The Principality of Zhane was a Circassian principality in Circassia inhabited by the Zhane, a Circassian sub-ethnic group. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was one of the largest and most powerful principality in Western Circassia. Their lands were a constant battlefield for centuries and this weakened them. During the Russo-Circassian War, Russian military operations and plague further reduced their population.
In 1802, a campaign by Black Sea Cossacks of the Russian Empire destroyed the remaining settlements and ended the political independence of the principality. Prince Netakhoqo Zan later tried to reunite the survivors into a single settlement. Following his death in the early 1830s, the majority integrated into the Bzhedug, Shapsug, and Natukhaj sub-ethnic groups.
History
Formation Circassia was a decentralized confederation of feudal principalities and self-governing mountain communities that coordinated on major foreign policy matters. Sub-ethnic group identities across Circassia formed primarily through political consolidation rather than distinct ancestral origins. When populations remained under the authority of specific ruling dynasties, including the Zhane, prolonged shared economic activity, military organization, and territorial residence produced distinct local dialects and sets of surnames which formed individual sub-ethnic identities under these princely domains.
Sanig migration hypothesis Some scholars propose an origin theory that links the Zhane people to the ancient Sanigs, though this connection is unproven. According to this hypothesis, researchers Adolf Berzhe, Leonid Lavrov, N.G. Volkova, and B.Kh. Bgazhnokov propose that the Zhane were Sanigs who migrated from Transcaucasia to the Northwest Caucasus between the late 3rd and early 4th centuries due to Roman expansion. The migrants initially settled near Nicopsis and Dzhubga before advancing toward Gelendzhik, Tsemez, and Anapa. The theory posits a population split: those who migrated north became the Zhane, while those who stayed in their original territory formed the Sadz community, located between Circassian and Abkhazian lands.
Pre-Inal hypothesis Khotko proposes a theory that the Zhane princes did not descend from Inal, suggesting instead that they might have had older or independent origins compared to other Circassian dynasties. According to this hypothesis, Russian records from 1552 and 1555 that describe the Zhane envoy princes to Moscow as sovereigns could possibly suggest a distinct status for this lineage within Circassia.
Etnographer Sultan Khan-Giray noted that the Kabardian, Besleney, Chemguy, Hatuqay, and partially Kheghache princes descended from Inal. However the Zhane is described as an indigenous or ancient Circassian group that was present in the area before Inal's descendants arrived. According to 19th-century ethnographer Leonty Lulye, the princely house of the Chopsin (house of Basteqo) was related to the Zhane princes. Chopsin princes are considered as Bzhedugs in tradition. Yu. E. Asanov proposed a hypothesis that the Zhane princes were related to the Bzhedug princes.
19th-century ethnographer Leonty Lulye noted that feudal Circassians such as Chemguys, Besleneys and Kabardians, referred to the Zhane, Natukhaj, Shapsug, Abzakh, Bzhedug and Makhosh regions as Abadze or Abadze-chil (Abazin settlements). Lulye suggested that was because of their historical location along the Black Sea coast and southern mountain slopes. Ethnographer Leonid Lavrov later interpreted these accounts to propose that the Zhane were originally Abazins who had adopted the Adyghe language. This view was rejected by other researchers because there is no Abazin linguistic influence or loanwords. 19th-century observers such as Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux, James Stanislaus Bell, and Teofil Lapinski similarly noted that the term Abadze was applied to the Shapsugs, Natukhajs and sometimes Zhane. They clarified that despite this naming, these groups spoke Adyghe and identified as Adyghe.
Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi recorded a legend tracing Circassian lineages to the Arab Quraysh tribe. This group included Kheghache, Hatuqay, Zhane, Besleney, and Kabardians. This narrative originated in 14th century Mamluk Egypt, where historians constructed Arab genealogies to legitimate Circassian rule over Arab populations. The tradition later integrated into Caucasian local lore. In one local version, five princely brothers left Arabia along with their subjects. These brothers were: Cheleshbiy, Zan, Makay, Boletuqo, and Hatuqo.
According to Zhane prince Selim's account to Bell, the Zhane princes were of Sultanic origin. However, Longworth wrote that Selim claimed to be of Genoese origin. Selim said that Zaneqo, Aytechuqo (ruler branch of Chemguy prince), and Halashuqo (Sharvashidze) shared a common origin and formed the Boletuqo fraternity in Chemguy, considered one of the oldest noble clans in Circassia. Although Selim saw the Zaneqo family as Chemguy, he explained the origin of the Zhane princes separately from them.
Legends of Inal's descent
Inal is a legendary figure who is considered to be the founder of several Circassian princely dynasties in tradition. According to the legend compiled by ethnographer Shora Nogmov, three prince brothers from Chemguy who were direct descendants of Inal; Boletuqo, Zan and Hatuqo. The younger brothers, Zan and Hatuqo, wanted to separate from the eldest brother, Boletuqo. Zan gathered people from various societies to join him and asked Boletuqo for permission to migrate to new lands. Boletuqo agreed and allowed a portion of the people to leave. Zan and his subjects moved to the area where the Pshish River meets the Kuban River, taking the name Zhane of the principality. Hatuqo also departed to settle in a newly chosen and took the name Hatuqay of the principality. Boletuqo remained in the original territory with the majority of the population and retained the Chemguy name.
According to other popular oral traditions, the origin of the Zhane princes was one of Inal's son named Zhane or Zan. In this, Inal's land was divided among four sons: Tabulda inherited the lands east of the Kuban called Qabarda, Beslan received the territory between the Kuban and Laba, Chemrug took the lands from the Laba to the Pshish, and the youngest son Zhane received the remaining territory extending to the sea.
According to Khotko's analysis, Inal may have lived at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. According to different hypotheses, Inal may have lived at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. If the Zhane princes descended from him as tradition suggests, the principality was established in the late middle ages. Prince Selim's account of his family tradition, which dates his house's rule back to the Genoese period, supports the hypothesis that the principality was established in the late Middle Ages.
Medieval period Italian maritime charts from the 13th to the 15th centuries show a territory marked as Saunacichia or Alba Zega (White Zichia). Some researchers theorize that these names might connect to the early origins or precursors of the Zhane, though this identification remains unproven. The locations recorded as "Sania" in the 1311 and 1318 Italian maps by Pietro Vesconte, covering the Tuapse, Nicopsis, and Dzhubga regions, could refer to the Zhane Principality. In these maps, the region of Sania is located between Mauro Zega, or Black Zikhia, which was conquered by the Mongols, and Alba Zega, or White Zikhia, which maintained its independence.
An analysis of Caucasus geography by the Arab geographer Abulfeda in 1321 identifies a distinct political entity named "al-Anjaz", which several historians theorize refers to the Zhane. His accounts describe a "al-Kasak" state situated between al-Anjaz and the Alans ("al-Lan"). Abulfeda also introduces the concept of "al-Dajarkis" (Circassia) as a larger, populated federation that included both regions, indicating that if al-Anjaz indeed refers to the Zhane, they were recognized both as an independent unit and as part of the broader Circassian realm by the early 14th century.
In the 1380s, an Golden Horde governor in Solkhat was mentioned with the names Jhancasius, lord of Zichia (lo segnor Zicho), and Circassian lord (Jharcasso segnor). It is highly probable that this was a Zhane prince in the service of the Golden Horde.
Italian maritime charts from the 15th century place the Zhane in the coastal region of Zichia. These maps often record the area as "Sannia" or "Sanna" and show their settlement in the mountains and coast between Tuapse, Nykopsis, and Dzhubga. A 1480 map by Grazioso Benincasa uses the term "Sanna Zichia" ("Zhane Zichia"), showing that Italian cartographers saw the Zhane principality as an organized entity along the coast, able to compete with neighboring principalities like Kheghache, Hatuqay, Chemguy, and Kabardia.
15th Century
During the 15th century, the region later associated with the Zhane was identified in Genoese sources as the Copa. Copa functioned alongside Matrega (the capital of the Hytuk) as one of the two main urban centers in Zichia (Circassia). The city was located on the right bank of the Kuban River, approximately 28 Italian miles from its mouth (near modern-day Slavyansk-on-Kuban). The territory of the principality covered the area between the Kuban River and the Sea of Azov. The principality controlled the wide plains along the right bank of the Kuban and the low coastal areas along the Sea of Azov. It also held military influence over the entire eastern coast of the Sea of Azov.
The ruler who was recorded in Italian documents was Prince Berzebuk (Dominus Coparii Berzebuch), which is possibly Barasabiyeqo in Adyghe. Governance was shared with his wife, Borunda (Domina Borunda), and their son was "Kambelot," which is Qambolet in Adyghe.
Trade formed the basis of relations between Copa and the Genoese administration based in Caffa. Under the 1449 Caffa statute, a Genoese consul was appointed to Copa annually. The consul resided in the city seasonally from spring until September to coincide with the fishing season. The consul's responsibilities included setting fish prices jointly with the local prince and protecting Genoese commercial interests. In exchange for trade access, the administration in Caffa paid an annual tribute, termed "exenia," to the local Zichian princes. Commercial activities centered on fish, caviar, grain, honey, and wax.
In 1462, the Caffa administration signed an agreement with Berzebuk regarding the recruitment of mercenaries. Around 1470, Berzebuk constructed a stone castle in Copa. Berzebuk secured building materials through a secret arrangement despite opposition from Caffa officials, who expressed concern over his growing authority. Genoese officials in Caffa held secret negotiations to incite Circassian princes against Berzebuk, though the impact of these attempts is not documented. In response to Berzebuk's fortification efforts, the Bank of San Giorgio enforced a strict trade embargo and banned the sale of construction materials, which Genoese merchants immediately violated to continue profitable trade with Circassia. In 1471, Caffa deployed an armed vessel (fusta) to protect merchant ships from Berzebuk's piracy. Later that year, envoy Cavalino Cavallo negotiated an agreement with Berzebuk and neighboring princes and they signed a formal peace treaty between Berzebuk and Caffa on December 15, 1472.