Inal the Great
Inal the Great Inal the Radiant Inal the Blind | |
---|---|
King of Khabzeism |
Inal Nekhu (
Although the origin of Inal's nickname (Nef/Nekhu) is not known, sources claim that he had one eye blind, therefore it came from the word "Нэф" meaning "blind" in Circassian, and some claim that it came from the word "Нэху" meaning "enlightened" in Circassian.[8]
Biography
Before the rise of Inal, the established lords in Circassia had separate territorial administration and an organized structure was not developed. Although the Circassians resisted Timurid forces in the Timur-Circassian wars,[9] the Circassian region suffered great destruction as a result of this war.[9]
Early life
He was born in the Taman Peninsula near modern-day Crimea and was raised among the princely caste. As a young boy, he was well-trained, proficient in martial arts, and educated about the vast land of the Circassian country and the numerous clans that controlled land and power throughout the homeland.
Rise to power
Inal initially owned land in the Taman peninsula.[10] A skilled strategist, in the early 1400s, he gathered a force mainly consisting of the Khegayk clan and set out to complete his goal of creating a unified Circassian kingdom under fealty. While Circassian lordships fell into Inal's hands one by one,[11] he fought and defeated warlords and clan chieftains. Despite the many attempts to divide and weaken his army, he used political intrigue to ward off any assassinations and divisions in his military.
Inal's rise disturbed established Circassian lords, and a confederation of 30 Circassian clans opposing Inal formed an alliance to fight him. In a battle near the Mzymta River, the coalition of thirty Circassian lords was defeated by Inal and his supporters. Ten of them were executed, while the remaining twenty lords declared allegiance and joined the forces of Inal's new state.[12]
Conquests
Conquest of Kuban and Eastern Circassia
Inal, who then ruled Western Circassia, organized a campaign to Eastern Circassia in 1434 and established the Kabardia province, named after his military general, Kabard. Inal organized a new campaign to the north in 1438 and drove out the Turkic nomads near the Circassian settlements north of the Kuban River along the Ten River and expanded his borders to modern-day Azov.[9][13]
John III describes that at the turn of the XIV and XV centuries, Circassia expanded its borders to the north to the mouth of the Don, and he notes that "the city and port of Tana is located in the same country in Upper Circassia, on the Don River, which separates Europe from Asia".[citation needed] His description matches with Inal's expansions.
Reforms
Administrative reforms
When his conquests subsided, Inal began to take measures to develop the Circassian nation by introducing reforms, organizing tribes and instituting courts of elders to govern the concerns of the Circassian provinces. He divided his possessions into four counties:
The city of Shanjir
After taking over the entire Circassian land with effective expansions, Inal declared the Grand Principality of Circassia, taking the title of the Grand Prince/King and the Leader of the Circassian Highlanders.
Between Psif and Nefil there is a quadrilateral with four exits, lined with ramparts and moats, reminiscent of a Roman camp. Remains of the walls and ditches are still visible and stretches eastward about half a German mile (3 km) in diameter. According to what I heard, this place was formerly the residence of the king and was called Shanjir. Circassians express that their ancestors lived here.
— Julius von Klaproth
Although the city's exact location is unknown, the general opinion is that the Krasnaya Batareya region fits the descriptions by Klarapoth and Pallas.[23][25][26]
Death and burial
Inal divided his lands between his sons and grandchildren in 1453 and died in 1458. Following this, Circassian tribal principalities were formed. According to the Abkhaz claim, Inal died in Northern Abkhazia. This place is known today as Inal-Quba and is located in the Pskhu region.[27] Although most sources used to accept this theory, recent researches and excavations in the region show that Inal's tomb is not here.[8]
According to Russian explorer and archaeologist Evgeniy Dimitrievich Felitsin, Inal's tomb is not in Abkhazia. In a map published in 1882, Felitsin attached great importance to Inal but placed his grave in the Ispravnaya region in Karachay-Cherkessia, not Abkhazia. He added that this area has ancient sculptures, mounds, tombs, churches, castles and ramparts, which would be an ideal tomb for someone like Inal.[8][28]
Ancestors
Abdun-Khan | |||||||||||||||||||
Kess | |||||||||||||||||||
Adu-Khan | |||||||||||||||||||
Khurfatal | |||||||||||||||||||
Inal | |||||||||||||||||||
Legacy
The Circassian and Abkhazian princes in following centuries claimed to be descendants of Inal and regarded him as their
References
- ^ Khatko, Samir. Черкесские княжества в XIV - XV веках: вопросы формирования и взаимосвязи с субэтническими группами
- ^ a b Родословная карта № IV «Б»
- ^ "Родословная кабардинских князей и мурз XVII в. (из родословной книги, принадлежавшей А. М. Пушкину)". Archived from the original on 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
- ^ "Родословная кабардинских князей и мурз XVII в. (из родословной книги, принадлежавшей А. И. Лобанову-Ростовскому)". Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
- ^ "PRENSLERİN PRENSİ İNAL NEKHU (PŞILERİN PŞISI İNAL NEKHU)". cherkessia.net (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ISBN 9785042257544. Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2020.
- ^ "PRENSLERİN PRENSİ İNAL NEKHU (PŞILERİN PŞISI İNAL NEKHU)". KAĞAZEJ Jıraslen. 2013. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "Prince Inal the Great (I): The Tomb of the Mighty Potentate Is Located in Circassia, Not Abkhazia". Amjad Jaimoukha. Circassian Voices. 2013. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "PRENSLERİN PRENSİ İNAL NEKHU (PŞILERİN PŞISI İNAL NEKHU)". KAĞAZEJ Jıraslen. 2013. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020.
- ^ Shora Nogma has 1427 (per Richmond, Northwest Caucasus, kindle@610). In a later book (Circassian Genocide kindle @47) Richmond reports the legend that Inal reunited the princedoms after they were driven into the mountains by the Mongols. In a footnote (@2271) he says that Inal was a royal title among the Oguz Turks
- ^ Cole, Jeffrey E. (2011). Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, LLC. OCLC 939825134.
- ^ a b "The Legendary Circassian Prince Inal, by Vitaliy Shtybin". Vitaliy Shtybin. Abkhaz World. 17 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Klaproth, Julius Von, 1783—1835. (2005). Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia performed in the years 1807 and 1808 by command of the Russian government. Elibron Classics
- ^ "Prensleri̇n Prensi̇ İnal Nekhu (Pşileri̇n Pşisi İnal Nekhu)".
- ^ Latham, Robert Gordon. Descriptive Ethnology. Londres: Voorst, 1859. Pp. 51
- ^ "PRENSLERİN PRENSİ İNAL NEKHU (PŞILERİN PŞISI İNAL NEKHU)". KAĞAZEJ Jıraslen. 2013. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020.
- ^ "The Legendary Circassian Prince Inal, by Vitaliy Shtybin". Vitaliy Shtybin. Abkhaz World. 17 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ISBN 978-1441523884.
- ^ Dubois de Montpéreux, F., Voyage autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhases, en Colchide, en Géorgie, en Arménie et en Crimée: Avec un atlas géographique, pittoresque, ... géologique, etc., Paris: Gide, 1839-43; reprinted: Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics, 2002 (6 vols).
- ^ — Voyages dans les gouvernements méridionaux de l'empire de la Russie, Paris, 1805 (3 vols).
- ^ Klaproth, J.-H. (von), Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia, Performed in the Years 1807 and 1808, by Command of the Russian Government', translated from the German by F. Shoberl, London: Richard and Arthur Taylor for Henry Colburn, 1814. reprinted: Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics, 2002. [Klaproth (1783-1835), born in Berlin in 1783, devoted his energies to the study of Asiatic languages, and published in 1802 his Asiatisches Magazin (Weimar, 1802-1803). He was consequently called to St. Petersburg and given an appointment in the academy there. In 1805 he was a member of Count Golovkin's embassy to China. On his return he was despatched by the academy to the Caucasus on an ethnographical and linguistic exploration (1807-1808), and was afterwards employed for several years in connection with the Academy's Oriental publications.]
- ^ Броневский, Семён, Новейшие географические и исторические известия о Кавказе, Москва, 1823.
- ^ a b "Prince Inal the Great of Circassia, II: Shanjir, the Fabled Capital of Inal's Empire". 2013. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020.
- ^ Kokov (K'wek'we), J. N., Iz adigskoi (cherkesskoi) onomastiki [From Circassian Onomastics], Nalchik: Elbrus Book Publishing House, 1983.
- '^ Pallas, Peter Simon, Travels Through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire, in the Years 1793 and 1794, London: John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1812 (2 vols). [Peter-Simon Pallas (1741-1811) second and most picturesque travel]
- ^ Абрамзон, М. Г., Фролова, Н. А., "Горлов Ю. В. Клад золотых боспорских статеров II в. н. э. с Краснобатарейного городища: [Краснодар. край]", ВДИ, № 4, 2000, С. 60-68.
- ^ Asie occidentale aux XIVe-XVIe siècles, 2014.
- ^ Археологическая карта Кубанской области, Фелицын, Евгений Дмитриевич, 1882.
- ^ Ян Потоцкий, Этнография кавказа
- ^ "Ян Потоцкий". kmvline.ru. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
- ^ Pawel Krawczyk (2009). "Horse Farm at 2500 meters high". Kabardians.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
Sources
- Caucasian Review. Vol. 2. Munich (München), 1956. Pp.; 19; 35.
- )
- Latham, Robert Gordon. Descriptive Ethnology. London: Voorst, 1859. Pp. 51.