MILITARY CLASS KABARDS: BASIC PARAMETERS OF COMBAT ABILITY
The high military reputation of the chircassian warriors of the Middle Ages and modernity has a specifi c place in the world historiography. Romanticized opinions about the chircassian militancy completely overshadowed the fact that the overwhelming majority of the chircassian population was engaged in military aff airs from time to time. In Kabarda, as in all possessions of Princely Chircassia, military aff airs were the function of the professional favored corporation pshiwork, which was open to the entry into it of representatives of the nonp-rivileged estates most capable in martial arts. The lifestyle of this relatively small corporation presupposed absolute mobilization readiness and continuous training, which allowed representatives of the military class of Kabarda to demonstrate sustainable superiority in clashes with all their traditional opponents on the battlefi eld. This trend continued after the massive proliferation of fi rearms in the region and the unifi cation of the entire set of military equipment of a warrior-horseman, when the quantity, quality and specifi city of cold weapons or defensive armor could no longer be of fundamental importance in determining the basic parameters of the combat capability of chircassian soldiers. An important sign of its high level throughout the entire era of independence of Kabarda was the availability of the excellent horses and an original tradition of their training in its military class.