The mountaineers leave the aul, by P. N. Gruzinsky, 1872

Muhajirism was the emigration of Muslim indigenous peoples from the Caucasus into the Ottoman Empire following the Russian-Circassian War and the Caucasian War (during the 19th century). During this mass movement, hundreds of thousands of Muslims left Russia. "Muhajir" (Arabic: مهاجر) is an Arabic word meaning refugee, immigrant or emigrant. Mountaineering is an umbrella term that can variously be used to describe the actions of climbing, hillwalking and scrambling. ... An aoul is a type of fortified village found throughout the Caucasus mountains, especially in Dagestan. ... A memorial statue in Hanko, Finland, commemorating the thousands of emigrants who left the country to start a new life in the United States Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country or region to settle in another. ... The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ... Ottoman redirects here. ... Combatants Russian Empire Circassia  Ottoman Empire Caucasian Imamate Commanders Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Aleksey Yermolov, Mikhail Vorontsov, Aleksandr Baryatinskiy Sheikh Mansur Ghazi Mollah Gamzat-bek Muhammad-Amin, naib of Imam Shamil[1] Strength 150,000 – 200,000[2] 20,000 regulars[3] Casualties Unknown 300,000 – 4,000... Construction of the Georgian Military Road through disputed territories was a key factor in the eventual Russian success A Scene from the Caucasian War, by Franz Roubaud Russian Invasion of the Caucasus, better known in Russia as the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, was a series of military actions of... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Muhajir or Mohajir (Arabic: مهاجر) is an Arabic word meaning refugee or immigrant or emigrant. ... Arabic redirects here. ...

Background

After the surrender of Imam Shamil (Chechnya and Dagestan) in 1859, Russia's war campaigns concentrated on the Circassian lands of the North Caucasus and the Black Sea coast, at that time the largest Muslim area in the region. Following the conquest of the North Caucasus by the Russian Empire, its Muslim populations began emigrating, driven by a combination of various reasons: the imperial policy of Russia in the conquered lands, promises by Turkey, as well as the urging of the local Islamic clergy. Imam Shamil Imam Shamil (1797 – March 1871) was an Avar political and religious leader of the Muslim tribes of the Northern Caucasus. ... The Chechen Republic (IPA: ; Russian: , Chechenskaya Respublika; Chechen: , Noxçiyn Respublika), or, informally, Chechnya (; Russian: ; Chechen: , Noxçiyçö), sometimes referred to as Ichkeria, Chechnia, Chechenia or Noxçiyn, is a federal subject of Russia. ... The Republic of Dagestan IPA: (Russian: ; Avar: , ), older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Construction of the Georgian Military Road through disputed territories was a key factor in the eventual Russian success A Scene from the Caucasian War, by Franz Roubaud Russian Invasion of the Caucasus, better known in Russia as the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, was a series of military actions of... North Caucasus in Russia The North Caucasus (sometimes referred to as Ciscaucasia or Ciscaucasus) is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. ... For other uses, see Black Sea (disambiguation). ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... North Caucasus in Russia The North Caucasus (sometimes referred to as Ciscaucasia or Ciscaucasus) is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. ... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ...

The Ottomans sent emissaries, including mullahs that called for leaving the dar al-Kufr and moving to the dar al-Islam. Ottomans hoped to increase the proportion of the Muslim population at the peripheries of the Empire, where Christian populations constituted sizable populations in those times. Mountaineers were invited to "go to Turkey, where the Ottoman government would accept them with open arms and where their life would be incomparably better".^[1] Mullah (Persian: ملا) is a title given to some Islamic clergy, coming from the Arabic word mawla, meaning both vicar and guardian. ... dar al-Kufr (Arabic: house of unbelievers) is a term used by the Prophet Muhammed to refer to the Quraish-dominated society of Mecca between his flight to Medina (the Hijra) and his triumphant return. ... Dar al-Islam (Arabic: دار الإسلام literally house of submission) is a term used to refer to those lands under Muslim government(s). ...

Local mullahs and chiefs favoured resettlement, because they felt oppressed by the Russian administration. They warned their people that in order to gain full Russian citizenship they would have to abolish Islam and convert to Christianity.^[2] Additionally, local chieftains were keen to preserve their ancient privileges and feudal rights that had been abolished throughout the Russian Empire by the Emancipation Manifesto in 1861.^[3] Russia's obligatory conscription was also among the factors that worried these populations, although in fact they would never be subject to military draft. The Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia performed by tsar Alexander II of Russia amounted to liquidation of serf dependence of Russian peasants. ...

Russia itself was eager to get rid of "disquiet" peoples and settle the area with Cossacks and other Christian settlers. It was General Nikolay Yevdokimov (1804-70) who first came up with the idea of resettling mountaineers of the Western Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire. He wrote that "resettlement of intractable mountaineers" to Turkey would be the easiest way to bring the prolonged Caucasian War to an end, while giving freedom to those who "prefer death to allegiance to the Russian government".^[4] On the other hand, the Tsarist command was very much aware of the possibility of the migrants being used by Turkey as a striking force against Christian populations during the impending Russo-Turkish War.^[5] The Circassian resettlement plan was eventually agreed upon at a meeting of the Russian Caucasus commanders in October 1860 in Vladikavkaz and officially approved on May 10, 1862 by Tsar Alexander II.^[6] This article needs cleanup. ... The last wild wisent in the world was killed by poachers here in 1927. ... Construction of the Georgian Military Road through disputed territories was a key factor in the eventual Russian success A Scene from the Caucasian War, by Franz Roubaud Russian Invasion of the Caucasus, better known in Russia as the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, was a series of military actions of... Photo of Vladikavkaz cathedral mosque in 1912. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... Alexander II (1818-1881) Alexander (Aleksandr) II (Russian: Александр II Николаевич) (April 17, 1818–March 13, 1881) was the Emperor (tsar) of Russia from March 2, 1855 until his assassination. ...

Among the peoples that moved to Turkey were Abadzekhs, Shapsugs, Ubykhs, Muslim Abkhazians (especially Sadz branch), Muslim Ossetians, Adyghe, Hatuqwais, Ingush, Chechens, Lezgins and Karachays, mostly from the West Causasus. Thousands of Muslim Georgians (Chveneburi) and their Laz relatives also became Muhajirs when the Ottomans ceded the largely Muslim Georgian provinces (Adjara, Lower Guria, former Tao-Klarjeti) and Lazistan to Imperial Russia in 1878. Abadzekhs are a people of Adyghe branch. ... Shapsugs (Russian: ; self-designation: шапсыг, or Shapsyg) are a people of the Adyghe branch, who live in Tuapsinsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Lazarevsky City District of Sochi, and in the Republic of Adygea in Russia. ... The Ubykh people are a group who spoke the Northwest Caucasian Ubykh language, up until 1992. ... Abkhazians - small ethnic group, which is distinct from Georgian. ... The Sadz or Asadzwa are a people or a sub-ethnic group of the Abkhazians. ... The Ossetians (oss. ... The Adyghe or Adygs are a people of the northwest Caucasus region, principally inhabiting Adygeya (23 %) (now a constituent republic of the Russian Federation) and Karachay-Cherkessia (11 %) (where they are named as Cherkes). Shapsug National District, an autonomous district founded for Shapsigh (or Shapsugh) tribe living on the Black... The Hatuqwai were a western Circassian tribal princedom whose homeland lay along the banks of the Kuban River. ... The Ingush are a people of the northern Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. ... // Geography The Chechen people are mainly inhabitants of Chechnya, which is internationally recognized as part of Russia. ... Flag of the Lezgian people The Lezgins, also called the Lezgin, Lezgi, Lezgis, Lezgs, and Lezgians are an ethnic group who live mainly in southern Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan who speak the Lezgi language. ... The Karachays (Къарачайлыла, Qaraçaylıla) are a Turkic people of the Ciscaucasus, mostly situated in the Russian Karachay-Cherkess Republic. ... Cheveneburi means ours in Georgian, an ethnic identity for Georgian people who live in the territory of the Republic of Turkey. ... The Laz (Lazi (ლაზი) or Lazepe (ლაზეფე) in Laz, Lazlar in Turkish, Lazi (ლაზი) or Chani (ჭანი) in Georgian) are an ethnic group who live primarily on the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia. ... Official language Georgian Capital Batumi ISO code GE.AJ Head of the Government Levan Varshalomidze Area  - Total  - % water 2,900 km² n/a Population  - Total (1989)  - Density 392,432 135. ... Guria is a region in Georgia (Caucasus), in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. ... Tao-Klarjeti is the term conventionally used in modern history writing to describe the historic south-western Georgian principalities, now forming part of north-eastern Turkey and divided among the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Ardahan and Kars. ... Lazistan (Lazona - ლაზონა in Laz, ლაზეთი - Lazeti or ჭანეთი - Chaneti in Georgian) was the Ottoman administrative name for the sanjak (under vilayet of Trabzon) comprising the Laz or Lazuri-speaking population on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. ...

Resettlement

As early as 1857, Dmitry Milyutin remarked that "our obligations to humankind require that we take anticipatory measures to provide for the existence of even those tribes that are hostile to us, having been ousted from their own lands on account of public necessity". Therefore, the resettlers were given some money, paying the fare to Turkey, and provided with ships - something which was denied to the Empire's Christian migrants to the Americas, such as the Dukhobors. Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin (June 28, 1816, Moscow - January 25, 1912, Simeiz near Yalta) was Minister of War (1861-81) and the last Field Marshal of Imperial Russia (1898). ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas in an equal-area projection The Americas are the lands of the New World, consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... The Doukhobors (Duchobozetz, Duchobortzi) (Russian: ) are a Christian dissenting sect of Russian origin. ...

Special commissions were set up by the Russian imperial authorities to reduce mortality rates and "survey needs of the migrants", that is, to prevents ships from being overloaded, to profitably auction bulky movables, and to prepare clothes and victuals for the poorest families, which would be transported "without fee or charge of any kind".^[7] On the other hand, the Ottoman authorities failed to offer any support to the newly arrived. They were settled in the inhospitable mountainous regions of Inner Anatolia and were employed on menial and exhausting jobs.^[8]

Shamil's son Muhamed Shafi was appalled by the conditions the migrants had faced upon their arrival to Anatolia and went to investigate the situation: "I will write to Abdülmecid that he should stop fooling mountaineers... The government's cynicism could not be more pronounced. The Turks triggered the resettlement by their proclamations, probably hoping to use the refugees for military ends... but after facing the avalanche of refugees, they turned turtle and shamefully condemned to slow death those people who were ready to die for Turkey's glory".^[9] Abdülmecid I (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجيد اول ‘Abdü’l-MecÄ«d-i evvel) (April 23, 1823 – June 25, 1861) was the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. ...

During the year of 1864 alone about 220,000 muhajirs disembarked in Anatolia. Between March 6 and May 21, 1864, the entire Ubykh people had departed the Caucasus for Turkey, where they linguistically vanished by 1992. By the end of the resettlement, more than 400,000 Circassians, as well as 200,000 Abkhazians and Ajars, fled to Turkey. The term Çerkes, "Circassians", became the blanket term for them in Turkey because the majority were Adyghe. This article is about two nested areas of Turkey, a plateau region within a peninsula. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The Ubykh people are a group who spoke the Northwest Caucasian Ubykh language, up until 1992. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Abkhazians - small ethnic group, which is distinct from Georgian. ... Official language Georgian Capital Batumi Chairman of Interim Council Levan Varshalomidze Area  - Total  - % water 2,900 km² n/a Population  - Total (1989)  - Density 392,432 135. ... Circassians is a term derived from the Turkic Cherkess (Çerkes), and is not the self-designation of any people. ...

Muhajirism resulted in the depopulation of vast swaths of the Western Caucasus, specifically the fertile Pontic littoral near Sochi. The Tsarist government was alarmed by the palpable decline in the regional economy. In 1867 the resettlement was officially forbidden, with the exception of "isolated exceptional cases".^[10] Nevertheless, a large number of households later managed to leave Russia when they went on the Hajj to Mecca and remained with their relatives in Turkey, as the Russian embassy in İstanbul would often report.^[11] Sochi (Russian: , IPA: [soʨɪ]) is a Russian resort city, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. ... A supplicating pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram, the mosque which was built around the Kaaba (the cubical building at center). ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... The location of Istanbul Province Maiden Tower and Historical Peninsula of Istanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) (the former Constantinople, Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ...

Re-emigration

After a brief stint in Turkey, many Circassian households petitioned the Russian embassy in İstanbul for a right to return to the Caucasus.^[12] By the end of the century, Russian consulates all over the Ottoman Empire were deluged with such petitions. According to one estimate, 70% of pre-1862 emigrants were allowed to return to their homeland in the Western Caucasus.^[13] Later, re-emigration was sanctioned only on a limited scale, as mostly large villages (up to 8500 inhabitants) applied for re-emigration and their relocation posed formidable difficulties to the imperial authorities. Perhaps more importantly, Alexander II suspected that Britain and Turkey had instructed Circassians to seek a return with the purpose of sparking a new war against their Russian overlords.^[14] As a consequence, he was known to personally decline such petitions. The location of Istanbul Province Maiden Tower and Historical Peninsula of Istanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) (the former Constantinople, Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ...

Consequences

See articles 'Circassians', 'Adyghe' and 'Ubykh' for more details.

The overall resettlement was accompanied by hardship for most of the common populace. A significant part died of starvation — many Turks of Adyghe descent still do not eat fish in modern times in memory of the tremendous numbers of their kinsfolk they lost during the passage of the Black Sea. Circassians is a term derived from the Turkic Cherkess (Çerkes), and is not the self-designation of any people. ... The Adyghe or Adygs are a people of the northwest Caucasus region, principally inhabiting Adygeya (23 %) (now a constituent republic of the Russian Federation) and Karachay-Cherkessia (11 %) (where they are named as Cherkes). Shapsug National District, an autonomous district founded for Shapsigh (or Shapsugh) tribe living on the Black... The Ubykh people are a group who spoke the Northwest Caucasian Ubykh language, up until 1992. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Black Sea (disambiguation). ...

Some of the resettlers did well and made it to higher positions within the Ottoman Empire. There was a significant number of former muhajirs among Young Turks. Ottoman redirects here. ... This article is about the Turkish nationalist constitutionalist movement. ...

All nationals of Turkey are considered Turkish for official purposes. However, there are several hundreds of villages considered purely 'Circassian', with estimates of the total population of 'Circassians' going as high as 1,000,000, although there is no official data in this respect, and the estimates are based on informal surveys. The 'Circassians' in question may not always speak the languages of their ancestors, and Turkey's centre right parties, often with varying degrees of Turkish nationalism, generally do well in regions where Circassians constitute sizable parts of the population (such as in Akyazı). Turkish Nationalism is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a national, ethnic or linguistic group. ... Akyazı is a district of Sakarya Province of Turkey. ...

Along with Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union population groups with specifities started receiving more attention on the basis of their ethnicity or culture. One of a number of posters created to promote the Marshall Plan in Europe, featuring Turkey Turkeys formal application to join the European Community—the organization that has since developed into the European Union—was made on April 14th, 1987. ...

The fate of ethnic minorities was better in countries of the Middle East, created from the dismembered Ottoman Empire and were initially under British protectorate. The Al Jeish al Arabi (Arab Legion), created in Trans-Jordan under the influence of the British agent T. E. Lawrence, had a significant contingent of Chechens — arguably because the Bedouin were reluctant to serve under a centralized command. In addition, the modern city of Amman was born after Circassians settled there in 1887. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Ottoman redirects here. ... The Arab Legion (al-Jaysh al-ArabÄ«) was Transjordans and later also Jordans regular army. ... Corresponding geographically to todays Kingdom of Jordan, the Emirate of Transjordan was an autonomous political subdivision of the British Mandate of Palestine, split off in April 1921. ... Lawrence of Arabia redirects here. ... A Bedouin man on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, (from the Arabic (), is a desert-dwelling Arab nomadic pastoralist, found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the Arabian Desert. ... For other meanings, see Amman (disambiguation) and Ammann. ...

A Jordanian citizen of Chechen ethnicity, Shamsutdin Yusef, was Foreign Minister in Dzhokhar Dudayev's government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Dzhokhar Dudayev and his son (killed few days after the invasion of Chechnya) Dzhokhar Dudayev and his family Dzhokhar Musayevich Dudayev (Chechen: ; Cyrillic: Дудин Муса кант Жовхар, Russian: Джохар Мусаевич Дудаев) (February 1944 – April 21, 1996) was a Soviet Air Force general and a Chechen leader, the first President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, an unrecognized... Official language Chechen Capital Grozny (Dzhokharabad, after 1996) President Doku Umarov Independence  â€“ Declared  â€“ Recognition From Russia  â€“ November 1, 1991  â€“ Georgian Republic National anthem Death or Freedom The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria IPA: (Нохчийн Республика Нохчийчоь) is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. ...

The genocide question

During the last decade or so, especially after the two Chechen wars, pro-Chechen groups started to investigate the history of the Caucasian War and came to label the Caucasian Muhajirism as a "Circassian ethnic cleansing", although the term had not been in use in the 19th century. They point out that the Muhajirism was not really voluntary but rather involved what is today called ethnic cleansing – the systematic emptying of villages by Russian soldiers^[15] and was accompanied by Russian colonisation.^[16] They estimate that some 90 percent of the Circassians estimated at more than three million ^[17]) had relocated from the territories conquered by Russia. During these events, and the preceding Caucasian War, at least hundreds of thousands of people were "killed or starved to death", with exact figures unknown. ^[18] There have been two Chechen Wars: First Chechen War, 1994–1996 Second Chechen War, 1999–continues Category: ... For the video game, see Ethnic Cleansing (computer game). ... For the historic phenomenon of colonization and imperialism, see main article colonialism (and also decolonization). ...

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin's May 1994 statement admitted that resistance to the tsarist forces was legitimate, but he did not recognize "the guilt of the tsarist government for the genocide."^[19] In 1997 and 1998, the leaders of Kabardino-Balkaria and of Adygea sent appeals to the Duma to reconsider the situation and to issue the needed apology; to date, there has been no response from Moscow. In October 2006, the Adygeyan public organizations of Russia, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Syria, the USA, Belgium, Canada and Germany sent the president of the European Parliament a letter with a request to recognize the genocide against Adygean (Circassian) people.^[20] List of Presidents of Russia Boris Yeltsin1 (July 10, 1991 – December 31, 1999) two terms. ... “Yeltsin” redirects here. ... A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign nation through either the use of physical force, or nonviolence. ... Росси́йская Импе́рия, (also Imperial Russia) covers the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great into the Russian Empire stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposition of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start of the Russian Revolution... For other uses, see Genocide (disambiguation). ... Capital Nalchik Area - total - % water Ranked 83rd - 12,500 km² - negligible Population - Total - Density Ranked 60th - est. ... The Republic of Adygea (Russian: ; Adyghe: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) enclaved within Krasnodar Krai. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with State Duma. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... Established 1952, as the Common Assembly President Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP) Since 16 January 2007 Vice-Presidents 14 Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP) Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP) Gérard Onesta (Greens – EFA) Edward McMillan-Scott (ED) Mario Mauro (EPP) Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez (PES) Luigi Cocilovo (ALDE) Mechtild...

Although there is no legal continuity between the Russian Empire and the modern Russian Federation and the concept of genocide has been adopted in international law only in the 20th century (ex post facto law), on 5 July, 2005 the Circassian Congress, an organisation that unites representatives of the various Circassian peoples in the Russian Federation, has called on Moscow first to acknowledge and then to apologize for tsarist policies that Circassians say constituted a genocide. Their appeal pointed out that, "according to the official tsarist documents more than 400,000 Circassians were killed, 497,000 were forced to flee abroad to Turkey, and only 80,000 were left alive in their native area."^[19] Revolutionary breach of legal continuity is a concept in English constitutional law, which rationalises the historic English behaviour when one King (or regime) was deposed and a de facto ruler was recognised as the new de jure monarch (or republican authority). ... Motto: none Anthem: Hymn of the Russian Federation Capital Moscow Largest city Moscow Official language(s) Russian Government Semi-presidential Federal republic  - President of Russia Vladimir Putin  - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov Independence From the Soviet Union   - Declared June 12, 1991   - Finalized December 25, 1991  Area    - Total 17,075,400 km... For other uses, see Genocide (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... An ex post facto law (from the Latin for from something done afterward) or retroactive law, is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of acts committed or the legal status of facts and relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References