The term Circassians is a Western term derived from the Turkic Cherkess, and is not the self-designation of any people. It has sometimes been applied indiscriminately to all the peoples of the North Caucasus. More commonly it has referred to all the peoples of the Northwest Caucasus: the Adyghe, the Abkhaz, and the vanished Ubykh, to the exclusion of the eastern Chechens and the peoples of Dagestan.

Most specifically, the name can refer to a group of tribes who inhabited the territory of Circassia, and who call themselves Adyghes. See Adyghe for the history and culture of this group.

The term's vagueness stems largely from the fact that the northern Caucasus was a remote and relatively unknown area for Westerners, who often did not distinguish carefully between similar groups living there.

See also

• Circassian beauties