The Circassian Genocide

7. Those Who Stayed Behind

131 In 1863 military consul to the Russian Embassy in Istanbul F. A. Frankini submitted several proposals for “the establishment of peace” in the western Caucasus to War Minister Milyutin. To Frankini’s suggestion that the Circassians be given hereditary rights to their land as Alexander had promised, Milyutin replied, “Nonsense! Does the author want an enemy that hates Russia to have more rights than the Russian people?” The war minister likewise dismissed Frankini’s warning that Russian actions were instilling hatred in the Circassians, claiming that “the experience of many years has proven that we will never make them our friends.” Finally, to Frankini’s assessment that Russian policy had “turned [the Circassians] into something resembling prisoners of war,” Milyutin responded, “they are prisoners of war.”1 Milyutin was right: the Russians considered the remaining Circassians an enemy population. Milyutin and his successors kept the North Caucasus in a state of military occupation for decades after the end of the war. Circassians were artificially divided into four separate administrative regions that threatened their ethnic unity and were surrounded by Cossacks who exploited and abused them. They were pressured to convert to Christianity and give up their native tongue, and by 1900 were being conscripted into the army. Many more chose exile in the Ottoman Empire during these years. The ones who remained hoped the advent of Soviet power would restore some of their rights. As it turned out, the Soviets codified some of tsarist Russia’s worst policies and continued the process of Russification. 7 Those Who Stayed Behind Can a nation be free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot. —Vladimir Lenin 132 THE CIRCASSIAN GENOCIDE “Lands That Will Permanently Be in Their Possession” It is unclear exactly how many Circassians remained in the North Caucasus . Russian records claim 106,798 while Adolph Berzhe estimates 50,000.2 Rostislav Fadeev put the figure at 60,000 while Russian historian Galina Malakhova estimates only 40,400.3 The first postdeportation census was conducted only in 1882; it put the Circassian population of Kuban Oblast at 65,900.4 By then only a few thousand more had emigrated, so either the official Russian figure of more than 100,000 is an exaggeration or many thousands died during their migration to the Kuban region. Since that deportation also took place during the winter of 1863–1864, the latter is a very likely possibility. If we assume that Berzhe’s middle figure of 50,000 was close to the number who survived to settle in the lowlands, then between 95 percent and 97 percent of all Circassians were killed outright , died during Evdokimov’s campaign, or were deported. Those who remained were unofficially placed in a special category, neither subjects nor free tribesmen. They were kept under strict observation by the same the military command that brought so much destruction to their society. Cossacks were prioritized in every area of life and were given free rein to treat the Circassians however they wished. All of Alexander’s promises made to the Circassians who remained were then systematically broken over the next twenty years. The first dismemberment of what remained of Circassia came before the deportations had begun, when in1860 Kabardia was assigned to the left wing of the Caucasus Line (future Tersk Oblast), administratively isolating it from the rest of Circassia. Instead, the Kabardians were lumped together with the Ossetians, Ingush, Chechens, and Dagestani peoples, who had little in common with them. Subsequently, Lesser Kabardia was assigned to the Ossetia Okrug region, dividing the tribe between two administrative units until 1905.5 The right wing, which would become Kuban Oblast, was overwhelmingly populated by Cossack immigrants along with Karachays, Nogays, Armenians, Greeks, and the remnants of the Abazas and western Circassians. The few Abzakhs who were left were resettled in Maikop Uezd (district) between the Pshish and Laba Rivers along with other tribal remnants . Together they formed the core population of the current Republic of Adygeia. The rest were assigned to Batalpashinsk Uezd along the Kuban THOSE WHO STAYED BEHIND 133 and Zelenchuk Rivers.6 In both areas, the Circassians found themselves outnumbered approximately twenty to one by Slavic colonists.7 One last group was the Khakuchi, a Shapsug clan who continued to evade capture well into the late 1860s. Their fate was interesting. Toward 1870 they began coming down from the mountains and for some reason were allowed to...