04 June 2003, 04:48
Zikhs
Zikhs, zigs (jiks in Georgian) are an ancient tribe union of the north-western Caucasus. They were first mentioned by an antique historian Strabon (I century BC). Zikhs lived in the seaside upland districts from modern Novorossiisk to Gagri. Their occupations were agriculture, cattle-breeding and piracy, they were the main suppliers of slaves for the Bosporus cities. At the turn of the VIII-IX centuries ?Zikhia?, headed by the leaders, was a very significant country. The last time Zikhs were mentioned in the XV century. Zikhs were one of the main components in the ethnogeny of Abkhazs and the Adig ethnic mass of peoples of the north-western Caucasus.
