1830s, Circassian leaders tried to impose a blockade on trade with the Russians, and foreign travellers in the region carried a great supply of goods that they could barter for food, horses, arms, clothes and their other necessities. Longworth, knowing his Circassia, took a similar amount of merchandise to defray his expenses on his return in the 1850s, but to no avail.
âI discovered however on revisiting Circassia that a decided change had taken place in this respect, not only on the coast but in the interior; and that although these effects were available as presents they could not be disposed of to advantage for the payment of travelling expenses, money being almost everywhere demanded in preference,â he wrote in one of the many letters that deal with his £142 9s. 7d. in expenses and a pile of missing trade goods.
The development of a cash-based economy in Circassia was a major change and goes to show how far the Russians had succeeded in taking over the plain of the Kuban north of the mountains on which the Circassians depended for food and grazing.
The Russian blockade of the coast, via those miserable little forts, had clearly been more successful than it at first appeared, for it stopped large Turkish ships stopping at many points on the coast, thereby forcing the Circassians to rely on Russia for trade goods and salt, which they had no way of producing. Presumably, in return the Russian merchants took their livestock and grain.
At this point, perhaps it is worth questioning what the Circassians would have been able to sell to the Turks anyway.
It is clear what they needed from the Turks: arms and gunpowder, which the Russians would not have sold them. But they produced very little, and with a subsistence economy and restricted trade routes their agricultural system was not geared up to producing enough to earn the goods they wanted to buy. What they needed was a high-value, easily transportable product.
They found one: their own children.
The slave business was Circassiaâs only significant export trade, except perhaps for the gold found by Jason and the Argonauts in
ancient times. Otherwise, the Circassians sent their sons and daughters to fight and breed for the Turks and received the goods of war in return.
Bell noted the story of a young boy whom he met in November 1839, and who pretended to have a sore leg, and was repeatedly sent to different doctors to have his fictitious ailment examined. There was nothing in fact wrong with the boy, except that he was desperate to avoid being sold in Istanbul. Eventually, he had to admit there was nothing wrong with him and he was duly sent off. The case was unique. âThis is the only instance I can at present recollect, as having come under my observation, of disinclination having been shown by any male or female to being taken to Turkey, which appears to be in general looked to by Circassians as the land of promise,â Bell wrote towards the end of his stay on the Black Sea coast.
Russia was tactically torn over the slave trade. The more people that departed â and those leaving were either fighting-age men or breeding-age women â the fewer people there would be left to conquer. However, the more people that departed the more money would be earned with which the remaining Circassians could resist Russia. The Russiansâ policy oscillated. In the 1830s, they sought to throttle the trade. Later on they, or at least some of their officials, connived in it.
Alexandre Dumas, when he left the Caucasus through the port of Poti in the 1850s, said his ship was rammed with slaves. âThere are three hundred prime-bodied Kabardians with us at the moment, travelling steerage,â the captain said, âmostly women and children in charge of two tribal chiefs and the headmen of the various villages.â
âWhat can I do?â the captain told him. âThey all have valid passports and have paid their fare. Everything is in
âI discovered however on revisiting Circassia that a decided change had taken place in this respect, not only on the coast but in the interior; and that although these effects were available as presents they could not be disposed of to advantage for the payment of travelling expenses, money being almost everywhere demanded in preference,â he wrote in one of the many letters that deal with his £142 9s. 7d. in expenses and a pile of missing trade goods.
The development of a cash-based economy in Circassia was a major change and goes to show how far the Russians had succeeded in taking over the plain of the Kuban north of the mountains on which the Circassians depended for food and grazing.
The Russian blockade of the coast, via those miserable little forts, had clearly been more successful than it at first appeared, for it stopped large Turkish ships stopping at many points on the coast, thereby forcing the Circassians to rely on Russia for trade goods and salt, which they had no way of producing. Presumably, in return the Russian merchants took their livestock and grain.
At this point, perhaps it is worth questioning what the Circassians would have been able to sell to the Turks anyway.
It is clear what they needed from the Turks: arms and gunpowder, which the Russians would not have sold them. But they produced very little, and with a subsistence economy and restricted trade routes their agricultural system was not geared up to producing enough to earn the goods they wanted to buy. What they needed was a high-value, easily transportable product.
They found one: their own children.
The slave business was Circassiaâs only significant export trade, except perhaps for the gold found by Jason and the Argonauts in
ancient times. Otherwise, the Circassians sent their sons and daughters to fight and breed for the Turks and received the goods of war in return.
Bell noted the story of a young boy whom he met in November 1839, and who pretended to have a sore leg, and was repeatedly sent to different doctors to have his fictitious ailment examined. There was nothing in fact wrong with the boy, except that he was desperate to avoid being sold in Istanbul. Eventually, he had to admit there was nothing wrong with him and he was duly sent off. The case was unique. âThis is the only instance I can at present recollect, as having come under my observation, of disinclination having been shown by any male or female to being taken to Turkey, which appears to be in general looked to by Circassians as the land of promise,â Bell wrote towards the end of his stay on the Black Sea coast.
Russia was tactically torn over the slave trade. The more people that departed â and those leaving were either fighting-age men or breeding-age women â the fewer people there would be left to conquer. However, the more people that departed the more money would be earned with which the remaining Circassians could resist Russia. The Russiansâ policy oscillated. In the 1830s, they sought to throttle the trade. Later on they, or at least some of their officials, connived in it.
Alexandre Dumas, when he left the Caucasus through the port of Poti in the 1850s, said his ship was rammed with slaves. âThere are three hundred prime-bodied Kabardians with us at the moment, travelling steerage,â the captain said, âmostly women and children in charge of two tribal chiefs and the headmen of the various villages.â
âWhat can I do?â the captain told him. âThey all have valid passports and have paid their fare. Everything is in
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