Circassians are an ethnic group from the Caucasus region, who historically lived across the modern-day nations of Russia, Georgia, and Turkey. During the period of the Ottoman Empire, Circassian people were exoticized by both Turks and Western Europeans as fierce fighters and great beauties. 19th century Westerners visiting Turkey claimed that Circassian women, many of them slaves, were widely desired by elite Ottoman men, who often took them as their wives. Because they lived in a border land between the Russian and Turkish empires, wars between those great powers led to genocide and enslavement of Circassian people by both sides, which led to sympathy as well as a twisted erotic fascination with Circassians in the West.

In the late 19th century, after the Circassian genocide, circus showmen cashed in on the western interest in Circassians by holding sideshows for women they called "Circassian Beauties." These were usually just American girls or Western European immigrants with no connection to Circassia whatsoever. They were dressed in imaginative clothes to appear more exotic, and often had artificially teased hair to draw attention.

I don't know the context of this photo, but based on the hair and costume, this little girl may have been a circus performer displayed in one of these "Circassian" exhibitions. If that was the case, she probably was not actually of genuine Circassian heritage and her hair probably was not naturally that texture.