A Place I want to visit: Nalchik 22 January, 2009
Posted by nousha in Cherkess, Travel.2 comments
Few years ago I discovered in my grandfather’s papers an old letter sent to him by one of his cousins, he was depicting his trip to Moscow and the little visit he paid to the city where he was born… Nalchik. This was my first time to hear about Nalchik, I ‘ve always thought that the city from where my great grandfather came from was Cherkessk. But now as I found out that my grandfather’s cousin was born in Nalchik, and that he actually met in the 1960’s some of his family members who recognized him, perhaps it was Nalchik after all.
Another fact that might make me a Nalchik descendant is that my family is one of the Kabardine (القبارطاي), and Nalchik is the capital of Kabardino-Balkar Republic, one of the republics in the Russian Federation that has a major Adyghe population, along with Karachay-Cherkess Republic and The Republic of Adygea).
Nalchik seems to be a quiet city, even though it is close to the troubled border line between Russia and Georgia. Yet it faced a crisis in 13 October 2005 when a group of armed men tried to take over the city and attacked policemen and army headquarters. The Russian special forces intervened, and life returned to normal after only a couple of days.
I was happy to discover on Tripadvisor.com some interesting info and tips about the city. I also found in the forum of TripAdvisor.com the message of an English guy (Chris) who travelled to Nalchik last year, and created a website talking about his trip.
Nalchik airport can be reached either from Moscow Vnukovo airport (daily flights, taking around 2 h), or from Istanbul (many weekly charter). Or as an alternative, there is Mineralnye Vody Airport, which is more important and has direct flights with West Europe, and it’s only 1 h and half from Nalchik.
Tripadvisor.com also posted reviews of 2 hotels there: Grand Caucasus and Sindica Intour hotel (not exactly reviews, but at least pictures and essential info).
Nalchik lies in the middle of the Greater Caucasus mountain chain, one of these is Mount Elbrus, (a dormant volcano for the past 2,000 years ), it is the highest mountain in the Caucasus, its west summit “Mt. Elbrus” stands at 5,642 metres and it is the highest mountain in Europe. Obviously mountaineering and skiing are popular activities especially in CHEGET and ELBRUS. Chris described how it was, he mentioned that “it was very mild in the sunshine at base level but up towards the peak the temperature dipped to minus double figures with gusts unleashing the powdery snow like a sand storm.”
A final advice from Tripadvisor.com: “Nalchik city in itself does not have that much to offer. It is a nice and friendly town and a convenient base to explore the region. Safe, green and restful, Nalchik is certainly the town of choice for a stopover if you happen to be in the North Caucasus. In other words, It is worth a detour but, by itself, does not justify a trip from West Europe or from Moscow.”
P.S. you can find more interesting photos of Nalchik in the tourism official website.
Circassians of Egypt 30 March, 2008
Posted by nousha in Cherkess.7 comments
Yesterday I received some interesting stuff about Circassians in Egypt:
It puzzles me that Circassians living in Egypt lost all contact with their homeland, forgot their language and their traditions, while those living in Jordan still remember these things, even though Circassians have a long history in Egypt (ok, with some good and some bad, really bad, memories). But still why did Egyptian-Circassians forget about all of their past? Where they that assimilated into the Egyptian society that they forgot everything.
I won’t talk about the Circassian Mamluks periods. It is a very long history, and it makes sense that the Bahareya Mamluks would mingle easier than their precedents because they lived in El Roda and not in the Citadel , and because they were born and raised in Egypt, not bought as young slaves from Caucasia, and because the relation between them and their masters differed by time. I can imagine this. What I can’t imagine is those of the relatively modern era. Those who fled the Russian massacres and came to Egypt. There are lots of ambiguity.
For example, Mohamed Aly killed ALL OF THE CIRCASSIAN LEADERS IN ONE NIGHT (except for one who jumped with his horse over the walls, or so they say), if he feared them to that extent, why would he accept new immigrants and not kill them at the gates of the city? I know that the Citadel massacre was targeting imposing his political will on the various factions that were going to threaten his throne, it was evident that most likely the Circassian would miss their old days before the Othman rule and may re-start their bloody contest of power. But why would he still trust Circassians again and use them in the army and the state? The circassians at that time enjoyed a good position in the society, perhaps better than the Egyptians themselves (!!!) (Walahi the Egyptians are either stupid or powerless, they were treated as second citizens in their own country in comparison to some newcomers, and they were ruled by an Albanian who considered their land as his personal belonging! But that’s another story)
Cherkessk 6 March, 2007
Posted by nousha in Cherkess, Famille.1 comment so far
What comes to your mind when you hear the word Cherkess / Circassian? I guess that most probably you’d say the delicious cherkassia dish of rice, chicken and walnut sauce (yum yum), or the mamluks, or the cherkess society that lived in Egypt for some time.
And because curiosity killed the cat, I decided to look for more info. So far I know that the cherkessian 19th century immigrants came from a city called Cherkessk, currently located in Karachay-Cherkessia (a federal subject of Russia). “The city was founded in 1804 as Batalpashinskaya, it was renamed Batalpashinsk in 1931, then Sulimov in 1934, then Yezhovo-Cherkessk in 1937, and finally Cherkessk in 1939“, here is its coordinates 44°13′N 42°03′E. (But I don’t know if the cherkess mamluks of the 13th century come from the same place or not).
What’s funny is that the Cherkess constitute approximately 11.3% (around 50 thousand) of the total population in Karachay-Cherkessia (around 440 thousand), while the Cherkess population constitute approximately 1% of Jordan’s 5.8 Million. So there are more Cherkess in Jordan than in the republic of Karachay-Cherkessia itself !!
Another thing I am not sure of is: why did they leave their country in this mass exodus? Some say that it was due to pressures from the Ottoman Empire, others say it was due to the mass massacres that followed the Russian-Circassian War, or maybe because they were muslims and the Russians were christians (so they wanted to live in muslim countries), maybe it was simply the more favorable conditions in the middle east (for example, in Egypt, the Khediv Ismail used to prefer Cherkess officers and gave them land, and slowly they formed an ‘elite’ society)…. Unfortunately I didn’t find an answer in my ancestor’s stuff, I will have to dig more.
References:
- Cherkessk (the city): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherkessk
- Cherkessia (the republic): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachay-Cherkessia
- Cherkes (the ethnic group): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherkes
- Cherkess (people): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassians
- Russian- Circassian war: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian-Circassian_War
- Barkuk: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkuk
- History: http://www.circassianworld.com/Circassian_History.html
Cherkess in Egypt 12 December, 2006
Posted by nousha in Cherkess, Egypt, Famille, History.2 comments
About Circassian history:
In the 12th and 13th centuries, there was a thriving trade in Adyge slaves on the slave markets of Middle Eastern countries, especially Egypt, where sultans acquired them as additions to their Mameluke guard. The influx of slaves allowed one of the Adyge, Al-Malik-az-Zakhir Barkuk al Cherkesi, to seize power in Egypt and found the Circassian dynasty of Mamelukes, which ruled Egypt and Syria from 1382 to 1517. The Mamelukes finally disappeared from the Middle Eastern political arena in 1811. The Circassian Mamelukes left a significant imprint on the history and culture of Egypt, Syria, and the entire Middle East. They repelled invasions of Crusaders, halted the onslaught of the conqueror Tamerlane, and greatly extended the boundaries of the Mameluke state. During the period of Circassian rule, architecture progressed significantly; irrigation systems were built; and poets, musicians, philosophers, and historians enjoyed special patronage.
The below picture is taken in the mosque of el Sultan Barkuk, I don’t know if this sultan is the same El Malik El Zakhir Barkuk El Sharkassi…
By this post I wanted to differentiate between the Cherkess era in Egypt (ayam el mamalik in the 15th century), and the mass migrations that reached Middle East (including Egypt) following the end of the Caucasian War in the 19th century.
Some sources applauded them by saying that “During the period of Circassian rule, architecture progressed significantly; irrigation systems were built; and poets, musicians, philosophers, and historians enjoyed special patronage”, but others said that “ The period of their rule is said to have been the darkest points in Egyptian history. Even from the beginning of Barkuq, who was the first Burgi Mameluke, Cairo began to be like a dog eat dog world.”
If you have circassian origins and / or have more info about them, please let me know. I would love to hear about it.
