The article, based primarily on Turkish archival sources, discusses the peculiarities of the settlement and adaptation process of North Caucasian immigrants in the Uzunyаylа plateau located in Central Anatolia (now Рınаrbаşı district, Kаysеri province). This vast and sparsely populated area became one of the first Ottoman regions opened by the Porte for migrant colonization. Despite the controversial legal status of this territory and claims to it by the local nomadic Аfshаr tribe, during the years 1860–1862 and later the authorities sent there a significant number of immigrant groups, resulting in the formation of approximately 15,000-strong Сirсаssiаn (mainly Аdyghе-Аbаzin) ethnic enclave, which included several dozens of newly created villages. In contrast to the usual colonization practice of the Ottoman administration in Anatolia, within the framework of this project a compact settlement of immigrants was admitted in line with the “tribal” principle, which contributed to their more successful social and economic adaptation to the new conditions. The organization of state material assistance to the settlers there also seems to be more effective than in other regions. In its turn, the massive deployment of North Caucasians in Uzunyаylа greatly facilitated the Ottoman leadership’s task of ousting from there and subsequent forced sedentariation of the Аfshаrs. In the conflicts between immigrants and nomads the authorities consistently supported the Сirсаssiаns, and after the completion of соlоnizаtiоn they detached the region into a separate district, which drew its managerial personnel mainly from its own milieu. The comparative economic well-being and the actual sociocultural autonomy of the Сirсаssiаns of Uzunyаylа in the Ottoman period made them not only the most numerous, but also the most viable Caucasian community in the country.

Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Uzunyаylа plateau, North Caucasian immigrants, соlоnizаtiоn, adaptation, Аfshаrs.

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