I plan to write stuff on ME Floating Feature but that time i'll be busy working as slave labour for

my seniors dealing with college freshmen stuff so i decided to post my writing here instead

Circassian Refugees and Their Settlements in Syria and Transjordan after the Russo-
Turkish War

The Russo–Ottoman War of 1877–1878 and the following treaties of San Stefano and Berlin of
1878–1879 resulted in the loss of a large chunk of European areas of the Ottoman Empire and
the Caucasus. These regions were populated by large numbers of Muslim Turkish-speaking
people, including Circassian immigrants and refugees recently settled in the Danube after the
Russian conquest of the Caucasus. During the war, Circassian soldiers and irregulars fought the
Russians and Bulgarians whose virulent animosity and brutality towards the Russians incited the
latter to respond in kind. Additionally, the Ottomans sent two Circassian units to help in the fight
against the Russian invaders in the Caucasus. Inevitably the local Circassian population rose up
against the Russians leading to a Russian expeditionary force under General Kondukov landed
on the West coast of the Black Sea with the purpose of liberating Circassia. Consequently,
claiming that they were creating transborder problems and disturbances, Russia insisted that the
Ottoman government remove these communities from the Balkans and newly acquired Russian
lands in the Caucasus. As a result, the entire Circassian and Chechen populations of Thrace and
Macedonia were dispersed into Anatolia and the Arab provinces followed by further 2 million
people who were forced to leave the Caucasus in terrible conditions, travelling overland and by
sea between 1878 and 1879. An estimated 500,000 died along the way from harassment, disease,
or starvation which i won't tell in detail because it's quite some depressing stuff

Ottoman Administration and Circassian Refugees

The Ottoman government had set up a special department to manage refugees called Idare-i
Umumiye-i Muhacirun Komisyonu (General Commission for the Administration of
Immigration). It was established in 1860 to manage Tatar and later Caucasian refugees under the
chairmanship of Sadik Paşa. Eventually, after the flow of immigrants relaxed it was closed down
in November 1865. However, with the new flow of refugees after the war by the sultan's order
the commission was re-opened again, still under Sadik Paşa. Moreover, the Sultan stated that
since the majority of the arriving immigrants were "destitute and in need of charity and mercy
and had taken refuge here because of the enemy's aggression on their lands, it was essential for
the entire population of Istanbul to fulfil their obligations of hospitality and protection as already
evident in the willingness of everybody to aid the immigrants." Consequently it led to the
establishment of a lane Komisyonu (Charity Commission) composed of 10 members whose main
purpose was to collect aid and distribute it to Muslim and Christian immigrants arriving in
Istanbul. The Charity Commission was to distribute food, provide health care and find
employment for the immigrants in the lists provided by the Immigration Commission. The
Ottoman Government’s view was that charity and hospitality was a Muslim religious obligation.
Those arriving were in the main destitute and in need of charity and mercy and had taken refuge
because of the enemy’s aggression on their lands, it was essential for the entire population of
Istanbul to fulfill their obligations of hospitality and protection as already evident in the
willingness of everybody to aid the immigrants. This altruistic position of the Ottoman
Government, based on moral or religious principles, was also supported by the fear that Muslims
who remained on lands conquered by Russia might be conscripted into the army and forced to
fight against their Muslim brethren as had already been done in the past by Russia. By
encouraging Muslims who desired to leave these Russian newly annexed territories and settle in
Ottoman territory, such fears could be mitigated. About 10 years later in 1887, the Ottoman
government under direct instructions from the Sultan after considerable debate made a basic
decision concerning the immigration of Muslims from the Balkans and Caucasus. During the
debate one group claimed that the Ottoman long range interests would be served better if the
Muslim population remained in their native lands though ruled by a non-Muslim authority.
Another group contended that the immigration of Muslims would increase the Ottoman
manpower, augment the number of potential soldiers, and contribute to the rise of national
income, and concurrently weaken the enemy by depriving it of population and income. However,
the chief argument in favour of free immigration was the classical Islamic principle that any
Muslim who did not want to live under non-Muslim rule should be allowed to immigrate and
settle on Muslim lands and be accepted and cared for. The proposal then was prepared by
Cemalettin Efendi, the head of the Muslim Community of Eastern Rumelia. The şeyhülislam's
office sent Cemalettin Efendi's original proposal with a supporting letter directly to Sultan
Abdulhamid stating that the life of the Muslims under foreign rule in Rumelia and elsewhere had
become difficult, that their religious and cultural rights were continuously violated and,
consequently, they should be allowed to immigrate. They proposed to the Sultan to urge these
Muslims to immigrate not only in order to save themselves but also to strengthen the Ottoman
human resources to withstand Europe's future attacks upon the Muslim Middle East. In order to
meet the expenses of the immigrants, it was decreed that all government offices with the
exception of some military departments should attempt to save 2% from their budget to be used
for the settlement of the newcomers. The conferences decided also to establish Muhacirin
Komisyonu Alisi (High Immigration Commission) under the "chairmanship of his highness the
Caliph" whose members were to be appointed by the Sultan. This Immigration Commission was
to function alongside the old Idare-i Umumiye-i Muhacirun Komisyonu. The immigration policy
initiated by the Ottoman government after 1887 successfully encouraged Muslim immigrants and
consequently the rate of arrival increased. In order to accommodate the newcomers it was
decided in 1893 to establish a new General Immigration Commission consisting of 13
departments to deal with all of the problems involved in the settlement of the migrants and
abolish the old ones. However, there are still problem with immigrations like mistreatment from
locals or officials. In order to deal with the difficult problems caused by immigration, the Sultan
decided to revive the old Muhacirin Komisyonu Alisi by involving in it technocrats drawn from
various ministries who could provide practical solutions rather than ideological palliatives to
immigration and settlement problems as was often the case. Shortly afterwards the by-laws of the
Commission were drafted, and its name was changed to Muhacirin-i Islamiye Komisyon-u Alisi
(High Islamic Immigration Commission). This Commission functioned under the chairmanship
of the Sultan and superseded the authority of all other existing bodies. Its chief purpose was to
set policy governing the movement of all Muslims from the Balkans and Russia, beginning from
their place of origin to the place of settlement in Anatolia, Syria and Iraq. The Commission also
proposed to deal with all the problems encountered by the migrants in their country of origin,
such as aiding them to secure the necessary travel documents and the permission to sell their
properties and take the proceeds with them, and helping them to arrange transportation to their
chosen destination. As far as the settlement policy itself was concerned, the Commission
proposed first to locate suitable sites possessing cultivable lands in all the Ottoman vilayets
including Syria, Baghdad, Basra, as well as Benghazi and Tripoli in North Africa. Then it
proposed to build houses for the migrants and to provide for their maintenance until they became
self-supporting in the shortest possible time. Finally, it issued directives to the officials in the
vilayets to do their best to facilitate the immigrant's adjustment to their new homes and the
development of harmonious relations with the established population.
The Ottoman government developed after 1878 a rather simple but practical settlement policy.
The Muhacirin Komisyonu issued the basic instructions to the settlement commissions and
officials established in each vilayet. The muhajir (refugee) according to these instructions were
to be given land from miri properties or from properties purchased by the government from
private individuals for distribution to the immigrants. Some individuals donated land for
settlement of the immigrants free of charge. Until the completion of their houses the muhajir
were to be distributed among the population of the established villages and supported by them,
each ten families was to support one immigrant family. The migrants were prohibited from
leaving their assigned localities. The chief duty of the iskan (settlement) official was to
implement the above decisions.
The settlement policy implemented after 1895 in Syria and Aleppo provinces had the objective
of increasing the number of the Muslims in some key areas as well as of strengthening the
Sultan's authority there. In other words, the Ottoman government settled the Caucasians in Syria
in order to assure there the numerical superiority of the Muslims against any future territorial
claims by non-Muslims while the Ottomans were consolidating their own authority. Indeed,
thanks to this influx of Muslims, the vilayets of Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo and the
mutasarifik of Mount Lebanon strengthened further the predominantly Muslim character of their
population. The Ottoman settlement policy in Syria also had two important features which had
emerged gradually after 1878 and had in fact become part of the overall Ottoman immigration
policies. This policy aimed to strengthen the Islamic presence in Syria and to develop strong
bonds of solidarity between the immigrants and the old established population by downplaying
ethnic and linguistic differences. Such policy had also the practical effect of facilitating the
adaptation of the immigrants to their new social environment. Some Circassians were
incorporated into the local troops or militias under the command of Ottoman officers. Moreover,
the Ottoman government wanted to use the Circassians to check the nomadic Bedouin, Turkmen
and Kurdish tribes which threatened the sedentary rural population and the smaller towns on the
edge of the desert and posed a danger to the Hejaz Railway. Furthermore, the government
wanted to settle Circassians in tillable fertile lands and quickly bring in income from agricultural
products. Indeed, by the 20th century most Circassians had become peasants employed in
agricultural work on miri or Crown lands, with the exception of a few who are directly employed
on lands belonging to the Civil List. In other parts of Syria there are large and flourishing
Circassian communities, a few being scattered a considerable way south along the line of the
Hejaz Railway. In many of these districts the Circassians have transformed barren tracts into
well-cultivated and prosperous agricultural land
However, the Ottoman government, though following an Islamist policy, was cautious enough to
avoid the concentration of a single Muslim ethnic group in one area as possible. This was
because few areas possessed sufficient arable land in one place to accommodate a large group
and to prevent the political organization of any ethnic group into a single unit, which was
especially important for Circassians because of deep loyalty to their tribal chiefs and their
disregard for the central government's organized authority. In fact, most of them wore arms as
the symbol of honour and bravery. Consequently the government found it advisable to disperse
the larger Circassian tribes by settling them in different areas and depriving them of their
traitional leadership. Some Circassian communal and tribal leaders were given army positions,
while many leading and wealthy families were allowed to settle in cities. Divided, the
Circassians especially the warlike groups were prevented from organizing themselves into armed
bands and from attacking the established population, as they had done occasionally in Rumelia
and Anatolia
The government spent considerable amounts of money to settle the immigrants. For example, a
report by the Ottoman authorities indicated that there were at Hashniye in Quneitra in 1901 some
62 Circassian families consisting of 266 people (192 grown-ups and 74 children) who had
received a total of 6,870 kuruş per month as living allowance, plus 1,500 kuruş per family for the
purchase of livestock and seeds. In total, the Circassians in Quneitra cost the treasury roughly
175,440 kuruş per year. Moreover 50,000 kuruş were allocated to the immigrants in Vadi al-
Ajam for the construction of houses as well as the purchase of draft animals. These sounds quite
excessive, but it should be kept in mind that the Muhacirin-i Islamiye Komisyon-u Alisi as well
as other bodies dealt chiefly with immigrants who were destitute and needed government
assistance. It did not deal with the immigrants who had sufficient funds or had relatives willing
to support them. Many of these came on their own, often travelling as foreigners with passports
issued by authorities in their country of origin. For instance of a total of 5,066 immigrants who
entered the vilayet of Adana from 1897 to 1906, some 1,372 people had sufficient means to
support themselves, and presumably were not included in later statistics. Moreover, a sizable
number of immigrants often left their original place of settlement and moved, despite
government prohibition, to other areas where their kind and relatives had already settled.

General Overview of Circassian Immigration to Syria

At first, Syria was not regarded as suitable for intensive settlement because the land was scarce
and the unruly Bedouin, Turkmen and Kurdish tribes made life precarious in the countryside.
Nevertheless, a number of Muslim immigrants had already settled in the Syrian provinces before
1878. It is known that two Circassian settlements were established in the Quneitra area as early
as 1872. However, the loss of the Balkans and the influx of large numbers of Muslim refugees
first from that area, and then from Crete in 1897, made Syria, also, by necessity, a settlement
area. The bulk of the Circassians settled in the province of Syria after 1878, and then again after
1888. Most of those who settled there in 1878 or immediately afterwards came from Bulgaria. In
February 1878 a group of 1,000 Circassians landed at Beirut with the purpose of going to the
Dumair area north-east of Damascus, while another 1,500 landed in Acre with the intention of
settling in the Nablus areas, while another 2,000 people landed at Tripoli. Later in March more
refugees (it is not clear whether they all were Circassians) arrived, 5,000 in Tripoli and some
1,500 in Latakia. The latter were to be sent to Gebele, but they refused to go and settled in
Latakia, causing the authorities considerable difficulty. A Circassian group was sent to the
mutasarifik of Belka to the plains inhabited by Bedouin tribes, and armed clashes between the
Circassian and the tribesmen soon followed. The Circassians continued to arrive in vilayet of
Syria throughout the summer of 1878, in July of 1878, 482 Circassians arrived in Acre on an
Ottoman boat and other 1,200 on the Austro-Hungarian steamer SS Tirnavo. Later, in August of
1878, another 1,200 Circassians arrived in Beirut from Salonika and Istanbul and they expected
to be settled in the Hama and Horns areas. The flow of Circassian refugees into Syria continued
in a variety of forms to the end of the century, and then in 1905-06, as a consequence of Ottoman
government's policy of actively encouraging Muslim migration, the flow increased. Hundreds of
Circassian families, this time coming mostly from the north Caucasus, moved into Ottoman
lands and were settled in the vilayets of Syria and Aleppo. It was reported that in 1906 a new
group of 1,450 Circassians arrived in the Aleppo province. Moreover, small groups of
Circassians established originally in the vilayets of Sivas, and Trabzon and elsewhere, moved to
Syria to join their kin and relatives. At first, the Circassians, accustomed to the mountain climate
of the Caucasus, were forced to live in the warm and humid climate of the Mediterranean and
were decimated by epidemics of all kinds and brought to the brink of starvation by breakdown of
their organizational system and by lack of proper care. In order to survive some were forced to
steal, while others settled in the countryside had to fight unfriendly neighbours such as the
nomadic Bedouin tribes, Kurds and Turkmen who resented the intrusion of these outsiders upon
their grazing lands. In some cases the Ottoman government used its regular military forces to
defend the Circassians, while in other cases the Circassians enrolled in the local military units
took advantage of their position to fight their enemies. In a short time some Circassian tribes in
Syria learned the political game of tribal warfare and allied themselves with their nomadic
neighbours against their common enemy. However, gradually as the Circassians along with other
immigrants received land and entered into their houses built by the government they settled to a
normal sedentary way of life. The religious-cultural factors which had initiated their exodus from
their original homes in the Caucasus were instrumental in facilitating their adjustment to the new
socio-cultural environment in Syria. However, it is noticeable that most of the Circassian
settlements failed to grow significantly in size. This may have been due to a number of factors, a
low fertility rate, a very high mortality rate in the first few decades, or high departure rates. This
static population growth would account for why the Circassians, once established in their
settlements, did not try to expand their areas of cultivation or occupancy after the First World
War.

Some Circassian Settlements in the Bilad As-Sham Area

Marj al-Sultan

With the large influx of Circassian refugees passing through Damascus from the port of Beirut, a
number of Circassian settlements are known have been established both to the north around
Homs and nearby in the vicinity of Damascus. Marj al-Sultan, in the fertile orchards ringing
Damascus, was a well-organized and carefully planned settlement which quickly took root and
thrived. The first Circassian families arrived in Marj al-Sultan in 1878. They were mainly
Shabzugh and Abazah tribes. At the time, Midhat Paşa was the Governor of Damascus. His wife
was Circassian and he liked Circassians, and upon hearing the incoming Circassian refugees he
met with those who were on their way to al-Marj al-Sultan and the Jaulan and suggested that
they stay closer to Damascus in a place called Mezzeh. At that time Mezzeh was an unpopulated
land devoted to cactus fields. The Circassians refused as they were afraid that they would
become assimilated if they lived so close to the city. Some went on to the Jaulan where the
geographic nature of the place was very close to that of their homeland, heavy rain, snow, woods
and mountains. The rest settled in Marj al-Sultan, which was a private property of Sultan
Abdülhamid. The Ottoman government gave each family two cows, two oxen, poultry, food
supplies, and tents. Originally they chose to establish their town along the south-eastern area. But
when they started digging, they discovered that the place was an old Roman cemetery and so
they had to move west. They started to build their small homes, using unburned bricks and
pressed wet soil. The roofs were made of poplar trees which were plentiful in the area. After
building the houses they build a mosque in 1879 in the Shabzugh quarter. As with so many of
these planned Circassian settlements, they were located on fault lines or frontiers of conflict. The
villages in the Ghouta, the important agricultural artery for the city, had long been harassed
by Bedouin, particularly the powerful Aneza tribes who sought to extract khuwa (tribute) from
the local farmers. The Circassian settlers in the Ghouta quickly established their strength and
unwillingness to pay tribute to the Bedouin. After some clashes, in due course they entered into
agreements with the Bedouin leadership to work together for the mutual benefit of both
communities. Marj al-Sultan thrived as a village, and rapidly became a focal point for
Circassians on their way to settlements in the south in the Jaulan and Transjordan or later for
those passing through for trade and other business in Damascus, Homs, or Aleppo. For the next
generation seeking higher education in Damascus was important, but the pull to remain in Marj
al-Sultan was strong. Although the second generation replaced Turkish with Arabic as official
language, the Circassian language, Cherkasi, remained the language spoken at home.

Jaulan Heights

Though mostly abandoned by the 18th century, Quneitra was an important pasture land. The
Fadl, the Na’im, and numerous Turkmen nomadic pastoral tribes claimed the area as belonging
to their ‘traditional tribal territory’. Rough and rocky, it was prime grazing land for sheep,
though also potentially suitable for agriculture. The first Circassian settlers arrived there in 1872,
most probably from Sivas in Anatolia. They came with their ox-carts and animals, and seem to
have held back from pursing any cultivation for about 5 years. Then, in 1878, another 2,000
Circassians arrived from Bulgaria and the community started trying to cultivate the land. These
newcomers, as well as the original settlers, were now given between 70 and 130 dönüm of land,
depending upon the size of their families. By this time Quneitra was a village of 100 houses, and
there were about 7 other villages nearby. 10 years later on, Quneitra had grown to a town of 260
buildings with a population of approximately 1,300 Circassians and a few Arab government
officials and soldiers. One visitor to the Jaulan in 1885, Gottlieb Schumacher, described the
Circassians he came across: “As a consequence of the Russo-Turkish War, they wandered out of
Bulgaria, and in the spring, 1878, in a starving and pitiful condition reached ‘Akka … By
indomitable industry and solid perseverance they soon attained a certain degree of prosperity,
built villages, cultivated fields, bred cattle, dried grass for the winter and drove the Bedawin out
of their neighbourhood”. Relations with the surrounding pastoral tribes were uneasy at first,
particularly with the highly respected Al-Fadl Bedouins, who lose some of their pasture lands to
the Circassian farmers. This tribe, with deep historical roots in Syria, had about 320 tents as well
as winter villages in the area at the time of Schumacher’s visit. He reported that the Fadl deeply
resented the Circassians. Both the Fadl and the Circassians had fought each other, with the amir,
Shaykh Shedadi al-Fadl, having died in one battle with Circassians. Eventually the early
skirmishes and jockeying for control gave way to a modus vivendi, and by 1879 reports indicated
that a run by the qaymakam (governor) of Quneitra also included representatives of the Fadl, the
Na’im, the Turkmen, and the Druze to discuss matters related to the smooth functioning of the
villages, as well as the use of the land for agriculture and for pasture. Less than 10 years later the
Circassians possessed around 12 large flourishing villages in the area, including the flourishing
town of Quneitra itself. Schumacher also remarked the good condition of the villages: “It does
one’s eyes good, after having seen so many devastated places, to arrive at a flourishing, evenly-
constructed, clean village, whose inhabitants, with their magistrate, or Kaimakam, an energetic,
industrious old Turk, immigrated from the neighbourhood of the chief Turkish town, have more
feeling for European systems than the citizens of many towns in this country … Looking too at
the towering hay-cocks, the swift rattling Circassian carts, the preparation of dried bricks from
the fine earth of the neighbourhood, and above all the cleanliness of the streets, one asks
involuntarily, ‘Am I in the Jaulan?’”
.
The Circassians on the Jaulan were drawn into much more serious and sustained conflict with the
Druze than they had experienced with the Fadl. Some historians claim that the Ottoman
authorities deliberately selected the Jaulan as a settlement site for the Circassian immigrants
because they need to place a militarily strong potential force in a strategic position between the
Druze of the villages around Mount Hermon and the Jebel Druze. Similar to the Fadl, Druzes had
been staking claim on the Jaulan Heights since old times. At first, Druzes were satisfied with
minor reconnaissance actions and with opening fire against the Circassian villages. In 1881, they
carried out a major raid against Circassians. Nevertheless, the Druzes failed in these raids. For
example the Druze troops of 600 men were defeated in their raid against the village of Mansura.
It was followed by raids of Circassian troops against the Druze regions. Bloody conflicts
continued until 1889 when those two parties reached a peace agreement, which would not last. In
1894, a new conflict broke out caused by the attack of a Druze group against a Circassian couple.
During the conflict a Circassian woman was killed. According to the Circassian traditions,
murdering a woman was considered as a crime, but Circassian elders forbade the young people
to take a revenge and they applied for the district governor of Quneitra to punish the criminals.
They then sent a delegation to Druze sheikhs to investigate the event. Druze Sheikhs expressed
their apologies for the event and they stated they were ready to pay the blood money of 300 liras.
However, Circassian representatives en route were intercepted and attacked by Druze warriors
and the two parties started to prepare for war again. Eventually on 24 May 1894, a Druze army
of 10,000 men opened fire on Mansura. The Circassians in Mansura, aided by reinforcements
from the neighboring villages counterattacked and repelled the Druzes despite being
outnumbered. According to the Russian consul, 88 Druses were killed while 44 Circassian men,
4 women, 7 children were killed and 4 wounded. In the evening of the same day Husrev Paşa,
Head of the police department of the province arrived in the crime scene. He gathered the leaders
of the both parties and proposed a peace settlement. However, Circassians considered the Druzes
guilty and refused to reach an agreement by insisting on their punishment and reached the Sultan
for mediation. Eventually a commission was set up by Osman Nuri Paşa to investigate the
situation and found the Druzes guilty. According to the conditions suggested to Circassians, The
Druzes would pay 1000 liras to Mansurians and apologize. Truce was signed on 9 August 1894
and 35 Druze sheiks apologized. Despite the agreement reached, both parties lived with an
uneasy peace and prepared for a possible conflict in the future
In autumn of 1895, a new Druze uprising broke out which involved banditry actions such as
killing Christians and plundering peasants. 9 villages were destroyed and 100 civillians were
killed as a result of the Druze attacks. Eventually in 19 November 1895, a Druze army of 3,000
men headed towards Mansura. In the village, some 2,000 Circassians and the Fadl Bedouins
mobilized led by a prominent Circassian general Anchok Ahmad Bey. The allied army went out
and fought the Druzes. In the thick of the battle, Ahmad Bey was killed, and Circassian-Bedouin
troops started to withdraw. However, Circassian police cavalry led by Mirza Bey arrived and
attacked the Druzes. Right afterwards, a police group came from Beirut as well, forcing the
Druzes to withdraw. Despite warnings, Circassian-Bedouin troops chased the Druzes and
advanced through the Druze regions and devastated Majdal Shams. Kurdish tribal warriors led
by Said Paşa also joined the army and set Druze villages on fire. Eventually to quell the uprising,
on 20 November 1895, an Ottoman force of 400 infantries, 200 cavalries and 2 artilleries headed
by Nuri Paşa came from Damascus to Hauran. Then Memduh Paşa along with his 3 infantry
battalions mobilized, joined by the Circassian-Bedouin-Kurdish warriors. Several clashes took
place between Ottoman forces and Druses, and the insurgents were defeated at the end. In any
case, Circassian troops remained a strong military force there, doing biddings for the Ottoman
government or themselves against Druze insurgents or hostile Bedouins. Many Circassians also
become military officers and civil servants, many of whom proved to be influential in the
Ottoman Empire and later Turkish Republic

Raqqah

The Circassian settlement at Raqqah was established by the Qabartay Circassians who arrived at
Alexandretta in 1905and were peaceful people who had left Russia of their own accord who
were welcomed in Syria and whose settlement at Raqqah, Khanasir and Manbii was built with
care. Raqqah was gradually developing as a market town and administrative centre of the
potentially rich middle Euphrates and lower Balikh valleys, but the area north of it was still
much troubled by raids of the Fid'an Bedouins and other tribes. The government therefore
welcomed a strong Circassian presence in the area, and it was calculated that half a dozen
villages might be built along the Balikh above Raqqah and that Circassian settlers would serve as
gendarmes. In the end, however, only 47 Qabartay families actually settled at Raqqah in 1905—
6, a few others joining them later. The ambitious plans for a line of Circassian settlements on the
Balikh did not materialize, largely for lack of potential settlers, though Arab opposition also
played a part. The settlement at Raqqah itself, just to the west of the Arab town, did succeed.
Each family was given land, a two-roomed cottage, stable and yard, a pair of bulloeks, a plough
and five sacks of seed grain, all this being paid for by a government grant supplemented by local
contributions. The leader of the group, Talustan Anzor, earned a reputation as a mediator and
conciliator. Other families of the Qabartay went to Manbij, already a Circassian settlement. It
had been founded in 1879 by refugees from the Balkans, some of whom had come from the
fortress town of Vidin on the Danube and had been given money, cattle, tools and land at
Manbij. Manbij was a good town, supported with ancient canals and fertile land, and despite
some initial trouble with the Bani Sa'id, the strongest local Bedouin tribe, the settlement f
lourished. Manbij became an administrative centre with a small garrison and the market town for
the country between Bab and the Euphrates

Transjordan (Balqa and Amman)

North Caucasian muhajir communities founded several settlements in Ottoman Transjordan.

Circassians set up villages in Amman (1878), Wadi al-Sir (1880), Naur (1901), and al-Rusayfa
(1904) in the Salt district and Jerash (1884) in the Ajlun district. Chechens established
settlements in al-Zarqa (1902), al-Sukhna (1905), and Sweileh (1906) in the Salt district. The
overall Circassian and Chechen population in Ottoman Transjordan never exceeded 5,000 to
6,500 individuals, and the population of Amman equaled around half that number. As in Syria,
Circassian settlement contributed to the expansion of agriculture in place of pastoralism. Thus,
Muslim and Christian urban dwellers from Salt and Karak and nomadic and seminomadic
Bedouin tribes established a host of wheat-producing villages in the Balqa in the final
decades of Ottoman rule. Circassian refugees founded Amman shortly after the end of the war.
The primary attraction of Amman was its water resources. The young agricultural settlement had
two sources of water, the Amman springs, or Ras al-Ayn, and a stream in the valley, Sayl
Amman, which ran through the village. Amman was divided into four quarters, based on tribal
affiliation and arrival, Shabzugh, Qabartay, Abazah, and Muhajirin. The first settlers in Amman
were of a Shabzugh Circassians who settled among the ruins of the Roman theatre and used its
stones in the building of their first homes in what became the Shabzugh quarter. Displaced from
Circassia in the 1860s and then from Ottoman Bulgaria during the 1877–78 Russo-Ottoman War,
this first wave of Circassians constituted “double refugees”. Kabardin and Abazah Circassians,
who arrived in 1880–92, formed the next refugee wave. They established the Qabartay and
Abazah quarters. The youngest Circassian quarter was founded by new Kabardin immigrants
who came from the Russian Empire around 1902. They settled near the Amman springs, which
gave the name to their neighborhood, Ras al-Ayn, also known by local communities as
the Muhajirin quarter. The settlement in Amman also became a focal point of contention
between Circassian refugees and Bedouin over the rights to water and fertile lands in the eastern
Balqa. Before the arrival of muhajirs, two rival tribes, the Adwan, who led the Balqawiyya tribal
confederation, and the Bani Sakhr used the springs. Within a year of the arrival of the first
refugees, the al-Hadid clan of the Balqawiyya confederation, with the support of Salti notables,
attempted to register lands around Amman, but this preemptive registration was never
formalized, perhaps due to high tax obligations. The expansion of the Circassian settlement
towards the Amman springs jeopardized access to water for nearby Bedouin clans, which led to
several armed confrontations between muhajirs and local Bedouin communities. The Circassian
community in Amman eventually developed a productive agricultural base and soon attracted
Arab traders and was integrated into the Levantine networks of capital. The chief attraction of
the Balqa for regional merchants was cheap grain that they could resell at higher prices in
Jerusalem, Nablus, and Damascus. After suffering from the Long Depression which suppressed
global prices for grain in the 1870s and 1880s, demand for Levantine grain increased again in the
1890s, especially in the booming Levantine ports such as Jaffa, Haifa, and Beirut, and the great
interior cities of Nablus and Damascus. A fierce competition amid an unfavorable economic
climate in the 1870s and 1880s pushed small-scale grain merchants to develop new supply
chains, especially in the Balqa. Urban Levantine merchants were previously wary of investing in
the Balqa, with its sparse and mostly nomadic population and meager agricultural surplus. It was
the establishment of wheat-producing villages by Circassian muhajirs as well as the expansion of
Ottoman administrative power to Salt that made Amman and Balqa into one of agricultural
powerhouse. The first Arab merchants in Amman came from Salt, from both long-settled
Christian and Muslim communities and recently arrived Nabulsis and others, known locally as
aghrab. The Salti commerce was linked to broader networks of capital in central and northern
Palestine, and merchants operating in the Balqa had benefited from Nablus’s growing economy
in the late Ottoman period. The commercial significance of Amman increased after the
construction of the Hejaz Railway, which connected Damascus to Medina, operational in central
Transjordan since 1903. The train would leave Damascus at 8:00 a.m. and arrive in Amman at
9:00 p.m. A route that once took several days in a heavily guarded caravan could now be
completed in one day, with Turkish coffee served on demand. The southernmost Circassian
refugee settlements in the Ottoman Empire became connected to the emerging Levantine railway
grid. The Hejaz Railway bolstered regional trade and delivered solid advantages to Amman over
the old administrative center in Salt, which was not serviced by the railroad. Merchants could
now send Balqa grain and other produce directly to Damascus by train. From Damascus, through
the French-built railway network, products of the Balqa could be delivered to Beirut, Homs,
Tripoli, and Aleppo. Amman was also linked to Haifa, the fastest growing port in Palestine in the
final decades of Ottoman rule, via a branch of the Hejaz Railway. The Ottoman-built railway
came with the much sought telegraph that tied Amman closer to the Levantine communication
networks and facilitated regional commerce. Amman further benefited from the good roads that
muhajirs built between their chief town and its surrounding villages. The muhajir settlement in
Amman offered Levantine merchants relative security in what was still a largely nomadic region
and, at the same time, an additional access point to Bedouin communities. The alliance between
Circassians and the Bani Sakhr bolstered the security of Amman as a trading post and provided
new opportunities for trade with the Bedouin tribe, whose territories lay to the east of the
railway. Furthermore, the construction, maintenance, and protection of the railway necessitated
the arrival of Ottoman troops, who were stationed outside of Amman, guaranteeing further
protection to the town, its inhabitants, and its growing wealth. Circassian Amman gradually
became a regionally important hub for agricultural produce. By the 1910s, Circassian settlements
in Amman and Wadi al-Sir had already produced a surplus of grain for sale. Moreover,
Circassians served as intermediaries who marketed the bedouin agricultural or artisanal
production for export. The Bani Sakhr, for example, stored their grain harvest in a Circassian
Wadi al-Sir. Circassians also bought cattle from the Bani Sakhr and wheat from semi-settled
Bedouin tribes in the Balqa. By the early 20th century, the Circassian population, Syrian and
Palestinian merchants, and Transjordanian urban, rural, and nomadic communities turned
Amman into a thriving marketplace of growing importance for the expanding Levantine
economy

Sources:
Death and Exile: Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims, 1821-1922 by Justin McCarthy
Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State by Dawn Chatty
Refugees, Exiles, And Other Forced Migrants in Late Ottoman Empire by Dawn Chatty
The Status Of The Muslim Under European Rule: The Eviction And Settlement Of The Cerkes by Kemal
Karpat
Circassian Refugees and the Making of Amman, 1878-1914 by Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky
Nomads and Settlers in Syria and Jordan, 1800-1980 by Norman Lewis
Syrian Circassian ORSAM Report by Anzor Kushabiyev et al
Flight and Refuge in 19th Century Europe: The Muhacirin Commission of the Ottoman Empire by Gülay
Gün