Hatuqay

The Hatuqay tribe was originally located near the Black Sea coast, around the Taman peninsula, Hatuqays also live in Syria, especially in the Homs district and Quneitra in the Golan heights. There are also some Hatuqay families in Israel, particularly in Kfar Kama; but they speak the Shapsug dialect. == Language ==

The Hatuqay speak the Hatuqay dialect of Adyghe. Hatuqay is classified as one of the "Steppe dialects", a subgroup of that also includes the Temirgoy, Abzakh and Bzhedug dialects, although it also shares many grammatical and phonological features with the "Coastal Dialects" of Shapsug and Natukhaj. Thus, it can be considered an "in-between" dialect. Although a dialect of Western Circassian (Adyghe), it is considered the closest among the Western dialects to Eastern Circassian. This may be due to frequent interaction with Kabardians in Kayseri, as Hatuqays are a minority among the majority Kabardians. == Religion ==

The Hatuqays are Sunni Muslims. They were one of the first Circassian tribes to embrace Islam. Islam entered Circassian culture not directly, but through stories and folk tales: ceremonies celebrating the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad played a key role, and a new genre of Circassian epic literature connected with the birth celebration of Muhammad emerged: "Mewlid". Evliya Çelebi, who visited Hatuqay in the late 1600s, wrote that mosques existed in the villages and that the people chanted "la ilahe illallah" (There is no god but Allah), but they failed to fully grasp Islam and continued their old traditions. == History ==

Almost all knowledge about the founding of the Hatuqay Principality and tribe comes from oral history. According to these oral accounts, the founding dynasty of the Hatuqay Principality descends from king Inal: Prince Hatuqo was the grandson of Inal, son of Chemrug and brother of Prince Boletoqo (), the first prince of the Chemguy Principality. In the period following Inal's death, the Chemguy Principality was divided into two principalities. One became the land of Prince Boletoqo, and the other, Prince Hatuqo. The elder brother, Prince Boletoqo, remained in his principality in the region between the Greater Laba and Shkhakoshem rivers, retaining the name Chemguy. Prince Hatuqo, however, moved west and established the new principality of Hatuqay. as well as the southern banks of the Kuban, a little further down from where the Afips (Афыпс) river flows. The Hatuqay maintained control over fertile lowlands and crucial trade routes in the northwestern Caucasus, resisting both Tatar incursions and Ottoman-backed pressure. Tensions escalated throughout the 1540s as the Hatuqay leadership increasingly resisted demands for tribute and subordination and sought alliances. Hatuqay princes Elok and Antenuk were involved in these acts. The region faced difficulty with the Crimean campaign in Hatuqay (1551), as the Crimean Tatars defeated the army of the Hatuqay and ravaged the Bzhedug lands. Sahib Giray had inflicted severe blows on almost all major principalities of Circassia: Zhaney, Hatuqay, Bzhedug, Kabardia. It is after this that the Circassians started to seek alliances with Russia to fight against Tatar incursions. Some historians suggested that the Khegayk tribe was separated from the Hatuqays. In the 1840s, the Hatuqay submit to Muhammad Amin, the third Naib of Imam Shamil in the Northwest Caucasus. In 1863, the Russian military administration dissolved the tribe as a distinct entity in the Caucasus. The surviving Hatuqay were divided into small groups and forcibly resettled into large auls created for the Bzhedug tribe. The Hatuqay population was dispersed, the tribe effectively dissapeared from the map. == Etymology ==

The name is believed to derive from Prince Hatuqo (), who, according to traditional Circassian genealogies, was the founder of the Hatuqay principality, and a prince descended from King Inal. The etymology of Hattusa, capital of the Hittite Empire, is explained with Circassian хьэтӏу (two dogs) + щхьэ (head), which supposedly refers to the two sphinx statues guarding the gate of Hattusa. Some connected the Circassians with the Hattians rather than Hittites; and some authors explained the etymology of "Hatuqay" as "Hatti-Son". The Adyghe Encyclopedia published in Russia compares Hattian mythology and Nart sagas, including stories found in the Hatuqay Nart corpus. The Hittites spoke an Indo-European language, however the possibility of Hattians speaking a Northwest Caucasian language related to Circassian has been considered by linguists, although this is unconfirmed. == Settlements ==

Below are some of the Hatuqay settlements, or non-Hatuqay Circassian settlements where Hatuqay families live. Below are some of the Hatuqay clans. == See also ==