Secession of Kaziyev’s Kabarda in 1601 and 1641 years: stages of the «dynasty change»

The internal political development of Kabarda in the XVI–XVII-th centuries took the form of a sharp competitive struggle between various lineages of the Kabardian Inalids. The period of dis-tinct advantage of the Idarov family in the struggle for supreme power in the principality was the second half of the XVI-th century. The second generation of the Idarovs, relying on a close politi-cal and dynastic alliance with Moscow, faced tough opposition from other princely families of Kabarda. The most uncompromising position in the struggle for the highest political power in the principality and the preservation of its actual independence from Moscow was taken by the de-scendants of Beslan Zhankhotov – Kazi Psheapshokov, his sons and nephews. Without stopping at unconventional methods of struggle, Kazi Psheapshokov and his successor Aleguko Shogenukov intercepted political leadership from the Idarovs. The subjects of this study are two significant events, that became the prologue and epilogue of this process of «dynasty change» in Kabarda. Firstly, it is the murder of Mamstruko and Domanuko Kemirgokovich Idarov and the subsequent three-years-long secession of Kazieva's Kabarda to Eastern Trans-Kuban. And secondly, these are the political crisis of the late 30-s – early 40-s years of the XVI-th century, the battle on the Malka in 1641, the repeated secession of Kaziyev’s Kabarda and its allies to Eastern Trans-Kuban, which ended the era of the Idarovs’ political leadership. The close political and dynastic ties of the Inal-ids with the Russian sovereigns determined the obvious correlation of the “dynasty change” – pro-cesses in Kabarda and in the Moscow Kingdom at the end of the XVI-th – first decades of the XVII-th centuries.