Table of contents:
- Fight against Russia at the expense of Islamic banners
- Support for Shamil by Christians
- Prisoner expectations
- New Kaluga life and long-awaited Mecca
Video: Why did the Caucasian leader Shamil in Russian captivity surrounded with warmth and care?
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
By the fall of 1859, the legendary leader of the highlanders, Imam Shamil, surrendered to the Russian army. This, in fact, marked the end of the protracted Caucasian war. The theocratic state of the North Caucasian Imamate, which had lasted for about 30 years, also ceased to exist. Having fallen into Russian hands, Shamil expected, at best, exile to Siberia. But surprisingly, the Russian emperor gave the prisoner such a level of honor that even the Russian generals close to Alexander II did not know.
Fight against Russia at the expense of Islamic banners
Entering the Caucasian War (1817-1864), Russia decided to eliminate the hotbed of Anglo-Turkish resistance to the presence of Russians in the Caucasus. For this, any measures were involved - robbery, slave trade, intrigue. With the annexation of the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani territories, communication with them for Russia passed through Dagestan, Chechnya and Abkhazia, where the mountaineers regularly practiced predatory attacks on the Gentiles. The Caucasian commander-in-chief, General Ermolov, appointed in 1816, began the construction of the Caucasian line of fortresses, gradually conquering the robbery areas.
Of course, the opposing forces were unequal, and the outcome of events in Russia's favor would have come sooner or later. But the Chechens, fueled by the Turks and the British, beat the Russians in the back. England supported the highlanders with emissaries, finances and weapons, counting on the diversion of Russian forces to the Caucasus and the suspension of its advance into Central Asia. In fact, anti-Russian foreign forces took advantage of the mountaineers in the fight against Russia.
Support for Shamil by Christians
In 1834, Shamil was proclaimed imam. The ruler, gifted with a great mind, ruled the people very strictly, but at the same time he had tremendous influence and set a personal example of extreme honesty and high morality. Shamil built a large theocratic state in the Caucasus, where Sharia law ruled. The wisdom of the imam was confirmed by the phenomenon that he, a convinced Muslim, was supported by Christians. They served in the Russian army for a quarter of a century, so soldiers who were not the most faithful to duty deserted, fleeing to the mountains. The leaders of the mountaineers usually used the defectors as a labor force for the crust of bread. But the wise Shamil turned the tide by providing those who had gone over under his wing comfortable conditions for life and service. So, the Chechen military ranks were replenished with Ukrainian Cossacks, Georgians, Poles, etc.
Near large Caucasian villages, at the direction of the imam, deserters were assigned plots of land where they were allowed to build housing, houses of worship, and cultivate vegetable gardens. The literate were supposed to teach the writing and sciences of the illiterate, so that under the command of yesterday's enemy, the uneducated army men progressed. Shamil treated the Russian deserters with respect, realizing that such an approach would only increase the flow of defectors and weaken the Russian army. Once Count Vorontsov offered Shamil to exchange traitors for salt, valuable at that time. The imam did not betray a single one, which only strengthened his authority in the eyes of his subordinates. There was another phenomenon initiated by Shamil. He did not send the soldiers he sheltered to fight against former colleagues and fellow believers. The deserters could easily live under the Caucasian wing, doing their housework: building, looking after weapons, repairing carriages, there were even watchmakers among the deserters.
Prisoner expectations
The mighty Russian Empire, which broke the Napoleonic ridge, did not see a big problem in the face of the highlanders. Chechens with Dagestanis, armed mainly with sabers and daggers, knew only trophy artillery. The casting of tools, established by Shamil, was carried out in an extremely handicraft way. It was ridiculous to oppose factory cannons, modern weapons and an experienced imperial army. At the same time, Shamil managed to effectively snap back. But no matter how long the rope twisted, there was only one outcome. By September 1859, he had to surrender.
By that time, the imperial army had already taken the imam's capital - Vedeno. Shamil, with several hundred associates, while hiding in a mountainous Dagestan village. The Caucasian people were tired, the naibs from despair went over to the Russian side, most of the regions of Dagestan were conquered. Then Shamil said resignedly: "I saw my people eating grass, and I realized that my struggle is over."
Baryatinsky with a 10,000-strong army surrounded Shamil's place of residence and proposed negotiations. The highlander was recommended to go to the Russian tsar, and the imam realized that he was finished. There was no alternative to surrender. As well as reasons to reproach Shamil with cowardice. Without getting out of the saddle for decades and having a couple of dozen serious wounds, Shamil did not grumble before the enemy.
New Kaluga life and long-awaited Mecca
The captive imam was sent to Russia, and at first the leader of the highlanders did not doubt the imminent Siberian journey and, as a result, murder. Thoughts about the mercy of the Russian tsar did not occur to the zealous executor of Sharia. In a matter of days, in Kharkov Chuguev, Alexander II himself complacently received Shamil. The emperor was cordial, courteous, hugged the prisoner at the meeting and even presented him with a golden saber. The king complained that the friendly meeting had not taken place earlier and promised the imam that he would not regret his decision. And Alexander II kept his word. Shamil, as an "honorary tourist" from Kharkov, went to Russian cities, where he got acquainted with Russian sights and returned with a bunch of gifts. In St. Petersburg he was even greeted with an orchestra. And in the capital's notes, this event was mentioned exclusively from a benevolent position.
The historian A. Urushadze described in detail the life of Shamil in the 9-year exile in Kaluga. His family of two wives and children was surrounded by several dozen servants who served Shamil in the spacious house of the landowner Sukhotin. The middle son, Muhammad-Shafi, was taken to serve in the tsarist secret police. The emperor appointed the imam a large salary, significantly exceeding the income of the tsarist general. Shamil, in a confidential conversation with a local nobleman, Shchukin, was amazed that after all the evil on his behalf, Russians treat him like a brother. The only thing that the emperor did not allow the imam was to travel to Mecca to perform the hajj. And when the next request was nevertheless granted, Shamil's family left for Medin, where the mountaineer died.
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