Rededya

Rededi, Rededia, Rededya or Ridada (died 1022) was a legendary leader of the Kassogians, an Abkhazian-Adyghe tribe.

The Laurentian Codex provides the following information. In 1022, Prince Mstislav the Brave, who at the time was the prince of Tmutarakan, started a military operation against the Alans. During the operation, he encountered the Kassogian army commanded by Rededya. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Mstislav and Rededya, who possessed an extraordinary physical force, decided to have a personal fight, with the condition that the winner would be considered the winner of the battle. During the fight, Rededya was stubbed with a knife and died, even though it was decided that the fighters should not use weapons. The subjects of Rededya were forced to admit the defeat. Mstislav ascribed his win to the Virgin, whom he prayed to before the battle.

Subsequently, Mstitlav has taken the wife and the two sons of Rededya and had them baptized. The sons got the names of Yury and Roman. Roman later got married to Tatyana, the daughter of Mstislav.

Traditionally, Kassogians are considered as direct ancestors of the Adyghe. Some modern Russian scientists suggested they may have come to the Caucasus from the Middle East and subsequently assimilated.