Rededya, also Ridada or Rededey (; died 1022), was a prince of Kassogia, a Circassian tribe from the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

History

The Laurentian Codex provides the following information. In 1022, Prince Mstislav the Brave, who at the time was the prince of Tmutarakan, started a military operation against the

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

. During the operation, he encountered the Kassogian army commanded by Rededya. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Mstislav and Rededya, who possessed an extraordinary physical strength, decided to have a personal fight, with the condition that the winner would be considered the winner of the battle. The fight lasted some hours and, eventually, Rededya was knocked to the ground and stabbed with a knife. The subjects of Rededya were forced to admit defeat. Mstislav ascribed his win to the Virgin, whom he prayed to before the battle. Subsequently, Mstislav has taken the wife and the two sons of Rededya and had them baptized. In their baptism, Rededya's sons got the names of Yury and Roman. Roman later married Tatyana, the daughter of Mstislav. Traditionally, Kassogians are considered as direct ancestors of the

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

. Some modern Russian historians claimed they may have come to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and subsequently assimilated.А.В. Пьянков. Народ Касоги и страна Каса (К этнополитической ситуации на Северо-Западном Кавказе в VIII-X вв.)

Notes

1022 deaths Circassian nobility Year of birth unknown {{Europe-noble-stub