The Kabardians (Kabardian: Къэбэрдей) are the largest of the Circassian tribes. Most live in Kabardino-Balkaria, where they were 60% of the population in the 2021 census, and many families live in Turkey, above all on the Uzunyayla plateau in Kayseri. They speak Kabardian, or East Circassian.
The name
Like every Circassian tribe, Kabardians call themselves Adyghe; as a tribe they are Къэбэрдей. Other Circassians and the Abaza call them Kabartay, and in Russian they are кабардинцы. In English the people are also called Kabardin or Kabarday.
In Soviet times Circassians were listed under four names: Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria, Cherkess in Karachay-Cherkessia, Adygeans in Adygea and Shapsugs in Krasnodar Krai. English Wikipedia’s article on the Kabardians notes that all four are one people, and that the Cherkess are mostly Kabardian and Besleney.
Kabarda, the Kabardian homeland
The historic homeland is Kabarda, in the central North Caucasus, divided into Greater and Lesser Kabarda; today’s Kabardino-Balkaria covers part of it. On the map below, from the first quarter of the 19th century, Kabarda is the large eastern region.
Where Kabardians live today
Russia’s 2010 census counted 517,000 Kabardians. Most live in Kabardino-Balkaria; others live in Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krai, Adygea and the Mozdok district of North Ossetia.
Many Circassian families in Turkey are Kabardian: they descend from families who left the Caucasus for the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, above all in the 1860s. The best-known area is the Uzunyayla plateau in Kayseri province, and there are Kabardian villages in Balıkesir, Düzce, Eskişehir, Çorum, Samsun and Tokat. Kabardians also live in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, in Germany and in North America. Read more in Circassians in Turkey and Kabardino-Balkaria.
A written language
Kabardian had alphabets in Arabic script, then Latin, and has been written in Cyrillic since 1936; the alphabet in use today dates from 1938. The modern literary language was set in the 1920s, and Russian Wikipedia names the poet Ali Shogentsukov as the founder of modern Kabardian literature. See the Kabardian alphabet for all 59 letters with a native speaker’s recording.
Dialect, and which course to take
Kabardians speak Kabardian, or East Circassian. It is close enough to Adyghe (West Circassian) that some linguists treat the two as dialects of one language.
So the course to take is Kabardian (East Circassian): learn Kabardian with the Circassian App.
Find other Kabardians in the app
The Circassian App lets you add your family’s tribe to your profile, in the Origin field. In Search, the Tribe filter (free for everyone) shows people who chose the same tribe, so you can find other Kabardians, write to them and learn together.
The other tribes
Questions
Are Kabardians Circassians?
Yes. They are one of the twelve Circassian tribes, the largest one, and call themselves Adyghe like all Circassians.
Where do Kabardians live?
Mostly in Kabardino-Balkaria, and in Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krai, Adygea and North Ossetia; in Turkey (above all Kayseri’s Uzunyayla plateau), Jordan, Syria, Germany and North America.
What language do Kabardians speak?
Kabardian, or East Circassian, written in Cyrillic. The Circassian App has a full Kabardian course.
How many Kabardians are there?
Russia’s 2010 census counted 517,000 Kabardians in Russia; in Kabardino-Balkaria they were 60% of the population in 2021. There is no reliable count for the diaspora.
Are the Cherkess of Karachay-Cherkessia Kabardians?
Mostly: English Wikipedia says the Cherkess are mostly of the Kabardian and Besleney tribes.
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Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Kabardians, revision 1375320450.
- Wikipedia (Russian): Кабардинцы, revision 154327529.
- Wikipedia (Turkish): Kabardeyler, revision 37286609.
- Circassian App: the tribe list of the profile’s Origin field (src/data/origins.ts) and the Search filters, October 2026.
- Map: Liptink0, “Blank locator map of Circassia 1820s”, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (after S. Khotko, «Открытие Черкесии. Картографические источники XIV–XIX вв.»).
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