Book Discussion: Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, by Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable discusses the new book, Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State (Stanford University Press, 2024), by Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky. The book examines the migration of about a million Muslim refugees, including Circassians, Chechens, Dagestanis, and others, from Russia to the Ottoman Middle East and the Balkans. Based on research in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Russian, the book argues that, in response to Muslim migrations from Russia, the Ottoman government created a refugee regime, which predated refugee systems set up by the League of Nations and the United Nations. Empire of Refugees revises our understanding of how Russia used migration policies to govern the Caucasus and its Muslim populations.

Sub Unit

• History: 1800-1900

Chair

• Will Smiley, U of New Hampshire

Roundtable Members

• Aimee M. Genell, Boston U

• Krista Goff, U of Miami

• Emily Greble, Vanderbilt U

• Adrienne Lynn Edgar, UC Santa Barbara