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A Petition from Circassian leaders to Her Majesty Queen Victoria was a document sent by Circassian leaders to Queen Victoria on April 7, 1864 complaining about Russian genocidal actions that made up the Circassian genocide. The document requests British military aid, or in the worst case, humanitarian aid, to the Circassian people.[1][2][3] Only the English version of the text exists today. Presumably, however, it was written in Ottoman Turkish, and then translated to English by Henry Bulwer, the British ambassador in Istanbul.

Background

Main articles: Russo-Circassian War and Circassian genocide

During the reign of Catherine II the Russian army started entering Circassian soil and Russia started building forts in an attempt to quickly annex Circassia. Thus began the first hostilities between the Circassians and the Russian Empire. From 1802 to 1806 general Pavel Tsitsianov led campaigns in Circassia and targeted Circassian villages. He referred to the Circassians as "untrustworthy swine"[4] to "show how insignificant they are compared to Russia".[5] In 1808, a Russian commission decided that in order to end Circassian resistance against the Russian Empire, the Circassians would need to be completely eliminated from their homeland. Since then, systematic mass murder of Circassians was a common strategy.[6][7]

In 1857, Dmitry Milyutin published the idea of mass expulsions of Circassian natives.[8] Milyutin argued that the goal was not to simply move them so that their land could be settled by productive farmers, but rather that "eliminating the Circassians was to be an end in itself – to cleanse the land of hostile elements".[8][9][10] Tsar Alexander II endorsed the plans.[8] Although the order given by Tsar Alexander II was to deport the remaining Circassians rather than to completely mass murder them, the Russian commanders were open to the idea of massacring large portions of the Circassian population. Richmond has noted that "reports abound" of massacres in the final stages of the Caucasus campaign.[11]

In 1860, the Circassian Parliament was founded.[12][13] In 1864, the Circassian leaders signed the document to be issued to Queen Victoria.[1][2][3]

English edition

In the name of God, the Most Merciful.

Our most humble Petition to Her Magnificent Majesty the Queen and Emperor of England is to the effect that –

It is now more than eighty years since the Russian Government is unlawfully striving to subdue and annex to its dominions Circassia, which since the creation of the world has been our home and our country. It slaughters like sheep the children, helpless women, and old men that fall into its hands. It rolls about their heads with the bayonet like melons, and there is no act of oppression or cruelty which is beyond the pale of civilisation and humanity, and which defies description, that it has not committed.

We have not, from father to son, at the cost of our lives and properties, refrained from opposing the tyrannical acts of that Government in defence of our country, which is dearer to us than our lives. But during the last year or two it has taken advantage of a famine caused by a drought with which the Almighty visited us, as well as by its own ravages, and it has occasioned us great distress by its severe attacks by sea and land. Many are the lives which have been lost in battle, from hunger in the mountains, from destitution on the sea-coast, and from want of skill at sea.

We therefore invoke the mediation and precious assistance of the British Government and people – the guardian of humanity and centre of justice – in order to repel the brutal attacks of the Russian Government on our country, and save our country and our nation together.

But if it is not possible to afford this help for the preservation of our country, and race, then we pray to be afforded facilities for removing to a place of safety our helpless and miserable children and women that are perishing by the brutal attacks of the enemy as well as by the effects of famine; and if neither of these two requests are taken into consideration, and if in our helpless condition we are utterly annihilated notwithstanding our appeals to the mercy and grace of the Governments, then we shall not cease to invoke our right in the presence of the Lord of the Universe, of Him who has confided to Your Majesty sovereignty, strength, and power for the purpose of protecting the weak.

We beg Your Excellency (Sir Henry Bulwer) to be the medium of making known to the great British Government and to the glorious British nation our condition of helplessness and misery, and we have therefore ventured to present to Your Excellency our most humble petition. A copy of it has been submitted to the Sultan’s Government and to the Embassies of other Powers.

Signed by the People of Circassia. 29 Shawwal, 1280 (April 7, 1864)[14][15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b Rosser-Owen, Sarah (2007). The First 'Circassian Exodus' to the Ottoman Empire (1858-1867), and the Ottoman Response, Based on the Accounts of Contemporary British Observers.
  2. ^ a b Burnaby, Frederick (2007). On Horseback Through Asia Minor.
  3. ^ a b Enclosed in Despatch No.3 From Sir Henry Bulwer to Earl Russell, Constantinople, April 12, 1864 (FO 881/1259)
  4. ^ Richmond, Walter (9 April 2013). The Circassian Genocide. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-6069-4.
  5. ^ Potto, Valisii. Kavkazskaya voina. 1:171
  6. ^ Hatk, Isam. “Russian-Circassian War 1763- 21 May 1864.” Al Waha – Oasis. 51. (1992): 10-15.
  7. ^ Capobianco, Michael (2012). "Blood on the Shore: The Circassian Genocide"
  8. ^ a b c King, Charles. The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. Page 94. "In a policy memorandum in of 1857, Dmitri Milyutin, chief-of-staff to Bariatinskii, summarized the new thinking on dealing with the northwestern highlanders. The idea, Milyutin argued, was not to clear the highlands and coastal areas of Circassians so that these regions could be settled by productive farmers...[but] Rather, eliminating the Circassians was to be an end in itself – to cleanse the land of hostile elements. Tsar Alexander II formally approved the resettlement plan...Milyutin, who would eventually become minister of war, was to see his plans realized in the early 1860s".
  9. ^ L.V.Burykina. Pereselenskoye dvizhenie na severo-zapagni Kavakaz. Reference in King.
  10. ^ Richmond 2008, p. 79. "In his memoirs Milutin, who proposed deporting Circassians from the mountains as early as 1857, recalls: "the plan of action decided upon for 1860 was to cleanse [ochistit'] the mountain zone of its indigenous population".
  11. ^ Richmond, Walter (2013). The Circassian Genocide. Page 76
  12. ^ Grassi, Fabio L. (2018). A new homeland: The Massacre of The Circassians, Their Exodus To The Ottoman Empire and Their Place In Modern Turkey. Aydin University International. ISBN 9781642261349.
  13. ^ Ruslan, Yemij (August 2011). Soçi Meclisi ve Çar II. Aleksandr ile Buluşma. Archived 2020-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Rosser-Owen, Sarah (2007). The First 'Circassian Exodus' to the Ottoman Empire (1858-1867), and the Ottoman Response, Based on the Accounts of Contemporary British Observers.
  15. ^ Burnaby, Frederick (2007). On Horseback Through Asia Minor.
  16. ^ Enclosed in Despatch No.3 From Sir Henry Bulwer to Earl Russell, Constantinople, April 12, 1864 (FO 881/1259)

Sources

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Petition_from_Circassian_leaders_to_Her_Majesty_Queen_Victoria