The western part of the Caucasus Range with the adjacent strip of foothills descending to the Kuban Lowland in the 18th century. was occupied by the Adyghe peoples. By the time the Russian state border advanced to the river. Kuban they have gone through a long path of historical development. On the pages of Russian chronicles, the Circassians are first mentioned under the name Kasogs when describing the events of 965. However, more or less clear information about them dates back only to the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries.

Individual Adyghe peoples settled beyond the river. Kuban as follows. Along the Main Caucasus Range and along the Black Sea coast in a general direction from northwest to southeast, the lands of the Natukhais were located. In their shape they resembled a large triangle, the base of which rested on the river. Kuban, and the peak overlooked the Black Sea coast, south of Gelendzhik. In this triangle, in addition to the main Natukhai population, from Tsemes Bay to the river. The Pshads lived as Shapsugs, called in official correspondence “Shapsug Natukhais,” and in the vicinity of Anapa lived a small tribe of Heigaks. (By the beginning of the 19th century, they settled in the Natukhai villages.)

To the east of the Natukhais lived the Shapsugs, divided into large and small (the so-called Big Shapsug and Small Shapsug). Big Shapsug was located north of the Main Caucasus Range, between the Adagum and Afips rivers, and Small Shapsug was located south of it and overlooked the Black Sea. From the east it was limited by the river. Shah, behind which the Ubykhs lived, and from the west the river. Dzhubga, which separated him from the Natukhais. The Shapsug territory was much larger than the Natukhai territory, but it had many inaccessible and sparsely populated mountainous spaces.

To the east of Bolshoi Shapsug, in the depths of the Caucasus Mountains and on their northern slope, was the region of the most numerous Adyghe people - the Abadzekhs. From the north it was separated from the river. Kuban is the land of the Bzhedukhs, from the east its border was the river. White, and from the south it abutted the Main Caucasian Range, behind which lay the possessions of the Shapsugs and Ubykhs. Thus, the Abadzekhs occupied a significant part of the territory of the Western Caucasus, from the river basin. Afips to the river basin Labs. The valleys of the Vunduk, Kurdzhips, Pshachi, Pshish, and Psekups rivers were most densely populated by them. Here were the villages of the main Abadzekh societies (Tuba, Temdashi, Daurkhabl, Jengetkhabl, Gatyukokhabl, Nezhukokhabl and Tfishebs). In the official correspondence of the Russian military authorities, Abadzekhs were usually divided into highland, or distant, and lowland, or nearby.

Between the northern border of Abadzekh territory and the river. The Kuban was home to the Bzhedukhs, who were divided into Khamysheevts, Chercheneevts (Kerkeneevts) and Zheneevtsy (Zhaneevtsy). According to folk legends, the Khamysheevites first lived on the river. Belaya among the Abadzekhs, but then were forced out by them to the upper reaches of the river. Psekups, where their fellow tribesmen lived - the Chercheneevites. Then both of them, under pressure from the Abadzekhs, moved even closer to the river. Kuban: the Khamysheevites settled between the Supe and Psekups rivers, and the Chercheneevians settled between the Psekups and Pshish rivers. Most of the Zheneevites soon merged with the Khamysheevites and Chercheneevites, and some moved to the Karakuban Island, within the Black Sea region.

Continuous inter-tribal struggle led to the fact that by the 30s of the 19th century. the number of Bzheduhs decreased significantly. According to available archival data, 1,200 Khamysheev “simple households that paid tribute” to the Khamysheev princes went to the Abadzekhs and Shapsugs. “4 princes were killed at different times, 40 nobles, more than 1000 commoners,” and over “900 souls of men and women with their property” were taken prisoner.

To the east of the Chercheneevites, between the Pshish and Belaya rivers, the Khatukaevites lived. Even further east, between the lower reaches of the Belaya and Laba rivers, there was an area occupied by the Temirgoys, or “chemguy”. Somewhat further to the southeast lived their neighbors - the Yegerukhaevites, Makhoshevtsy and Mamkhegs (Mamkhegovtsy), who were considered related to the Temirgoyites and were often mentioned in Russian official correspondence under the general name “Chemguy” or “Kemgoy”. In the 19th century Temirgoyevites, Egerukhaevites and Makhoshevites united under the rule of the Temirgoyev princes from the Bolotokov family. A significant Adyghe people in the Western Caucasus were the Besleneyevtsy. Their possessions bordered in the north-west with the territory of the Makhoshevites, in the south-east they reached the river. Laba and its tributary river. Khodz, and in the east - to the river. Urup. Among the Besleneevites there also lived the so-called fugitive Kabardians and a small number of Nogais.

Thus, the strip of land occupied by the Adyghe peoples stretched from the Black Sea coast in the west to the river. Urup in the east. The region of Kabarda and the territory of the Abazas adjoined it.

Numerous sources, descriptions and news provide the most contradictory information about the number of individual Adyghe peoples and the entire indigenous population of the Western Caucasus as a whole. K.F. Steel, for example, determined the total number of Temirgoyev and Yegerukhaevites at only 8 thousand people, and G.V. Novitsky claimed that there were 80 thousand Temirgoyites alone. The number of Abadzekhs, according to K.F. Steel, reached 40 - 50 thousand people, and G.V. Novitsky numbered them 260 thousand. The total number of Shapsugs K.F. Steel determined 160 thousand souls of both sexes, and Novitsky - 300 thousand; M.I. Venyukov believed that there were only 90 thousand of them, etc.

Information reported by the Adyghe princes and nobles about the size of the population under their control was even more contradictory. By comparing the available data, it is only possible to approximately establish the total number of the Adyghe population of the Western Caucasus. By the middle of the 19th century. it was approximately 700 - 750 thousand people.

Pokrovsky M.V.
“From the history of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries,” Krasnodar, 1989.

M.V. Pokrovsky

From the history of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries

Essay first. Socio-economic situation of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century

Classes

The natural and geographical conditions of the Western Caucasus are very diverse. In the past, this had a significant impact on the economic activities of the local population and determined its specificity in certain areas.

IN In the lowland Kuban region, distinguished by its fertile soils, settled agriculture developed very early. The author of this work has repeatedly been able to find in the cultural layer of ancient Meoto-Sarmatian settlements and in burial grounds dating back to IV century BC e. - II -III centuries. n. e., charred grains of wheat, millet and other cultivated plants. Stone hand millstones, iron sickles and other agricultural tools were also discovered here. There is every reason to assert that the distant ancestors of the Circassians already in the 1st millennium BC. e. agriculture was quite widely developed, and its further progressive development was observed in the Middle Ages.

This idea is especially clearly illustrated by the findings made in the summer of 1941 during the construction of the Shapsug reservoir on the left bank of the river. Afips, near Krasnodar. During the construction of the reservoir dam, an ancient burial ground with ground and mound burials from the 13th to 15th centuries was uncovered. and the territory of the adjacent settlement, dating back to the same time. Among other items, iron sickles and plowshares, stone millstones, ketmen for uprooting bushes and other tools were found, indicating developed arable farming. In addition, a number of things were found here indicating that the local population was engaged in cattle breeding and crafts (bones of domestic animals, shearing shears, blacksmith hammers, tongs, etc.).

The same finds were found during excavations of other medieval settlements in the Kuban region.

Without dwelling on a number of literary sources, we point out that the existence of developed agriculture among the Circassians is confirmed at a later time by Russian official documents. Of them. especially interesting:

1) order of A. Golovaty dated December 16, 1792, ordering the head of the Taman detachment, Savva Bely, to organize the purchase of cereal seeds from the highlanders for the settlers of the Black Sea Cossack army; 2) a report from the ataman of the Black Sea Cossack army, Kotlyarevsky, to Emperor Paul I, in which it was reported that due to the acute shortage of bread in the newly founded army, it was necessary to order the supply of “the Cossacks serving on the border guard with bread exchanged for salt from the Trans-Kubans.”

Considering all that has been said, one should decisively abandon the rather widespread view that agriculture among the Circassians in the 17th - 18th centuries. supposedly was of an extremely primitive nature. S. M. Bronevsky, characterizing the economic life of the Circassians at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote: “Agriculture is divided into three main sectors: agriculture, stud farms and cattle breeding, including cattle and sheep. Circassians plow the land with plows similar to Ukrainian ones, which are harnessed to several pairs of oxen. Millet is sown more than any bread, then Turkish wheat (corn), spring wheat, spelt and barley. They reap bread with ordinary sickles; they thresh bread with balbas, that is, they trample and grind the ears of grain with the help of horses or bulls harnessed to a board on which a burden is piled, just as in Georgia and Shirvan. The ground straw, along with chaff and part of the grains, is fed to horses, and clean bread is hidden in pits. Vegetables are sown in the gardens: carrots, beets, cabbage, onions, pumpkins, watermelons, and on top of that, everyone has a tobacco patch in their garden.” There can be no doubt that the level of development of agriculture described by S. M. Bronevsky was achieved on the basis of the old local agricultural culture.

The role of agriculture in the life of the Circassians was also reflected in their pagan pantheon. Khan-Girey reported that in the 40s of the 19th century. An image personifying the agricultural deity Sozeresh, in the form of a boxwood log with seven branches extending from it, was present in every family and was stored in a grain barn. After the harvest, on the so-called Sozeresh night, which coincided with the Christian holiday of Christmas, the image of Sozeresh was transferred from the barn to the house. Having stuck wax candles to the branches and hanging pies and pieces of cheese from it, they placed it on pillows and prayed.

It is quite natural, of course, that the mountainous strip of the Western Caucasus was less convenient for arable farming than the Kuban lowland. That's why. cattle breeding, gardening and horticulture played a much larger role here than arable farming. The inhabitants of the mountains gave livestock and handicrafts to the inhabitants of the plains in exchange for bread. The significance of this exchange was especially important for the Ubykhs.

Cattle breeding of the Circassians also had a fairly developed character, contrary to the widespread opinion in historical literature about its extreme backwardness. Many authors argued that due to this backwardness, livestock were left to graze even in winter. In fact. In winter, he descended from the mountain pastures into the forests or reed thickets of the Kuban Plain, which provided an excellent refuge from bad weather and winds. Here the animals were fed with hay stored in advance. How much of it was stored for the winter for this purpose can be judged by the fact that during the winter expedition of 1847 to the lands of the Abadzekhs, General Kovalevsky managed to burn more than a million pounds of hay there.

The widespread development of cattle breeding was facilitated by the abundance of meadows. Huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and herds of horses grazed in rich hayfields and pastures.

An indirect idea of the size of cattle breeding and its nature can be obtained from the data of M. Peysonel, who reported that the mountaineers annually slaughtered up to 500 thousand sheep and sold up to 200 thousand burkas. Information on exports at the end of the 18th century. show that leather, unwashed wool, skins, and various wool products occupied a significant place in the foreign trade of the Circassians.

Among the pastoralists, the features and remnants of the tribal system were especially clearly manifested. For example, in the fall, some families drove one of their cows into a sacred grove, intended as a sacrifice to the god Achin, tying pieces of bread and cheese to its horns. The surrounding residents accompanied the sacrificial animal, which was called the self-walking Achin cow, and then slaughtered it. Ahin, the patron saint of herds of cattle, clearly belonged to the old pagan religion with its cult of communal sacred places, groves and trees, with community-wide prayers and sacrifices. It is characteristic that at the place where the animal was slaughtered, the skin was not removed, and where it was removed, the meat was not cooked; where they cooked it, they did not eat it, but did all this, alternately moving from one place to another. It is possible that these features of the sacrificial ritual reflected the features of the ancient nomadic life of pastoralists. Subsequently, they acquired the character of a religious rite, accompanied by the singing of special prayer songs.

It should be noted, however, that c. In the period of time we are considering (the end of the 18th century - the first half of the 19th century), property differentiation among pastoralists sharply increases. A large number of livestock were concentrated in the hands of princes, nobles, elders and many wealthy community members - tfokotli. The labor of slaves and serfs was quite widely used during haymaking and the preparation of feed for livestock. From the end of the 18th century. The peasants began to show strong dissatisfaction with the seizure of the best pastures by local feudal lords.

By the end XVIII century Horse stud farms, owned by princes and wealthy elders, became of great importance. According to S. M. Bronevsky, many of them supplied horses to various Adyghe peoples and even, strange as it may seem, to regiments of the Russian regular cavalry. Each factory had a special brand with which it branded its horses. For counterfeiting, those responsible were subjected to severe punishment. To improve the horse stock, factory owners bought Arabian stallions from Turkey. Termirgoy horses were especially famous, which were sold not only in the Caucasus, but also exported to the interior of Russia.

Agriculture and cattle breeding were not the only economic occupation of the Circassians. Poultry farming, as well as fruit growing and viticulture, were greatly developed among them. The abundance of orchards, especially in the coastal part, has always attracted the attention of foreign travelers and observers, for example Bell, Dubois de Montpere, Spencer and others.

The Circassians were no less successful in beekeeping. They owned “notable beekeepers” and exported a lot of honey and wax to Russian markets and abroad. “In Achipsu,” wrote F. F. Tornau, “there is excellent honey obtained from mountain bees nesting in rock crevices. This honey is very fragrant, white, hard, almost like sand sugar, and is very highly valued by the Turks, from whom the Medoveevites exchange the necessary fabrics exclusively for honey, wax and girls,” The development of beekeeping among the Circassians is evidenced by the fact that those who existed in the 60 In the 19th century in the North-Western Caucasus, large beekeepers owned by Russian entrepreneurs were, as a rule, serviced by hired workers from among the Circassians.

Foreign ships annually exported large quantities of yew and boxwood and timber from the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea. The Circassians exchanged boxwood for salt (pood for pood), which they were in dire need of.

Archaeological data indicate that already in the XIII-XV centuries. on the Adyghe territory, iron products were made (shares, axes, picks, scissors, forge hammers, etc.). In the XVIII-XIX centuries. This branch of handicraft activity is developing to such an extent that it begins to experience a shortage of raw materials.

One of the most difficult issues for the Russian authorities has always been the issue of allowing iron to cross the Kuban. As a rule, the mountaineers, who “brought obedience,” insistently demanded that iron be transported to them freely. Fearing that it would be used for the production of weapons, the tsarist administration tried to regulate iron export standards, scrupulously determining the need for iron for the manufacture of agricultural implements. On this basis, an endless number of misunderstandings and contradictory orders arose.

IN XVIII-XIX centuries A fairly large group of the Adyghe population were blacksmiths. Along with them, a special place was occupied by gunsmiths who made edged weapons in a silver frame.

Women made braids for belts and for trimming men's festive clothes, weaved cloth for men's clothing and fine woolen fabrics for themselves. According to the testimony of F. F. Tornau, who observed the life of the Circassians when he was in their captivity, the Circassian women were distinguished by remarkable skill in all these works, revealing “good taste and excellent practical adaptation.”

In many villages, artisans made cloaks, saddles, gun cases, shoes, carts, and made soap. “The Cossacks,” wrote S. M. Bronevsky, “respect Circassian saddles very much and try to supply themselves with them, considering the excellent lightness and dexterity of wooden archaks and the strength of leather caps that serve instead of a saddle cloth. The Circassians also prepare gunpowder and make saltpeter for everyone from the grass (weeds) collected in July, which, having been cleared of leaves and shoots, one stem is burned.”

According to O. V. Markgraf’s calculations, the indigenous inhabitants of the North Caucasus had 32 handicraft industries: furriery, saddlery, shoemaking, turning, wheelworking, arbeaning, production of cloaks, cloth, paints, twig weaving, mats, straw baskets, soap, etc.

However, only blacksmithing, weapon making and jewelry art rose to the status of a real craft, that is, the production of products to order and for sale. All other types of craft activities were closely related to agriculture and cattle breeding and were mainly focused on meeting the needs of the family.

From the history of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century: Socio-economic essays.

- Krasnodar, 1989.

From the editor

Introduction

Essay first. Socio-economic situation of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half. XIX century

Territory

Social order

Tfokotli and the formation of a new feudal layer

Unauts, pshitli and ogi

Essay two. Settlement of the Black Sea Cossack Army in Kuban

Essay three. Trade relations of the Circassians with the Russian population of the Kuban region and Russia’s economic penetration into the Western Caucasus

Russian-Adyghe trade relations

Russian-Adyghe trade and its regulation by tsarism

Essay four. The policy of tsarism in relation to the Adyghe feudal nobility

Adyghe nobility and tsarism at the end of the 18th century.

Military support of the Adyghe nobles and princes by the Russian government

The question of the class privileges of the Adyghe nobility.

Essay five. The attitude of the Russian administration towards Adyghe slaves, serfs and their owners

Flight of Adyghe slaves and serfs to Russia and the reasons for this phenomenon

Acceptance of runaway Adyghe slaves and serfs by the Russian authorities as a means of influencing their owners.

Unrest of the Circassian Cossacks of the Black Sea Army in 1844 - 1846

Essay six. Muridism in the Western Caucasus.

The spread of muridism in the Western Caucasus.

Organization of administration of the Adyghe peoples subordinated to Magomed-Amin.

The growth of the movement of the Adyghe population against the power of Magomed-Amin

Essay seventh. Western Caucasus during the Crimean War.

Organization of the defense of the Western Caucasus at the beginning of the Crimean War

Unsuccessful attempts to raise the Circassians to fight against Russia

Military operations in the Western Caucasus during the Crimean War

Essay eight. Events in the Western Caucasus after the end of the Crimean War (1856-1864).

Bibliography

From the editor

The author of these essays is the Krasnodar scientist Mikhail Vladimirovich Pokrovsky (1897-1959), Doctor of Historical Sciences, who went through an interesting but difficult path from a graduate of a local pedagogical institute, then a history teacher to the head of the department of history of the USSR at his native university. He devoted more than twenty years to developing the issues that are covered in this book. From month to month, from year to year, studying in the archives thousands of thick files (storage units) from centuries ago, he carefully restored facts, checked and double-checked them, analyzed the connections between them... For him, the Adyghe peoples in the 18th - 19th centuries. first of all, creators of original, controversial and interesting history. That is why the researcher’s efforts focused on penetrating into a bygone era. His work, like any serious historical work, is valuable not only for the abundance of educational factual material.

For the modern reader, the author’s very passion for his chosen topic, the desire to deeply and objectively understand the most complex political and socio-economic vicissitudes with sincere respect for the history of each people - all this, undoubtedly, can serve as an example of nurturing historicism in thinking, the deficiency of which has, unfortunately, become acute felt lately.

In this regard, a characteristic feature of the scientific method deserves attention. Having at his disposal a mass of contradictory facts, he was not captive of tendentiousness and was able to see behind the numerous and varied details of existence the general patterns of historical progress.

As a result of a lengthy search, he came to a number of well-founded conclusions, among which the conclusion about the mutual penetration of the cultures of two neighboring peoples - Russians and Circassians, who, despite the long-lasting unstable situation in the region, plowed the land nearby, cut hay, and fished, has a special meaning. .. All this gave rise to the possibility of socio-political communication between the lower classes of the Cossack army and the peasant mass of the Adyghe population. It is no coincidence that the participants in the Cossack revolt in 1797 told their superiors that if their demands were not met, they would kill the officers, and they themselves would “go to the Circassians.” On the other hand, hopes for deliverance from the difficult fate of a slave, a serf, the freedom-loving aspirations of the Adyghe peasants who were under the threat of enslavement were associated with the transition to Russia, as evidenced by the flows of mountain refugees.

This situation led to the fact that by the early 50s of the XIX century. both military tension and the muridist movement in the Western Caucasus began to weaken and, it would seem, should stop. But that did not happen.

shows the forces that complicated the situation in the Caucasus: the intervention of Sultan Turkey and its European allies, the official course of Russian tsarism, the ambiguous policy of the local noble-princely and senior elite, the efforts of the inspirers of muridism...

Of all the issues covered in the essays offered to the reader, the most important were those related to the social and economic development of the Adyghe peoples. The author especially emphasizes the need to study this range of problems in order to come to a correct understanding of the most important political events that took place in the Western Caucasus in the first half of the 19th century.

Deep penetration into the factual material allowed us to draw a reasonable conclusion: the peculiarities of the emergence and formation of feudalism among the Circassians are one of the most unique phenomena in the history of the Caucasus. Feudalism here developed on the basis of the decomposition of traditional communal relations, although slavery existed as an economic structure. The feudalizing nobility sought to extend its ownership rights to communal lands, but it failed to legislate this seizure. The social elite actually managed to appropriate part of the land, but legal rights to the land remained with the community (psuho). The latter had the features of a land (rural) community.

Examining in detail what was the real significance of various tribal remnants and feudal relations in the social life of the Adyghe people, the scientist notes that the pace of feudalization, the very process of development of feudalism among different Adyghe peoples is not the same. They depended on geographical conditions, the degree of stability of the community and its institutions, the balance of social forces and a number of other factors

The history of the anti-feudal struggle among the Circassians occupies a significant place in the essays. The author characterizes in detail the situation and relationships of individual categories of the population, shows the high degree of property differentiation and the severity of social contradictions, which resulted in armed clashes between the Tfokotls and the noble nobility.

Touching upon the events of the Crimean War period, he examines, using specific facts, the activities of various political adventurers sent both from London and from Constantinople to the Caucasus, reveals the consequences of such provocations/The historian does not ignore such a difficult issue as the resettlement of part of the highlanders to Turkey, although The author does not pretend to cover it completely.

It should be noted that the eight essays prepared are by no means an attempt to present the entire multifaceted history of the Circassians. Some issues, for example, the material and spiritual culture of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, are presented quite briefly, others are presented only as a background to events or remained outside the scope of the narrative.

This publication is posthumous. Therefore, great care has been taken to ensure complete preservation of the author's manuscript. Where necessary, repetitions and overloads of factual material have been reduced and terms and names have been clarified. However, for the most part, personal names and place names are given in the spelling in which they are given by the author, who obviously followed the text of the sources. As for fundamental generalizations and conclusions, they were not only not omitted, but also were not subject to any corrections. Therefore, the originality of the author's text is completely preserved.

A distinctive feature of the writing style is the very successful introduction into the fabric of the narrative of materials from sources, always with references to the address of borrowing.

In this case, we consider ourselves entitled to reduce the number of references, especially to those sources that have already been mentioned earlier, but the citations have been left. The presence of a bibliography justifies the feasibility of this approach. At the same time, it seems necessary to leave exactly those editions of the works that the author used, in particular the 1st edition of the Works of K. Marx and F. Engels. Links to documents from the state archive of the Krasnodar Territory also reflect the accounting data adopted during the period of work on the essays, completed in 1958

There is no doubt that over the past 25-30 years, Soviet Caucasian studies have made significant progress. This is convincingly evidenced by the publication of the monographs “The social system of the Adyghe peoples (XVIII - first half of the 19th century)” (M., 1967), “The socio-economic and political situation of the Adyghe people in the 19th century.” (Maikop, 1986), publication of the series “History of the Peoples of the North Caucasus” (M., 1988), etc.

We hope that these essays will not only help the general reader to better understand the history of the Adyghe peoples, but will also become a definite contribution to Soviet Caucasian studies.

The editors express their gratitude to him, who carefully preserved and provided his father’s manuscript for publication.

INTRODUCTION

Fraternal friendship between all the peoples that make up the Soviet Union is one of the foundations of the power of the Soviet state and social system.

From here it is clear how responsible and important the task of in-depth study and truthful coverage of a number of problems of the historical development of the peoples of our country is. Such problems include the socio-economic history of the Adyghe peoples in the 18th - 19th centuries.

The Caucasus, with its natural resources and favorable geographical position on the border between Europe and Asia, was at the end

XVIII and XIX centuries arena of struggle between Russia, Turkey and England. The Caucasian question was part of the Eastern question, which was then one of the pressing problems of international politics. This explains, in particular, the desire of European diplomacy to involve the Circassians in military conflicts that took place in the 20-50s of the 19th century. in the Near and Middle East.

The noted role of the Caucasus in international relations explains the increased interest of various public circles in Russia and Western European countries in the tribes and peoples who inhabited it, which caused a constant flow of observers, travelers, journalists, everyday life writers, novelists, overt and secret agents of powers interested in the Caucasus, as well as the emergence extensive literature, which has accumulated a large amount of factual material and left many valuable observations.

A truly scientific theoretical analysis and generalization of the collected specific historical and ethnographic material related to the Adyghe peoples remained unresolved in bourgeois science. And this primarily concerns the question of the nature of social relations.

A deep study of them is not only of general scientific historical interest, but, what is especially important, allows us to approach a correct understanding of many of the most important political events that took place in the Western Caucasus in the 19th century. This alone speaks sufficiently about the need and relevance of further scientific development of issues related to the social structure of the Circassians.

Unfortunately, no written sources have reached us from the Circassians themselves due to their lack of writing, and the study of their social system, difficult in itself due to the unique nature of their social development, is complicated even more by this circumstance. The customary law of the Circassians was preserved only in the oral tradition and was subjected to later literary processing as materials on customary law.

Because of this, the researcher, in addition to using notes from travelers and observers (Russian and foreign), notes and stories of contemporaries (Circassians in Russian service or Russian officers - participants in the Caucasian War), etc., mainly has to turn to an in-depth study of numerous archival materials that can only shed light on the state of this issue.

Since the formation of the Old Line and the settlement of the Black Sea Cossack Army in the Kuban, a number of materials and documents have appeared that make it possible to present with sufficient clarity the ethnic map of the northwestern part of the Caucasus, as well as many aspects of social life. These materials include:

1. Extensive military-administrative correspondence containing information about individual peoples, their social structure, economy and the social struggle that took place among them.

2. Military topographical and ethnographic descriptions of the Western Caucasus.

Official reports and reports, memos and reviews, orders and relationships contain a large amount of data relating to various aspects of the life of the Circassians.

This work was written on the basis of documents stored in the State Archive of the Krasnodar Territory (GAKK), the Central State Historical Archive of the USSR (TsGIA USSR) and some others.

This study highlights issues related to the characteristics of the level of development of productive forces and the social structure of the population of the Western Caucasus, as well as the course of Russia’s economic penetration here, starting from the moment of the resettlement of the Black Sea Cossack army to Kuban; the policies of Russia and Turkey in relation to various social categories of the Adyghe peoples, the military-political events that immediately preceded the conquest of the Caucasus by tsarism and which paint a complex picture of the social and political contradictions that unfolded among the Adygs at the last stage of the struggle for the Caucasus between Russia and the Western European powers and Turkey.

It is necessary to decisively abandon the insufficiently clear and formal approach, which ignores the social stratification of the Adyghe people and obscures the severity of the social contradictions associated with the feudalization of the Adyghe society. These contradictions created a state of continuous armed clashes between individual social groups of Adyghe society, intertwined with general events in the region. In the ongoing struggle, individual social groups occupied completely different political positions in relation to the emerging international situation, and the European powers and Turkey fighting for the Caucasus sought to influence them in their own interests.

This circumstance was expressed not only in the fact that the nobility and senior nobility were persistently drawn into the mainstream of their policies in the Caucasus, but also in the fact that the free peasant (tfokotl) was also the object of intense diplomatic attention and influence from government circles in Turkey, England and Tsarist Russia .

The struggle between them “for the tfokotl” ran like a red thread through a number of decades of the Caucasian War and sometimes took on a bizarre pattern of events that went as far as declaring the independence of the tfokotl from feudal encroachments by princes and nobles. Moreover, even the unfree population of the North-Western Caucasus, slaves and serfs (Unauts and Pshitli), were also drawn into the orbit of European politics and used in a complex political game. In particular, tsarism, along with the methods of open military-colonial expansion, widely used demagoguery in relation to these social groups of the population, not stopping at the liberation of fugitive slaves and serfs and raising some of them “to Cossack dignity”, in order to politically influence them owners.

Based on archival materials and foreign printed sources, it is possible to trace the influences that certain social groups of the population were subjected to by foreign governments.

The study of materials related to the economic and cultural relations of the Russian population of the North-Western Caucasus with the Circassians made it possible to establish that, despite the military-colonial regime of tsarism with all its negative aspects, here since the end of the 18th century. A lively trade exchange began to develop, going far beyond the officially recognized “barter trade.”

Trade relations between the Circassians and the Russian population seriously hampered the strengthening of Turkey's position and became the subject of competition, in which the English trading company founded in Trebizond also took part. The British ruling circles were well aware of the danger of Russia's economic penetration into the Caucasus and could not come to terms with it, because this meant recognizing its claims to the Caucasus.

In the complex interweaving of military-political events that played out in the Western Caucasus with moments of internal social struggle that took place among the Circassians, one can clearly see the desire of the bulk of the indigenous population for rapprochement with the Russian people, breaking through all the obstacles of the colonial policy of tsarism, the intrigues of Turkey and the European powers. The basis of this phenomenon was noted by F. Engels, despite the colonial nature of the policy of the Russian autocracy in the Caucasus, the general civilizing influence of Russia “for the Black and Caspian Seas.”

Polemicizing with English reviewers who attacked Haxthausen’s book “Transcaucasia, sketches of peoples and tribes between the Black and Caspian Seas,” the author of which advocated the positive influence of Russia on the peoples of the Caucasus, he wrote in No. 7 of Sovremennik for 1854: “The author of the famous travels, having briefly gotten to know Russia, fell in love with it, and his “Transcaucasia” is imbued with sympathy for Russia and for Russian rule beyond the Caucasus. English reviewers, of course, call this, if not bias, then prejudice. In fact, Baron Haxthausen is so prejudiced that he thinks that “by maintaining civil order in the Transcaucasian regions and civilizing them, the Russians are paving the way for civilization in the adjacent Asian countries.” As long as we can be judges in our own case, it seems to us that this truth is quite simple; If our memory does not deceive us, neither the British nor the French even thought of doubting it before the start of the war.”

Constantly communicating with the Russian population, the Adygs, in turn, influenced their way of life. This was expressed in the Cossacks borrowing the Adyghe costume (Circassians, burkas, beshmets, hats, leggings), as well as items of cavalry equipment and horse harness. Adyghe carts were widely included in the life of the village population of the Black Sea coast and were used by them during muddy times as the main mode of transport.

The creation of the so-called Black Sea horse breed, which became widely known in Russian and foreign markets (during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, all Prussian artillery was served by horses of this breed), was associated with the crossing of the Adyghe horse with horses brought by the Cossacks from Zaporozhye.

Message on the river Kuban was produced almost exclusively on boats made by Adyghe craftsmen who lived in the Kuban Shapsug and Bzhedukh auls. These craftsmen made not only small boats used for crossing rivers and for fishing, but also made larger vessels that carried several hundred pounds of cargo and sailed along the entire middle and lower reaches of the river. Kuban.

The high level of Adyghe gardening influenced the development of gardens in the Black Sea region, where varieties of Adyghe apple trees, cherries and pears were widely cultivated. The Adygs willingly brought fruit tree seedlings to Russian bazaars and fairs, selling them at a cheap price.

In the field of beekeeping, the Cossacks, and then the “non-resident industrialists” also almost entirely followed the techniques used by the Circassians in caring for bees, and in the 50s of the 19th century. large apiaries supplying honey to Rostov and Stavropol were maintained exclusively by the labor of hired Circassians.

The rapprochement of the Adyghe population with the Russians was expressed in a number of other points noted in this work.

How great was the desire of the masses to end the war with Russia and establish peaceful relations can be judged by the fact that neither during the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829, nor during the Crimean War of 1853-1856. foreign diplomacy failed to rouse them to fight against Russia.

Particularly interesting are the events that unfolded in the Western Caucasus during the Crimean War. At a critical moment in the struggle, the coalition hostile to Russia used all the means at its disposal to attract the Circassians to its side. It managed to enlist the support of part of the pro-Turkish elite, but the masses resolutely refused this support. Even the assault on Novorossiysk by the allied squadron, undertaken at the end of February 1855 in order to bring the Tfokotls out of their state of political passivity, did not achieve the desired results, and official documents of the London Admiralty reflect the deep disappointment of the English command about this (9, 100-102). The work devotes relatively little space to issues of purely military history, since there are a sufficient number of works covering in detail the external side of the Caucasian War. Without therefore setting ourselves such a task, we have focused our attention in this area only on those events that provide some new data regarding the aggressive plans of foreign powers in the Caucasus.

Essay first.

Socio-economic situation of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century

Territory

Individual Adyghe peoples settled beyond the river. Kuban as follows. Along the Main Caucasus Range and along the Black Sea coast in a general direction from northwest to southeast, the lands of the Natukhais were located. In their shape they resembled a large triangle, the base of which rested on the river. Kuban, and the peak overlooked the Black Sea coast, south of Gelendzhik. In this triangle, in addition to the main Nakhukhai population, from Tsemes Bay to the river. The Pshads lived as Shapsugs, called in official correspondence “Shapsug Natukhais,” and in the vicinity of Anapa lived a small tribe of Heigaks. (By the beginning of the 19th century, they settled in the Natukhai villages.)

//Terms: Adyghe (Adyghe) peoples, Adygs, highlanders, Circassians - are used in this work as synonyms. The term tribes, found in archival and literary sources, in relation to the period under review corresponds to the descriptive concept of peoples and the scientific concept - subethnic groups of the Adyghe people (Abadekhs, Besleneevtsy, Bzhedukhs, Khatukaevtsy, Shapsugs, etc.).

To the east of the Natukhaidevs lived Shapsugs, divided into large and small (the so-called Big Shapsug and Small Shapsug. Big Shapsug was located north of the Main Caucasian ridge, between the rivers Adagum and Afips, and Small Shapsug was located south of it and overlooked the Black sea. From the east it was bounded by the Shakhe River, beyond which the Ubykhs lived, and from the west by the Dzhubga River, which separated it from the Natukhais. The Shapsug territory was much larger than the Natukhais, but it had many inaccessible and sparsely populated mountain spaces.

To the east of Bolshoi Shapsug, in the depths of the Caucasus Mountains and on their northern slope, was the region of the most numerous Adyghe people - the Abadzekhs. From the north it was separated from the river. Kuban is the land of the Bzhedukhs, from the east its border was the river. White, and from the South it abutted the Main Caucasian Range, behind which lay the possessions of the Shapsugs and Ubykhs. Thus, the Abadzekhs occupied a significant part of the territory of the Western Caucasus, from the river basin. Afips to the Laba basin. The valleys of the Vunduk Kurdzhips, Pshachi, Pshish, and Psekups rivers were most densely populated by them. Here were the villages of the main Abadzekh societies (Tuba, Temdashi, Daurkhabl, Jengetkhabl, Gatyukokhabl, Nezhukokhabl and Tfishebs). In the official correspondence of the Russian military authorities, Abadzekhs were usually divided into highland, or distant, and lowland, or nearby.

Between the northern border of Abadzekh territory and the river. The Kuban was home to the Bzhedukhs, who were subdivided into the Khamysheevites, the Chercheneevites (Kerkeneevtsy) and the Zheneevtsy (Zhaneevtsy). According to folk legends, the Khamysheevites first lived on the river. Belaya among the Abadzekhs, but then were forced out by them to the upper reaches of the river. Psekups, where their fellow tribesmen lived - the Chercheneevites. Then both of them, under pressure from the Abadzekhs, moved even closer to the river. Kuban: the Khamysheevites settled between the Suls and Psekups rivers, and the Chercheneevians settled between the Psekups and Pshish rivers. Most of the Zheneevites soon merged with the Khamysheevites and Chercheneevites, and some moved to the Karakuban Island, within the Black Sea region.

Continuous inter-tribal struggle led to the fact that by the 30s of the 19th century. the number of Bzheduhs decreased significantly. According to available archival data, 1,200 Khamysheev’s “simple households that paid tribute” to the Khamysheev’s princes went to the Abadzekhs and Shapsugs. “4 princes were killed at different times, 40 nobles, more than 1000 commoners,” and over “900 souls of men and women with their property” were taken prisoner.

To the east of the Chercheneevites, between the Pshish and Belaya rivers, the Khatukaevites lived. Even further east, between the lower reaches of the Belaya and Laba rivers, there was an area occupied by the Temirgoys or “Chemguy”. Somewhat further to the southeast lived their neighbors - the Yegerukhaevites, Makhoshevtsy and Mamkhegs (Mamkhegovtsy), who were considered related to the Temirgoyites and were often mentioned in Russian official correspondence under the general name “Chemguy” or “Kemgoy”. In the 19th century Temirgoyevites, Egerukhaevites and Makhoshevites united under the rule of the Temirgoyev princes from the Bolotokov family. A significant Adyghe people in the Western Caucasus were the Besleneyevtsy. Their possessions bordered in the north-west with the territory of the Makhoshevites, in the south-east they reached the river. Laba and its tributary river. Khodz, and in the east - to the river. Urup. Among the Besleneevites there also lived the so-called fugitive Kabardians and a small number of Nogais.

Numerous sources, descriptions and news provide the most contradictory information about the number of individual Adyghe peoples and the entire indigenous population of the Western Caucasus as a whole. , for example, determined the total number of Temirgoyev and Yegerukhayevites to be only 8 thousand people, but argued that there were 80 thousand Temirgoyevites alone. The number of Abadzekhs, however, reached 40-50 thousand people, and there were 260 thousand of them. The total number of Shapsugs was determined at 160 thousand souls of both sexes, and Novitsky - at 300 thousand; but he believed that there were only 90 thousand of them, etc.

Classes

In the low-lying Kuban region, distinguished by its fertile soils, settled agriculture developed very early. The author of this work has repeatedly been able to find in the cultural layer of ancient Meoto-Sarmatian settlements and in burial grounds dating back to the 4th century. BC e. - II-III centuries. n. e., charred grains of wheat, millet and other cultivated plants. Stone hand millstones, iron sickles and other agricultural tools were also discovered here. There is every reason to assert that the distant ancestors of the Circassians already in the 1st millennium BC. e. agriculture was quite widely developed, and its further progressive development was observed in the Middle Ages.

This idea is especially clearly illustrated by the findings made in the summer of 1941 during the construction of the Shapsug reservoir on the left bank of the river. Afips, near Krasnodar. During the construction of the reservoir dam, an ancient burial ground with ground and mound burials of the 13th-15th centuries was uncovered. and the territory of the adjacent settlement, dating back to the same time. Among other items, iron sickles and plowshares, stone millstones, ketmen for uprooting bushes and other tools were found, indicating developed arable farming. In addition, a number of things were found here indicating that the local population was engaged in cattle breeding and crafts (bones of domestic animals, shearing shears, blacksmith hammers, tongs, etc.).

The same finds were found during excavations of other medieval settlements in the Kuban region.

1) A. Golovaty’s order dated January 1, 2001, ordering the head of the Taman detachment, Savva Bely, to organize the purchase of cereal seeds from the highlanders for the settlers of the Black Sea Cossack army; 2) a report from the ataman of the Black Sea Cossack army, Kotlyarevsky, to Emperor Paul I, in which it was reported that due to the acute shortage of bread in the newly founded army, it was necessary to order the supply of “the Cossacks serving on the border guard with bread exchanged for salt from the Trans-Kubans.”

Considering all that has been said, one should decisively abandon the rather widespread view that agriculture among the Circassians in the 17th-18th centuries. supposedly was of an extremely primitive nature. , characterizing the economic life of the Circassians at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote: “Agriculture is divided into three main sectors: agriculture, stud farms and cattle breeding, including cattle and sheep. Circassians plow the land with plows similar to Ukrainian ones, which are harnessed to several pairs of oxen. Millet is sown more than any bread, then Turkish wheat (corn), spring wheat, spelt and barley. They reap bread with ordinary sickles; they thresh bread with balbas, that is, they trample and grind the ears of grain with the help of horses or bulls harnessed to a board on which a burden is piled, just as in Georgia and Shirvan. The ground straw, along with chaff and part of the grains, is fed to horses, and clean bread is hidden in pits. Vegetables are sown in the gardens: carrots, beets, cabbage, onions, pumpkins, watermelons, and on top of that, everyone has a tobacco patch in their garden.” There can be no doubt that the described level of agricultural development was achieved on the basis of the old local agricultural culture.

The widespread development of cattle breeding was facilitated by the abundance of meadows. Huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and herds of horses grazed in rich hayfields and pastures.

By the end of the 18th century. Horse stud farms, owned by princes and wealthy elders, became of great importance. According to information, many of them supplied horses to various Adyghe peoples and even, strange as it may seem, to regiments of the Russian regular cavalry. Each factory had a special brand with which it branded its horses. For counterfeiting, those responsible were subjected to severe punishment. To improve the horse stock, factory owners bought Arabian stallions from Turkey. Termirgoy horses were especially famous, which were sold not only in the Caucasus, but also exported to the interior of Russia.

ADYGHES ENLIGHTENERS’ VIEWS ABOUT POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE PEOPLES OF THE NORTH-WESTERN CAUCASUS AT THE END OF THE 18TH - THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURIES

This article is devoted to the study of the political structure of the peoples of the North-West Caucasus at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. in the coverage of representatives of the Adyghe intelligentsia. The author systematizes the views of the Adyghe enlighteners Sultan Khan-Girey and Sultan Adyl-Girey, reveals the role and significance of national leaders in the process of centralization of Circassia, and studies the evolution of the political system of the Abadzekhs, Shapsugs and Natukhais in the direction of an estate-representative monarchy.

The paper is dedicated to the analysis of the political system of the North-Western Caucasus peoples at the end of the 18th - the first half of the 19th centuries as it was depicted by the representatives of Adyghe intelligentsia. The points of view of Adyghe enlighteners, such as S. Khan-Ghyrey and Sultan Adyl-Ghyrey are systematized. The role and signifi cance of national leaders in the process of Circassia’s centralization is exposed. The evolution of political system of the Abadzekhs, the Shapsugs and the Natukhais towards social estate-representative monarchy is studied.

Keywords:
socio-economic development, tools of labor, economy, social system, peoples of the North-West Caucasus, political structure, Circassians, educators, national leaders, centralization, class-representative monarchy, division of labor, trade, sub-ethnic groups, way of life.

Key Words:
Social and economic development; instruments of labour; economy; social order; peoples of the North-Western Caucasus; political system the Adyghes; enlighteners; national leaders; centralization; social estate-representative monarchy; differentiation of labour; trade; subethnic groups; lifestyle

Adyghe educators paid close attention to studying the issues of socio-economic development of the peoples of the North-West Caucasus: Adygs, Abazas and Ubykhs. At the same time, taking into account the closeness and sometimes the identity of the social system of these peoples, they mainly described the occupations and political development of the most numerous of them, the Circassians. S. Khan-Girey wrote about the similarity of morals and customs of the Circassians and Abazins back in 1836 as follows: “The Abadzins here of the named tribes are hardworking, diligently engage in cattle breeding and, generally speaking, have completely become accustomed to the Circassians: their clothes and way of life are exactly the same , like the Circassians; They adopted Circassian customs and even mores rather than retaining their own, and the Circassian language became common to them everywhere.” A.G. Keshev also noted the closeness of the customs and morals of the Circassians and Abazins. Speaking about the 19th century, the famous expert on Adyghe enlightenment R. Kh. Khashkhozheva emphasizes: “By that time, the merger of the Adyghe

The relationship with the Circassians - in their way of life, customs, culture - was so close that their ethnic distinction seemed meaningless to people like Keshev.” Most of the Ubykhs also spoke the Adyghe language and their culture and way of life did not differ significantly from the culture and way of life of the Adygs. As Adyghe educators rightly write, the Adygs occupied a vast territory in the North Caucasus. Khan-Girey noted: “The Circassian lands... extend over 600 miles in length, starting from the mouth of the Kuban up this river, and then along the Kuma, Malka and Terek to the borders of Little Kabarda, which previously extended to the very confluence of the Sunzha River with the Terek River . The width is different and consists of the above-mentioned rivers at noon along the valleys and along the slopes of mountains in different curvatures, having from 20 to 100 versts of distance, thus forming a long narrow strip, which, starting from the eastern corner formed by the confluence of the Sunzha and the Terek, then expands, then again he feels shy, following west down the Kuban to the shores of the Black Sea. The Circassian lands border to the north with the land of the Black Sea Cossacks and the Caucasus region; to the west with the Black Sea; to the east with the lands occupied by the Aksayev Kumyks, the Bragun village and the Chechens; to the south with the lands of the Kists, Ossetians, Balkars and Abkhazians, an indefinite line." In the Northwestern Caucasus, the Circassians inhabited the lands from the Black Sea coast in the west to the river. Urup in the east. The opinion of S. Khan-Girey is confirmed by other sources. On the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus they occupied territories from the mouth of the river. Kuban to the river Shahe, behind which the Ubykhs lived, in the south.
According to educators, the Western Circassians were divided into tribes (more precisely, subethnic groups), the most significant among which in the first half of the 19th century. there were Natukhais, Shapsugs, Abadzekhs, Bzhedugs, Khatukaevites, Temirgoevites, Yegerukhaevites, Ademievites, Mamkhegovites, Beslenevites and fugitive Kabardians. At the same time, as S. Adyl-Girey correctly wrote, “all these peoples, without any doubt, are of the same origin and belong to the most ancient inhabitants of the Caucasus.”
The opinions of educators on the issue of the number of Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries are contradictory. Khan-Girey believed that the number of Circassians, Abazins and Nogais at that time was just over 250 thousand people. These data are incorrect and too low. Another educator, Sultan Adyl-Girey, wrote that the Circassians, Abazas, Nogais and Karachais together numbered up to 430 thousand people. Other sources of the 19th century also contain extremely contradictory information about the number of Circassians. The Russian officer G.V. Novitsky in 1830 estimated the population of Western Circassia at 1 million 82 thousand 200 people, and F. F. Tornau - at 500 thousand people. The German traveler K. Koch cited the figure of 575 thousand 500 people, also counting the Kabardians, and T. Lapinsky, who lived in Circassia for about three years, numbered more than one and a half million people there. If Novitsky, for example, determined the number of Natukhais at 240 thousand people, then Vrevsky argued that there were 60 thousand of them, and according to the data of the ataman of the Black Sea Cossack army G.I. Philipson, there were only 20 thousand male souls, etc. d.
The figures given by modern researchers are also contradictory. The authors of the historical and ethnographic essay “Adygs” believe that the number of Circassians amounted to “approximately up to 1 million people.” The “Essays on the History of Adygea” notes that in the late 50s. XIX century the number of Circassians was equal to 505 thousand 90 people and “these data are closer to reality than

information collected by Novitsky". To determine the size of the total population of Circassians in the first half of the 19th century. V.K. Gardanov gives the maximum figure of 500 thousand. In a review of the monograph by V.K. Gardanov, another famous researcher, T.Kh. Kumykov, on the contrary, argues that “... the figure of 500-600 thousand is at least closer to the actual size of the population of Circassia in the first half of the 19th century than that proposed by V. K. Garadnov’s figure is 500 thousand as a maximum.” A researcher from the University of Illinois (USA) N. Luxenburg estimates the number of Circassians at 700 thousand people. M.V. Pokrovsky believed that their numbers by the middle of the 19th century. there were approximately 700 - 750 thousand people.
In our opinion, the number of Circassians in the first half of the 19th century. ranged from 1 million to 1.5 million people.
Analyzing the economic development of the peoples of the North-West Caucasus, educators drew attention to the important role of agriculture in the national economy. According to S. Khan-Girey, “three kinds of wheat, wheat or rye, barley and three kinds of millet are the most important grains, of which millet is a product as necessary in Circassia as wheat and rye in other countries.” Another outstanding Adyghe the educator, Sh. B. Nogmov, emphasized: “From ancient times, the Adygs were engaged in arable farming and sowed millet, barley, spelt, corn and garden vegetables: onions, garlic, radishes, beets, etc.; In our language there are names for all breads, with the exception of Sarachin millet. The owner could not have the harvested and harvested bread until the purpose established for this had been completed. After it was completed, a dinner was prepared from the new bread, for which the closest relatives were convened.”
S. Khan-Girey wrote in 1836: “Inhabitants of the plains plow the land with a plow made like a Ukrainian one, which is usually harnessed to four pairs of oxen, driven by three people. The sown grains are harrowed with a harrow... Residents of gorges and mountains, who do not have free valleys for arable farming, have a different kind of plow, namely a small one harnessed to one pair of oxen.”
The Adygs usually mowed wheat with sickles or scythes and threshed it using a board with a load placed on it, harnessing bulls or horses to this thresher, as is done in Georgia and Shirvan. At the same time, Adyghe tools “in the simplicity of their design, in their ease and especially in the quality of the work performed,” were, in the opinion of an authoritative specialist, “the best and most appropriate tools, most applicable under local conditions.”
The main farming systems that existed among the Circassians were shifting, fallow, and crop rotation. They also used fertilizer, irrigation, and built terraced fields. According to S. Khan-Girey, of the mountain Circassians, the Natukhais were the most engaged in arable farming. Along with arable farming, the Adygs were also engaged in gardening. Referring to this branch of agriculture, the 19th century educator. Khan-Girey noted that every decent owner had a vegetable garden near his house. They grew onions, pumpkins, beans, beets, cabbage, garlic, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, watermelons and melons, parsley and red peppers. In addition, there is information about tobacco cultivation.
Sericulture developed on the Black Sea coast. Forest cultivation played an important role. The Adygs treated them with care and widely practiced tree planting. Timber was the most important item of Circassian export.
Gardening flourished on the Black Sea coast of Circassia. Enlighteners drew attention to the abundance of fruit trees in the area.

The Circassians cultivated apple, pear, quince, plum, peach, cherry, fig, persimmon, and grapes. There were pear and apple trees of early ripening varieties. The Adygs possessed the art of grafting trees; they surrounded the gardens with universal attention, care, and treated them well everywhere.
The Circassians had a large place in the national economy in the first half of the 19th century. was engaged in cattle breeding. Educators report that the Circassians bred horses, large and small cattle and buffaloes. Contemporaries paid attention to the large number of livestock, which in Circassia was a measure of the wealth of individual families. Raising livestock provided the Adygs with food, traction power, and materials for making clothes and shoes. Khan-Girey wrote about this: “In general, cattle are necessary in the life of the Circassians, both for meat and milk, and also for work; also from leather... the villagers make shoes, and the riders make horse harnesses...”
The Circassian cattle breeding system was transhumance. In spring and autumn, cattle were fed on the plains on pastures, in the summer they were driven to the mountains, and in the winter they were kept in special camps. They stockpiled hay to feed livestock. Small cattle were predominantly raised: sheep breeding was the leading industry. S. Khan-Girey wrote about the sheep: “This kind animal is extremely useful to the Circassian: he makes a fur coat from sheep skin, his only protection from the cold, and cloth is woven from the wool. Lamb meat is preferred to the meat of all other animals; it is even in some way revered among them, so to speak, as a particularly noble food.” The Adygs devoted a lot of time and care to raising livestock and developed rational methods for raising them. Horse breeding played a significant role in the Adyghe economy. They bred local horse breeds: Sholokh, Bachkan and others. According to the observation of G.I. Philipson, who served in the 30s and 40s. XIX century in the ranks of the Russian troops in the Caucasus, the highlanders had “famous horse studs: Sholok, Tram, Yeseni, Loo, Bechkan.” Each factory branded horses with its own special brand, and those guilty of using a false brand were subject to severe punishment.
The Adygs treated horses with love and took good care of them. “A Circassian, no matter what his rank,” Khan-Girey pointed out, “would rather agree to be hungry than allow his horse to do so.” Until the age of five, horses were never used; they grazed in herds and were saddled only after reaching the required height and age. The white horse of the Tram factory had great fame. Horses in Circassia were then used only for riding. By the middle of the 19th century, as a result of the development of the Caucasian War, there was a decline in horse breeding in the Northwestern Caucasus.
The most important occupation of the Circassians, after agriculture and cattle breeding, was beekeeping. Its development was favored by the presence of a large number of honey plants. The outstanding Adyghe educator S. Khan-Girey emphasized: “All tribes of Circassia are more or less engaged in beekeeping. In other places, they have very significant beekeepers, which bring the owners extremely many benefits: in addition to being used in home life, they sell honey and wax with great profit. For home use, honey is the main delicacy. Candles and oilcloths are made from wax." Speaking about the economic development of the Circassians, another educator, B.B. Shardanov, wrote: “Luxurious orchards were green along the banks of the Black Sea, Kuban, Terek, Argun and other rivers; Countless herds of cattle and herds of horses grazed on the abundant fields of the North Caucasus; in all the villages, residents were engaged in beekeeping;
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The Circassian people during this period were distinguished by their industriousness, which is why neighboring tribes called them nothing more than adige-lezhako, that is, hardworking Circassian.”
Hunting also had a certain importance in the economy of the Circassians and other peoples of Circassia. They hunted bears, wolves, deer, foxes, hares and other animals. The export of furs occupied a large place in foreign trade. Of lesser importance was fishing, which at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. paid little attention.
According to the works of Adyghe educators, the mountaineers of the North-Western Caucasus developed home crafts and crafts. Home crafts were aimed at making items mainly for the internal needs of the family. Adyghe educator S. Siyukhov noted that “Circassians were engaged in crafts: blacksmithing, carpentry, saddlery; The art of finishing gold and silver was considered a very noble occupation. The Circassians mined iron, prepared gunpowder, made soap, made cloth, cloaks, and leather.” Craftsmen worked to order, and professional specialization developed. Enlighteners pointed out the high skill of Adyghe jewelers, whose products were readily purchased outside the country. Khan-Girey wrote: “Silver products are worthy of surprise in terms of durability and cleanliness of finish. The niello and gilding, applied to them with the greatest art, are excellent in the full sense of the word, and, most importantly, this niello and gilding almost never comes off.” This statement echoes the words of the Pole T. Lapinsky about Adyghe craftsmen: “Gold and silver jewelry, which evokes the admiration of the European weapons lover, is made with great patience and diligence using meager tools.” Adyghe gunsmiths also gained great fame. The production of gunpowder developed. One of the components of the economic organism of mountain society was trade. At the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. Due to the dominance of subsistence farming, internal trade of the peoples of the North-West Caucasus received little development. The social division of labor was very weak. The mountaineers did not have their own monetary system. There were no regularly operating markets and fairs in Circassia.
Foreign trade, in contrast to domestic trade, was very developed. The mountaineers supported in the first half of the 19th century. quite lively trade relations with the Ottoman Empire and Russia, as well as with countries in Europe and the Middle East. S. Khan-Girey devoted a number of pages of his major work “Notes on Circassia” to the study of foreign trade of the Circassians and other peoples of the North-Western Caucasus. According to him, leather and fur, honey, wax, oil and slaves were exported to other countries. The latter were brought to Anapa and Sudzhuk-Kale for sale to the Turks. Khan-Girey’s words are confirmed by other sources of the 19th century.
“The ports of Anatolia from Batum to Sinop,” noted in one of the documents of the Russian Caucasian administration, “have had trade relations with the eastern shores of the Black Sea since ancient times. This trade, as the most profitable, converted all the capital of the Anatolian merchants.” In the first quarter of the 19th century. Turkish trade with the mountaineers of the Caucasus achieved significant development.
From Novorossiysk Bay alone, according to S. Pushkarev, up to 120 large ships sailed annually during Ottoman rule, carrying local products to Turkey. The export of slaves occupied a large place in this trade.

Descriptions of eyewitnesses recreate scenes of the slave trade and show the process of selling women to merchants on the Caucasian coast. Russian officer F.F. Tornau witnessed the sale of a slave to the Turks. According to his story, the buyers first examined the woman for sale and, having determined by drawing lots which of them would buy her, they began to bargain with the mountaineers - the owners of the “living goods”. An intermediary constantly scurried between buyers and sellers, “persuading both parties to agree to the proposed conditions.” Having paid two horses and two packs of paper, the Turks acquired the desired “goods”. According to N. Kamenev, the mother said goodbye to her sold daughter, “holding her hands and shaking her head three times in different directions, which the daughter also did; then their heads dropped to opposite shoulders and streams of tears flowed..." Adult girls were examined by buyers in compliance with the strictest rules of delicacy, while girls under 9 years of age were examined unceremoniously by the merchant, “he took the arms and legs, moved them, guessing the value of the child during the period of its development...”. When purchasing slaves, witnesses were present and the mullahs, for a fee, drew up a bill of sale - “defter”. In Tuapse, the Frenchman A. Fonville visited one of the huts on the Black Sea shore, where slaves bought by the Ottomans were usually kept waiting for a ship that would take them to the Sultan’s domain. He described the stay of the slaves in these huts as follows: “The inside of the huts was very original, the slaves squatted in them, around the lights, and when the visitor approached them, they hastily stood up, bowed, and, looking down at the ground, remained motionless, waiting to address them with a speech."
It is very difficult to determine the total number of slaves exported annually from the northeastern coast of the Black Sea to the Ottoman Empire during the first half of the 19th century. Data of this kind have not been systematically recorded by anyone. S. M. Bronevsky believed that from two to three thousand slaves were exported from the Black Sea coast annually. The Russian diplomatic representative in the Ottoman Empire A.P. Butenev believed that the annual export of slaves from Circassia was four thousand people.
Such an informed author as L. Ya. Lyulye, who lived for a long time among the Circassians, wrote that on average, during the era of Ottoman rule, from 40 to 50 ships from Turkey arrived in Anapa annually, and each ship took away up to 40 slaves. From here, it can be calculated that from Anapa, which was the main center of foreign trade of Western Circassia, from 1 thousand 600 to 2 thousand slaves and female slaves were exported annually. Adding to this the number of slaves exported through other points of the Adyghe coast, we can very roughly estimate the annual export of slaves at three thousand people. Subsequently, the amount of exported “living goods” decreased, because this process was significantly influenced by Russia’s struggle against the slave trade in the North-West Caucasus. The number of slaves exported also varied depending on the rise or fall in demand for slaves in Turkey and on fluctuations in economic and political conditions.
The social composition of the exported slaves was diverse. The bulk of them were unauts and pshitli. There were also cases when representatives of the free classes of mountain society fell into captivity. In feudal Circassia, few could consider themselves completely safe from a sudden attack and capture. The prices of slaves were determined depending on the purposes for which they were intended, as well as on gender, age, beauty, slimness, abilities, physical

strength and health.
Regarding the import into Circassia, S. Khan-Girey wrote that the highlanders purchased salt, gunpowder, lead, various fabrics and cloth, dishes and utensils from foreigners. It also showed the importance for the peoples of the North-West Caucasus of the development of their trade and economic ties with Russia.
The majority of Adyghe educators believed that the Adygs and other peoples of the North-West Caucasus at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. Feudal relations prevailed. Izmail Atazhukin quite definitely wrote about feudalism among the Circassians. A.-G. spoke clearly and reasonably about Adyghe feudalism. Keshev: “... it would be... extremely erroneous to determine the level of their [Circassians] political and social development by the yardstick of a primitive, infant society. During the period of their fall, the Circassians occupied, in relation to the social structure and the spirit that moved their entire life, almost the same position that the peoples of Western Europe experienced in the era of federalism.”
Unlike Izmail Atazhukin and A.-G. Keshev, another educator, S. Adyl-Girey, noted in 1860: “At present, the Circassian tribes represent the lowest level of social development. They preserved the structure of primitive human societies, breaking up, like the first ones, into separate families.” However, the documentary material at our disposal allows us to state with certainty that at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. Feudal relations prevailed among the Circassians, Abazas and Ubykhs. At the same time, in their social system, some features of tribal relations were preserved in a vestigial form. The originality of Adyghe feudalism was manifested in the fact that in Western Circassia in the first half of the 19th century. Two types of feudal societies took shape. In this regard, educators noted that, according to the nature of their socio-political system, Adyghe subethnic groups were divided into two large divisions - “aristocratic” and “democratic”. The “aristocratic” group included the Besleneevites, Temirgoyevites, Bzhedugs, Khatukaevites, Makhoshevites, Yegerukhaevites, Ademievites, Zhaneevites and Kabardians. The “democratic” group consisted of Abadzekhs, Shapsugs and Natukhais. The difference between these divisions of the Adyghe subethnic groups in the political sphere was that the “aristocratic” subethnic groups retained princely rule, while among the Abadzekhs, Shapsugs and Natukhais the power of the feudal aristocracy was overthrown as a result of a democratic coup at the end of the 18th century. A classic description of two large groups of Adyghe subethnic groups was given by the Adyghe educator of the first half of the 19th century. S. Khan-Girey. He designated “aristocratic” subethnic groups with the term “tribes dependent on the power of princes,” and referred to “democratic” ones as “tribes with popular rule.” Adyghe society was dominated by feudal ownership of land, which, however, was not legally secured. The “aristocratic” subethnic groups had princely and noble ownership of land. The “democratic” Adyghe subethnic groups did not have princely ownership of land, but retained noble land ownership. Both groups of subethnic groups retained communal land ownership, the proportion of which gradually decreased.
A very peculiar phenomenon was that among the Abadzekhs, Shapsugs and Natukhais, small-peasant ownership of land intensively developed. In general, the development of private land ownership achieved great success among “democratic” subethnic groups. L. Ya. Lhuillier emphasized: “It is impossible

determine on what basis the division of lands that were split into small plots took place. The right of ownership is determined, or better said, secured for the owners beyond doubt, and the transfer of inheritance from generation to generation is indisputable.” The Adyghe educator S. Siyukhov classified the Ubykhs and Abazas as “democratic” tribes.
The works of educators, along with materials from the customary law of the highlanders, are a valuable source for studying the rights and responsibilities of classes and estates of West Caucasian feudal society.
At the highest level of the feudal ladder among the Adyghe “aristocratic” subethnic groups were princes (pshi). They had various political and economic privileges and occupied a particularly honorable position in society. Sh. B. Nogmov wrote: “The title of prince was considered so sacred for the Circassians that every subject was considered obliged to sacrifice not only property, but also life to protect the owner. Since ancient times, princes were called patrons and defenders of the people, each of them had more or less dependent subjects." In the code of adats of the Trans-Kuban Circassians, compiled in 1845 by A. Kucherov, it is written: “The prince enjoys complete freedom and is not dependent on anyone. The inhabitants of the villages who are under his protection recognize... his power over them and he enjoys special and excellent respect, not only from the common people, but from all the lower nobles and clergy; he is revered as the owner of the villages and lands belonging to him that he protects, and is obliged to protect and defend them...”
Pshi among the Circassians under no circumstances could be deprived of his princely dignity. Marriage equality was strictly observed, and the princely title could only be obtained by right of birth. Pshes married only among themselves. At public meetings, the princes were given first places, their opinion was primarily taken into account. The princes had the right to a court of equals and, as the norms of customary law say, “the actions and actions of princes that are contrary to the accepted rules of society are dealt with only by princes and top nobles...”. On the campaign, the prince was accompanied by his vassals - the nobles who made up the princely squad.
The political power of the princes was largely ensured by their exclusive economic rights and privileges. Pshi owned serfs who were mercilessly exploited. The princes could also attract free peasants - tfokotls - to work on their farms. The labor of the latter was used for plowing, harvesting, cutting hay and collecting firewood. According to folk customs, pshi had the right to the best plots of land for arable farming and haymaking. They could also take cattle, weapons and anything they liked from the tfokotls of the villages under their control. Princes and nobles often engaged in raids. No wonder the enlightener A.-G. Keshev, in his famous work “On the Hill,” pointed out that the peasants “have an insurmountable aversion to the class of idle nobles, occupied only with horses and weapons.”
The will of the princes was the law for the subject population. “The title of prince was so sacred in the concepts of the mountaineers,” T. Khadzhimukov wrote with some exaggeration, “that each of them was morally obliged to protect his owner, sacrificing not only his property, but also his life itself.” The princes exacted various fines from the subject population, which served as an additional source of their enrichment. Pshi collected duties from merchants for the right

trade in their domains.
Along with the princes, the ruling class of feudal lords included sultans (hanuko) and nobles (worki). Moreover, the latter were divided into a number of degrees. The nobles of the first degree were called Tlecotleches and Dejenugos. Like the princes, they were considered sovereign feudal lords. Tlecotlesh owned his own village. The lower nobles were under his command. Among the “aristocratic” subethnic groups, the Tlecotleshi and Dezhenugo considered the prince their overlord, went to war with him, and were “great vassals” of the prince.
Secondary nobles (pshi-works and beslen-works) and third-degree nobles (works-shautlugus) also served their overlord. If the majority of the nobles served the prince, then a significant part of the work-shautlugus obeyed the Tlecotlesh and Dejenugo. The nobles received certain property from their overlord (the so-called work-tyn). In terms of their position, the nobles of the third degree were close to the pshekeu class, who often acted as the prince’s bodyguards. This class was replenished by the freed peasants. The Shapsugs and Abadzekhs had no princes. In the “democratic” subethnic groups there were three degrees of nobility: Tlecotleshi, Workishhi and Workishautlugus. At the same time, the political rights of the Shapsug, Abadzekh and Natukhai nobles were greatly curtailed as a result of the democratic revolution of the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
The peasantry was represented, according to the works of enlighteners, by unenslaved direct producers (tfokotli), freedmen (azats), and serf peasants (pshitli and ogi). Tfokotli were legally free persons. However, among the “aristocratic” subethnic groups, the personal freedom of the tfokotls was combined with their economic and political subordination to the feudal lords. According to adats, for three days a year, and sometimes more, the ruling feudal lord could engage the tfokotl to work on his farm. “Simple free people,” as this category of peasants is called in the sources, also bore other duties: in the event of division of property, the feudal lord was given as many oxen as the number of newly formed Tfokotl families; when giving his daughter in marriage, the tfokotl paid the owner a pair of oxen, and at the end of the harvest, 8 measures of millet. From the above it follows that when the labor of the boiler was used, there were labor and food rents. The right of transfer from one owner to another was limited. Among “democratic” subethnic groups, as S. Khan-Girey wrote, the majority of tfokotls were independent householders, independent of the nobility. Another educator, S. Siyukhov, also noted that the Tfokotl class “was the core of the Circassian people and its most productive element. The economy and all the well-being of the region rested on him, as on the main working mass of the people. The position of the third estate was not the same for all tribes. The free people enjoyed, at their own discretion, land, forests and other products in their places of residence, as well as freedom on an equal basis with the classes of the nobility and the clergy. This was the case among tribes that did not have princes."
The freedmen, the Azats, were close to the tfokotls in their legal status. They were released at the will of the owner, upon ransom, or upon proof that they were illegally enslaved. Azats often joined the ranks of ministers of the Muslim cult.
The most exploited category of the serf peasantry were

Circassia pshitli. Being personally dependent, they performed work in the field and in the manor's house for the benefit of the feudal lord. The owners used the time and labor of the pshitl at their own discretion. Serfs received a smaller portion of the harvest they collected. At the same time, the pshitl had certain, albeit limited, property and personal rights. He could have a family, ran his own household, and owned property. For various offenses, the pshitl could be sold by the master. So, the exploitation of pshitls was carried out in the form of labor and food rent. The article by the educator S. Adyl-Girey “On the relations of peasants to owners among the Circassians” gives a list of duties of peasants in relation to feudal lords. Another category of serf peasants were the Ogi. They had more complete personal and property rights than the Pshitli. “All the property of the oga,” writes N.F. Dubrovin, “constituted his inalienable property; even in the case when, for negligence or a crime, he turned into a pshitla, he was not deprived of the right to property, and the owner did not have the right to interfere with or dispose of his property.” Unlike the pshitls, the ogi lived in separate households outside the master's estate, having their own household. The exploitation of the Ogs was based on food rent; they also had labor service. At the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. Western Circassians retained slavery as a feature of the Circassian feudal society. It was essentially domestic in nature.
Household slaves were Unauts, the lowest category of the population among the Circassians. In sources they are usually called ritualless or adat-free, because the norms of adat did not apply to them. The Unauts had neither personal nor property rights; the law did not protect them. All free residents could own slaves. Despite the fact that the labor of the Unauts was not the basis of production, it played a significant role in the economy of the Adyghe feudal lords. Slaves were mainly engaged in domestic work. At the same time, they were also used to participate in field work and caring for livestock.
In addition to the general characteristics of the social structure of the peoples of the Northwestern Caucasus, Adyghe educators analyzed the characteristics of social relations among individual subethnic groups. Thus, T. Khadzhimukov characterized the social structure of Bzhedug society, and S. Khan-Girey gave a vivid picture of social development among the Shapsugs and Bzhedugs. So, according to the works of Adyghe enlighteners, among the peoples of the North-West Caucasus at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. Agriculture and cattle breeding were quite developed. Internal trade was weakly widespread, but external trade became widespread. The social system was characterized by the dominance of feudal relations.

NOTES:

1. Khan-Girey S. Notes on Circassia. Nalchik, 1978. P. 219.
2. Khashkhozheva R. Kh. On the issue of the ethnicity of Adil-Girey Keshev // Khashkhozheva R. Kh. Selected articles. Nalchik, 2004. P. 76.
3. Lavrov L.I. Ethnographic sketch of the Ubykhs // Scientific notes of the Adyghe Research Institute of Language, Literature and History. Maykop, 1968. T. 8. P. 6, 24.
4. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. pp. 47 - 48.
5. Blumberg I.F. Historical, topographical, statistical, ethnographic and military description of the Caucasus // Adygs, Balkars and Karachais in the news of European authors of the XIII - XIX centuries. Nalchik, 1974. P. 355; Lapinski Th. Die Bergvölker des Kaukasus und ihr Freiheitskampt gegen die Russen. Hamburg, 1863. Bd. 1. S. 37; Felitsyn E. D. Circassians - Adyges and

Western Caucasian highlanders. Ekaterinodar, 1884. P. 1.
6. GAKK (State Architect of the Krasnodar Territory). F. 260. Op. 1 D. 37. L. 30; Wagner M. Der Kaukasus und das Land der Kosaken in den jahren 1843 bis 1846. Dresden - Leipzig, 1848. Bd. 1. S. 3 - 4.
7. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. pp. 149 - 150; Adil-Girey. Circassians // Selected works of Adyghe educators. Nalchik, 1980. P. 63.
8. Adyl-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 49.
9. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. pp. 85 - 86.
10. Adyl-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 66.
11. Novitsky G.V. Topographic description of the northern slope of the Caucasus Range from the Anapa fortress to the source of the Kuban River: note by Staff Captain Novitsky, compiled on September 15, 1830; Felitsyn E.D. Decree. Op. P. 13; Tornau F.F. Memoirs of a Caucasian officer. M., 1864. Part 1: 1835. P. 116.
12. Koch K. Reise durch Russland nach dem kaukasischen Jsthmus in der jaren 1836, 1837 und 1838. Stuttgart - Tübingen, 1842. Bd. 1. S. 336; Lapinsky T. Mountaineers of the Caucasus and their liberation struggle against the Russians / trans. V. K. Gardanova. Nalchik, 1995. P. 17.
13. RGVIA (Russian State Military Historical Archive). F. VUA. D. 19 256. L. 6-rev; Note from the ataman of the Black Sea army, general. Philipson, about the land of the Natukhais, dated October 4, 1856 // Acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission / ed. A.P. Berger: in 12 volumes. Tiflis, 1866 - 1904. T. 12. P. 700.
14. Outlev M., Zevakin E., Khoretlev A. Adygs: historical-ethnogr. feature article. Maykop, 1957. P. 15.
15. Essays on the history of Adygea. Maykop, 1957. T. 1. P. 154.
16. Gardanov V.K. Social structure of the Adyghe peoples. M., 1967. P. 43.
17. Kumykov T. Kh. Social structure of the Adyghe peoples in the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. // Scientists zap. Kabard.-Balk. state un-ta. Ser.: Historical and Philological. - Nalchik, 1971. - Issue. 43 - pp. 31 - 32.
18. Lüxenburg N. England und die Ursprünge der Tscherkessenkreige // Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. - 1965. - Bd. 13. - S. 184.
19. Pokrovsky M.V. Adyghe tribes at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. // Kavk. ethnographic Sat. - M., 1958. - Issue. 2. - P. 23.
20. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 59.
21. Nogmov Sh. B. History of the Adykhey people, compiled according to the legends of the Kabardians. Nalchik, 1994. P. 71. 22. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. pp. 256 - 257.
23. Serebryakov I. Agricultural conditions of the North-West Caucasus // Zap. Kavk. rural islands households - Tiflis, 1867. - No. 1 - 2. - P.12.
24. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 257.
25. Ibid. P. 258.
26. Ibid. P. 61.
27. Ibid. P. 258.
28. Ibid. P. 259.
29. Philipson G.I. Memoirs. M., 1885. P. 103.
30. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 263.
31. Ibid. P. 263.
32. Shardanov B.B. Forgotten people // Figures of Adyghe culture of the pre-October period: selected works. works. Nalchik, 1991. P. 69.
33. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 264.
34. Siyukhov S. Circassians - Adyge. (Historical and everyday sketch) // Figures of Adyghe culture of the pre-October period. P. 261.
35. Khan-Girey. Decree. Op. P. 266.
36. Lapinski Th. Die Bergkölker des Kaukasus und ihr Freiheitskampf gegen die Russen. Hamburg, 1863. B. 1. S. 52.
37. Khan-Girey. Decree. Op. P. 268.
38. GACC. F. 260. Op. 1. D. 10. L. 1.
39. Pushkarev S. Review of trade in Novorossiysk // Caucasus. - 1849. - No. 9.
40. Tornau F. F. Memoirs of a Caucasian officer in 1835, 36, 37 and 38. M., 1864. Part 2. P. 49.
41. Kamenev N. Psekups basin // Kuban. military records. - 1867. - No. 28.
42. Ibid.

43. Fonville A. The last year of the Circassian war for independence: 1863 - 1864: from the notes of a foreign participant. Krasnodar, 1927. pp. 27 - 28.
44. Bronevsky S. The latest geographical and historical news about the Caucasus. M., 1823. Part 1. P. 315.
45. Note from A.P. Butenev to the chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and ports M.P. Lazarev dated July 9, 1837 // Arch. Prince Vorontsov. M., 1893. Book. 39. P. 287.
46. L. Ya. About trade with the mountain tribes of the Caucasus on the north-eastern shore of the Black Sea // Transcaucasia. Vestn. - 1848. - No. 14; Wagner M. Op. Cit. Bd. 1. S. 28; AVPRI (Arch. Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire). F. St. Petersburg. “Main Archive II-4”, 1838, D. 6. L. 36.
47. Peysonel M. Study of trade on the Circassian-Abkhaz coast of the Black Sea in 1750 - 1762. Krasnodar, 1927. P. 13.
48. Khan-Girey. Decree. Op. P. 268.
49. Nagoev M. B. The question of the social structure of feudalism in the works of Adyghe public figures of the first half of the 19th century. // Development of feudal relations among the peoples of the North Caucasus. Makhachkala, 1988. P. 96.
50. Keshev A.-G. The character of Adyghe songs // Selected works of Adyghe educators. Nalchik, 1980. P. 127.
51. Adil-Girey. Decree. Op. P. 54.
52. Siyukhov S. Favorites. Nalchik, 1997. P. 320.
53. Khan-Girey. Decree. Op. pp. 85 - 86.
54. Lulye L. Ya. Circassia: historical-ethnogr. Art. Krasnodar, 1927. P. 23.
55. Siyukhov S. Decree. Op. P. 320.
56. Nogmov Sh. B. History of the Adykhey people... P. 74.
57. Leontovich F.I. Adats of the Caucasian highlanders // Materials on customary law of the North. and Vost. Caucasus. - Odessa, 1882. - Issue. 1. - P. 120.
58. There. same. P. 126.
59. Keshev A.-G. On the hill // Steps to dawn. Adyghe writers - educators of the 19th century: selected works. works. Krasnodar, 1986. P. 224.
60. Peoples of the Western Caucasus: according to the unpublished notes of the natural Bzhedug Prince Khadzhimukov // Figures of Adyghe culture of the pre-October period: selected works. works. Nalchik, 1991. pp. 45 - 46.
61. Khan-Girey S. Prince of Pshskaya Ahodagoko // Steps to dawn. P. 175.
62. Khan-Girey S. Decree. Op. P. 119.
63. Selected works of Khan-Girey. Nalchik, 1974. P. 305.
64. Khan Giray. Notes about Circassia. - P. 123.
65. Siyukhov S. Circassians - Adyge. P. 239.
66. Khan-Girey S. Notes on Circassia. P. 125.
67. Adyl-Girey S. On the relations of peasants to owners among the Circassians: an extract from notes // Selected works of Adyghe educators. Nalchik, 1980. pp. 34 - 37.
68. Dubrovin N. Circassians (Adyge). Krasnodar, 1927. P. 130.
69. Peoples of the Western Caucasus.S. 45 - 47; Khan-Girey S. The Besly Abbot //Khan-Girey S. Circassian legends. Nalchik, 1989. P. 199 - 200; Khan-Girey S. Prince of Pshskaya Ahodagoko // Ibid. pp. 258 - 261.

(Material taken from the site: http://www.npgi.ru)

TOPIC 3. Kuban region in the 16th - 18th centuries.

LECTURE 3.

1. Social and class composition of Adyghe society, types of economic activities and crafts. Trade. Features of feudal relations (land) among the Circassians.

2. Nogais in the northern Kuban region. Features of their economic and political structure.

LECTURE 4.

3. The struggle of the Western Circassians against the Turkish-Crimean aggression. Appeal for protection to Russia. The spread of Islam among the Western Circassians and Kabardians.

4. The first Russians in Kuban in modern times are Nekrasovites.

LECTURE 3.

1. Social and class composition of Adyghe society, types of economic activities and crafts. Trade. Features of feudal relations (land) among the Circassians. Nogais in the northern Kuban region. Features of their economic and political structure.

The most numerous nationalities of the northwestern Caucasus in the 16th and 17th centuries were the Adygs or Circassians. Among the Adyghe tribes, the Zhaneevs are known, who lived in the lower reaches of the Kuban River. Near Anapa, at the foot of the Beshkui mountains, the Shegaks lived. Of the other coastal Adyghe groups, the Adams are known. The large ethnic group of Western Circassians included the Khatukaevs, who lived along the Abin, Il and Aburgan rivers. In the mountainous areas of the Northwestern Caucasus there were lands of numerous Natukhais, Shapsugs, Abadzekhs, who were considered “free Circassians”, and in the future “democratic tribes”, because. Unlike the previous ones, they were ruled not by princes, but by elected elders.

The establishment of Armenian settlers in the North Caucasus, who received the name “Circassian-gai” in the Kuban, dates back to the 16th century. Their main occupation was trade.

By the mid-16th century, the Circassians, who lived in the foothills of the left bank of the Kuban, were completing the process of decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations. Within ethnic groups, elders and nobility stood out, and property and social inequality increased. And by the second half of the 18th century, the Western Circassians and Nogais had developed a class-class structure characteristic of feudal society.

At the top of the emerging feudal social hierarchical ladder among the Circassians were pshi- princes who were the owners of the land and the population living on it. Pshi, as a member of the rural community, disposed not only of his ancestral land, but also formally communal land, distributing it to his vassals: smaller categories of nobles and peasants. Among them there are nobles, vassals, serfs (dependent peasants) and slaves. The nobles were held in high esteem among others and spent most of their time on horseback. They considered trade and simple productive labor to be non-noble affairs. It was believed that the privileged part of Adyghe society was supposed to rule the people, protect them and practice hunting and military affairs. On the other hand, folk customs obliged the feudalizing nobility to be generous and give gifts to their subjects. In practice, such generosity reached the point of excess; as soon as subjects asked them for something, they immediately took them off and offered them as a gift, accepting in return the applicant’s armor or shirt. For this reason, nobles were often dressed worse than their subjects. True, they never gave away their military equipment (weapons and horses), as well as boots. Their prestige lay in them. For this reason, the princely and noble elite of the Circassians were often ready to give up all their property for a good horse, more precious, which they had nothing of.

All residents of Transkuban built their houses from the simplest materials: wood and straw, and it would be a great shame for a noble person to build a house or castle with strong walls, since this shows a cowardly and cowardly person, unable to protect himself and defend himself. This custom explains the lack of firmly built dwellings among the Circassians, and especially fortresses.

The closest vassals of the Adyghe princes were the pshis Tlekotleshi, which means “strong lineage” or “born of a powerful one.” Having received land and power, they distributed plots of land between work - nobles who stood somewhat lower on the hierarchical ladder, and community members - tfokotlyam, receiving from them labor and in-kind rent. As vassals of the prince, they also provided him with military services, since they were obliged, at the first request of the overlord, to “mount a horse” and follow him.

In conditions of feudal strife, the disintegration of the community under the influence of the process of feudalization, it became increasingly difficult to maintain personal freedom. Some tfokotls (free community members) became dependent on feudal lords and elders. The feudal nobility widely used the form of “patronage” to enslave direct producers. Due to debts to the feudal lords, the tfokotli fell into bondage with them. Οʜᴎ carried labor and in-kind duties in favor of princes and nobles. Some of the tfokotls turned out to be subordinate to the feudal lords on “onerous” conditions, which brought these “free farmers” closer to the serf peasantry.

Another category of peasants were pshitli serfs. Οʜᴎ were in land and personal dependence on the feudal owners. Their earnings in kind, determined by custom, were quite significant. Pshitleys were passed down by inheritance and could be sold, but by entire families. At the same time, mountain serfs had certain property, limited personal and family rights, and ran their own household. The lowest category of the dependent population were the unaut slaves. They had no personal, property, or family rights. Their labor belonged to the owners. At the same time, slavery did not play a significant role in Adyghe society and was of a patriarchal nature. Slave labor was used mainly in the household.

After death, a noble rose above a mere mortal; this was expressed in the fact that an earthen mound (mound) was made for him, and the more important the deceased was, the more subjects and friends he had, the higher and larger this mound was built.

The main feature of feudal relations among the Circassians was feudal ownership of land. At the same time, it acted in a specific form: it was not personal, but family. Land was the undivided property of feudal kinship groups; it was not formalized in the form of written legal documents, but was assigned adatami. The feudal family owned peasants who settled on its land and bore feudal duties for its use.

The community determined the unique forms of land relations. It was based on private ownership of estates and personal plots. Communal ownership of pastures, hayfields, and forests was also preserved. The feudal lords remained members of the community and participated in the redistribution of communal lands and lands. Occupying the “place of the eldest in the family” in the community and relying on adats, they received the best and largest plots of land.

The peculiarities of mountain feudalism include the presence of such patriarchal clan remnants as kunachestvo (twinning), atalystvo, mutual assistance, and blood feud. Atalychestvo is a custom according to which a child after birth was transferred to be raised by another family. He returned to his family as an adult. This custom bound families together, and children grew up unspoiled.

According to mountain customs, in case of external danger, the entire male population had to stand up to defend their fatherland; those who evaded this sacred duty were fined or even expelled from the property. Among the Circassians, each warrior was required to have one purebred horse, a shield, a bow and arrows, a sword, and spears. Of course, the weapons and equipment of the soldiers depended on their income.

The feudalizing Adyghe elite, whose main occupation was horse riding, gave their children a special education with a military bias. While the princes fought and attacked their neighbors in order to acquire slaves and wealth, the bulk of the Adyghe population - peasants - worked, developing and improving agriculture, cattle breeding and home crafts. Adygs grew millet, barley, corn, and wheat.

To protect the crops from the winds and preserve moisture, trees were planted along the edges of the fields. The fields were carefully cleared of weeds. The main tool for cultivating the land was the hoe. To plow the land, they gradually began to use plows harnessed by oxen. Vegetable gardening occupied a significant place in the economic activities of the Circassians; they grew onions, peppers, garlic, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc. Fruits made up a significant part of the diet of the local population and were exported to the foreign market. The lands of the Circassians were planted with cherries and other fruit trees. In addition to wild varieties of fruit trees, cultivated varieties were bred that required certain techniques and cultivation skills. Trans-Kubans widely used the shifting system of agriculture. The same plot was sown twice, changing the location every year. But after a certain time they returned to the same area. The territory of the Left Bank Kuban, inhabited by Western Circassians, consisted of fertile plains and foothills suitable for agriculture. Climatic conditions also contributed to this.

Cattle breeding played an even greater role in the foothills of the Kuban, where there were beautiful pastures. The Circassians had a peculiar cult of domestic animals, in whose honor they even held holidays.

Beekeeping, hunting and fishing were widely developed. Everything extremely important for the family was produced through home crafts. Women weaved cloth, sewed clothes and shoes, and men did carpentry and dyed skins. The Adygs achieved great perfection in such industries as weapons and jewelry. The mountaineers richly decorated weapons and horse harnesses, using silver and gold for their decoration.

Domestic trade was poorly developed due to the subsistence economy; it had the character of a simple exchange of goods. The Circassians did not have a merchant class and did not have a monetary system. Surplus agricultural and handicraft products went to the foreign market. Slaves were one of the most profitable goods in foreign trade. Adyghe feudal lords sold captives captured during feudal strife and raids to Turkish merchants. Circassian slaves were highly valued for their strength, intelligence, and beauty. The slave trade undermined the economy, as young and able-bodied Circassians were sold into slavery. The economy was subsistence, domestic trade was poorly developed. At the same time, the exchange of goods between the Circassians with Russia, Crimea, and Turkey increased; from Russia, the Circassians received salt, fabrics, and metal products. From Crimea - spices, luxury goods. Overseas wines, tobacco, and eastern and western goods came from Turkey. The main items exported to Russia were leather, hides, honey, timber, and lard.

Mainly slaves were exported to Turkey and Crimea. The largest points of trade were Taman and Anapa. At the same time, the strengthening of aggressive tendencies in these countries often complicated trade relations. They practically did not work out between the Circassians and their closest neighbors, the Nogais. The dominance of a similar type of natural cattle-breeding economy among both did not contribute to the wide exchange of goods between the Kuban region and the Trans-Kuban region.

2. Nogais in the northern Kuban region. Features of their economic and political structure.

Turkic-Mongolian tribes lived on the Right Bank Kuban Nogais, who led a mainly nomadic lifestyle and were engaged in cattle breeding.

Their murzas (mirzas) - large feudal lords, heads of individual hordes and clans - owned several thousand heads of cattle. In general, the feudal elite, small in number (four percent of the population), owned approximately two-thirds of the entire nomadic herd. The uneven distribution of the main wealth - livestock - was the basis of the class-class structure of society.

Nominally at the head of the entire Nogai horde was khan together with the heir Nuradin and the military leader. In fact, by this time the horde had already broken up into smaller entities, loosely connected both with each other and with the supreme ruler. At the head of these uluses were Murza who have achieved the hereditary transfer of their ownership rights. They recognized Khan not as an absolute ruler, but only as an “elder brother.” Under their subordination, the Murzas had uzdens and beys, serfs and slaves.

The ulus feudal elite was subject only to the court of the feudal aristocracy, and was exempt from paying taxes and, of course, from corporal punishment. The steppe aristocracy (sultans, murzas, etc.) was in charge of all the affairs of the Nogais, from determining places for nomads to resolving intra-family disputes. The hordes were divided into generations, generations into auls, auls into kazans (families).

A significant layer of the Nogai nobility consisted of the Muslim clergy - akhuns, qadis, etc. They handled court cases, performed the necessary religious rituals at weddings, funerals, etc., receiving appropriate remuneration for this.

The lower strata of Nogai society included free peasants and cattle breeders, who made up for the shortcomings of their own farming by latrine farming in the Don settlements.

The next group was Chagars- serf peasants who were both economically and personally dependent on the top of the Nogai feudal lords.

At the lowest level of Nogai society were slaves, into which prisoners of war were turned, and also acquired through purchase or exchange for livestock. They were called yasyrs. Slaves were the complete property of the feudal lords and did not have any rights; however, the yasyrs were a small class, and their labor did not play a noticeable role in cattle breeding.

The Nogais professed the Muslim religion. Their clergy belonged to the privileged strata of society, had large herds of livestock and serfs received considerable funds from fulfilling various religious requirements. For example, for performing wedding and funeral ceremonies, Nogais donated a quarter of the funds allocated for these “events” to the priests. In the case of division of property, one fortieth part of it went in favor of the qadis, priests who carried out legal proceedings on the basis of Sharia.

The basis for the exploitation of the dependent population was product rent. Each Murza had the right to receive from one wagon an annual rent in the amount of two bulls, ten rams, ten circles of dried milk and twelve kilograms of flour and butter. The semi-patriarchal labor rent was also preserved in the form of the obligation of ordinary cattle breeders to maintain the livestock of the feudal lords.

A feature of nomadic feudalism among the Nogais was the preservation of the community. At the same time, the right to regulate migrations and dispose of pastures and wells was already concentrated in the hands of the feudal lords.

The low level of socio-economic relations delayed the development of a unified socio-political organization. Neither the Trans-Kuban Circassians nor the Nogais developed a single state. The natural economy, the absence of cities and sufficiently developed economic ties, the preservation of patriarchal remnants - all these were the main reasons for feudal fragmentation in the North-West Caucasus.

LECTURE 4.

3. The struggle of the Western Circassians against the Turkish-Crimean aggression. Appeal for protection to Russia. The spread of Islam among the Western Circassians and Kabardians.

At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, the political situation in the Northwestern Caucasus changed significantly: after the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, in 1453 and the conquest of the Genoese colonies of southern Crimea in 1475, the Ottoman Empire, annexing the Crimean Khanate, moved closer to the lands of the Circassians. The Turks struck the first blows against the highlanders in 1475 and 1479. In 1501, a joint campaign of the Crimeans and Ottomans took place against the highlanders of the North-West Caucasus.

In 1516 - 1519. There is a new surge in the foreign policy activity of the Ottoman Empire in the Kuban region, as a result of which the Turkish fortress Temryuk was built at the mouth of the Kuban River. Eight thousand Tatars took part in military operations and construction work.

Judging by fragmentary sources, the fighting in the North-West Caucasus was fierce. Despite the desperate resistance of the Circassians, their princes were forced to admit their dependence on the Crimean khans. This dependence was expressed in the extreme importance of sending gifts, slaves to the Tatar khans and participating in raids on Russian lands. This was the case, for example, in 1521, when the Crimean khans reached Moscow itself and besieged it. At the same time, the Circassians repeatedly spoke out against the Crimean dictatorship. In the mid-16th century, the Crimean Khan was forced to send his troops more than once to suppress the Adyghe revolts. At this time, the great Moscow sovereign Ivan the Terrible firmly established himself on the banks of the Volga, having conquered the Kazan Khanate. Against the Crimean Tatars on the southern borders of Rus', Ivan the Terrible strengthened the abatis line in the form of numerous defensive structures, begun by his father Vasily III. The new border restrained the Crimean khans, who were accustomed to enrich themselves through predatory raids.

The influence of the Crimean Khanate and Turkey was still reflected in the strengthening and spread of Islam among the peoples of the North Caucasus - the Western Circassians and Kabardians. During the Middle Ages, the leading religion of the North-West Caucasus, including the Circassians, was Christianity, which enjoyed the rights of an officially recognized cult, existing, however, along with numerous folk beliefs. Christian priests shogens (she ujen) are mentioned in many Adyghe legends. As a result of the fall of Byzantium, the Italian colonies on the Black Sea and the Georgian kingdom of the Bogratids, as a result of the expansive policy of the Turkish feudal lords and the vassal of Turkey - the Crimean Khanate, as well as due to the lack of writing among the Circassians, and therefore the impossibility of translating liturgical books, Christianity among the Circassians fell into complete decline and disappeared, surviving only as numerous relics in folk beliefs. It is well known that Sunni Islam began to penetrate into Adygea only in the 14th century. Although in the North Caucasus, in particular in Karachay-Cherkessia, there are traces of the rather early penetration of Islam here (Arabic inscriptions on gravestones from Nizhny Arkhyz of the 11th-12th centuries, the remains of a Muslim mausoleum of the 13th century near the Ust-Dzhegutinskaya station), but these monuments sporadic. Even in the 16th century, Christianity continued to be the leading religion among the Adygs. Islam mainly began to establish itself here in the 18th century. But already from the 16th century, representatives of the highest clergy were sent and approved by the Turkish Sultan. With the help of Islam, Türkiye tried to consolidate its dominant position in the North Caucasus. The clergy adapted Islam to an exploitative ideology, for which the feudal lords constantly showed the greatest respect for him and helped him in the spiritual enslavement of the masses.

The increased authority of the Russian state directed the attention of the Circassians to the Moscow rulers. In 1552, an Adyghe embassy was sent to Ivan the Terrible, who asked him to take the Adyghes under his protection and protect them from the Crimean Khan. To clarify the situation, Russian boyar Andrei Shchepotyev was sent to Kuban. In 1555, he returned to Moscow, accompanied by a representative delegation of a detachment of Adyghe peoples. On behalf of “the whole Circassian land,” they asked the Russian sovereign to accept the Circassians as their citizenship. Ivan IV generously rewarded the Circassian envoys and promised them military assistance against the Crimea. In 1555-1556, Ivan the Terrible sent his troops against the Crimeans three times to prevent their campaigns against Kuban. During the period of Ivan IV’s struggle with the Astrakhan Khanate, an ally of Crimea, the Circassians helped the Russian Tsar and successfully attacked the Turkish fortresses of Temryuk and Taman. Despite the military assistance of the Crimean Khan and Turkey, in 1556 Astrakhan surrendered to the Russian archers and Cossacks without a fight.

Impressed by the successes of Muscovy, the Western Circassians and Kabardians sent a new embassy to the Russian capital in 1557 asking for citizenship.

The Russian government granted the request, while promising to preserve the independence of the local princes on all matters of internal policy. Some Circassian princes even accepted the Orthodox faith. This did not mean at all that the Adyghe princes and elders were oriented towards Moscow. Mutual feuds and aggressive neighbors, like the Crimean Khanate, forced some of them to seek the patronage of the Russian Tsar. The Moscow authorities, in turn, were looking for allies in the fight against Crimea and the Ottoman Empire.

The Lebanese War, which began in 1558, diverted the attention of Ivan IV from the North Caucasus, and Ottoman-Crimean claims to this region were renewed.

This forced certain circles of the Circassian nobility to again turn to the Russian Tsar for help with a request to send a Russian governor to the Circassians “for the state,” ᴛ.ᴇ. to rule, and was not even against converting his people to the Orthodox faith. Ivan IV in 1560, responding to a request for help and wanting to strengthen his political position in the North Caucasus, sent one of his best commanders, Prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky, with an army and Christian preachers to the Circassians. At the beginning of 1561, uniting with the Adyghe warriors, Vishnevetsky made a successful campaign against the Crimean-Turkish troops in the Azov region.

Meanwhile, the Livonian War continued. The Livonian Order was defeated, but the Russian state had no less formidable opponents: Poland, Lithuania and Sweden. For a while, this obscured the problems associated with the North-West Caucasus.

Sensing a change in the political situation in 1562, the feudal lords of the northwestern Circassians suddenly broke off ties with Moscow.

It is likely that they saw in Ivan the Terrible’s struggle with the remnants of the old appanage system within the country a danger of losing their appanage rights.

At the same time, they opposed the desire of the senior Kabardian prince Temryuk Idar, with the help of Russia, to unite all the Circassians. In this situation, the Ottoman Porte, using princely discord, managed to gain a foothold in some areas of the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus.

At the same time, the Western Adyghe feudal lords in Porto and the Crimean Khanate did not meet the aspirations of the broad masses of the North-Western Caucasus. It is in this regard that, despite repeated attempts, the Crimean Khan never managed to penetrate deep into the Adyghe territory and subjugate its population to his power.

Moreover, the Western Circassians provided all possible assistance to Russia, as if remaining faithful to it.

In 1561, Ivan the Terrible married Temryuk Idarov’s daughter Kuchenya (Goshaney) in Moscow, she was baptized and became the Russian Tsarina Maria.

The marriage of Ivan IV to the Kabardian princess was of great political significance; it further strengthened and expanded the ties of Russia and strengthened the position of Kabarda.

At the same time, neither the Sultan nor the Crimean Khan wanted to put up with this. They managed to organize a protest in Kabarda against Temryuk and his supporters. Concerned about this, Temryuk turned to Moscow for help. The Russian government sent troops to Kabarda in 1562-1563, led by governor Pleshcheev, and in 1565-1566 - with governors Dashkov and Rzhevsky. At the same time, the Sultan and Khan continued their raids in subsequent years.

In the spring of 1570, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey attacked Temryuk. In the battle of Akhups (the left tributary of the Kuban), Temryuk was mortally wounded, his two sons were taken prisoner by the Crimeans. In addition, Russia was forced to demolish the fortress on the Terek.

All this had a heavy impact on the position of Kabarda and yet, no matter how hard external and internal enemies tried to tear Kabarda away from Russia, they never succeeded. In the spring of 1578, a Kabardian embassy arrived in Moscow and confirmed the citizenship of the Kabardians of Russia.

The Polish-Swedish intervention of the early 17th century worsened Russia's international position. The Iranian shahs began the struggle to take control of Dagestan, and the aggressive aspirations of the Ottoman Porte and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate, intensified in the North-West Caucasus. The Kuban Adyghe peoples, who occupied a vast territory from Taman to the Laba basin, came under the influence of the Crimean Khanate and the Porte. From here the Crimean khans carried out campaigns against Kabarda and other peoples of the Central Ciscaucasia, hoping to get their hands on this region. In Kabarda at this time, numerous emissaries of the Sultan and Khan carried out subversive anti-Russian activities. A pro-Sultan group of Kabardian feudal lords acted in concert with them. They hoped, with the help of the Porte, to restore their dominance over the princes who maintained traditional friendly ties with Russia.

But, despite this, basically Russian-Kabardian relations and the relationship of the Western Circassians with Russia at the end of the 16th and 17th centuries developed towards deepening and expansion. The number of Kabardians leaving for Russia for permanent residence has increased significantly, many of whom subsequently became prominent military and government figures in Russia.

4. The first Russians in Kuban in modern times are Nekrasovites.

In the mid-17th century, a religious and social movement arose in Russia, which went down in history under the name “schism” or “Old Believers.” The reason for its manifestation was the church-ritual reform, which Patriarch Nikon began to carry out in 1653 with the aim of strengthening the church organization. Relying on the support of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Nikon began to unify the Moscow theological system based on Greek models: he corrected Russian liturgical books according to contemporary Greek ones and changed some rituals (two fingers were replaced by three fingers; during church services, “Hallelujah” began to be pronounced not twice, but three times, etc.

Although the reform affected only the external, ritual side of religion, it clearly showed Nikon’s desire to centralize the church and strengthen the power of the patriarch. Discontent was also caused by the violent measures with which the reformer introduced new books and rituals.

Various sections of Russian society came out to defend the “old faith.” The masses, coming to the defense of the “old faith,” thereby expressed their protest against feudal oppression, covered up and sanctified by the church. One of the forms of peasant protest was their flight to the southern outskirts of the state, in particular to the Don, or even outside the country to the Kuban.

In 1688, Tsar Peter I ordered the Don military ataman Denisov to destroy the refuge of schismatics on the Don, and to execute them themselves. At the same time, the schismatics, having learned about the sovereign’s intentions, decided to seek salvation outside the country: in the steppes of Kuban and Kuma. The Kuban schismatics were led by Pyotr Murzenko and Lev Manatsky.

In 1692, another party of schismatics came out from the territory of the Don Cossacks to Kuban, accepting the patronage of the Crimean Khan. It was settled between the Kuban and Laba rivers. The settlers received the name “Kuban Cossacks” after the name of the main river of their new places of residence. With the permission of the khan, they built for themselves on the elevated bank of the Laba River a stone town, which later (after the Nekrasovites moved to Kuban) received the name Nekrasovsky town.

In September 1708, one of the outstanding leaders of the Bulavin uprising, ataman of the Esaulovskaya village of the Don Cossack army, Ignat Nekrasov, fearing reprisals by government troops against the rebels, went with his families to Kuban (according to various sources, numbering from three to eight thousand people). Here, uniting with the Kuban Cossack army, the fugitives organized a kind of republic, which for seventy years was continuously replenished with Cossacks from other places and peasants who fled from serfdom. The “ignat-Cossacks” (as the Turks called them) arrived at their new place of residence not as humiliated petitioners, but as an army with a banner and seven guns. The Crimean Khan Kaplan-Girey, hoping to use the Nekrasovites in the future as a fighting, well-trained armed force, allowed them to settle in the lower reaches of the Kuban, between Kopyl and Temryuk, freeing them from taxes and providing internal autonomy. Having united with the Kuban Cossacks of Savely Pakhomov, the new inhabitants of the Kuban region built the towns of Golubinsky, Bludilovsky and Chiryansky on the hills, thirty miles from the sea. The approaches to them were covered by floodplains and swamps. In addition to natural defense, the Nekrasovites fortified their towns with earthen ramparts and cannons.

In the new place, the Nekrasovites built boats and small vessels, carrying out fishing, traditional for their way of life. At the same time, one of their favorite pastimes was hunting and horse breeding. During the military operations of the Crimea with the Russians, Kabardians and other peoples, the Nekrasovites were obliged to supply at least five hundred horsemen.

The life of the Nekrasovites in Kuban is reflected in the sources mainly by its external military manifestations. Their relations with the Russian government consisted of an alternation of daring Cossack raids and retaliatory punitive expeditions. Up to three thousand Nekrasovites took part in some campaigns. The government of Peter I took measures: by decree of the military board, the death penalty was introduced for failure to report Nekrasov's agents. In November 1722, special letters were sent to the Don about sending their own spies to the Kuban under the guise of merchants and “On precautions against the arrival of the Cossacks and Nekrasovites.”

In 1728, the Kalmyks waged fierce battles with the Nekrasovites in the Kuban. Subsequent skirmishes dragged on for another ten years. Since the late 1730s, the activity of the Nekrasovites has been decreasing. Around 1737, Ignat Nekrasov passed away. Around 1740, the first division took place: 1,600 families went by sea to Dobrudzha, where two towns were initially founded on the Danube estuaries: Sarykoy and Dunavtsi. Another part of the Nekrasovites moved to Asia Minor, near Lake Manyas.

In a foreign land, the Nekrasovites retained the forms of government and life that existed for them in the Kuban. They lived according to the so-called “Testaments of Ignat,” their first chieftain. This document reflected the position of common Cossack customary law, the norms of which were grouped into 170 articles. Absolute power in the society of the Nekrasovites was vested in the People's Assembly - Kruᴦ. It annually elected atamans, endowed with executive functions. The circle controlled the actions of the atamans, could replace them ahead of schedule and call them to account.

The covenants prohibited the exploitation of other people's labor for the purpose of personal enrichment. Those engaged in one craft or another were obliged to donate a third of their earnings to the military treasury, which was spent on the church, maintaining a school, weapons, and benefits for the needy (the infirm, the elderly, widows, orphans). “The Testaments of Ignat” prohibited the establishment of family ties with the Turks, on whose territory they lived after moving from the Kuban.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a small group of Old Believers returned to Russia

After the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829, some of the already quite Turkishized Russians, together with the Anatolian Greeks, moved into Russian borders and settled in the mountains on the eastern shores of the Black Sea in the Dakhovsky Gorge, in the village of Vysokoye (near Adler). In the fall of 1962, 215 families (999 people) of Nekrasovites left Turkey and settled in the Stavropol Territory. The memory of the Motherland and its call turned out to be very strong among the descendants of the Nekrasov Cossacks, primarily because even far from Russia, in an environment alien to them, they did not dissolve, preserving their culture, customs and native Russian language.

However, in the 16th-18th centuries Kuban attracted the attention of Russia, Turkey and the Crimean Khanate. The struggle for priority among the peoples of the North Caucasus went on with varying degrees of success. The feudal elite in these conditions had to maneuver, relying on certain foreign policy forces and accepting the intercession of the strongest states, depending on the moment. At the same time, Russia did not forcefully impose its citizenship on the peoples of the Kuban region, which could not be said about Turkey and its vassals, the Crimean khans. It was in the fight against the aggressive Crimea that the Circassians were forced to turn to Russia for protection.

Used Books.

1. Essays on the history of Kuban from ancient times to 1920. / Ed. Ratushnyak V.N. .- Krasnodar., 1996.

2. Shcherbina F.A. History of the Kuban Cossack Army: In 2 volumes (reprint reproduction). Ekaterinodar, 1910-1913. Krasnodar, 1992.

3. Kutsenko I.Ya. Kuban Cossacks. Krasnodar, 1993.

4. Tarabanov V.A. Religion of the medieval Circassians. - On Sat. : Latest research on the history of Kuban.-Krasnodar, 1992.

Additional literature.

1. Bardadym V.P. Military valor of the Kuban people. Krasnodar, 1999.

2. History of Kuban in dates. Ed. Ratushnyak. Krasnodar, 1996.

3. Kuban Cossack army. 1696-1896. Under. Ed. Felitsyna E.D. Krasnodar, 1996.

4. Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State (any edition).

5. Korolenko P.P. Bicentennial of the Kuban Cossack Army. 1696-1896 (Historical sketch). Ekaterinodar, 1896. Reprint edition, 1991.

6. The past and present of Kuban in the course of national history / under. Ed. Ratushnyak V.N. .Krasnodar, 1994.

7. Smirnov I.V. Nekrasovites. // Questions of history. - 1986. - No. 8.

Basic concepts: atalychestvo, pshi, tlekotleshi, worki, tfokotli, chagars, murzas, beys, uzdeni, adats, yasyr, mullah, effendi, old believers, ataman, Islam, military kruᴦ.

State and public figures: Ivan the Terrible, Andrei Shchepotyev, Dmitry Vishnevetsky, Temryuk Idarov, Maria Temryukovna, Devlet-Gerey, Nikon, Lev Manatsky, Ignat Nekrasov.

Topics of abstracts, reports, messages.

1. Culture and life of the Circassians in the 16th-18th centuries.

2. The emergence and development of feudal relations among the peoples of the North Caucasus.

3. Kuban in the 16th-17th centuries in the politics of neighboring powers.

4. Church schism in Russia and the beginning of the development of Kuban by Russian settlers. Nekrasovites.

5 . The spread of Islam among the Western Circassians and Kabardians.

Control questions:

1. Give a comparative description of the social structures of the Nogai and Adyghe societies.

2. What was the ethnic map of the North-West Caucasus in the 16th-17th centuries?

3. What were the features of the social and political structure of the indigenous inhabitants of the region?

4. What military customs did the mountaineers of the North-West Caucasus have?

5. Why was the recognition of Russian citizenship by the Circassians not durable and often violated?

6. How did the relationship between the peoples of the North-West Caucasus develop with the Ottoman Empire and Russia?

7. Name the reasons for the Old Believer movement in Russia and the appearance of schismatics in Kuban.

8. Why did the Nekrasov Cossacks choose Kuban as their place of settlement?

9. Can “The Testaments of Ignat” be a document reflecting the democratic structure of the Nekrasovites?

10. What are the main stages of the return of the Old Believers and Nekrasovites to their homeland?

From the history of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries

Essay first. Socio-economic situation of the Circassians at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century

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