The Circassians: The Turbulent History of the Ethnic Group in the North Caucasus
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Paperback
This is a brief overview of the Circassians, also known as the Adyghe people, who lived along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. They emerged as a unique society in the tenth century CE. They seem to have predated the Kievan Rus.
Because they were strategically situated between the Russian and the Ottoman Empires, they were involved in centuries of conflict and strife. The Circassians were never a single political block, which made it harder for them to survive. These people started as Christians and Jews, but gradually converted to Islam. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE, they adopted the Sunni Muslim religion.
The Russians perpetrated the Circassian genocide during the Russo-Circassian War (1763 - 1864). At the end of nearly 100 years of warring, the Russians deported many of those Circassians still alive to the Ottoman Empire. The history of the Circassian people has been one of resisting larger powers, a tradition that has endured for generations.
Today, the Circassians live in the Russian Federation, as part of three republics: Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Adygea. I sincerely wish book editors would publish a photo or illustration of the area being discussed in books about foreign lands. Before reading this book, I was unaware of the existence of this group of people.
Because they were strategically situated between the Russian and the Ottoman Empires, they were involved in centuries of conflict and strife. The Circassians were never a single political block, which made it harder for them to survive. These people started as Christians and Jews, but gradually converted to Islam. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE, they adopted the Sunni Muslim religion.
The Russians perpetrated the Circassian genocide during the Russo-Circassian War (1763 - 1864). At the end of nearly 100 years of warring, the Russians deported many of those Circassians still alive to the Ottoman Empire. The history of the Circassian people has been one of resisting larger powers, a tradition that has endured for generations.
Today, the Circassians live in the Russian Federation, as part of three republics: Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Adygea. I sincerely wish book editors would publish a photo or illustration of the area being discussed in books about foreign lands. Before reading this book, I was unaware of the existence of this group of people.
