Zichia

Zichia (; gr, Ζιχία) or Zekchia was the predecessor of Circassia and a medieval kingdom on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea, inhabited by Circassians.Колли Л. Кафа в период владения ею банком св. Георгия (1454—1475) // Известия Таврической Ученой Архивной комиссии. № 47. Симферополь, 1912. С. 86

History

The exact borders of the kingdom is unknown. According to the 10th-century Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (), it lay south of Tamatarcha (Tmutorokan), separated from it by the river Oukrouch (possibly to be identified with the Kuban River), and had a city called Nikopsis. According to a legend about a visit of the Apostle Andrew there, it lay between Abasgia ( Abkhazia) and the Cimmerian Bosporus (Strait of Kerch).

In historical sources, the area first appears in the 6th century, when the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (''Wars'', VIII.4.2) records that the people of the ''Zechoi'' used to have a king appointed by the Roman Emperor, but that they had since become independent. The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' of the Patriarchate of Constantinople mention an autocephalous archbishopric of Zichia from the 7th century on, associated with Tamatarcha or the Cimmerian Bosporus.

At the time of Constantine VII, Byzantine dealings with the area were carried out by the inhabitants of Cherson. In the 11th century, the Byzantines may have established control over the region, as attested by the seal of a Michael, "'' archon'' of Zichia, Khazaria, and Gothia", but this is disputed among modern scholars. In the 12th century, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos () used the title "emperor of Zichia, Khazaria, and Gothia", but it is unclear to which extent this claim corresponded to reality.

In the 13th century, the area was visited by Hungarian and Italian travellers, who called it ''Sychia'' (and other variants thereof). These travellers located Matrica (Tmutorokan) within Sychia.

Known rulers

* Arrian (89–146) mentions a king of Zichia named Stachemfak
* In the 500s, King Bakhsan the son of King Daw fought with the Goths.D, S. ''Çerkes Krallar, Hükümdarlar'' "In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, the Goths settled in the north of the Black Sea. There were constant wars with the Circassian kingdoms. Prince Baksan, one of the 8 sons and eldest of King Daw, was one of the rare leaders who made his mark in the wars against the Goths, was one of the rare leaders to whom a statue was erected, and died with his eighty warriors in a war against the Goths, in which his 7 brothers joined him."
* King Lawristan is mentioned as the king in the 700s–800.
* King Hapach of Zichia, the son of king Weche, is mentioned to have raided Khazaria in the 900s.
* Rashid-ad-Din in the ''Persian Chronicles'' wrote that the Zichian king Tukar was killed in battle against the Mongols in 1237.
* In 1333, Pope John XXII thanked the King Verzacht (Верзахта in Cyrillic script) of Zichia (Circassia) for his assistance in implementing the Christian faith among Circassians.
* In 1471, the ruler of Caffa, Uffizio di San Giorgio signed a contract with the ruler of Circassia, "the paramount lord of Zichia" for supplying of Caffa with large quantities of grain by Zichia.Kressel R. Ph. The Administration of Caffa under the Uffizio di San Giorgio. University of Wisconsin, 1966. P. 396
* Kansavuk is mentioned by Malbakhov as a king of Zichia in 1542.Мальбахов Б. К. "Кабарда на этапах политической истории (середина XVI — первая четверть XIX века), Москва, из-во «Поматур», 2002 г. ISBN 5-86208-106-2, ст. 212

See also

*Zygii

References

Sources

* {{ODB , last = Pritsak , first = Omeljan , title = Zichia , pages = 2226–2227

Circassians
Former countries in Europe
Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Former populated places in Eastern Europe
History of Kuban