Circassian Rural Slavery in the Ottoman Empire (1866-1914)

This study focuses on rural slavery among the Circassians who migrated en masse to the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the 19th century. Throughout this thesis, the policies of the Ottoman government towards rural slavery are analysed, and the various muqataba procedures that the government wanted to implement among the immigrant slaves are discussed in detail. The reasons behind slave disobedience, the efforts of slaves and lords to organise themselves, and the problem of public disorder in the country are also among the topics discussed in this study, which covers a period of approximately 60 years.