Organization of volunteer forces of the Ottoman Empire from representatives of the peoples of the North Caucasus during the Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-1878 on the Caucasus-Asia Minor Front

Abstract

This article, based on a wide range of sources, primarily of foreign origin (Turkish, English, French and Austrian), examines the issue of an attempt by immigrants from the North Caucasus to integrate into Ottoman society by forming voluntary military units on the eve of and during the years of the Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-1878 The author conducted a study of issues that were practically not studied in domestic and world historiography related to the legislative support of the volunteer movement during the preparation of the armed forces for the expected military conflict with the Russian Empire, the number of formed military units from representatives of the peoples of the North Caucasus, their ethnicity, and command staff and a number of other issues, including uniforms of irregular parts of the Ottoman Empire, weapons and sources staffing. Based on an analysis of the sources available to us, the author concludes that the leadership of the Ottoman Empire is inevitable to seek help from the North Caucasus Muhajir, to form irregular cavalry units from them. The author also concludes that, for the conduct of hostilities on the Caucasus-Asia Minor Front, units formed from the peoples of the Central and Eastern Caucasus were sent: Dagestanis, Kabardins, Ossetians, Chechens and Kumyks, who, after resettlement from the Russian Empire, were settled by the Ottoman government in the territory Sivas and Erzurum vilayets, as well as Samsun (Djanik) sanjak.