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TheSadz orAsadzwa, alsoJigets, are a subethnic group of theAbkhazians. They are sometimes purported to have originated from theSanigoi tribe mentioned by the Classic authors. In the 6th century, they formed a tribal principality, which later commingled with theAbasgoi,Apsilae andMissimianoi into theKingdom of Abkhazia.
Until 1864 Sadz lived at theBlack Sea coast north toGagra until theKhosta River (Khamysh River). They formed theSadzyn area, which consisted of the possessions ofKamysh,Arydba,Amarshan andGechba clans, under the hegemony ofTsanba clan. TheUbykh princesOblagua,Chizmaa andDziash also originated from the Sadz.
Some think that in the 12-14th centuries a part of the Sadz have been forced to resettle to thenorthern mountainside ofCaucasus Major under the Ubykh pressure. They formed thereAbazin people.[citation needed] This is only one of the theories explaining the migration from Abkhazia of the ancestors of what is now the Abaza people. After theRussian-Circassian War ended in 1864 most of the Sadz were forced to turnmuhajir, moving to theOttoman Empire. Some of them settled inAdjara (then under the Ottoman possession). Now theSadz dialect of theAbkhaz language is spoken only inTurkey. It consists of Akhaltsys and Tswyzhy subdialects.
The Sadz, Aibga andAkhchipsou tribes of Abkhazia were the last ethnic groups to have offered the resistance to the Russian advances during theCaucasus War. The last tribes conquered by Russians wereAhchypsy andAibga, who lived in and around of what is nowKrasnaya Polyana.