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Circassians

Circassians (АДЫГЭ)
Total population

2.9 million (+) est. worldwide (including the Circassian diaspora)
Regions with significant populations
 Russia 700,000 est. (Caucasus region: Adyghea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Krasnodar Krai and other republics of Russia)
 Turkey 1,500,000 est.
 Israel 5,000 est.
 United States 5,000 est.
 Syria 50,000 est.
 Jordan 126,000 est.
 Germany 15,000 est.
Other parts of the world 250,000 - 500,000 est.
Languages
Circassian, Russian
Religions
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Abkhaz, or Abaza

Circassians is a term derived from the ancient names of two groups of Caucasian peoples, "Kir" and "Kas" who were called "Kir-Kas" together. By time it evolved from "Kirkas" to "Kerkas," "Cherkas," "Cherkes," and "Kas" as in "Kafkas." Turkic nationals who arrived in the lands later spelled it as "Cerkes/Cerkez," "Cherkess," or "Çerkes." The term is not the self-designation of any people. It has sometimes been applied indiscriminately to all the peoples of the North Caucasus, including the "Adygas," "Ubykhs," and "Abkhazians." Most specifically, the term can apply only to the Adyghe people. (An old Adyge expression said, "Every Adyge is a Cherkess, but any Cherkess is not an Adyge.") Today a significant number of "Circassians" live in diaspora, primarily due to the Muhajirism, an exodus of the Muslim population from the Caucasus since 1864, after the successful Circassian exilation.

More commonly it has referred to all the peoples of the northwest Caucasus:[1]

to the exclusion of the eastern Chechens and the peoples of Dagestan.

The term's vagueness stems largely from the fact that the northern Caucasus was a remote and relatively unknown area for Westerners and Turks, who often did not distinguish carefully among similar groups living there.

Contents

Circassian diaspora

From 1763 to 1864 the Circassians fought against the Russians in the Russian-Circassian War only succumbing to a scorched earth campaign initiated in 1862 under General Yevdokimov.[2][3] Afterwards, large numbers of Circassians fled and were deported to the Ottoman Empire, others were resettled in Russia far from their home territories.[4][1]

Middle East

Various communities of Caucasian origin living in the Middle East, notably Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, and Syria, are known as Circassians, and a suburb of Damascus settled by these people is called Al-charkassiyya. Modern Amman was reborn after Circassians settled there in 1878 along with other important Jordanian towns.

During the French Mandate period in Syria, in the 1930s, some Circassians in the mostly Circassian town of Al-Quneitra tried to convince the French authorities to create a Circassian national home for them in the Golan Heights, but failed in their attempt. The objective was to group the large numbers of Circassians already living in Turkey and in various Middle Eastern countries just like Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt.

In Israel, there are also a few thousand Circassians, living mostly in Kfar Kama (2,000) and Reyhaniye (1,000).[5] These two villages were a part of a greater group of Circassian villages around the Golan Heights. The Circassians in Israel enjoy, like Druzes, a status aparte. Circassian men are mandated for military service, while women are not.

The Balkans

A small minority of Circassians lived since the late 1880's in Kosovo Polje, which was given mention by Noel Malcolm in his seminal work about that province, but they were repatriated to the Republic of Adygea, in Southern Russia in the late 1990's[1].

Around 1600, several emigrants from the Caucasus region, of somewhat privileged descent, settled in the then Principality of Moldavia, and became under the name "Cerchez" (pronounced [Cherkez] in Romanian) one of its 72 boyar families. In time they were assimilated into the general population. However one of the last descendants of this family, Mihail Christodulo Cerchez, was a Romanian national hero in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 (Osman Paşa, "Gazi Osman Pasha" the Turkish commander of the Pleven garrison, who was an Adyge himself, surrendered his sword to him at the end of the siege). One of the main halls of the Cotroceni palace in Bucharest is named "Sala Cerchez" ("Cerchez Hall") in memory of General Cerchez.

Notable Circassians

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Shenfield, Stephen D. (1999) "The Circassians - A Forgotten Genocide?" in Levene, Mark and Roberts, Penny (eds.) (1999) The Massacre in History Berghahn Books, New York, ISBN 1571819347
  2. ^ Allen, W.E.D. and Muratoff, Paul (1953) Caucasian Battlefields: History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border 1828-1921 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 107-8 OCLC 1102813
  3. ^ Mufti, Shawkat (1972) Heroes and emperors in Circassian history Librairie du Liban, Beirut, OCLC 628135
  4. ^ Brooks, Willis (I995) "Russia’s conquest and pacification of the Caucasus: relocation becomes a pogrom on the post-Crimean period" Nationalities Papers 23(4): pp. 675-86
  5. ^ Circassians in Israel. Circassian World.

References

  • Shtendel, Uri , The Circassians in Israel, Am Hasefer Tel Aviv, 1973.

Jaimoukha, Amjad, 'The Circassians: A Handbook', London: Routledge, New York: Routledge & Palgrave, 2001.

External links

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