Russo–Circassian War

Before the war

Circassians, Christianised through Byzantine influence between the 5th and 6th centuries, generally allied with Georgians and sought good relations with Russians. In 1557, Temruqo Idar of Eastern Circassia allied with Tsar Ivan the Terrible for defense. Ivan married Temruqo's daughter Goshenay (renamed Mariya) in 1561. Temruqo was sometimes described as a tyrant who cared only for his rule.

Significant conversion to Islam began after 1717, when Sultan Murad IV ordered Crimeans to spread Islam among Circassians. Later, conversion helped cement defensive alliances against Russian expansion, though Pagans and Christians remained. The Circassian-Russian alliance weakened as Circassians adopted a more pro-Ottoman policy. Araksin led 30,000 Russian troops, captured Kopyl (now Slaviansk) on 26 August 1711, seized Black Sea ports on the Kuban, and marched up the Kuban River pillaging villages.

In that single invasion, Russians killed 43,247 Circassian men and women and drove away 39,200 horses, 190,000 cattle, and 227,000 sheep. Russia continued such raids from 1711 to 1763, intending not annexation but plunder. Peter I laid the political and ideological foundation for later occupation.

The conflict

On 17 July (O.S. 1763, Russian forces entered Mezdeug (modern Mozdok) in Eastern Circassia and turned it into a fortress, starting hostilities. Some Kabardian (Eastern Circassian) nobles wanted to fight, hoping for Ottoman and Crimean help; others sought peace with Russia. In January 1764, nobles including Misost Bematuqo Hatokhshoqo met Russian representative N. A. Potapov and demanded demolition of the Mozdok fortress, threatening alliance with the Crimean Khan if refused. Also in 1764, Kabardian knights Keysin Keytiqo and Kundeyt Shebez-Giray met Catherine II in Saint Petersburg, stating the military build-up in Mezdeug was unacceptable and would create conflict. She refused diplomacy. On 21 August 1765, General Johann de Medem instructed Circassians to accept Russian control or face the army. In 1765, Kabardian Circassians occupied the fortress of Kizlyar. In June 1767, Bematuqo began military operations against Russia, though many nobles wanted surrender. By mid-1768, fifteen princes who decided to surrender reported to Kizlyar ready to take an oath of allegiance. Bematuqo refused to surrender or convert to Christianity. His resistance strengthened on 18 October 1768 when the Ottoman sultan, at war with Russia, ordered all Muslim peoples of the Caucasus to rise against Russia under the Crimean Khan. In December 1768, the Crimean Khan's envoy Muhammad-aga arrived in Kabarda, asking Kabardian princes to aid the Kuban serasker in the upcoming campaign.