[4] At first arrival, the Circassians mistook the Bulgarians for Russians due to the fact that both spoke a Slavic language and were Orthodox Christians.

In Southern Bulgaria, the most numerous Circassian community was created in Yambol, Burgas and partly in today's Stara Zagora region.

Around 80,000 Circassians lived in settlements that came to be referred as "death camps" on the outskirts of Varna, where they were deprived of food and subjected to diseases.

The Ottoman authorities attempted to turn the Circassians into productive farmers by providing them with land to cultivate, with the expectation that the native inhabitants of the areas would look after them and "welcome them as brothers."

In 1876 Circassians aided with the Turks in crushing the April uprising, carrying out atrocities against the Christian population,[8] causing sympathy for Bulgarians in Europe.

In the summer of 1877, mainly Circassian irregular cavalry from the villages of Hasanoglu and Otmanlii participated on the Turkish side in the battle for Nova Zagora.

[18] The Circassians were seen as a "Muslim threat" and expelled from Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans by Russian armies following the end of the Russo-Turkish war.