Abkhazians

The Abkhazians or Abkhazes[a] are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea.

A large Abkhaz diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the Caucasian War in the late 19th century.

[20] Classical sources speak of several tribes dwelling in the region, but their exact identity and location remain controversial due to Abkhaz–Georgian historiographical conflict.

[21] The Abzhui (Абжьыуа, Abzhwa) live in the Kodori River region, and also speak their own dialect, which the Abkhaz literary language is based upon.

[citation needed] Towards the end of the 17th century, the region became a theatre of widespread slave trade and piracy.

According to a controversial theory developed by Pavle Ingorokva in the 1950s, at that time a number of the Northwest Caucasian pagan Abaza tribes migrated from the north and blended with the local ethnic elements, significantly changing the region's demographic situation.

[24][25] The Russian conquest of Abkhazia from the 1810s to the 1860s was accompanied by a massive expulsion of Muslim Abkhaz to the Ottoman Empire and the introduction of a strong Russification policy.

The largest part of the diaspora now lives in Turkey, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 500,000, with smaller groups in Syria (5,000 – 10,000) and Jordan.

The influx of Armenians, Russians and Georgians into the growing agricultural and tourism sectors was also encouraged, and Abkhaz schools were briefly closed.

[35] Many Muslim Circassians, Abkhaz and Chechens migrated to the Ottoman Empire following revolts against Russian rule.

[41] It also contributed to Egyptian and Arabic cultural literary, intellectual, and political life starting with the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha in Egypt and continuing to the modern day.

Conference of Abkhazian nobility in 1839
Abkhaz girl in 1881
The lands of the Abkhaz/Abaza and their neighbours in the beginning of the 19th century
Abaza family elders at their palace in Sharqia in the Nile Delta . It is the country's largest aristocratic, literary and political family.