The SHASHKA: what, whom, where, when and how?

[ariel]

For all of you interested in that area, here it THE book:
"The Sabres of Paradise" by Leslie Blanch
This is a history of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, especially the Murid wars of Shamil.
It is so well written that my wife, having been glued to it for 3 days, asked me to show her my Shashkas and Kindjals and started reading Astvatsaturyan and Askhabov's books on Caucasian weapons!
How about an epiphany!

[Rivkin]

I would just add a few words of caution:
one of the typical misconecption of caucasian studies is that the codes of honor were followed by everybody. First of all in almost all nations nobility (even through very often it comprised 50-80% of the total population) was the backbone of the code. Lower classes were rarely expected to completely adhere to the code.
Second misconception is that modern caucasian are even remotely similar to the knights of earlier ages. The changes that happened in Caucasus in late XIX early XX century - the end of Caucasian war in the North, Islamization and Sovietization effectively wiped out both the code and the people who adhere to it. There are few things that probably remain, but in general it is a completely different society.
Third misconception is that extremely large amounts of folklore depicting the code in action account for everyday life. Instead they should be understood as accounting for heroic actions that are to be remembered and imitated.
Fourth misconception is based on assuming that the code satisfied our opinions of what is noble and what is not.
As an example: women were traditionally elevated in a society. There is a story, and no one even remembers from which nation it comes about a man who is walking through a snow storm and sees a hut. He asks for a shelter and is welcomed by a woman, hut's ownder (hospitality being one of the most important things in the code). Unknowingly for the man, the woman's husband is away so when the guest goes to sleep, the woman sleeps outside (since it is considered inappropriate for them to sleep in the same house). When the man awakes he is greatly distressed by this fact (if he would've known that she is alone he would not have asked for shelter). To add to his distress he inadervtently touches a woman (which is a grave sin). When he walks away from the hut he takes his kindjal (everyone carries one) and cuts the fingers that touched the woman (so he can testify that the woman's honor have been preserved, since no part of his _present_ body touched her).

Now this may seem as a rather strange behavior, but both of them are willing to go long way to protect each other (even through they never met before). At the same time you have Turkish garems filled with circassian women, voluntarely sold by their parents. The same "protected women" were sold in masses if the price reached an acceptable level.

Another thing is that quite unlike a traditional image of mountainer bestowed by TV - kind, joking and drunk, the nobleman was usually required to be completely absent from emotions, speak little, always be polite. Both public expressions of hate and love were shunned, what was prized is being essentially a "rock-like" in appearance.
Among Circassians for example, whose code of honor - Adighe-Habze (ways of Adighe) is probably one of the better known and developed codes, the life of a nobleman - uerk was completely ritualized. He trained, married, had children than went to war with certain knowledge that he'll soon be killed.
The warfare among Circassians became mostly ritualistic - opposing sides often shared a meal before the battle. The sole intention of the battle itself was to promote individual status of participants - one had to find a well known opponent, challenge and defeat him. Usually the army was accomponied by a few people skilled in poetry to construct tales about heroic and cowardly behavior of the knights. Defeated opponents were offered quarter, but imprisonment was considered the highest level of dishonor. In fact, one of the most important uses of a kindjal were suicide charges - in a doomed confrontation rifles, bows and swords were destroyed, and the suicide (since killing yourself was considered dishonorable) charge was mounted with kindjals. On a more grim note it was not unusual for a bisieged clan to mount suicide charges as a whole - with children and women, so that no one survives. One of the children who took part in such a change was a somewhat famous artist Circassian (he was rescued).
Any non-war related business - trading, investing, seafaring etc. was shunned by uerks. Their lands were usually managed by specially invited personnel, often mamshuhs. It is interestingly that circassian say "there is no honor without shame" meaning that only people who can be shamed into obeying the code can becoming true followers of it.

Before christianity and islam dead were usually buried in the trees, or if they were killed in a far away land, their head was chopped off and carried to be buried home. Southerners (georgians and chechens) usually chopped heads and hands of killed opponents. They were boiled in salt and later displayed on victor's horse or house.

Revenge was a big part of the society's life, together with the brotherhood. Revenge for a killed woman or child usually had to be exotically horrible, since these acts were considered to be completely unacceptable. If it did involve such acts, revenge would usually start with someone painting scabbard into red (or putting some of his own blood on it). He would walk around with this scabbard for a few days (so that the other side would be prepared) and, if the kill was sucsessful and he was considering the revenge to be completed would wash the red from the scabbard (his weapons was cleansed with blood). Opposite to revenge was "brotherhood" - kunaks. There were many rituals by performing which, it was possible for people to become brothers - kissing the breast of one's mother, drinking milk together, or mixing ones' blood together. Kunaks were considered very close relatives, and usually shared their secret names with each other (a lot of nations in Caucasus give chidren two names - "common" that everybody knows and "real one" which is known only be very close relatives).

Last tradition which is probably very well known is stealing women for the purpose of marriage. It is hard to say how it started and to what extent it was real "stealing" and to what extent simply a custom, but if you wanted to marry someone you needed to "steal her" from her parents, not nessesaraly for real.

[ham]

Bravo, Rivkin.
This kind of cultural information is as important to the study of weapons and warfare as the weapons themselves. The Forum is fortunate to have members who have been raised with such cultures, have the languages and perspectives which most Americans and Brits among others, do not.
Rivkin, how did you come by this data? It sounds as though you are speaking from within this cultural perspective.
Again, bravo.

Ham