Historians have assessed the memory of the Muhajirs in the Eastern Caucasus.

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The phenomenon of muhajirs in the Eastern Caucasus is less well known than the mass deportation of the Adyghe people, but for the peoples of the region, the number of those who left was significant. According to historians, the reasons why entire peoples migrated also varied slightly.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, the day of remembrance for the Adyghe, victims of the Caucasian War that ended 162 years ago, is celebrated on May 21 by residents of southern Russia and the descendants of the Circassians expelled from their historical homeland in various countries around the world. Commemorative events were held, in particular, in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Krai, and Adygea. Residents of Nalchik held a traditional march with Circassian flags, despite threats from security forces of administrative and criminal charges. In Turkey, activists were prevented from entering the Russian Consulate General to lay a funeral wreath and were required to remove some banners for display.

Russian historians interviewed on May 23 by a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who wished to comment anonymously, assessed the phenomenon of muhajirs in the Eastern Caucasus in comparison to Circassian muhajirs.

One historian noted that, although the migration of residents of the Eastern Caucasus was less significant in scale than that of the Circassians, the number of those who left was significant for the peoples of the region. "For example, many Muslim Ossetians left, so now there are relatively few of them left in North Ossetia." "A significant portion of the Nogais also left, finding themselves literally bled dry as a people," he stated.

Noting that the muhajir movement in the Eastern Caucasus is much less well-known than that of the Circassians, the historian suggested that, among other things, this could have been caused by the fact that all settlers in the Ottoman Empire began to be called "Circassians."

Those who left were merely objects.

Speaking about the reasons for the muhajir movement, the historian noted that it "was a joint action of two empires – the Russian and the Ottoman." "Those leaving were merely objects. For those leaving themselves, there were many different factors, one of the main ones being the shock of defeat in the Caucasian War," he noted.

As for the lack of memory of the muhajir movement in the Eastern Caucasus, the expert emphasized that the deportation of Chechens and Ingush in 1944, which replaced the earlier expulsion, may have played a role here.

Another historian noted that the reasons for emigration in the Western and Eastern Caucasus were different. "While in the Western Caucasus, people who migrated were unwilling to live on the lands offered to them, interspersed with Cossacks, here it was a question of an unwillingness to live under the rule of the Russian Emperor, as a non-Muslim sovereign. Therefore, they wanted to leave for the Ottoman Empire, which shared their faith, where, in their opinion, they, as Muslims, would be better off. At the same time, the Russian Empire was pleased, since its opponents were leaving, and the region, at least theoretically, became calmer," he stated.

While in the case of the Adyghe, we are talking about approximately half a million emigrants, in this case we can speak of a figure approximately ten times

Speaking about the scale of emigration, the historian noted that there were significantly fewer people leaving than there were Adyghe. "While in the case of the Adyghe, we are talking about approximately half a million emigrants, in this case we can talk about a figure approximately ten times smaller. Plus, a certain portion of the muhajirs later returned, although they were kept under surveillance for several years after their return, considered agents of the Ottoman Empire. The only people who were deported en masse were the Nogais. It was during these years that two Nogai bailiffs disappeared," he emphasized.

As for the preservation of the muhajir movement in the memory of the population of the Eastern Caucasus, the historian rejected the assumption that the 1944 deportation "replaced" the muhajir movement. "The Dagestanis and Ossetians were not deported anywhere, and for the Chechens and Ingush, the deportation rather preserved their historical memory," he noted. he

The historian identified several reasons why the muhajir movement fell into obscurity. "Firstly, the Eastern Caucasus has its own dates associated with the Caucasian War - the capitulation of Shamil (for Dagestan) and the suppression of the Baysangur Benoevsky uprising (for Chechnya). Secondly, due to the small number of muhajirs, the demographic structure of the region remained virtually unchanged, while in the Western Caucasus everything changed and was deeply imprinted in memory," he stated.