Inal Nef (; ) was the folkloric Supreme Prince (King) of Circassia who unified all Circassians into one state. He led campaigns into several areas and expanded borders on all directions. Inal's descendants are narrated to have been the founders of princely dynasties within Circassian groups, mainly Kabardia, Besleney, Chemguy, Zhane, and Hatuqay.
Name The name Inal is of Turkish origin; among Turks, it was given to people whose mother was noble and father was common.UNUTULMUŞ ÖZ TÜRKÇE KELİMELER SÖZLÜĞÜ p. 155. "Inal" is pronounced as "Yinal" in Circassian languages; if a word begins with the letter "i", it is pronounced with a "yi" sound.
Inal's title in Circassian was пщым я пщыж meaning "prince of princes." Inal's nickname was "blind" referring to his one-eyed condition. Inal also had another nickname: "Akabgu." According to one theory, this nickname is of Turkic origin, derived from ak-yabgu, meaning "western ruler," and was possibly given to him by the Turks. Another theory suggests that Akabgu is actually a Circassian nickname. In Kabardian, акӏэ means "topknot" (a hair tuft left on the shaved head), and бгъуэ means "wide"; together, акIэбгъуэ refers to a "wide topknot."
Although some accounts list Inal's nicknames as Kess and Khurfatley, the widely accepted view is that these terms do not refer to nicknames but to Inal's ancestors. Khurfatley (Хъурыфэлъей) is a Kabardian word, as most of the information about Inal was recorded by the Kabardians. It means 'sheepskin leggings'. The word derives from хъурыфэ (sheepskin) and лъей (leggings). In the Western dialects, the sound f shifts to sh, resulting in the form Khurshotley (Хъурышъолъей).
Folkloric biography of Inal According to some narratives, it is said that Inal initially owned land in the Taman Peninsula.Shora Nogma has 1427 (per Richmond, Northwest Caucasus, kindle@610). In a later book (Circassian Genocide kindle @47) Richmond reports the legend that Inal reunited the princedoms after they were driven into the mountains by the Mongols. In a footnote (@2271) he says that Inal was a royal title among the Oguz Turks While Circassian lordships fell into Inal's hands one by one,Cole, Jeffrey E. (2011). Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, LLC. OCLC 939825134. he fought and defeated warlords and clan chieftains. Despite the many attempts to divide and weaken his army, he used political intrigue to ward off any assassinations and divisions in his military. Inal's rise disturbed established Circassian lords, and a confederation of 30 Circassian clans opposing Inal formed an alliance to fight him. In a battle near the Mzymta River, the coalition of thirty Circassian lords was defeated by Inal and his supporters. Ten of them were executed, while the remaining twenty lords declared allegiance and joined the forces of Inal's new state. Afterwards, a prince named Wozdemir rebelled and gathered a large force, with which he defeated the Khegayk. Upon learning that Inal had raised an army and was marching against them, they withdrew to Abkhazia. Inal pursued them into Abkhazia, and in the ensuing battle Wozdemir was killed. Inal emerged by taking advantage of the power vacuum created during the disintegration of the Golden Horde. Inal, who then ruled Western Circassia, organized a campaign to Eastern Circassia. After the downfall of the Alans following the Timurlane invasion, the powerful Genoese lords and Tatar nomads were ruling the central Caucasian plains. In the mountainous regions to the east lived the Vainakh, while the Ossetians inhabited the Terek basin. Since the early Middle Ages, Circassian communities have also been present in the central Caucasus. Inal captured the Genoese fortresses with sieges and assaults in the upper reaches of the Kuban River (except for the strongest one, Khumar). The Khumar fortress could only be accessed from the east, through a place known as the "Inal Valley." It is presumed that Inal's headquarters were established in this area during the siege against the fortress. His initial assaults were unsuccessful, but after a prolonged siege, the battle-weary Genoese surrendered the fortress on the condition of guaranteed safe passage out of Circassia. The control of Khumar by Inal subsequently enabled further campaigns beyond the Kuban.
According to some Kabardian legends, Inal's commander and vassal Prince Kabard Tambiy, led an expedition beyond the Kuban River and founded a settlement near the Malka River, thus establishing the province of Kabardia, which was named after him. According to a different account, instead of the Kabard Tambiy legend, Kabard was the name of a son of Inal. Kabard Tambiy then surrounded the settlement with a fortress and built a watchtower. This fortress served as a base for further expansions. According to Kagazhev, the 1412 campaign of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great of Lithuania against the Pyatigorsk Circassians in Central Caucasia might be associated with this period. Kabard Tambiy was later demoted to noble rank. Thus, the Tambiy clan became first-degree noble among the Kabardians. The dominance of the Circassians into Central Caucasia conflicted with the Tatar rule. By the second quarter of the 15th century, Tatar nomads had been pushed northward from Central Caucasia by Inal. The Circassians gradually migrated to Kabardia from the west. At first, they concentrated around the westernmost which was the Kuban River, eventually spreading eastward to the Terek basin.
Afterwards, Inal organized a new campaign to the north and drove out the Tatar nomads near the Circassian settlements north of the Kuban River along the Don River and expanded his borders to modern-day Azov.Klaproth, Julius Von, 1783—1835. (2005). Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia performed in the years 1807 and 1808 by command of the Russian government. Elibron Classics According to the account of J. Barbaro in 1438, during a campaign by the Tatar khans against Khan Ulumahmet, the Tatar army bypassed the Circassian territory. This might suggest that by this time, the Circassians had already secured the region. John III describes that at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, Circassia expanded its borders to the north to the mouth of the Don, and he notes that "the city and port of Tana is located in the same country in Upper Circassia, on the Don River, which separates Europe from Asia.""де Галонифонтибус И.", 1404. I. Таты и готы. Великая Татария: Кумания, Хазария и другие. Народы Кавказа (Гл. 8) His description matches Inal's expansions.
After unifying Circassia, Inal turned his attention to Abkhazia, where the Abkhaz clans Anchabadze and Sharvashidze pledged allegiance to him. The Abkhaz people recognized Inal's rule, and he consolidated his authority in the region.Papaskʻiri, Zurab, 1950- (2010). Абхазия : история без фальсификации. Izd-vo Sukhumskogo Gos. Universiteta. . . p. 79The 200-year Mingrelia-Abkhazian war and the defeat of the Principality of Mingrelia by the Abkhazians of XVII-XVIII cc. Inal married twice. His first marriage was to a Circassian princess, and his second to an Abkhaz princess from the Anchabadze clan. This second marriage can be interpreted as a move to strengthen political ties with the Abkhaz. From his first marriage, he had a son named Chemrug, and from his second, he had two sons: Tabuldu and then Beslan. There are two accounts about Zan. One says he was Chemrug's middle child, while the other says he was Chemrug's brother, from Inal's marriage to the Circassian princess. His sons were trained by the noblemen.
When his conquests subsided, Inal began to take measures to develop the Circassian nation by introducing reforms, organizing tribes and instituting courts of elders to govern the concerns of the Circassian provinces. He introduced the institution of 40 judges.
The capital of this new Circassian state became the city of Shanjir also known as Jansher, founded in the Taman Peninsula region where Inal was born and raised. According to the legends, Shanjir was founded by Inal's ancestor Abdun-Khan. Peter Simon Pallas and Julius von Klaproth were the first researchers to draw attention to the city of Shanjir in history, they both described the city of Shanjir similarly.Dubois de Montpéreux, F., Voyage autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhases, en Colchide, en Géorgie, en Arménie et en Crimée: Avec un atlas géographique, pittoresque, ... géologique, etc., Paris: Gide, 1839-43; reprinted: Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics, 2002 (6 vols). According to them, Shanjir was very "cleverly designed", had the shape of a rectangle surrounded by walls and moats, and had four gates, thus reminiscent of Roman strategic architecture.— Voyages dans les gouvernements méridionaux de l'empire de la Russie, Paris, 1805 (3 vols). In the north, fake hills were built to gain an advantage over the enemy.Klaproth, J.-H. (von), Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia, Performed in the Years 1807 and 1808, by Command of the Russian Government', translated from the German by F. Shoberl, London: Richard and Arthur Taylor for Henry Colburn, 1814. reprinted: Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics, 2002. [Klaproth (1783–1835), born in Berlin in 1783, devoted his energies to the study of Asiatic languages, and published in 1802 his Asiatisches Magazin (Weimar, 1802-1803). He was consequently called to St. Petersburg and given an appointment in the academy there. In 1805 he was a member of Count Golovkin's embassy to China. On his return he was despatched by the academy to the Caucasus on an ethnographical and linguistic exploration (1807–1808), and was afterwards employed for several years in connection with the Academy's Oriental publications.] Klaproth visited the ruins of the city of Shanjir, met the Circassian elders and gathered detailed information about the city.Броневский, Семён, Новейшие географические и исторические известия о Кавказе, Москва, 1823. According to the information he learned, Shanjir was in an area close to Anapa.Kokov (K'wek'we), J. N., Iz adigskoi (cherkesskoi) onomastiki [From Circassian Onomastics], Nalchik: Elbrus Book Publishing House, 1983. Although the city's exact location is unknown, the general opinion is that the Krasnaya Batareya region fits the descriptions by Klarapoth and Pallas.<ref>Pallas, Peter Simon, Travels Through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire, in the Years 1793 and 1794, London: John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1812 (2 vols). [Peter-Simon Pallas''' (1741–1811) second and most picturesque travel]</ref>Абрамзон, М. Г., Фролова, Н. А., "Горлов Ю. В. Клад золотых боспорских статеров II в. н. э. с Краснобатарейного городища: [Краснодар. край]", ВДИ, № 4, 2000, С. 60-68.
The circumstances and years of Inal's death are unknown. According to the Abkhaz claim and Nogmov, Inal died in Northern Abkhazia. This place is known today as Inal-Quba and is located in the Pskhu region.Asie occidentale aux XIVe-XVIe siècles, 2014. Although most sources used to accept this theory, recent researches and excavations in the region show that Inal's tomb is not here. According to Russian explorer and archaeologist Evgeniy Dimitrievich Felitsin, Inal's tomb is not in Abkhazia. In a map published in 1882, Felitsin attached great importance to Inal but placed his grave in the Ispravnaya region in Karachay-Cherkessia, not Abkhazia. He added that this area has ancient sculptures, mounds, tombs, churches, castles and ramparts, which would be an ideal tomb for someone like Inal.Археологическая карта Кубанской области, Фелицын, Евгений Дмитриевич, 1882.