“The Song of the Kabardian Night Assault” [«КЪЭБЭРДЕЙ ЖЭЩТЕУЭМ И УЭРЭД»]
The Circassian-Russian War in Song: “The Abzakh Military Campaign”
The Zchiw Song Ensemble
Sung by Zawir Neghwey [Zaur Nagoev]
Circassian violin played by Zawir Neghwey
Transcribed & translated by Amjad Jaimoukha
Produced by Sanjalay Jaimoukha
Circassian Culture and Folklore
http://www.bennettandbloom.com/circas…
«Абдзахэмэ язекIо орэд»
Си абдзахэр къумбылмэ щэхасэ, гущэба!
Урысхэри къалэмэ щэждэгух, гущэба!
(Ра) нысэщэ джэгу нахьи шIомышIэу язаох,
Ахэм я зэуакIэхэр гуихы, гущэба!
Джаурэуи хьэжъхэри мэхьакъух, гущэба!
КIэлэцIыкIу гъы макъэхэр къыдэIукI, гущэба!
(О) ионэкъопитIу, гущэр (ра), къызэкъуредзэ,
Ар шышъхьэзэкъуадзэкIэ къыдэзэрэщы, гущ!
(Ра) абэдзэ къарэхэр шыушъэмэ раапшъа,
(Ор) ти оркъы пшъыгъэхэр къытфыхэзыщыры.
(О) ионэкъопитIу, гущэр (ра), зи щэнтал(э),
Ар шы джалэм хэлъэуи заор къытфешIы, гущ!
Джаурэуи хьэжъхэри мэхьакъух, гущэба!
КIэлэ хьакъу макъэхэр къыдэIукI, гущэба!
“The Abzakh Military Campaign”
The Abzakh gathered and held a tribal council under the white poplar trees, alas!
[Whilst] the Russian occupiers were making merry in their town-fortresses, alack!
The valiant Abzakh warriors engaged in their battles as if they were mere wedding games,
Their military prowess cast terror into the hearts of their inimical foes, alas!
The heathens, despicable dogs that they are, acted impudently, alas!
The sobbing of young children could be heard from the fortress, alack!
He bound himself firmly to his horse’s pommels,
And darted out of the fortress in close horseback battle, alas!
The Abaza warrior astride his black horse at the head of a hundred horsemen,
Rescued our battle-weary noblemen.
The two pommels of his saddle serving as a bipod for his gun,
And pressing against his horse’s withers, he set earnestly to battle, alas!
The infidels — utterly contemptible dogs — became even more insolent, alas!
The sound of weeping of young children could be heard from the Russian garrison, alack!
It would be of great interest to put an exact date to this epic battle to tie it up with the known historical events. In the absence of relevant information, we can only speculate on some possible events. In 1830, a joint Abzakh, Shapsugh and Nartkhuaj force mounted raids on the forts of Alekseevskoe and Georgievsko-Afonskoe, which were built by General Emmanuel in the summer of 1830. Starting from 1837, the Ubykh chieftain Khadzhi-Berzek managed to unite the forces of the Ubykh, Abzakh, Shapsugh and Nartkhuaj and he conducted a series of co-ordinated raids aimed at eliminating the fortresses and restoring occupied territories. In 1840, the Circassians attacked the strongholds of Golovinskoe, Velyaminovskoe, and Mikhailovskoe. In 1841 the Abzakh were engaged in a bitter struggle against the forces of general Zass along the Kuban. Therefore, most probably the events depicted in the song took place some time in the period 1830-1841. But we stand to be corrected on this account.
The Abzakh kept up their valiant resistance against Russian encroachment into their homeland for decades. A sanguine war raged in Abzakhia that resulted in the surrender of the Abzakh by the end of 1863. The decimated Abzakh were subsequently subjected to mass expulsion. Only a small rump of the once-mighty nation-tribe remained in the Caucasus. Now-a-days, only a few thousand Abzakh are found in the Caucasus, mainly in the Republic of Adigea; the majority are found in the diaspora, mainly in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Israel.
The Abzakh dialect of Circassian differs little from the standard Adigean language used in Adigea. Literary Adigean is partially based on Abzakh. The transcription of the words of the song was based on the literary standard.
