Online Encyclopedia

form and regularity of feature by which they were distinguished, they surpassed most of the other tribes of the Caucasus. At the same time they were remarkable for their warlike and intrepid See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, their See also:

independence, their hospitality to strangers, and that love of See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country which they manifested in their deter-See also:

MINED

mined resistance to an almost overwhelming power during the period of a long and desolating See also:

war. The See also:

government under which they lived was a peculiar form of the feudal See also:

SYSTEM

system. The See also:

FREE

free Circassians were divided into three distinct ranks, the princes or pshi, the nobles or uork (Tatar usden), and the peasants or hokotl. Like the inhabitants of the other regions of the Caucasus, they were also divided into numerous families, tribes or clans, some of which were very powerful, and carried on war against each other with great animosity.

The slaves, of whom a large proportion were prisoners of war, were generally employed in the cultivation of the See also:

SOIL

soil, or in the domestic service of some of the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal chiefs. The will of the people was acknowledged as the supreme source of authority; and every free Circassian had a right to See also:

EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express his See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion in those assemblies of his tribe in which the questions of See also:

peace and war, almost the only subjects which engaged their attention, were brought under deliberation.. The princes and nobles, the leaders of the people in war and their rulers in peace, were only the administrators of a power which was delegated to them. As they had no written See also:

LAWS

laws, the See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration of See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice was regulated solely by See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom and tradition, and in those tribes professing Mahommedanism by the precepts of the See also:

KORAN

Koran. The most aged and respected inhabitants of the various auls or villages frequently sat in See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment, and their decisions were received without a murmur by the contending parties. The Circassian princes and nobles were professedly Mahommedans; but in their religious services many of the ceremonies of their former See also:

HEATHEN

heathen and See also:

Christian See also:

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship were still preserved. A great See also:

PART

part of the people had remained faithful to the worship of their See also:

ancient gods—Shible, the See also:

god of See also:

THUNDER

thunder, of war and of justice; Tleps, the god of See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire; and Seosseres, the god of See also:

WATER

water and of winds. Although the Circassians are said to have possessed minds capable of the highest cultivation, the arts and sciences, with the exception of See also:

POETRY

poetry and See also:

MUSIC

music, were completely neglected. They possessed no written language. The See also:

WISDOM, BOOK OF, or WISDOM OF SOLOMON (Sept. Io4ia IaXwµwvos; Lat. Vulg. Liber sapientiae)

wisdom of their sages, the knowledge they had acquired, and the memory of their warlike deeds were preserved in verses, which were repeated from mouth to mouth and descended from See also:

FATHER

father to son. The See also:

EDUCATION

education of the See also:

young Circassian was confined to See also:

RIDING

riding, See also:

FENCING

fencing, See also:

SHOOTING

shooting, See also:

HUNTING (the verbal substantive from " hunt "; O. Eng. huntian, hunta; apparently connected with O. Eng. hentan, Gothic hinpan, to capture, O.H.G. hunda,booty)

hunting, and such exercises as were calculated to strengthen his See also:

FRAME

frame and prepare him for a See also:

LIFE

life of active warfare. The only intellectual See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty of the atalik or instructor, with whom the young men lived until they had completed their education, was that of teaching them to express their thoughts shortly, quickly and appropriately.

One of their See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage ceremonies was very strange. The young See also:

man who had been approved by the parents, and had paid the stipulated See also:

price in See also:

MONEY

money, horses, oxen, or See also:

sheep for his See also:

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

bride, was expected to come with his See also:

friends fully armed, and to carry her off by force from her father's See also:

house. Every free Circassian had unlimited right over the lives of his wife and See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children. Although See also:

POLYGAMY, (Gr. nabs, many, and yayos, marriage)

polygamy was allowed by the laws of the Koran, the custom of the country forbade it, and the Circassians were generally faithful to the marriage See also:

bond. The respect for See also:

SUPERIOR

superior See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age was carried to such an extent that the young See also:

BROTHER

brother used to rise from his seat when the See also:

elder entered an apartment, and was silent when he spoke. Like all the other inhabitants of the Caucasus, the Circassians were distinguished for two very opposite qualities—the most generous hospitality and implacable vindictiveness. Hospitality to the stranger was considered one of the most sacred duties. Whatever were his See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank in life, all •the members of the See also:

FAMILY

family See also:

rose to receive him on his entrance, and conduct him to the principal seat in the apartment. The See also:

HOST

host was considered responsible with his own life for the See also:

SECURITY (Lat. securus, free from care, safe)

security of his See also:

guest, upon whom, even although his deadliest enemy, he would inflict no injury while under the See also:

PROTECTION

protection of his roof. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief who had received a stranger was also See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound to See also:

grant him an escort of See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse to conduct him in safety on his See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey, and confide him to the protection of those nobles with whom he might be on friendly terms. The See also:

law of vengeance was no less binding on the Circassian. The individual who had slain any member of a family was pursued with implacable vengeance by the relatives, until his See also:

CRIME (Lat. crimen, accusation)

crime was expiated by See also:

DEATH

death.

The murderer might, indeed, secure his safety by the See also:

PAYMENT (Fr. paiement, from payer, to pay; Lat. pacare, to appease, pax, peace)

payment of a certain sum of money, or by carrying off from the house of his enemy a newly-See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born See also:

child, bringing it up as his own, and restoring it when its education was finished. In either See also:

case, the family of the slain individual might discontinue the pursuit of vengeance without any stain upon its See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour. The man closely followed by his enemy, who, on reaching the dwelling of a woman, had merely touched her See also:

hand, was safe from all other pursuit so long as he remained under the protection of her roof. The opinions of the Circassians regarding See also:

THEFT

theft resembled those of the ancient Spartans. The See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission of the crime was not considered so disgraceful as its See also:

DISCOVERY

discovery; and the See also:

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment of being compelled publicly to restore the stolen See also:

PROPERTY

property to its See also:

ORIGINAL

original possessor, amid the derision of his tribe, was much dreaded by the Circassian who would See also:

GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory in a successful theft. The greatest stain upon the Circassian character was the custom of selling their children, the Circassian father being always willing to part with his daughters, many of whom were bought by See also:

TURKISH

Turkish merchants for the harems of Eastern monarchs. But no degradation was implied in this transaction, and the young See also:

WOMEN

women themselves were generally willing partners in it. Herds of See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle and sheep constituted the chief riches of the inhabitants. The princes and nobles, from whom the members of the various tribes held the See also:

LAND

land which they cultivated, were the proprietors of the soil. The Circassians carried on little or no See also:

commerce, and the See also:

state of perpetual warfare in which they lived prevented them from cultivating any of the arts of peace.

End of Article: CIRCASSIA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CIRCAR

[next]
CIRCE (Gr. Kiprcrl)