The Russo–Circassian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Circassia, or termed by the Circassians as the Great War with the Tsar took place in the North Caucasus between July 1763 and June 1864. It began when the Russian Empire entered Circassia and occupied Mozdok, which prompted the Circassian people to organize a resistance movement to preserve their independence. Over the next century, the Imperial Russian Army expanded across the country until the last Circassian fighters were defeated in the Battle of Qbaada. It remains the longest war to have ever occurred in the Caucasus and in the history of Russia, as well as the longest and final war in the history of Circassia. Although it initially involved only Russia and Circassia, the conflict soon drew in a number of other Caucasian nations after they also became targets for Russian conquests, and it is consequently sometimes considered to be the western half of the Caucasian War.
During the hostilities, Russia recognized Circassia not as an independent polity, but as a Russian region that had fallen under rebel occupation—in spite of the fact that Circassia had never been controlled by Russia prior to the first incursion at Mozdok in 1763. Many Russian generals did not refer to the Circassians by their ethnonym and instead called them "mountaineers" or "bandits" in a pattern of broadly dehumanizing and xenophobic rhetoric that glorified the mass murder and rape of Circassian civilians.
Upon achieving hegemony throughout Circassia in 1864, Russia perpetrated the Circassian genocide, which continued until 1878 and resulted in the destruction of about 97% of the entire Circassian population. Upwards of 2,000,000 Circassians were killed during this period, while another 1,500,000 were displaced to the Ottoman Empire. The genocide caused the formation of the Circassian diaspora, which is mainly concentrated in countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire, particularly Turkey, Jordan, and Syria.
In modern Russia, the war has been the subject of historical negationism: Russian state media and officials have gone as far as claiming that the invasion "never happened" and that Circassia "voluntarily joined Russia in the 16th century" in lieu of genocidal events documented by Russian historians of the 1860s. Contemporary accounts include those of Russian bureaucrat Adolf Berzhe, who portrayed the expulsion of Circassians as essential for "Russian security"; and Russian historian Rostislav Fadeyev, who described the campaign as "one of the most vital tasks in Russian history." Furthermore, in 1861, Russian emperor Alexander II (r. 1855–1881) publicly ordered the Imperial Russian Army to "utterly force out the hostile mountaineers (Circassians) from the fertile countries they occupy and settle on the latter a Russian Christian population forever."
Before the war
Circassians, Christianised through Byzantine influence between the 5th and 6th centuries, were generally in alliance with Georgians, and both groups wanted to keep good relations with the Russians. In 1557, Temruqo Idar of Eastern Circassia allied with the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible and built a defense against possible enemies. Circassians were Christians during this period and Islam had not begun to spread. In 1561, Ivan the Terrible married Goshenay, daughter of Temruqo, and named her Mariya. In several narratives, Temruqo, because of his alliance with Russia, was described as a tyrant who only cared about his rule.
Although there had previously been a small Muslim presence in Circassia, significant conversions came after 1717, when Sultan Murad IV ordered the Crimeans to spread Islam among the Circassians. Islam gained much more ground later as conversion came to be used to cement defensive alliances to protect the Circassians' independence against Russian expansion. Despite this, there were still Pagans and Christians among the Circassian people. The Circassian-Russian alliance was damaged and eventually broken when the Circassians converted to Islam and adopted a more pro-Ottoman policy.
On 13 May 1711, Tsar Peter I ordered Araksin, Governor of Astrakhan, to pillage Circassia. Araksin moved with 30,000 strong Russian armed forces and, on 26 August 1711, broke into the lands of the Circassians, and captured Kopyl town (now Slavianski). From there, heading towards the Black Sea, he seized ports on the Kuban and looted and pillaged them. Then, he marched up along the Kuban River, pillaging villages. During this single invasion in Circassia, the Russians killed 43,247 Circassian men and women, and drove away 39,200 horses, 190,000 cattle and 227,000 sheep from Circassia. Russia continued to wage this type of warfare against Circassia from 1711 to 1763; the intent of this type of operation was not to annex Circassia but rather to raid it. Although Peter I was unable to annex Circassia in his lifetime, he laid the political and ideological foundation for the occupation to take place.
The confrontation of Prince Temruqo against the Ingush
After the departure of Timur, the Ingush left their mountains and began to develop the foothill plains in the 15th–16th centuries. In 1562, the Kabardian prince Temruqo Idar undertook an aggressive campaign against the Ingush, supplemented by detachments of Nogai Murzas. The Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, married to Temruqo's daughter Maria, sent 1,000 Cossacks under the command of Grigory Pleshcheev to aid Temruqo. As a result of this unified Kabardino–Nogai–Cossack campaign, 164 settlements were defeated, judging by the Russian chronicles. The Ingush returned to the mountains, and their former territory was settled by Kabardians.
Political reasons of the war
Circassia was a key strategic location amidst the power struggle between the emerging Russian Empire, the established England and France, and the failing Ottoman Empire. Russia sought to expand along the Black Sea, and England sought to reduce Russia's ability to take advantage of the declining Ottoman Empire, known as the Eastern Question.
To counter Persian influence in the region, Russia would require shipyards on the Black Sea, which made Circassia, with its coastline and fertile valleys, a target. By 1853, near the end of the war, the Black Sea had become responsible for a third of Russian exports, making the area very important for trade.
Starting date of the war
The date of the outbreak of the Russo–Circassian War has been a matter of debate by historians. Most scholars agree that organised warfare happened after 1763 when Russia established forts in Circassian territory, but small-scale conflicts had been ongoing since 1711. Another view held by a smaller number of scholars is that proper warfare began in 1817 with the arrival of Aleksey Yermolov, and prior to that it was merely clashes.
The conflict
Pre-1817 period
During the reign of Catherine II, the Imperial Russian Army started entering Circassian soil and Russia started building forts in an attempt to quickly annex Circassia. On 17 July (O.S.) 1763, Russian forces entered the town of Mezdeug (modern-day Mozdok) in Eastern Circassia, turning it into a Russian fortress. Thus began the first hostilities between the Circassians and the Russian Empire.
While some Kabardian (Eastern Circassian) nobles wanted to fight the Russians, arguing they could convince the Ottomans and Crimea to help them, other nobles wanted to avoid fighting with Russia and to try to make peace.
In January 1764, several Kabardian nobles including Misost Bematuqo Hatokhshoqo met with the representative of the Russian Kizlyar commandant N. A. Potapov and unsuccessfully demanded the demolition of the Mozdok fortress built by the Russians. If the Russian government refused, the Kabardian princes threatened to seek alliance with the Crimean Khan against Russia.
Also in 1764, Kabardian Circassian knights Keysin Keytiqo and Kundeyt Shebez-Giray met with Catherine II in Saint Petersburg. They informed her that "the military build-up in Mezdeug was unacceptable, the region has been a land of Circassians, [and] the situation would create hostility and conflict". She refused diplomacy and the envoys were sent back. On 21 August 1765, the citizens of Circassia were instructed by the Russian general Johann de Medem to accept Russian control or face the Russian army. In 1765, Kabardian Circassians occupied the fortress of Kizlyar.
In June 1767, Bematuqo started a military operation against Russia, though many other Kabardian nobles did not want a war and wanted to surrender. In the middle of 1768, fifteen of these Kabardian princes who decided to surrender reported to Kizlyar that they were ready to "take an oath" of allegiance to Russia. Bematuqo, not wanting to surrender or convert to Christianity, refused.
Bematuqo's resistance was strengthened on 18 October 1768 when he received a letter from the Ottoman sultan, who had declared war on Russia, in which the sultan ordered that all the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus should officially rise to war with Russia, obey the Crimean Khan as their commander, and, together with the Nogais, defeat Russia. In December 1768, Muhammad-aga, the personal envoy of the Crimean Khan, arrived in Kabarda. The Crimean Khan asked the Kabardian princes to help the Kuban serasker in the upcoming campaign to Russia.
In January 1769, the Kizlyar commandant Potapov sent a letter to Bematuqo which pressured him to stop listening to the Ottoman sultan and surrender. Later that year, the Kabardian Circassians were defeated and their army destroyed in a battle against the Russian army, which was supported by Kalmyk Khan's 20,000 cavalrymen. Another major battle took place in the Nartsane area in June 1769, when a large Russian army entered Kabardia and took up positions near the Pashtu Mountains. Circassian forces under Bematuqo's leadership retreated as both sides suffered losses.
At this point, the anti-Russian group, which refused to cooperate with the Russian tsarist government, was headed by Bematuqo. He and his supporters moved to the upper reaches of the Kumy River. In need of allies, they turned to the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray for help. The Khan promised to send a small detachment; however, before that happened, the Russian lieutenant general de Medem sent detachments of Cossacks and Kalmyk cavalry against the Kabardians. In an unequal battle on the river Eshkokon, the superior Russian forces defeated the Kabardians.
As a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), the Ottomans had forces in Circassia. They were seen as fellow Muslim allies by the Circassians. The Cossacks defended the village of Naur against a combined Circassian-Turkish army of 8,000 men.
The Circassian Revolution began in 1770.
In 1771, Circassians under the command of Soqur Qaramirza burned many Cossack and Russian barracks. On 29 September that year, a battle took place near the Malka River and was won by the Russians under General Yakobi.
In 1772, a serious battle took place in Daghestan territory. There were 10,000 Russian soldiers in the fort at Kizlyar. Both sides suffered serious losses as finally the Russians emerged victorious. In the same year, the Kabardian princes sent another embassy to the Crimean Khan Devlet IV Girey, requesting his assistance in the inevitable war against tsarist Russia. However, despite nominally being allies, the Crimean Khanate attacked Circassia in June 1774. A large Crimean army led by Khan Devlet IV Girey and Kalga Shabaz Girey attacked Kabarda in the Battle of Beshtamak. The Crimeans entered Mozdok and occupied and ruined the nearby villages.
The Ottoman Empire lost its protection over the Crimean Khanate with the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Following these events, Russian presence in the region strengthened, and the Circassians requested help and alliance from the Ottomans.
In 1776 the Russian army built several forts in Terek to encircle the Kabardian Circassians from the north. The Circassians managed to gather a 14,000-strong army and won back several forts. From 1777 the Russians built a line of forts from Mozdok northwest to Azov. The presence of Cossacks in former grazing lands slowly converted traditional raiding from a kind of ritualized sport into a serious military struggle. In 1778, a battle took place between the Russian troops under the command of Colonel Kulbakov and the Circassians.
The construction of the Azov-Mozdok Line beginning in 1777 severely disrupted Kabardian migration routes essential for livestock grazing and led to economic collapse among the Kabardians, Ossetians, Balkars, and Abazins. The Kabardians launched attacks even during the early phases of the constructions. Following a national congress held in March 1779, the Kabardians decided on full-scale war an, electing Prince Misost Bematiqo as commander-in-chief of the Circassian coalition, which included the Chemguy, Besleney, and other allied forces. The Kabardians established their camp in the Qeytuqo Tuasha region and began systematic assaults on Russian positions, cutting communication lines between the fortresses and launching attacks. This conflict was named as the Seven Months' War and was the largest conflict of the Russo–Circassian War up to that time.
The conflict’s turning point came with two decisive battles that severely weakened the Kabardian leadership. During the Night Assault of June 10–11, while Prince Hamirza Qeytuqo was leading the siege of Marinskaya Fortress, Russian forces under General Yakobi broke the siege after six hours of fighting, killing 500 commoners and 50 nobles and princes including Prince Hamirza and his descendants. At the Battle of Qeytuqo Tuasha on October 10, Generals Fabritsian and Yakobi launched a coordinated attack on the main Kabardian camp. The Russian army destroyed the camp and killed nearly all of the Kabardian forces, consisting of 300–350 nobles and princes.
Following a Russian campaign led by General Yakobi into Greater Kabardia and by Suvorov into Lesser Kabardia, the remaining Kabardian princes were forced to accept a harsh treaty in December. The treaty established new borders along the Malka and Terek rivers, imposed massive reparations including 10,000 rubles and thousands of livestock, and formally recognized Russian suzerainty. Although Kabardia lost a third of its territory and much of its nobility in the conflict, Kabardia endured for several more decades until the final Russian conquest in the 1820s.
In 1781, the Ottomans built a strong fortress in Circassia to ensure Turkish influence in the region and to act as a base for future operations against Russia in Kuban, the Don, and Crimea.
In 1782, Ferah Ali Pasha arrived at Soghujaq Castle in Western Circassia as a missionary and diplomat from the Ottoman Empire with the aim of Islamizing some Circassians who were still not Muslims.