IMMIGRATION OF DAGESTANIS TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE DURING THE CAUCASIAN WAR (1820S–1850S)

Abstract

Long before the beginning of the mass exodus of representatives of the mountain peoples to the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 1850s–1860s, there were episodic group and individual migrations of North Caucasians, including Dagestanis, to the Sultan’s possessions, directly or indirectly caused by Russian military-political expansion in the region. In particular, at a fairly early stage of the Caucasian War the Ottoman state became attractive as a place of emigration for some members of the Dagestan elite involved in the confrontation with the Russian forces, due not only to the current international-political situation, but also to the long-standing ties of many khanates and jamaats with Istanbul and the corresponding expectations for a favorable reception. A noticeable category of migrants was also made up of persons of clergy, who enjoyed the special care of the Porte and included both purely religious immigrants who aspired to settle in the Hijaz and other Muslim centers of the empire, and Sufi communities presumably involved in the resistance movement in the Caucasus with certain revanchist aspirations in relation to their abandoned homeland. From the beginning of the 1850s, agrarian (peasant) groups came to the fore among the Dagestan muhajirs, usually led by the ulemas, but often settled by the authorities separately from them in rural areas with limited material assistance. Despite the trend towards a gradual increase during the period under review of the influx of Dagestanis into Ottoman territory, the total number of immigrants hardly exceeded 1–2 thousand people settled in the cities and villages of Anatolia, the Arab provinces and the Balkans. This article, based mainly on Turkish archival sources, reveals the facts of immigration of people of Dagestani origin that took place against the backdrop of the ongoing Caucasian War, the main areas of their settlement and some features of the Porte’s policy for their reception and adaptation.