The Adyghe or Adygs (Adyghe: Адыгэ or Adǝgă, Arabic: شركس/جركس‎, Jarkas/Sharkas,Persian: چرکس‎,charkas), also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic group who were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.

Adyghe people mostly^{[dubious – discuss]} speak Circassian (called Adyghe in the west and Kabardin in the east), and most practise Sunni Islam.

There remain about two million speakers of Circassian, mostly in the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, and Karachay–Cherkessia, as well as a number in the Russian Federation outside these republics.

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimates that there are as many as 3.7 million "ethnic Circassians" outside of the Circassian republics (meaning that only one in seven "ethnic Circassians" is a speaker of the Circassian language), of whom about 2 million live in the Republic of Turkey, 700,000 in the Russian Federation, about 150,000 in the Levant, and about 50,000 in western countries (Europe and USA).

Circassian music refers to music of the Circassians (Cherkess), people from Northern Caucasus, Russia. Their music demonstrates their traditions and habits^{[citation needed]}.

Circassian music is characterized by certain instruments, including:

In Circassian music, there are several dances that are performed differently.

Kafa is a piece with (4:4) time signature, and usually this piece demonstrates the relationship between the Challa (male) and the Pshasha (female), this relationship which is built out of love, cooperation and strength. Usually 'Kafa' is the main piece to be played in a 'Djagu' (a Circassian wedding or any Circassian gathering) and there are more than 100 kafas written by different Circassian artists.

Wuig is a piece with (8:4) time signature, and usually this piece is played before Challas are going to war, but nowadays it is played at the end of the Djagu and usually it follows this rhythm each eight time intervals a new musical phrase is introduced, and this piece may be repeated several times since more than ten different Wuigs are available.

The Svans (Georgian: სვანი, Svani) are a subethnic group of Georgians (Kartvelian) or sometimes as ethnic group with their own language, living mostly in Svaneti, a region in northwest Georgia. They speak the Svan language, and are mostly bilingual also in Georgian. Both these languages belong to the Kartvelian (South Caucasian) language family. In the pre-1930 Soviet census, the Svans were afforded their own ethnic group (natsional'nost) category. The self-designation of the Svan is Mushüan, which is probably reflected in the ethnonym Misimian of the Classical authors.

The Svans are usually identified with the Soani mentioned by Greek geographer Strabo, who placed them more or less in the area still occupied by the modern-day Svans.

In the Russian Empire and early Soviet Union Mingrelians and Svans had their own census grouping, but were classified under the broader category of Georgian thereafter in the 1930s. They are Georgian Orthodox Christians, and were Christianized in the 4th-6th centuries. However, some remnants of old paganism have been maintained. Saint George (known as Jgëræg to the locals), a patron saint of Georgia, is the most respected saint. The Svans have retained many of their old traditions, including blood revenge (although this tradition has been declining over time, as law enforcement takes hold). Their families are small, and the husband is the head of his family. The Svan strongly respect the older women in families.