and royal harems over the many centuries. Today, they are the third-largest Caucasus derived group in the nation after the Armenians and Georgians. Egypt The Circassian diaspora may date back to the end of the fourteenth century: the Circassian population in Egypt claims its descendance from the Mamluks who, during the Mamluk Sultanate, ruled Egypt and Syria. One exception to this is the Abazin community in Egypt which conglomerates in the powerful Abaza Family that claims descent from an Abazin "beloved" female "elder." In Egypt, the Abkhazians took – or were given – the last name "Abaza". Syria In 1987, Syria was home to approximately 100,000 Circassians, about half of whom lived in Hauran province, and many of the Circassians used to live in the Golan Heights. During the time of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (1920–1946), Circassians served with the French troops in the "escadron tcherkesse" (Cherkess squadron), earning them enduring distrust from the Syrian Sunni Arabs. In Quneitra and the Golan Region, there was a numerous Circassian community. Several Circassian leaders wanted in 1938, for the same reasons as their Assyrian, Kurdish and Bedouin counterparts in Al-Jazira province in 1936–1937, a special autonomy status for their region as they feared the prospect of living in an independent Syrian republic under a nationalist Arab government hostile towards the minorities that had collaborated with the colonial power. They also wanted the Golan region to become a national homeland for Circassian refugees from the Caucasus. A Circassian battalion served in the French army and had helped it against the Arab nationalist uprisings. Like in Al-Jazira Province, the French authorities refused to grant any autonomy status to the Golan Circassians. The Circassians of Syria were actively involved in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Their unit was under the leadership of Jawad Anzor. 200 Circassians were killed in action. They performed well, but the overall failure to stop the founding of Israel led to the special Circassian unit being disbanded. After the Six-Day War of 1967, they withdrew further into Syria, especially to Damascus and Aleppo. They were prevented from returning to the Golan Heights by Israeli occupying forces, but after 1973 some of the returned, now living in two villages, Beer Ajam and Bariqa, where they maintain a traditionally Circassian way of life. The Circassians in Syria are generally well off. They have very good relations with minorities like Alawites,