Exodus Circassians began entering the
Ottoman Empire en masse during the expansion of the
Tsarist Russian Empire into their
Caucasian 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. 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 Christian
Balkan territories in 1864. The
Balkan Crisis of 1876, which led to the
Russo–Turkish War of 1877–1878, was partly attributed to the killings of Bulgarian Christians by Circassian settlers. During the subsequent Russian occupation of
Bulgaria and
Eastern Rumelia the Circassians were expelled from the Balkans, which was formalized by the
Treaty of Berlin in 1878. Coinciding with the crisis in the Balkans, further waves of Circassians and
Chechens from the Caucasus and
Turkmens from Central Asia were fleeing Russian rule and becoming refugees in eastern
Anatolia.
Settlement in Transjordan With Ottoman territories decreasing and tens of thousands of refugees overcrowding the cities of Anatolia,
Thrace and
Macedonia, the imperial government resolved to resettle refugees along the peripheral areas of the
Levantine provinces. The policy of establishing Circassian agricultural communities in grain-producing regions in
Syria Vilayet was partly motivated by the Empire's loss of its key agricultural region, the Balkans. 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 autonomous
Druze,
Alawite and
Maronite communities of the coastal mountain ranges; the settlements of the Circassians, along with other migrant communities such as the
Kurds,
Assyrians and
Armenians were strategically located to serve as a buffer between the dissident communities. In 1878, 50,000 Circassians were transported by sea to the Levantine coast from
Constantinople,
Salonica and
Kavalla. From there about 25,000 were sent to the southern parts of Syria Vilayet, mainly the
Balqa (part of modern Jordan), the
Golan Heights and the area around
Tiberias. Their transportation and settlement came under the supervision of the
Damascus-based governor. Four
piasters 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. settlement of
Wadi Sir, pictured here in 1900, was established in 1880. The Circassians settled close to water sources and grain fields. Between 1878 and 1884, three Circassian villages were founded:
Amman (1878) and
Wadi al-Seer (1880) in the
Balqa and
Jerash (1884) in
Jabal Ajlun, and a Turkmen village, al-Ruman, was established in 1884. Amman, abandoned during the 14th century, was revived by the Circassians. The first group of Circassians belonged to the
Shapsug dialect group. They were joined later by Circassians belonging to the
Kabardia and
Abzakh groups. 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) and
Sukhna (1906), all located in the vicinity of Amman. The new migrants also settled in the villages founded during the first migration wave. 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 being
Quneitra about to the northwest. By 1893 new arrivals boosted the population to around 1,000. The lands on which the Circassians settled had served as winter campgrounds for
Bedouin tribes who did not possess property deeds. The Bedouin and the townspeople of
Salt 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 the
Ottoman Gendarmerie. The Circassians refused to pay the
khuwwa (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. of Emir
Abdullah, founder of the
Kingdom of Jordan, 1940 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 the
Hejaz Railway and service in local administrative bodies. The Circassian town of Amman grew rapidly after the construction of the
Hejaz Railway, operational in central Transjordan since 1903, which also brought investment from Salti, Damascene, and Nabulsi merchants. 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 the
Bani Sakhr in the late 1890s spearheaded by Talal
Al-Fayez. The alliance proved instrumental in the Bani Sakhr's intervention in the 1906–1910 conflict between the Circassians and the Balqawiyya tribal confederation. The Circassian, Chechen and Turkmen settlements solidified the new sedentarized order taking place in the Balqa, which also included Salt and
Karak 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. Circa World War I there were 5,000–6,000 Circassians in Transjordan.
Post-Jordanian independence 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%. 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. ==Culture and identity==