Karachay-Balkar clans of Abkhaz-Abaza origin
Hello from the other side of the mountains 👋 I have been reading through a few papers on the genealogy of Karachay-Balkar clans lately. Among our people, many families trace their origins to other parts of the Caucasus. In particular, noble families in the past have often intermarried, but also regular people migrated for a multitude of reasons, or were taken into captivity. As you would know, many families across the Caucasus have kept oral traditions about their origins. Naturally, these shouldn't be taken at face value, but historical accuracy aside, these types of origin stories still make up an important part of our folklore. On this post, I would like to write specifically about a few families among the Karachay-Balkar people who trace their origins back to Abkhazia and Abazia:
The Apsuvayevs (Апсууалары)
The Apsuvayevs originate in the Baksan region of Balkaria. According to their own origin story, The Apsuvayev family traces their origins back to an Abkhazian ancestor (one primary source gives the name Omar Maan, son of Myrzakan, originally from Adzyubzha), who migrated to the Baksan Valley in the XIX century. There, he is said to have acquired a plot of land from the Urusbiyevs (Урусбийлери), the local feudal lords at the time, and married a local woman, with whom he had two sons.
Urtenovs (Уртенлери)
The paternal ancestor of the Urtenovs is said to have migrated to Karachay with an Abaza Loo princess who married a local Krymshamkhalov nobleman. There, this ancestor married one of the Krymshamkhalovs' serf women. They are said to have been freed by their feudal lords as gratitude for raising their son, Magomet Krymshamkhalov.
Some other families include:
-The Abazayevs (Абазалары) & Abazaliyevs (Абазалылары) - Self-explanatory;
-The Dzhappuyevs (Джаппулары) - A clan from the Baksan region. Claimed by some to descend from an Abkhaz ancestor from Khashupse;
-Marshanovs (Маршанлары) - Self explanatory.
