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The Pyatigorsk War was a brief military and diplomatic episode involving the Great Horde and the Circassians, which took place in the North Caucasus region during the internal decline of the Horde.[1][2][3]
| Circassian-Golden Horde War | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Mongol invasions | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Belligerents | ||||||||||
 Golden Horde |
Supported by:  Principality of Moscow |
 Crimean Khanate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
|
Sheikh Ahmed Seid-Mahmud | Unnamed Circassian princes | Mamyshek (Crimean prince) | ||||||||
| Strength | ||||||||||
| ~5,000–10,000 | ~3,000–6,000 | ~500–1,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
|
Heavy Loss of livestock, supplies, and strategic position |
Light to moderate Some losses during border raids and capture of envoys | Heavy | ||||||||
History
editIn 1492, the Great Horde temporarily settled in the Kuma River valley, on the northern edge of the North Caucasus. While in the region, it reportedly engaged in agricultural activity and launched a military campaign against the Circassians.[4] Later that year, due to crop failure and worsening conditions, the Horde moved closer to the Kabarda frontier, into the Pyatigorye area. However, several major Tatar tribal groups chose instead to migrate toward the Volga River, prompting the Horde’s leadership to follow. [5][6]
Reports from contemporary sources, including Muscovite envoys in Crimea, described the Great Horde as suffering from famine and the loss of livestock, indicating a significant internal crisis.[3]
That same year, a Crimean military unit attacked a Circassian diplomatic mission traveling to the leadership of the Great Horde. According to correspondence from Khan Meñli I Giray to Ivan III of Russia, the Crimean detachment seized gifts and detained the envoys. Soon after, Muscovite service Cossacks intervened and took control of the prisoners and their belongings. The Crimean Khan later requested that Moscow return both the captives and the confiscated goods.[7]
References
edit- 1 2 Kagazezhev, Zhiroslan V. (2009). The Struggle of the Adyghe (Circassians) for National Statehood: Historical Aspect (14th – First Half of the 16th Century) (PDF) (Candidate of Historical Sciences dissertation) (in Russian). Vladikavkaz: North Ossetian State University named after K. L. Khetagurov. p. 121.
- ↑ Khotko, S. Kh. (2017). Circassia: Genesis and Ethno-Political Relations with the Countries of Eastern Europe and the Near East (13th–16th centuries) (PDF) (in Russian). Maykop: Adyghe Republican Book Publishing House. p. 146. ISBN 978-5-7608-0861-5.
- 1 2 Nekrasov, A. M. (2015). Selected Works (PDF) (in Russian). Nalchik: Kabardian-Balkarian Institute of Humanitarian Researches. pp. 96–98. ISBN 978-5-91766-096-7.
- ↑ "Letter from Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey to Grand Duke Ivan III (1492)". Vostlit.info (via Web Archive) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-03-14.
- ↑ Panesh, R. A. (2014). "The Adyghe in the System of International Relations at the End of the 15th – Beginning of the 16th Century" (PDF). Bulletin of the Dagestan Scientific Center (in Russian) (54): 83–87.
- ↑ Collection of the Imperial Russian Historical Society. Vol. 41 (PDF) (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Printing House of O. Eleonsky and Co. 1884. p. 149.
- ↑ Bechná, Eva. "Sheikh Haydar's Campaign to the North Caucasus in 1486 and Two Partitions of Kabarda". Academia.edu. pp. 177–178.
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