 Vidin, Bulgaria | |
| Total population | |
| 150,000 (late 19th century) [1] 573 (1992) [2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| (Formerly) | |
| Languages | |
| Circassian | |
| Religion | |
| Mainly Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Circassians |
The Circassians in Bulgaria [lower-alpha 1] were a large ethnic minority in the territory that constitutes modern Bulgaria. In the late 19th century, they numbered around 150,000. In 1992, 573 people in the country identified themselves as Circassian. [2]
After the Circassian genocide following the Russo-Circassian War, large number of Circassians were exiled to the Ottoman Empire, including in Bulgaria, [3] where there was an estimated number of 150,000 Circassians. [1] In 1863, members of the Abzakh tribe started settling in Bulgaria. [4] At first arrival, the Circassians mistook the Bulgarians for Russians due to the fact that both spoke a Slavic language and were Orthodox Christians. Those who believed that they have simply been exiled to another region of Russia believed that the war was still ongoing and were quick to attack Bulgarian villages until the confusion was cleared. In 1861–1862 alone, in the Danube Vilayet, there were 41,000 Circassian refugee families. [5] Compact masses were settled in today's regions of Vidin, Vratsa, Montana, Shumen, Dobrich and Veliko Tarnovo, where the Circassians created their own villages, and another part of them settled in Bulgarian or Turkish villages. In the region of Vratsa, Montana and Pleven, Circassians are also settled in Tatar villages. In Southern Bulgaria, the most numerous Circassian community was created in Yambol, Burgas and partly in today's Stara Zagora region.
Their lives were not easy, as the inability of the Circassians to adapt to the new climate in the areas where they are inhabited led to serious diseases. Many families completely disappeared within a few years. Around 80,000 Circassians lived in settlements that came to be referred as "death camps" on the outskirts of Varna, where they were deprived of food and subjected to diseases. Reportedly, when Circassians asked for bread, Turkish soldiers would chase them down because the Turks were afraid of the diseases the Circassians might have contracted. Most Circassians died, and the Ottomans were unable to bury the vast number of bodies, so they enlisted the help of convicts. "We would rather move to Siberia than live in this Siberia... one can die, not live, on the indicated place," one Circassian in the region wrote to the zone's Governor-General. [6] Some starving Circassians resorted to banditry.
Both the Muslim and Christian population of Vidin volunteered to help the starving Circassian settlers by increasing grain production for them. The Ottoman authorities attempted to turn the Circassians into productive farmers by providing them with land to cultivate, with the expectation that the native inhabitants of the areas would look after them and "welcome them as brothers." This would create problems in Bulgaria, where some people were asked to assist in the construction of houses for the starving Circassians. Some Bulgarians have also been reported to have been driven out of their homes in favor of Circassians, though these claims are contradictory and dubious at best. [7]
Circassian gangs and Turkish gangs were quick to form alliances, due to their common Islamic faith and shared grudge for Orthodox Slavs. The Circassians were active participants in the conflicts in the region, always siding with the Ottomans against the native Christian population in the Balkans. In 1876 Circassians aided with the Turks in crushing the April uprising, carrying out atrocities against the Christian population, [8] causing sympathy for Bulgarians in Europe. [3] [7] During the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War, the Circassians were used by the Turkish army as irregular cavalry units. In the summer of 1877, mainly Circassian irregular cavalry from the villages of Hasanoglu and Otmanlii participated on the Turkish side in the battle for Nova Zagora. The Circassians took an active part in the battles for Shipka, Lovech and Pleven. Circassians in the Ottoman army also raped and murdered Bulgarians during the 1877 Russo-Turkish war. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
The Circassians in Bulgaria fiercely opposed the Bulgarian Revolt in 1876. Kosovo Circassians also joined the Bulgarian Circassians. [16] [17] European countries in turn demanded that the Circassians leave the region. [18] The Circassians were seen as a "Muslim threat" and expelled from Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans by Russian armies following the end of the Russo-Turkish war. They were not allowed to return, [19] [20] so the Ottoman authorities settled them in new other lands such as in modern Jordan (see Circassians in Jordan), where they would have conflict with Bedouin Arabs, [21] and Turkey (see Circassians in Turkey), where they would initially not be welcomed, and would ally with the Chechens (see Chechens in Turkey) against the Kurds and Armenians. [22]
The Russo-Turkish War was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. Additional factors included the Russian goals of recovering territorial losses endured during the Crimean War of 1853–1856, re-establishing itself in the Black Sea and supporting the political movement attempting to free Balkan nations from the Ottoman Empire.
Circassia, also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in Eastern Europe. It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Circassia was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Russo-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which approximately 90% of the Circassian people were either exiled or massacred in the Circassian genocide.
The 1878 Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. It was signed at San Stefano, then a village west of Constantinople, on 3 March [O.S. 19 February] 1878 by Count Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev and Aleksandr Nelidov on behalf of the Russian Empire and by Foreign Minister Saffet Pasha and Ambassador to Germany Sadullah Bey on behalf of the Ottoman Empire.
The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, beginning in the late 14th century, with the Ottoman conquest of smaller kingdoms from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire. In the late 19th century, Bulgaria was liberated from the Ottoman Empire, and by the early 20th century it was declared independent.
Bulgarian Turks are ethnic Turks from Bulgaria. According to the 2021 census, there were 508,375 Bulgarians of Turkish descent, roughly 8.4% of the population, making them the country's largest ethnic minority. Bulgarian Turks also comprise the largest single population of Turks in the Balkans. They primarily live in the southern province of Kardzhali and the northeastern provinces of Shumen, Silistra, Razgrad and Targovishte. There is also a diaspora outside Bulgaria in countries such as Turkey, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Romania, the most significant of which are the Bulgarian Turks in Turkey.
The Principality of Bulgaria was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
Muhacir are the estimated millions of Ottoman Muslim citizens and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Muhacirs are mostly Turks but also Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Pomaks, Macedonian Muslims, Greek Muslims, Serb Muslims, Georgian Muslims, and Muslim Roma who emigrated to East Thrace and Anatolia from the late 18th century until the end of the 20th century, mainly to escape ongoing persecution in their homelands.
The Circassian genocide, or Tsitsekun, was the systematic mass killing, ethnic cleansing, and expulsion of between 95% and 97% of the Circassian people during the final stages of the Russian invasion of Circassia in the 19th century. It resulted in the deaths of between 625,000 and 1.5 million and the destruction of Circassia, which was then annexed by the Russian Empire. Those planned for extermination were mainly the Circassians, who are predominantly Muslims, but other Muslim Caucasian peoples were also affected, as part of the Caucasian War. Notable killing methods used by the Imperial Russian Army in Circassia included impalement and tearing open the bellies of pregnant women in order to intimidate the Circassians and devastate their morale. Many Russian generals, such as Grigory Zass, described the Circassians as "subhuman filth" and a "lowly race" to justify and glorify their wholesale slaughter and their use as human test subjects in unethical scientific experiments. Russian soldiers were also permitted to rape Circassian women.
Debelt is a village in Burgas Province in southeastern Bulgaria. It is located in the municipality of Sredets.
The Circassian flag is the national flag of the Circassians. It consists of a green field charged with twelve gold stars, nine forming an arc resembling a bow and three horizontal, also charged with three crossed arrows in the center. Seferbiy Zaneqo, a Circassian diplomat, is the designer of the flag. Every year, April 25 is celebrated as the Circassian flag day by Circassians. Another version of the flag is currently officially used by the Republic of Adygea of the Russian Federation as its national flag.
The Russo-Circassian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Circassia, was the invasion of Circassia by Russia, starting in 1763 (O.S) with the Russian Empire assuming authority in Circassia, followed by the Circassian refusal, and ending 100 years, 10 months and 6 days later with the last army of Circassia defeated on 21 May 1864 (O.S), making it exhausting and casualty-heavy for both sides. The Russo-Circassian War was the longest war both Russia and Circassia have ever fought and the longest war in the Caucasus region.
Çerkes Ethem, known in English as Ethem the Circassian, was a Circassian Ottoman guerilla leader, social bandit, efe and soldier. He initially gained fame for establishing the Kuva-yi Seyyare and putting down multiple large-scale rebellions and gaining key major victories against the Greek armies invading Anatolia during the Turkish War of Independence.
Trakya University is a public university in Edirne, Turkey. It was established on July 20, 1982. The university is located in Edirne, in Eastern Thrace. Trakya University is a regional university with branches and campuses spread over the Thrace region. Trakya University runs scientific activities related to regional development and has international relationships especially within the Balkan Universities Network including more than 40 Universities from Balkan countries and the University Loerrach in Germany. Erhan Tabakoglu was elected and confirmed as new Rector of the university in July 2016.
The Circassians in Kosovo were a group of the Circassian people who lived in Kosovo beginning in the mid-19th century, when they were exiled during the Circassian genocide to the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Circassian War. During this time, the Circassians in Kosovo were from three of the twelve Adyghe tribes: the Abzakh, Shapsug and Ubykh. In 1998 they numbered 200.
The demographics of the Ottoman Empire include population density, ethnicity, education level, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Circassian nationalism is the desire among Circassians worldwide to preserve their genes, heritage and culture, save their language from extinction, raise awareness about the Circassian genocide, return to Circassia and establish a completely autonomous or independent Circassian state in its pre-Russian invasion borders.
Circassians in Turkey refers to people born in or residing in Turkey that are of Circassian origin. The Circassians are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Turkey, with a population estimated to be two million, or according to the EU reports, three.
The Circassian Parliament or the Circassian Majlis was the legislature of Circassia officialized in 1861 after a meeting in Sochi attended by leaders of several Circassian provinces. A tribal confederation had existed before the parliament's establishment, but a centralized government was achieved only after it was built.
The Stara Zagora massacre was the mass murder of approx. 14,000 civilian Bulgarians, accompanied by the burning and complete destruction of the City of Stara Zagora on 31 July–2 August [O.S. 19–21 July] 1877, committed by regular Ottoman troops commanded by Süleyman Hüsnü Pasha, during the eponymous battle of the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878).
The Kavarna massacre, also known as the Kavarna rebellion, refers to the near one-month defence of the Black Sea town of Kavarna by its citizens and some 10,000 refugees from nearby villages against a band of 3,000 Circassian paramilitaries.
