The ancient native people of the Northwest Caucasus are known in most historic annals as the Circassians, a term which has gained currency in recent history to refer to the groups of Cherkess, Shapsugs and Kabardin and related groups of Caucasian origin who live in the Northwest Caucasus and in diaspora communities. The Circassians first emerged as a coherent entity around the tenth century A.D., although references to them exist much earlier.

After having had hot-and-cold relations with Tsarist Russia for centuries, a war campaign to conquer the North-Western Caucasus was launched against the indigenous communities in the region in the late 18th century. The extensive concentration of Russian forces (over 250,000 infantry) to the area after the Crimean War proved to be too difficult to counter, culminating in the decisive and tragic  Kbaada battle of May 21st, 1864.

The Circassians, as other mountaineers, were subjected to forced expulsion (known also as Muhajirism) by the Russian authorities. In the following three years, the forced resettlement programme saw over 400,000 Circassians (along with 200,000 Abkhazians and Ajars) deported to Ottoman Empire. These turbulent years are believed to have resulted in the death or deportation of around 1,5 million Circassians .[1]

Thousands of Circassians were relocated by the Ottoman authorities as colonists to the political hotbeds of the Sublime Sultanate, for example to the Balkans and the Kurdish region. In Jordan, Circassians were able to hold sway the aggressions of nomadic tribes and played a crucial role in the stabilizing process that made the city of Amman to become a prosperous trade hub.

Circassians profess to Sunni Islam characterized by many syncretic elements, as they converted en masse to this faith only in the 17th century. Many of their traditions were not tolerated by the Turks and Arabs and they were forced to endure poverty and discrimination.

Repatriation to their historical homeland has not been easy and has been met with many obstacles. The International Circassian Association became a member of UNPO in 1994, in order to stand up in a non-violent way for the rights of the Circassian people living within and outside their homeland. The aim of the International Circassian Association is to unite Circassians spiritually, politically and to preserve the ethnic unity of the Circassian peoples. One of the aims of the organization is also to obtain recognition of the 19th century Circassian genocide by Tsarist Russia. In this light, the 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi is demeaning to many Circassians, and many lobby groups have already voiced their discontent with this decision.

[1]Kazemzadeh, Firuz. 1974. Russian penetration of the Caucasus. In Taras Hunczak, ed., Russian Imperialism from Ivan the Great to the revolution. New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press.