“Alexander II was afraid to let Imam Shamil go. His name still resounded among Muslims."

Society

07:00, 07.09.2019 18

160 years ago the Imamat ceased to exist in the Caucasus. Interview with historian Hadji Murad Donogo

Photo: stmkala.ru

160 years ago, on September 7, 1859, Imam Shamil surrendered to the Russian authorities. In essence, this meant the end of the Caucasian War (although isolated clashes continued for several years in the North-West Caucasus). The North Caucasus Imamate, a theocratic state that lasted about 30 years, also ceased to exist. Realnoe Vremya talked about the phenomenon of the legendary leader of the highlanders, his connections with Kazan, the scandalous statement of Ramzan Kadyrov and Shamil’s “testament” with the Deputy General Director of the National Museum of the Republic of Dagestan (Makhachkala), Doctor of Historical Sciences Hadji Murad Donogo.

Shamil's childhood and youth

Born in the Avar village of Gimry (Genub) of the Koysubulin society around 1797 (according to other sources, around 1799). Father is an Avar uzden (representative of the noble class) Dengau Mohammed, mother is from a side branch of the Kazimukh ruling family. At birth he received the name Ali. To avoid an unhappy fate, the grandfather gave the sickly child another name - Samuil, which in the Caucasus sounds like "Shamil". And Shamil grew up to be a strong and healthy young man. Later, Shamil himself said that in this he followed the Prophet Mohammed, who changed his name twice.

From childhood, Shamil was friends with the first imam Gazi-Mohammed ibn Ismail al-Jimravi al-Dagestani (the Russian spelling of his name is often found - Kazi-mullah, Gazi Muhammad, Gazi Magomed), this friendship remained until the death of Gazi Muhammad. Shamil studied with Said al-Harakani, then with Sheikh al-Said Jamal al-Din, who introduced him to the Naqshbandi brotherhood, and Sheikh Mohammed al-Yaragi ordained him as caliph.

In 1828 or 1829, Ghazi Muhammad was elected as the first imam and declared ghazawat (holy war) against Russia. Shamil joined him and took part in battles with Russian troops.

In 1832, Gazi Muhammad and Shamil were besieged by Russian troops under the command of Baron Rosen in their native village of Gimry. Gazi Mohammed died, and Shamil, although severely wounded, managed to break through and escape.

The second imam after Ghazi Muhammad was Gamzat-bek ibn Ali Iskander-bek al-Gutsali (Gamzat-bek).

Shamil remained an active assistant, raising troops, obtaining material, and commanding expeditions against the Russians and the enemies of the Imam.

My Dagestan

Those who condemn, blame, and dislike Imam Shamil need to quickly repent

There is a hadith that says that only worthy people can appreciate worthy people. There is also a saying that when mentioning pious people, the grace of the Almighty is sent down. Therefore, with the hope of Allah’s mercy, a few words about Imam Shamil.

Unfortunately, dear brothers, among us there are people who condemn, blame Imam Shamil, and express disapproving words about him. For example, some say that the imam and his murids fought for the sake of worldly wealth. Others say that the imam fought for glory and power, and still others say that the imam was a cruel man who did not know mercy. There is also a category of people who claim that the imam surrendered and was captured, and that it was his mistake, allegedly, he should have fought to the end.

Today there are people, although there is nothing human left in them, who, under the slogan of jihad, sow confusion and discord, and without any shame they put their madness on the same level as the holy cause of Imam Shamil. Here, dear brothers, there is nothing to be surprised at, because even at that time the so-called “Muslims” fought against the imam on the side of the royal army; there were several thousand of them. People who express disapproval of the Imam may suffer an evil fate. Why? Because the Almighty says in Hadith al-Qudsi: “Whoever experiences hostile feelings towards My favorite, I truly declare war on him.” Those people who condemn, blame, and dislike Imam Shamil need to quickly repent before Allah’s punishment overtakes them.

Sixth Rightly Guided Caliph

Truly, Imam Shamil was a favorite of Allah (avliya) of a very high level, a spiritual mentor. He was a phenomenon who was endowed by the Almighty with a clear mind. He was a very wise politician, a great commander, and Allah chose him to save Dagestan from unbelief. After the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions, one can say that Imam Shamil was the most just imam. For example, Shuaib-afandi al-Baghini in the book “Tabakat” writes: “After the ghazavat of Imam Shamil ended, the Sharia was orphaned.” The great ulama called Imam Shamil the sixth righteous caliph. Shuaib-Afandi writes that after Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz there was no imamate in history where Sharia rules were observed so perfectly as in the imamate of Imam Shamil. The alims say that the ghazavat of Imam Shamil were similar to the ghazavat of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). We know that Imam Shamil, like the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), had to make hijra (migration).

Shamil was a true Naqshbandi ustaz. In “Tabakat,” al-Baghini writes that in addition to the ustaz Muhammad Yaraghi and Jamalutdin Kumuhi, Ismail Kurdumerdi also gave permission to mentor (ijaz) the imam.

Sometimes you hear the statement that Imam Shamil was not a sheikh of the tariqa. In fact, in those days the alleys of the village of Gimry were crowded with murids who came to the ustaz Gazimuhammad and Shamil. This is a confirmed historical fact. They were on the true path, and this confirms that the Imam was supported from all over the world. In mosques in Arabia, Asia, and Turkey, they asked the Almighty to help the imam. The great scholars of Mecca sent him letters, confirming the truth of the path of the Imam, and warning those who would go against him against the danger of falling into error.

Karamats of the imam

The Almighty endowed Imam Shamil with many features, karamat. For example, the Almighty already punished the one who opposed the imam in this world, without waiting for the Akhirat. The same decision is still in effect today, since it was not annulled after the death of the imam. Why? Because the Almighty is eternally alive and punishes people who dislike Imam Shamil even today.

Imam Shamil, when looking at a person, could determine which category he belonged to: the category of believers or non-believers. Why? Because Allah gave him such an opportunity. Based on this, he treated everyone accordingly.

Here is another manifestation of the karamat of Imam Shamil and Gazimuhammad: when representatives of the royal troops demanded that the mountaineers be given to them as amanat (trust), Gazimuhammad said that they needed to hand over the people, and Imam Shamil was against it, and a small quarrel arose between them. People who did not like Imam Shamil approached Gazimuhammad and said: “How long will we tolerate the arrogance of this Shamil, let’s kill him.” To this Gazimuhammad replied: “We’ll kill him, but who will deliver his body to Medina?” Gazimuhammad knew that his body was made of clay from Yathrib (Medina). Each of us is created from the soil in which we will be buried.

Love for science

The imam paid the greatest attention to knowledge, and although he fought for 25 years, it cannot be assumed that the imam did not think about anything other than battles. He paid great attention to mutaalim (students). From the public treasury (bayt-ul-mal) he allocated large funds for the dissemination of knowledge (ilmu). In each locality, the imam created a madrasah. Imam Shamil freed gifted people from ghazavat and sent them to study science. In those days, the literacy level of the mountaineers increased tenfold compared to what it was before Gazavat. We can say that among the mountaineers there were few who could not write and read. Russian scientist, General Uslar writes: “If you compare the population and the number of madrassas in Dagestan at that time, the literacy level of Dagestanis far exceeded the literacy level of Europeans.”

Did the imam pursue the goal of destroying non-believers?

Imam Shamil, like the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), did not have the goal of destroying the unbelievers. Because in Sharia there is a rule, which Ramazan Buti writes about in the book “Al-Jihad fil-Islami”, that truly jihad with weapons is carried out with the aim of eliminating enmity, and not with the aim of destroying disbelief. The proof is the fact that Imam Shamil, like the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said to his murids before the ghazavat: “Do not kill old people, women and children, do not cut down trees, do not burn fields, if you make peace even with the infidels, do not break it." From this it is clear that the goal of the imam and his murids was not the destruction of unbelievers. The imam treated his captives with respect. He respected them and did not force them to accept Islam. It is written that Imam Shamil allowed the captives to freely practice their religion - Christianity. It is also reported that many unbelievers, having heard about the justice of Imam Shamil, went over to his side, including two priests. The tsarist generals were afraid of this. They were afraid that, having heard about justice, the majority would go over to the side of the imam.

Great commander

Europeans watched the war in the Caucasus and wondered how Tsarist Russia, such a strong power that defeated Napoleon himself, could not cope with such a small number of highlanders. They knew that the Russian Tsar sent twice as many troops against Imam Shamil as against Napoleon himself. Assessing Imam Shamil, the famous Turkish historian Albay Yashar writes: “In world history there was no such great commander as Imam Shamil.” He further states: “If Napoleon is the coal of war, then Imam Shamil is the fiery pillar of war.” The Russian generals themselves, who fought against Shamil, gave him a worthy assessment. They called him a genius of war. They were surprised at his mastery of battle tactics, amazed at how he always managed to emerge victorious from a battle, having no money, and being in need of medicine, weapons and human resources. The Tsar's generals were amazed. For example, in the battles for Akhulgo, the tsarist army lost 33,000 soldiers, while Imam Shamil lost only 300 murids. They even say that the aggressors killed about 5,000 soldiers in one day in the battles for Akhulgo. There were times when a general returned from battle with only two soldiers. But, unfortunately, the closest, most trusted people betrayed Shamil. Once, in a state of despair, the imam expressed the words of Imam Shafii in poetic form:

Those who pledged to protect me,

Suddenly they became allies of enemies,

And the arrows of those whom I trusted completely,

Having pierced my chest, they returned.

Was Imam Shamil captured?

Dear brothers, there was no captivity and it could not be that Imam Shamil surrendered to the infidels, because Muhammad-Tahir al-Karahi writes: “And at the last hour on Mount Gunib, the imam approached each murid separately and asked to fight to the end, until the death of the Shahid. But everyone refused and asked the imam to accept the Russians’ offer, come to them for negotiations and conclude a peace treaty.” Here's what we need to know. There was no surrender. There is also evidence: firstly, when the imam went out to the royal troops, he was armed to the teeth, and we know that weapons are not left to prisoners, but the imam was armed, and even his murid Yunus from Chirkey, who was with him, was armed Secondly, the imam set conditions for the Russians, only after accepting which would he stop the war. The Russians accepted his condition and the peace treaty came into force. The conditions were as follows:

1. Do not interfere with Islam in Dagestan;

2. Do not spread Christianity in Dagestan;

3.Do not be lecherous;

4. Do not call on mountaineers to serve in the tsarist army;

5. Do not pit the peoples of Dagestan against each other.

In addition to these, there were many other conditions, and all of them were accepted. When the imam was in Russia, he was very respected, and he once said: “Praise be to Allah, who gave the Russians so that I could lead the gazavat with them when I was full of strength and so that they would honor and respect me when I grew old and my strength left me.” . Abdurahman Suguri, when he heard these words of the imam, said: “This praise of Allah (shukr) is comparable to a 25-year-old ghazavat.”

The Imam's stay in Turkey and Medina

When the imam arrived in Turkey, he was met by the Turkish Sultan Abdul Aziz. The imam reproached him for promising financial assistance and not helping. The Sultan asked the imam: “Shamil! You fought for 25 years with non-believers, how did you stay alive? Or maybe you didn’t take part in the battles, but sent your murids?” Imam Shamil got angry, stood up, exposed his body, and the Sultan counted more than 40 wounds from the waist to the head. Then Abdul-Aziz began to cry, showed the imam his throne and said that he was worthy of this place.

In Turkey, the imam was asked what he regrets most? The Imam said: “What I regret most are those heroes who remained in the mountains, each of whom cost an entire army.” Sheikh Badruddin Afandi, telling the story of the imam, said that upon arriving in Medina, the imam first visited the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The inhabitants of Medina, having learned of his intention, gathered in the mosque to look at the imam. Seeing the crowd, the imam thought, who should he greet first, these people or the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? And the imam first approached the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), cried and said: “Assalamu aleyka, I rasulullah,” and everyone saw how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from the holy grave extended his hand in radiance and, shaking hands imam, replied: “Wa aleyka ssalam, I am imamal muzhahidin!”

During the imam's stay in Medina, there was a direct descendant of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), a tariqat murshid, the famous alim Nakibu Sadat, already of advanced age. He asked his children to meet with the imam because he was sick and could not move. At the sight of the imam, the descendant of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fell to his knees and began to kiss his feet. The imam helped him up. He told the imam that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appeared to him in a dream and said that there was a revered guest among them, commanding them to respect (adab) towards him.

Death of the Imam

In 1287 Hijri, on the 10th of the month of Dhul-Qaeda, Imam Shamil left this world. A huge number of people gathered to perform the funeral prayer (janaza prayer) behind him. Everyone tried to touch the imam in order to receive grace, and those who could not touch lay down on the ground so that the body of the imam was carried over them. He is buried in the sacred cemetery of Baqiya in Medina.

When the body of the Imam was laid next to the grave, it rose, bent over the grave, and said: “Oh my grave! Be my consolation and the Garden of Eden, don’t be the abyss of hell for me!” Seeing this, everyone lost consciousness. He is buried next to the uncle of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) Abas. Ahmad Rifai, the great alim of those times, wrote in his own hand on the tombstone: “This grave belongs to a murshid close to Allah, who fought in the path of Allah for 25 years, an imam who followed the path of truth, a great alim, the ruler of the faithful, Sheikh Shamil-Afandi from Dagestan . May Allah purify his soul and increase his good deeds.” Many who disliked the imam, seeing how he was exalted by the Russian Tsar, the Turkish Sultan, the Sheriff of Mecca, and learning about the sacred place where the Imam was buried, began to cry and made a tawbah.

In one of his letters to Hassan-afandi, Saifullah-qadi writes: “Know, my brother, this is reliable, without doubts and assumptions. Truly, Dagestan is the only place on earth where the values ​​of religion have remained, and where the source of light of Islam has been preserved, and in other places only the name remains.” He further writes that the reason for all this was the barakat of imams Gazimuhammad and Shamil.

May the Almighty make them leaders and inhabitants of Paradise. O Allah, strengthen Dagestan on the foundations of faith and fear of God. May Allah not deprive us of Imam Shamil’s barakat and may he prolong the life of our ustaz. Amine.

Shamil at the head of the Imamate of Chechnya and Dagestan

In 1834, after the death of Gamzat-bek, Shamil became an imam. Shamil had military talent, great organizational skills, endurance, perseverance, the ability to choose the time to strike and assistants to fulfill his plans. Distinguished by his strong and unyielding will, he knew how to inspire the highlanders, knew how to excite them to self-sacrifice and obedience to his authority.

In 1834, the Russian general Kluge von Klugenau captured Shamil's residence - the village of Gotsatl. Shamil retreated to Northern Dagestan, where, having strengthened his power among the mountaineers, he resumed the fight.

In 1837, having suffered another defeat, Shamil concluded a truce and handed over hostages, but a year later he again rebelled and achieved great success, despite the superiority of the enemy forces. At this time, popular unrest began in Southern Dagestan and Azerbaijan, which played into Shamil’s hands.

Within a few years, Shamil subjugated a significant part of the North-Eastern Caucasus. Using guerrilla warfare tactics, he harassed the garrisons of Russian fortresses on the left flank and center of the Caucasian line. By 1835, he had become so strong that he besieged the ruler of Avaria, Aslan Khan of Kazikumukh, in Khunzakh.

An expedition sent against Shamil in 1839 under the leadership of General P.Kh. Grabbe, besieged him in the fortress on Mount Ahulgo. During a fierce assault on August 21, 1839, Shamil’s wife Dzhavgarat died with a baby in her arms. His uncle Bartykhan was killed, and the imam's sister Patimat threw herself into the abyss. Imam Shamil with a small detachment of murids made his way through the ranks of the besiegers and disappeared into the mountains of Avaria.

In 1840, Shamil resumed military operations in Chechnya, where by that time an uprising had broken out, caused by the Russians' desire to disarm the Chechens. By the end of the year, Shamil controlled all of Chechnya.

In the spring of 1842, General Golovin set out from Ichkeria on a campaign against Shamil’s residence, located in the Dargin village of Dargo, but was defeated by the highlanders and retreated with heavy losses. Golovin was replaced as commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps by Adjutant General A.I. Neidgart.

The apogee of the third imam's power occurred in 1843-1847. Waging a liberation struggle under the green banner of the Prophet to build a state based on the orders of the Almighty, Shamil managed to unite almost all the highlanders of Dagestan and Chechnya.

“The fight was under the banner of Islam”

— Hadji Murad Efendi, first of all, tell us who Shamil was by origin - an Avar or a Kumyk?

- Of course, an Avar. He was from the Avar village of Gimry in Dagestan. The whole controversy surrounding his origin is due to low-authority statements that his ancestors were Kumyks, others say that they were Laks... But if you think like this, then we have many nationalities living in Dagestan, interethnic marriages take place, and as a result it turns out that The Avar's ancestor was a Kumyk, and the Dargin's was a Lezgin. Shamil was an Avar and spoke Avar.

- And at the same time he spoke Turkic languages ​​- Kumyk, Turkish, Tatar.

— Some authors write that he spoke almost 15 languages. Surely he knew Kumyk, but how well is unknown. All the highlanders were engaged in trade, descended to the lowlands, and Kumyk was in use there, so you had to know it. Accordingly, he could know Tatar and a dozen other Turkic languages. Representatives of some nations want such a large-scale personality to be related to their nationality. I don't see anything wrong with this. But the reality was different.

— Was he a Sufi?

— At that time, at the beginning of the 19th century, the sermons of Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaraghi (Yaraghi) were popular in southern Dagestan; he was a Lezgin. Many people flocked to him. And he was a sheikh of the Naqshbandi tariqa. Shamil had heard about him. Some sources write that he entered the tariqa through a follower of this sheikh, Jamaluddin Kazi-Kumukhsky. As a result, he became related to him by marrying his daughter, and married his daughters to the sons of Jamaluddin. If we approach it formally, he was in the Naqshbandi tariqa. The religious activities of many leaders require study. There are just some inconsistencies. Sufism presupposes strict submission to one's ustaz (teacher - editor's note). But we see that during the Caucasian War he often acted independently, not even in agreement with his mentor.

It is possible that he, like the first imam of Dagestan Gazi-Muhammad, Shamil’s senior fellow countryman, used the vertical of the tariqa, when the murids strictly obey their ustaz. It was necessary to subjugate the motley society of Dagestan. There were many free communities, khanates, and individual villages lived separately. Yes, there was Islam, there was adat (custom). But they all had to be somehow combined into one movement. Subsequently, Shamil’s struggle was called the “muridist movement,” which is fundamentally wrong. Today, scholars studying this issue avoid the term "muridism".

The Shamil family, drawing by V. F. Timm from photographs, St. Petersburg, 1860. Photo wikipedia.org

The entire struggle was dressed in a religious garb and took place under the banner of Islam. And about muridism they say that this is, they say, a new teaching that was brought to the Caucasus, and muridism stirred up the people, people rose up to fight. It's all nonsense. Sufism in Dagestan dates back to ancient Derbent. Of course, there were slogans of the struggle for religion, for freedom, for independence, against the occupiers. Science today is moving away from this far-fetched term.

Reforms of Imam Shamil

Shamil's life's work was the creation of the Imamate - a theocratic state based on the principles of Sharia.

In 1842, a council (divan) was created from Shamil's associates to resolve political, administrative, religious and judicial responsibilities. On Saturday and Sunday, Shamil personally received the complainants.

In 1842-1847, a set of legal provisions of Shamil was adopted under the general name “Nizam” (Order). The collection consisted of decrees and rules that met the requirements of Sharia and supplemented its provisions, taking into account certain specific circumstances. The Nizams dealt with issues of marriage and inheritance, trade and barter, fines for fights and stabbings, provisions on the public treasury and the maintenance of administrative officials, etc. A ban on public entertainment was introduced. The custom of blood feud (kanly) and bride kidnapping and even ransom for her was prohibited.

The legal reform (nizam) of Shamil, like other events carried out in the imamate in the conditions of endless wars, could not be consistent and final. The provisions of Islamic law are combined with some norms of the traditional laws of the mountaineers - adat. In naibs, according to the laws of the nizam, they were judged taking into account local customary law.

An important consequence of Shamil's 25-year reign was also the spread of Sufi tariqats in Chechnya and Dagestan, which still have a great influence on the daily life of these peoples.

Shamil left intact the basis of mountain society - the traditional community. It was the rural community (jamaat) that became the social support of Shamil’s state.

Under the leadership of Shamil, an effective administrative apparatus was formed in the imamate, consisting of naibs and murids. The responsibilities of the naibs included managing the naib, collecting taxes, recruiting recruits, and monitoring the implementation of Sharia law. Under the naibs were muftis who supervised the activities of judges (qadis), interpreted Muslim laws and resolved controversial cases. Initially, each naib had the right to appoint and dismiss muftis and qadis, as well as to judge and execute the inhabitants of the naib. The imam himself must approve the death penalty. Naib murids, unlike tariqat murids, were assistants to naibs (a kind of “Naib guard”). For his service, the murid received everything necessary for life and war.

Shamil's reforms, aimed at changing the power of the khans and beks to the Imamo-Naib one, met with decisive resistance because they ran counter to the traditional way of life of the mountaineers. Shamil's desire to replace the adat court with a Sharia court was a complete failure. After the capture of the third imam, “the entire population of Dagestan immediately restored the analysis of cases according to adat, and only one memory remained of the Shamilev Sharia ...” (General A.V. Komarov).

The new order was imposed by harsh and often simply cruel methods. So, in 1844, due to the murder of his protege, Shamil completely destroyed all the inhabitants of the rebel village of Tsonteri.

In foreign policy, Shamil was guided by the Turkish Sultan and was distrustful of Western countries, preferring not to deal with infidel infidels. On his own initiative, the imam did not establish connections with Christian politicians. In diplomatic correspondence, Shamil recognized the primacy of spiritual power in the Ottoman Sultan, who also bore the title of Caliph and claimed succession with the rulers of the Arab Caliphate.

Thanks to the reforms, Shamil managed to resist the military machine of the Russian Empire for almost a quarter of a century. After Shamil's capture, the transformations he had begun continued to be carried out by his naibs, who transferred to Russian service. The destruction of the mountain nobility and the unification of the judicial-administrative administration of Nagorno-Dagestan and Chechnya, carried out by Shamil, helped establish Russian rule in the North-Eastern Caucasus.

The unknown “struggle” of Imam Shamil

When reading Imam Shamil's letters to his captor Prince Baryatinsky, mixed feelings arise. If such messages from a failed messiah to his sworn enemy had become known to Pushkin or Lermontov, they would have served as the basis for writing an immortal poem about deceit and betrayal.

Indeed, they are more reminiscent of the messages of an experienced seducer with a completely Pushkin style: “Having not received news about your health for a long time, we feel sorrow, which would disappear, however, upon receipt of your first letter. May these lines serve as a means to obtain it.” Like a concubine who fears being forgotten by her new master, in a letter dated December 1868, Shamil writes: “Having lived in Russia for more than ten years, I have constantly enjoyed and continue to enjoy the favors of the Sovereign Emperor, and these favors are increasing every day.”

At the same time, these letters are a logical continuation of the first words of Imam Shamil, spoken during his voluntary surrender: “I recognize the power of the White Tsar and am ready to serve him faithfully.” Apparently, this was said not only out of fear for the safety of his large family, but also out of concern for compliance with other conditions of honorable surrender, primarily the preservation of the ownership of the Imamate’s treasury, collected in the conduct of the “holy war with the infidels.” "through exorbitant taxes, war booty and the trade in hostages.

Excerpts from the imam's letters involuntarily raise a question that is still relevant today: was Shamil a fighter for the faith - the leader of the anti-colonial struggle of the mountaineers? If we answer this question in the affirmative, then the explanation of the greatest drama of the peoples of the North Caucasus in the 19th century lies in the question of the role of the individual in the history of this tragedy, called the Caucasian War.

It is obvious that a large-scale personality and dedication to an idea are inextricably linked. Serving an idea, especially the so-called religious fanaticism attributed to Shamil, is in principle incompatible with voluntary surrender. And not just with consent to voluntary captivity, but with pre-agreed conditions and even a date. In any case, one would have to be a very naive person to take on faith the miraculous coincidence of the date of his surrender with the date of capture, long promised by Prince Baryatinsky for the Emperor’s name day.

Doubts about the character of Shamil’s personality are completely dispelled when turning to the savage technologies of his power. Suffice it to say that in the name of keeping the Chechens at war with Russia, Shamil beat his own mother with a whip. At the same time, his devilishly resourceful mind presented this ostentatious execution of a woman as a punishment allegedly assigned to her by the Almighty for intercession for the criminal desire of the Chechens, who “betrayed the duty of the faithful,” not to participate in the war with Russia.

Such a demonstration of “justice” was intended to become a prologue to the establishment of limitless tyranny. Thus, on Shamil’s orders, entire villages were burned along with their inhabitants for their unwillingness to live according to Shamil’s Sharia. Not only for the use of tobacco and wine, but even for dancing and singing, the once free Dagestanis and Chechens were subjected to savage punishments, while treason was punishable by death. There was no such despotism in the Caucasus either before or after Shamil.

In essence, Shamil’s totalitarian military-theocratic machine rolled through the institutions of mountain democracy in Dagestan and Chechnya. Paradoxical as it may seem, Shamil’s power, which was declared hereditary in 1848, that is, in fact, a monarchy, and which lost even its formal connection with the traditions of mountain democracy, could not be compared with the freedoms granted to the Cossacks. It is obvious that Imam Shamil was one of the greatest power-hungers in its purest form, and not an ideological fighter for religious and socio-political ideals.

However, the underlying reasons for the fratricidal Caucasian War lie not in the rampages of the “great personality,” but in the confrontation between the great powers, primarily the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain and Russia. It was this policy of implanting in the proto-state communities of the North Caucasus the military-theocratic technology of extremism, previously successfully tested on the Arabian Peninsula, along with the gross mistakes of the leadership of the then Russia that made a military clash with the peoples of the North Caucasus “fatally inevitable.” In the geopolitical struggle with Russia, maniacal power-hungers like Shamil have been and are being used, with cynical pragmatism wrapping their base goals in the demagogic shell of religious or socio-political values.

As for the unheard-of honors allegedly given to Shamil, they were a subtly thought-out Byzantine form of celebrating victory in the Caucasian War and were supposed to demonstrate the boundless greatness of the empire, simultaneously turning the formidable leader of the rebellious Caucasus into a constantly thanking jester. The culmination of this campaign was Shamil taking the oath of allegiance to His Imperial Majesty and assisting the newly created vassal in performing the Hajj to Mecca. Shamil's burial, in accordance with his long-standing desire - in Medina, sacred to Muslims, put the final end to the deification of the tsarist administration in the Caucasus in the spirit of the imam's covenants about eternal loyalty to Russia.

The point of a historical excursion is not in yet another revolution in unpredictable history, but in an adequate perception of the present, in finding ways out of the bloody tragedy that played out in the North Caucasus. Obviously, such a search involves cleansing from “historical garbage”: debunking false heroes and idols. The history of Russia is crammed with them, leaving not the slightest doubt about the far-fetched nature of our “insoluble problems.”

Crimean War and fall of the Imamate

In the 1840s, Shamil won a number of major victories over Russian troops.

By the mid-1850s, Shamil became a sovereign ruler. He possessed the supreme secular and religious power. He officially accepted the title of caliph (amir al-muminin, translated from Arabic as leader of the faithful), which was supposed to give his power legitimacy in the eyes of Muslims of the Caucasus and the Middle East. Thus, Shamil directly connected himself with the successors of Muhammad, the four “righteous caliphs”, under whom this title appeared in the Muslim world in the 7th century.

However, in the 1850s, Shamil's movement began to decline.

On the eve of the Crimean War of 1853–1856, Shamil, counting on the help of Great Britain and Turkey, intensified his actions, but failed. It was not possible to establish cooperation with the Turkish troops operating in the Caucasus, and the actions of England and France were limited to the supply of weapons and military materials.

The conclusion of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856 allowed Russia to concentrate significant forces against Shamil: the Caucasian Corps was transformed into an army (up to 200 thousand people). The new commanders-in-chief, General Nikolai Muravyov (1854–1856) and General Alexander Baryatinsky (1856-1860), continued to tighten the blockade ring around the Imamate.

In 1858, Chechens, tired of the war and dissatisfied with Shamil’s harsh authoritarian policies, rebelled against Shamil.

In April 1859, Shamil’s residence, the village of Vedeno, fell. By mid-June, the last pockets of resistance in Chechnya were suppressed. Shamil fled to the Dagestan village of Gunib.

On August 25, 1859, Shamil, along with 400 associates, was besieged in Gunib and on August 26 (September 7 according to the new style) surrendered under conditions that were honorable to him.

“Although Shamil surrendered, his name still resounded among the Muslim peoples”

— Why did the movement of the mountaineers eventually choke?

“The forces were far from equal. There was the mighty Russian Empire, which quite recently broke Napoleon, the “gendarme of Europe.” And here the Caucasians - Dagestanis and Chechens - lived in harsh conditions, very modestly. Mostly the highlanders were armed with daggers and swords. The artillery was captured. Shamil tried to establish the casting of guns, but it was carried out in a handicraft way. All this was opposed to factory cannons, shells, modern weapons at that time and a trained imperial army. In addition, the economy has failed. Shamil resisted and fought with a huge country for 25 years.

Anyone who says that Shamil was eager to fight is wrong—these are the thoughts of an amateur. He and his people wanted to live in peace, to be left alone, so that they could live according to their own laws and carry out trade. But the empire had other plans. And Shamil’s people were worn out. There were fewer and fewer men. The villages did not have time to plow their pieces of land and harvest their crops. Against the backdrop of the ongoing war and colonization advancing on “non-peaceful” lands, the local population clearly did not have enough strength. And it already understood that everything was coming to an end. But this quarter of a century is a heroic page in history.

— The Ottoman Empire did not help Shamil in any way?

“Shamil was a good politician, he understood that it would be difficult to resist only on his own. And he turned to Turkey with requests for help. Many letters to the Sultan have survived, which were intercepted by the Russians. But Turkey, the eternal rival of the Russian Empire, tried to comply with the terms of the peace treaty before the Crimean War. The Sultan could not provide assistance to the highlanders fighting against Russia. Besides, Shamil was very far away.

And what kind of help could Türkiye provide? It was very difficult to transfer military detachments, weapons, equipment, and provisions. The Ottoman Empire was going through far from the best times. Help was provided only morally: encouraging fellow believers, sending various firmans with words of support, banners from the caliph, and awards. The Sultan always assured: when the situation is good, then help will be provided. But, apart from spiritual support, there was no other help.

The first photograph of Imam Shamil, taken in early September 1859 by Count I.G. Nostits in Chiryurt. Photo wikipedia.org

— And as a result, in August (September 7, new style) 1859, Shamil surrendered to the imperial army. On what terms did he do this?

— Before this date, Vedeno, the capital of Shamil, was taken. From Chechnya, with his thinned parts, he moves to Dagestan and heads to Mount Gunib, located in the village of Upper Gunib. By that time, the people were already tired, many naibs, out of despair, went over to the side of the Russian command, many regions of Dagestan had already been conquered. I do not at all condemn those naibs who ended this war for themselves. They had to save their people, their villages.

By April 1859, Chechnya was conquered by fire and sword. The governor in the Caucasus, Prince Baryatinsky, saw that Chechnya was the granary of the Imamate - there were many fertile lands here, and products were supplied to Dagestan. More than 300 people remained on Gunib with Shamil, including women, children and the elderly. A small handful of people continued to resist Baryatinsky's 10,000-strong army, which surrounded Gunib.

Finally, Shamil was summoned for negotiations. And here there was some deception, which has been characteristic of the Russian command for 25 years. Initially, they promised to let him back after negotiations so that he could comprehend the situation and make a decision - to fight to the end or to leave with his hands raised. When he showed up for negotiations, he was presented with a fact: he had to go to St. Petersburg to see the Tsar. Baryatinsky told him: “If you want to go to Mecca, you must get permission from my superiors.”

Shamil found himself in a trap. What to do here? Take out a dagger, rush at Baryatinsky and stab him? Not the best option. Shamil understood that this was not about him, not about Gunib. The war has come to an end. He later admitted: “When I saw that my people were eating grass, I realized that my fight was over.” And he did exactly the right thing. It’s ridiculous to blame him for cowardice: he had 19 wounds, he never got out of the saddle all his life, he didn’t know fear. As a statesman, he made the right decision - to obey.

Baryatinsky said in 1859 that he was promised a trip to Mecca. For the next 10 years he waited for Alexander II's consent to the Hajj. In the meantime, he was given a place of residence in Kaluga.

— Why did the emperor delay for so long with permission for the Hajj?

— Alexander II was afraid to let him go. Although Shamil surrendered, his name still resounded in the Ottoman Empire and among the Muslim peoples. Russia was in difficult relations with Turkey, where there were already many muhajirs from the Caucasus. But when Shamil became quite old, members of his family began to die in Kaluga, then the tsar gave the go-ahead. Shamil went on Hajj and never returned: he died in Arabia. None of his family returned to Russia after Shamil’s death—neither his daughters nor his wife. Baryatinsky, the authorities asked them to come back, promising them a pension and good living conditions. Family members answered diplomatically: “Our parent (Shamil) bequeathed not to leave the place of his burial.”

He dedicated his life to fighting. Even if they showered him with gold, the wounds would still remain. But as an excellent diplomat, he understood that, despite his internal attitude towards everything, he must behave appropriately. Russian contemporaries were surprised at his tact. It was the first time he traveled outside the Caucasus (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Kharkov), but he behaved as if he had lived in these cities all his life. He knew how to behave in society, at the table, in meetings, at balls. Everyone was surprised where this “savage” got such high-society manners and dignity. For the first time he saw a railway, a steam locomotive, a steamship, luxurious chandeliers in theaters, but he treated all this calmly, not showing any interest. Everyone wanted to see some kind of admiration on his face. This attitude amazed everyone.

When he drove through Russian cities from Gunib to St. Petersburg, ordinary people came out in crowds and greeted this man with delight. When he was in Stavropol, that day was the name day of the Tsarevich, but all the attention of the townspeople was focused on Shamil, and not on the heir to the throne. Crowds were waiting for him in St. Petersburg. What made people watch for Shamil under the balconies of the Znamenskaya Hotel, where he was staying? This phenomenon suggests that Shamil was the figure whom his main opponent Baryatinsky spoke of as an “all-secular personality.” After the war, they had good relations. Baryatinsky owed all his titles, ranks, and orders to Shamil. For his capture, he received all conceivable and inconceivable awards from the tsar, including the rank of field marshal general.

Sometimes Shamil is spoken of as some kind of abrek - the leader of mountain detachments that carried out raids. He rose above this level a long time ago. Shamil was a state-minded man. He was able to lead impulsive, proud people under the banner of Islam against a large and powerful empire, which was very difficult. There were many leaders (Sheikh Mansur, Imam Ghazi-Muhammad, Imam Gamzat), but Shamil surpassed everyone.

The city authorities rented Bilibin's house in Kaluga for the captive Shamil to live in. Photo visit-kaluga.ru

The last years of Shamil

On October 10, 1859, Shamil arrived in exile in Kaluga, and with him came 22 people from among his close relatives and devoted nukers and servants. The arrivals were first accommodated in the best Kaluga hotel of the Frenchman Coulon, and later lived in the house of the local landowner Sukhotin, who rented out 13 rooms and a garden in the courtyard for 900 rubles a year. Alexander II allocated 30 thousand rubles from the royal treasury for the annual maintenance of Shamil. On August 26, 1866, Shamil, together with his sons Kazi-Magomed and Shafi-Magomed, took the oath of allegiance to the Russian Tsar in the hall of the Kaluga Assembly of Nobility.

In 1866, Shamil was allowed to move to Kyiv.

In 1870, Emperor Alexander II allowed Shamil to travel to Mecca for a pilgrimage. After performing the Hajj, Shamil visited Medina, where he died on February 4 (February 16, new style) 1871. He was buried in Medina (Saudi Arabia) at the Al-Bakiya cemetery.

“If I had known, I would never have fought against”: What did Imam Shamil say about Russia?

On September 7, 1859, the assault on the village of Gunib (Dagestan) ended. The village was located on the top of an inaccessible mountain, which could only be climbed along a single narrow path. A detachment of 400 highlanders, armed with four cannons, settled there. The commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Army, Prince Baryatinsky, himself commanded the assault.

Why did the all-powerful prince personally take care of one of the many Dagestan mountain fortresses? The answer is simple: Imam Shamil himself was in Gunib, who for almost 30 years led the war of the Caucasian highlanders against the Russian Empire. Shamil, and a handful of murids who remained loyal to him. The fall of Gunib meant the end of Shamil, the cessation of the existence of the mountain state he created - the Imamate, and the end of the bloody Caucasian war. Baryatinsky achieved his goal: Shamil agreed to surrender. He went to Russia, where an honorable captivity awaited him.

Sometimes people who are little familiar with the history of the wars in the Caucasus get the impression that Imam Shamil is nothing more than one of the many mountain abreks, a fearless, cruel and treacherous leader of detachments of equally cruel bearded men with daggers. This is not in the least bit true.

Shamil was a man with a truly state mentality, who managed to create a state formation from the disparate tribes of Dagestan and Chechnya, which paid attention to social welfare and education. For almost thirty years, he skillfully resisted the huge Russian Empire, while successfully maneuvering between Turkish and British promises and offers of cooperation. The son of a simple blacksmith, Shamil received an excellent Muslim education, knew philosophy, rhetoric, theology, spoke and read Arabic, Russian and many Caucasian languages.

In a word, if a person with such talents and such a mind were born not in a mountain village, but somewhere in Europe, they would talk about him as one of the most outstanding people of the era.

From Gunib, Shamil went on a long journey to Russia. Shamil arrived first in Chuguev, where he first met with Alexander II, then in Moscow. In Moscow he was received by Ermolov - the two old warriors treated each other with great respect. From Moscow the imam came to St. Petersburg, where he was introduced to the imperial family in Tsarskoe Selo.

The Emperor assigned Shamil's place of residence to Kaluga. For the maintenance of the captive imam, his two wives, sons and daughters, 20 thousand rubles were allocated annually, not counting the pension of 15 thousand given to Shamil personally.

Kaluga society received the honorary royal captive very kindly; the local governor, the chief of police and even the archbishop had excellent relations with him. In 1866, in the Kaluga Assembly of Nobles, in the presence of the top officials of the province, Imam Shamil and his two sons accepted Russian citizenship, taking an oath of allegiance to the emperor. In 1869, Emperor Alexander II granted the imam hereditary nobility.

Honorable captivity in Russia continued until 1870, when the imam was allowed to perform the Hajj to Mecca. In Arabia, the imam, who was 74 years old at that time, passed away.

There are many “anecdotes” about the period of Shamil’s honorable captivity in Russia (in the 19th century, an anecdote was a short story about some interesting incident). For example, this: showing Shamil his palace, the king asked the mountaineer if he had seen such beauty anywhere else. Shamil responded to this that his palace was the mountains, more beautiful than which there is nothing in the world, and the high sky served as his ceiling. They also say that Shamil, speaking about the hardships of war, said that he slept on a feather bed all the time and ate honey and butter. The surprised king asked how he managed to create such conditions? Shamil replied that when he was tired, he fell asleep on the ground, placing a stone under his head, and he slept better than in any bed, and when he got hungry, he ate a piece of flatbread, and it was tastier than any dish.

And finally, there is this story: the sovereign asked how Shamil could resist Russia for almost 30 years? The Imam humbly said that if he had known how huge and strong Russia was, he would never have taken up arms against it.

Sometimes you can find a text called “Shamil’s Testament.” There are also the following lines: “My poor people, together with me you sought peace in wars, experiencing only misfortunes. It turns out that peace and happiness can only be found in a peaceful life!... In relations with Russians, follow my example, because their actions, if you put them on the scales of justice, will tip towards good.” Historians Patimat Takhnaeva and Hadji Murat Donogo argue that this text has nothing to do with Imam Shamil, but belongs to the pen of Professor Magomedov, the author of a theatrical production dedicated to the legendary imam. These words were written for this play.

Shamil owns another text - this is a dispatch sent to Emperor Alexander on the day of the oath of office in the Kaluga noble assembly. Shamil writes: “You, great Sovereign, defeated me and the Caucasian peoples subject to me with weapons. You, great Sovereign, gave me life. You, great Sovereign, have conquered my heart with your good deeds. It is my sacred duty, as a blessed decrepit old man and conquered by Your great soul, to instill in the children their responsibilities to Russia and its legitimate tsars. I bequeathed to them eternal gratitude to You, Sovereign, for all the blessings with which you shower me. I bequeathed to them to be loyal subjects to the kings of Russia and useful servants to our new fatherland.”

We are talking, as we see, about a will to children, and not to the entire people.

But does this difference really matter?

cyrillitsa.ru

Family

The first wife, Patimat, who bore Shamil three sons and two daughters, and the second wife, Zhdavarat, who bore him a son, died during the war. Shamil was also married to an Armenian woman, Anna Ivanovna Ulukhanova, who, after she accepted Mohammedanism, began to be called Shuannat; she was the imam’s beloved wife. His last wife's name was Zaidad.

One of the imam's three sons, Gazi Magomed, became a Turkish general and commanded a Caucasian volunteer detachment during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78. Shamil's grandson by his youngest son Kamil, named Said-Shamil, fought the Russians in Dagestan in the 1920s. The third son Magomed-Shafi became a Russian general.

Sheikh Mansur and Kunta-haji Kishiev

Imam Shamil considered Sheikh Mansur his predecessor and teacher and called him an example to follow.

Sheikh Mansur, or Ushurma (1760-1794) - leader of the people's liberation movement of the highlanders of the North Caucasus in 1785-1791. Kunta-haji Kishiev (1829-1867) was a Chechen Islamic mystic and preacher of the Caucasian War era, who belonged to the Qadiriyya Sufi order, the founder of the Zikrist movement. Kunta-haji Kishiev is often called the “Chechen Gandhi” because he advocated non-resistance to evil through violence and passive resistance.

In 1848-1849, the 19-year-old Chechen mystic Kunta Kishiev received permission from Imam Shamil to perform the Hajj to Mecca. Returning to Chechnya, Kishiev began to preach ideas that were deeply different from the understanding of Islam that was propagated by Shamil. The imam, who several times invited Kishiev to Vedeno for conversations, did not accept the ideas of the young Sufi and subjected him to persecution. And in 1858, in order to get rid of the harmful influence of a preacher so popular among the mountaineers, Shamil sent him on a second pilgrimage to Mecca.

The image of Shamil in literature, journalism and propaganda

The French novelist Alexandre Dumas the father, who traveled around the Caucasus in 1858, on the pages of the magazine “Monte Cristo” he published, compared Shamil to Prometheus chained to the Caucasus mountain, who “fights against the Russian tsars.”

In French and English journalism of the 19th century, he was given the image of a “noble savage” who did not want to exchange the freedom of his native mountains for the golden shackles of autocratic Russia.

Marx and Engels, who published their reports on the Caucasus and the Eastern Question in the American newspaper New York Herald Tribune during the Crimean War (1856-1857) in their correspondence, shared approximately the same assessment of Shamil.

The name of the hero of the national liberation struggle was used by any warring parties in their political games. During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet tank column “Shamil” was formed using money voluntarily collected by residents of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The Wehrmacht directive of July 11, 1942 stated that the purpose of the parachute landing operation in the Maykop area, codenamed “Shamil” (Schamil), was to seize oil fields in the North Caucasus.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, in an interview with a Chechen agency published on August 7, 2021, said that the rule of Imam Shamil in the 19th century in the Caucasus led to a reduction in the number of the Chechen people by half. Kadyrov also stated that after the death of the Chechens, Imam Shamil surrendered to the authorities of the Russian Empire for his own benefit. His words were supported by the Chairman of the Chechen Parliament Magomed Daudov. In his opinion, the statement of the head of the republic is based on historical facts. The Muftiate of Dagestan criticized Kadyrov's words about Imam Shamil, and residents of the republic condemned Kadyrov's statements.

Sources:

1. M. Gammer. Shamil. Muslim resistance to tsarism. Conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan. M. "Kron-Press". 1998
2. Imam Shamil. Biographical information. — RIA Novosti, September 7, 2009
3. Komarov A.V. Adats and legal proceedings on them. Collection of information about the Caucasian highlanders. Tiflis. 1868. Issue. I
4. Kaziev Shapi Magomedovich. Imam Shamil. Young Guard, 2003
5. Imam Shamil: why do the mountaineers still revere their traitor? — Weekly “Arguments and Facts” No. 36 02/09/2009.
6. Gogitidze M.D.. Military elite of the Caucasus II, Generals and admirals of the peoples of the North Caucasus. - Tbilisi: Meridiani, 2011. - P. 108.
7. Vladimir Romanov. Third Imam. — Magazine “Around the World”, No. 6 (2753), June 2003