 Circassian guards of Jordan, tasked with guarding the Jordanian king | |
| Total population | |
| 100,000[1][2]–170,000[3][4] | |
| Languages | |
| Circassian,Jordanian Arabic[5][6] | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Abkhazians,Abazins,Chechens |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Circassians Адыгэхэр |
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 List of notable Circassians Circassian genocide |
| Circassian diaspora |
| Circassian tribes |
Surviving Destroyed or barely existing |
| Religion |
| Religion in Circassia |
| Languages and dialects |
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| History |
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| Organizations |
Circassians in Jordan (Adyghe:Иорданием ис Адыгэхэр,romanized: Yiordaniyem yis Adıgəxer;Arabic:الشركس في الأردن) are descendants ofCircassian refugees who arrived inJordan in the late 19th century after theCircassian genocide in the 1860s and theRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878). They settled in Jordan, then a part ofOttoman Syria, in and aroundAmman andJerash. Circassians are credited with founding modern Amman as the city had been previously abandoned.[7][8]
Circassians began entering theOttoman Empire en masse during the expansion of theTsarist Russian Empire into theirCaucasian homeland during the 1850s. An 1860 agreement between the Ottomans and the Russians mandated the immigration of 40,000–50,000 Circassians into Ottoman territory.[9] However, between 800,000 and 1,200,000 Muslim Circassians entered and settled in the Ottoman Empire, of whom some 175,000 were resettled by the government in the Empire's predominantly ChristianBalkan territories in 1864.[10] TheBalkan Crisis of 1876, which led to theRusso–Turkish War of 1877–1878, was partly attributed to the killings of Bulgarian Christians by Circassian settlers. During the subsequent Russian occupation ofBulgaria andEastern Rumelia the Circassians were expelled from the Balkans, which was formalized by theTreaty of Berlin in 1878.[9] Coinciding with the crisis in the Balkans, further waves of Circassians andChechens from the Caucasus andTurkmens from Central Asia were fleeing Russian rule and becoming refugees in easternAnatolia.[11]
With Ottoman territories decreasing and tens of thousands of refugees overcrowding the cities of Anatolia,Thrace andMacedonia, the imperial government resolved to resettle refugees along the peripheral areas of theLevantine provinces.[11] The policy of establishing Circassian agricultural communities in grain-producing regions inSyria Vilayet was partly motivated by the Empire's loss of its key agricultural region, the Balkans.[12] It was also driven by Ottoman efforts to centralize control over the Empire, which included attempts to sedentarize the nomadic Bedouin of the Syrian steppe and impose control over the practically autonomousDruze,Alawite andMaronite communities of the coastal mountain ranges; the settlements of the Circassians, along with other migrant communities such as theKurds,Assyrians andArmenians were strategically located to serve as a buffer between the dissident communities.[13] In 1878, 50,000 Circassians were transported by sea to the Levantine coast fromConstantinople,Salonica andKavalla.[10][11] From there about 25,000 were sent to the southern parts of Syria Vilayet, mainly theBalqa (part of modern Jordan), theGolan Heights and the area aroundTiberias.[14] Their transportation and settlement came under the supervision of theDamascus-based governor. Fourpiasters per taxpayer were levied toward financing the immigration committees charged with settling the Circassians and others. The Circassians were initially housed in schools and mosques until their resettlement. Numerous migrants died in transit from disease and poor conditions.[11]
The Circassians settled close to water sources and grain fields. Between 1878 and 1884, three Circassian villages were founded:Amman (1878) andWadi al-Seer (1880) in theBalqa andJerash (1884) inJabal Ajlun, and a Turkmen village, al-Ruman, was established in 1884.[15][11][16] Amman, abandoned during the 14th century, was revived by the Circassians.[7][8] The first group of Circassians belonged to theShapsug dialect group. They were joined later by Circassians belonging to theKabardia andAbzakh groups.[17] During a second major wave of migration in 1901–1906, which also included many Chechen refugees from the Caucasus, five mixed Circassian and Chechen settlements were founded:Naour (1901),Zarqa (1902),Russeifa (1905),Swaylih (1905) andSukhna (1906), all located in the vicinity of Amman. The new migrants also settled in the villages founded during the first migration wave.[15][16][18] Amman experienced a decline from 500 settlers to 150 in the first three months due to inhospitable conditions. Those who remained lived in caves and among the Roman-era ruins, exposed to typhoid, malaria, and typhus. Amman had been relatively isolated from other Circassian communities, the closest beingQuneitra about 100 kilometers (62 mi) to the northwest.[19] By 1893 new arrivals boosted the population to around 1,000.[20]
The lands on which the Circassians settled had served as winter campgrounds forBedouin tribes who did not possess property deeds. The Bedouin and the townspeople ofSalt viewed the Circassians as beneficiaries and agents of the government due to the land grants and exemptions from taxes for a ten-year period they received and the service many took up with theOttoman Gendarmerie. The Circassians refused to pay thekhuwwa (protection fees) solicited by the Bedouin, which entailed a portion of their harvest to the tribes in return for the tribes' "protection". The mutual hostility between the Circassians and their nomadic and settled Arab neighbors led to clashes. Despite the superiority of Bedouin arms and mobility, the Circassians maintained their positions and were feared by the Bedouin and the Salt townspeople, who blamed them for a number of killings.[21]
The Circassians in the Balqa proved an integral component in the expansion of government control in the historically autonomous southeastern Levant. For the government, the Circassian settlers served the dual role as a periodic militia used against local rebellions and a key factor in the integration of the local economy through agricultural production, grain transportation, the construction and protection of theHejaz Railway and service in local administrative bodies.[22] The Circassian town of Amman grew rapidly after the construction of theHejaz Railway, operational in central Transjordan since 1903, which also brought investment from Salti, Damascene, and Nabulsi merchants.[23] As their numbers increased, the Circassians became a major local power and a number of pacts were formed with the Bedouin, including a mutual defense alliance with theBani Sakhr in the late 1890s spearheaded by TalalAl-Fayez. The alliance proved instrumental in the Bani Sakhr's intervention in the 1906–1910 conflict between the Circassians and the Balqawiyya tribal confederation.[24] The Circassian, Chechen and Turkmen settlements solidified the new sedentarized order taking place in the Balqa, which also included Salt andKarak townspeople and Bedouin tribesmen establishing their own agricultural and satellite villages. Two new roads linking Jerash and Amman were built via al-Ruman and Swaylih respectively to accommodate the settlers' ox-drawn carts, while secondary roads were built connecting Amman to its satellite Circassian and Chechen villages.[24] Circa World War I there were 5,000–6,000 Circassians in Transjordan.[25]
As Amman has experienced exponential growth and urbanization since Jordan's independence, the Circassian proportion of the city's population currently stands at about 5%.[26] Most Circassians in Jordan formed part of the country's urban middle class. They largely work in the government bureaucracy, military, and intelligence and are given significant representation in Jordan's parliament and executive branch.[27]
The Circassian settlers mainly spoke theAdyghe dialects ofKabardian,Shapsug,Abzakh andBzhedug, but there were alsoAbkhazian andDagestani language speakers.[28] Historically Circassians identified themselves as "Adyghe" while the term "Circassians" was historically used by outsiders, such as Turks, Arabs, Russians and Europeans. Today the diaspora communities, including the Jordanian Circassians, use both terms interchangeably.[29] The group's cultural identity in Jordan is mainly shaped by their self-images as a displaced people and as settlers and Muslims. Beginning in the 1950s, Circassian ethnic associations and youth clubs began holding performances centered on the theme of expulsion and emigration from the Caucasus and resettlement in Jordan, which often elicited emotional responses by Circassian audiences. Eventually the performances were made in front of mixed Circassian and Arab spectators in major national cultural events, including the annualJerash Festival of Arts. The performances typically omit the early conflicts with the indigenous Arabs and focus on the ordeals of the exodus, the first harvests and the construction of the first Circassian homes in Jordan. The self-image promoted is of a brave community of hardy men and women that long endured suffering.[12]
In 1932 Jordan's oldest charity, the Circassian Charity Association, was established to assist the poor and grant scholarships to Circassians to study at universities inKabardino-Balkaria and theAdygea Republic. The Al-Ahli Club, founded in 1944, promoted Circassian engagement in sports and social and cultural events in Jordan and other countries, while the establishment of the Folklore Committee in 1993 helped promote Circassian traditional song and dance. Today, an estimated 17% of the Circassian community in Jordan speak Adyghe.[26]
Circassians, together withChechens, are mandated 3 seats in theJordanian parliament.[30] However, Circassians also produce a disproportionate amount of ministers, which some Jordanians regard as an unofficial quota.
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