The Caucasian War (1817 - 1864) - long-term military operations of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, which ended with the annexation of this region to Russia.
This conflict began the difficult relationship between Russian people and Caucasians, which has not stopped to this day.
The name “Caucasian War” was introduced by R. A. Fadeev, a military historian and publicist, contemporary of this event, in 1860.
However, both before Fadeev and after him, pre-revolutionary and Soviet authors preferred to use the term “Caucasian wars of the empire,” which was more correct - the events in the Caucasus represent a whole series of wars in which Russia’s opponents were different peoples and groups.
Causes of the Caucasian War
- At the beginning of the 19th century (1800-1804), the Georgian Kartli-Kakheti kingdom and several Azerbaijani khanates became part of the Russian Empire; but between these regions and the rest of Russia there were lands of independent tribes that carried out raids on the territory of the empire.
- A strong Muslim theocratic state emerged in Chechnya and Dagestan - the Imamat, headed by Shamil. The Dagestan-Chechen Imamate could become a serious adversary of Russia, especially if it received the support of such powers as the Ottoman Empire.
- We should not exclude the imperial ambitions of Russia, which wanted to spread its influence in the east. The independent mountaineers were a hindrance to this. Some historians, as well as Caucasian separatists, consider this aspect to be the main reason for the war.
Russians were familiar with the Caucasus before. Even during the collapse of Georgia into several kingdoms and principalities - in the middle of the 15th century - some rulers of these kingdoms asked for help from Russian princes and tsars. And, as you know, he married Kuchenya (Maria) Temryukovna Idarova, the daughter of a Kabardian prince.
Of the major Caucasian campaigns of the 16th century, Cheremisov’s campaign in Dagestan is famous. As we see, Russia’s actions in relation to the Caucasus were not always aggressive. It was even possible to find a truly friendly Caucasian state - Georgia, with which Russia was united, of course, by a common religion: Georgia is one of the most ancient Christian (Orthodox) countries in the world.
The lands of Azerbaijan also turned out to be quite friendly. From the second half of the 19th century, Azerbaijan was completely overwhelmed by a wave of Europeanization associated with the discovery of rich oil reserves: Russians, British and Americans became regular guests in Baku, whose culture local residents willingly adopted.
Results of the Caucasian War
No matter how severe the battles with the Caucasians and other close peoples (Ottomans, Persians) were, Russia achieved its goal - it subjugated the North Caucasus. This affected relations with local peoples in different ways. It was possible to reach an agreement with some by returning the selected arable land to them in exchange for a cessation of hostilities. Others, like the Chechens and many Dagestanis, harbored a grudge against the Russians and throughout subsequent history made attempts to achieve independence - again by force.
In the 1990s, Chechen Wahhabis used the Caucasian War as an argument in their war with Russia. The significance of the annexation of the Caucasus to Russia is also assessed differently. The patriotic environment is dominated by the idea expressed by the modern historian A. S. Orlov, according to which the Caucasus became part of the Russian Empire not as a colony, but as an area equal to other regions of the country.
However, more independent researchers, and not only representatives of the Caucasian intelligentsia, talk about the occupation. Russia seized the territories that the mountaineers considered theirs for many centuries, and began to impose its own customs and culture on them. On the other hand, “independent” territories inhabited by uncultured and poor tribes professing Islam could at any time receive support from major Muslim powers and become a significant aggressive force; more than likely they would have become colonies of the Ottoman Empire, Persia, or some other eastern state.
And since the Caucasus is a border area, it would be very convenient for Islamic militants to attack Russia from here. Having put a “yoke” on the rebellious and warlike Caucasus, the Russian Empire did not take away their religion, culture and traditional way of life; Furthermore, capable and talented Caucasians got the opportunity to study in Russian universities and subsequently formed the basis of the national intelligentsia.
Thus, father and son Ermolov raised the first professional Chechen artist - Pyotr Zakharov-Chechen. During the war, A.P. Ermolov, while in a destroyed Chechen village, saw a dead woman on the road and a barely alive child on her chest; this was the future painter. Ermolov ordered army doctors to save the child, after which he handed him over to the Cossack Zakhar Nedonosov to be raised. However, the fact is that great amount Caucasians emigrated during and after the war to the Ottoman Empire and the countries of the Middle East, where they formed significant diasporas. They believed that the Russians had taken their homeland away from them.
Background
According to the agreement concluded in Georgievsk on July 24, Tsar Irakli II was accepted under the protection of Russia; In Georgia, it was decided to maintain 2 Russian battalions with 4 guns. It was, however, impossible for such weak forces to protect the country from the continuously repeated raids of the Lezgins - and the Georgian militias were inactive. Only in the fall of the year was it decided to undertake an expedition to the village. Jary and Belokan, to punish the raiders, who were overtaken on October 14, near the Muganlu tract, and, having been defeated, fled across the river. Alazan. This victory did not bring significant fruit; Lezgin invasions continued, Turkish emissaries traveled throughout Transcaucasia, trying to incite the Muslim population against the Russians and Georgians. When Umma Khan of Avar (Omar Khan) began to threaten in Georgia, Heraclius turned to the commander of the Caucasian line, General. Potemkin with a request to send new reinforcements to Georgia; this request could not be respected, since the Russian troops were at that time busy suppressing the unrest caused on the northern slope of the Caucasus ridge by the preacher of the holy war, Mansur, who had appeared in Chechnya. A fairly strong detachment sent against him under the command of Colonel Pieri was surrounded by Chechens in the Zasunzha forests and almost exterminated, and Pieri himself was killed. This increased Mansur's authority among the mountaineers; the unrest spread from Chechnya to Kabarda and Kuban. Although Mansur’s attack on Kizlyar failed and soon after he was defeated in Malaya Kabarda by a detachment of Colonel Nagel, the Russian troops on the Caucasian line continued to remain in a tense state.
Meanwhile, Umma Khan, with Dagestan hordes, invaded Georgia and devastated it without meeting any resistance; on the other hand, the Akhaltsikhe Turks raided it. The Georgian troops, representing nothing more than a crowd of poorly armed peasants, turned out to be completely untenable; Colonel Vurnashev, who commanded the Russian battalions, was constrained in his actions by Irakli and his entourage. In the city, in view of the impending rupture between Russia and Turkey, our troops located in the Transcaucasus were recalled to the line, for the protection of which a number of fortifications were erected on the Kuban coast and 2 corps were formed: the Kuban Jaeger Corps, under the command of Chief General Tekelli, and the Caucasian Corps, under the command of Lieutenant General Potemkin. In addition, a settled or zemstvo army was established, consisting of Ossetians, Ingush and Kabardians. General Potemkin, and then General Tekelli undertook successful expeditions beyond the Kuban, but the situation on the line did not change significantly, and the raids of the mountaineers continued uninterruptedly. Communications between Russia and Transcaucasia almost ceased: Vladikavkaz and other fortified points on the way to Georgia were abandoned by Russian troops in the year. Tekelli's campaign against Anapa (city) was unsuccessful. In the city, the Turks, together with the highlanders, moved to Kabarda, but were defeated by the general. Herman. In June 1791, Chief General Gudovich took Anapa, and Mansur was also captured. Under the terms of the Treaty of Yassi concluded in the same year, Anapa was returned to the Turks. With the end of the Turkish War, they began to strengthen the K. line with new fortifications and to establish new Cossack villages, and the coasts of the Terek and upper Kuban were populated mainly by Don people, and the right bank of the Kuban, from the Ust-Labinsk fortress to the shores of the Azov and Black Seas, was designated for settlement Black Sea Cossacks. Georgia was at that time in the most deplorable state. Taking advantage of this, Aga Mohammed Khan of Persia, in the second half of the year, invaded Georgia and on September 11 took and destroyed Tiflis, from where the king, with a handful of entourage, fled to the mountains. Russia could not be indifferent to this, especially since the rulers of the regions neighboring Persia always leaned towards the stronger side. At the end of the year, Russian troops entered Georgia and Dagestan. The Dagestan rulers declared their submission, except for the Derbent Khan Sheikh Ali, who locked himself in his fortress. On May 10, the fortress was taken, after stubborn defense. Derbent, and in June it was occupied without resistance by Baku. The commander of the troops, Count Valerian Zubov, was appointed instead of Gudovich as the chief commander of the Caucasus region; but his activities there (see The Persian Wars) soon came to an end with the death of Empress Catherine. Paul I ordered Zubov to suspend military operations; Following this, Gudovich was again appointed commander of the Caucasian corps, and the Russian troops who were in Transcaucasia were ordered to return from there: it was only allowed to leave 2 battalions in Tiflis for a while, due to the increased requests of Heraclius.
In the city, George XII ascended the Georgian throne, who persistently asked Emperor Paul to take Georgia under his protection and provide it with armed assistance. As a result of this, and in view of the clearly hostile intentions of Persia, Russian troops in Georgia were significantly strengthened. When Umma Khan Avar invaded Georgia in the city, General Lazarev with a Russian detachment (about 2 thousand) and part of the Georgian militia (extremely poorly armed), defeated him on November 7, on the banks of the Yora River. On December 22, 1800, a manifesto on the annexation of Georgia to Russia was signed in St. Petersburg; Following this, King George died. At the beginning of the reign of Alexander I, Russian administration was introduced in Georgia; Gen. was appointed commander-in-chief. Knorring, and the civil ruler of Georgia was Kovalensky. Neither one nor the other was well acquainted with the morals, customs and views of the people, and the officials who arrived with them indulged in various abuses. All this, combined with the machinations of the party who were dissatisfied with Georgia’s entry into Russian citizenship, led to the fact that unrest in the country did not stop, and its borders were still subject to raids by neighboring peoples.
At the end, Mr. Knorring and Kovalensky were recalled, and Lieutenant General was appointed commander-in-chief in the Caucasus. book Tsitsianov, well acquainted with the region. He sent most of the members of the former Georgian royal house to Russia, rightly considering them the main culprits of unrest and unrest. He spoke to the khans and owners of the Tatar and mountain regions in a menacing and commanding tone. Residents of the Dzharo-Belokan region, who did not stop their raids, were defeated by a detachment of the general. Gulyakov, and the region itself was annexed to Georgia. In the city of Mingrelia, and in 1804 Imereti and Guria entered into Russian citizenship; in 1803 the Ganja fortress and the entire Ganja Khanate were conquered. The attempt of the Persian ruler Baba Khan to invade Georgia ended in the complete defeat of his troops near Etchmiadzin (June). In the same year, the Khanate of Shirvan, and in the city - the khanates of Karabakh and Sheki, Jehan-Gir Khan of Shahagh and Budag Sultan of Shuragel accepted Russian citizenship. Baba Khan again opened offensive operations, but at the mere news of Tsitsianov’s approach, he fled beyond the Araks (see Persian Wars).
On February 8, 1805, Prince Tsitsianov, who approached the city of Baku with a detachment, was treacherously killed by the local khan. Count Gudovich, who was well acquainted with the state of affairs on the Caucasian line, but not in Transcaucasia, was again appointed in his place. The recently conquered rulers of various Tatar regions, having ceased to feel over themselves a firm hand Tsitsianov, again became clearly hostile to the Russian administration. Although the actions against them were generally successful (Derbent, Baku, Nukha were taken), the situation was complicated by the invasions of the Persians and the break with Turkey that followed in 1806. In view of the war with Napoleon, all fighting forces were drawn to the western borders of the empire; Caucasian troops were left without strength. Under the new commander-in-chief, gen. Tormasov (from the city), it was necessary to intervene in the internal affairs of Abkhazia, where among the members of the ruling house that had quarreled among themselves, some turned to Russia for help, while others turned to Turkey; at the same time, the fortresses of Poti and Sukhum were taken. It was also necessary to pacify the uprisings in Imereti and Ossetia. Tormasov's successors were Gen. Marquis Pauducci and Rtishchev; at the latter, thanks to the victory of the gene. Kotlyarevsky near Aslanduz and the capture of Lenkoran, the Treaty of Gulistan was concluded with Persia (). A new uprising that broke out in the fall of the year in Kakheti, instigated by the fugitive Georgian prince Alexander, was successfully suppressed. Since the Khevsurs and Kists (mountain Chechens) took an active part in this disturbance, Rtishchev decided to punish these tribes and in May undertook an expedition to Khevsuria, little known to the Russians. The troops sent there under the command of Major General Simonovich, despite incredible natural obstacles and the stubborn defense of the mountaineers, reached the main Khevsur village of Shatil (in the upper reaches of the Arguni), captured it and destroyed all the enemy villages lying on their way. The raids into Chechnya undertaken by Russian troops around the same time were not approved by Emperor Alexander I, who ordered General Rtishchev to try to restore calm on the Caucasian line with friendliness and condescension.
Ermolovsky period (-)
“... Downstream of the Terek live the Chechens, the worst of the robbers who attack the line. Their society is very sparsely populated, but has increased enormously in the last few years, for the villains of all other nations who leave their land due to some kind of crime were received in a friendly manner. Here they found accomplices, immediately ready to either avenge them or participate in robberies, and they served as their faithful guides in lands unknown to them. Chechnya can rightly be called the nest of all robbers...” (from the notes of A.P. Ermolov during the administration of Georgia)
The new (since the year) commander of all the tsarist troops in Georgia and on the Caucasian line, A.P. Ermolov, however, convinced the sovereign of the need to subdue the highlanders solely by force of arms. It was decided to carry out the conquest of the mountain peoples gradually, but urgently, occupying only those places that could be retained and not going further until what had been acquired was strengthened.
Ermolov, in the city, began his activities on the line from Chechnya, strengthening the Nazranovsky redoubt located on the Sunzha and establishing the Grozny fortress on the lower reaches of this river. This measure stopped the uprisings of the Chechens living between Sunzha and Terek.
In Dagestan, the highlanders who threatened Shamkhal Tarkovsky, captured by Russia, were pacified; To keep them in bondage, the Sudden fortress was built. The attempt against her by the Avar Khan ended in complete failure. In Chechnya, Russian troops destroyed villages and forced the indigenous inhabitants of these lands (Chechens) to move further and further from Sunzha; A clearing was cut through the dense forest to the village of Germenchuk, which served as one of the main defensive points of the Chechen army. In the city, the Black Sea Cossack army was assigned to a separate Georgian corps, renamed a separate Caucasian corps. The Burnaya fortress was built in the city, and the crowds of the Avar Khan Akhmet, who tried to interfere with Russian work, were broken up. On the right flank of the line, the Trans-Kuban Circassians, with the help of the Turks, began to disturb the borders more than ever; but their army, which invaded the land of the Black Sea army in October, suffered a severe defeat from the Russian army. In Abkhazia, the book. Gorchakov defeated the rebellious crowds near Cape Kodor and brought the prince into possession of the country. Dmitry Shervashidze. In the city, to completely pacify the Kabardians, a number of fortifications were built at the foot of the Black Mountains, from Vladikavkaz to the upper reaches of the Kuban. In and years The actions of the Russian command were directed against the Trans-Kuban highlanders, who did not stop their raids. In the city, the Abkhazians, who rebelled against the successor of the prince, were forced to submit. Dmitry Shervashidze, book. Mikhail. In Dagestan, in the 20s, a new Mohammedan teaching, muridism, began to spread, which subsequently created a lot of difficulties and dangers. Ermolov, having visited the city of Kuba, ordered Aslankhan of Kazikumukh to stop the unrest excited by the followers of the new teaching, but, distracted by other matters, could not monitor the execution of this order, as a result of which the main preachers of Muridism, Mulla-Mohammed, and then Kazi-Mulla, continued to inflame the minds of the mountaineers in Dagestan and Chechnya and proclaim the proximity of gazavat, that is, a holy war against the infidels. In 1825, there was a general uprising of Chechnya, during which the highlanders managed to capture the post of Amir-Adzhi-Yurt (July 8) and tried to take the fortification of Gerzel-aul, rescued by a detachment of Lieutenant General. Lisanevich (July 15). The next day Lisanevich and the gene who was with him. The Greeks were killed by one Chechen intelligence officer. From the very beginning of the city, the coast of the Kuban again began to be subject to raids by large parties of Shapsugs and Abadzekhs; The Kabardians were also worried. A number of expeditions to Chechnya were carried out in the city, cutting down clearings in dense forests, laying new roads and destroying villages free from Russian troops. This ended the activities of Ermolov, who left the Caucasus in the city.
The Yermolov period (1816-27) is considered one of the bloodiest for the Russian army. Its results were: on the northern side of the Caucasus ridge - the strengthening of Russian power in Kabarda and the Kumyk lands; the capture of many societies that lived in the foothills and plains against the lion. flank line; For the first time, the idea of the need for gradual, systematic action in a country similar, according to the correct remark of Ermolov’s associate, Gen. Velyaminov, to a huge natural fortress, where it was necessary to seize each redoubt sequentially and, only having firmly established itself in it, conduct further approaches. In Dagestan, Russian power was supported by the betrayal of the local rulers.
The beginning of gazavat (-)
The new commander-in-chief of the Caucasian corps, adjutant general. Paskevich, at first, was busy with wars with Persia and Turkey. The successes he achieved in these wars contributed to maintaining external calm in the country; but Muridism spread more and more, and Kazi-Mulla sought to unite the hitherto scattered tribes of the east. The Caucasus into one mass hostile to Russia. Only Avaria did not succumb to his power, and his attempt (in the city) to take control of Khunzakh ended in defeat. After this, the influence of Kazi-Mulla was greatly shaken, and the arrival of new troops sent to the Caucasus after the conclusion of peace with Turkey forced him to flee from his residence, the Dagestan village of Gimry, to the Belokan Lezgins. In April, Count Paskevich-Erivansky was recalled to command the army in Poland; In his place, they were temporarily appointed commanders of the troops: in Transcaucasia - General. Pankratiev, on the line - Gen. Velyaminov. Kazi-Mulla transferred his activities to the Shamkhal possessions, where, having chosen as his residence the inaccessible tract Chumkesent (in the 13th century, to the 10th from Temir-Khan-Shura), he began to call all the mountaineers to fight the infidels. His attempts to take the fortresses of Burnaya and Vnezapnaya failed; but General Emanuel’s movement into the Aukhov forests was also unsuccessful. The last failure, greatly exaggerated by the mountain messengers, increased the number of Kazi-Mulla's followers, especially in central Dagestan, so that he plundered Kizlyar and attempted, but unsuccessfully, to take possession of Derbent. Attacked, December 1, regiment. Miklashevsky, he had to leave Chumkesent and went to Gimry. The new chief of the Caucasian corps, Baron Rosen, took Gimry on October 17, 1832; Kazi-Mulla died during the battle. His successor was Gamzat-bek (q.v.), who invaded Avaria in the city, treacherously took possession of Khunzakh, exterminated almost the entire khan’s family and was already thinking about conquering all of Dagestan, but died at the hands of a murderer. Soon after his death, on October 18, 1834, the main hangout of the murids, the village of Gotsatl (see the corresponding article), was taken and destroyed by a detachment of Colonel Kluki-von Klugenau. On the Black Sea coast, where the highlanders had many convenient points for communications with the Turks and slave trading (Black Sea coastline did not yet exist), foreign agents, especially the British, distributed proclamations hostile to us among the local tribes and delivered military supplies. This forced the bar. Rosen to entrust the gene. Velyaminov (summer 1834) a new expedition to the Trans-Kuban region, to establish a cordon line to Gelendzhik. It ended with the construction of the Nikolaevsky fortification.
Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil
In the eastern Caucasus, after the death of Gamzat-bek, Shamil became the head of the murids. The new imam, gifted with outstanding administrative and military abilities, soon turned out to be an extremely dangerous adversary, uniting all the hitherto scattered tribes of the Eastern Caucasus under his despotic power. Already at the beginning of the year, his forces increased so much that he set out to punish the Khunzakhs for killing his predecessor. Aslan Khan-Kazikumukhsky, who was temporarily appointed by us as the ruler of Avaria, asked to occupy Khunzakh with Russian troops, and Baron Rosen agreed to his request, in view of the strategic importance of the named point; but this entailed the need to occupy many other points to ensure communications with Khunzakh through inaccessible mountains. The Temir-Khan-Shura fortress, newly built on the Tarkov plane, was chosen as the main stronghold on the route of communication between Khunzakh and the Caspian coast, and the Nizovoye fortification was built to provide a pier to which ships from Astrakhan approached. Shura's communication with Khunzakh was covered by the fortification of Zirani, near the river. Avar Koisu, and the Burunduk-kale tower. For direct communication between Shura and the Vnezapnaya fortress, the Miatlinskaya crossing over Sulak was built and covered with towers; the road from Shura to Kizlyar was secured by the fortification of Kazi-Yurt.
Shamil, more and more consolidating his power, chose the Koisubu district as his stay, where, on the banks of the Andean Koisu, he began to build a fortification, which he called Akhulgo. In 1837, General Fezi occupied Khunzakh, took the village of Ashilty and the fortification of Old Akhulgo and besieged the village of Tilitl, where Shamil had taken refuge. When, on July 3, we took possession of part of this village, Shamil entered into negotiations and promised submission. We had to accept his offer, since our detachment, which had suffered heavy losses, was severely short of food and, in addition, news was received of an uprising in Cuba. The expedition of General Fezi, despite its external success, brought more benefit to Shamil than to us: the retreat of the Russians from Tilitl gave him a pretext for spreading the belief in the mountains about the clear protection of Allah. In the western Caucasus, a detachment of General Velyaminov, in the summer of the year, penetrated to the mouths of the Pshad and Vulana rivers and founded the Novotroitskoye and Mikhailovskoye fortifications there.
In September of the same 1837, Emperor Nicholas I visited the Caucasus for the first time and was dissatisfied with the fact that, despite many years of efforts and major sacrifices, we were still far from lasting results in the pacification of the region. General Golovin was appointed to replace Baron Rosen. In the city, on the Black Sea coast, the fortifications of Navaginskoye, Velyaminovskoye and Tenginskoye were built and the construction of the Novorossiysk fortress, with a military harbor, began.
In the city, actions were carried out in various areas by three detachments. The first landing detachment of General Raevsky erected new fortifications on the Black Sea coast (forts Golovinsky, Lazarev, Raevsky). The second, Dagestan detachment, under the command of the corps commander himself, captured, on May 31, a very strong position of the highlanders on the Adzhiakhur heights, and on June 3 occupied the village. Akhty, near which a fortification was erected. The third detachment, Chechen, under the command of General Grabbe, moved against the main forces of Shamil, fortified near the village. Argvani, on the descent to the Andian Kois. Despite the strength of this position, Grabbe took possession of it, and Shamil with several hundred murids took refuge in Akhulgo, which he had renewed. It fell on August 22, but Shamil himself managed to escape.
The mountaineers apparently submitted, but in fact they were preparing an uprising, which kept us in the most tense state for 3 years. Military operations began on the Black Sea coast, where our hastily built forts were in a dilapidated state, and the garrisons were extremely weakened by fevers and other diseases. On February 7, the highlanders captured Fort Lazarev and destroyed all its defenders; On February 29, the same fate befell the Velyaminovskoye fortification; On March 23, after a fierce battle, the enemy penetrated the Mikhailovskoye fortification, the rest of the garrison of which exploded into the air, along with the enemy crowds. In addition, the highlanders captured (April 2) the Nikolaev fort; but their enterprises against the Navaginsky fort and the Abinsky fortification were unsuccessful.
On the left flank, a premature attempt to disarm the Chechens caused extreme anger among them, taking advantage of which Shamil raised the Ichkerians, Aukhovites and other Chechen societies against us. Russian troops under the command of General Galafeev limited themselves to searching the forests of Chechnya, which cost many people. It was especially bloody on the river. Valerik (July 11). While gen. Galafeev walked around M. Chechnya, Shamil subjugated Salatavia to his power and at the beginning of August invaded Avaria, where he conquered several villages. With the addition of the elder of the mountain societies in the Andean Koisu, the famous Kibit-Magoma, his strength and enterprise increased enormously. By the fall, all of Chechnya was already on Shamil’s side, and the means of the K. line were insufficient to successfully fight him. The Chechens extended their raids to the Terek and almost captured Mozdok. On the right flank, by the fall, the new line along the Labe was secured by the forts of Zassovsky, Makhoshevsky and Temirgoevsky. The Velyaminovskoye and Lazarevskoye fortifications were restored on the Black Sea coastline. In 1841, riots broke out in Avaria, instigated by Hadji Murad. A battalion with 2 mountain guns was sent to pacify them, under the command of General. Bakunin, failed at the village of Tselmes, and Colonel Passek, who took command after the mortally wounded Bakunin, only with difficulty managed to withdraw the remnants of the detachment to Khunza. The Chechens raided the Georgian Military Road and captured the military settlement of Aleksandrovskoye, and Shamil himself approached Nazran and attacked the detachment of Colonel Nesterov located there, but had no success and took refuge in the forests of Chechnya. On May 15, generals Golovin and Grabbe attacked and took the position of the imam near the village of Chirkey, after which the village itself was occupied and the Evgenievskoye fortification was founded near it. Nevertheless, Shamil managed to extend his power to the mountain societies of the right bank of the river. Avarsky-Koisu and reappeared in Chechnya; the murids again captured the village of Gergebil, which blocked the entrance to Mekhtulin’s possessions; our communications with Avaria were temporarily interrupted.
In the spring of the year, the expedition of Gen. Fezi improved our affairs in Avaria and Koisubu. Shamil tried to agitate southern Dagestan, but to no avail. General Grabbe moved through the dense forests of Ichkeria, with the goal of capturing Shamil’s residence, the village of Dargo. However, already on the 4th day of movement, our detachment had to stop and then begin a retreat (always the most difficult part of operations in the Caucasus), during which it lost 60 officers, about 1,700 lower ranks, one gun and almost the entire convoy. The unfortunate outcome of this expedition greatly raised the spirit of the enemy, and Shamil began to recruit troops, intending to invade Avaria. Although Grabbe, having learned about this, moved there with a new, strong detachment and captured the village of Igali from the battle, but then withdrew from Avaria, where our garrison remained in Khunzakh alone. The overall result of the actions of 1842 was far from satisfactory; in October, Adjutant General Neidgardt was appointed to replace Golovin. The failures of our weapons spread in the highest spheres of government the conviction that offensive actions were futile and even harmful. The then Minister of War, Prince, especially rebelled against this kind of action. Chernyshev, who had visited the Caucasus the previous summer and witnessed the return of Grabbe’s detachment from the Ichkerin forests. Impressed by this catastrophe, he requested the Highest Command, which prohibited all expeditions to the city and ordered that the city be limited to defense.
This forced inaction emboldened the opponents, and raids on the line became more frequent again. On August 31, 1843, Imam Shamil captured the fort at the village. Untsukul, destroying the detachment that went to the rescue of the besieged. In the following days, several more fortifications fell, and on September 11, Gotsatl was taken, which interrupted communication with Temir Khan-Shura. From August 28 to September 21, the losses of Russian troops amounted to 55 officers, more than 1,500 lower ranks, 12 guns and significant warehouses: the fruits of many years of effort were lost, long-submissive mountain societies were torn from our power and our moral charm was shaken. On October 28, Shamil surrounded the Gergebil fortification, which he managed to take only on November 8, when only 50 defenders remained. Gangs of mountaineers, scattering in all directions, interrupted almost all communications with Derbent, Kizlyar and Lev. flank of the line; our troops in Temir Khan-Shura withstood the blockade that lasted from November 8 to December 24. The Nizovoye fortification, defended by only 400 people, withstood attacks by a crowd of thousands of highlanders for 10 days, until it was rescued by a detachment of the general. Freytag. In mid-April, Shamil's forces, led by Hadji Murad and Naib Kibit-Magom, approached Kumykh, but on the 22nd they were completely defeated by Prince Argutinsky, near the village. Margi. Around this time, Shamil himself was defeated near the village. Andreeva, where Colonel Kozlovsky’s detachment met him, and near the village. Gilli Highlanders were defeated by Passek's detachment. On the Lezgin line, the Elisu khan Daniel Bek, who had been loyal to us until then, was indignant. A detachment of General Schwartz was sent against him, who scattered the rebels and captured the village of Elisu, but the khan himself managed to escape. The actions of the main Russian forces were quite successful and ended with the capture of the Dargeli district (Akusha and Tsudahar); then the construction of the forward Chechen line began, the first link of which was the Vozdvizhenskoye fortification, on the river. Arguni. On the right flank, the highlanders’ assault on the Golovinskoye fortification was brilliantly repulsed on the night of July 16.
At the end of the year, a new commander-in-chief, Count M. S. Vorontsov, was appointed to the Caucasus. He arrived in the early spring of the year, and in June he moved with a large detachment to Andia and then to Shamil’s residence - Dargo (see). This expedition ended with the destruction of the said village and gave Vorontsov the princely title, but it cost us enormous losses. On the Black Sea coastline, in the summer of 1845, the highlanders attempted to capture forts Raevsky (May 24) and Golovinsky (July 1), but were repulsed. From the city on the left flank, we began to strengthen our power in the already occupied lands, erecting new fortifications and Cossack villages, and preparing further movement deep into the Chechen forests, by cutting down wide clearings. Victory of the book Bebutov, who wrested the difficult-to-reach village of Kutishi (in central Dagestan) from the hands of Shamil, which had just been occupied by him, resulted in the complete calming of the Kumyk plane and the foothills. On the Black Sea coastline, the Ubykhs (up to 6 thousand people) launched a new desperate attack on the Golovinsky fort on November 28, but were repelled with great damage.
In the city, Prince Vorontsov besieged Gergebil, but due to the spread of cholera among the troops, he had to retreat. At the end of July, he undertook a siege of the fortified village of Salta, which, despite the significance of our siege weapons, held out until September 14, when it was cleared by the mountaineers. Both of these enterprises cost us about 150 officers and more than 2 1/2 tons of lower ranks who were out of action. The forces of Daniel Bek invaded the Jaro-Belokan district, but on May 13 they were completely defeated at the village of Chardakhly. In mid-November, crowds of Dagestan highlanders invaded Kazikumukh and managed to take possession, but not for long, of several villages.
An outstanding event in the city is the capture of Gergebil (July 7) by Prince Argutinsky. In general, for a long time there has not been such calm in the Caucasus as this year; Only on the Lezgin line were frequent alarms repeated. In September, Shamil tried to capture the fortification of Akhty, on Samur, but he failed. In the city, the siege of the village of Chokha, undertaken by Prince. Argutinsky, cost us great losses, but was not successful. From the Lezgin line, General Chilyaev carried out a successful expedition into the mountains, which ended in the defeat of the enemy near the village of Khupro.
In the year, systematic deforestation in Chechnya continued with the same persistence and was accompanied by more or less heated affairs. This course of action, putting societies hostile to us in a hopeless situation, forced many of them to declare unconditional submission. It was decided to adhere to the same system in the city. On the right flank, an offensive was launched to the Belaya River, with the goal of moving our front line there and taking away the fertile lands between this river and Laba from the hostile Abadzekhs; in addition, the offensive in this direction was caused by the appearance in the western Caucasus of Shamil’s agent, Mohammed-Emin, who collected large parties for raids on our Labin settlements, but was defeated on May 14.
G. was marked by brilliant actions in Chechnya, under the leadership of the head of the left flank, Prince. Baryatinsky, who penetrated hitherto inaccessible forest shelters and destroyed many hostile villages. These successes were overshadowed only by the unsuccessful expedition of Colonel Baklanov to the village of Gurdali.
In the city, rumors about an upcoming break with Turkey aroused new hopes among the mountaineers. Shamil and Mohammed-Emin, having gathered the mountain elders, announced to them the firmans received from the Sultan, commanding all Muslims to rebel against the common enemy; talked about coming soon Turkish troops to Georgia and Kabarda and about the need to act decisively against the Russians, supposedly weakened by the sending of most of the military forces to the Turkish borders. However, the spirit of the mass of the mountaineers had already fallen so low, due to a series of failures and extreme impoverishment, that Shamil could only subjugate them to his will through cruel punishments. The raid he planned on the Lezgin line ended in complete failure, and Mohammed-Emin, with a crowd of Trans-Kuban highlanders, was defeated by a detachment of General Kozlovsky. When the final break with Turkey followed, at all points in the Caucasus it was decided to maintain a predominantly defensive course of action on our part; however, the clearing of forests and the destruction of the enemy's food supplies continued, although to a more limited extent. In the city, the head of the Turkish Anatolian army entered into communication with Shamil, inviting him to move to join him from Dagestan. At the end of June, Shamil invaded Kakheti; The mountaineers managed to ravage the rich village of Tsinondal, capture the family of its ruler and plunder several churches, but upon learning of the approach of Russian troops, they fled. Shamil's attempt to take possession of the peaceful village of Istisu (q.v.) was unsuccessful. On the right flank, we left the space between Anapa, Novorossiysk and the mouths of the Kuban; The garrisons of the Black Sea coastline were taken to Crimea at the beginning of the year, and forts and other buildings were blown up (see Eastern War of 1853-56). Book Vorontsov left the Caucasus back in March, transferring control to the general. Read, and at the beginning of the year General was appointed commander-in-chief in the Caucasus. N. I. Muravyov. The landing of the Turks in Abkhazia, despite the betrayal of its ruler, Prince. Shervashidze, had no harmful consequences for us. At the conclusion of the Paris Peace, in the spring of 1856, it was decided to take advantage of those operating in Az. Turkey with troops and, having strengthened the Caspian Corps with them, began the final conquest of the Caucasus.
Baryatinsky
The new commander-in-chief, Prince Baryatinsky, turned his main attention to Chechnya, the conquest of which he entrusted to the head of the left wing of the line, General Evdokimov, an old and experienced Caucasian; but in other parts of the Caucasus the troops did not remain inactive. In and years Russian troops achieved the following results: the Adagum Valley was occupied on the right wing of the line and the Maykop fortification was built. On the left wing, the so-called “Russian road”, from Vladikavkaz, parallel to the ridge of the Black Mountains, to the fortification of Kurinsky on the Kumyk plane, is completely completed and strengthened by newly built fortifications; wide clearings have been cut in all directions; the mass of the hostile population of Chechnya has been driven to the point of having to submit and move to open areas, under state supervision; The Aukh district is occupied and a fortification has been erected in its center. In Dagestan, Salatavia is finally occupied. Several new Cossack villages were established along Laba, Urup and Sunzha. The troops are everywhere close to the front lines; the rear is secured; vast expanses of the best lands are cut off from the hostile population and, thus, a significant share of the resources for the fight are wrested from the hands of Shamil.
On the Lezgin line, as a result of deforestation, predatory raids gave way to petty theft. On the Black Sea coast, the secondary occupation of Gagra marked the beginning of securing Abkhazia from incursions by Circassian tribes and from hostile propaganda. The city's actions in Chechnya began with the occupation of the Argun River gorge, which was considered impregnable, where Evdokimov ordered the construction of a strong fortification, called Argunsky. Climbing up the river, he reached, at the end of July, the villages of the Shatoevsky society; in the upper reaches of the Argun he founded a new fortification - Evdokimovskoye. Shamil tried to divert attention by sabotage to Nazran, but was defeated by a detachment of General Mishchenko and barely managed to escape into the still unoccupied part of the Argun Gorge. Convinced that his power there had been completely undermined, he retired to Veden - his new residence. On March 17, the bombardment of this fortified village began, and on April 1 it was taken by storm.
Shamil fled beyond the Andean Koisu; all of Ichkeria declared its submission to us. After the capture of Veden, three detachments headed concentrically to the Andean Koisu valley: Chechen, Dagestan and Lezgin. Shamil, who temporarily settled in the village of Karata, fortified Mount Kilitl, and covered the right bank of the Andean Koisu, opposite Conkhidatl, with solid stone rubble, entrusting their defense to his son Kazi-Magoma. With any energetic resistance from the latter, forcing the crossing at this point would cost enormous sacrifices; but he was forced to leave his strong position as a result of the troops of the Dagestan detachment entering his flank, who made a remarkably courageous crossing across the Andean Koisu at the Sagytlo tract. Shamil, seeing danger threatening from everywhere, fled to his last refuge on Mount Gunib, having only 332 people with him. the most fanatical murids from all over Dagestan. On August 25, Gunib was taken by storm, and Shamil himself was captured by Prince Baryatinsky.
End of the War: Conquest of Circassia (1859-1864)
The capture of Gunib and the capture of Shamil could be considered the last act of the war in the Eastern Caucasus; but still remained West Side region inhabited by warlike tribes hostile to Russia. It was decided to conduct actions in the Trans-Kuban region in accordance with the system adopted in recent years. The native tribes had to submit and move to the places indicated to them on the plane; otherwise, they were pushed further into the barren mountains, and the lands they left behind were populated by Cossack villages; finally, after pushing the natives from the mountains to the seashore, they could either move to the plain, under our closest supervision, or move to Turkey, in which it was supposed to provide them with possible assistance. To quickly implement this plan, Prince. Baryatinsky decided, at the beginning of the year, to strengthen the troops of the right wing with very large reinforcements; but the uprising that broke out in the newly calmed Chechnya and partly in Dagestan forced us to temporarily abandon this. Actions against the small gangs there, led by stubborn fanatics, dragged on until the end of the year, when all attempts at indignation were finally suppressed. Only then was it possible to begin decisive operations on the right wing, the leadership of which was entrusted to the conqueror of Chechnya,
Caucasian War 1817-1864
“It is just as difficult to enslave the Chechens and other peoples of the region as it is to smooth out the Caucasus. This task is accomplished not with bayonets, but with time and enlightenment. So<….>They will make another expedition, knock down several people, defeat a crowd of unsettled enemies, build some kind of fortress and return home to wait for autumn again. This course of action could bring great personal benefits to Ermolov, but none to Russia.<….>But at the same time, there is something majestic in this continuous war, and the Temple of Janus for Russia, as for ancient Rome, will not be lost. Who, besides us, can boast that they have seen eternal war?" From a letter from M.F. Orlov to A.N. Raevsky. 10/13/1820
There were still forty-four years left before the end of the war. Isn't it something reminiscent of the current situation in the Russian Caucasus?
Formally, the beginning of this undeclared war between Russia and the mountain peoples of the northern slope of the Caucasus can be dated back to 1816, to the time of the appointment of Lieutenant General Alexei Petrovich Ermolov, the hero of the Battle of Borodino, as commander-in-chief of the Caucasian army.
In fact, Russia’s penetration into the North Caucasus region began long before and proceeded slowly but persistently. Back in the 16th century, after Ivan the Terrible captured the Astrakhan Khanate, west bank The Tarki fortress was founded in the Caspian Sea at the mouth of the Terek River, which became the starting point for penetration into the North Caucasus from the Caspian Sea, the birthplace of the Terek Cossacks.
In the kingdom of Grozny, Russia acquires, although more formally, a mountainous region in the Center of the Caucasus - Kabarda. The main prince of Kabarda, Temryuk Idarov, sent an official embassy in 1557 with a request to take Kabarda “under the high hand” of powerful Russia for protection from the Crimean-Turkish conquerors. On the eastern shore of the Sea of Azov, near the mouth of the Kuban River, the city of Temryuk still exists, founded in 1570 by Temryuk Idarov, as a fortress to protect against Crimean raids.
Since Catherine's times, after the victorious for Russia Russian-Turkish wars, the annexation of Crimea and the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, the struggle for the steppe space of the North Caucasus began - for the Kuban and Terek steppes. Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, appointed commander of the corps in the Kuban in 1777, led the capture of these vast spaces. It was he who introduced the practice of scorched earth in this war, when everything unruly was destroyed. The Kuban Tatars as an ethnic group disappeared forever in this struggle.
To consolidate the victory, fortresses are founded on the conquered lands, interconnected by cordon lines, separating the Caucasus from the already annexed territories. The natural border in the south of Russia is two rivers: one flowing from the mountains east to the Caspian Sea - Terek and the other flowing west to the Black Sea - Kuban. By the end of the reign of Catherine II, along the entire space from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, a distance of almost 2000 km. along the northern banks of the Kuban and Terek there is a chain of defensive structures - the “Caucasian Line”. For cordon service, 12 thousand Black Sea, former Cossacks Cossacks were resettled, who located their villages along the northern bank of the Kuban River (Kuban Cossacks).
The Caucasian line is a chain of small fortified Cossack villages surrounded by a ditch, in front of which there is a high earthen rampart, on which there is a strong fence made of thick brushwood, a watchtower, and several cannons. From fortification to fortification there is a chain of cordons - several dozen people each, and between the cordons there are small guard detachments “pickets”, ten people each.
According to contemporaries, this region was distinguished by unusual relationships - many years of armed confrontation and at the same time the mutual penetration of completely different cultures of the Cossacks and highlanders (language, clothing, weapons, women). “These Cossacks (Cossacks living on the Caucasian line) differ from the highlanders only in their unshaven heads... weapons, clothing, harness, grips - everything is mountainous.< ..... >Almost all of them speak Tatar, they are friends with the mountaineers, they are even related through their mutually abducted wives - but in the field they are implacable enemies." A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Ammalate-bek. Caucasian reality. Meanwhile, the Chechens were no less afraid and suffered from the raids of the Cossacks than they were from them.
The king of the united Kartli and Kakheti, Irakli II, turned to Catherine II in 1783 with a request to accept Georgia into Russian citizenship and to protect it by Russian troops. The Treaty of Georgievsk of the same year established a Russian protectorate over Eastern Georgia - Russia's priority in Georgia's foreign policy and its protection from the expansion of Turkey and Persia.
The fortress on the site of the village of Kapkai (mountain gate), erected in 1784, receives the name Vladikavkaz - owning the Caucasus. Here, near Vladikavkaz, the construction of the Georgian Military Road begins - a mountain road through the Main Caucasus Range, connecting the North Caucasus with the new Transcaucasian possessions of Russia.
In 1801, Alexander I published a manifesto according to which Kartli and Kakheti, at the request of their other ruler - Tsar George, the heir of Erekle II, would be completely reunited with Russia. Artliysko-Kakheti kingdom no longer exists. The response from the neighboring countries of Georgia, Persia and Turkey, was unambiguous. Supported alternately by France and England, depending on events in Europe, they entered into a period of many years of wars with Russia, which ended in their defeat. Russia has new territorial acquisitions, including Dagestan and a number of khanates in northeastern Transcaucasia. By this time, the principalities of Western Georgia: Imereti, Mingrelia and Guria voluntarily became part of Russia, although maintaining their autonomy.
But the North Caucasus, especially its mountainous part, is still far from being subjugated. The oaths taken by some North Caucasian feudal lords were mainly declarative in nature. In fact, the entire mountainous zone of the North Caucasus was not subordinate to the Russian military administration. Moreover, dissatisfaction with the harsh colonial policy of tsarism of all layers of the mountain population (feudal elite, clergy, mountain peasantry) caused a number of spontaneous uprisings, sometimes of a massive nature. There is still no reliable road connecting Russia with its now vast Transcaucasian possessions. Movement along the Georgian Military Road was dangerous - the road was susceptible to attacks by mountaineers.
With the end of the Napoleonic wars, Alexander I accelerated the conquest of the North Caucasus. The first step on this path is the appointment to Lieutenant General A.P. Ermolov as the commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps, managing the civilian unit in Georgia. In fact, he is the governor, the full-fledged ruler of the entire region (officially, the position of governor of the Caucasus will be introduced by Nicholas I only in 1845).
For the successful completion of a diplomatic mission to Persia, which prevented the Shah's attempts to return to Persia at least part of the lands that had gone to Russia, Ermolov was promoted to infantry general and, according to Peter the Great's "table of ranks", becomes a full general.
Ermolov began fighting already in 1817. “The Caucasus is a huge fortress, defended by a garrison of half a million. An assault will be expensive, so let’s wage a siege,” he said and moved from the tactics of punitive expeditions to a systematic advance deep into the mountains.
In 1817-1818 Ermolov advanced deep into the territory of Chechnya, pushing the left flank of the “Caucasian Line” to the line of the Sunzha River, where he founded several fortified points, including the Grozny fortress (since 1870, the city of Grozny, now the destroyed capital of Chechnya). Chechnya, where the most warlike of the mountain peoples lived, covered at that time with impenetrable forests, was a natural inaccessible fortress, and in order to overcome it, Ermolov cut down wide clearings in the forests, providing access to the Chechen villages.
Two years later, the “line” was moved to the foot of the Dagestan mountains, where fortresses were also built, connected by a fortification system to the Grozny fortress. The Kumyk plains are separated from the highlanders of Chechnya and Dagestan, driven into the mountains.
In support of the armed uprisings of the Chechens defending their land, the majority of the Dagestan rulers united in 1819 into a military Union. Persia, extremely interested in the confrontation between the mountaineers of Russia, behind which England also stood, provides financial assistance to the Union.
The Caucasian Corps was strengthened to 50 thousand people, the Black Sea was given to help it Cossack army, another 40 thousand people. In 1819-1821, Ermolov launched a series of punitive raids into the mountainous regions of Dagestan. The mountaineers resist desperately. Independence for them is the main thing in life. No one expressed submission, not even women and children. It can be said without exaggeration that in these battles in the Caucasus every man was a warrior, every village was a fortress, every fortress was the capital of a warlike state. There is no talk about losses, the result is important - Dagestan, it would seem, has been completely conquered.
In 1821-1822 the center of the Caucasian line was advanced. The fortifications built at the foot of the Black Mountains closed the exits from the Cherek, Chegem, and Baksan gorges. Kabardians and Ossetians are pushed out of areas suitable for farming.
An experienced politician and diplomat, General Ermolov understood that it was almost impossible to put an end to the resistance of the mountaineers by force of arms alone, only by punitive expeditions. Other measures are also needed. He declared the rulers subject to Russia free from all duties and free to dispose of the land at their own discretion. For local princes and shahs who recognized the power of the tsar, rights over the former subject peasants were also restored. However, this did not lead to pacification. The main force opposing the invasion was not the feudal lords, but the mass of free peasants.
In 1823, an uprising broke out in Dagestan, raised by Ammalat-bek, which took Ermolov several months to suppress. Before the outbreak of war with Persia in 1826, the region was relatively calm. But in 1825, in Chechnya, which had already been conquered, a large uprising broke out, led by the famous equestrian and national hero of Chechnya - Bey Bulat, which engulfed the entire Greater Chechnya. In January 1826, a decisive battle took place on the Argun River, in which the forces of thousands of Chechens and Lezgins were scattered. Ermolov went through the whole of Chechnya, cutting down forests and cruelly punishing rebellious villages. The lines involuntarily come to mind:
But behold, the East raises its howl! ...
Drop your snowy head,
Humble yourself, Caucasus: Ermolov is coming! A.S. Pushkin. "Prisoner of the Caucasus"
How this war of conquest was waged in the mountains can best be judged in the words of the commander-in-chief himself: “The rebellious villages were devastated and burned, the gardens and vineyards were cut down to the roots, and after many years the traitors will not return to their primitive state. Extreme poverty will be theirs.” execution..." In Lermontov's poem "Izmail Bek" it sounds like this:
The villages are burning; they have no protection...
Like a predatory beast, into a humble abode
The winner bursts in with bayonets;
He kills old men and children,
Innocent maidens and mothers
He caresses with a bloody hand...
Meanwhile, General Ermolov is one of the most progressive major Russian military leaders of that time. An opponent of the Arakcheevsky settlements, drills and bureaucracy in the army, he did a lot to improve the organization of the Caucasian Corps, to make life easier for the soldiers in their essentially indefinite and powerless service.
The “December events” of 1825 in St. Petersburg also affected the leadership of the Caucasus. Nicholas I recalled, as it seemed to him, the unreliable “ruler over the entire Caucasus”, close to the Decembrist circles, Ermolov. He had been unreliable since the time of Paul I. For belonging to a secret officer circle opposed to the emperor, Ermolov served several months in the Peter and Paul Fortress and served exile in Kostroma.
In his place, Nicholas I appointed cavalry general I.F. Paskevich. During his command there was a war with Persia in 1826-27 and with Turkey in 1828-29. For the victory over Persia, he received the title of Count of Erivan and the epaulets of a field marshal, and three years later, having brutally suppressed the uprising in Poland in 1831, he became the Most Serene Prince of Warsaw, Count Paskevich-Erivan. A rare double title for Russia. Only A.V. Suvorov had this double title: Prince of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymniksky.
From about the mid-twenties of the 19th century, even under Ermolov, the struggle of the highlanders of Dagestan and Chechnya acquired a religious overtones - muridism. In the Caucasian version, muridism proclaimed that the main path to getting closer to God lies for every “truth seeker - murid” through fulfilling the covenants of the ghazavat. Execution of Sharia without ghazavat is not salvation.
The wide spread of this movement, especially in Dagestan, was based on the unity of the multilingual masses of the free mountain peasantry on religious grounds. Judging by the number of languages existing in the Caucasus, it can be called a linguistic “Noah’s Ark.” Four language groups, more than forty dialects. Dagestan is especially variegated in this regard, where there were even single-aul languages. The success of muridism was also greatly facilitated by the fact that Islam penetrated Dagestan back in the 12th century and had deep roots here, while in the western part of the North Caucasus it began to take hold only in the 16th century, and two centuries later the influence of paganism was still felt here.
What the feudal rulers: princes, khans, beks failed to unite the Eastern Caucasus into a single force, the Muslim clergy succeeded in combining the religious and secular principles in one person. The Eastern Caucasus, infected with the deepest religious fanaticism, became a formidable force, which it took Russia with its two hundred thousand strong army almost three decades to overcome.
At the end of the twenties, Mullah Gazi-Muhammad was proclaimed the imam of Dagestan (imam translated from Arabic as standing in front). A fanatic, a passionate preacher of gazavat, he managed to excite the mountain masses with promises of heavenly bliss and, no less important, promises of complete independence from any authorities other than Allah and Sharia. The movement covered almost all of Dagestan. The only opponents of the movement were the Avar khans, who were not interested in the unification of Dagestan and acted in alliance with the Russians. Gazi-Muhammad, who carried out a number of raids on Cossack villages, captured and devastated the city of Kizlyar, died in battle while defending one of the villages. His ardent follower and friend, Shamil, wounded in this battle, survived.
Avar bey Gamzat was proclaimed imam. An opponent and killer of the Avar khans, he himself died two years later at the hands of the conspirators, one of whom was Hadji Murat, the second figure after Shamil in Gazavat. The dramatic events that led to the death of the Avar khans, Gamzat, and Hadji Murad himself formed the basis of L. N. Gorskaya Tolstoy’s story “Hadji Murad.”
After the death of Gamzat, Shamil, having killed the last heir of the Avar Khanate, becomes the imam of Dagestan and Chechnya. A brilliantly gifted person who studied with the best teachers of grammar, logic and rhetoric of the Arabic language in Dagestan, Shamil was considered an outstanding scientist in Dagestan. A man with an unyielding, strong will, a brave warrior, he knew how not only to inspire and arouse fanaticism in the mountaineers, but also to subjugate them to his will. His military talent and organizational skills, endurance, and the ability to choose the right moment to strike created many difficulties for the Russian command during the conquest of the Eastern Caucasus. He was neither an English spy, much less anyone’s protege, as Soviet propaganda once portrayed him. His goal was one - to preserve the independence of the Eastern Caucasus, to create his own state (theocratic in form, but, in fact, totalitarian)
Shamil divided the areas under his control into “naibstvos”. Each naib had to come to war with a certain number of warriors, organized into hundreds and dozens. Understanding the importance of artillery, Shamil created a primitive production of cannons and ammunition for them. But still, the nature of the war for the mountaineers remains the same - partisan.
Shamil moved his residence to the village of Ashilta, away from Russian possessions in Dagestan, and from 1835-36, when the number of his followers increased significantly, he began to attack Avaria, ruining its villages, most of which swore allegiance to Russia.
In 1837, a detachment of General K.K. was sent against Shamil. Fese. After a fierce battle, the general took and completely destroyed the village of Ashiltu. Shamil, surrounded at his residence in the village of Tilitle, sent envoys to express his submission. The general went to negotiations. Shamil put up three amanats (hostages), including his sister's grandson, and swore allegiance to the king. Having missed the opportunity to capture Shamil, the general extended the war with him for another 22 years.
Over the next two years, Shamil made a series of raids on villages subject to Russian rule, and in May 1839, upon learning of the approach of a large Russian detachment led by General P.Kh. Grabbe, takes refuge in the village of Akhulgo, which he turned into an impregnable fortress for that time
The battle for the village of Akhulgo, one of the most fierce battles of the Caucasian War, in which no one asked for mercy, and no one gave it. Women and children, armed with daggers and stones, fought equally with men or committed suicide, preferring death to captivity. In this battle, Shamil loses his wife, son, his sister, nephews, and over a thousand of his supporters die. Shamil's eldest son, Dzhemal-Eddin, is taken hostage. Shamil barely escapes captivity, hiding in one of the caves above the river with only seven murids. The battle also cost the Russians almost three thousand people killed and wounded.
At the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896, in a building specially built in the form of a cylinder with a circumference of 100 meters with a high half glass dome The battle panorama “Assault on the village of Akhulgo” was exhibited. The author is Franz Roubaud, whose name is well known to Russian fans visual arts and history based on his two later battle panoramas: “Defense of Sevastopol” (1905) and “Battle of Borodino” (1912).
The time after the capture of Akhulgo, the period of Shamil’s greatest military successes. An unreasonable policy towards the Chechens, an attempt to take away their weapons lead to a general uprising in Chechnya. Chechnya joined Shamil - he is the ruler of the entire Eastern Caucasus.
His base is in the village of Dargo, from where he carried out successful raids into Chechnya and Dagestan. Having destroyed a number of Russian fortifications and partly their garrisons, Shamil captured hundreds of prisoners, including even high-ranking officers, and dozens of guns. The apogee was his capture at the end of 1843 of the village of Gergebil, the main stronghold of the Russians in Northern Dagestan. Shamil's authority and influence increased so much that even Dagestan beks in the Russian service, who had high ranks, went over to him.
In 1844, Nicholas I sent Count M.S. to the Caucasus as commander of the troops and governor of the emperor with emergency powers. Vorontsov (since August 1845 he was a prince), that same Pushkin “half-my-lord, half-merchant”, one of the best administrators of Russia at that time. His chief of staff of the Caucasian Corps was Prince A.I. Baryatinsky is a childhood and youth friend of the heir to the throne, Alexander. However, on initial stages their high ranks do not bring success.
In May 1845, the governor himself took command of the formation aimed at capturing the capital of Shamil - Dargo. Dargo is captured, but Shamil intercepts the transport with food and Vorontsov is forced to retreat. During the retreat, the detachment was completely destroyed, losing not only all its property, but also over 3.5 thousand soldiers and officers. The attempt to recapture the village of Gergebil was also unsuccessful for the Russians, the assault on which cost very heavy losses.
The turning point begins after 1847 and is connected not so much with partial military successes - the capture of Gergebil after the secondary siege, but with the decline in Shamil's popularity, mainly in Chechnya. There are many reasons for this. This is dissatisfaction with the harsh Sharia regime in relatively rich Chechnya, blocking predatory raids on Russian possessions and Georgia and, as a consequence, a decrease in the income of the naibs, and rivalry between the naibs. The liberal policy and numerous promises to the mountaineers who expressed their submission, especially those inherent in Prince A.I., had a significant influence. Baryatinsky, who in 1856 became the commander-in-chief and viceroy of the Tsar in the Caucasus. The gold and silver they distributed had no less powerful effect than the “tubes” - guns with rifled barrels - the new Russian weapon.
Shamil's last major successful raid occurred in 1854 against Georgia during the Eastern (Crimean) War of 1853-1855. The Turkish Sultan, interested in joint actions with Shamil, awarded him the title of Generalissimo of the Circassian and Georgian troops. Shamil gathered about 15 thousand people and, breaking through the cordons, descended into the Alazani Valley, where, having destroyed several of the richest estates, he captured the Georgian princesses: Anna Chavchavadze and Varvara Orbeliani, the granddaughters of the last Georgian king.
In exchange for the princesses, Shamil demands the return of his son Dzhemal-Eddin, captured in 1839; by that time he was already a lieutenant of the Vladimir Uhlan regiment and a Russophile. It is possible that under the influence of his son, but rather because of the defeat of the Turks near Karsk and in Georgia, Shamil did not take active actions in support of Turkey.
With the end of the Eastern War, active Russian activities resumed, primarily in Chechnya. Lieutenant General N.I. Evdokimov, the son of a soldier and a former soldier himself, is the main associate of the prince. Baryatinsky on the left flank of the Caucasian line. His capture of one of the most important strategic objects, the Argun Gorge, and the governor’s generous promises to the obedient mountaineers decide the fate of Greater and Lesser Chechnya. Shamil has only wooded Ichkeria in his power in Chechnya, in the fortified aul of which Vedeno he concentrates his forces. With the fall of Vedeno, after its assault in the spring of 1859, Shamil lost the support of all of Chechnya, his main support.
The loss of Vedeno also became for Shamil the loss of the naibs closest to him, who, one after another, went over to the side of the Russians. The expression of submission by the Avar Khan and the surrender of a number of fortifications by the Avars deprived him of any support in Avaria. The last place of stay of Shamil and his family in Dagestan is the village of Gunib, where with him there are about 400 more murids loyal to him. After taking the approaches to the village and its complete blockade by troops under the command of the governor himself, Prince. Baryatinsky, on August 29, 1859, Shamil surrendered. General N.I. Evdokimov receives the title of Russian count from Alexander II and becomes an infantry general.
The life of Shamil with his entire family: wives, sons, daughters and sons-in-law in the Kaluga golden cage under the watchful supervision of the authorities is already the life of another person. After repeated requests, he was allowed in 1870 to travel with his family to Medina (Arabia), where he died in February 1871.
With the capture of Shamil, the Eastern zone of the Caucasus was completely conquered. The main direction of the war moved to the western regions, where, under the command of the already mentioned General Evdokimov, the main forces of the 200,000-strong Separate Caucasian Corps were moved.
The events that unfolded in the Western Caucasus were preceded by another epic.
The result of the wars of 1826-1829. There were agreements concluded with Iran and Turkey, according to which Transcaucasia from the Black to the Caspian Sea became Russian. With the annexation of Transcaucasia, the eastern coast of the Black Sea from Anapa to Poti is also the possession of Russia. The Adjara coast (Principality of Adjara) became part of Russia only in 1878.
The actual owners of the coast are the highlanders: Circassians, Ubykhs, Abkhazians, for whom the coast is vitally important. Through the coast they receive help from Turkey and England with food, weapons, and emissaries arrive. Without owning the coast, it is difficult to subdue the mountaineers.
In 1829, after signing a treaty with Turkey, Nicholas I, in a rescript addressed to Paskevich, wrote: “Having thus completed one glorious task (the war with Turkey), you are faced with another, in my eyes just as glorious, and in reasoning there will be much direct benefit more important is the pacification of the mountain peoples forever or the extermination of the rebellious.” It's that simple - extermination.
Based on this command, Paskevich in the summer of 1830 made an attempt to take possession of the coast, the so-called “Abkhaz expedition”, occupying several settlements on the Abkhazian coast: Bombaru, Pitsunda and Gagra. Further advance from the Gagrin gorges was defeated by the heroic resistance of the Abkhaz and Ubykh tribes.
Since 1831, the construction of protective fortifications of the Black Sea coastline began: fortresses, forts, etc., blocking the access of the mountaineers to the coast. The fortifications were located at the mouths of rivers, in valleys or in ancient settlements that previously belonged to the Turks: Anapa, Sukhum, Poti, Redut-Kale. Advancing along the seashore and building roads against the desperate resistance of the mountaineers cost countless victims. It was decided to establish the fortifications by landing troops from the sea, and this required a considerable number of lives.
In June 1837, the fortification of the “Holy Spirit” was founded on Cape Ardiler (in Russian transcription - Adler). During the landing from the sea, ensign Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, a poet, writer, publisher, ethnographer of the Caucasus, and an active participant in the events of “December 14,” died and went missing.
By the end of 1839, there were already defensive structures in twenty places along the Russian coast: fortresses, fortifications, forts that made up the Black Sea coastline. Familiar names of the Black Sea resorts: Anapa, Sochi, Gagra, Tuapse - places of former fortresses and forts. But the mountainous regions are still unruly.
Events related to the founding and defense of strongholds on the Black Sea coastline are perhaps the most dramatic in the history of the Caucasian War. There is no land road along the entire coast yet. The supply of food, ammunition and other things was carried out only by sea, and in the autumn-winter period, during storms and storms, there was practically no supply. The garrisons from the Black Sea line battalions remained in the same places throughout the existence of the “line”, virtually without change and as if on islands. On one side there is the sea, on the other there are mountaineers on the surrounding heights. It was not the Russian army that held back the highlanders, but they, the highlanders, kept the garrisons of the fortifications under siege. Yet the biggest scourge was the damp Black Sea climate, disease and, above all, malaria. Here is just one fact: in 1845, 18 people were killed along the entire “line”, and 2,427 died from disease.
At the beginning of 1840, a terrible famine broke out in the mountains, forcing the mountaineers to look for food in Russian fortifications. In February-March they launched raids on a number of forts and captured them, completely destroying the few garrisons. Almost 11 thousand people took part in the assault on Fort Mikhailovsky. Private Tenginsky regiment Arkhip Osipov blows up a powder magazine and dies himself, taking another 3,000 Circassians with him. On the Black Sea coast, near Gelendzhik, there is now a resort town - Arkhipovoosipovka.
With the beginning of the Eastern War, when the situation of the forts and fortifications became hopeless - supplies were completely interrupted, the Russian Black Sea fleet was flooded, the forts were between two fires - the highlanders and the Anglo-French fleet, Nicholas I decided to abolish the "line", withdraw the garrisons, blow up the forts, which and was urgently completed.
In November 1859, after the capture of Shamil, the main forces of the Circassians, led by Shamil's emissary, Mohammed-Emin, capitulated. The land of the Circassians was cut by the Belorechensk defensive line with the Maykop fortress. The tactics in the Western Caucasus are Yermolov’s: deforestation, construction of roads and fortifications, pushing the highlanders into the mountains. By 1864, the troops of N.I. Evdokimov occupied the entire territory on the northern slope of the Caucasus Range.
No wild liberty love! A.S. Pushkin. "Prisoner of the Caucasus".
The first uprising broke out in pacified Chechnya almost a year after its conquest by Prince. Baryatinsky. Then they were repeated more than once. But these are just riots of the subjects of His Highness the Sovereign Emperor, who only demanded pacification, and were pacified.
And yet, historically, the annexation of the North Caucasus to Russia was inevitable - such was the time. But there was logic in Russia’s most brutal war for the Caucasus, in the heroic struggle of the mountaineers for their independence.
All the more senseless is the attempt to restore the Sharia state in Chechnya at the end of the twentieth century, as well as Russia’s methods of countering this. A thoughtless, endless war of ambitions - countless victims and suffering of peoples. A war that turned Chechnya, and not only Chechnya, into a testing ground for Islamic international terrorism.
19 . Russia and the Caucasus in the first half of the 19th century. Caucasian War. Muridism. Gazavat. Imamat of Shamil.
WITH 1817-1864. Russian troops fought in the North Caucasus to annex its territory. These military actions were called - "Caucasian War". This war began under Alexander I, the main burden fell on the shoulders of Nicholas I, and ended under Alexander II.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Georgia itself joined Russia (in Transcaucasia). At that time there was only one way to communicate with Georgia - the so-called Georgian Military Road, built by the Russians through the mountains of the North Caucasus. But movement along this road was in constant danger from robberies from the mountain peoples. The Russians could not limit themselves to repelling the raids. This constant defense was worth more than a major war.
Causes of the Caucasian War: Stop the raids of the mountaineers on the Georgian military road. Annex the territory of the North Caucasus. Do not allow the North Caucasus to pass to Turkey, Iran or England.
What was the North Caucasus like before joining Russia? The territory of the North Caucasus was distinguished by its geographical and ethnic originality.
In foothills and river valleys- in North Ossetia, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and also in Dagestan they were engaged in agriculture, viticulture, and gardening. State formations were formed here - the Avar Khanate, the Derbent Khanate, etc. In mountainous parts In Dagestan and Chechnya, the main branch of the economy was transhumance: in winter, cattle were grazed on the plains and in river valleys, and in the spring they were driven to mountain pastures. In the mountainous regions there were “free societies”, which consisted of unions of several neighboring communities. The free societies were headed by military leaders. The Muslim clergy had significant influence.
The annexation of the Caucasus began after the Patriotic War of 1812. The Russian government expected to solve this problem in a short time. But there was no quick victory. This was facilitated by: the geographical conditions of the North Caucasus and the unique mentality of its peoples; the commitment of individual peoples of the Caucasus to Islam and the idea of gazavat.
The hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, General A.P. Ermolov, was sent to the Caucasus as commander of the Caucasian Corps. He pursued a kind of “carrot and stick” policy. He expanded and strengthened ties with those peoples in the North Caucasus who supported Russia, and at the same time pushed the rebellious ones out of the fertile regions. As the Russians advanced deeper into Chechnya and Dagestan, roads and fortresses were built, such as the fortresses of Groznaya and Vnezapnaya. These fortresses made it possible to control the fertile valley of the Sunzha River.
Russia's aggressive policy in the Caucasus aroused active opposition from the mountain peoples. There was a powerful surge of uprisings in Kabarda (1821-1826), Adygea (1821-1826) and Chechnya (1825-1826). They were suppressed by special punitive detachments.
Gradually, isolated clashes escalated into a war that engulfed the North-West Caucasus, Dagestan, and Chechnya and lasted almost 50 years. The liberation movement was complex. It intertwined: - general dissatisfaction with the arbitrariness of the tsarist administration, - the infringed national pride of the highlanders, - the struggle of the national elite and the Muslim clergy for power.
At the initial stage of the war, Russian troops easily suppressed the resistance of individual detachments of mountaineers. then we had to fight with Shamil’s troops.
In the 20s of the 19th century, among the Muslim peoples of the North Caucasus, especially in Chechnya and Dagestan, muridism(or novitiate). Muridism was led by the Muslim clergy and local feudal lords. This movement was distinguished by religious fanaticism and proclaimed holy war (ghazawat or jihad) against the infidels.In the late 1820s - early 1830s. a military-theocratic state was formed in Chechnya and mountainous Dagestan - imamat. All power in it was concentrated in the hands of the imam - the political and spiritual leader. The only law was Sharia. Arabic was recognized as the official language. In the 30s, imam Shamil became Dagestan. He managed to subjugate Chechnya to his influence. For 25 years Shamil ruled over the highlanders of Dagestan and Chechnya. A disciplined, trained army was created.
In the fight against Russia, Shamil tried to rely on Turkey and England, wanted to receive financial support from them. At first, England actively responded to this proposal. But when the Russians intercepted an English schooner with weapons on board off the Black Sea coast, the British hastened to quell the political scandal with a promise not to interfere in the Caucasian conflict. In the early 50s, Russian troops finally ousted Shamil’s troops into mountainous Dagestan, where they were virtually doomed to a half-starved existence. In 1859, Shamil surrendered to the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Caucasus, A.I. Baryatinsky. Shamil was not executed, not thrown into prison, not exiled to Siberia, shackled. He was seen as an outstanding commander and politician who lost with dignity and courage. Shamil was sent to St. Petersburg, where he was celebrated as a hero, to his utter amazement. Kaluga was assigned Shamil's permanent place of residence. There he and his large family were given a magnificent two-story mansion, the inhabitants of which did not feel the need for anything. After ten years of quiet life in this city, Shamil was allowed to fulfill his old dream - to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, where he died in 1871.
5 years after the capture of Shamil, the resistance of the mountaineers was broken. Russia began to develop new lands.
During the war, the peoples of the North-West Caucasus – the Circassians – fought independently against Russia.(Under this general name there were many different tribal and communal associations). The Circassians raided Kuban. The Caucasian War brought significant human and material losses to Russia. During this entire time, 77 thousand soldiers and officers of the Caucasian Corps died, were captured, or went missing. The material and financial costs were enormous, but they cannot be accurately accounted for. The war worsened Russia's financial situation. The peoples of the North Caucasus lost their independence and became part of Russia. If Russia had not annexed the Caucasus, then other states - Turkey, Iran, England - would still not have allowed the peoples of the Caucasus to exist independently.
Page 1
The final event for the final entry of the Caucasus into Russia was the Caucasian War.
The annexation of Transcaucasia to Russia forced the Russian government to rush to conquer the North Caucasus. For Russia, the Caucasus was necessary in the interests of defending its southern borders and as a stronghold in economic and military penetration into the Near and Middle East. At first, they tried to persuade the mountain feudal lords to switch to Russian citizenship through diplomatic means. The mountaineers easily accepted political obligations and just as easily violated them. In response to this, punitive “searches” were carried out against the mountain feudal lords who violated the oath. Tsarism developed an energetic offensive in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus. He was opposed mainly by two groups of the mountain population: firstly, the peasantry, who suffered from the oppression of numerous extortions, duties and cruel methods of warfare, and, secondly, the clergy, dissatisfied with the fact that their privileges were infringed upon by the Russian command and bureaucracy. The clergy tried to completely direct the discontent of the peasants in a certain direction of “gazavat” (“holy war”) against the Russian “guiaurs” (“infidels”) under the banner of the religious and political doctrine - muridism. The main thing in muridism was the idea of the extermination of “guiaurs” and “equality of the faithful before God.” One of the most active organizers of armed uprisings under the flag of muridism in Dagestan and Chechnya in the early 20s was Mullah Muhammad Yaragsky. Being a murshid, i.e. mentor of the murids, he approved one of them, Muhammad from the village of Gimry, as “imam of Dagestan and Chechnya.” Having received the title of Ghazi, i.e. A fighter for the faith (in Gazavat), he gained fame under the name Gazi-Muhammad (often called Kazi-Mulla). Taking advantage of the growing discontent among the mountaineers, he began to energetically spread the ideas of Murism and the slogans of Gazavat and quickly achieved significant success.
In 1829, a significant part of the population of Dagestan rose at his call to fight for the faith (gazavat) against the Russians. In the eastern part of the North Caucasus, only the capital of Avaria, the village of Khunzakh, remained loyal to Russia. Therefore, Gazi-Muhammad (Kazi-Mulla) directed his first blow against this village.
Kazi-Mulla's two attempts to take Khunzakh were unsuccessful. Then he and his murids moved to Northern Dagestan, where he won a number of victories: he took the city of Tarki and the village of Paraul, besieged the Burnaya fortress and, having failed to capture it, moved to Sulak. There, after an unsuccessful attempt in August to take the Vnezapnaya fortress, Kazi-Mulla was driven back by the troops of the tsarist general G.A. Emmanuel, but he soon defeated this general and, inspired by the victory, moved south, besieged Derbent, and then, 8 days later, quickly marched north and on November 1, 1831 captured one of the most important centers of the North Caucasus - Kizlyar. Without stopping there, Kazi-Mulla sent his troops to the west and, entering Chechnya, crossed Sunzha and surrounded Nazran. In response to these actions, the commander-in-chief of the tsarist troops in the North Caucasus, General G.V. Rosen in the summer of 1831 undertook a campaign in Greater Chechnya, where he ravaged 60 villages and destroyed many gardens, forcing the residents to stop resistance. Then G.V. Rosen entered Dagestan and began an energetic pursuit of Kazi-Mulla. The latter, under the pressure of reinforced Russian troops, retreated to the mountains and there, in a major battle near his native village of Gimry, he suffered a complete defeat and himself fell in battle. [4, p. 238]
Two years after the death of Kazi-Mulla, Gamzat-bek was proclaimed the second imam, on the instructions of the same Muhammad of Yaragsky. Like his predecessor, he tried to subjugate rebellious societies and villages into the movement not only by promoting muridism, but also by force of arms. Having captured the capital of the Avar Khanate, Khunzakh, in 1834, which Kazi-Mulla had unsuccessfully tried to capture at one time, Gamzat-bek destroyed the entire family of Avar khans. This turned against him the large feudal lords of Dagestan and the elders of the taips and villages of Eastern Chechnya. At the end of the same year, 1834, in the Khunzakh mosque, Gamzat-bek was killed by relatives of the Avar Khan.
At the end of 1834, the mountaineer movement was led by a new – third imam – Shamil, who was undoubtedly a highly gifted person.
From the very beginning of his imamate, Shamil tried several times to negotiate with the royal command to conclude peace. But due to intransigence on both sides, underestimation by the tsarist command of the anti-colonial sentiments of the highlanders, as well as the authority and abilities of Shamil, the negotiations were interrupted.
Shamil widely propagated Koranic slogans about universal equality and freedom, and destroyed those feudal lords who collaborated with the Russian authorities. Not the entire population of Northern Dagestan and Greater Chechnya followed Shamil.
"Time of Troubles" and the Polish-Swedish intervention. Prerequisites and causes of unrest
With the opening for Russian colonization of the vast south-eastern spaces of the middle and lower Volga region, a wide stream of peasant population rushed here from the central regions of the state, trying to get away from the sovereign and landowner "tax", and this drain work force led to a shortage of workers in the center. The larger the ear...
The essence of terror
The civil war develops according to its own laws. October raised the question not about the redistribution of power or property, but about the very physical existence of classes. Civil peace could not be achieved then. Four years later, as a result of losses at the fronts, terror, famine and disease, the country was missing more than 13 million people. In n...
Last days of peace
Back in December 1940, our intelligence reported that about 60 thousand German soldiers were concentrated near the Norwegian-Finnish border. She directly warned: “The attack should be on Leningrad in the spring. Be on your guard." At the same time it became known that the occupying fascist troops in northern Europe were studying Russian. Built in Finland...