 The destruction of pre-modern Manbij has been attributed to its resettlement by Circassian and Armenian refugees.As of 1911, its 1,500 inhabitants were all Circassians.Prior to and in the early years of the Syrian Civil War, Manbij had an ethnically diverse population of Arab, Kurdish and Circassian Sunni Muslims, many of whom followed the Naqshbandi Sufi order.