The Kabardian Class System
Social Hierarchy in
by Amjad Jaimoukha
(From A. Jaimoukha's book The Circassians: A Handbook
[Routledge, Palgrave, 2001], pp 157-60)
The Kabardians had the most
elaborate class structure among the Circassians. The classical Eastern
Circassian hierarchical system is shown in the following table:
|
|
Ïùû (Pschi) ‘Prince’ |
|
|
Ìûðçý (Mirze) ‘Offspring of equally ranked parents’ |
|
Òóìý (Tume) ‘Children of unequally ranked parents’ |
|
|
Óýðêú (Werq) ‘Nobility, Courtiers, Vassals’ |
|
|
ËIàêúóýëIýø (L’aqwel’esh) ‘Most Noble=duke’ |
Ãóäýñ (Gwdes) (literally: ‘Carriage-Riders’)
‘Nobility of foreign origin’ |
Äûæüûíûêúóý (Dizchiniqwe) ‘Less Noble=earl’ |
|
|
ËúõóêúóýëI (Lhxwqwel’) ‘Freemen and peasants’ |
|
|
ÓíýIóò (Wine’wt), Óíýçåõüý (Winezeihe) ‘Menial; Housemaid’ |
ËIàêúóýëI (L’aqwel’);
ËIàêúóýíïûò (L’aqwenpit); Óíýïûò (Winepit); ËIûùIý (L’isch’e) ‘Bond peasants, Serfs’ |
ÏùIàíòIýäýò (Psch’ant’edet) ‘Hand’; ÏùûëI (Pschil’) ‘Slave’ |
Classical Kabardian
hierarchical system.
In the 16th century, Prince Beslan (Beislhen) Zhanx'wetoqwe (Áåñëúýí
Æàíõúóýòîêúóý; nicknamed ‘ÏöIàïöIý’ [‘Pts’apts’e’]=‘The Obese’)
restructured the five-layered classical social strata of Kabardian nobility and
lower classes, without touching upon the principal caste. According to Shora B. Negwme (Nogmov),
the nobility was divided into five sub-classes, the commoners into four. It is
interesting to note that the new structure came to resemble the English peerage
system. Thus, the nobles were divided into: l’aqwel’esh (ëIàêúóýëIýø), corresponding to duke, dizchiniqwe (äûæüûíûêúóý), equivalent to marquis, gwdes (ãóäýñ), earl, or the Continental count, pschi-werq (ïùû-óýðêú), viscount, werq
(óýðêú),
baron. The lower classes were divided into pschischawe
(ïùûùàóý; prince’s lad), l’aqweschawe
(ëIàêúóýùàóý; clan-lad), l’aqwel’ (ëIàêúóýëI; clansman), wine’wt (óíýIóò;
menial, literally: ‘standing by the house’) and pschil’
(ïùûëI; slave, literally: ‘prince’s man’).
The principal class
Each tribe was divided into
princedoms, which were effectively independent, although there was a council of
princes, which met at times of national crises. At the apex of each
principality stood the prince who wielded almost absolute power over his
subjects, who were considered as his property. The title of prince was
hereditary, never acquired or bestowed. Although absolute power usually led to
complete corruption, it was in the prince’s interest to gain his vassals’
unquestioned loyalty, which virtue was of the greatest essence in feudal
society. Treason, the great underminer, was severely
punished.
Investiture and deprivation of titles were
in the hands of the princes. The lord of the manor was expected by his noblemen
and subjects to adhere rigorously to the code of chivalry. A feeble or
undisciplined prince soon found himself with very few followers indeed. In
extreme cases, a prince was deprived of his title and demoted to a lower class.
The first recorded sentence of this kind was pronounced against a prince
belonging to the Kabarda Tambi family, who was
reduced to dukehood.
No intermarriage was allowed between the upper classes and the ‘commoners.’ This law was strictly adhered to, to preserve blue blood. There were some instances of intermarriage between the nobles and the princely caste. The male offspring of the prince were classed as either mirze (ìûðçý) or tume (òóìý), according to the rank of the spouse. The first was a result of an equal marriage, the other of a mésalliance.
Modes of address and salutes were of special importance. Nuances of Etiquette were so fine that many a foreign traveller missed their significance. The lord of the manor, be he prince or nobleman, was addressed ‘Ziywis-hen’ (‘Çèóñõüýí’), or ‘Dotenexw’ (‘Äîòýíýõó’), his sons only by the latter. The lady of the house was called ‘Gwasche’ (‘Ãóàùý’), a term later demoted to denote the female head of an ordinary household, and the unmarried daughter of a prince ‘Zhan’ (‘Æàí’). ‘Dote’ (‘Äîòý’) was later used as an honorary nickname given to a respected man by his younger relatives.
The name
of a principality derived from that of the ruling family, the constituent
regions taking theirs from the reigning noble clans. Princedoms varied in size
from small hamlets to family congregations of a few dozen villages. In Kabarda,
where the most stable feudal system in
The nobility
Next to the principal caste
came the nobles, who were divided into the proper and lesser nobility, and the
vassals who were given a free hand in their fiefdoms in return for their
allegiance. They paid no taxes, but were expected to take part as cavalry in
expeditions mounted by the princes.
A nobleman had the right to leave the
service of a prince and join another principality. The ataliqate
institution, whereby the children of the princes were entrusted at an early age
to the vassals to be raised and trained in a military fashion, played a major
role in strengthening the relationship between the prince and his nobles.
Attached to princes and noblemen were a group of attendants and retainers. In
descending order, there were squires, sergeants, yeomen, bedels,
or town-criers (ghwo; ãúóî), batmen (sch’ak’wezeihe; ùIàêIóýçåõüý), armour-bearers (’eschezeihe; Iýùýçåõüý), swains, grooms, and, at the bottom of the ladder, the pages.
Princes who took refuge in
Despite their privileges, the nobility
were under many obligations, a classic case of noblesse oblige. Werq xabze (óýðêú õàáçý) was the most developed and rigid of all the caste codes of behaviour.
This class acted as the liaison between a prince and his people, and as such
proper conduct was essential to ensure smooth running of the principality.
The commoners
Below the nobility came the freemen and free peasants who formed the largest class and constituted the workhorse of Adiga traditional economy. Agriculture, husbandry, crafts, manufacture were some of the activities members of this caste engaged in. Serfs could be freed in exchange for particular services. Peasants made up the infantry of a prince’s army, but were not allowed to don coats of arms (Wanderer, 1883, p25).
Slaves sold outside the country could go
back to
The lower classes
Thanes held land of noblemen by military service. Bond peasants, or serfs, were free to cultivate their plots in return for services rendered to the nobility. They had to work the lord’s fields and, according to old custom, were obliged to pay their master fixed amounts of rent in kind. For example, at the beginning of the 19th century the rate in Kabarda was 14 sacks of millet for each pair of bulls used. Every bondsman possessed a small herd of domestic animals over which the lord of the manor had no rights.
Serfs were obliged to defend the manor against outside attack and accompany the lord on his campaigns, serving as military attendants. They were at liberty to leave the estate and re-establish themselves elsewhere upon paying redemption price. A prince had the right to sell his serfs as a form of punishment for a gross misdemeanour, but only after securing a judgement from a special council.
At the base of the pyramid were the
menials, slaves, the(o)ws
(‘slaves’ in Old English) and villeins, knaves,
drudges, scullions and so on. These were mainly taken from war captives, as
were the thralls in Anglo-Saxon England. In addition, a stranger venturing into
the country without a bona fide konak (êúóåíàêú; host, protector) could soon find himself in bondage. Slaves could be
either kept in the manor or sold. The prince secured suitable matches for his
slaves to augment their number, and hence his wealth. Runaway serfs were called
‘qwlhkeshx’en’ (‘êúóëúêýøõúýí’).
The rigidity of the class structure and the lack of mobility between the lower and upper castes had produced some differentiation in the ‘ethnic composition’ of the classes, and hence in physiognomy. The aristocrats, especially the princes, preserved ‘white bone’ (qwpschhe xwzch, êúóïùõüý õóæü; the Circassian equivalent of ‘blue blood’), whereas there was a certain degree of racial blending among freedmen and serfs. Foreign war captives started their new lives as slaves, marrying within their caste. Many of them remained within the bounds of the slavish class, but some more ambitious ones were able to buy back their freedom. To this day, some families are still aware of their foreign origin.
Related articles:
The
Social Structure of the Circassians
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