Circassians in Iran

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Circassians in Iran
Персым ис Адыгэхэр
چرکس های ایران
Total population
Roughly estimated 50,000
Precise population unknown due to heavy assimilation and lack of censuses based on ethnicity.
Circassian in small amounts
Religion
Islam
Part of a series on the
Circassians
Адыгэхэр
Arrows in the Circassian flag
List of notable Circassians
Circassian genocide
Circassian diaspora
Circassian tribes

Surviving

Destroyed or barely existing

Religion
Religion in Circassia
Languages and dialects
History
Show
Culture

The

as muhajirs in the late 19th century as well. The Circassians in Iran were very influential during periods in the last few centuries. The vast majority of them have assimilated to speak the Persian language, and no significant number speak their native Circassian languages anymore.[1] Once a very large minority in Iran, nowadays due to being heavily assimilated over the course of time and the lack of censuses based on ethnicity, population estimates vary significantly. They are, however, after the Georgians
, known to be the largest Caucasus-derived group in the nation.

In Persian, the word Cherkes (چرکس /tʃeɾˈkes/) is sometimes applied generally to

Russia in the first half of the 19th century following the Treaty of Gulistan
.

History

Circassians in Iran have a long history. To a certain good extent, they shared the same role as their brethren who lived in neighbouring

noble families in the empire, while many others were kingmakers, military commanders, soldiers, craftsmen, peasants, while they also composed many of the kings' wives and women in the harem. Under the various kings of the Safavid and Qajar dynasty, many Circassians would eventually happen to live in Iran.[5]

Safavids

The first Circassian presence in Iran dates to the early

Safavid era, during which Shaykh Junayd raided various regions of Circassia and carried back prisoners.[6] From the time of king (shah) Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576), the Circassians started to play an important role in Iranian society,[6]
and began to appear as a large ethnic group in the successive empires based in Iran.

In order to make a

peoples of the Caucasus, such as Lezgins. Eventually, these large amounts of Circassians and other Caucasians, only loyal to the shah, replaced the Qizilbash and vied through the system with them for political hegemony and supremacy, and were to be victorious,[4] although sometimes they would vy against each other as well.[9]

Circassians made up a good bulk of these elite armies (the so-called gholams), and played therefore a pivotal role. This elite [slave system] army was similar to the

Fars
.

According to Thomas Herbert, who was in Safavid Iran in the first half of the 17th century, Aspas was inhabited by some 40,000 transplanted Christian Circassians and Georgians.[11] By the time of king Suleiman I's reign (r. 1666–1694), an estimated 20,000 Circassians, Dagestanis, and Georgians were living in the Safavid capital of Isfahan alone.[12]

Many of the shahs, princes, and princesses descended from noble Circassian lines. Many of the Safavid nobility at the court were Circassian.[13] In fact, the Safavids their heavily mixed ancestry includes several Circassian lines.[14][15] King Abbas II (r. 1642-1666) and Shah Suleiman I (r. 1666-1694) are just some of the examples amongst the highest nobility that were born by Circassian mothers.

Qajars

Following

the mass expulsion of the native Circassians of the Northwest Caucasus in 1864 mainly towards the Ottoman Empire, some also fled to neighboring Qajar Iran, which bordered the Ottoman Empire and Imperial Russia. In Iran, the government followed an assimilation policy, starting the gradual absorption of the Caucasian refugees into the population. Some of these deportees from after 1864 rose to various high ranks such as in the Persian Cossack Brigade, where every member of the army was either Circassian or any other type of ethnos from the Caucasus.[16]

Modern day

Despite heavy assimilation over the centuries, Circassian settlements have lasted into the 20th century.

Circassian languages, once widely used by the large Circassian minority, has no significant number of speakers in Iran anymore.[2][17][18][19] After the Georgians, the Circassians are the second largest Caucasus-derived group in Iran, comprising significant numbers.[2]

Notables

Notable Iranians of either partial or full Circassian descent include:

See also

Notes

  1. Circassian: Персым ис Адыгэхэр, Persym is Adygekher; Persian: چرکس های ایران, romanized
    : Cerkeshâye Irân

References

  1. ^ a b "International Circassian Association". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1438126760
    p 141
  3. ^ Fredrik Thordarson, “Caucasus ii. Language contact. Caucasian languages in Iran,” EIr. V, 1990, pp. 94-95.
  4. ^ a b c d e "ČARKAS". Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  5. ^ Hamed Kazemzadeh (2018-02-09). "Circassians in Iran". Caucasus Times. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  6. ^ a b Eskandar Beg, I, pp. 17–18
  7. ^ a b "Tahmāsp I". Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. ^ "BARDA and BARDA-DĀRI v. Military slavery in Islamic Iran". Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  9. ISBN 1860647219
  10. ^ "BARDA and BARDA-DĀRI v. Military slavery in Islamic Iran". Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  11. ISBN 1134285841
    p 117
  12. ^ Matthee 2012, p. 67.
  13. ISBN 0857712667
    pp. 130–131
  14. ^ [1] Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire, L.B. Tauris. 2006, p. 41.
  15. ^ Rudolph (Rudi) Matthee Encyclopaedia Iranica, Columbia University, New York 2001, p. 493
  16. ^ "The Iranian Armed Forces in Politics, Revolution and War: Part One". Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  17. Encyclopaedia Iranica
    . Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Circassian". Official Circassian Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  19. ^ Chardin, Sir John (June 1997). "Persians: Kind, hospitable, tolerant flattering cheats?". The Iranian. Archived from the original on 20 June 1997. Retrieved 9 June 2014. Excerpted from:
  20. OCLC 18496936
    .

Further reading
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