tribal confederation · Caucasus

Natukhaj

1500 CE – 1864 CE (approx.)

A self-governing Circassian people of the Black Sea coast around Anapa and Novorossiysk, among the first to fall to Russia in the 19th century.

Origins

The Natukhaj were one of the western Adyghe groups of Circassia, living in the coastal hills between the lower Kuban, Anapa and Tsemes Bay. They appear as a distinct community in Ottoman and Russian sources from the 17th and 18th centuries; earlier history is not recorded separately.

Rule and society

Like the Shapsugs and Abadzekhs, the Natukhaj overthrew the authority of their princes and nobles in the late 18th century and governed through assemblies of elders and free households. They farmed, kept livestock and traded at the Ottoman fortress of Anapa, built in 1781, through which slaves, honey and hides passed to Ottoman ports.

Decline and legacy

Russia took Anapa in 1828 and built coastal forts on Natukhaj land, including Novorossiysk in 1838. After a long resistance, the Russian Empire completed its conquest in 1864, and nearly all Natukhaj were expelled to the Ottoman Empire.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Natukhaj. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/natukhaj
MLA
“Natukhaj.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/natukhaj. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Natukhaj.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/natukhaj.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Natukhaj’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/natukhaj (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻