularly great achievement of the culture of the Sindo-Meotian tribes in ancient times. e. to the 6th century BC e.

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. The Sinds had a custom during burial to sprinkle 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 dyg'e, tyg'e - “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 the immortality of the soul is confirmed by the skeletons of male and female slaves found in the graves of their masters. One of the significant periods of Ancient Syndica is the V century. BC e. 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 that time, animal husbandry and agriculture have become widespread in Sindik. Culture reaches a high level; Trade and economic ties with many peoples, including the Greeks, are expanding.

Second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. 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. n. e. during the reign of 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 relationships the Bosporan kings were, in particular Sitir I, who reigned from 433 (432) to 389 (388) BC. e., with local tribes - Sindians and Meotians. 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; it intensified after the Greek colonization of the Sind 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 e. more than thirty, from which the Bosporan kingdom was actually formed. 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.

Sindian cities became centers of political and cultural life. 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. The facts indicate that they created a unique, original material and spiritual culture. These are original jewelry and musical instruments, these are high-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 by no less than external factors. From the 2nd century n. e. There is a strong onslaught of Sarmatians in 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 Tanais, one of the northern cities of the Black Sea region, which was defeated in the 40s, was attacked by the Goths. 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-Maeotian 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, Europe, and primarily the Northern Black Sea region, was invaded by the Huns, Turkic, and Asian tribes. 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 Sindo-Meotian 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.

Questions and tasks

1. Why do we call the primitive communal system the Stone Age?

2. What stages is it divided into? stone Age?

3. Explain the essence of the Neolithic revolution.

4. Explain the features of the Bronze Age and Iron Age.

5. Who were the Hutts and Kaskis and where did they live?

6. Who is the creator and bearer of the Maykop and dolmen cultures?

7. List the names of the Sindo-Meotian tribes.

8. Show on the map the territory of settlement of the Sindomeotic tribes in the 3rd – 1st millennium BC. e.

9. When was the Sindh slave state created?

“In Greek and Latin, the Circassians callThey are called “Zikhs”, and in their own language their name is “Adyge”.

GeorgInteriano

Italian traveler XVV.

The origin of the Adyghe goes back to the times oflen... their chivalrous feelings, their morals are patriarchaltheir purity, their strikingly beautiful features place them undoubtedly to the first rank of the free peoples of the Caucasus.”

Fr. Bodenstedt

Die Volker des Kaukasus und ihre Freiheitskampfe gegen die Russen, Paris, 1859, S. 350.

“Based on what I have seen, I must considerto describe the Circassians, taken en masse, as the people mostbest-bred I've ever seen orwhich I have read anything about."

James Stanislaus Bell

Journal of a Residence in Circassia During the Years 1837, 1838, 1839, Paris, 1841, p. 72.

“Courage, intelligence, remarkable beauty: nature isgave everything, and what I especially admired in their character was the cold and noble dignity that neverwas not refuted and which they combined with feelingsmost chivalrous and with ardent love of national freedom."

M-me Hommaire de Hell

VoyagedansIesSteppesdelamerCaspienne et dans la Russie meridionale, 2 eed., Paris, 1868, p. 231.

“Circassian nobly represents the latestthe remnants of that knightly and warlike spirit thatwho shed so much brilliance on the peoples of the Middle Ages.”

L. s., r. 189.

I. Background

“The historical past of the people, character and peculiaritiesthe features of its centuries-old culture determine thethe coefficient of scientific interest in this people and their culture. In this sense, the Circassians are verya wonderful object for researchers of the history of Kavka-for history in general and cultural history in particular. They belong to the oldest main population of the Caucasus andthe primary inhabitants of Europe."

The oldest period of the Stone Age (Paleolithic) ha-characterized in Circassia by the burial of the dead with bent knees and covering them with ocher, and the end of the Neolithic by the presence of megaliths - dolmens and menhirs. There are more than 1,700 dolmens here. Their character, foundthey contain inventory (Maikop, Tsarskaya village, now No-free, Kostroma, Vozdvizhenskaya, etc.) in the eracopper brings them closer to the Thuringian, so-called Schnurkeramik Zivilisation . EthnicityThe builders of dolmens are still unknown. It is easier to identify the authors of a newer era in the Kuban - the Bronze Age. This culture completely coincides with the Danube,which is called Band Ceramics . Almost all archaeologists this is attributed to Band Keramik Thracians and Illyrianspeople who inhabited the Danube basin, the Balkans, the AncientGreece and a significant part of Asia Minor (Troy, Phrygia,Bithynia, Mysia, etc.).

Historical data confirms the language of archaeologicalgy: ancient Circassian tribes bear Thracian namesand are found in the Balkans.

It is also known that ancient Circassia constitutes the mainnew Bosphorus kingdom around the Kerch Strait,bore the name “Cimmerian Bosphorus”, and kimme-the rians are considered by many ancient authors alsoThracian tribe.

II. Ancient history

According to scientists, the ancient history of the Circassiansbegins with the period of the Bosphorus Kingdom, formingwhich took place shortly after the collapse of the Cimmerian Empire around 720 BC . under the pressure of the Scythians.

According to Diodorus Siculus, at first they ruledBosphorus "old princes" with the capital Phanagoria, near Taman. But the real dynasty is founded in 438 BC R. X . Spartok, originally from the "old princes". Thracianthe name Spartok is a completely normal phenomenon in fraCo-Cimmerian character of the local population.

The power of the Spartokids was not immediately established at all times.village of Circassia. Levkon I (389-349) is called “kingdom”warring" over the Sinds, Torets, Dandars and Psessians. Under Perisad I (344-310), son of Leukon I, list of sub- the power of the king of the peoples of ancient Circassia is done her: Perisad I bears the title of king of the Sinds, Maits (Meots) and Fatei.

In addition, one inscription from the Taman Peninsulaemphasizes that Perisad I ruled all the lands betweenthe extreme borders of the Tauri and the borders of the Caucasianlands, i.e. Maits (including Fatei), as well as Sinds (in theirincluding the Kerkets, Torets, Psseses and other Circassian tribes na) constituted the main population of the Bosphorus kingdom. Only the southern coastal Circassians: Achaeans, Heniokhs andSanigs are not mentioned in the inscriptions, but in any casein the era of Strabo, they were also part of the kingdom, while retaining their princes, the “Sceptuchi.” Howeverother Circassian tribes retained their autonomy and had their own princes, such as the Sinds and Dardans. In general, the Sinds occupied special place in the kingdom. Auto-their role was so broad that they had their own currency coin with the inscription "Sindoi". In general, judging by coins of the cities of the Bosphorus, ancient Circassia usedmonetary unity.

Next to the king - archon, with autonomous princesCircassia, with a legate in Tanais (at the mouth of the Don), urbanmanagement indicates the high development of bosphorussky society. At the head of the city was the mayor,representative of the central government, and a board, somethinglike a city council.

The social structure of the Bosphorus kingdom is a high level of development with an enlightened monarchy, with administrative decentralization, with well-organizedcalled merchant unions, served with the aristocracyloy and business, with a healthy agricultural population. Never has Circassia prospered so culturally and economically.mitically, as during the Spartokids in IV and III centuries. BC Kings The Bosphorus was not inferior in splendor and wealth to modern onesto them monarchs. The country represented the last outpostAegean civilization in the northeast.

All trade in the Sea of ​​Azov and a significant parttrade in the Black Sea was in the hands of the Bosporus Panticapaeum on the Kerch Peninsula served as the main port for import, and Phanagoria and other cities of Circassiancoastlines were mainly exported. South of Tsemez(Sundzhuk-Kale) export items included: fabrics,famous in the ancient world, honey,wax, hemp, wood for building ships and dwellings, furs,leather, wool, etc. Ports north of Tsemez exportedmainly grain, fish, etc. Here in the country of the Maitsthere was a granary that fed Greece. Average exportit reached 210,000 hectoliters in Attica, i.e. halfthe bread she needs.

Another source of wealth for the Bosphorian-Circassiansthere was fishing. To the east of the Sea of ​​Azov there werefish salting centers and wholesale warehouses.

Along with this, industry was also developed, especially the production of ceramics, bricks and tiles.The items imported from Athens were wine, olivecow oil, luxury goods and jewelry.

French consul in Crimea Peysonel (1750-1762) writes that the ancient Circassians did not engage inonly cattle breeding, arable farming and fishing, but they also had developed gardening, horticulture, beekeepingfarming and handicraft production in the form of blacksmithingbusiness, saddlery, tailoring, cloth making,Buroks, leather, jewelry, etc.

The economic level of the inhabitants of Circassia will be discussed later.Today is evidenced by the size of the trade that they conducted with the outside world. Average annual exportfrom Circassia only through the ports of Taman and Kaplu was:80-100 thousand centners of wool, 100 thousand pieces of cloth, 200thousand ready-made buroks, 50 - 60 thousand ready-made trousers, 5-6thousand ready-made Circassians, 500 thousand sheep skins, 50 - 60 thousand. rawhide, 200 thousand pairs of bull horns. Then he walkedfur goods: 100 thousand wolf skins, 50 thousand cow skinsnykh, 3 thousand bear skins, 200 thousand pairs of boar tusks; beekeeping products: 5-6 thousand centners good-go and 500 centners of cheap honey, 50 - 60 thousand okka wax, etc.

Import into Circassia also testified to the highstandard of living. Silk and paper fabrics, velvet, blankets, bath towels, linen, threads,paints, rouge and whitewash, as well as perfumes and incense, morocco,paper, gunpowder, gun barrels, spices, etc.

Let us note by the way that English traveler EdMund Spencer, who visited Circassia in the first quarterlast century, and comparing it with the ancient one, he writes that in Anapa there were more than 400 stores, 20 largewood warehouses, 16 grain dumps, etc. In addition to black-kesov, Turks, Armenians, Greeks, Genoese lived here, 50Lyaks, 8 Jews, 5 French, 4 Englishmen. Every year inMore than 300 large ships visited the port of Anapaforeign flags. About the size of trade in the citycould be judged at least by the annual sale of canvas,which was sold annually in the amount of 3,000,000 piastres,of which 2,000,000 came from England. It is typical that the total amount of trade turnover in Circassiawith Russia did not exceed 30,000 rubles at that time. It is forbiddenforget also that trade with foreign countries was not carried outonly through Anapa, but also through other ports, such as Ozersk, Atshimsha, Pshat, Tuapse.

Since the time of Satur I the Greeks used the Bosphorusspecial benefits, but the Bosphorians also had in Athensits advantages. In parallel with trade relationsCultural ties between both countries also developed.Ancient Circassians participated in olympic games VGreece, in the festivals of Panathenaic and were crowned inAthens with a golden crown. The Athenians awarded honorary citizenship to a number of Bosphorus kings; at public meetingsnyahs of the golden crown (So crowned with goldenthe crowns were Levkon I, Spartok II and Perisad). Leukon and Perisades entered the Greek gallery of famous statesmen.dedicatory husbands and their names were mentioned in Greek schools.

By the end of the 2nd century BC . Bosphorus enters the stripcrises caused by pressure from the Scythians, usjust that Perisad I had to hand over my crownMithridates the Great (114 or 113 BC) X.). From this moment the Roman period of the Bosphorus reign beginsva. The kings of the latter seek the protection of Rome, but the populationhostile to foreign interference in its affairs. SomeThe first Circassian tribes: Heniokhs, Sanigs and Zikhi depend from Rome of the era of Hadrian.

Around the middle of the 3rd century. after R. X . Germanic tribesHeruls and Goths or Borans invade the Bosporus kingdom quality

Circassia's nominal connection with Rome continued even when Byzantium took its place.

During the Greek and Roman periods, the religion of the ancientsCircassians was Thraco-Greek. In addition to the cults of Apolloon, Poseidon, especially the lunar goddess, etc., byread the great goddess mother (like the Phrygians Cybele),and the thunder god is the supreme god, corresponding to the Greek Zeus.

It is interesting to note that the Circassians revered:Tlepsh - God the blacksmith; Psethe - God of life; Thagolej - God of fertility; Amish - God of animals; Mazythe - God of the forests Trakho R. Literature about Circassia and the Circassians, “Bulletin of the Instituteon the Study of the USSR", No. 1 (14), Munich, 1955, p. 97.

The author does not touch here on the prehistoric era, traces of which were found in the Kuban, since there is a fundamental labor - Fr. Hancar, Urgeschichte Kaukasiens, Wien, Verlag v. Anton Schroll & Co.; Leipzig, Verlag Heinrich Keller clothed the tent he erected on the top of Parnassus. This tent was stolen by Hercules from the Circassian Amazons, etc.

They also engaged in fishing and hunting. Local craft production developed, primarily ceramics. Trade relations were maintained with the countries of the Ancient East and the ancient world. The main population of the Kuban and Azov regions in the first millennium BC. e. was in the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system, but the Meotian tribes did not reach the formation of a state. The level of development was significantly higher among the Sind tribes, which already in ancient times experienced the process of formation of class relations. The offensive policy of the slave-owning Bosporan kingdom led in the 4th century. BC e. to the loss of independence of the Sinds and their subordination to the Bosporus. In the first centuries A.D. e. the largest tribe that occupied a significant territory of the Black Sea coast were the Zikhs.

In the III-X centuries. ancient tribal names in the North-West Caucasus are gradually disappearing. Already in e. The Circassians become known under the name "Zikhi". The process of formation of the Adyghe people was complicated by numerous ethnic mixtures and external cultural influences. In ancient times, the Scythians played a certain role in the formation of the Adyghe people, and in the early Middle Ages - the Alans. The invasion of the Huns, who defeated the Bosporus, delayed the development of the tribes of the Kuban region.

During the VI-X centuries. Byzantium extends its political influence to the Circassians and instills Christianity among them. The Adygs entered into early communication with the Slavs.

In the 10th century, the Adygs occupied vast territories from the Taman Peninsula in the west to Abkhazia in the south. It was at this time that they entered into trade and economic relations with Russia through Tmutarakan. It was the closest and most important shopping center. However, these connections were broken at the beginning of the 13th century. Tatar-Mongol invasion. The Adygs became part of the Golden Horde, although they did not completely obey it and led stubborn resistance against the Tatar conquerors.

In Russian chronicles they are known as "kosogov". The Adygs were members of the squad of the Chernigov-Tmutarakan prince Mstislav and took part in campaigns (11th century). In the early Middle Ages, the Circassians and Abkhazians even had their own episcopal sees and dioceses. In the spread of Christianity among the Circassians, in addition to Tmutarakan, Georgia also played a significant role. As a result of the fall of Byzantium and the Georgian feudal kingdom of the Bagratids, as a result of the expansionist policies of Turkey and its vassal Crimean Khanate, Christianity in the Western Caucasus fell into complete decline. Tatar-Mongol invasion in the 13th century slowed down the formation of the Adyghe people. Starting around the 13th century. to the 14th century The Circassians are in the process of establishing early feudal relations. Among a number of Adyghe tribes, the princely elite of the “pshi” stood out, which sought to convert free peasants into dependence. Since the 14th century In Russian chronicles, the name of the Circassians "Cherkassy", apparently borrowed from the Tatars from the Georgians, appears, later taking the form "Circassians". This word possibly comes from the name of one of the ancient tribes - the Kerkets.

The exhausting centuries-long struggle with the Golden Horde, and later with the Crimean Khanate and Turkey, had a serious impact on the economic and cultural development of the Circassians. From historical sources, legends, and songs it is clear that the Turkish Sultan and the Crimean khans waged a war of aggression against the Circassians for more than two centuries. As a result of this war, some tribes, for example, the Khagaki, were completely exterminated, while others, such as the Tapsevians, constituted only an insignificant tribe among the Shapsugs.

A new stage in the relationship between the Circassians and Russia begins in the mid-16th century. during the time of Ivan the Terrible during the period when the Russian centralized state was taking shape. Some Adyghe tribes more than once turned to Moscow for support against the Crimean khans. At the end of the 18th century. The Crimean Khanate was destroyed. Cossacks, immigrants from the Don, settled along the right bank of the middle reaches of the Kuban River. In 1791 - 1793 The right bank of the lower reaches of the Kuban River was occupied by people from Zaporozhye, who were called the Black Sea Cossacks. The Russian-Ukrainian population turned out to be the immediate neighbor of the Circassians. Russian cultural influence on the Circassians in the field of economy and everyday life has greatly increased.

In the 16th century and the first half of the 19th century. Adygea was a country with a semi-feudal, semi-patriarchal structure. The economic system of society was already determined by the dominance of feudal relations. These relations did not lead to the unification of the scattered Adyghe lands into a single state whole, but they contributed to the development of external relations, the improvement of the internal economy, especially Agriculture. Its leading industry was animal husbandry for meat and dairy production. As before, field farming occupied second place among the Circassians after livestock farming. The oldest grain crops of the Circassians were millet and barley.

Attaching great importance to Russian-Adyghe ties in the interests of strengthening the southern borders of the Russian state, Ivan IV in 1561 married the daughter of the Kabardian prince Temryuk Idarov Kuchenei. In Moscow she was baptized and became the Russian Tsarina Maria. Repeatedly, through diplomatic and military measures, Russia provided assistance to the Circassians in the fight against their enemies.

In the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. The Circassians made up the main population of two territorial-political entities of the Caucasus - Circassia and Kabarda. Circassia covered a vast expanse of land from the Northwestern tip of the Main Caucasus Range to the middle reaches of the Urup River. In the north, the border ran along the Kuban River from the very mouth to its confluence with the Laba River. The southwestern border of Circassia stretches along the Black Sea coast from the Tamanidorek Shah. Kabarda in the first half of the 19th century. was located in the Terek River basin, approximately from the Malka River in the west and northwest to the Sunzha River in the east, and was divided into Bolshaya and Malaya. In the 18th century, its borders reached the west of the upper reaches of the river. Kuban.

The Adygs at that time were divided into a number of ethnic groups, the largest of which were Shapsugs, Abadzekhs, Natukhais, Temirgoyevts, Bzhedugs, Kabardians, Besleneevtsy, Khatukaytsy, Makhoshevtsy, Yegerukhayevtsy and Zheneevtsy. The total number of Circassians reached 700-750 thousand people. Agriculture and livestock farming remained the leading sectors of the Circassian economy. The ratio of their specific gravity was determined by geographic, soil and climatic conditions.

Since 1717, the Islamization of the Caucasian mountaineers was elevated to the rank of state policy of the Ottoman Empire, carried out by Davlet-Girsem and Kyzy-Girey. The penetration of the new religion into the Circassians was associated with considerable difficulties. Only at the end of the 18th century. Islam has taken deep roots in the North Caucasus. In 1735, on the instructions of the Sultan, the Crimean army again invaded Kabarda, which marked the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war. The peace treaty signed by Russia and the Ottoman Empire in Iasi at the end of 1791 confirmed the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty.

Crimea and Kabarda were recognized as Russian possessions. In the 30s XIX century Tsarist Russia began to create military posts on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, which in 1839 were combined into a coastline. The Black Sea coastline brought terrible disasters Adygham In October 1853, the Crimean War began, in which Russia was opposed by England, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. Eviction of the highlanders to the Ottoman Empire - last page Chronicles of the Caucasian War. Hundreds of thousands of highlanders who became victims of cold political calculation Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire, left their homeland. In May 1864, the last pockets of resistance of the highlanders on the Black Sea coast were eliminated. The bloody war is over. The Caucasian War cost the mountaineers tens of thousands of dead, hundreds of thousands excommunicated from their homeland.

In 1864, the Trans-Kuban Circassians were included in the administrative and political system of the Russian Empire.

The path to the proclamation of the Republic of Adygea as part of the Russian Federation was difficult and complex. On April 8, 1920, a special section for Muslim affairs was created under the subdivision for national affairs of the Kuban Regional Administration department. The section was faced with the task of mediating between the authorities and the population, carrying out explanatory work among the mountain population, in particular among the Circassian highlanders of the Maykop, Ekaterinodar, Batalpashinsky departments and the Tuapse district, where more than 100 thousand people of the indigenous population lived. On July 21, 1920, the Military Council of the IX Red Army and the Kuban-Black Sea Revolutionary Committee issued an order to form a temporary mountain section under the board department of the Kubcherrevkom, which carried out a lot of organizational work to convene the first congress of the highlanders of the Kuban and Black Sea region. At this congress, the Mountain Executive Committee was created from representatives of the working Circassians of the Kuban and Black Sea region with rights equal to the provincial executive committees to manage the mountain population with its horizontal subordination to the regional executive committee and vertically to the People's Commissariat of Nationalities. The III Mountain Congress (December 7-12) in Krasnodar decided to create the Mountain District Executive Committee of the Kuban and Black Sea Region and instructed it to develop the issue of separating the highlanders of the Kuban and Black Sea Region into an autonomous region. On July 27, 1922, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a resolution on the formation of the Circassian (Adyghe) Autonomous Region. On August 24, 1922, it was then renamed the Adygei (Circassian) Autonomous Region. From that time on, the Kuban Circassians began to be officially called Adyghe.

The proclamation of the autonomy of Adygea gave the Adyghe people the opportunity to create their own national state formation, exercise their right to national self-determination, contributed to strengthening economic and political ties with more economically developed regions of the country, and developed the economic and cultural life of the people.

December 7-10, 1922 in a. In Khakurinokhabl, the 1st regional congress of the Soviets of Adygea took place, at which the executive committee of the Adygea (Circassian) Autonomous Region was elected. Shahan-Girei Hakurate became its chairman.

At the request of this congress, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR in May 1923 approved the commission’s conclusion on establishing the borders of the Adygea Autonomous Region. Thus, according to this conclusion, the Adyghe region was divided into two districts: Psekunsky and Farsky. After this, the boundaries of the region changed several times. In 1924, five districts were created within Adygea. The regional center was Krasnodar. On April 10, 1936, by resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Maykop became the center of the Adygea Autonomous Region. According to the same resolution, the Giaginsky district and the Khansky village council were included in Adygea. However, according to the Constitution of the RSFSR, the Adygea Autonomous Region, like other such national-autonomous entities, was part of the region (in this case ~ Krasnodar).

On July 3, 1991, at a joint meeting of the Russian Parliament, a Law was adopted on the transformation of the Adygea Autonomous Region into a republic that is part of the RSFSR.

In the modern socio-political and economic situation, increasing the state-legal status of the Adyghe Autonomous Region contributes to the realization of not only the national needs of the people with whose name the creation of autonomy is associated, but also the economic and cultural potential of the republic for the benefit of all peoples living on its territory. Life has shown that the region cannot develop further without independent vital management structures. This became especially noticeable during the transition to market relations.

Thus, the Republic of Adygea today is one of the subjects of the Russian Federation, that is, it voluntarily became part of the Russian Federation on the basis of signing the Federal Treaty. According to Article 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Adygea, the sovereignty of the republic extends to its entire territory. It has full state power, except for the rights it voluntarily delegates to Russia on the basis of concluded treaties. Adygea became a republic (within the Russian Federation) in 1991. The President of the Republic and the State Council - Khase were elected, and the Cabinet of Ministers was formed. The first President of the republic is Aslan Alievich Dzharimov.

Circassians (the self-name of the Adygs) are the oldest inhabitants of the North-West Caucasus, whose history, according to many Russian and foreign researchers, goes back centuries, to the Age of Stone.

As Gleason's Illustrated Magazine noted in January 1854, “Their history is so long that, with the exception of China, Egypt and Persia, the history of any other country is but a tale of yesterday. The Circassians have a striking feature: they have never lived under external domination. The Adygs were defeated, they were driven into the mountains, suppressed by superior force. But they never, even for a short time, obeyed anyone other than their own laws. And now they live under the rule of their leaders according to their own customs.

The Circassians are also interesting because they represent the only people on the surface of the globe who can trace an independent national history so far into the past. They are few in number, but their region is so important and their character so striking that the Circassians are well known to ancient civilizations. Mention of them is found in abundance in Geradotus, Varius Flaccus, Pomponius Mela, Strabo, Plutarch and other great writers. Their stories, legends, epics are a heroic tale of freedom, which they have maintained for at least the last 2,300 years in the face of the most powerful in human memory rulers."

The history of the Circassians (Adygs) is the history of their multilateral ethnocultural and political ties with the countries of the Northern Black Sea region, Anatolia and the Middle East. This vast space was their single civilizational space, interconnected within itself by millions of threads. At the same time, the bulk of this population, according to the results of research by Z.V. Anchabadze, I.M. Dyakonov, S.A. Starostin and other authoritative researchers of ancient history, for a long period was focused on the Western Caucasus.

The language of the Circassians (Adygs) belongs to the Western Caucasian (Adyghe-Abkhazian) group of the North Caucasian language family, whose representatives are recognized by linguists as the most ancient inhabitants of the Caucasus. Close connections of this language with the languages ​​of Asia Minor and Western Asia were discovered, in particular, with the now dead Huttian, whose speakers lived in this region 4-5 thousand years ago.

The most ancient archaeological realities of the Circassians (Adygs) in the North Caucasus are the Dolmen and Maikop cultures (3rd millennium BC), which adopted Active participation in the formation of the Adyghe-Abkhaz tribes. According to the famous scientist Sh.D. Inal-ipa, the distribution area of ​​dolmens, is basically the “original” homeland of the Circassians and Abkhazians. An interesting fact is that dolmens are found even on the territory of the Iberian Peninsula (mainly in the western part), the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. In this regard, archaeologist V.I. Markovin put forward a hypothesis about the fate of newcomers from the Western Mediterranean in the early ethnogenesis of the Circassians (Adygs) by merging with the Western Caucasian ancient population. He also considers the Basques (Spain, France) to be mediators of linguistic ties between the Caucasus and the Pyrenees.

Along with the Dolmen culture, the Maykop Early Bronze Culture was also widespread. It occupied the territory of the Kuban region and the Central Caucasus, i.e. region of settlement of the Circassians (Adygs) unchanged for thousands of years. Sh.D.Inal-ipa and Z.V. Anchabadze indicate that the collapse of the Adyghe-Abkhaz community began in the 2nd millennium BC. and ended by the end of the ancient era.

In the 3rd millennium BC, the Hittite civilization developed dynamically in Asia Minor, where the Adyghe-Abkhazians (North-Eastern part) were called Hutts. Already in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Hatti existed as a single Adyghe-Abkhaz state. Subsequently, part of the Hutts, who did not submit to the powerful Hittite Empire, formed the state of Kasku in the upper reaches of the Galis River (Kyzyl-Irmak in Turkey), the inhabitants of which retained their language and went down in history under the name kaskov (kashkov). Scientists compare the name of the helmets with the word that later various peoples used to call the Circassians - kashagi, kasogi, kasagi, kasahi etc. Throughout the existence of the Hittite Empire (1650-1500 to 1200 BC), the kingdom of Kasku was its irreconcilable enemy. It is mentioned in written sources until the 8th century. b.c.e.

According to L.I. Lavrov, there was also a close connection between the Northwestern Caucasus and Southern Ukraine and Crimea, which goes back to the pre-Scythian era. This territory was inhabited by a people called Cimmerians, which, according to the version of famous archaeologists V.D. Balavadsky and M.I. Artamonov, are the ancestors of the Circassians. V.P. Shilov considered the remnants of the Cimmerians Maeotians who were Adyghe-speaking. Taking into account the close interactions of the Circassians (Adygs) with the Iranian and Frankish peoples in the Northern Black Sea region, many scientists suggest that the Cimmerians were a heterogeneous union of tribes, which was based on the Adyghe-speaking substrate - the Cimmer tribe. The formation of the Cimmerian Union dates back to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC.

In the 7th century b.c.e. Numerous hordes of Scythians poured from Central Asia and attacked Cimmeria. The Scythians drove the Cimmerians west of the Don and into the Crimean steppes. They are preserved in the southern part of Crimea under the name brands, and east of the Don and in the Northwestern Caucasus under the collective name Meota. In particular, they included Sinds, Kerkets, Achaeans, Geniokhs, Sanigs, Zikhs, Psessians, Fatei, Tarpits, Doskhs, Dandarii and etc.

In the 6th century B.C. The ancient Adyghe state of Sindika was formed, which entered the 4th century. b.c.e. to the Bosporan kingdom. The Bosporan kings always relied in their policies on the Sindo-Maeotians, involved them in military campaigns, and married off their daughters to their rulers. The Maeotian region was the main producer of bread. According to foreign observers, the Sindo-Meotian era in the history of the Caucasus coincides with the era of antiquity in the 6th century. BC. – V century AD According to V.P. Shilov, the western border of the Meotian tribes was the Black Sea, the Kerch Peninsula and the Sea of ​​Azov, from the south the Caucasus Range. In the north, along the Don, they bordered on Iranian tribes. They also lived on the coast of the Azov Sea (Sindian Scythia). Their eastern border was the Laba River. Along the Sea of ​​Azov, a narrow strip was inhabited by the Meotians; nomads lived to the east. In the 3rd century. BC. According to a number of scientists, part of the Sindo-Meotian tribes entered the alliance of the Sarmatians (Siraks) and related Alans. In addition to the Sarmatians, the Iranian-speaking Scythians had a great influence on their ethnogenesis and culture, but this did not lead to the loss of the ethnic identity of the ancestors of the Circassians (Adygs). And the linguist O.N. Trubachev, based on his analysis of ancient toponyms, ethnonyms and personal names (anthroponyms) from the territory of distribution of the Sinds and other Meotians, expressed the opinion that they belong to the Indo-Aryans (proto-Indians), who allegedly remained in the North Caucasus after the departure of the bulk of them to the south. east in the second millennium BC.

Scientist N.Ya. Marr writes: “The Adygs, Abkhazians and a number of other Caucasian peoples belong to the Mediterranean “Japhetic” race, to which belonged the Elamites, Kassites, Chaldians, Sumerians, Urartians, Basques, Pelasgians, Etruscans and other dead languages ​​of the Mediterranean basin.” .

Researcher Robert Eisberg, having studied ancient Greek myths, came to the conclusion that the cycle of ancient tales about the Trojan War arose under the influence of Hittite tales about the struggle between their own and foreign gods. The mythology and religion of the Greeks were formed under the influence of the Pelasgians, related to the Khatts. To this day, historians are amazed by the related plots of ancient Greek and Adyghe myths, in particular, the similarity with the Nart epic draws attention.

Invasion of Alan nomads in the 1st-2nd centuries. forced the Meotians to leave for the Trans-Kuban region, where they, together with other Meotian tribes and tribes of the Black Sea coast who lived here, laid the foundations for the formation of the future Circassian (Adyghe) people. During the same period, the main elements of men’s costume, which later became common in the Caucasus, arose: Circassian coat, beshmet, leggings, and belt. Despite all the difficulties and dangers, the Meotians retained their ethnic independence, their language and the characteristics of their ancient culture.

In the IV – V centuries. The Meotians, like the Bosporus as a whole, experienced the onslaught of Turkic nomadic tribes, in particular the Huns. The Huns defeated the Alans and drove them to the mountains and foothills of the Central Caucasus, and then destroyed part of the cities and villages of the Bosporan kingdom. The political role of the Meotians in the North-West Caucasus came to naught, and their ethnic name disappeared in the 5th century. As well as the ethnonyms of the Sinds, Kerkets, Heniokhs, Achaeans and a number of other tribes. They are being replaced by one big name - Zikhia (zihi), the rise of which began in the 1st century AD. It is they, according to domestic and foreign scientists, who are beginning to play the main role in the unification process of the ancient Circassian (Adyghe) tribes. Over time, their territory expanded significantly.

Until the end of the 8th century AD. (early Middle Ages) the history of the Circassians (Adygs) is not deeply reflected in written sources and is studied by researchers based on the results of archaeological excavations that confirm the habitats of the Zikhs.

In the VI-X centuries. The Byzantine Empire, and from the beginning of the 15th century, the Genoese (Italian) colonies, had a serious political and cultural influence on the course of Circassian (Adyghe) history. However, as written sources of that time testify, the introduction of Christianity among the Circassians (Adygs) was not successful. The ancestors of the Circassians (Adygs) acted as a major political force in the North Caucasus. The Greeks, who occupied the eastern shore of the Black Sea long before the birth of Christ, passed on information about our ancestors, whom they generally call zyugami, and sometimes kerkets. Georgian chroniclers call them jihami, and the region is called Dzhikheti. Both of these names vividly resemble the word zug, which in today's language means man, since it is known that all peoples originally called themselves people, and gave their neighbors a nickname based on some quality or location, then our ancestors who lived on the shores of the Black Sea became known to their neighbors under the name of people : tsig, jik, tsuh.

The word kerket, according to experts from different times, is probably the name given to it by neighboring peoples, and perhaps by the Greeks themselves. But the real generic name of the Circassian (Adyghe) people is the one that has survived in poetry and legends, i.e. ant, which changed over time in Adyghe or Adykh, and, according to the property of the language, the letter t changed into di, with the addition of the syllable he, which served as an increase in the plural in names. In support of this thesis, scientists say that until recently there lived elders in Kabarda who pronounced this word similar to its previous pronunciation - antihe; in some dialects they simply say atikhe. To further support this opinion, we can give an example from the ancient poetry of the Circassians (Circassians), in which the people are always called ant, for example: antynokopyesh - an ant princely son, antigishao - an ant youth, antigiwork - an ant nobleman, antigishu - an ant horseman. Knights or famous leaders were called sled, this word is an abbreviation of narant and means "eye of the ants". According to Yu.N. The Voronov border of Zikhia and the Abkhazian kingdom in the 9th-10th centuries passed in the northwest near the modern village of Tsandripsh (Abkhazia).

To the north of the Zikhs an ethnically related Kasozhi tribal union, which was first mentioned in the 8th century. Khazar sources say that “everyone living in the country Kesa“The Alans pay tribute to the Khazars. This suggests that the ethnonym “Zikhi” gradually left the political arena of the North-West Caucasus. Russians, like the Khazars and Arabs, used the term Kashaki in the form of Kasogi. In X–XI, the collective name Kasogi, Kashaks, Kashki covered the entire Proto-Circassian (Adyghe) massif of the North-Western Caucasus. The Svans also called them Kashag. By the 10th century, the ethnic territory of the Kasogs ran in the west along the Black Sea coast, in the east along the Laba River. By this time they had a common territory, a common language and culture. Subsequently, for various reasons, the formation and isolation of ethnic groups occurred as a result of their movement to new territories. Thus, for example, in the XIII-XIV centuries. A Kabardian sub-ethnic group was formed and migrated to their current habitats. A number of small ethnic groups were absorbed by larger ones.

The defeat of the Alans by the Tatar-Mongols allowed the ancestors of the Circassians (Adygs) in the XIII-XV centuries. occupy lands in the foothills of the Central Caucasus, in the basin of the Terek, Baksan, Malka, Cherek rivers.

During the last period of the Middle Ages, they, like many other peoples and countries, were in the zone of military-political influence of the Golden Horde. The ancestors of the Circassians (Adygs) maintained various kinds of contacts with other peoples of the Caucasus, the Crimean Khanate, the Russian state, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Ottoman Empire.

According to many scientists, it was during this period, in the conditions of a Turkic-speaking environment, that the Adyghe ethnic name arose "Circassians". Then this term was adopted by people who visited the North Caucasus, and from them it entered European and Eastern literature. According to T.V. Polovinkina, this point of view is official today. Although a number of scientists refer to the connection between the ethnonym Circassians and the term Kerkets (a Black Sea tribe of ancient times). The first known written source to record the ethnonym Circassian in the form of Serkesut, is the Mongolian chronicle “The Secret Legend. 1240." Then this name appears in various variations in all historical sources: Arabic, Persian, Western European and Russian. In the 15th century, a geographical concept emerged from the ethnic name "Circassia".

The etymology of the ethnonym Circassian has not been established with sufficient certainty. Tebu de Marigny, in his book “Travel to Circassia,” published in Brussels in 1821, cites one of the most widespread versions in pre-revolutionary literature, which boils down to the fact that this name is Tatar and means from the Tatar Cher “road” and Kes “cut off ”, but completely “cutting off the path”. He wrote: “In Europe we knew these peoples under the name Cirkassiens. The Russians call them Circassians; some suggest that the name is Tatar, since Tsher means "road" and Kes "cut off", giving the Circassian name the meaning of "cutting off the path." It’s interesting that the Circassians call themselves only “Adyghe” (Adiqheu).” The author of the work “The History of Unfortunate Chirakes”, published in 1841, Prince A. Misostov, considers this term to be a translation from Persian (Farsi) and meaning “thug”.

This is how J. Interiano talks about the Circassians (Adygs) in his book “The Life and Country of the Zikhs, Called Circassians,” published in 1502: “Zikhs - so called in the languages: common people, Greek and Latin, but called Tatars and Turks Circassians, call themselves “Adiga”. They live in the space from the Tana River to Asia along the entire sea coast that lies towards the Cimmerian Bosphorus, now called Vospero, the Strait of St. John and the Strait of the Zabak Sea, otherwise the Sea of ​​Tana, in ancient times called the Maeotian Swamp, and further beyond the strait along the seashore up to Cape Bussi and the Phasis River, and here it borders on Abkhazia, that is, part of Colchis.

On the landward side they border with the Scythians, that is, with the Tatars. Their language is difficult - different from the language of neighboring peoples and very guttural. They profess the Christian religion and have priests according to the Greek rite."

The famous Orientalist Heinrich-Julius Klaproth (1783 – 1835) in his work “A Journey through the Caucasus and Georgia, undertaken in 1807 – 1808.” writes: “The name “Circassian” is of Tatar origin and is composed of the words “cher” - road and “kefsmek” to cut off. Cherkesan or Cherkes-ji has the same meaning as the word Iol-Kesedj, which is used in Turkic and means the one who “cuts off the path.”

“The origin of the name Kabarda is difficult to establish,” he writes, since Raineggs’ etymology – from the Kabar River in Crimea and from the word “da” – village – can hardly be called correct. Many Circassians, in his opinion, are called “Kabarda”, namely Uzdeni (nobles) from the Tambi clan near the Kishbek River, which flows into Baksan; in their language, “Kabardzhi” means Kabardian Circassian.

...Reineggs and Pallas are of the opinion that this nation, which originally inhabited the Crimea, was expelled from there to the places of their present settlement. In fact, there are the ruins of a castle there, which the Tatars call Cherkess-Kerman, and the area between the rivers Kacha and Belbek, whose upper half, also called Kabarda, is called Cherkess-Tuz, i.e. Circassian plain. However, I see no reason to believe that the Circassians came from Crimea. It seems to me more likely to believe that they simultaneously lived both in the valley north of the Caucasus and in the Crimea, from where they were probably expelled by the Tatars under the leadership of Khan Batu. One day an old Tatar mullah explained to me quite seriously that the name “Circassian” is made up of the Persian “chekhar” (four) and Tatar “kes” (person), because the nation comes from four brothers.”

In his travel notes, the Hungarian scientist Jean-Charles De Besse (1799 - 1838), published in Paris under the title “Travel to the Crimea, the Caucasus, Georgia, Armenia, Asia Minor and Constantinople in 1929 and 1830,” says that , that “...Circassians are a numerous, brave, reserved, courageous people, but little known in Europe...My predecessors, writers and travelers, argued that the word “Circassian” comes from Tatar language and made up of “cher” (“road”) and “kesmek” (“cut"); but it did not occur to them to give this word a more natural and more suitable meaning to the character of this people. It should be noted that " Cher" in Persian means "warrior", "courageous", and "kes" means "personality", "individual". From this we can conclude that it was the Persians who gave the name that this people now bears.”

Then, most likely, during the Caucasian War, other peoples who did not belong to the Circassian (Adyghe) people began to be called the word “Circassian”. “I don’t know why,” wrote L.Ya Lyulye, one of the best experts on the Circassians in the first half of the 19th century, among whom he lived for many years, “but we are accustomed to calling all the tribes inhabiting the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains Circassians, while they They call themselves Adyge." The transformation of the ethnic term “Circassian” into an essentially collective one, as was the case with the terms “Scythian” and “Alan”, led to the fact that the most diverse peoples of the Caucasus were hidden behind it. In the first half of the 19th century. It has become customary to call “Circassians not only the Abazas or Ubykhs, who are close to them in spirit and way of life, but also the inhabitants of Dagestan, Checheno-Ingushetia, Ossetia, Balkaria, and Karachay, who are completely different from them in language.”

In the first half of the 19th century. The Ubykhs, who, as a rule, spoke the Adyghe (Circassian) language along with their native language, became very close to the Black Sea Circassians in cultural, everyday and political relations. F.F. Tornau notes in this regard: “... the Ubykhs with whom I met spoke Circassian” (F.F. Tornau, Memoirs of a Caucasian officer. - “Russian Bulletin”, vol. 53, 1864, No. 10, p. 428). The Abazas also by the beginning of the 19th century. were under the strong political and cultural influence of the Circassians and in everyday life they differed little from them (ibid., pp. 425 – 426).

N.F. Dubrovin, in the preface to his famous work “The History of War and Dominion, Russians in the Caucasus,” also noted the presence of the above-mentioned misconception in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century regarding the attribution of the North Caucasian peoples to the Circassians (Adygs). In it, he notes: “From many articles and books of that time, one can draw the conclusion that there are only two peoples with whom we fought, for example, on the Caucasian line: these are the highlanders and the Circassians. On the right flank we waged war with the Circassians and highlanders, and on the left flank, or in Dagestan, with the highlanders and Circassians...” He himself derives the ethnonym “Circassian” from the Turkic expression “sarkyas”.

Karl Koch, author of one of the best books about the Caucasus published at that time in Western Europe, noted with some surprise the confusion that existed around the name of the Circassians in modern Western European literature. “The idea of ​​the Circassians still remains uncertain, despite new descriptions of the travels of Dubois de Montpere, Bell, Longworth and others; sometimes by this name they mean the Caucasians living on the shores of the Black Sea, sometimes all inhabitants of the northern slope of the Caucasus are considered Circassians, they even indicate that Kakheti, the eastern part of the region of Georgia lying on the other side of the Caucasus, is inhabited by Circassians.”

Not only French, but also, equally, many German, English, and American publications that reported certain information about the Caucasus were guilty of spreading such misconceptions about the Circassians (Adygs). It is enough to point out that Shamil very often appeared on the pages of the European and American press as the “leader of the Circassians,” which thus included numerous tribes of Dagestan.

Due to this completely incorrect use of the term “Circassians,” it is necessary to treat the sources of the first half of the 19th century V. In each individual case, even when using the data of the most knowledgeable authors in Caucasian ethnography of that time, one should first figure out which “Circassians” are being discussed, and whether by Circassians, in addition to the Circassians, the author means other neighboring mountainous peoples of the Caucasus. It is especially important to make sure of this when the information concerns the territory and number of the Circassians, because in such cases non-Circassians were very often classified as Circassians.”

The expanded interpretation of the word “Circassian”, adopted in Russian and foreign literature of the first half of the 19th century, had the real basis that the Circassians were indeed at that time a significant ethnic group in the North Caucasus, exerting a great and comprehensive influence on the peoples surrounding them. Sometimes small tribes of a different ethnic origin were, as it were, interspersed into the Adyghe environment, which contributed to the transfer of the term “Circassian” to them.

Ethnonym Circassians, which later entered European literature, was not as widespread as the term Circassians. There are several versions regarding the etymology of the word “Adyghe”. One comes from the astral (solar) hypothesis and translates this word as "children of the Sun"(from the term " tyg'e", "dyg'e" - sun), the other is the so-called "ante" about the topographical origin of this term (“glades”), "Marinista" (“Pomorians”)

As numerous written sources testify, the history of the Circassians (Adygs) of the 16th-19th centuries. is closely connected with the history of Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and all Middle Eastern countries, about which not only modern residents of the Caucasus, but also the Circassians (Adygs) themselves have a very vague idea today.

As is known, the emigration of Circassians to Egypt took place throughout the Middle Ages and modern times, and was associated with the developed institution of recruitment for service in Circassian society. Gradually, the Circassians, thanks to their qualities, occupied an increasingly privileged position in this country.

There are still surnames Sharkasi in this country, which means “Circassian”. The problem of the formation of the Circassian ruling stratum in Egypt is of certain interest not only in the context of the history of Egypt, but also in terms of studying the history of the Circassian people. The increasing power of the Mamluk institution in Egypt dates back to the Ayyubid era. After the death of the famous Saladin, his former Mamluks, mainly of Circassian, Abkhaz and Georgian origin, became extremely stronger. According to the research of the Arab scholar Rashid ad-Din, the commander-in-chief of the army, Emir Fakhr ad-Din Circassian, carried out a coup d'etat in 1199.

The Circassian origin of the Egyptian sultans Bibars I and Qalaun is considered proven. The ethnic map of Mamluk Egypt during this period consisted of three layers: 1) Arab-Muslim; 2) ethnic Turks; 3) ethnic Circassians (Adygs) - the elite of the Mamluk army already in the period from 1240. (see the work of D. Ayalon “Circassians in the Mamluk Kingdom”, the article by A. Polyak “The Colonial Character of the Mamluk State”, the monograph by V. Popper “Egypt and Syria under the Circassian Sultans” and others).

In 1293, the Circassian Mamluks, led by their emir Tugji, opposed the Turkic rebels and defeated them, killing Beydar and several other high-ranking Turkic emirs from his entourage. Following this, the Circassians placed Qalaun's 9th son, Nasir Muhammad, on the throne. During both invasions of the Mongol emperor of Iran Mahmud Ghazan (1299, 1303), the Circassian Mamluks played a decisive role in their defeat, as noted in the chronicle of Makrizi, as well as in modern studies by J. Glubb, A. Hakim, A. Khasanov. These military achievements greatly increased the authority of the Circassian community. So one of its representatives, Emir Bibars Jashnakir, took the post of vizier.

According to existing sources, the establishment of Circassian power in Egypt was associated with a native of the coastal regions of Zihia Barkuk. Many people wrote about his Zikh-Circassian origin, including the Italian diplomat Bertrando de Mizhnaveli, who knew him personally. The Mamluk chronicler Ibn Tagri Birdi reports that Barquq came from the Circassian Kasa tribe. Kassa here apparently means kasag-kashek - a common name for the Arabs and Persians for the Zikhs. Barquk found himself in Egypt in 1363, and four years later, with the support of the Circassian governor in Damascus, he became an emir and began to intensively recruit, buy and lure Circassian Mamluks into his service. In 1376, he became regent for the next young Qalaunid. Concentrating actual power in his hands, Barquk was elected sultan in 1382. The country was waiting for a strong personality to come to power: “The best order was established in the state,” wrote Barquk’s contemporary, the founder of the sociological school, Ibn Khaldun, “people were glad that they were under the citizenship of the Sultan, who knew how to correctly assess and manage affairs.”

The leading Mamluk scholar D. Aalon (Tel Aviv) called Barquq a statesman who organized the largest ethnic revolution in the entire history of Egypt. The Turks of Egypt and Syria reacted extremely hostilely to the accession of the Circassian to the throne. So the Tatar emir Altunbuga al-Sultani, the governor of Abulustan, fled after an unsuccessful rebellion to the Chagatai of Tamerlane, finally declaring: “I will not live in a country where the ruler is Circassian.” Ibn Tagri Birdi wrote that Barkuk had the Circassian nickname “Malikhuk”, which means “son of a shepherd”. The policy of squeezing out the Turks led to the fact that by 1395 all emir positions in the sultanate were occupied by Circassians. In addition, all high and middle administrative posts were concentrated in the hands of the Circassians.

Power in Circassia and the Circassian Sultanate was held by one group of aristocratic families of Circassia. For 135 years, they managed to maintain their dominance over Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Hijaz with its holy cities - Mecca and Medina, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine (and the meaning of Palestine was determined by Jerusalem), the southeastern regions of Anatolia, and part of Mesopotamia. This territory, with a population of at least 5 million people, was subject to the Circassian community of Cairo of 50-100 thousand people, which at any time could field from 2 to 10-12 thousand excellent heavily armed horsemen. The memory of these times of greatness of greatest military-political power was preserved in generations of Circassians until the 19th century.

10 years after Barquq came to power, the troops of Tamerlane, the second-ranking conqueror after Genghis Khan, appeared on the Syrian border. But, in 1393-1394, the governors of Damascus and Aleppo defeated the advanced detachments of the Mongol-Tatars. A modern researcher of the history of Tamerlane, Tilman Nagel, who paid great attention to the relationship between Barkuk and Tamerlane, in particular, noted: “Timur respected Barkuk... when he learned of his death, he was so happy that he gave the person who reported this news 15,000 dinars.” Sultan Barquq al-Cherkassi died in Cairo in 1399. Power was inherited by his 12-year-old son from the Greek slave Faraj. Faraj's cruelty led to his assassination, organized by the Circassian emirs of Syria.

One of the leading specialists in the history of Mamluk Egypt, P.J. Vatikiotis wrote that “...the Circassian Mamluks...were able to demonstrate the highest qualities in battle, this was especially evident in their confrontation with Tamerlane at the end of the 14th century. Their founding sultan Barkuk, for example, was not only a capable sultan, but also left magnificent monuments (a madrasah and a mosque with a mausoleum), testifying to his taste in art. His successors were able to conquer Cyprus and hold the island as a vassal of Egypt until the Ottoman conquest.”

The new Sultan of Egypt, Muayyad Shah, finally established Circassian dominance on the banks of the Nile. On average, 2,000 natives of Circassia joined his army every year. This sultan easily defeated a number of strong Turkmen princes of Anatolia and Mesopotamia. In memory of his reign, there is a magnificent mosque in Cairo, which Gaston Viet (author of the 4th volume of the History of Egypt) called “the most luxurious mosque in Cairo.”

The accumulation of Circassians in Egypt led to the creation of a powerful and combat-ready fleet. The mountaineers of the Western Caucasus excelled as pirates from ancient times until the 19th century. Ancient, Genoese, Ottoman and Russian sources left us a fairly detailed description of Zikh, Circassian and Abazg piracy. In turn, the Circassian fleet freely penetrated the Black Sea. Unlike the Turkic Mamluks, who did not show themselves in any way at sea, the Circassians controlled the Eastern Mediterranean, plundered Cyprus, Rhodes, the islands of the Aegean Sea, and fought with Portuguese corsairs in the Red Sea and off the coast of India. Unlike the Turks, the Circassians of Egypt had an incomparably more stable supply from their native country.

Throughout the Egyptian epic from the 13th century. Circassians were characterized by national solidarity. In the sources of the Circassian period (1318-1517), the national cohesion and monopoly dominance of the Circassians were expressed in the use of the terms “people”, “people”, “tribe” exclusively to address the Circassians.

The situation in Egypt began to change in 1485, after the outbreak of the first Ottoman-Mamluk war, which lasted several decades. After the death of the experienced Circassian military leader Qaitbay (1468-1496), a period of internecine wars followed in Egypt: in 5 years, four sultans replaced the throne - Qaitbay’s son an-Nasir Muhammad (named after the son of Qalaun), az-zahir Kansav, al- Ashraf Janbulat, al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Tumanbay I. Al-Ghauri, who ascended the throne in 1501, was an experienced politician and an old warrior: he arrived in Cairo at the age of 40 and quickly took a high position thanks to the patronage of his sister, Qaytbay’s wife. And Kansav al-Gauri ascended to the Cairo throne at the age of 60. He showed great activity in the foreign policy sphere due to the increase in Ottoman power and the expected new war.

The decisive battle between the Mamluks and the Ottomans took place on August 24, 1516 on the Dabiq field in Syria, which is considered one of the most ambitious battles in world history. Despite heavy shelling from cannons and arquebuses, the Circassian cavalry inflicted enormous damage on the army of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I. However, at the moment when victory seemed to be in the hands of the Circassians, the governor of Aleppo, Emir Khairbey, and his detachment went over to Selim’s side. This betrayal literally killed the 76-year-old Sultan Kansawa al-Ghauri: he was seized by an apocalyptic blow and died in the arms of his bodyguards. The battle was lost and the Ottomans occupied Syria.

In Cairo, the Mamluks elected the last sultan to the throne - the 38-year-old last nephew of Kansav - Tumanbai. With a large army, he gave four battles to the Ottoman Armada, the number of which ranged from 80 to 250 thousand soldiers of all nationalities and religions. In the end, Tumanbey's army was defeated. Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire. During the period of the Circassian-Mamluk emirate, there were 15 Circassian (Adyghe) rulers, 2 Bosnians, 2 Georgians and 1 Abkhaz in power in Cairo.

Despite the irreconcilable relations of the Circassian Mamluks with the Ottomans, the history of Circassia was also closely connected with the history of the Ottoman Empire, the most powerful political entity of the Middle Ages and modern times, and numerous political, religious, and family relationships. Circassia was never part of this empire, but its natives in this country made up a significant part of the ruling class, pursuing successful careers in administrative or military service.

This conclusion is also shared by representatives of modern Turkish historiography, who do not consider Circassia a country dependent on the Porte. For example, in the book by Khalil Inalcık “The Ottoman Empire: the classical period, 1300-1600.” a map is provided showing by period all the territorial acquisitions of the Ottomans: the only free country along the perimeter of the Black Sea is Circassia.

There was a significant Circassian contingent in the army of Sultan Selim I (1512-1520), who received the nickname “Yavuz” (Terrible) for his cruelty. While still a prince, Selim was persecuted by his father and was forced, saving his life, to leave his governorship in Trebizond and flee by sea to Circassia. There he met the Circassian prince of Taman Temryuk. The latter became a faithful friend of the disgraced prince and for three and a half years accompanied him on all his travels. After Selim became the sultan, Temryuk was in great honor at the Ottoman court, and at the place of their meeting, by Selim’s decree, a fortress was erected, which received the name Temryuk.

The Circassians formed a special party at the Ottoman court and rendered big influence on the Sultan's policies. It was also preserved at the court of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), since he, like his father, Selim I, stayed in Circassia before his sultanate. His mother, a Girey princess, was half Circassian. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, Türkiye reached the peak of its power. One of the most brilliant commanders of this era is Circassian Ozdemir Pasha, who in 1545 received the extremely responsible post of commander of the Ottoman expeditionary force in Yemen, and in 1549, “as a reward for perseverance,” was appointed governor of Yemen.

Ozdemir's son, Circassian Ozdemir-oglu Osman Pasha (1527-1585) inherited his father's power and talent as a commander. Beginning in 1572, Osman Pasha's activities were connected with the Caucasus. In 1584, Osman Pasha became the grand vizier of the empire, but continued to personally lead the army in the war with the Persians, during which the Persians were defeated and Circassian Ozdemir Oglu captured their capital Tabriz. On October 29, 1585, Circassian Ozdemir-oglu Osman Pasha died on the battlefield with the Persians. As far as is known, Osman Pasha was the first Grand Vizier from among the Circassians.

In the Ottoman Empire of the 16th century, another major statesman of Circassian origin is known - the governor of Kafa Kasym. He came from the Zhane clan and had the title of Defterdar. In 1853, Kasim Bey submitted to Sultan Suleiman a project to connect the Don and Volga with a canal. Among the figures of the 19th century, Circassian Dervish Mehmed Pasha stood out. In 1651 he was governor of Anatolia. In 1652 he took the post of commander of all naval forces of the empire (kapudan pasha), and in 1563 he became the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire. The residence, built by Dervish Mehmed Pasha, had a high gate, hence the nickname “High Porta”, which Europeans used to designate the Ottoman government.

The next no less colorful figure from among the Circassian mercenaries is Kutfaj Delhi Pasha. The mid-17th century Ottoman author Evliya Çelebi wrote that “he comes from the brave Circassian Bolatkoy tribe.”

Cantemir's information is fully confirmed in Ottoman historical literature. The author, who lived fifty years earlier, Evliya Chelyabi, has very picturesque personalities of military leaders of Circassian origin, information about close ties between immigrants from the Western Caucasus. His message that the Circassians and Abkhazians who lived in Istanbul sent their children to their homeland, where they received military education and knowledge of their native language, seems very important. According to Chelyabi, on the coast of Circassia there were settlements of Mamluks who returned at different times from Egypt and other countries. Chelyabi calls the territory of Bzhedugia the land of the Mamluks in the country of Cherkesstan.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Circassian Osman Pasha, the builder of the Yeni-Kale fortress (modern Yeisk), and commander of all the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire (kapudan pasha), enjoyed great influence on state affairs. His contemporary, Circassian Mehmed Pasha, was the governor of Jerusalem, Aleppo, commanded troops in Greece, and for successful military operations he was granted the rank of three-bunch pasha (the rank of marshal by European standards; only the grand vizier and the sultan are higher).

A lot of interesting information about prominent military and government figures of Circassian origin in the Ottoman Empire is contained in the fundamental work of the outstanding statesman and public figure D.K. Kantemir (1673-1723) “The History of the Growth and Decline of the Ottoman Empire.” The information is interesting because around 1725 Kantemir visited Kabarda and Dagestan and personally knew many Circassians and Abkhazians from the highest circles of Constantinople at the end of the 17th century. In addition to the Constantinople community, he gives a lot of information about the Cairo Circassians, as well as a detailed outline of the history of Circassia. It covered such problems as the relationship of the Circassians with the Moscow state, the Crimean Khanate, Turkey and Egypt. The campaign of the Ottomans in 1484 in Circassia. The author notes the superiority of the military art of the Circassians, the nobility of their customs, the closeness and kinship of the Abazians (Abkhaz-Abazin), including in language and customs, and gives many examples of the Circassians who held the highest positions at the Ottoman court.

The diaspora historian A. Jureiko points out the abundance of Circassians in the ruling stratum of the Ottoman state: “Already in the 18th century, there were so many Circassian dignitaries and military leaders in the Ottoman Empire that it would be difficult to list them all.” However, an attempt to list all the major statesmen of the Ottoman Empire of Circassian origin was made by another diaspora historian, Hassan Fehmi: he compiled biographies of 400 Circassians. The largest figure in the Circassian community of Istanbul in the second half of the 18th century was Gazi Hasan Pasha Cezairli, who in 1776 became Kapudan Pasha - commander-in-chief of the naval forces of the empire.

In 1789, the Circassian military leader Hasan Pasha Meyyit served as Grand Vizier for a short time. A contemporary of Jezairli and Meyyit, Cherkes Hussein Pasha, nicknamed Kuchuk (“little”), went down in history as the closest associate of the reformer Sultan Selim III (1789-1807), who played an important role in the war with Bonaparte. The closest associate of Kuchuk Hussein Pasha was Mehmed Khosrev Pasha, originally from Abadzekhia. In 1812 he became kapudan pasha and held this post until 1817. Finally, he becomes grand vizier in 1838 and retains this post until 1840.

Interesting information about the Circassians in the Ottoman Empire is reported by Russian general Ya.S. Proskurov, who traveled around Turkey in 1842-1846. and met Hasan Pasha, “a natural Circassian, taken from childhood to Constantinople, where he was raised.”

According to the research of many scientists, the ancestors of the Circassians (Adygs) took an active part in the formation of the Cossacks of Ukraine and Russia. Thus, N.A. Dobrolyubov, analyzing the ethnic composition of the Kuban Cossacks at the end of the 18th century, pointed out that it partly consisted of “1000 male souls who voluntarily left the Kuban Circassians and Tatars” and 500 Cossacks who returned from Turkish Sultan. In his opinion, the latter circumstance allows us to assume that these Cossacks, after the liquidation of the Sich, went to Turkey because of their common faith, which means we can also assume that these Cossacks are partly of non-Slavic origin. Light is shed on the problem by Semeon Bronevsky, who, referring to historical news, wrote: “In 1282, the Baskak of the Tatar Principality of Kursk, calling Circassians from Beshtau or Pyatigorye, populated a settlement with them under the name of Cossacks. These, having copulated with Russian fugitives, committed robberies everywhere for a long time, hiding from searches above them in the forests and ravines.” These Circassians and fugitive Russians moved “down the Dpepr” in search of a safe place. Here they built a town for themselves and called it Cherkask, due to the fact that most of them were Cherkasy breed, forming a robber republic, which later became famous under the name of the Zaporozhye Cossacks.”

The same Bronevsky reported about the further history of the Zaporozhye Cossacks: “When Turkish army in 1569 came near Astrakhan, then Prince Mikhailo Vishnevetsky was called from the Dnieper from Circassia with 5,000 Zaporozhye Cossacks, who, copulating with the Don, great victory On the dry route and at sea in boats they defeated the Turks. Of these Circassian Cossacks, most remained on the Don and built a town for themselves, also calling it Cherkasy, which was the beginning of the settlement of the Don Cossacks, and as it is likely that many of them also returned to their homeland to Beshtau or Pyatigorye, this circumstance could have caused there is a reason to call Kabardians generally Ukrainian residents who fled from Russia, as we find mention of this in our archives.” From Bronevsky’s information we can conclude that the Zaporozhye Sich, formed in the 16th century in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, i.e. "down the Dnieper", and until 1654, which was a Cossack "republic", waged a stubborn struggle with Crimean Tatars and the Turks, and thereby played a major role in the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people in the 16th – 17th centuries. At its core, the Sich consisted of the Zaporozhye Cossacks mentioned by Bronevsky.

Thus, the Zaporozhye Cossacks, which formed the backbone of the Kuban Cossacks, consisted partly of the descendants of the Circassians who were once taken “from the Beshtau or Pyatigorsk region,” not to mention the “Circassians who voluntarily left the Kuban.” It should be especially emphasized that with the resettlement of these Cossacks, namely in 1792, the intensification of the colonialist policy of tsarism in the North Caucasus, and in particular in Kabarda, began.

It should be emphasized that geographical position Circassian (Adyghe) lands, especially Kabardian ones, which had the most important military-political and economic significance, were the reason for their involvement in the orbit of the political interests of Turkey and Russia, largely predetermining the course of historical events in this region from the beginning of the 16th century and leading to the Caucasian War. From the same period, the influence of the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate began to increase, as well as the rapprochement of the Circassians (Adygs) with the Moscow state, which later turned into a military-political alliance. The marriage of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1561 to the daughter of the senior prince of Kabarda Temryuk Idarov, on the one hand, strengthened the alliance of Kabarda with Russia, and, on the other, further aggravated the relations of the Kabardian princes, the feuds between whom did not subside until the conquest of Kabarda. Its internal political situation and fragmentation were further aggravated by interference in the Kabardian (Circassian) affairs of Russia, the Porte and the Crimean Khanate. In the 17th century, as a result of civil strife, Kabarda split into Greater Kabarda and Lesser Kabarda. The official division occurred in the mid-18th century. In the period from the 15th to the 18th centuries, the troops of the Porte and the Crimean Khanate invaded the territory of the Circassians (Adygs) dozens of times.

In 1739, at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, the Belgrade Peace Treaty was signed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, according to which Kabarda was declared a “neutral zone” and “free”, but was never able to use the opportunity provided to unify the country and create own state in its classical sense. Already in the second half of the 18th century, the Russian government developed a plan for the conquest and colonization of the North Caucasus. Those military men who were there were given instructions to “beware most of all of the unification of the highlanders,” for which it is necessary to “try to kindle the fire of internal discord between them.”

According to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace between Russia and the Porte, Kabarda was recognized as part of Russian state, although Kabarda itself never recognized itself in the power of the Ottomans and Crimea. In 1779, 1794, 1804 and 1810 there were major uprisings of Kabardians against the seizure of their lands, the construction of Mozdok fortresses and other military fortifications, luring away subjects and for other compelling reasons. They were brutally suppressed by tsarist troops led by generals Jacobi, Tsitsianov, Glazenap, Bulgakov and others. Bulgakov alone in 1809 ruined 200 Kabardian villages to the ground. At the beginning of the 19th century, the whole of Kabarda was engulfed in a plague epidemic.

According to scientists, the Caucasian War began for the Kabardians in the second half of the 18th century, after the construction of the Mozdok fortress by Russian troops in 1763, and for the rest of the Circassians (Adygs) in the western Caucasus in 1800, from the time of the first punitive campaign of the Black Sea Cossacks led by the ataman F.Ya. Bursak, and then M.G. Vlasov, A.A. Velyaminov and others tsarist generals to the Black Sea coast.

By the beginning of the war, the lands of the Circassians (Adygs) began from the northwestern tip of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and covered a vast territory on both sides of the main ridge for about 275 km, after which their lands moved exclusively to the northern slopes of the Caucasus Range, into the Kuban basin, and then Terek, extending to the southeast for about another 350 km.

“The Circassian lands...” wrote Khan-Girey in 1836, “extend over 600 versts in length, starting from the mouth of the Kuban up this river, and then along the Kuma, Malka and Terek to the borders of Malaya Kabarda, which previously extended to the very the confluence of the Sunzha and the Terek River. The width is different and lies from the above-mentioned rivers to the south at noon along the valleys and slopes of mountains in different curvatures, having from 20 to 100 versts in distance, thus forming a long narrow strip, which, starting from the eastern corner formed by the confluence of the Sunzha with the Terek, then expands then shrinks again, following west down the Kuban to the shores of the Black Sea." It should be added that along the Black Sea coast the Circassians occupied an area of ​​about 250 km. At its widest point, the lands of the Circassians extended from the shores of the Black Sea east to Laba for about 150 km (counting along the Tuapse - Labinskaya line), then, when moving from the Kuban basin to the Terek basin, these lands narrowed greatly in order to expand again in the territory of Greater Kabarda to More than 100 kilometers.

(To be continued)

The information is compiled on the basis of archival documents and scientific works published on the history of the Circassians (Adygs)

"Gleason's Illustrated Magazine". London, January 1854

S.H. Khotko. Essays on the history of the Circassians. St. Petersburg, 2001. p. 178

Jacques-Victor-Edouard Thébout de Marigny. Travel to Circassia. Travels to Circassia in 1817. // V.K. Gardanov. Adygs, Balkars and Karachais in the news of European authors of the 13th – 19th centuries. Nalchik, 1974. P. 292.

Giorgio Interiano. (Second half of the 15th – beginning of the 16th century). Life and country of the Zikhs, called Circassians. Remarkable storytelling. //V.K.Gardanov. Adygs, Balkars and Karachais in the news of European authors of the 12th – 19th centuries. Nalchik. 1974. P.46-47.

Heinrich-Julius Klaproth. Travels around the Caucasus and Georgia, undertaken in 1807 – 1808. //V.K.Gardanov. Adygs, Balkars and Karachais in the news of European authors of the 13th-19th centuries. Nalchik, 1974. P.257-259.

Jean-Charles de Besse. Travel to Crimea, the Caucasus, Georgia. Armenia, Asia Minor and Constantinople in 1829 and 1830. //V.K.Gardanov. Adygs, Balkars and Karachais in the news of European authors of the 12th-19th centuries. Nalchik, 1974.S. 334.

V.K.Gardanov. Social order Adyghe peoples (XVIII - first half of the 19th century). M, 1967. S. 16-19.

S.H. Khotko. Essays on the history of the Circassians from the Cimmerian era to the Caucasian War. St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2001, pp. 148-164.

There, p. 227-234.

Safarbi Beytuganov. Kabarda and Ermolov. Nalchik, 1983. pp. 47-49.

“Notes about Circassia, composed by Khan-Girey, part 1, St. Petersburg, 1836, l. 1-1v.//V.K. Gardanov “The social system of the Adyghe peoples.” Ed. “Science”, Main Editorial Board of Oriental Literature. M., 19