Circassian Majlis
The Circassian Majlis (Adyghe: Хасэ) was a political and resistance council which formed in 1860 after a meeting in Sochi (Adyghe: Шъачэ) between the leaders of three coastal Adyghe tribal confederations: the Shapsugs, the Natukhai, and the Ubykh.
Majlis literally means "council" in Arabic. The Majlis consisted of the leaders of the three tribal confederations, with the intention to defend the western part of Circassia[1] and to liberate the occupied eastern Circassia from the Russian Empire and their Zaporozhian Cossacks troops during the Russian-Circassian War,[2] in addition to sending delegates abroad to gain support for the Circassian plight internationally.
The first resolution of the Majlis was to consider Sochi as a location for the Majlis and to consider it as a capital for the whole Circassia,[3] and the remaining resolutions were to unite the tribal banners under only one flag, to unify military command, and to organize attacks on the Russian military outposts on the coast.
The Majlis sent delegations to the Ottoman Empire and the United Kingdom to gain support from both countries.
In 1862, as a result of the fall of Sochi, the Majlis was dissolved and its leaders eliminated, and the resistance moved to the Caucasus mountains, especially around Krasnaya Polyana, then known as Qbaada ("fortified ravine"). The village fell two years later, all the armed insurgents were massacred by the Russian army, which announced its victory on 21 May 1864.
See also
References
Further reading
- Richmond, Walter. The Circassian Genocide, Rutgers University Press, 2013. ISBN 9780813560694