¶ … Circassian People, a brief history The Circassians, comprising some 3,000 people concentrated in two northern villages, are Sunni Muslims, although they share neither the Arab origin nor the cultural background of the larger Islamic community. While maintaining a distinct ethnic identity, they participate in Israel's economic and national affairs without assimilating either into Jewish society or into the general Muslim community The Circassians are a Muslim people, whose Russian name is Cherkess and whose native name is Adygey. They are now officially classified as three peoples: the Kabarda, in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic; the Circassians or Cherkess, in the Karachevo-Cherkess Republic; and the Adygey, in the Adygey Republic. The term Circassian has sometimes been incorrectly applied to all the mountain peoples of the N. Caucasus. Known in antiquity, they inhabited the western side of the Caucasus and the Crimea and were known to the Greeks as the Zyukhoy. They were Christianized in the 6th cent. A.D. But adopted Islam in the 17th cent. After coming under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. In 1829 the Ottoman Turks were forced to cede Circassia to Russia. At this time the Circassians occupied almost the entire area between the main Caucasian range, the Kuban River, and the Black Sea. In the many Russo-Turkish wars in the first half of the 19th cent. The Circassians bitterly fought the Russians. After the Russian conquest of the area, about 400,000 Circassians migrated to Turkey (1861-64). Circassian women were reputed to be great beauties, and many were sold into slavery in Turkey. There are today large Circassian groups in Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. Most Circassian are multi- lingual. They learn Arabic in school, speak Adygey (their native language) among themselves, and study English. Students in junior high school often study written Circassian, a language that uses the Cyrillic script but is not related to Russian. However, there are no Circassian newspapers and very few Circassian books printed in Syria. Cultural events play an important role in maintaining...

Traditionally, a Circassian was never without his dagger, and few things were more important to him than his weapons. During holidays and weddings, they perform folk dances and songs in their traditional dress. The men wear long coats to their knees and black wool hats, and the women wear embroidered silk dresses. The dancing is in a squatting Cossack style, and the main musical instrument is the accordion. Historically, the Circassian were organized into four castes: pshi (princes), warq (nobles), tlfaquat'l (freemen), and p*****'l (slaves). The princes organized the overall wealth and external relations of the villages. The freemen were farmers, herdsmen, or worked in plants. The slaves served the princes and nobles as servants and laborers. Today, this system survives merely as a tradition of origin for Circassian families. In the family, the wife has authority over many of the household matters, but the husband has the ultimate decision in cases of dispute. The extended family unit is set in the context of the tlapq, or the clan, which consists of male relatives who descended from a particular ancestor. Members of a tlapq all share the same family name. Marriages are traditionally based on love or an interest on the part of both man and woman. The Circassian generally marry late usually in their early thirties. The Republic of Adyghea is a land, which is shroud in historical legends. In the Middle Ages the Great Silk Road went across it. Here, the ancestors of Adyghe people created the culture, which is known all over the world as the Maykop culture. Dozens of burial-mounds situated not far from each other and bound by legends; enigmatic dolmens, typical only for the North-Western Caucasus- all are open-air museums. They bear witness to the brightest culture of ancient Circassians, of their close connections with Europe and Oriental countries. Luscious Circassian Gardens are very famous. The Adyghes, that gave the name to the Republic- the ancient inhabitants of the North- Western Caucasus. Since the 13th century they've…