A Glimpse into the world of muhajirs: Circassians in Ottoman Syria (1864-1910)

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2578922_(Table of contents)

This thesis examines the settlement process of Circassian refugees who were exiled to the Ottoman Empire due to Russian oppression. This study aims to investigate Circassian refugee contribution to the transformation of the Quneitra district in the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. In this context, I argue that Circassian refugees turned the district of Quneitra, where they were strategically settled, into an urban centre by changing it politically, socially and economically. In particular, the first-generation refugee groups settled in the region engaged with new commercial and agricultural activities that enabled them to adapt effectively to their settled environment. Circassian refugees, who integrated themselves into local administration and education with the support of the state, became a permanent component of the region. There is an intersection between the Ottoman administration’s policy of settling the nomads in the area, which is one of its ultimate goals, and the establishment of refugee villages. Refugees opposed the groups in conflict with the state to ensure security and promote sedentarization in the region. This thesis mainly aims to treat refugees as active actors. The petitions and newspaper publications written by them were examined to increase the refugee’ visibility. At the end of the study, it is suggested that Circassian refugees, who adapted to the harsh conditions, transformed the Quneitra district, which had long been considered unsafe and used only as pastureland for nomads, into one of the leading administrative centres of the region within a few decades.