{"id":1552,"date":"2025-01-02T14:20:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T11:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/?p=1552"},"modified":"2025-01-02T14:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T11:20:13","slug":"experiences-of-circassian-muhajirs-in-the-ottoman-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/2025\/01\/02\/experiences-of-circassian-muhajirs-in-the-ottoman-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiences of Circassian Muhajirs in the Ottoman Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Janset Nil Gen\u00e7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past November, I had the privilege of conducting fieldwork as a fellow at the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT) for my Master\u2019s thesis on Circassian muhajirs in the Ottoman Empire. This fellowship provided me with access to the NIT library and its excellent study spaces (and as other fellows have noted, the chairs are truly the best in town). It also enabled me to visit several Circassian villages in Turkey, conduct interviews with descendants of Circassian muhajirs, and work in the Ottoman archives (BOA). Traveling back and forth between the NIT library, BOA, and Anatolian villages, I was able to make significant progress in my research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my research, I aim to understand how Circassian muhajirs experienced life in the Ottoman Empire during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. My focus is on two Circassian muhajir families who migrated during different waves of migration and settled in distinct regions of the Ottoman Empire. Using oral history, I reconstruct their narratives and integrate their stories into the broader history of the Ottoman Empire. My goal is to center the perspectives of the muhajirs and offer an alternative to the top-down accounts of their migration and settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my fellowship, I visited various Circassian villages in Kayseri, Eski\u015fehir, and Bilecik. While most of my interviewees were based in Istanbul, these travels allowed me to trace their ancestors\u2019 homes and connect with other muhajirs within their networks\u2014for example, descendants of those who migrated alongside my interviewees\u2019 ancestors. These visits also offered insights into the daily life and architecture in these villages. Additionally, I met with local Circassian associations that provided me with valuable resources for my research. These travels granted me access to local archives and materials unavailable in state archives. For instance, at Boz\u00fcy\u00fck\u2019s local museum, I got a hold of photographs belonging to one of the families I am studying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: A Circassian village in P\u0131narba\u015f\u0131, Kayseri known as Jeri\u015ftey (Tur., Ya\u011fl\u0131p\u0131nar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On days when I was not traveling across Anatolia, I spent my time at the NIT library working on my literature review, examining primary sources, and enjoying coffee breaks on the rooftop overlooking the Bosphorus. In the meantime, I continued conducting interviews with various members of the two families central to my research. Overall, my month at NIT was incredibly productive, and I am excited to continue developing this work into a thesis at my home institution, Leiden University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
From my final-day presentation at NIT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I want to thank the wonderful NIT team for welcoming me as a fellow and supporting my research. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and hope to return soon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Janset Nil Gen\u00e7 This past November, I had the privilege of conducting fieldwork as a fellow at the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT) for my Master\u2019s thesis on Circassian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,24],"tags":[76,75,17,11,8,77],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-nit-fellow-reports","tag-circassian-heritage","tag-circassian-muhajirs","tag-cultural-heritage","tag-fellowship","tag-istanbul","tag-ottoman-empire"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AD1DBC15-1D41-44BD-964D-B0C2A1DE2349_1_105_c.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1557,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/1557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}