CIRCASSIA. 



433 



Chazares, the Byzantine emperors appear to have exer- 

 cised a sort of paramount supremacy over this nation. The 

 Circassians, however, remained truly independent in the 

 upper regions of the mountains, and were still in posses- 

 sion of the whole eastern coast of the Sea of Azof as far 

 as the Don. They rendered themselves masters of Kertsch 

 in the Crimea, made frequent incursions into that peninsu- 

 la, and into other European countries, formed the basis of 

 the then rising Caucasian tribes, and founded a famous 

 dynasty in Egypt. They continued equally unsubdued 

 amidst the mighty changes every where effected about the 

 close of the llth century by the arms of the great Timur, 

 and afterwards in face of the incursions of the Ottomans. 

 While in the middle of the 16th century, as has been al- 

 ready stated, they, or a principal part of them, acknow- 

 ledged for a short time the authority of the Czar Ivan II. 

 of Russia, they yet about the same period formed, in con- 

 junction with some of his native subjects, the state of the 

 Don Cossacks, retaining possession of all the islands of the 

 Lower Kuban, the whole of its southern banks, and the 

 regions contiguous to the Euxine. Subsequently to that 

 era, this people, or portions of them, have, in respect to 

 dependence, been in the state of vicissitude, of which 

 ome of the steps have been already noted, holding at one 

 time of the khan of the Crimea, at another of the Porte, 

 at another of Russia. Ever since the conquest of the 

 Upper Kabarda by Ivan II., the sovereigns of the latter 

 empire have been accustomed to style themselves lords of 

 the Kabardinian countries of the Circassians and mountain 

 princes. The reality of power, which has been far from 

 being ever since connected with this sounding title, has, 

 in recent times, been in some degree attached to it. Be- 

 tween the years 174-0 and 1750, the princes of the Great 

 and Little Kabarda several times took the oaths of feal- 

 ty to Russia. And the separation of the Asiatic terri- 

 tories, usually comprehended under the general appella- 

 tion of Circassia, having in 1783 been recognised to be 

 made by the river Cuban, all the districts and stems in 

 those parts, situated in the islands of the Lower Cuban, 

 along the whole southern shore of that river up to its 

 source, and in the regions bordering on the Euxine as 

 far as Auchasia, have, since that period, been held to be 

 in a state of proper subjection to the Russian empire. 

 The Circassians in both the Great and Little Kabarda, 

 are reckoned among the vassals of that power. 



This division of that people being the most consider- 

 able of all the tribes on the northern side of the Cauca- 

 sus, the imitation of their manners has been go general 

 among their neighbours, that, in this respect at least, 

 all these tribes may be looked upon as the component 

 parts of one great nation. Some of the traits principally 

 characteristic of this people have already been mentioned. 

 The following also are deserving of notice. 



No prince among the Circassians can be a landholder. 

 The only property of those of this rank consists in their 

 arms, horses, slaves, and the tribute which they can ex- 

 tort from the neighbouring nations. The person of 

 every prince is esteemed sacred. This, however, is the 

 only distinction of birth unaccompanied by personal merit. 

 The greatest honour which a prince can gain, is that of 

 being the first of his nation to attack or to restrain an 

 enemy. In time of peace, the princes are not distinguish- 

 ed from the nobility, or even from the peasantry, their 

 manner of living bejng the same, and their houses, or 

 other accommodations, being little superior to theirs. 

 The rank of nobility is founded in part at least, and, in 

 tome instances, on an elective title ; it being in the power 

 of the prince to raise at his pleasure to that dignity, per- 

 sons frf/m the inferior classes of society. The nobles are 

 the officers of the prmce, and are entrusted with the exe- 



cution of the laws. On important occasions, he calls a Circassia. 

 council of those of this rank, and the resolutions that are > """V'~" / 

 agreed on are communicated through them to the peo- 

 ple. In the general assemblies of the people, it is equal- 

 ly their part to endeavour to gain the public assent to 

 the measures proposed by the princes. The people, as 

 well as the usdens or nobility, are, or may be, proprietors 

 of lands. It is somewhat singular, that the princes who 

 have themselves no property of this kind, yet claim, and 

 sometimes attempt to exercise, the right of seizing the 

 whole of that which belongs to their vassals. It seems 

 equally an inconsistency, that, under these circumstan- 

 ces, a vassal when he thinks himself aggrieved, should 

 have it in his power to transfer his allegiance from his na- 

 tive to any other prince. It is plainly the effect of thi 

 last arrangement, to render the former in a great measure 

 nugatory, as, in consequence of it, it not only becomes 

 necessary for a prince to endeavour to gain the affectioni 

 of his vassals, if, through their exertions in the field, he 

 would cherish the hope of acquiring for himself either 

 greatness or wealth; but it is, in reality, through a 

 persevering attention only to accommodate himself to 

 their wishes, that he may reasonably expect to retain for 

 any length of time over them, even the shadow or any 

 appearance of authority. 



The Circassians do not appear to hare any written Law*, 

 laws ; but they are governed by a kind of common law, 

 or a collection of ancient usages. On great occasions 

 the whole nation is assembled, when such measures as 

 are deemed expedient being proposed by the eldest of 

 the princes, they are first discussed amongst the usdens, 

 afterwards by the deputies of the people. Their depu- 

 ties are generally of the older men of the nation, who 

 possess ordinarily with their constituents a greater influ- 

 ence than is attained to even by the prince himself. When 

 a proposition thus introduced and carried forward has 

 been finally acceded to, it is, for the sake of the greater se- 

 curity, commonly confirmed by a solemn oath taken by 

 the whole people. 



It is agreeable to the customs of the Circassians, that, 

 at their meals, the whole families, some of the parts of 

 which are at other times little together, should assemble 

 severally to partake in common of their necessary food. 

 Hence it is, that here, as among the Tartars,, each vil- 

 lage is usually reckoned at a certain number of kettles. 

 The manner of living among this people is extremely 

 simple. One part of their food consists of a little meat, 

 either the flesh of the game in which the country great- 

 ly abounds, of beef or mutton, or what it is said is pre- 

 ferred to all others, of the flesh of a young horse. To- 

 gether with this, they make use of some paste made of 

 millet, or of thin cakes of barley meal baked upon the 

 hearth, and which are eaten always new. Their usual 

 drink is water, a kind of beer made from millet ferment- 

 ed, or mare's milk, from whi.li latter there is here dis- 

 tilled a spirit, as amongst most of the Tartar nations. 

 The Circassians do not uniformly allot stated hours for 

 the refreshments of the table, or sleep, but upon occa- 

 sions indulge in them irregularly, as inclination or con- 

 venience dictates. When the men make excursions into 

 an enemy's country, they will even pass several days and 

 nights successivi-ly without sleeping, aiid, at their return, 

 they devote as much time to repose as they had thus been 

 withheld from that gratification. In eating, it is the 

 practice here to sit cross-legged on the floor, the skin of 

 some animal serving as a carpet. The custom of smoking 

 tobacco is universal among men, women, and children : 

 whence, as in other Tartar countries, that is the most 

 acceptable commodity which a traveller can carry witk 

 him into these parts. 



