What was Circassia?
Circassia (/sɜːrˈkæʃə/; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; Adyghe: Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, romanized: Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; Russian: Черкесия; Turkish: Çerkesya, Çerkezistan) was a country and a historical region in the North Caucasus along the northeast shore of the Black Sea.
Where is the Circassian dance from?
Caucasus mountain region
The version of this dance performed in Turkey is called Kafkas, from Kafkasya, the Turkish word for the Caucasus mountain region that was home to the Circassian people before the Circassian genocide.
How old are Circassians?
Today, a large majority of Circassians are Muslim, with minorities of Habze, atheists and Christians. Atheist Circassians tend to be of the younger generation (20–35 years old), in which they were found to constitute a quarter of Circassians in Kabardino-Balkaria.
What happened to the Circassians?
Circassians were left with no alternative but to seek refuge with the Ottoman Empire. Only a small number of people remained within Russian Empire’s newly drawn boundaries. Around 1.5 million Circassians were forced to flee to the Ottoman Empire, which had governed the Caucasus for several thousand years.
What do Circassians look like?
Physically most Circassians are European in appearance with perhaps a slight oriental cast to their features. Many Circassians are blond and blue-eyed, while others show a common feature of the Caucasus: very light skin coupled with black or extremely dark hair.
What religion were Circassians?
The Circassians are Muslim and although they practicethe Muslim faith, they retain their costumes from the Caucasus that distinguish them from other Muslims in Israel. The mother-tongue of Circassians is Adyghe but they study and speak also Hebrew, English and Arabic which they learn at school.
How many Circassians are there in the world?
The diaspora populations are biggest in Turkey and Syria. Worldwide there are roughly 1.5 million ethnic Circassians.
Are Circassian white?
Circassians, who were white, primeval, and supposedly close to God’s image for humankind, were cast as the most beautiful racial type. Yet Circassians were so decimated during the Caucasian War (1817-1864)—Russia’s battle to obtain access to the Black Sea—that few people today have even heard of them.
What countries are Circassian?
The Kabardians (or Upper Circassians) number about 345,000 and live mostly in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. Circassian communities also exist in Anatolian Turkey (150,000) and Syria (35,000), with smaller groups in Jordan, Iraq, and Iran.
Why are Circassians so beautiful?
During the Ottoman Empire and Persian Safavid and Qajar dynasties, Circassian women living as slaves in the Sultan’s Imperial Harem and Shah’s harems started to build their reputation as extremely beautiful, which then became a common trope in Western Orientalism.
Are Circassians beautiful?
Circassian women were considered by many writers and travellers to be simply the most beautiful women in the world. They had been traded as slaves since the late medieval period, and many ended up in the harems of Ottoman and Persian rulers.
Are Circassian girls beautiful?