Peoples of the Caucasus in Iran

The terms People of the Caucasus and Caucasian people indicate two main groups of people in Iran:

• Immigrants from the South Caucasus and North Caucasus mainly due to policies of the Safavids and Qajars and to another significant extent due to the results of the 19th century Russo-Persian Wars and the Caucasian War:
  • Circassians (including the Abkhaz, Kabarday, Abazins, and Ubykh): Following the end of the Circassian insurgency in 1864 which triggered an exodus from North Caucasia, Circassian people had settled in small amounts in the territory of Iran. The Circassian population in Iran however for the vast majority stems from the Safavid and Qajar era. See also; Circassians in Iran
  • Dagestani people. Amongst them the Laks are the most well known.^[1]
• Autochthonous people of Transcaucasia:
  • speaking South Caucasian languages:
    • Georgians (Iranian Georgians): Christian Georgians were settled en masse in Iran's heartlands during the Safavid and Qajar era when the former ruled the Caucasus as part of its territories. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians were relocated by the Safavids starting from Shah Tahmasp I and most notably by shah Abbas I to various parts of Iran, including Isfahan, Mazandaran, and Gilan.^[2] A certain amount also migrated as muhajirs in the 19th century to Iran, following the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. This policy continued till the Qajar era, when Iran eventually lost its Caucasian territories to Russia in the course of the 19th century. (see Russo-Persian Wars) Nowadays all Iranian Georgians are reported to be Shia Muslims.^[3] The Georgians played a crucial role in developing Iran's industrial economy, strengthening its military, and populating newly built towns in various places in Iran.
  • Armenians (Iranian Armenians)
  • Azerbaijanis (Iranian Azerbaijanis)

Caucasian refugees

Iran and the Russian Empire fought 5 wars between the mid-17th century and 1828 (if not including the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran). Iran eventually lost vast and often solidly Persian-speaking and Muslim territories spanning from Dagestan in the North Caucasus to what is today Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan and Armenia to the Russians per the Treaty of Gulistan and Treaty of Turkmenchay. The Russians killed many inhabitants of these Iranian ruled lands, and expelled the rest to Iran, or to a certain extent, Turkey.

See also

• Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians
• Ayrums
• Peoples of the Caucasus in Turkey
• Persian Cossack Brigade
• Qajar dynasty#Migration of Caucasian Muslims
• Battle of Ganja (1804)#Immigration
• Qarapapaqs

References

Ethnic groups in Iran
Persians (including Gilaks, Mazandarani) 61% Azerbaijanis 16% Kurds 10% Lurs 6% Arabs 2% Balochs 2% Turkmens and other Turkic people 2% Others 1% Talysh Tats Armenians Georgians Assyrians Circassians Jews
Source for percentages is the CIA World Factbook.