Circassian diaspora

The Circassian diaspora refers to the resettlement of the Circassian population, especially during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. From 1763 to 1864, the Circassians fought against the Russian Empire in the Russian-Circassian War, finally succumbing to a scorched-earth campaign initiated in 1862 under General Nicholai Yevdokimov. Afterwards, large numbers of Circassians were exiled and deported to the Ottoman Empire and other nearby regions; others were resettled in Russia far from their home territories. Circassians live in more than fifty countries, besides the Republic of Adygea. Total population estimates differ: according to some sources, some two million live in Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq; other sources have between one and four million in Turkey alone.

The Circassians in Turkey number between 130,000 and 2 millions and they are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Turkey.

The diaspora of Circassians in Iran dates back to the end of the 15th century, when Jonayd of the Ak Koyunlu raided regions of Circassia and carried off prisoners. However, the real large influx of Circassians started by the time of Shah Tahmasp I of the Safavid dynasty, who in four campaigns deported some 30,000 Circassians and Georgians back to Iran. Tahmasp's successors, most notably Shah Abbas, all the way till the time of the Qajar Dynasty continued to deport and import hundreds of thousands of Circassians to Iran, while a lesser amount migrated voluntarily. Following the mass expulsion of the native Circassians of the northwest Caucasus in 1864, some of them also migrated to Qajar Iran, where 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. The Circassians in Iran played an important and crucial role in the army, civil administration, and royal harems over the many centuries. Today, they are the second-largest Caucasus derived group in the nation after the Georgians.

...
Wikipedia