Circassians lived an independent life for more centuries than Russia itself has existed

“…THE CIRCASSIANS, THE ADYGHE, LIVED AN INDEPENDENT LIFE FOR MORE CENTURIES THAN RUSSIA ITSELF HAS EXISTED. EVEN THE ANCIENT GREEKS KNEW OF THE ‘KERKEZ’, THAT IS, THE CIRCASSIAN-ADYGHE…” — Russian philosopher L.A. Tikhomirov

L.A. Tikhomirov on the difference between the conquest of the Circassians and the peoples of Dagestan in his memoirs “Shadows of the Past”.

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“Thirdly, the Western Circassians, the Adyghe, lived an independent life for more centuries than Russia itself has existed. Even the ancient Greeks knew of the ‘Kerkez’, that is, the Circassian-Adyghe, and if over the millennia that have passed since then the Circassians experienced several conquests, they were completely superficial, not destroying their actual independence; and moreover, over long centuries they became accustomed to seeing that their conquerors soon disappear, while they, the Circassians, remain as before the masters of their homeland and live as they wish, and arrange things as they like best…”

🔹📖 L.A. Tikhomirov “Shadows of the Past”

Extracts:
“As mentioned earlier, Prince Bariatinsky, after subduing the Eastern Caucasus, convened a meeting in Vladikavkaz in 1860 to establish a plan for the conquest of the Western Caucasus. Two plans were put forward at the meeting. General Filipson believed that by showing the Circassians Russian might through military measures, their hearts could be drawn to Russia through humane measures, expressing confidence that we could conquer them culturally. This, of course, was a complete fantasy. On the one hand, under Russian rule, the Circassians could not have maintained the degree of prosperity they had achieved by their own efforts. On the other hand, we could by no means eradicate their habits of predation towards neighboring peoples. Thirdly, the Western Circassians, the Adyghe, lived an independent life for more centuries than Russia itself has existed. Even the ancient Greeks knew of the ‘Kerkez’, that is, the Circassian-Adyghe, and if over the millennia that have passed since then the Circassians experienced several conquests, they were completely superficial, not destroying their actual independence; and moreover, over long centuries they became accustomed to seeing that their conquerors soon disappear, while they, the Circassians, remain as before the masters of their homeland and live as they wish, and arrange things as they like best. They also had profound upheavals, namely among the Shapsugs, who overthrew their princes and developed a democratic system to its ultimate conclusions. But they did this themselves.

The Circassians would not have wanted to recognize foreign dominance over themselves, not even Turkish, despite the fact that the Sultan holds sacred significance for them as a religious sovereign. As for Russia, it could only hold them under its power under the terrible oppression of military force, that is, under such conditions where the Circassians could neither live in contentment nor feel happy.

Evdokimov’s plan was entirely different. It was impossible to get along with the Circassians, impossible to bind them to us by any means, and impossible to leave them in peace, because it threatened the security of Russia, of course, not due to the trifling predation of the abreks, but due to the fact that Western powers and Turkey could find powerful support in the mountain population in the event of war. Hence followed the conclusion that the Circassians, for the good of Russia, must be completely destroyed.

How to accomplish this destruction? The most practical way was through their expulsion to Turkey and the occupation of their lands by the Russian population. This plan, akin to the murder of one people by another, contained something grandiose in its cruelty and contempt for human right. It could only be born in the soul of a man like Evdokimov.

He was the son of a peasant taken as a recruit through conscription who rose to some minor officer rank — certainly not through benevolence, but through willpower, energy, and severity. In the veins of Nikolai Ivanovich Evdokimov flowed the blood of a peasant, energetic and devoid of pity when it came to his interests. Possessing an immense practical mind, indestructible energy, free from any sentimentality, completely uneducated, only literate, he calmly weighed the relations between the Russians and the Circassians and made his decision in the form of ‘pacification’ through ‘extermination’.

This plan found a full echo in the soul of Prince Bariatinsky, a descendant of the creators of Rus, ready to break and smash everything in the name of his cause, and who centuries ago had formulated the aphorism: ‘Where wood is chopped, splinters fly’. For a long time, since 1835, knowing the Caucasian highlanders, in battles with whom he received several wounds and earned the reputation of a fearless and talented warrior, Prince Bariatinsky undoubtedly had the ambition that painted him the glory of the successor of Yermolov and Vorontsov, surpassing both in the greatness of his deeds.

There had not yet been a man capable of subduing the highlanders, but Prince Bariatinsky would be that man. And he indeed conquered the eastern highlanders. The western ones remained, with whom it was even harder to cope. In Dagestan, a conquest could be made without destroying the opponent, and Prince Bariatinsky willingly left the Lezgins their existence, appearing as a conqueror, but not an exterminator.

Regarding the Adyghe peoples, he clearly understood that Evdokimov was speaking sense: that here it was either us or them, and we cannot live together, — and fearlessly decided: if so, then let them perish, and we will stay to live in their place.

I do not think for a moment that Prince Bariatinsky signed this death sentence for an entire people with the same light heart as Evdokimov. No, of course, it was hard for him. He was an aristocrat, educated, cultured, even refinedly civilized, who understood luxury and all the subtleties of earthly blessings, a lady’s man and a knight. To wage war, to win, to conquer, to rule — this was his sphere. But to exterminate an entire people — this is already the deed of a ‘superman’, a deed before which Cromwell and Napoleon might tremble. But since one could not act otherwise in order to accomplish his deed and weave to the end the wreath of his glory as the conqueror of the Northern Caucasus, Bariatinsky decided: so be it. Evdokimov, of course, did not have to experience any agonizing sensations…”