After the Kuchuk Kaynardji treaty, signed in 1774, the Ottoman State began to deal with Caucasia much more than before and attempted to cooperate with the Circassians and Abkhazians, who lived in the region. The reason for the change of policy was the Russian attempt to control the Black Sea and the loss of Caffa port by the Ottomans. The recently acquired independent status of the Khanet of Crimea was another important facto that the Ottomans took into consideration.
My aim in this work is first to examine in what way the Ottomans tried to improve their authority over the Circassians and Abkhazians after the cooperation began. Then, the second aim of the paper is to look at the policy put into practive by the guards of Sogucak and Anapa. Particularly I want to emphasise the nature of the loyalty oath and bond taken from the regional tribes by the guards and how this policy reflected the Otoman sovereignty in that particular region.
