Conquest of Eastern Circassia

The Conquest of Eastern Circassia
Part of Conquests of Inal the Great
Date 1434-1438 Location Eastern Circassia Result Circassian victory •Subordination of the Turkic peoples (Karachai, Balkars)
Belligerents
Circassia	Crimean Khanate Golden Horde Karachay Balkar •Turkic nomads
Commanders and leaders
Inal the Great of Circassia	Hacı I Giray Küchük Muhammad
Strength
10000	5000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

At the end of the 14th century, the situation in the North Caucasus was favorable for the Adyghe: after Timur's campaign, the Golden Horde collapsed, which allowed the Adyghe to act actively. The Adyghe began a reconquest in the northern part of the Caucasus under the leadership of Prince Inal. Under his leadership, the Adyghe liberated the territory from Genoese and Tatar fortifications, restoring control over the foothills of the region.

History

At the end of the 14th century, the North Caucasus developed a favorable geopolitical situation for the Adyghe. Timur's campaign not only undermined the power of the Golden Horde but also led to its disintegration. The Genghisids, fragmented by strife, were no longer an obstacle to the active actions of the Circassian princes in the North Caucasus. Unlike most peoples in the region, the Adyghe were able to maintain their relative demographic and economic potential. In cases of invasion by large hordes of nomads, the Adyghe population of the plains has always found a reliable bastion in the inaccessible foothills and mountainous regions of Zakuban, where its main massif was located. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Adyghe began violent activity aimed at ousting the Horde, called by A. A. Tsutsiev the "Kabardian reconquista of the plains and foothills of the Central Caucasus." Along with the military campaigns in the Central Pre-Caucasus, there is an influx of a new group of Adyghe, which replenishes the Eastern Adyghe population, which has thinned as a result of the invasions of nomads. These processes are connected with the energetic actions of Prince Inal to unite the Adyghe lands into a single ethnopolitical association in the first quarter of the 14th century. Having subordinated Western Circassia to his power, Inal began to liberate the territory of the Central Pre-Caucasus, where the positions of the Genoese and Tatars were strong. In the campaigns under consideration, the military commander Inala Kabarda Tambi distinguished himself, becoming the hero of the cycle of Circassian legends. The key to the liberation of the Eastern Adyghe lands were the Genoese fortifications and fortresses located in the upper reaches of the Kuban River.

The capture of Khumaran made it possible for Inal to develop an offensive east of the Kuban River. Military campaigns in this direction were led by Kabarda Tambi. Moving eastward, Kabarda Tambi founded a new settlement on the right bank of the Malka River, which he encircled with an earthen fortification, and built a watchtower. The fortification became a strong point for further movement to the east. The population of the Central Caucasus was heterogeneous. In addition to the Adyghe, Ossetians, Digorians and Ironians lived here, who were located in the upper reaches of the Terek River basin. To the east of the Ossetians, Vainakh tribes lived in the mountains. The presence of Svan tower complexes and other stone structures in the upper reaches of the Kuban, Baksan, Chegem and Cherek rivers indicates the advance of part of the Svans after the Mongol devastations of the 13th century to the northern slopes of the Caucasian Ridge. The nomads of the Tatars were located in the pre-Caucasian steppes. The Horde was the dominant force in the region. The advance of Kabarda Tambi inevitably clashed with the domination of the Tatars. Judging by the fact that already in the second quarter of the 15th century, hordes of nomads were not recorded in the Central Caucasus, the Tatars were pushed north. The campaign of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, against the "Cherkas of Pyatigorsk", which took place in 1412, was most likely connected with the activity of the Adyghe in the Central Caucasus. Vytautas was an ally of the descendants of Khan Tokhtamysh, who could turn to him for help against the expansion of the Inala in a strategically important area for the Tatars.

Not only the traditional Horde headquarters was located here, but also the most important routes to Transcaucasia through the Caucasian Ridge, which were of economic and strategic importance. The Tatar khans Nauruz and Kezimakhmet decided to go from Sarai to fight against Khan Ulumakhmet, who was in Russian lands. The Tatar horde first descended into the Tyumen (Twilight) steppes, then skirted Circassia along the perimeter of its border, namely, the Central pre-Caucasus and part of the north-eastern Caucasus, in the lower reaches of the Terek River. By this time, Inal was able to finally secure these lands for Circassia, and the Tatars did not want to invade or even touch the possessions of the Adyghe.

References

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2. Взгляд на османские и кавказские дела

3. The Legendary Circassian Prince Inal, by Vitaliy Shtybin

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5. PRENSLERİN PRENSİ İNAL NEKHU (PŞILERİN PŞISI İNAL NEKHU)

6. Horse Farm at 2500 meters high

7. Kokov (K'wek'we), J. N., Iz adigskoi (cherkesskoi) onomastiki [From Circassian Onomastics], Nalchik: Elbrus Book Publishing House, 1983.

8. Dubois de Montpéreux, F., Voyage autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhases, en Colchide, en Géorgie, en Arménie et en Crimée: Avec un atlas géographique, pittoresque, ... géologique, etc., Paris: Gide, 1839-43; reprinted: Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics, 2002 (6 vols).

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10. Circassian history