The Circassians, which means mountain dwellers, original name is adyghe, meaning noble. The Circassians converted to Islam from Christianity in the mid-17th century, when they encountered the Tatars and the Turks along the silk route through their region. At the beginning of the 19th century they occupied a large territory mainly between the Black and the Caspian Seas at the foot of the Caucasus.
They were known as brave warriors and foreigners called them the aristocrats of the Caucasus because of the elegant clothes they wore and the knightly behaviour, which were the base moral code - "Adyhge Even members of the tsars family preferred their sons to be trained and upbrought by ’ ancint tradition known as which was totally devoted to knightly training of young people.
In the 19-th century Circassians had suffered a national tragedy. Due to their defeat in the Russia-Caucasian War most of them went to exile in what was the Ottoman Empire where they practiced their famed martial skills in the service of the Ottomans. The first Circassians settlers have arrived to Israel in 1878 and settled mostly in the northern part of the region.
Today the Circassian which are called in Israel Cherkess (Turkish original of the English equivalent “Circassian”) live in two Israeli villages, 3,000 in Kfar Kama in the Lower Galilee, and 1,000 in Rekhaniya in the Upper Galilee and are a fascinating part of Israel’s ethnic mosaic.
meaning noble. The Circassians converted to Islam from Christianity in the mid-17th century, when they encountered the Tatars and the Turks along the silk route through their region
the English equivalent “Circassian”) live in two Israeli villages, 3,000 in Kfar Kama in the Lower Galilee, and 1,000 in Rekhaniya in the Upper Galilee and are a fascinating part of Israel’s ethnic mosaic.