Bromberg Process, Continuation of the Story: an Incident with the Native Kabardians, the Horsemen of the Caucasus-Gorsky (Warsaw) Division

Abstract. The article use the specific case to examine the practice of attracting the mountaineers of the North Caucasus to the Russian military service during the military colonization of the region by the Russian Empire and the conflicts between the traditional ethnic beliefs and the mentality of the North Caucasian peoples and Russian state legal system. Under the conditions of the final establishment of military administrative control in Kabarda in 1822, traditional public institutions of military culture and the maintenance of military mobility were prohibited or limited. The prohibition of noble militia, the criminal prosecution of horsemanship, abrecheism, blood feud, restriction of the right to bear arms made it impossible for these classes to follow the traditional way of life. For Kabardian nobles, who neglected all other areas of activity except the military, the only way to selfrealization was to enter the Russian military service. Service in the Russian army and the police provided this small group of the Circassian aristocracy with some privileges in the field of carrying weapons, as well as career opportunities in the military and administrative spheres. But the service from their point of view and the requirements of the Russian military regulations did not coincide and often led to conflicts.

Keywords: Kabardians, Caucasian Equestrian Highland Division, Caucasian War, military culture, military customs, the right to bear arms, mental features.