Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia

Abkhaz Institute of Humanitarian Research Named after D.I. Gulia, AbIGI 2022

Аҧсуаҭҵаара / Abkhaz Studies. No.12. Sukhum. 2022. pp. 99-111

 The article is also available in PDF format in both Russian (original) and English.

Doukas (c. 1400 – after 1462), a Byzantine historian who flourished under Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor, reported in his work "History of Byzantium" that before the Battle of Ankara in 1402, the famous medieval commander Timur (Tamerlane) journeyed from Persia to the regions of the Don. There, he gathered the Scythians along with the Zykhians (Circassians) and Abasgians (Abkhazians).

Doukas writes ("Doukas, The Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks," translated by Harry J. Magoulias, Wayne State University Press, 1975, p.90):

This article first published on Apsuara.org in Turkish and titled "16. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Belgeleri Işığında Sohum ve Abazalar"

The Sukhum [Sohumkale in Ottoman -ed.] fortress, referred to as the "key to the Black Sea" along with Faş (Poti) and Batum in Ottoman archival documents [1], has always maintained a significant role in the Ottoman Empire's interactions with the Caucasus. Since the 16th century, Sukhum and its environs, frequently mentioned in numerous Ottoman records in conjunction with the Abkhazians [Ottomans called the Abkhazians as ‘Abaza’ -ed.], have been of great military and commercial importance to the Ottoman state.  

Mobilizing in Uncertainty: Collective Identities and War in Abkhazia, by Anastasia Shesterinina (Cornell University Press, 2021)

pp.69-72

Throughout the 19th century, the Russian-Caucasian War brought about significant changes in the geopolitical landscape of the region. The conflict between the Russian Empire and the native peoples of the Caucasus led to significant population displacements, including those of the Abkhazians.