Russo-Circassian War in the context of "Pyotr Bagration"

The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: Adygekher), are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in the North Caucasus.

As a consequence of the Circassian genocide, which was perpetrated by the Russian Empire during the Russo-Circassian War in the 19th century, most of the Circassian people were exiled from their ancestral homeland and consequently began living in what was then the Ottoman Empire—that is, modern-day Turkey and the rest of the Middle East. In the early 1990s, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimated that there are as many as 3.7 million Circassians in diaspora in over 50 countries.

The Caucasian War (Russian: Кавказская война, romanized: Kavkazskaya voyna) or the Caucasus War was a 19th-century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. It consisted of a series of military actions waged by the Russian Imperial Army and Cossack settlers against the native inhabitants such as the Adyghe, Abazins, Ubykhs, Chechens, and Dagestanis as the Tsars sought to expand.

Russian control of the Georgian Military Road in the center divided the Caucasian War into the Russo-Circassian War in the west and the conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan in the east. Other territories of the Caucasus (comprising contemporary eastern Georgia, southern Dagestan, Armenia and Azerbaijan) were incorporated into the Russian Empire at various times in the 19th century as a result of Russian wars with Persia. The remaining part, western Georgia, was taken by the Russians from the Ottomans during the same period.

Circassia (/sɜːrˈkæʃə/ sir-KASH-ə), also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in Eastern Europe. It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Circassia was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Russo-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which approximately 80–97% of the Circassian people were either exiled or massacred in the Circassian genocide.

In the medieval era, Circassia was nominally ruled by an elected Grand Prince, but individual principalities and tribes were autonomous. In the 18th–19th centuries, a central government began to form. The Circassians also dominated the northern end of the Kuban River, but were eventually pushed back to the south of the Kuban after suffering losses to military raids conducted by the Mongol Empire, the Golden Horde, and the Crimean Khanate. Their reduced borders then stretched from the Taman Peninsula to North Ossetia. The term Circassia is also used as the collective name of various Circassian states that were established within historical Circassian territory, such as Zichia.

The Russian conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan, also called the Murid War, was the eastern theatre of the Caucasian War of 1817–1864. In the Murid War, the Russian Empire conquered the independent peoples of the Eastern Caucasus.

When Russia annexed Georgia in 1801, it needed to control the Georgian Military Road in the central Caucasus – the only practical north–south route across the mountains. Russian control of the road meant the division of the fighting in the Caucasian War into two theatres. West of the road, in the Russo-Circassian War, the tribes did not unite and the war became very complex. In the east the tribes joined in the Caucasian Imamate, a military-theocratic state which held out for thirty years. This state, established by Ghazi Muhammad in 1829–1832, came under the rule of Imam Shamil from 1834 until his surrender in 1859.

The Circassians, also known as the Cherkess or the Adyghe (Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: Adygəxər, IPA: [aːdɘɣəxə́r]), are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Circassia, a region and former country in the North Caucasus.

As a consequence of the Circassian genocide, which was perpetrated by the Russian Empire during the 19th-century Russo-Circassian War, most of Circassians were exiled from their homeland and consequently began living in what was then the Ottoman Empire, i.e., modern-day Turkey, Southeastern Europe and the Middle East. In the early 1990s, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimated that there are as many as 3.7 million Circassians in diaspora in over 50 countries.

Grigory Khristoforovich von Zass (Russian: Григорий Христофорович фон Засс; German: Georg Otto Ewald Freiherr von Saß; 1797–1883) was an Imperial Russian general who commanded Russian cavalry troops in the Napoleonic Wars and Russo-Circassian War, initially gaining prominence for his actions against the Circassians, whom he reportedly saw as a "lowly race". He was the founder of the city of Armavir, Russia.

In 2003, the Russian Federation erected his statue on former Circassian territories, infuriating Circassians and Circassian nationalist establishments worldwide.

Circassian nationalism is the desire among Circassians worldwide to preserve their heritage and culture, save their language from extinction, raise awareness about the Circassian genocide, return to Circassia and establish a completely autonomous or independent Circassian state in its pre-Russian invasion borders.

In almost every community of Circassians around the world, a local advisory council called the "Adyghe Khase" can be found. The goal of such councils are to provide Circassians with a comfortable place where they can speak Circassian, engage in Circassian cultural activities, learn about the laws of Adyghe Xabze or seek advice. These advisory councils are coordinated on a local and regional basis, and communicate internationally through the International Circassian Association (ICA).