Circassian Revolution

Last updated
Circassian Revolution
Circassians (Geoffroy, 1845).JPG
Date1770-1803
Location
Result Abolishment of nobility in many regions of Circassia and the banishment or execution of most nobles.
Belligerents
Natukhaj commoners
Abdzakh commoners
Shapsug commoners
Natukhaj nobles
Abdzakh nobles
Shapsug nobles
Supported by:
Banner of the Principality of Bzhedugh.svg Bzhedug Principality
Flag of Russia.svg Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kizbech Tughuzhuqo [Note 1]
Kimcheriy Khanahoko
Haji Depchen
Ahmed Chipaqo
Pshimaf Kunchukoko
Batjeriy Hajemiqo
Strength
18000 5000

The Circassian Revolution refers to a series of revolts by Circassian farmers which resulted in the most developed regions of Circassia abandoning social classes and switching to democracy. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

In 1770, the free farmers of Abzakh Circassians revolted against the aristocratic class. Captured princes were killed. Those who escaped took refuge in other Circassian tribes. All privileges held by the princes, who were aristocratic and noble class, were abolished by free farmers. [4] While many contemporary French nobles took refuge in Russia during the similar revolution in France, some of the Circassian nobles took the same path and refuge in Russia. [5]

In July 14, 1791 the Natukhaj commoners peacefully took power from the aristocrats, declaring a republic. [6] A similar attempt among the Shapsugs led to a civil war which the commons won in 1803. Famous Circassian writer and historian Amjad Jaimoukha says that from 1770 to 1790 there was a class war among the Abadzeks that resulted in the extermination of the princes and the banishment of most of the nobility. [1] The three west-central "democratic" tribes, Natukhaj, Shapsugs and Abedzeks, who formed the majority of the Circassians, managed their affairs through assemblies with only informal powers. Sefer Bey Zanuqo, the three Naibs of Shamil and the British adventurers all tried to organize the Circassians – with limited success. [7]

The Bzhedug tribe helped the exiled princes which further escalated conflicts. [8] The newly established revolutionary states of Abdzakh and Shapsug attacked the Bzhedug in order to kill their former nobility. [9]

Notes

  1. Even though Tughuzhuqo was a noble, he still supported the revolution

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circassia</span> Former country and region in the North Caucasus

Circassia, also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in the North Caucasus along the northeast shore of the Black Sea. It was conquered and occupied by Russia during the Russo-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which 90% of the Circassian people were either exiled from the region or massacred in the Circassian genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circassians</span> Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Circassia

Circassians, also called Cherkess or Adyghe, are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in the North Caucasus. As a consequence of the Circassian genocide perpetrated by the Russian Empire in the 19th century during the Russo-Circassian War, most Circassians were exiled from their homeland in Circassia to modern-day Turkey and the rest of the Middle East, where most of them are today. In the early 1990s, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimated that there are as many as 3.7 million Circassians in diaspora in over 50 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konstantin Leselidze</span> Soviet colonel general (1903–1944)

Konstantin Nikolaevich Leselidze was a Colonel-General and Hero of the Soviet Union who distinguished himself at the North, Transcaucasus and Ukrainian front during World War II. He was also the elder brother of Viktor Nikolaevich Leselidze

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropak</span> Russian and Ukrainian folk dance

Tropak or trepak is a traditional Russian and Ukrainian folk dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgy Baydukov</span> Russian-Soviet air officer, test pilot, writer and hunter

Georgy Filippovich Baydukov was a Soviet test pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1936), writer and hunter.

The Vainakh peoples of the North Caucasus were Islamised comparatively late, during the early modern period, and Amjad Jaimoukha (2005) proposes to reconstruct some of the elements of their pre-Islamic religion and mythology, including traces of ancestor worship and funerary cults. The Nakh peoples, like many other peoples of the North Caucasus such as Circassians, practised tree worship, and believed that trees were the abodes of spirits. Vainakh peoples developed many rituals to serve particular kinds of trees. The pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otomārs Oškalns</span> Latvian communist and Soviet partisan

Otomārs Aleksandrs Oškalns was a prominent Latvian communist and partisan fighter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natukhajs</span> Circassian tribe

The Natukhaj, Natuqwai or Natukhai are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. Their areas historically extended along the Black Sea coast from Anapa in the north to Tsemes Bay in the south and from the north side of the mountains to the lower Kuban River.

The Mamkhegh or Mamheg were one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazimir Barantsevich</span> Russian writer and poet

Kazimir Stanislavovich Barantsevich was a Russian writer and poet, who also used the pseudonym Sarmat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lopukhin family</span> Russian noble family

The Lopukhin family was a noble family of the Russian Empire, forming one of the branches of the Sorokoumov-Glebov family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Sedyakin</span>

Alexander Ignatyevich Sedyakin was a Soviet division commander and Komandarm 2nd rank. He was born in St. Petersburg, which was then the capital of the Russian Empire. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks. He fought against Finland and the pro-Finnish separatists of the Republic of East Karelia in East Karelia. On November 11, 1935, he was one of the 10 people made Komandarm 2nd rank. He received the Order of the Red Banner twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Gorbunov-Posadov</span>

Ivan Ivanovich Gorbunov-Posadov was a Russian, Soviet writer, poet, editor and publisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of metallurgy in the Urals</span>

The history of metallurgy in the Urals stands out to historians and economists as a separate stage in the history of Russian industry and covers the period from the 4th millennium BC to the present day. The emergence of the mining district is connected with the history of Ural metallurgy. The geography of the Ural metallurgy covers the territories of modern Perm Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Udmurtia, Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk Oblast and Orenburg Oblast.

The Khegayk or Shegayk were one of the Circassian tribes. They were completely exterminated in the Circassian genocide following the Russo-Circassian War. None were recorded to have survived. In some sources, they are also mentioned under the name "Shegayk".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Anapa (1791)</span> 1791 battle of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)

The siege of Anapa or the storming of Anapa was a siege that took place on June 22 (O.S) 1791 when the Russian Empire attacked the Turkish-regulated Anapa fort in Circassia as part of the Russo-Turkish War and the Russo-Circassian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donetsk Metallurgical Plant</span> Ukrainian industrial site

Donetsk Metallurgical Plant also called Donetsk Iron and Steel Works is an enterprise of Donetsk, Ukraine. It is a ferrous metallurgy enterprise that is located in the Leninskyi district of Donetsk.

Circassians is a broad ethnonym of the Turkic origin, which in Russia, Turkey and Persia used to be, and in the case of Turkey is now, applied to peoples of different ethnicities living on the North Eastern and Eastern shores of the Black Sea, and in the Northern Caucasus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenesary Qasymov</span> Khan of the Kazakh Khanate (1841—1847)

Kenesary Qasymov, or Kenesary Qasymuly, Kenesary Khan was the last khan of the Kazakh Khanate, grandson of Ablai Khan, from the clan of Genghisid-Tore.

References

  1. 1 2 Amjad Jaimukha, p. 156
  2. Atalay, Mevlüt. "Bir Halk, Farklı İki Dünya". Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  3. Chirg, Razvitie 53-54
  4. Heidelberg University, South Asia Institute Professor of Policy E.M. Sarkisyan: "The French revolution was prepared and carried out by educated intellectuals. How did this [Circassian] people, who did not have universities, books and newspapers, come to this idea and realize this revolution?"
  5. Vorlesungen von Prof. Dr. M. Sarkisyanz. SAI- Heidelberg . Trubetykoy, Nikolaj Sergejewitsch Fürst Erinnerungen an einen Aufenthalt bei den Tscherkessen des Kreises Tuapse. In: Caucasica, 1934, 11, S. 1-39
  6. Jaimoukha, p. 55.
  7. T, V. Çerkezistan notları. p. 21
  8. Под ред. Е. М. Жукова. ""бзиюкская битва"". Советская историческая энциклопедия. — М.: Советская энциклопедия.
  9. Бзиюкская битва // Военная энциклопедия: [в 18 т.] / под ред. В. Ф. Новицкого ... [и др.]. — СПб. ; [М.] : Тип. т-ва И. Д. Сытина, 1911—1915.