Circassian, Russian Cherkes or Cherkess, plural Cherkesy, member of a Caucasian people speaking a northwest Caucasian language (see Kabardian language).
From ancient times Circassia, comprising roughly the northwestern region of the Caucasus, acquired the exotic reputation common to lands occupying a crucial area between rival empires. The early history of the Circassian peoples is fairly obscure. Though no Greek colonies were established in Circassia proper, the Greeks are known to have established colonies and carried out extensive trade on the Circassian coast of the Black Sea, and their influence is clear. The successive influence or outright control of the Romans, Khazars, Mongols, Crimean Tatars, Turks, and Russians was to follow.
The area remained fairly autonomous until the 12th and 13th centuries, when Georgian princes succeeded in reducing it to the condition of a province. In 1234 the Caucasus region was overrun by Mongol hordes, and the region soon passed under the rule of the Crimean Tatars. During the mid-16th century and again (on several occasions) in the 17th century, the Caucasian rulers were constrained to ask for Russian help against Persian and Turkish invasions. The Russians themselves seemed little interested in subjugating the region until the rule of Peter I the Great; by 1785 the northern Caucasus had been designated a Russian province. In the great territorial wars that ensued between Russia, Persia, and Turkey, the Caucasus region was hotly contested. The Circassians carried out a notably fierce and protracted resistance to Russian domination. Frustrated by the sporadic rekindling of resistance in ostensibly pacified Circassian villages, Russia in 1860 embarked on a campaign to forcibly resettle Circassians eastward in the valley of the Kuban River. By 1864 the expulsion had largely been accomplished, but almost the entire Circassian population—some 400,000 people—instead emigrated to territories within the Ottoman Empire, with many thousands perishing of starvation and disease en route.
Of the two main groups of Circassians, the Adyghians (Circassians proper, or Lower Circassians), who numbered about 165,000 in the late 20th century, live mostly in the republics of Adygea and Karachay-Cherkessia in Russia. The Kabardians (or Upper Circassians) number about 345,000 and live mostly in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. Circassian communities also exist in Anatolian Turkey (150,000) and Syria (35,000), with smaller groups in Jordan, Iraq, and Iran.
Many Circassians live in the plain immediately to the north of the Caucasus, others live in the mountain piedmont, and a few live in the upland and mountainous regions. Their traditional economy is based on mixed pastoralism and farming, supplemented by fruit growing. In their traditional social organization, princes and nobles controlled the herds and soil. The mass of people were organized in a complex system of subordinate ranks. Slavery was maintained until recent times.
Officially the Circassians are Sunni Muslims. Ancient cults associated with thunder, fertility rites, and sacred groves, however, were reported in modern times.