Circassians in Bulgaria

The Circassians in Bulgaria (Adyghe: Балгарыем ис Адыгэхэр, romanized: Balgarıyem yis Adıgəxər; Bulgarian: Черкези в България) 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]

Circassians in Bulgaria

Circassian: Балгарыем ис Адыгэхэр Bulgarian: Черкези в България
Vidin, Bulgaria
Total population
150,000 (late 19th century)^[1] 573 (1992)^[2]
Regions with significant populations
Varna Vidin Vratsa Shumen Dobrich Veliko Tarnovo Pleven Yambol Burgas Stara Zagora (Formerly)
Languages
Circassian
Religion
Mainly Islam
Related ethnic groups
other Circassians

History

Settlement

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.

Diseases and starvation

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]

Cooperation with the Ottoman authorities

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]}

Exile

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]

References

1. Irechek, Konstantin; Константин Иречек посочва, че черкезите в България преди 1878 г. са 150 000 души, като обръща внимание на факта, че мъжкото население в Северна България сред кавказците, освен санджаците Ниш, Търново и София е 30 573 души.
2. Galabov, Antoniy. National Report Bulgaria p. 20. Council of Europe.
3. Richmond, Walter (2013). The Circassian Genocide. Rutgers University Press. back cover. ISBN 978-0-8135-6069-4.
4. Urhan, Vahit Cemil. "Kosova'ya Yapılan Çerkes Göçü ve İskânı (1864-1865)". Trakya Üniversitesi, Balkan Araştırma Enstitüsü.
5. Natho, Kadir I. Circassian History. Page 380
6. Natho, Kadir I. Circassian History. Page 375
7. Isla, Rosser-Owen. "The First Circassian Exodus to the Ottoman Empire (1858-1867), and the Ottoman Response, based on the accounts of Contemporary British Observers" (PDF). Circassianworld. (PDF) from the original on 2010-05-25.
8. "Там /в Плевенско и Търновско/ действително се говори, че тези черкези отвличат деца от българи, загинали през последните събития." (Из доклада на английския консул в Русе Р. Рийд от 16.06.1876 г. до английския посланик в Цариград Х. Елиот. в Н. Тодоров, Положението, с. 316)
9. Reid, James J. (2000). Crisis of the Ottoman Empire: Prelude to Collapse 1839-1878. Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des östlichen Europa. Vol. 57. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 148. ISBN 3515076875. ISSN 0170-3595 – via Google Books.
10. Thompson, Ewa Majewska (2000). Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism (illustrated ed.). Greenwood Press. p. 68. ISBN 0313313113. ISSN 0738-9345 – via Google Books.
11. Still, Judith (2012). Derrida and Hospitality (reprint ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0748687275 – via Google Books.
12. Gibson, Sarah (2016). Molz, Jennie Germann (ed.). Mobilizing Hospitality: The Ethics of Social Relations in a Mobile World (reprint ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1317094951 – via Google Books.
13. Culbertson, Ely (1940). The Strange Lives of One Man: An Autobiography. Winston. p. 55.
14. Magnússon, Eiríkr (1891). National Life and Thought of the Various Nations Throughout the World: A Series of Addresses. T. F. Unwin. p. 8 – via Google Books.
15. The New Review. Vol. 1. Longmans, Green and Company. 1889. p. 309 – via Google Books.
16. Urhan, Vahit Cemil. "Kosova'ya Yapılan Çerkes Göçü ve İskânı (1864-1865)". Trakya Üniversitesi, Balkan Araştırma Enstitüsü.
17. Noel Malcolm, Kosova: Balkanları Anlamak İçin, çev. Özden Arıkan, Sabah Kitapları, İstanbul 1999
18. İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı,“Tersane Konferansının Mukarreratı Hakkında Şûra Mazbatası”, İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tarih Dergisi, VI/9 (1954), s. 125., Dipnot: 2.
19. Hacısalihoğlu, Mehmet. Kafkasya'da Rus Kolonizasyonu, Savaş ve Sürgün (PDF). Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi.
20. BOA, HR. SYS. 1219/5, lef 28, p. 4
21. Walker, A. (September 1894). "The Circassian colonies at Amman and Jerash". The Biblical World. 4 (3): 202–204. doi:10.1086/471510. S2CID 144986180.
22. Natho, Kadir I. Circassian History.