The Circassians: The Turbulent History of the Ethnic Group in the North Caucasus Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

Circassia could be broadly split into a western and eastern region Eastern Circassia was inhabited by Kabardians who mainly spoke Kabardian while Western Circassia was made up of Adyghe who spoke the eponymouslynamed Adyghe As a result discussions about the Circassians tend to split the geography of Circassia into two portions Eastern Circassia or Kabardia and Western Circassia or Adyghe Geographically Kabardia was situated in the middle segment of the Caucasian peninsula with steppes to the north and higher mountains to the south The two key rivers in the Circassia region are the Kuban River originating near Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains and flowing from south to north into the Sea of Azov and the Terek River originating in the MtskhetaMtianeti region of Georgia and flowing from west to east into the Caspian Sea The Sunzha is another of the major rivers that dissects the region and acts as a tributary of the Terek These waterways would provide strategic points in the long RussoCircassian wars The Caucasus region itself contains a repository of raw materials important in history and today including petroleum natural gas copper manganese and tungsten It also has fertile soil capable of growing wheat barley corn sunflower and many fruits and vegetables It is unsurprising therefore that outsiders have coveted the region