Circassia

Circassia , also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in <a href="/facts/Eastern_Europe/f5CDGzNA">Eastern Europe</a>. It spanned the western coastal portions of the <a href="/facts/North_Caucasus/GpxBJatP">North Caucasus</a>, along the northeastern shore of the <a href="/facts/Black_Sea/M0rLKvge">Black Sea</a>. Circassia was conquered by the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a> during the <a href="/facts/Russo-Circassian_War/nQTCY0US">Russo-Circassian War</a> (1763–1864), after which approximately 99.5–99.8% of the <a href="/facts/Circassians/fTWD67Tg">Circassian people</a> were either exiled or massacred in the <a href="/facts/Circassian_genocide/9CUoo61l">Circassian genocide</a>.
In the medieval era, Circassia was nominally ruled by an elected Grand Prince, but individual principalities and tribes were autonomous. In the 18th–19th centuries, <a href="/facts/List_of_leaders_of_the_Circassian_Confederation/emvSq35T">a central government began to form</a>. The Circassians also dominated the northern end of the <a href="/facts/Kuban_(river)/xL5oFsPX">Kuban River</a>, but were eventually pushed back to the south of the <a href="/facts/Kuban/VTzDPvG1">Kuban</a> after suffering losses to military raids conducted by the <a href="/facts/Mongol_Empire/cfddtfIK">Mongol Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/Golden_Horde/Cnee5NcY">Golden Horde</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Crimean_Khanate/JPtgG0dx">Crimean Khanate</a>. Their reduced borders then stretched from the <a href="/facts/Taman_Peninsula/H0xNfzfs">Taman Peninsula</a> to <a href="/facts/North_Ossetia%E2%80%93Alania/7w9mvFry">North Ossetia</a>. Circassian lords subjugated and vassalized the neighbouring <a href="/facts/Karachays/ItqS5aXE">Karachays</a> and <a href="/facts/Balkars/zcBoSgpT">Balkars</a> and the <a href="/facts/Ossetians/3Eu0FFRq">Ossetians</a>. The term Circassia is also used as the collective name of various Circassian states that were established within historical Circassian territory, such as <a href="/facts/Zichia/8vIwYlb3">Zichia</a>.
Legally and internationally, the <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Belgrade/WWwT20zJ">Treaty of Belgrade</a>, which was signed between <a href="/facts/Habsburg_monarchy/ctwsV3TC">Austria</a> and the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a> in 1739, provided for the recognition of the independence of <a href="/facts/Kabardia/hblPc22z">Eastern Circassia</a>. Both the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire recognized it under witness from the other great powers of the time. The <a href="/facts/Congress_of_Vienna/SXD64asG">Congress of Vienna</a> also stipulated the recognition of the independence of Circassia. In 1837, Circassian leaders sent letters to a number of European states requesting diplomatic recognition. Following this, the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland/yw0GUkge">United Kingdom</a> recognized Circassia. However, following the outbreak of the Russo-Circassian War, the Russian Empire did not recognize Circassia as an independent nation and instead treated it as <a href="/facts/All-Russian_nation/DdcNevrs">Russian land under rebel occupation</a>, despite having no control or ownership over the region. Russian generals often referred to the Circassians as "mountaineers", "bandits", and "mountain scum" rather than by their ethnonym.
The Russian conquest of Circassia created the <a href="/facts/Circassian_diaspora/j3WS1eYA">Circassian diaspora</a>; the overwhelming majority of Circassians today live outside of their ancestral homeland, mostly in <a href="/facts/Circassians_in_Turkey/HGycDlV0">Turkey</a> and other parts of the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a>. Only about 14% of the global Circassian population lives in the modern-day <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russian Federation</a>.

Circassia open-in-new

Circassia