Following Russia's conquest of the northwest Caucasus, most Circassians were expelled from their homeland towards the Ottoman Empire. Deportees departed through Black Sea ports such as Sochi and Trabzon, and many died from violence, disease, hunger or shipwreck. Large communities subsequently formed in Anatolia, the Levant and the Balkans.

Diaspora communities used songs, laments and retellings of the Nart sagas to maintain Circassian history and identity. Later Circassian literature made the lost Caucasian homeland, dangerous sea crossing and threat of assimilation central themes.