Karachays and Balkars are listed as among the peoples indigenous to the North Caucasus, with deep link to the pre-historic
Koban culture. Over time, at least before the 15th century, they were either referred in various umbrellas like "Adzakha", "
Alans", "
Durdzuks", or sometimes just "Kartvelians". At the same time, the
Kipchak–Karluk war was also in its conclusion, and
Tokhtamysh's Kipchak troops
suffered tremendous loss under the same Timurid force in the very same Caucasus Mountains, and a number of Kipchak troops were lost to the mountains of Caucasus fleeing Timurid persecution; these soldiers, bringing to them their unique Kipchak
Turco-Mongol traditions of the steppe, might have settled and, over time, intermarried with local indigenous population like Circassian, Alan, Durdzuk, Armenian and Georgian populations, and converted them to Islam in process, which caused the emergence of the Karachay and Balkar people as a distinct North Caucasian people with a slight
Central and Northern Asian linguistic and cultural heritage. In the nineteenth century Russia took over the area during the
Russian conquest of the Caucasus. On October 20, 1828 the
Battle of Khasauka took place, in which the Russian troops were under the command of General
Georgy Emanuel. The day after the battle, as Russian troops were approaching the
aul of Kart-Dzhurt, the Karachay elders met with the Russian leaders and an agreement was reached for the inclusion of the Karachay into the Russian Empire. After annexation, the self-government of Karachay was left intact, including its officials and courts. Interactions with neighboring
Muslim peoples continued to take place based on both folk customs and
Sharia law. In Karachay, soldiers were taken from Karachai Amanat, pledged an oath of loyalty, and were assigned arms. From 1831 to 1860, however, it soon turned out that the Russians had no interests in protecting Karachay and Balkar population, and only wanted to enhance oppression and extortion; as a result, a large portion of Karachays joined the anti-Russian struggles carried out by the
North Caucasian peoples as a response. Karachays actively participated in the resistance alongside their neighbors, including the
Circassians and
Abazins, against Russian colonization. One of the most notable uprisings was the
Karachay Uprising of 1855, which was part of a broader North Caucasian rebellion against Russian expansion. During this revolt, Karachay fighters launched attacks on Russian military outposts and played a crucial role in the regional resistance movement. Between 1861 and 1880, to escape
reprisals by the Russian army, some Karachays migrated to the
Ottoman Empire although most Karachays remained in their ancestral lands. In 1930, the
Karachay Uprising broke out as a reaction to Soviet collectivization policies. The forced seizure of land, grain requisitioning, and repression of rural elites sparked armed resistance among Karachay peasants, particularly
kulaks and middle peasants. The uprising began in March 1930, with rebels seizing several key towns, including Mikoyan-Shahar (now
Karachayevsk),
Kislovodsk, and Batalpashinsk (now
Cherkessk). The Soviet government responded swiftly, deploying Red Army forces to crush the rebellion. By April 1930, the uprising was brutally suppressed, with many insurgents executed or imprisoned. This event was part of the broader anti-Soviet resistance in the North Caucasus during Stalin's early rule. During the
parade of sovereignties and the
collapse of the USSR on November 30, 1990, KCHAO withdrew from the Stavropol Territory and became the Karachay-Cherkess Soviet Socialist Republic (KChSSR) as part of the RSFSR, which was approved by a resolution of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR on July 3, 1991. In 1989–1997, the Karachay national movements appealed to the leadership of the RSFSR with a request to restore a separate autonomy of Karachay. On November 18, 1990, at the congress of Karachay deputies of all levels, the Karachay Soviet Socialist Republic (since October 17, 1991 — the Karachay Republic) was proclaimed as part of the RSFSR, which was not recognized by the leadership of the RSFSR. On March 28, 1992, a referendum was held in which, according to the official results, the majority of the population of Karachay-Cherkessia opposed the division. The division was not legalized, and a single Karachay-Cherkessia remained.
Deportation In 1942 the Germans permitted the establishment of a Karachay National Committee to administer their "autonomous region"; the Karachays were also allowed to form their own police force and establish a brigade that was to fight with the Wehrmacht. This relationship with
Nazi Germany resulted, when the Russians regained control of the region in November 1943, with the Karachays being charged with collaboration with Nazi Germany and deported. Originally restricted only to family members of rebel bandits during World War II, the deportation was later expanded to include the entire Karachay ethnic group. The Soviet government refused to acknowledge that 20,000 Karachays served in the
Red Army, greatly outnumbering the 3,000 estimated to have collaborated with the German soldiers. In the first two years of the deportations, disease and famine caused the death of 35% of the population; of 28,000 children, 78%, or almost 22,000 perished.
Diaspora About 10,000–15,756 Karachays and Balkars emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, with their migration reaching peaks in 1884–87, 1893, and 1905–06. Karachays were also forcibly displaced to the
Central Asian republics of
Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan and
Kirghizia during
Joseph Stalin's relocation campaign in 1944. Since the
Nikita Khrushchev era in the
Soviet Union, the majority of Karachays have been repatriated to their homeland from
Central Asia. Today, there are sizable Karachay communities in
Turkey (centered on
Afyonkarahisar),
Uzbekistan, the
United States, and
Germany. ==Geography==