THE SHINING OF DAGHESTANI SWORDS IN CERTAIN CAMPAIGNS OF SHAMIL (SELECTED PASSAGES)4

Muhammad Tahir al-Qarakhi
(translated and annotated by Ernest Tucker and Thomas Sanders)

[Muhammad Tahir al-Qarakhi began his work by praising Shamil and his predecessors, Ghazi Muhammad and Hamza, as leaders who guided Muslims in the north Caucasus to obey Islamic holy law (sharia) instead of following tribal customary law (adat). Shamil’s legitimacy was based on how he promoted Islamic practice and belief in the region. Obedience to religious law is immensely important for Muslims because of the belief that God revealed this law in its final form in the Quran. In the particular circumstances of the nineteenth-century Caucasus, military resistance to the Russians was often twinned with religious study, recalling that in Islam, jihad (literally “striving in the path of God”) encompasses more than just holy war. It includes all efforts to promote and defend Islamic values and beliefs.]

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. There is no power and strength save with God, the Exalted, the Great!

Praise God who favors with great rewards those who fight for the faith instead of the shirkers! (O God, may He be Exalted!)5 Bless our master Muhammad, his family and companions, and grant them salvation.⁶ Bless those who follow them in struggle, jihad, learning, and teaching. The people of Daghestan in this late age called themselves “Muslims,” but no one was summoning them to [obey Islamic] law or to avoid what is forbidden.⁷ No, they were subjecting themselves to customary law, and even their [so-called] Islamic judges impelled the people to obey it.⁸ They praised authorities [on customary law] for implementing and enforcing it, calling it “justice.”

(Praise God!) How vile were their reprehensible actions in their assemblies and associations, especially in collaboration with the Russian infidels. Some even joined them to fight Muslims. Others mixed [their lineages with them, combining their] ancestors, children, brothers, and grandchildren with them day and night. Yet others gave their children to the infidels as hostages, seeking a sop from them. Some set up an idol from among their idols: a lord, in other words, whose conduct pleased the Russians. They chose him to serve the tsar, sought his favor, and considered his laws necessary for organizing the affairs of this world and the next, yet viewed the true faith [Islam] that God had decreed as corruption.⁹ Indeed, we incline to God and return to Him!

God blessed them by sending the brave and renowned scholar, the wise and careful man whose [words] should be obeyed, the martyr Ghazi Muhammad (May the most Holy and Praised One sanctify his secret!), to renew the study of sharia, to correct the transgressions of Muhammad’s sublime religious community, to revive the abandoned signs of Islam that had been utterly forgotten, and to impose the long-neglected rule of the Quran.10 Next, [God] established the brave, intrepid, and intelligent scholar, the hard-charging martyr Hamza of esteemed foreign descent, in his [Ghazi Muhammad’s] place and had him continue these efforts (May God make his earth light and heaven his ultimate home!).¹¹ The able scholar Shamil was then sent: a respected, well-known man with fight in his soul who could endure suffering and injury. [He became] known in the east and the west for the effects of his jihad so that the people of Mecca and Medina, the scholars of Balkh and Bukhara, and pious people from [all] parts of the world…said prayers for [his] victory, success, and prosperity.¹²

People’s hearts in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Siberia became frightened purely through the grace of God. Despite [living in] a poor country of meager subsistence, where most people were heading straight to hell due to their greedy dependence on the infidels for what they owned…[Shamil and his followers] performed miraculous deeds and [waged] great military campaigns, facing certain destruction at the hands of the great and powerful Russians and…their apostate helpers. To admonish those who reflect on things carefully, we have recorded some of those events and holy battles as lessons for future generations and models for the perceptive. We called this The Shining of Daghestani Swords in Certain Campaigns of Shamil, because [Shamil] witnessed the careers of the first two [leaders], was distinguished in most of [his campaigns], and [endured] the hardships of hostility and separation. It collects all the details in several volumes and will astonish the ears and eyes. (The Lord does what He will. God bless the victorious!)

The beginning of Ghazi Muhammad’s leadership

[In 1829, a gathering of notables in the Caucasus acclaimed Ghazi Muhammad as their first imam: the religious and political leader of a Muslim Daghestani anti-Russian resistance movement there. This took shape just as Russia had begun to consolidate its control of the region after defeating Iran in a three-year war. Ghazi Muhammad had been a top disciple of Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Ghazi-Ghumuqi, a leader (shaykh) in the Caucasus of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. While Jamal al-Din emphasized a more passive spiritual focus, Ghazi Muhammad called for active struggle (jihad) against the Russians.¹³ Although not formally considered a true spiritual leader himself, Ghazi Muhammad led a resistance movement against the Russians in Daghestan from 1829 until he was killed on October 29, 1832. In its account of Ghazi Muhammad’s leadership, The Shining of Daghestani Swords showed how the beginning of Shamil’s career foreshadowed his later achievements.]

In 1242 AH [=1826 CE],¹⁴ God wanted to renew religion and to have goodpreferred to bad, as well as to distinguish some [Muslims] in campaigns and some in martyrdom. From a nation blessed by bounty and delighted by much wine, he raised up a man with no tribe to shelter him and no power with which to dominate. He was Ghazi Muhammad al-Gimrawi (May God sanctify his secret!),¹⁵ the heaven-favored scholar who led them. He called on [Muslims] to obey the sharia, practice it, and reject customary law.¹⁶ He spoke thunderously on this subject and composed a letter denouncing the people [of Daghestan] as infidels. It was a poem titled “The Splendid Proof of How the Daghestani Authorities Rejected [True Belief]” and here is a part [of it]:

The chronicles of customary law are collections of poetry by followers of the treacherous one who is stoned [Satan].

The Lord will decide who is the loser: Muhammad or he who supports vile

custom.

When the followers of Ahmad [Muhammad] grasp the strong cable [Islam],

[Those others] will not find even a weak protector,

In the future, they will know which of these two [groups’] promises will be fulfflled,

when they witness a day of calamitous visions.

The Merciful One [God] will banish a people who love him [Satan] from

white Kawthar on the day when secrets are revealed [Judgment Day],17

If the one who follows customary law were equal to the one who follows

sharia,

Then there would be no difference among us between the pious and the debauched.

Why [else] were messengers sent, the sharia established, and the Quran

revealed with its rules?

What kind of repose could there be in a place where the heart is not at ease,

and the authority of God not accepted?

A place where the shining forbearance [of Islam] is repudiated, and where

ignoramuses abandoned [by God] rule.

Its vilest site is considered its Ka’ba, and its sinful are [considered] its just.¹⁸

The well-known faith [of Islam] has become unknown.

Its emir considers corrupt acts good,

and falls short in forbidding the sins he encounters.

If Muhammad were alive now,

his Indian blade would be unsheathed.

Their spokesman rejects what I have said to him,

[but] it should not be hard to grasp what is known by intuition.

O exiles from Islam, you who have gone astray,

Let there be peace upon the one who [lies] buried in the dust.

The noble Hashimi¹⁹ Prophet whose intercession is accepted, the esteemed messenger: Muhammad.

Until now, these people have all been spreading distress and hostility

Their situations and actions guided them against the commandments of God, His prohibitions, and His guidance.

Because of this people’s sins, they became divided.

The unbelievers and their enemies ruled them.

Indeed, I grieve for this people [who had once been] raised up and [offered] intercession,

Since ruin has fallen on their heads.

If you do not see that obeying your Lord is good, then go and serve the one who has caused fear and terror [Satan].

After [hearing] this, their tempers cooled and they accepted what he said. Then he went to the region of Chirkah and called on people there to do the same thing. After nearly a month [of his preaching] they agreed. He won over group after group there, both the willing and the unwilling.

A trustworthy source told me that a servant of the great shamkhal said to him that an enraged Ghazi Muhammad once came to the shamkhal by himself. In a harsh voice, he gave him an order: “Establish the sharia in your territory!”20 The shamkhal’s face lost its color. When he went limp and responded, “I will do this! I will do this!” Ghazi Muhammad left. The shamkhal told his servant, “By God, I almost wet my robe from fear of him.” He made as if he were going to fulfill this promise but did nothing. (Thanks be to God, Lord of the universe!)

Then the blessings of the shaykhs of the tariqat [the Naqshbandi Sufi order]—the scholar Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi and Jamal al-Din al-Ghazi-Ghumuqi (May God have mercy on them!)—were spread around.²¹ These blessings helped establish sharia like spring rain helps plants grow. Ghazi Muhammad wrote a message addressed to all regions that was friendly to believers but warned those who were haughty and rebellious against God:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. He is the Creator.… We are servants of God, all-powerful Victor over all, the Creator who resists all who oppose the sharia of [God’s] preferred ones and [those who oppose] the behavior of the righteous. Peace be upon those who “hear the word, follow its best meaning,”²² and adopt Islam as their faith.

O wretched ones, know that we have given our souls and lives to exalt God’s word. We have dedicated ourselves to pleasing God. “If you have a trick, then use it.”²³ Do not hide your [true] situation from yourself so that even you can’t see it. When we come out into the open fields in front of people, evil will rise in the morning for those who were warned and did not obey!²⁴ “If you come back [to the faith], then you will keep your wealth. Do not oppress, and you will not be oppressed.”²⁵ When cold takes off its clothes and heat puts them on, we shall come upon you with an army that you will never be able to match. We will seize you cowering from your villages and you will be brought low. Indeed, we will make you taste the penalty of this life short of the supreme penalty [of death] so that you might turn back [to Islam].26 We have come out with humility among the believers, but forceful with the infidels, in order to help our repentant and worshiping believer brothers, peace be upon you until the Day of Judgment!

As for those kind brothers, be patient and fear God in the hope that you will flourish and God will remove the evil with which the infidels oppress [you]. God will not improve the situation of the corrupt. Hold steady until we can come to [help] you. Do not obey the command of the corrupt. “Do not lose heart and do not grieve, for you are the most exalted.”²⁷ Peace be upon him who follows right guidance, and abandons the false! We will punish as they deserve all those we meet who do not know the meaning and form of the fatiha, the testament of faith, prayer, and the other pillars,²⁸ as well as [those who follow] infidel sayings, do bad deeds, and commit multitudes of other great sins.²⁹ (Let there be peace!)

The beginning of Ghazi M uhammad’s mobilization

When Ghazi Muhammad saw the gap between those who tried to implement sharia, those who worked to extinguish its light in order to exalt [tribal] customs and practices, and others who vacillated between these [two groups], he mobilized an army to move through the villages and countryside in order to guide the obedient, straighten out the crooked, and smite sinful local lords. He entered Qaranay and Irpili, took control of them, disciplined their inhabitants, and sent the judge of Qaranay and its other leaders to the Gimrah jail.

He proceeded into Harakan where they submitted to him. Their religious scholar, the famous Sa’id, then fled to the lowlands that were under Russian control.³⁰ The wine jugs in his house were poured out and [Ghazi Muhammad] moved on to Ansal.³¹ He treated people there kindly and convinced them to accept the sharia and surrender to Islam. It is related as a sign of his prestige that he said to them, “You are confident that you will go back to what you used to do: heading to the lowlands to sell apples and wine. A second one [Hamza Bek] will come against you with force, and you will see what a third one [Shamil] will do to you.”

He arrived in [the region of] Baqulal. [Ghazi Muhammad] established sharia among its inhabitants and [punished] Mekhelta’s judge by beating him. The [people of Mekhelta] submitted to [Ghazi Muhammad]. He called on them to wage war on Andal. The village of Ghaghal battled him. Men from Mekhelta and others became martyrs there while many from Andal were killed too. The [Andal force] was defeated and transformed into a humble, meek group that obeyed his orders and prohibitions.

The first battle of Khunzakh

Since [Khunzakh’s] people and its leader had produced great discord and strife, causing much evil, rebellion, and sinful behavior, he attacked them with a substantial force and headed into the territory of their leader Pakhu Bike.³² It is said that when the army came into it, she stood conspicuously on the roof [of her house], encouraging her men. Ghazi Muhammad brought with him the force from Hindal [there]. He appointed his best student and companion Shamil to command the Baqulal forces. [Shamil] led them in an attack on the town from the direction of the cemetery. Bullets showered them like hail falling from the sky. [Shamil] went into a house and barricaded its door, followed by about thirty of his young followers. Many from Baqulal and other places became martyrs there. The group [from Hindal] that had come with Ghazi Muhammad from the eastern side [of town] ran away, [but] it is said that the men from Baqulal [who were with Shamil attempted to] block these Hindal troops as they were trying to leave.

The villages in the regions of Baqulal and Khunzakh settled down. A Mekhelta man [came to] Khunzakh and reported that this had happened. He told the people barricaded in the house to come out, saying, “You will not be harmed.”

Fearing treachery, Shamil waited until dawn and then his group came out. When he returned to Baqulal, people gathered around him and harshly criticized him: “All this strife comes from the bad luck you brought!” They took away his weapons and hat. They were about to kill him when Darvish Nur Muhammad al-Inkhawi, together with his companions and Hadith al-Mililti, son of the [newly] appointed judge [there], saved him. This happened on the night of 1 Ramadan 1245 AH [=February 24, 1830 CE] at the end of winter.

The hypocrites rejoiced at this event. People who remained uncertain about whom to support began to incline towards them. Others showed laziness and neglected [their religious duties]. Ghazi Muhammad and his companions settled down in fields outside the village [of Gimrah], where they built dwellings and a mosque for themselves made out of earth. Shortly after [Ghazi Muhammad] returned from the battle at Khunzakh, there was a severe earthquake (which will be discussed later) and a great plague broke out among the people. They began to seem as if they had just woken up from being unconscious.33

Due to Pakhu Bike’s treachery, the Russians were able to mount an attack on [Ghazi Muhammad’s] forces on the night of 10 Dhu al-Hijja [1246 AH=June 2, 1830 CE] and a battle followed.³⁴ The men of Gimrah handed two condemned men over to [the Russians] as hostages for a peace agreement. Ghazi Muhammad did not make [any agreement with the Russians, though]. In fact, this battle led him to [push on and] seize Aghach Qala.

Hamza in Chartalah

By the fall of 1246AH [1830 CE], the second year after the [Russian] fortress [in Chartalah] was built, Hamza receved Ghazi [Muhammad]’s permission to lead a large force to nearby Ghuluda, where he was met by the Char people and their allies. When the Russians came out to attack, Hamza and the Char group fought back and killed many of them, driving them back into the fortress. [The Russians] left behind a cannon, so the [Muslims] took it and plundered the [belongings of the Russian] dead. They tried every trick to destroy this cannon, but could not.

When Hamza saw that he could not drive the infidels out of the [Chartalah] fortress, he sought protection [from them] for the Char region. He went into the fort with Shaykh Sha’ban al-Buhnudi. The two were imprisoned there as hostages and [later] sent to Tiflis. They stayed there awhile and were later released under a truce in exchange for two boys to take their place. Hamza remained at home studying until he heard that the boy who had replaced him had died. Then, he went right to Ghazi Muhammad.

The first battle at Aghach Qala

In the spring of the sixth year [of his leadership (1246 AH/1831 CE)], Ghazi Muhammad set out with about 150 men to do battle at Aghach Qala, which is about an hour away from Ghazanish. The shamkhal and Ahmad Khan went after them [there] leading [an army of] all the people of the lowlands, but their attack turned into a shameful rout. Most of those lowlands people went over to him [Ghazi Muhammad] and submitted to his authority. The Russians came back and camped near Uritirk. A group that was in their fort came out to attack led by ‘Ali Sultan al-Ansali and they were defeated and killed. Two men became martyrs there and Darvish Nur Muhammad al-Inkhawi was wounded.

Then the Russians advanced to Kafr Ghumuq [two days’ march from Gimrah], while Ghazi Muhammad went with his army to Atli Buyun, an hour away from the Targhu fortress. Russian troops attacked them from two sides and they fought back on both. The [defenders at Atli Buyun] killed many [Russians] and inflicted a serious defeat on them there. The Russian troops regrouped for another assault but were too afraid to launch an attack. [The Ghazi] swept into the village of Piri Awul where the treasury and belongings of the shamkhal and other notables were kept. [Ghazi Muhammad] seized everything there [as booty] and sent it to Aghach Qala.

The battle at Targhu fortress

Next, he moved against the Targhu fortress and launched a headlong attack on it. It is said that [his forces] entered it through the cannon ports in its walls. A man from Gimrah came to Ghazi Muhammad bearing the good news that the fort had been taken. Ghazi Muhammad corrected him, “The fort has not yet been taken, but something is happening there that God desires. Go back there and I will follow [you].” While they were fighting at the fort, fire broke out in the powder magazine near our troops. It blew up and killed nearly twelve hundred of our men, of whom eighty were from Chirkah. The Russians mounted another attack after this incident. Ghazi Muhammad charged at them three times and the brave Nur Muhammad al-Tsubuti killed a soldier with his sword who had intended to bayonet Ghazi Muhammad.

Addendum: Shamil’s son Jamal al-Din was born about 20 days after this event. (Praise God!)

The siege of the fortress of Indiri and the campaign of Aghdash Awukh35

‘Abdullah al-Ashilti led an army from Salatawh to besiege Indiri and its fort. Ghazi Muhammad joined them. They laid siege to it for about a month and a half. Then Ghazi Muhammad learned that the Russians were moving against them. He allowed his armies to return [to their homes] and most of the troops, who were rabble, did go away. [A force of Russians] who had [just] arrived there then fought a great battle with the soldiers who remained with him. He regrouped and ensconced [his forces] in Chumal, an inaccessible spot between Indiri and Awukh. Groups of Russians gathered and went into Aghdash Awukh, setting it on fire. Two brothers there inflicted terrible casualties on them and were martyred outside the village. It is reported that when their mother found them, she was neither sad nor wept. On the contrary she was happy about their martyrdom. She was only sad that her other son could not join them because he had been traveling. “Patience is beautiful and we seek help from God!”36

The Russians began to pull back as Ghazi Muhammad waged war on them. He killed many and drove them back to Indiri, capturing a fine cannon that he sent to Chirkah. He moved the people of Indiri to settle in place that he had bought for fifty tomans from the treasury and then went back to his house. When the Russians finally arrived at Kafr Ghumuq, Ghazi Muhammad laid siege to the fort of Derbend. He continued to attack it for nearly two weeks as several big battles took place there.

Then Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi (May God protect his secret!), the man familiar with God, and his followers met up with Ghazi Muhammad when he was in Tabarsaran.³⁷ He went back with them, taking them first to Irpili and then to Chirkah.

The conquest of Qidhlar fort

In the fall, Ghazi Muhammad assembled an army, suspecting that the Russians were moving towards Kilbakh. He advanced from the direction of Chechnia towards Qidhlar and conquered it, capturing lots of property and prisoners there. A Circassian said that he had been in Qidhlar when it was captured and that so many flocks of black ravens had flown out then that they blocked the sun. The cries of the ravens swirling above the fortress distracted the Russians and threw them into confusion. After Ghazi Muhammad’s force left, the ravens gradually drifted away.

Leading a large force from Qidhlar, the cursed [Russian] commander pursued [him back] to Chirkah. With Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi’s permission, the [Muslims] there made peace with him and gave him back the [captured] cannon. [Muhammad] Efendi moved to the village of Ihali. The people of Indiri and their comrades returned to their native villages. [Ghazi Muhammad] mobilized an assault on the fort at Buraw.³⁸ As he approached it, he was knocked off his horse by the blast of wind from a shell fired from an infidel cannon near him and he retreated.

The second incident at Aghach Qala

The Russians and all the people of the lowlands marched against Aghach Qala. Ghazi Muhammad was not there, but Shamil, Hamza, and Sa’id al-Ihali were inside its fort. Shamil had come with his Gimrah comrades to confront the enemy. When the fighting turned serious, all but three of his companions became separated from him. [Helped] by firing [from inside the fort] behind them, [Shamil and his men] routed an enemy force coming from one direction and then retreated back into the fort. Hamza, Shamil, and several of their comrades fought hard. They killed many of the infidels, who had surrounded the fort on all sides but could not get into it. They continued fighting until nightfall when the enemy pulled back. The fort’s defenders started stripping the dead [of their belongings] and finally abandoned it.

Ghazi Muhammad’s mobilization against Chechnia

When Ghazi Muhammad’s neighbors in Chirkah and other villages shifted [their loyalty] to the infidels, he mobilized an army to attack the Chechens in the spring in order to reform them and to wage holy war [ghaza] in their area. The man familiar with God, Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi, accompanied him on this campaign. He went into Chechen territory and burned several of their villages. Five hundred Russian cavalrymen attacked them in Kuydurmas, but the [Muslims] killed most of them, leaving only three survivors. They plundered them and took their equipment, including two cannons and such things. A large Russian force arrived to attack them the next day Ghazi Muhammad’s army then withdrew and sent the two cannons to the village of Bayan.

A memorable digression about some of Ghazi Muhammad’s glorious deeds and acts of distinction: Ghazi Muhammad came back from Chechnia saying, “These armies are coming after me and I will be martyred at the door of my house.” He began building a fortification in the narrow parts of the Argun valley by digging trenches and dwellings there. He worked on this until the early fall.

It is related that a Gimrah woman, a cousin to [both] Ghazi Muhammad and Shamil, said that she had once visited Ghazi Muhammad in the Argun region in the company of some other women. When he told them, “I will be leaving you soon,” they wept. They asked, “Who will we have [to guide us] after you?” He answered, “Shamil will be good for you.” When they pressed him, asking “Who could [possibly] help us like you?” Ghazi Muhammad replied, “His life will be long. I saw two tree trunks in a dream: one was me and the other, Shamil. As the trunks floated down the river, Shamil’s rose out. It was a cypress, whose usefulness is said to endure forever.”

It is said that once Shamil was coming back from a visit to [Ghazi Muhammad]. Looking towards him, [Ghazi Muhammad] asked, “How would it be for him, if only he knew what will happen to him in the future?”

There once had been with Ghazi Muhammad an immigrant scholar from the lowlands whom Muhammad Efendi respected, loved, and made his close companion. He was called “Hasan Husayn.”39 When they retreated from Chechnia, they left him there. A short while later, a man came from Chechnia and reported, “This Hasan Husayn went over to the Russians. When he attacked us alongside their troops, we killed him.” Ghazi Muhammad was taken aback and wept, but then said, “Indeed we are from God and we return to Him.”⁴⁰ He told Shamil, “If ever I turn away from what we are doing, kill me without delay, so that I may not be described by God’s words: ‘We grant them respite that they may grow in their iniquity”’⁴¹ End [of story]. [He said] this for fear of having a bad end like this [man]. (May God grant us a good end!)

A reliable source told me on the authority of the shamkhal Abu Muslim’s servant that a letter from [a man who lived at] the holy tomb [of Muhammad in Medina] (May God bless its holiness and grant it peace!) was delivered to [the shamkhal] that literally read, “I have been seeing in a dream the Prophet [Muhammad] (May God bless him and grant him peace!), standing all alone, but now I see another man with him.” I asked him who that man was and he said, “It must be Ghazi Muhammad,” since the letter went on to describe the appearance and characteristics [of someone resembling Ghazi Muhammad]. The man then had written, “By God most Great, O Abu Muslim! I am writing you to ask: ‘Did Ghazi Muhammad have those characteristics and this description?’”

Abu Muslim summoned a famous scholar, the lame Hajiyaw al-’Uruti. He gave him the letter and asked him whether Ghazi Muhammad was [being described] in it. Hajiyaw replied, “By God, I was a close associate of Ghazi Muhammad for twelve years during his education and he was as described. I could not describe him as [well] as this letter, even though I was his [close] friend.”

I also heard that this scholar Hajiyaw al-‘Uruti used to say, “Had Ghazi Muhammad and I lived before the time of the Prophet [Muhammad], I would have said that [Ghazi Muhammad] was a prophet.”42 He also told me that Ghazi Muhammad studied in a particular village when he was young. One old man who lived there had a close association with Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi and Ghazi Muhammad. He told us that Muhammad Efendi used to say, “We can say, you and I, that Ghazi Muhammad not only seeks the best in what he pursues, but that he has kashf [mystical understanding of everything] except the very throne and chair [of God].”⁴³ (May God protect their secrets and enrich us with their treasures!)

A reliable person informed me on the authority of another reliable source from Gimrah that after the return from the battle in Khunzakh [see below], some people from the town who were in the mosque after the noon prayer were saying things in front of Ghazi Muhammad to rebuke him, such as “This man has fomented great unrest and brought the world down on the people.” Ghazi Muhammad, infuriated and exasperated by their words, shouted the name of God at them. Then the mosque began to shake, which scared those people. They said, “Come let us repent [what we have done]!” Ghazi Muhammad quickly stood up, replied, “I have already repented,” and went to his house.

That [shaking] was caused by a severe earthquake that struck Daghestan at that time. The scholar Murtaza ‘Ali al-Dhuldi al-Qarakhi told me that he and Ghazi Muhammad were once with some men in a house in Ashilta. Ghazi Muhammad lay down, having covered himself with his cloak. Suddenly, he rose up and said, “There is no power and strength save with God.” They said to him, “What did you see?” He answered, “I saw nothing.” They repeated the question and he replied, “It was as if the Russians had been approaching us.” Just then, they heard the voice of a rider who came up to Ghazi Muhammad and said, “A naib sent me to tell you that the Russians are coming from such-and-such a place.” Ghazi Muhammad ordered him, “Tell the naib not to be afraid. They are coming for me, not for him.” He made ready to depart [‘Ashilta] and then left.

One sign of his intense piety was that he wore a patched shirt. Since there was a lot of cloth in his house, his followers asked, “Why don’t we cut you a [new] shirt from this linen?” He replied, “This does not belong to me. It is for the common good and the poor.”

The ghaza in which Ghazi Muhammad became a martyr and Shamil was injured

[After Ghazi Muhammad’s forces had retreated from Chechnia,] the Russians were advancing [behind them] but [Ghazi Muhammad and his followers] still had not finished fortifying their positions. Men from ‘Uthmanu and Qachar, as well as Chamaw al-Qaytaqi, Jamal al-Chirkawi. and Sa’id al-Harakani joined the Russian side. Ghazi Muhammad went to the Gimrah valley, barricaded its narrow part, and built shelters behind the barricades. During the night before the battle, which occurred on Monday, 3 Jumada II, 1248 AH [=October 29, 1832 CE], Shamil dreamed that his small and large guns would be destroyed [i.e., would not fire] and that the enemy would then climb up on the roof of a house [he was in], break a hole in it, and shoot rifles into it, but he would escape from it.

The Russians [and their allies] attacked them on that day. The battle raged from morning until afternoon. Our army fled as Ghazi Muhammad and Shamil went into a house behind the barrier [they had dug as a defensive fortification] with about thirteen men. Ghazi Muhammad said to Shamil, “you do not live here,” as if he did not want him to stay there. There was a lot of gunpowder stored there. The enemy surrounded the house. Some of them climbed on its roof and poked holes in it. The [Muslims] shot from inside the house to return [enemy] fire. Shamil’s gun jammed. The men on the roof were sticking their guns through the holes and shooting at those inside, just as Shamil had seen in his dream. Ghazi Muhammad ordered his troops to rush out the door of the house. They and Ghazi Muhammad crowded around it, but no one went out. There was much chanting of the phrases “I ask God’s forgiveness” and “There is no god but God.”

Ghazi Muhammad took out his sword and charged. His cousin, Muhammad Sultan, charged with him. Shamil [couldn’t get to the door, because of the crowd, so he] ordered the others to charge with Ghazi Muhammad, but no one pushed forward. He said, “See if Ghazi Muhammad has been killed.” It was reported that he had just fallen. Shamil felt no sadness or grief, but remarked, “The time of ‘let us not cry’ has come for Ghazi Muhammad. Fair-eyed houris will attend the martyrs before the separation of their souls, and let us hope that they await us in heaven.”44

Shamil was afraid that [the Russians] would ignite the gunpowder inside the house as they shot through the roof. He ordered those [inside with him] to charge out but they wouldn’t. He pulled out his sword, shoved his scabbard inside his belt, rolled up his sleeves, hitched up his robe, and charged through the door. His headgear and turban were knocked off when he hit the top of the doorway Shamil struck a soldier with his sword who was standing by the door. He fell face down and “cast down his beard” [i.e., died]. He hit another soldier who also fell. A third solider stabbed Shamil in the chest with his rifle bayonet and ran him through. Shamil grabbed the bayonet with one hand and felled the attacker with his own sword. The fallen man’s rifle fell away from him.

[The Russians] around him saw this and ran away, but he went after them. Because of the crowd of people, they could not fire their weapons at him. One soldier shot a bullet, but it did not hit Shamil. He stabbed that man many times, but the man shielded himself with his felt cap. They said his name was Khan Mukhul and that he returned from that battle gravely injured. God knows best whether he died from his wounds or not.

Another soldier threw a stone at [Shamil]. It hit his left shoulder blade and broke his collarbone. The pain grew so bad that he could not breathe. He did not fall down, though. It was said that perhaps this was due to the baraka [spiritual power] that had nourished his body and primed him for holy battle from the time when they had returned from Chechnia.45 As he was running around, not worrying about saving himself from their attack, he heard someone rushing behind him shouting, “God, God!” It happened to be the muezzin [prayer caller] who had been with them in that house.

[Shamil] ran after him. As they moved away from the crowd, many fired but did not hit them. The [enemy] did not pursue them after that, even though they were all around them on the road to Gimrah. Shamil grew weary from carrying his sword and gave it to the muezzin. Somewhat later, after they had gotten away from the enemy, Shamil fell behind a rock to die and the muezzin hid himself nearby. [Shamil] told him to get away, but the man refused. At that moment, he realized that the sun had not yet set behind the mountains and remembered that he had not called out the afternoon prayer. Shamil urged him to do it. When he had completed two prostrations, he threw up blood and swooned.

They stayed there until the sun and moon had set. They climbed farther up to reach the top of a mountain and spent a bitterly cold night there. Despite the fact that Shamil had no hat, his chest was full of blood, and his other garments were soaked with it, a continuous hot wind blew from the hole in his chest. It was emanating from his body and it warmed up the two of them. He said, “This wound has been better for me tonight than one hundred coins.” When morning came, he rode a horse [that he borrowed nearby] to where his children were staying.

The Russians remained a week in Gimrah and demanded the corpse of the martyred Ghazi Muhammad. Some Gimrah hypocrites who were their allies brought it to them. The famous scholar Sa’id al-Harakani ordered that [the body] not be buried in Gimrah’s soil. He said that the [Russians] ought to be told that if they buried him there, the murids would visit his grave, gather [often] at it, and stir up discord and sedition. They agreed with him and carried it to Targhu. They dried and preserved it there, where it was kept for a long time and finally buried. During the time when Shamil ruled a state [dawla] and his control extended to Targhu, he sent someone there to dig up this grave. They carried [the coffin] back to Gimrah and reburied it. He built a blessed mosque over it. May God protect its secret and may He grant us His blessings! Husayn, son of Ibrahim al-Gimrawi, said that when he was in Derbend, he read an account [stating] that eight thousand Russians had perished at Ghazi Muhammad’s hands during a three-year holy war [ghaza]. (Thanks be to God, Ruler of the two worlds!)

Then Shamil moved to Ansal with his family. He was unable to sleep for some twenty nights. A doctor came and attached [medicinal] pieces of wax to his body, so he slept for twenty-four hours. He woke up and asked, “Have I performed the noon prayer?” They said “No, you omitted your prayers.” He said, “How disgraceful for you [not to have woken me up]!” They replied, “You slept from yesterday morning until this moment.” He did not travel [from there] until the end of [the month of] Sha’ban [1248 AH=December, 1832 CE]. He then visited the teacher Muhammad al-Yaraghi in the village of Balagin.

What later happened to Shamil in Gimrah

On the first day of Ramadan [1248 AH=January, 1833 CE], he went to Gimrah. While he was going to the prayer room to perform ablutions before praying, he ran into some women sitting out on the [side of the] road working wool. He passed by them and said, “Do they think sharia died together with Ghazi Muhammad?” He thought that they would be gone before he came back but found them as they had been on his return. He [now] saw a decrepit old man with them who had no loincloth and was carrying a thick staff. Shamil took the staff from him and reprimanded him, asking, “Have you been instructed to sit among these women?” He fell down and exposed his private parts. Shamil began to beat the women. They all ran away except one. She was stubborn and he beat her several times. When she saw that he was not going to leave her [alone], she ran away, screaming, “I am being killed!” Shamil went back to his own house. The son of this woman ran to their [Gimrah] judge to complain about this behavior. The judge was Hasanalmuhammad al-Harikuli. He was someone whose foot Ghazi Muhammad had kissed, saying, “This sharia is the religion of our Lord. It is not something exclusively bestowed upon me. Follow it and raise it up. Do not allow ignorant louts to do you evil according to their whims. Do not be lenient about this and do not take advice from them.”

The judge’s assistant quickly arrested Shamil. He was sentenced to be punished because he had tried to enforce the law without [the judge’s] permission. He responded with “hearing and obedience” [to the judge’s sentence] and was taken away.46 The flogger gave him twenty lashes with his whip. During the flogging, he felt something dripping from his chest wound. He touched it with his hand and felt blood. He showed the blood to the flogger and told him, “You’ve ripped open my wound. You will be held responsible for this.” Frightened, the flogger replied, “We thought your wound had healed. Otherwise, why would we have hit you?”

It was Friday and [Shamil] attended the mosque that day He asked the judge for permission to speak. Shamil asserted that it was all right for [any] man to enforce [Islamic] law without the ruler’s permission. He said that the judgment against him was wrong, because what he did [was just, since] the faith of God does not die when those who maintain it die.

He said, “In fact, those who are better than Ghazi Muhammad have died. Our Prophet and the Rightly Guided Caliphs have died. God makes victorious he who makes His faith triumphant. By God, I will not abandon this matter until I die. Whoever seeks the reward of heaven let him support it. Whoever desires war let him prepare for it.” He stirred up the murids. Their zeal increased. It was as if the fire of the hypocrites’ enthusiasm had been extinguished. He returned to his family, that is, to Ansal, and fasted for Ramadan there.

He got back to his house on the night of the ‘Id.⁴⁷ When he went out before dawn to a community mosque to perform ablutions, he came upon a group of hypocrites who had lit a fire and were banging a drum. They danced and cursed the murids, even calling them “those who have sex with their mothers.” They said, “Tomorrow we will drink wine, party, and dance. Then we will see how humiliated those murids will be.”

Shamil was focusing on heading back [to his house at that moment] but said to himself, “If I leave here [now without doing anything], then I cannot claim to possess true faith.” He pulled out his dagger and went after this group, saying literally, “God will make known who will conquer and who will be disgraced!” The group was seized with dread of him. They threw down their drum and all ran away Some jumped in the water while others slipped through the crowd at the [mosque] gate.

Imam Shamil ripped off the drumskin. He broke its rim and threw it after those who had fled, saying, “Take this donkey skin of yours.” Next to his house [there lived] a hypocrite—an ally of the Russians. They had set him up as Gimrah’s headman in a house that Ghazi Muhammad had bought for Sheikh Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi. In the morning, those hypocrites [who had been celebrating during the night] came to that vile man’s house to complain about Shamil. “He destroyed the drum that the judge had ordered nine of the village musicians to beat at dawn.”

The village elders came to Shamil’s door and yelled, “You are creating unrest. The likes of you are responsible for stirring things up and taking advantage of this!”

Shamil spoke [to them] from [the flat] roof of his house and raised his voice so that those who standing in front of this vile man’s house [next door] could hear him. He said, “I found them saying various things. Let them do what they will. By God, I will not give up trying to stop forbidden actions and I will fight them. Even if I am alone, God is sufficient [for me]. Whoever wants to, let him believe; and whoever doesn’t want to, let him not believe.” His words were sharp and rough. Now humiliated, the group that had gathered at that evil man’s house then dispersed.

Shamil spoke at the mosque in front of the congregation at a holiday prayer gathering. “Do you think that with the death of Ghazi Muhammad the sharia was weakened? By God, I will not let it falter [even] by small measures, but will strengthen it by large measures with God’s help. You know that I have more knowledge, strength, and followers than he [did]. Let the opponents of sharia come forward in battle. The more honorable ones will expel the meaner ones from there.’”48 Upon [hearing] this, the murids’ leaders were bolstered, the people stood up to support the sharia, and Shamil’s opponents grew less confident. The village headman [mentioned above] fled to the Russians on the pretext of a quarrel with [Shamil]. In Dhu‘l-Qada [April] of this year [1248 AH/1833 CE], [a son named] Ghazi Muhammad was born to [Shamil]. (Praise God, Ruler of the two worlds!)

…

[The next section of the narrative described the brief career of Hamza (1832–1834) as the second imam. It then turned to events after Shamil became the movement’s leader in 1834 when a group of Avar nobles closely related to Hadji Murat killed Hamza in Khunzakh. The text then focused on the conflict that arose between the villagers of Ansal and Shamil’s followers from Gimrah around 1835 just as Shamil was planning to attack Khunzakh to avenge Hamza’s killing.]

The beginning of Shamil’s caliphate [khilafa] and other events

Hamza had [already] designated Shamil to be his successor as caliph and a group of notable clerics had accepted this. Shamil agreed to this [only] after refusing it until they were about to disperse without approving it. When Shamil heard that [Hamza] had been killed, the first thing he did was to execute [in retaliation] Sultanaw al-Rughchawi, who was in their jail. Then he headed to Ansal on his way to attack Khunzakh. He treated the people [there] politely and kindly. He said, “You are the leaders in these regions. There are those among you with learning, intelligence, and bravery. Be chiefs and leaders for this faith. Do not be [mere] followers, and God will not lay down His faith and His people.” They showed [outward] obedience to him and came along with him, but sent a message to the Russians that they should hurry to Gimrah.

As Shamil was traveling with them, word came that the Russians had entered Gimrah. Shamil immediately went back [there]. Since Gimrah’s bridge had been destroyed, he jumped into the river with about fifteen men and crossed to the Gimrah side. He and seven comrades charged at the Russian army from one direction. Rajabil Muhammad al-Chirkawi and Husayn ibn Ibrahim al-Gimrawi attacked from the other with seven [more] men. They fought hard and mowed down the [enemy]. A Russian senior officer was killed and the [Russian force] was put to flight. One Ashilta man was martyred.

Just as the women and children of Gimrah were being sent into the wilderness to protect them from the Russians, those who were in the village [then] saw [a group of] men approaching them. They were able to see because the trees and orchards around the village [of Gimrah] had already been cut down [by the Russians for better visibility]. When they looked over and [realized that] it was a group from Ansal, they ran up to them. Most of the Gimrah people came over to the Ansal force but a few men stayed with Shamil. The men from Ansal [then] cut down the orchards and trees of Gimrah on that side [of the town]. The Ansal force chose a skilled marksman to kill Shamil, but God would not allow this to happen. There were a dozen [of Shamil’s] comrades barricaded behind a wall at the bridge who cursed at them and warned them. They coarsely told [the Ansal force], “Do whatever you can! Give it your best shot!” The [Ansal force] did not harm any of the women and children even though they were mixed in with them. Indeed, their location did not permit them to escape past Shamil’s military camp and position.

That evening, al-Hajj Qibid’s brother and Tahir, both from Ansal, claimed that everyone had turned against them [Shamil and his men] and that the men of Rughchah were coming and the Russians and Ulub [a local headman] would be coming back to attack them, too. They said, “The best idea for you is to go away from here to some fortified place so that the people can go back to their homes.” They struck fear [in people] by [saying] this…

Shamil gestured to his comrades and said [to them], “Let’s barricade ourselves in a house in Gimrah. We will stay there and fight them.” They were not pleased to hear this, so he said, “Well, then let’s go and fight them in some secure place in the forest.” They were not happy to hear this [either]. Eventually he ordered them to go to Rigil-Nukhu, where they stayed two or three days. Then they went back to the village [of Gimrah]. (Praise God, Ruler of the two worlds!)

The situation in Gimrah eventually led to a truce. They [began to] act according to the sharia in that village. The bulk of their foodstuffs and other property had been taken to Ansal. However, the [Ansal people] expropriated all of this, asserting that, “[the same amount that we] gave as security to Hamza, we have now taken back for ourselves because Shamil has weakened [us]. [To get it back,] pay us a fine.”

Due to this standoff, the atmosphere in Gimrah became tense. Klugenau, the Russian commander of [Temir-Khan-] Shura [fort], sent them three groups of sixty donkeys carrying flour. (Praise God, hearts were turned around and affairs put in order!)

Then the people of Gimrah, its best and its worst, decided to pay the people of Ansal this fine, in the belief that what had been taken to Ansal was worth more than what was being demanded [as compensation for it]. Shamil lectured and admonished them at a meeting: “[Payment of] this fine will be a religious and wordly humiliation [for you]. You will never erase its mark.” He swore that he would not give anything [to pay for this]. One by one, they stood up and all swore this [same] oath. When [the people of] Ansal found out about their decision, they gave their property back to them.

Then Klugenau invited Gimrah’s judge Hasanal Muhammad al-Hariki to [visit] him, accompanied by some men. He set off with some rebels, murids, and Shamil’s uncle Barti Khan. They came up to those who were obedient to Klugenau, praised his rule, and received gifts from him. They said, “This place lacks only the reciting of the [Muslim] testament of faith, but there is [material] abundance in his house here.”

Barti Khan said, “We met a man from Qidhlar behind our cemetery.” He told them boastfully that he was on a trip [to Shura] to sell them [the Russians] grapes [to make wine]. Then Shamil was informed that those hypocrites who were with him [Barti Khan] on the trip to Shura had gotten drunk and that the judge [of Gimrah who was leading the group] had said, “I do not command you and I do not forbid you.”49 Shamil got up, went into the judge’s chamber and told him to prohibit their drinking, but [the judge did not see this] as his responsibility. He placed a book in Shamil’s hand and said, “See here where it says that someone of the Shafi’i rite should not prohibit someone of the Hanafi rite from drinking.”⁵⁰

Shamil took the book and said, “See here where it says somewhat later that someone of the Shafi’i rite should punish the Hanafi wine drinker. Summon those drinkers tomorrow and punish them!” The judge was compelled to accept this and fell silent. He ran away to his house before morning [to avoid punishing them].

A story: At that time, Mahdi, son of the shamkhal, invited Shamil to meet with him, but Shamil refused. The people of Gimrah begged him to do it and pestered him about it, but he would not agree [to this]. A murid came and told [him], “They say that you are not going to that meeting because you are a coward.”

Upon hearing that, Shamil stood up. Wearing a fur coat and a felt sleeping cap, he took a chamberpot but did not carry a gun or a sword out of the house. It was as if he was going out alone to relieve himself. He arrived at the cemetery, put his fur coat on a wall, and hurried off to the meeting. The people of Gimrah followed him, asking him to stop so they could come with him. He did not stop but called out, “If you come, then I won’t go with you.”

Shamil came up to those who had gathered for the meeting. Among them were [Mahdi], son of the shamkhal, with nearly one hundred of his associates and servants. They got up as if startled. He had them sit down and sat down [himself] next to [Mahdi]… He asked, “Tell me what you are talking about?” They demanded that he meet the shamkhal to honor and exalt him. “The people of the lowlands and the mountains will be guided by his signet ring and yours [Shamil’s].⁵¹

The shamkhal had at that time a pregnant young wife and his region was very happy about this. Shamil said, “If you send that wife as a hostage to Qibid Muhammad, I will visit [the shamkhal]. If any treachery is committed against me, Qibid Muhammad will kill her like a pregnant dog.” This meeting took place after Qibid Muhammad had killed some major criminals in his village. They said, “She cannot be a hostage.” Shamil responded, “If you cannot send her as a hostage, then I cannot come.” He got up and went back [to Gimrah]. They were left looking at his back. He ran into the men from Gimrah on the way back. He said to them, “Go on to see those people now. I told [them] what had to be said,” he said. After that, he was asked, “What were you trying to do by risking death and going unarmed?”

Shamil replied, “I was put into a state of rage. If they had attacked me, I could have grabbed one of their weapons. [No matter what,] I would have resisted them.” End [of story]. (Praise God, Ruler of the two worlds!)

Shamil’s flight to ‘Ashilta and what happened before and during this event

At that time, Klugenau [commander of the Temir-Khan-Shura fort] demanded that the people of Gimrah send him roughly five donkey-loads of grape vines and fruit. The men in Gimrah who had the power of “loosening and binding” [i.e., the village leaders] gathered at Barti Khan’s house to discuss this and invited Shamil to meet with them. He asked them why they were meeting. They told him the news [about the Russian demand] and it seemed to him that they had resolved to send it. He asked, “If we—the ones who are here—send it, will anyone from our village not send it?”

“No,” they said.

“Will anyone [from our village] send it if we don’t?” he asked.

“No,” they answered.

“Then you can’t do this. It would create a bad precedent that would last for eternity” He admonished them, “Blessed is he who dies and whose sins die with him. Woe to him who dies but whose sins remain.” He said, “I think that you should reject [this demand], explaining that you have already cut down most of the vineyards and orchards [i.e., most of the ripe grapes and fruit]. People from Ansal cut down what was left and you have nothing more to send this year. Say ‘you should request them from others this year and we will send [more] to you after ours grow back next year.’ Perhaps God will create something after that [so that no delivery will ever have to be made].” The people of Gimrah fell silent and did not like what they heard. He left them there.

His cousin Ibrahim caught up with Shamil and told him that [the people of Gimrah] had condemned him by saying, “Look at him and what he is telling [us to do] at a time when none of the people can even defend their women from the Russians,” and [that they had ultimately] decided to send [the loads to the Russians]. Shamil remarked, “Let them do what they wish.” His heart shuddered and his feelings turned against them when they yielded to Klugenau.

A noteworthy remark: (Praise God that those who build up their worldly fortunes but tear down their faith will perish!) Those who had met there saw no improvement in their lives after that. Only a few of their people survived and their houses were burned up. Their dwellings were destroyed, but because Shamil persevered in faith, worldly fortune turned in his favor so he was able to travel around and was granted a long life. As some wise men have observed, “That which is for the good of mankind remains on the earth.”52

Surprising events: Although the village of Gimrah burned three times, Shamil’s house did not burn, even though there were great efforts to set it on fire. When Ashilta burned, his house [there] did not burn, either. His dwelling was also not [destroyed] when the Russians attacked Akhulgoh before the big battle [there]. May God give him success and lead us to faith!

That day, Shamil sent a courier to Ashilta to gather together a group of youths. About sixteen returned from there. He told no one his plan except his wife Fatima after the final evening prayer and she consented to it. They assembled their household belongings and furnishings, bundled them up, and handed them over to these youths after the morning prayer [on the next day]. [His sons] Jamal al-Din and Ghazi Muhammad were hoisted on the shoulders of some of the young men.

When Shamil came out [of the mosque] he addressed his household with the words, “I am leaving you since it is not possible for me to uphold the faith among you. After all, the best of God’s creation, Muhammad, left the best of His land, Mecca, when it was no longer easy for him to maintain his faith [there].53 If God wills [the faith] to be upheld in you, then I will return to you. If not, then what do you hold for me, you whose house walls have been smeared with the feces of [Russian] soldiers?”⁵⁴

As he was leaving, he came upon his weeping mother. She asked, “Where are you going? How can you leave me behind?” He said, “I am not going far, only to your village, Ashilta. If you want, I will bring you there after I take the children.” She was brought there and then returned to Gimrah, where she died. May God grant her mercy! [Shamil] stayed there [in Ashilta] for about two years. He found the people there to be like a herd of donkeys traveling on the steppe. When he preached to them and led them by “commanding and forbidding,” they began to “hear and obey him.”⁵⁵

A boy whom he knew came there one night and told him, “In one woman’s house, men and women are gathering together to strip grain off the stalks and sort it. You have already forbidden that.”⁵⁶ He asked the boy to show him that house and he said that he would. Shamil got up, put on his weapon, and grabbed a thick staff. He came to the [house’s] door and found it locked. He listened to those [inside] and recognized the voice of one of his relatives who was named “Inus.” He cried out to him in a harsh voice, “Open the door!” Afraid and startled, the relative got up and opened it. [Shamil] went in, beat them with his staff, reprimanded them for their evil mixing, and berated them. They fled and there were only a few women left in the corners of the house. He asked, “Where is the mistress of this house?” A woman stood up and said, “Here I am. I offer myself to you as a sacrifice.” Shamil vilified and berated her, and then left.

In the morning, he went after two men who had been involved in that activity but had refused to accept any punishment for it. The people tolerated them forcing this [refusal] on him. Shamil got up, put on his weapon, took the book [the Quran], and stood in front of the group. He took the book in his hands and said, “Today is the day to distinguish the sharia’s enforcers from its opponents. If those who defend the sharia]. Otherwise, I will go alone and fight them myself you go and bring back these two wicked men, then it will be good for you [as over this. Then I will seek help in surrounding areas and others will come to fight and destroy you. Do you think there is no one left to enforce the sharia? God does not abandon His faith and people but makes them victorious through His triumph!” Then they set like lions on those two men and punished them.

From that day onward, they complied with the sharia, but times were chaotic. There was such hatred and bitterness among the peoples of Daghestan that the glory of the sharia had diminished and the recalcitrance of hypocrites who raised their voices and carried their heads high was strengthened.

The people of Ansal attack Shamil

During that time, Ansal raised armies to fight Shamil three times, but God only increased their shame and disgrace when [they did] this. [Once] when they had united against him, Shamil wrote them a letter: “O people of Ansal, do not touch the rump of a bear. He will tear you apart.” After they had been conquered and humiliated because of his power as a warrior, a hypocrite from the lowlands came upon this letter and said literally, “See how true that man’s [Shamil’s] word was. See how he sent them to destruction and finished them off!” On another of those occasions, forces from the Hindal area attacked ‘Ish. They demanded that [the people of ‘Ish] expel Shamil from their village and made them fear that they were going to attack their fields and crops. They begged him to go away then and return after those [Hindal forces] had left. Shamil pointed to his big toe and swore, “Even if they asked me to move this toe for their sake, I would not budge it.”

He went out with no more than ten men. He was armed and wore a helmet and chain mail as if covered in iron. He stopped on a hill some distance from the village of ‘Ish in plain view of those who were attacking. A man who had known Shamil since his student days brought him a message from them: “They want you to leave this village and go somewhere nearby so that they can obey Ahmad Khan’s orders. Then you may come back.” Shamil cursed them and threatened them, speaking forcefully as if he were the commander of a great army

He vowed not to move one finger. “Let the one who would force me to leave step forward. If you come back and tell me this again, I will shoot you in the middle of your forehead.” When this messenger left, the [attacking] forces fell into a disgraceful retreat. Shamil and his followers pursued them [from one side] while young men from ‘Ish came from the other direction and took much plunder from them.57

On another occasion, a group from Ansal attacked ‘Ish, camped in its farms and orchards, and demanded that Shamil be sent away. They cut down crops there, burned them, and destroyed houses in the surrounding countryside. The people of ‘Ish did not want to expel Shamil, but they had suffered because of what had been done to them on his account. One of them came to Shamil and told him, “Our judge, the scholar ‘Ali al-Gulzawi, said at a meeting in front of all of us that you should leave our village for good in order to end all this strife.” Shamil invited [the judge] to visit him. They sat on a bench and talked. Shamil asked, “What is all this that you have been quoted as saying?” [The judge] answered, “I did say it, because people are coming from over there in Khunzakh,” pointing in one direction, “and from over there in Baqulal and here and there. This has produced strife and made the situation [here] trying. You have created difficulties.”

Shamil calmly responded, “O judge, don’t be so hasty. If the infidels were to overtake the people of Islambol [Istanbul], besiege them, and demand the expulsion of the sultan from their midst, would you issue a fatwa for his expulsion merely to calm things down and avoid having this confrontation [cause] any harm?”⁵⁸ The judge replied, “I would not issue such a fatwa” ⁵⁹ Shamil said, “Well, if that’s the case, then let’s say that I am a leader [imam] like the sultan and this village is like Islambol [Istanbul].” The judge asked, “Are you accusing me of spreading sedition?” He replied, “In fact, I am saying that you are more than a spreader of sedition. You ought to be cut on your neck for spreading these sorts of lies.” The judge left, ashen with fear.

Then [the men from] Ansal went back to Gimrah territory intending to kill and capture some men there. They invited [the Gimrah men] to come over to them. Some of the men from Ansal were reciting the afternoon prayer led by a religious student while others were standing around behind the prayer group and talking with men from Gimrah. Suddenly there was a great commotion. That religious student stopped the prayer, got down from the high ground [where he had been standing to lead the group], and ran away. The Ansal men killed one of [Shamil’s] true murids and another man from Gimrah. The rest fled. Barti Khan was captured in the confusion. Some people shouted to their families around Gimrah that the Ansal men had killed such-and-such and so-and-so and captured such-and-such, so they should take precautions. The Gimrah people [there] ran away and barricaded themselves [against the Ansal attackers]. Since the [local] population was agitated, someone shouted in the Ansal dialect, “Whoever lives in this village is safe!”60 The Ansal men moved against the village after nightfall. As the first of them came in, the young men of Gimrah confronted them, shouting, “The first of Shamil’s comrades are here! He himself has crossed the bridge and is approaching. There is no power and strength save with God, the Exalted, the Great!”⁶¹ The [Ansal] hypocrites were sent fleeing from there, throwing down their sacks of food on the village roads.

Some were captured, some killed, and others had plunder taken from them. They became scattered like the dispersed people of Saba so that they were not able to regroup that day.⁶² They returned group by group to their home territory [of Ansal] in such a pitiful state that a woman from near their village met one of the groups and said, “It is a blessing that you [even] came back [alive]!” They did not say anything to her. She met another group and said the same thing and they gave no response. She met a third group and they did not answer. She said, “Let this mother [i.e., me] be a sacrifice for you so that [sin] would not fall upon you, even if you were found to be fearful [in battle]!” End [of story].

Shamil then traveled to Gimrah and remained there about a week. When ‘Ali al-Gulzawi, the scholar and judge from ‘Ish, realized what the hypocrites had been thinking and saw the effects of their words and deeds, he said to the people of ‘Ish, “I said something that was not justified. I repent it and take it back. Shamil was created to do what he did and succeeded with God’s help in doing it.” He went to his house and resigned from his judgeship, as if he were ashamed, before Shamil came back to ‘Ashilta.

The first conquest of Ansal during Shamil’s administration

[Ansal] was [also] taken a second and third time. These two occasions would be “an exact recompense” for taking up arms against Shamil.⁶³ Sa’id al-Ihali had gone to Chechnia with some comrades to assemble an army and died there. They say he was poisoned. Hajj Tashaw al-Indiri then joined Shamil with about forty of his men. Shamil went with them and his [other] followers to the village of Chirqata. They submitted to him [as their leader] there after Basaw ‘Illaw and his followers in the village and its surrounding areas decided to fight and resist [Shamil’s forces]. Shamil and followers went to the village of Ihali and established authority over [its] people, then [they] continued on to Orota where there was great strife. The leader of [Shamil’s] murids there was Aligul Husayn while Dibir Hajiyaw led its hypocrites. After about twelve of these hypocrites and eight murids were killed, Shamil arrived with about one hundred followers.

Hajj Nur Muhammad al-‘Uruti and another man met him to request help. When he asked them to bring him into the village, they agreed and [all] went [together]. Everyone [in Orota] submitted to [Shamil], except Dibir Hajiyaw and his followers inside the fortress. [Shamil’s army] attacked [this force inside] the fort as well as the Khunzakh hypocrites camped outside the village who had come to help their Orota allies. When darkness fell, Dibir Hajiyaw and his followers fled to Avar territory. He [Dibir] got away only because he was dressed in women’s clothing.

[Shamil’s men] stopped in the village of Khirik. Forces moved against them: from one side, troops from Khunzakh, and [a group of men from] Andal, Tah Nosalal and Jarbilil from the other. Shamil and his group pressed the attack against the Khunzakh group, while the Chechens led by Ghaziyaw al-’Andi fought the ‘Andal troops. They all fled and dispersed. The coalition to oppose him had no success except for the Khunzakh force.

[Pressed by that Khunzakh force,] Shamil and his army then went down with axes into the orchards of Ansal on the road to Khirik. He threatened to cut down their trees, so [the village of Ansal finally] surrendered to him. He appointed the scholar Surkhai al-Kuluwi as their naib and judge.

The battle in Hutsal against armies from ‘Andal and Khunzakh

Shamil and his murtaziqs moved against Butsun.64 Its villagers prevented him from going into it. Then Shamil stayed with Murtaza Lasol Muhammad in ‘Urkach. He and his followers held a meeting there and some of those with him wanted to go back to their homelands. He refused, saying “We will not go away like dogs chased away from the grindstone by the miller.”

Shamil led his men from Hutsal to the bridge at Qaral. There, they seized a herd of cattle. He told the people that if they obeyed him and submitted to him, their cattle would be returned. They refused and appealed to their brothers for help. He offered to return cattle belonging to orphans if someone would come and identify them, but no one came. Infuriated at them, they slaughtered the cattle right in front of these [Qaral] people.

The men of Andal came up, led and urged on by the scholar al-Thughuri, son of the judge. They camped opposite the village of Hutsal. Khunzakh forces arrived and camped on another side [of the village]. The Russians camped with Klugenau and Ahmad Khan in the fields of Biri.

Shamil’s force attacked the ‘Andal men. The [‘Andal force] pulled back, but the best of the murids were martyred [in that battle].

Klugenau wrote [Shamil] to ask him what he was doing. Shamil replied, “We will make peace and settle down when the sharia is followed among us Muslims [either] voluntarily or by compulsion. Whoever accepts it voluntarily—this will be good for them—but whoever refuses this, we will compel them to do it and fight them over this. You, Klugenau, if you agree to honor [an agreement that you sign with us], we will make peace and pledge to uphold it, but, if not, ‘There is no power and strength save with almighty God.’”65 Klugenau got angry [at this], threw the letter on the ground, and stomped on it.

Then Shamil’s comrades attacked the camp of the Khunzakh force. They killed many soldiers and put them to flight. Ghaziyaw al-’Andi and another man each killed fifteen men. They say that Ghaziyaw had vowed to kill fifteen men from Khunzakh because they had killed imam Hamza. He fulfilled his vow there.

It is said that about a hundred men from the village of Avar and eight of Akalich’s headmen who ruled according to the tribal customary law [adat] were killed. The scholar Muhammad, son of the judge of Avar, and the judge ‘Umar al-Akalichi were captured. Shamil slapped ‘Umar in the face and asked, “Do you not understand the meaning of God’s words: ‘And indeed we will make them taste penalties in this life short of the supreme penalty’?”⁶⁶ The men from Andal returned home with Klugenau and his whole army because their hopes had been dashed. (Praise God, Ruler of the two worlds!)

Shamil’s mobilization to confront the Russians as they were going to Khunzakh and the battle of ‘Ish against them

The people of Khunzakh feared that the imam’s [Shamil’s] state would turn against them, because the authority of religion and the people [who adhere to it] would be raised up. [They were also worried because of] what they had already done [i.e., killing Imam Hamza and fighting against Shamil]. They invited the Russians to build a fortress in their territory. They started the very process that would make them [their] servants. When Shamil found out about this, he left his family in Ashilta and went with his followers to raise an army, both by recruiting volunteers and forcing men from Baqulal, Agakhal, and other areas to join him. His plan was to stop the Russians in a mountain gorge and block them before they could reach the open area around Khunzakh. When he and his force reached the vicinity of ‘Ish, its people put up strong opposition. [Shamil’s] army escaped after the locals had killed, captured, and plundered [some of his force]. God saved Shamil just as he was about to be killed by letting his attacker be killed by one of his comrades.

Then Shamil stayed around Zunuh for about twenty days as he and his comrades starved, yet he got the people there mobilized. Then [Shamil] went back [to Khunzakh], but the Russians had already arrived there with their allies, who numbered not more than a hundred men, among whom were Hajj Tashaw and his Chechen comrades. When Shamil reached the village of Tsikal, the people of the Hid region attacked him there to prevent him from crossing their bridge. He crossed the river at Rihiq. Most of the people [of Rihiq] fought him, but some helped him.

Men from Qaralal came and built a bridge there. Shamil crossed over to them and traveled with them. He stopped at the entrance to the village of Tiklal. Muhammad Mirza Khan al-Ghumuqi [an ally of the Russians] was in the village of Sharakh with his army and the hypocrites of that region. He had sent envoys to Shamil to discuss a truce just as the Russians came up and surrounded them.

The ghaza in Tiliq and the Russian advance into ‘Ashilta

Shamil and his volunteers proceeded into the village of Tiliq. The rest of his army fled to their native villages after the great hardships of that rainy night. The Russians attacked and besieged them [Shamil and his remaining forces] there.

The Russians were accompanied by the hypocrites and their followers from ‘Andal and Guwal, who inflicted great harm on Shamil and his followers. Muhammad Mirza al-Ghumuqi and Ahmad Khan from the lowlands were also both there with their armies.

One night, the Russians sent a detachment to make an advance towards Haqlal. They attacked at dusk, killed [many soldiers in Shamil’s] army, and plundered its things, leaving only a few remnants behind. The esteemed scholar Mulla Ramazan al-Chari was martyred that night. The [Russians] pressed them, destroying their fort and the raised building [inside it] with cannon-fire. Heads would have fallen down and hearts sunk had Shamil not persevered and forbidden [his followers] from communicating with those on the outside as they made a stand against the enemy there. Hajj Tashaw al-Indiri sent Ghaziyaw al-‘Andi to Shamil. He told [Shamil], “Come on, let’s leave this place. We will take the women and children of this village hostage until we can all escape from the enemy’s siege. Otherwise, you must give me permission to leave or I will just go on my own.” Shamil said, “By God, I will not leave here and no one here has permission to go. If anyone leaves without permission, I will put a bullet in the middle of his spine.”

Ghaziaw al-‘Andi came back and reported what Shamil had said. Hajj Tashaw was told, “Hold on and trust in God.” He answered, “I do trust God, but my trust is compelled [by Shamil].” Russian units penetrated the outskirts of the village and the situation did not change for some forty nights. God removed the Russians from there through a truce by which Shamil’s nephew, along with the son of Mirdai al-Tiliqi and the son of ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Qarakhi were sent as hostages to Muhammad Mirza Khan.

Shamil met with them [his followers] and ordered them to uphold the sharia in their areas. The truce took effect when the hypocrites and the weak-willed ones believed that none of [Shamil’s] followers who had been in Tiliq would last, due to the infidels’ strength and their large number of allies. This happened at the end of Spring, 1253 AH [=1837 CE]. I had blessed them with this poem:

O God, assist them in victory,
O Lord, grant Your assistance and gladden them.
Spread upon those servants,
The surplus of [Your] continuous help.
Send down Your presence amid the uproar,
And shake up the enemies and the tyrants.
Grant victory over those who abandoned You,
And give the spoils to those who acknowledged You.
Do not worry about those who oppressed them,
Send down on them the thunderbolts of destruction.
Answer the prayers of those in trouble,
Your faith, it is Your faith that we need.
If they forsake the community of the sunna,
The worship of the sunna will not be pure.67
To the one who came in victory and triumph,
I will send peace and prayer,
And also for his family and associates.
Blessed be the teacher and his companions!

As for Shamil’s nephew, the Russians exiled him at that time, and he came back only after a long while, as will be related at the end of this book. As for the other two [the sons of Mirza and ‘Abd al-Rahman], Muhammad Mirza Khan conveyed them by night to Kulasil and Batsadasil after some time and acted as if they had secretly escaped from him. Shamil went back to his family and found them in Chirqata. While he had been under siege [in Tiliq], the Russians had gone into ‘Ashilta and its inhabitants had fled to Akhulgoh. They torched the village, but neither [Shamil’s] house nor a house that his female relative had given him caught on fire. Then the Russians mustered their forces for the assault on Akhulgoh and the women and children there fled to Chirqata. The [Russians] attacked it and burned its houses except [Shamil’s] house. Shamil’s books almost fell into their hands but were rescued by the pious ascetic Muhammad al-Ashilti.

Then the scholar Alibek ibn Khiriyasulaw, who was a judge in Irghin, and those with him from Baqulal and other regions made war against [the Russians]. They killed many of the enemy and prevented them from carrying out their plans. The Russians retreated [to their base]. News of this battle reached Shamil in Tiliq, but he paid no attention to it until the business there had been completed. Praise God, most Exalted! What was harder than that for which he [Shamil] was responsible and with which he was entrusted?

What happened between Shamil and the people of Chirqata when he was there

Shamil stayed in Chirqata while groups of murids from different regions came to see him. Twenty-three hypocrites from Chirqata gathered together and made an alliance to destroy the bridges and not leave the path open for outsiders to come to him, asserting that they would do against him what had to be done. Shamil was informed about this. His residence was at the entrance to the village at its highest point. He drew his sword, put it on his shoulder, and set out, accompanied only by his close companion Yunus, to see what they were doing and to threaten them with harsh words.

Shamil went to the door of the mosque and called for the judge to come out. He appeared, shaking with fear. [Shamil] saw that he was in league with them. He said to the judge, “I have heard about such-and-such and so-and-so. I know what the intentions and goals are [of these people]. If you plan to punish and imprison these men, then do it right now. Otherwise, I will do battle with any of them I meet, be they man or woman.” The judge asked him to come into the mosque while he administered it [justice], but Shamil swore that he would not go in until the issue had been resolved. These men were then put in jail.

Upon that, Shamil entered the mosque and preached a sermon to the congregation after it had gathered. He sharply admonished them, saying “This faith [Islam] does not denigrate its people, but exalts them, despite the way its deniers reject it. The situation [here] is not as the hypocrites believe it is. By God, I will kill outright anyone who touches a bridge with anything but the soles of his feet” All opposition then quieted down.

A story: This incident happened while Nikolai the Russian was traveling in Daghestan.68 Klugenau invited Shamil to a meeting while Shamil was living in Chirqata. He [Klugenau] came to it by way of the Gimrah mountain path with about fifteen companions and Shamil went with his comrades [too]. When they met, Klugenau extended his hand, but Shamil refused it, even though [Shamil’s] comrades urged him [to take it]. They sat down. Klugenau asked him to come to meet their Nikolai, asserting that Nikolai would treat him with honor and dignity, appoint Shamil to administer the affairs of all the Muslims of Daghestan, and there would be no treachery from him. Shamil did not warm to this proposal. Suddenly Akhbirdil Muhammad al-Khunzakhi sprang up with his comrades chanting, “There is no god but God!” The cursed one [Klugenau] was frightened and began to worry He asked Barti Khan, “Isn’t my fate in your hands?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to betray me?”

“No.”

“Well, in exacdy the same way, our Nikolai will not betray Shamil.”

When they got up to leave, the cursed one offered his hand [once more], but Shamil refused it again. Akhbirdil Muhammad al-Khunzakhi stood between them to block the handshake. The cursed one showed anger at him, but not at Shamil. Shamil rebuked Klugenau and spoke sharply to him about this incident, saying, “Send this cursed one away from us.” End [of story].

…

[After these negotiations broke down and hostilities resumed, the Russians sent a new commander, Pavel Grabbe, to mount a fresh offensive in the summer of 1839. The Russians defeated Shamil after an eighty-day siege at the fort of Akhulgoh, high in the northern Caucasus. In the end, they took Shamil’s son Jamal al-Din as a hostage to allow Shamil to escape. By the winter of 1839, it appeared that the Russians had finally defeated his movement]

The surrender of Shamil’s son to the Russians as a hostage for a truce

When the cursed general [Grabbe] saw that he could not defeat them [Shamil’s followers in Akhulgoh] or annihilate them, he invited them to make a truce. He requested Shamil’s son as his hostage. Everyone with Shamil approved of this, but Shamil refused. “This will not benefit you and the cursed one will not leave you [in peace] because of this.” [His followers] asked [him to meet Grabbe’s demand] and he refused. They asked again and he refused. When they begged him once more and he saw that they were [too] weak and timid [to continue fighting], he granted their request. He gave his eight-year-old son Jamal al-Din to the [Russians] with a prayer: “Lord, You raised up Your prophet Moses (upon him be prayers and peace!) [when he was] in the hands of Pharaoh. This is my son. If I formally hand him over to the infidels, then he is under Your care and protection. You are the Best of guardians.”69

Then the cursed one [Grabbe] requested that Shamil meet with his commander Pullo. Shamil ordered [his followers] to create the impression that he would not come because he was sick or something like that. He said, “If I come, perhaps he will demand from me what we cannot do.”

The people wanted him [to go], but he refused until they began to attribute his refusal to cowardice. He got up angrily and they all went to the meeting place [to see Pullo]. Women, children, and servants were sent out there so that a large group of people would be seen. They dressed women in young men’s clothes and gave them hats and arms. When the chalandar [a Russian commander] saw their ranks,⁷⁰ he asked Yunus, “Who are those troops whom we have not seen until now?”

“That hill is as full of people as your tent is full of [Russian] soldiers.”

When he saw people wearing hats but not turbans, [the Russian] remarked, “There are men among them who are not murids.”

[Yunus] responded, “They are ours. The murid among us is the one who obeys God and adheres to his faith, not just those wearing turbans.”

“Ah so,” said the chalandar.

Shamil and his comrades found Pullo [at the stipulated place]. There were about one thousand officers and soldiers standing near him, [but at such a distance that] none of their guns would have hit Shamil if they were fired. Shamil sat next to Pullo. Pullo spread out a side of his cloak in front of Shamil, but he would not sit on it. Pullo started a long monologue. Acting [as if he were] proud and arrogant, Shamil [shifted around until he] was sitting on the edge of Pullo’s uniform [so that Pullo couldn’t stand up], lest the [Russians] treacherously try to kill him and ambush his comrades without them being able to get away. His comrade, the martyr Ghaziyaw al-‘Andi, understood what was happening. He moved close to both of them and prepared to draw his weapon.

Pullo then came to the gist of his speech: “Your adat [custom] is that [you believe that] the best [course in life’s] affairs is chosen by [each of] you [individually]. We only do what we are ordered to do and has been determined by the tsar. If a peace treaty and an agreement is to be concluded between us, it will be necessary for you to be presented to our general so that he can report to the tsar about this.”⁷¹

Shamil, as if reprimanding and reproaching his comrades who had pressured him to come to this meeting, said in the Avar language, “Now, I’m caught. Now, I’m caught.” Shamil’s paternal uncle Barti Khan answered Pullo before Shamil could speak: “We are, as you say free and independent spirits. One does something and another speaks against him. One agrees to something and another disavows it. We have scholars and wise men in the village who are not present here. We cannot make an [agreement] without consulting them.”

Just then, Ibrahim al-Husayn gave the call for the midday prayer even though it was not yet time for this. Shamil stood up and said that there could be no discussion after the call to prayer, and they dispersed.

Then the [Russians] kept demanding that they send intermediaries. Shamil responded, “I will come armed with one hundred comrades. I will not be separated from my weapons. Let your general come with a thousand comrades, but leave his other soldiers behind and send them back [to their bases].” The [Russians] did not accept this but requested that Barti Khan come, but he refused. Then they demanded that [the families and] children [who were with Shamil] return to their native villages to guarantee the peace. He sent some families back to their homes in Chirqata and Gimrah, but this wasn’t enough for the Russians.

Addendum: Shamil’s comrade Yunus related that when Shamil decided to give [his son] Jamal al-Din as a hostage [to the Russians], they held a meeting to see who would accompany him and teach him the rules of the Islamic religion. No one felt obliged to do this. Then Yunus said to Shamil, “I do whatever you want. If you believe that I should go with him, then I will go.” He made this clear to Shamil and went away with his son, carrying weapons.

When they arrived at the [Russian camp], they were treated with deference and respect. They were housed in the tent of the chalandar, who was the chief officer and director of all their affairs. One day Yunus was summoned to the count’s tent. The count praised him lavishly and observed, “Shamil heeds your words. If he joins our side, it will be good for him until the end of his days.” Yunus replied, “He would not do that, but even if he were so inclined, there are those [of us] who would not let him.”

“Go summon him,” the count said, “maybe then he will come.”

Yunus set off to Shamil and reported what the count had told [him].

Shamil said, “I knew before [we] sent my son to them [as a hostage] that they would not make peace with us. Now let them fight us wherever they want. They will get nothing from us except the sword.” His comrades, among them Barti Khan and others, were not pleased with this answer. They wanted him to soften his words. He said, “It is useless for you to be gentle with them [the Russians].”

Yunus asked, “What should I say to him?” They did not find an answer. Yunus said, “I will say such-and-such.”

They remarked, “That is the [right] approach.” He returned to the chalandar’s tent towards morning, completed his morning prayer, and then slept until sunrise. The chalandar told him that he had been summoned by the count. He woke up Jamal al-Din, and they left [together].

At that very time, rows of soldiers were marching towards the count, while a big drum was being beaten as if they were being driven to their deaths.

The two came into his [tent]. Yunus was armed and did not put down his weapon or his turban.

“Well, what did Shamil say?” the count asked.

[Yunus] replied, “He decided that you could take his son to guarantee the peace agreement and you promised [him] that you would go away and not harm anything. Then you violated this [agreement] and ordered some of the families to be sent back to their homelands. You promised to make it possible for the rest [to leave] when they wanted to do so, but then you cheated them.”

He mentioned a third [broken promise] and concluded, “We do not trust you after all this. You are treacherous, deceitful, and conniving.”

The cursed one [the count] became agitated and said, “My business is not with Shamil and his speeches. We have been ordered to capture him and his family. We are sending them [the marching soldiers] to lay a bridge for that purpose.”

Upon hearing these words, Yunus shuddered, he was thrown into a rage, and his hand reached for his dagger intending to kill the cursed one. But then he steeled himself, feeling pity for the child Jamal al-Din.

He thought to himself, “I will watch the situation. If [these Russians] do something hateful to Shamil, I will stay [true] to my belief in this affair, ready to attack suddenly and defy death.” He cooled off. The cursed one realized that he had become unsettled and ordered the translator to take him out of the tent.

Yunus did not leave until he had poured out everything that was boiling inside him about [the Russians’] treachery and their violation of the agreements. Only then did he take Jamal al-Din to the chalandar’s tent. When he went into it, they stopped smoking out of respect for him.

Yunus said, “Do not stop doing anything for our sake, since we haven’t stopped doing anything for your sake.”

When the chalandar saw Yunus downcast, he slapped him on the back and said, “don’t be sad. Indeed, you are servants of God and people who obey Him. He will protect you and your Shamil and shield you from harm and suffering.”

Yunus responded, “We believe that God decreed everything that happens in the world before He put it in place. We believe that He will not allow us to be harmed by your great numbers and your might except as He has foreordained from eternity.”

Thus armies of Russian soldiers, happy, laughing, and singing, returned back to the place where they had started [their campaign], because these cursed ones were glad about the peace agreement. As for the hypocrites from the villages and others like them, their faces darkened, their eyes overflowed with tears, and their hearts filled with fear upon hearing news of the peace. End [of story].

One day after finishing the morning prayer, Yunus was still in the prayer position. The chalandar came up, performed seven [prayer] prostrations, and turned in prayer to God [himself]. Then he looked at Yunus and said, “Your worship of and obedience to God will bring rewards to you, but our submission to the tsar—there is no benefit in it [for us].” He continuously lectured [Yunus] like a Muslim preacher and calmed his [Yunus’s] heart.

When Yunus realized with certainty that the Russians’ only goal was to crush Shamil, he sought to find a trustworthy man to convey this information to him.

In a little while, the chalandar told him, “The count has ordered you to go get your wife and her household, along with the family of Murtaza ‘Ali al-Chirkawi.” Murtaza ‘Ali was another man being held by them.

“There will be great wages and unceasing blessings from our tsar for you in this. Bring [others] with their families from there, too. Tell them that this [reward] can be theirs, too, with preference given to those who come first.” He went on and on about this until Yunus clearly understood that they wanted to leave Shamil alone there.

Yunus invented a pretext to keep [the Russian] from guessing [that he understood] his [real] intentions. He said, “They won’t let me come back.”

“Messengers don’t get arrested.”

“But in truth, the boy will be lonely among you.”

The chalandar summoned Murtaza ‘Ali to join him. The two [Yunus and Murtaza ‘Ali] said goodbye to each other and wept. Then Yunus set out, escorted by a group of officers. They saluted with a Russian bow when they joined him. He left them at the trenches [i.e., at the limit of the Russian encampment].

Then Yunus went to Shamil and told him this news in confidence. Only Tahir al-Ansali was present [during their discussion]. Shamil said, “I already knew [all this].”

Then word came that the chalandar had summoned Yunus back to the trenches. When he got there, Yunus found the chalandar talking with Barti Khan about sending Shamil [to the Russians]. But the call to afternoon prayer was sounded prematurely and Barti Khan went away, saying, “We will talk tomorrow.” The chalandar said to Yunus, “Come here and we will go back [to the Russian camp].”

Yunus [declined] by offering the excuse that he had [to go back] and bring out [the people he had been sent to get].

The chalandar told him, “Tomorrow you can do that.”

Yunus said, “Now [I will go], and I am taking my rifle.”

“Well, return [soon],” remarked the chalandar.

Yunus went back to Shamil and asked permission to stay with him. Messenger after messenger came to Yunus from the chalandar. When the chalandar was informed that Yunus would not come, he kicked the ground and gave up on him. End [of story].

The [Russians] began to fight after they had been negotiating for about three days in this fashion. They saw that Shamil’s comrades’ bodies were thin, they were weak, their front lines were destroyed, and that they had other weaknesses. They were told about all this by hypocrites who had circulated among them [Shamil’s forces] on behalf of the cursed one [the count], claiming to be intermediaries for peace negotiations.

The Russians hit them with great force, destroying all their reinforced positions with cannon-fire. Shamil’s forces mounted great resistance to them over the course of a week, each night repairing, to the best of their abilities, what had been destroyed during the [previous] day. They grew weak and exhausted by this. They became so exasperated by the difficulties of this world that they competed to die. They became tired of this situation and began to look at dead men [with envy] as if they were entering paradise…

On one of those days, Shamil sat in a conspicuous place in open view of the enemy. He sat his son Ghazi Muhammad down on his knee.72 The dervish Nur Muhammad was with him, hidden behind the face of a cliff. Shamil envied his solitude, because he had no worries about a family. The dervish’s relatives were [back] in their native villages. Shamil said to himself, addressing God, “O Lord, this [child] is the dearest spirit [in the world] to me. If my death comes from a bullet in the middle of my forehead, then [let it come in the same way] for my child.”

He longed for a halal [religiously acceptable] death, but this would not happen except according to God’s will and His plan for the two of them. God wanted both of them to live and get back to their tasks: vanquishing the fighting infidels, conquering the hypocrites, glorifying religion and putting the affairs of the Muslims in order, as we shall describe, God willing [later in this book]. As it is said, “that which is for the good of mankind remains on the earth.”⁷³

Shamil’s departure from Akhulgoh and what he endured of hardship and ease after that time until he reached the village of Shubut

When God (May He be exalted!) wished to make manifest that which He had foreordained would truly happen: “the hole became wide for the one who was patching it,” “the two rings of the camel’s belly-girth met,” and “one of the two saddlebags weighed heavily.”74

The people stopped manning the outer defenses, gathering for battle, or showing up [at all at their posts]. Shamil stopped commanding and forbidding [i.e., administering justice and governing for the majority of his followers] there, since this was not having any effect on them. On the last day that they [his remaining supporters] gathered on the battlefield, Shamil headed there and resolved not to go back, but declared that he would be present with them to command and forbid [even if only for that small group, to the end]. [But] God saved him from that fate, along with men and women such as his sister, aunts and others. Then at night, [Shamil’s followers] men, women, and children climbed into a ravine at the foot of the mountains. They pressed against one another. Some stepped on each others’ feet and hurt each other. Shamil sent his son Ghazi Muhammad and his household after them, but he [stayed and] decided to seek martyrdom there [in Akhulgoh].

He asked his comrade Yunus what he was planning to do. [Yunus] replied, “I will do whatever you are going to do.” Shamil ordered his servant Salih to kill his horse in the stable to keep the enemy from capturing it and walked away. When he drew near to the horse, it turned to him and whinnied. He showed mercy on it and could not kill it.

Shamil came out of his house equipped for battle. He left his books and other belongings there. He brought his hand down on one of his books, Insan al-‘Uyun, that had been copied by the famous scholar Sa’id al-Harakani, and said, “Which enemy hands will you fall into?” God, with His radiant power, gave this book back to him after some time. May He be praised as the Wise Leader!

He went with less than ten men to a shelter on the battlefield that they had dug out during the night. Just then, Tahir al-Ansali came up to him and said, “We did not know what had happened to you until now. Many men there [in the ravine] are asking for you to come and will do whatever you do.”

Shamil refused to do anything but stay there until God resolved the issue. [In a voice] full of thunder and lightning, Tahir said, “It would be best for you to do whatever you plan to do together with them, rather than completely by yourself.” Shamil accompanied him to his house and met with him and Barti Khan there.

Barti Khan asked him, “What do you intend to do?”

Shamil said, “I will stay here and I won’t climb down to the ravine to let the enemy kill us with stones and clods of dirt [that they throw down].”

Barti said, “[Then] I will go do that [i.e., go down].” He went into his house to prepare for [this trip].

Some young men from Nakhbakal got Shamil to go down and visit the place where the families [were] and he went. They all stayed there for about three days, but the enemy was [now] above and below them. Shamil and his comrades could not travel together in one group and could not relieve their hunger.

One day, Shamil dozed off and dreamed that his wife Jawhara had fallen on the ground. His son by her, Sa’id, who was about two years old, was crawling on top of her. He interpreted his dream to mean that [his wife] had died from a head wound, which actually did happen. She was lying infirm [in Akhulgoh] for about three days after Shamil had departed from there.

She kept asking Tahir al-Ansali to get her some water. Right up until she died, she was chewing on fried bits of grain that she had sewn into the borders of her veil for her son. Afterwards, the son was crawling on her. He called out, first to his father, Shamil, and then to his mother, Jawhara.

A story: Shamil came there again after some time had passed. Someone pointed out the place where Jawhara had fallen. They found her covered with rocks and wet clay deposited by the river’s floods and drifts. Her body and clothing remained so unchanged that even her lips were still moist as they rested evenly over her teeth like those of a live person. They buried her in Akhulgoh.

Another [story]: A [dead] man was found there in a mountain cave, his body and clothing perfectly preserved until that date of 1272 AH [=1855/56 CE]. Anyone who went there could see him.

Another [story]: It was related that a decrepit old man from the village of Ur said that he came to Akhulgoh about twenty-five years after the battle there. He saw a woman who had fallen as a martyr there clutching the two sides of her veil. On one side of it there was some wheat and on the other, some salt. Her corpse had withered.

Another [story]: About twenty men began to dig fields and gardens for a man from ‘Ashilta near the gravesites of the Akhulgoh martyrs and all their hands suddenly became dry. End [of story].

In the end, it was true that Shamil had commanded his people and family to fight to the last ounce of their strength and told the wounded to jump in the river in order to avoid capture. When Shamil, grieving the martyrdom of his uncle Barti Khan, said to those offering condolences, “God will unite you with him [i.e., Barti Khan].” That was how much Shamil was finished with this earthly realm and longed for death.

Then one night, [he and his followers] moved stealthily up a long, dry creek bed to the heights of a mountain in order to get out of that ravine into open territory. But there were Russian forces ahead of them [there at the summit].

[Shamil] looked for someone who would carry his son Ghazi Muhammad up the creek bed for a large sum of money. No one would do it, so Shamil carried him up on his own back. He put Ghazi Muhammad on his back, tied him [in place], and carried his shoes in his mouth.

He climbed up the creek bed first and was followed by some of his companions. He stopped at the top of the hill and refused to go any further until Musa al-Balagini and some other comrades caught up with him. He sent eight others, one after another, for his family Ghaziyaw al-Andali asked him to go to an open area nearby, because, he said, “where we are stopped here is too narrow for those climbing up.” Just as they came out into the open area, Shamil saw something black and whispered to Ghaziyaw, “What is that black thing over there? Is it the shape of a man or something else?” Suddenly, a volley [of shots] from soldiers’ rifles rang out around them. He said, “Let’s go and attack [them]. They have discovered [our] maneuver [here] and we can no longer hide.”

They attacked and opened fire on the [Russians]. The [Russian] soldiers who had been in front of them were put to flight. In [those first few moments of] the attack, Shamil fired five shots. They told him that [another] large force was coming to attack them from the front. He ordered them to stay quietly near some rocks until these troops’ rifles had rung out [indicating that they were near]. His companions stood behind him and Sultan Bek al-Dilimi stood in front of him, concealing him. They then attacked that [Russian] army. [Sultan Bek] al-Dilimi was martyred there.

The Russians were driven off to one side. Shamil and his comrade Akhbirdil Muhammad proceeded to follow them. Muhammad called another comrade to come over to him and swore in front of him, “By God, you [Shamil] will not die tonight!”

They asked him later why he had said that. He answered, “I had a vision that a great stream rushed over Akhulgoh and drowned everyone in it, but Shamil, a few of his comrades, and I rushed away from there to the mountain paths of Chiriq without being harmed by it. I interpreted this to mean that we would be saved but that place destroyed.”

As [Shamil] traveled with his comrades, a piece of frozen ground flew by his head and hit his neck. He fell on the ground. One of his comrades asked him, “Where were you wounded?”

“I was not wounded,” he replied. He stood up and shook off the dirt. They encountered a second group of soldiers and then a third, but God did not allow the [Russians] to defeat [them]. They went around the camps of the Russians and their allies with ease and came to a body of water. Shamil started to go back from there to see about his family but they held him back.75 His companion Yunus got up and said, “I will go do this [instead].” Soon after that, news came that [Shamil’s] son Ghazi Muhammad and his mother Fatima had escaped [from the mountain] and were coming to meet them. End [of story].

Addendum: This youth, his son Ghazi Muhammad who was seven years old [at that time], rode on a man’s back as they were passing right through the middle of the Russian armies. [Suddenly] a soldier [attacked,] thrust his bayonet into his leg, and injured him. Keeping in mind his father’s instructions [to avoid being captured], he told the man carrying him, “Throw me in the river, throw me in the river!”

As for Shamil’s wife Jawhara and her son Sa’id, they stayed there, as was mentioned. As for his sister, she was heavy [so climbing was not possible for her]. When the Russians came to capture the women and children there, [the sister] wrapped her veil over her face and threw herself in the river. End [of story].

Six of the thirty who had climbed up to the top of the hill with Shamil were martyred there. After that event, [those who survived] said, “Well at last we are safe from the Russians.” This saddened Shamil. He wept and blamed them. “You did not let me fight ghaza [holy war] there until I died. Where will we seek refuge and settle down now? In this world there are only those who hate us and are our enemies.” They went along the river like sheep emaciated by starvation. When they had to take off their shoes to go in the water, Shamil commanded them to perform ritual ablutions for the morning prayer.

As they finished praying, some Gimrah thugs came up across from them to do battle with [Shamil] and stop him. A large river separated the two groups. When they fired weapons [at Shamil’s group], he recognized these men and their ringleaders. He pulled out his sword, raised it over his head, and swung it so that they could see it.

He shouted, “Hey so-and-so and so-and-so! This is my left-handed sword and it won’t take more than three months to stab you [with it], God willing.” These words struck great terror in their hearts. Their evil leaders had meant to round up everyone who did not agree with them in Gimrah about corrupting the sharia, and arrest them and send them to the Russians, but these words made them fear that the situation might turn against them [so they fled]. They [Shamil’s group] went along in that way until it had turned hot and they all fell down in a heap, exhausted by weakness, hunger, and lack of sleep.

When it became known that Shamil and his followers had escaped from the mountain, Ahmad Khan al-Sahali [i.e., from the lowlands] and Hadji Murat al-Khunzakhi [i.e., Tolstoi’s Hadji Murat] went after Shamil with an army of hypocrites seeking to capture him. When they drew close to where [he was], God closed their eyes and deterred their hearts before they could fire one shot. They went back home.

Then Shamil and his comrades got up and moved on like a herd of starving sheep. [Having moved far away from water by then,] they became so thirsty that they started drinking from the hoofprints of animals on the mountain paths. Shamil hired two men at a high price to go and fetch some water for them. They went and got some. One of them brought some of it to the group that was in front with Ghazi Muhammad and the other carried the rest of it to the group with Shamil. They [all] drank [their fill]. When the trailing group caught up with the leading group that was sitting and resting, they found [Shamil’s son] Ghazi Muhammad sitting on a little rise off to the side of the others.

Shamil came up to him and asked, “Well, how are you? Did you drink enough water?” He answered in a sad voice, “They did not give me water.” [Shamil] spit and cursed at them for this.

He was kind and gentle to his son. He told him, “We will get to some water soon—we will give you your fill of food and drink then. Let’s go.” His son stood up. His legs were unsteady under him. He almost fell. [Shamil] lifted him up onto his shoulders. His son’s head banged into his own head. [The son] said, “My neck Isn’t strong enough to support my head.” He had become worn out because of the injury he had suffered, as well as his other difficulties and troubles. They went on that way all night.

The next evening as they headed to the crest of the mountains, Ghazi Muhammad became sad and began to complain to Shamil that he would die of hunger. [At the time,] he was riding on someone else’s back [not Shamil’s]. Shamil pointed to the top of the mountains in the darkness. He asked, “Do you see that? When we get there, we will feed you bread and fill you up.” They did the morning prayer before going up it. They climbed up it as the sun was rising.

Just then, they noticed a rider heading towards them. When he saw them, he stopped and rode back in the direction that he had just come. Shamil yelled, “Shoot him, shoot him!”

He turned around and asked, “Is it really you?” When he recognized them, he rejoiced. He said, “I thought that you were a group of enemies.” He was carrying a saddlebag full of bread and cheese, hoping to encounter and feed the people who had escaped from the mountains. He fed Ghazi Muhammad his fill and the others all ate theirs, too.

Shamil ordered this kind man, whose name was ‘Isa Hajiyaw al-Chirkawi, to carry Akhbirdil Muhammad on his horse because he was exhausted and injured. He carried him away [and then returned]. [Shamil] ordered him to carry another wounded man and he took him, too. Then he went off to a distant sheep pasture [where provisions were stored] and came back with flour for them. May God bless him for it! This is a summary of what happened in Akhulgoh. A detailed account of the events there would fill a thick book, which to read would consume one’s heart in flames and bathe one’s eyes in tears.

Jawad Khan al-Darghiyyi, who used to work for the Russians, said that once, while he was at the Qidhlar fort, he read in a chronicle that 33,000 Russians died [there]. Why wouldn’t this be true, when it is said that 5,000 of them were killed in one day alone [in Akhulgoh]? They say that the accursed Pullo returned from [Akhulgoh] with only two men left in his army, but God knows best!

More than three hundred men were martyred there. The first was Murtaza ‘Ali al-Chirqawi. Among the community leaders and religious scholars [who were martyrs there were]… Alibek al-Khunzakhi, Shamil’s uncle Barti Khan, the emigrant scholar Surkhai al-Kuluwi, the steadfast…Khiz al-Chirqawi, and the brave Bala li-Muhammad al-Birguni—a man they say killed one hundred enemy soldiers in a day… The Russians captured around 600 (some even say 700) of the men, women, and children of Akhulgoh as well as its scholars, among them their judge, Silikul Muhammad al-Tanusi, who died in captivity… May God reward their efforts with goodness and may He impose on them and on us the word of piety and allegiance!

Addendum: In which the kindness of God (May He be exalted!) is related: From the day when Shamil was saved from the disasters of that summit, the world has not stopped raising his standing and pouring favor and grace on him until our time. It has showered favor and grace on him until the present day. This is all from the blessings of God upon him and upon his people, but most of them do not know it. Let us hope to God that the world continues in this way until his [Shamil’s] government and his holy campaigns [ghazawat] lead to the appearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi at the end of time.76 Since God, May He be exalted!, did say, “That which is for the good of mankind remains on the earth,”⁷⁷ how can we not be hopeful?

The blessed news of his ghazawats [holy campaigns] reached the two holy sanctuaries [Mecca and Medina] as well as Balkh and Bukhara [in Central Asia]. Shaykhs there started praying for his victories, conquests, and long life in their sermons, just as we noted. Hajj Di’in ‘Ali al-Chari recounted that when he fled from Siberia and came to Bukhara, he learned that its sultan visited the tomb of Shaykh Muhammad Naqshbandi (May God bless his secret!) each afternoon and prayed there for Shaykh Shamil. The people [following his lead] said “Amen,” even those in the bazaars…End [of story].

[The Shining of Daghestani Swords now returned to the discussion of events after the conclusion of the Akhulgoh siege.]

[Shamil and his followers] continued along until they stopped to camp in a sheep pasture. There they met a young man they knew whose father had been martyred near them on the hill [at Akhulgoh]. [The youth] honored his father by entertaining them and slaughtering sheep for them. He treated them with honor. They saw the first new moon of Rajab, 1255 [= September, 1839] there at the time of two seasons [i.e., Indian summer]. They set out at nightfall and heard the sound of men coming towards them. Each group asked the other: “Who are you?”

Then they recognized each other. It turned out that this was a group of murids from the village of Artlukh who had set out to meet Shamil. They brought him to their region, hiding him from the sinners of their village. One [of these murids] came with bread, another with cakes, another with cheese, and another with meat. They hosted him and honored him. At that time, Imanqalaw al-Jirfati, having seen some of them [Shamil’s group] there, and having heard that Shamil and his comrades had been driven out and chased away with curses, announced to the villagers of Artlukh, “Whoever takes the property of one of them [i.e., Shamil’s followers] will not [have to] give it back to him.” End [of story]. This man was later executed for hypocrisy by order of the martyred naib Hitin al-Danukhi. He deserved it. End [of story].

They traveled away from there by night until they reached the village of Almakhal in the morning just as the muezzin was calling people to prayer. However, they passed through there secretly without telling anyone, lest [its people] be harmed by sinners from neighboring large villages who might have attacked them had they allowed [Shamil’s group] to stay with them.

[Shamil’s men] went down to the water to do ritual ablutions. The judge, notables, and ordinary people [of Almakhal] came running up to them, begging them to come back and accept the village’s hospitality. When [Shamil] explained to them why [his group] would not camp in their village, they swore that they would not let [his men] leave without offering them hospitality and that they would burn [with shame if their guests did not accept this].

Shamil said, “Well, if that’s the case, then let’s stay there.” One person came with food and another brought something else until they had all treated their guests with honor and given them the sweetest and tastiest morsels to eat. They gave them provisions and had them rest until noon. Then they moved on.

A story: Shamil and his comrade Yunus were traveling ahead of their comrades on this trip. They passed the headman of Zandiqi [a Chechen village] as he lay sleeping in some grass and sat down beside him.78 He woke up. Shamil asked of his comrade, “don’t you have something you can give him to eat?” He took out a piece of goat meat. The headman asked them about Shamil. Shamil told him that he supposedly had been robbed, shot, and killed. This headman wept, moaned, and fell down as if he had fainted. They got up and left him there. Then the other comrades passed by him [a little while later]. He then asked them for more news about Shamil. When they told him, “Shamil was one of the two men who just passed by you,” he ran after them. The two of them had stopped to rest and saw an old man coming towards them with nothing covering his head. It was that shaykh who had fallen on Shamil’s lap weeping profusely—this was how much the news [of Shamil’s supposed death] had saddened him.

They entered the village of Tattakh between the two evening prayer times. They were hosted there for about three days. One man, having earlier made a vow, slaughtered a bull and prayed over it that Shamil would be saved from any bad luck caused by the enemy He fed them and the others. Then they moved on and camped in the village of Bayan where they were made welcome and honored. Shamil stayed with someone who had [even] come [earlier] to Tattakh to invite him to be his guest.

Muhammad Shafi, Shamil’s son, was born there on the 20 Rajab [=29 September, 1839] and before the seventh day [an animal] was sacrificed in his honor. Then they moved to the village of Vedan where they saw the first moon of the month of Sha’ban [= 10 October, 1839]. Shamil left his family there and went with his companions to look for an appropriate place to stay and settle down [for a longer time]. They found the most suitable place for that to be Gharashkiti in the region of Shubut. Shamil stayed there as the honored guest of a man who had come to meet them as they were leaving Vedan. Then his host went away [again, still] during Sha’ban and came back with Shamil’s family after the tenth day of the month. When the followers who had planned to return home left, eight of his close followers stayed with him: his faithful companion Yunus, his servant Salih, the injured Khudanatil Muhammad, Biladi, Himmat al-Hutsaliyun, the wounded Nur Ali, Murtaza ‘Ali al-Haradarikhiyan, and the wounded Musa al-Balatkini. As Shamil was passing through Bayan and Vedan, the famous and brave warriors Shuayb al-Tsamuturi and Jawad Khan al-Darghiyyi met with him. At this meeting, Javad Khan said to Shamil, who was depressed about what had happened to him, “Don’t be distressed about the dispersion and destruction of your old comrades. Indeed, a new group of more than three thousand of your old followers will gather here again for you. I am your servant. Your wish is my command. Order whatever you want and I will follow your instructions.” May God bless him!

Shamil appointed them both as naibs to govern those two areas. He ordered them to seize whatever they found in the hands of someone who had come from Ma’arukh to do harm if that man had claimed to be a murid or a villager, but if he didn’t [make this claim], then he should be let go. They used to confiscate the horses of those who had come to Chechnia from ‘Andal, Baqulal and Karalal to look for provisions [to take away]. Several of Shamil’s companions joined them in this action, among them the immature boy, Murtaza, son of the martyr Murtaza Lasol Muhammad al-Urgahi, and others. They calmed those areas down through such actions until their inhabitants began to obey his authority. End [of story].

[Shamil] stayed there like a discarded rag. No one noticed or cared about him. Once, a woman from Chirkah named Azizay came to complain to him that she was being sold into slavery there. He explained to her that he did not have the power to free her…

[Over the decade following his severe 1839 Akhulgoh defeat, Shamil slowly rebuilt his forces and carried out intermittent raids against the Russians in Chechnia and Daghestan. The next selection captures the flavor of such encounters in its description of the encounter at Shamkhal Birdi. In 1847, Vorontsov decided to deny Shamil the use of rich farmlands in central Daghestan. He attacked Shamil’s forts at Saltah, Girgil, and Chokha. After capturing Saltah in 1847 and destroying Girgil in 1848, the Russians were repulsed by Shamil’s forces at Chokha in 1849. The following excerpts chronicle four encounters between Shamil and the Russians: the battles at Shamkhal Birdi, the fortress of Saltah, the fortress of Akhdi, and Chokha. These passages show how Shamil came back from his massive defeat by the Russians in 1839 by mounting a series of limited attacks against Russians designed to wear them down.]

The battle at Shamkhal Birdi

When [a Russian force] had stopped there [at Shamkhal Birdi], the imam’s troops surrounded them and held them under siege for several days. The Russians dug in there and along the road with every good heavy cannon and other weapon [they had]. [Shamil’s men] were attacking them from all sides, but the [Russians] could not mount any resistance and could not defend themselves [because of their lack of munitions and supplies]. Cannon-fire killed one of their commanders there in his tent.

Vorontsov wept again, but [one of his officers] Ilya consoled him just as he had done earlier when he had cried three times [over their situation]. The Russian troops experienced such powerful hunger and thirst that it almost destroyed them. [Soldiers] began to suck on trees to get water. They say that a [Muslim] hypocrite who was there offered a soldier an ear of corn for fifteen rubles [i.e., an exorbitant price]. He literally answered, “[Why not?] What am I going to do with fifteen rubles after I die?”

A story: They say that Vorontsov had a cow with him for milk. Jawad Khan, son of Mustafa Khan al-Shirvani, stole it because he was so hungry. Jawad Khan had about a hundred servants with him as he marched. One night, some people slaughtered and ate that cow, and buried its bones under Jawad Khan’s tent. When morning came, they looked for the cow to milk. When it didn’t turn up, they began to search the troops’ [belongings] and any suspicious places. Then they came across a large pile of buried bones. When these were brought to Vorontsov, he demoted [Jawad Khan] to the ranks and ordered him banished from there. The shunned Jawad Khan hired a Chechen guide for one hundred coins. He traveled on a difficult and dangerous road with them [Jawad and his servants] until he brought him [Jawad Khan] to [Temir-Khan-]Shura after many of his servants had perished.

As the imam was laying siege to them, the news came that his wife Fatima had died. (May God have mercy upon her!) He sent a man to [look after] this while he himself remained there [at the siege]. His naibs came up and asked him to return to his home. They declared that they would be able to defeat the besieged enemy force there [by themselves]. Imam [Shamil] then did go back [to his home].

War had worn out his naibs and troops. They were so hungry that they grilled the corpses of dead Russian horses and ate them. When the cursed [Russians] found out that the imam had left, they celebrated by banging drums and playing pipes. In the morning, a relief force with provisions came to them from the town of Gurzal [Awul, just to the north on the Aqsay river]. The road was cleared between the two [Russian forces], and the [relief force] finally broke through to them. A force of about one thousand guarded the [relief force] from behind so that it couldn’t be attacked from that direction. The men of this force didn’t budge from their positions even as they were killed to the last man.

They say that they all would have converted to Islam to follow the imam [Shamil]; if they had stayed under that siege for one more day, given how thirsty and weak they were. They report that when Vorontsov was rescued [from there], he counted up how many of his troops were left. When he found that he had lost thirteen thousand soldiers, he wept and remarked, “This Satan Shamil threatened me and events turned out just as he said they would.”

One Christian with them there, who later accepted Islam and became a good Muslim, said, “Indeed, I would not be lying if I swore that three hundred thousand men had gone there with Vorontsov and that, when he returned, he was told that only a quarter of those who had been sent to fight alongside him from local [Muslim] areas that were allied with him came back alive.” (Thanks be to God, Ruler of the two worlds!)…

The battle at Saltah fort

At the end of spring, 1263 AH [=1847 CE], Idris, the imam’s naib in Girgil, requested his assistance and reported that the Russians were moving against the fort [there]. [Shamil] set out with material and equipment. When he reached the Khunzakh plateau, Qibid Muhammad al-Tiliqi and Ghazi Muhammad al-Tiliqi met him. They told him that they had not heard about any news about what was happening. [Shamil] kept going until he reached the plains of the village of Quruda. When he heard the sound of guns, he flew [like a bird] and went up Ifuta mountain. He found the Russians retreating from the fort after having assaulted it with siege ladders. The cursed Vorontsov withdrew from there with heavy losses to his army. When he saw how the fort endured and how many had died in the heat from sickness, he fled with his armies and to camp on Durchali mountain.

Word reached the imam that Vorontsov was moving against the Saltah fort. [Shamil] went up there with his comrades and camped near [the village of] Darada. The naibs and their groups returned to their home areas.

After Vorontsov had stayed there about a month, he attacked the Saltah fort. The imam called his naibs and their troops back. He stationed two naibs inside the fort, each accompanied by half of their armies, and set up the others outside in order to protect the road—to fight the enemy from the rear and on the flanks, on the inside and the outside. The infidels launched an attack from each flank on the fortress and from above with shells that destroyed roofs and blew holes in the earth. Those inside held out against them, battling and killing many of them. Even some of their notables and leaders were among the dead and wounded.

Some Christians and others in Vorontsov’s force were saying among themselves said that not one of the [Russian] soldiers’ hundreds of guns hit its target, but that [the Muslims’] guns did not miss [nor did their bullets] fall on the ground. This happened with God’s help.

A story: The tsar wrote a letter to Vorontsov in Saltah: “I am sending you a youth who is one of my truest companions and most beloved friends, so that he can acquire a high rank and an eminent title under you. Give him an honorable dwelling and preserve his dignity.” Vorontsov ordered three thousand of his best cavalrymen to meet and escort him. They met him at Qidhlar and returned with him and his servants, enjoying themselves and having a good time until they arrived on the Saltah plain. Despite the fact that they rode with him in the center and with cavalry surrounding him on all four sides, a small, weak bullet struck behind the ear of that young boy and he fell down. They carried him to Vorontsov and he died. They took out his organs, dressed [the area] with preservatives, and sent his corpse back. Praise God, Lord of the two worlds!

When Vorontsov saw the strength of those in the fort and the severe losses that his forces had suffered, he sent troops to cut off the road to the fort. They secured the road only after a fierce battle. It reached the point that there was no way in or out except by breaking through the barricades of the infidels and the ranks of their armies. Despite that, the [forces inside] kept causing so many [Russian] losses that that they had to dispatch first aid [convoys] for the wounded every three days.

The cursed Argutinskii was hit in the face by a bullet. (How many of their aristocrats and great leaders were wounded and killed there!) The powerful Vorontsov wept three times and tore his hair in remorse, but he drove his troops against the fort nearly sixteen times.

A great sickness [cholera] broke out on both sides, but then the infidels resorted to a trick. They built a fortified turret outside the fortress that towered over the turrets inside. The [Russians] dug holes under the fortress and put gunpowder in them. They lit them to blow up and smash [the walls] of the fortress. When even this measure did not weaken [the besieged force, though], the [Russians] began, God forbid, to make the [fort’s] water unclean by throwing corpses and animal dung in it. The imam ordered [troops stationed] outside [the fort] to attack [the Russians] from all directions—not to leave them in peace and at leisure in their camps—so that the enemy would become so weary and discontented that its fighting spirit and zeal against [the Muslims] would wither.

After this grinding siege had dragged on about three months for those inside the fortress, they [started] one night to abandon the fortress without the imam’s permission. He had issued them equipment and provisions on that very same night. The imam said to a group of his naibs and followers in the morning, “In fact, this cursed Vorontsov has not defeated us, we have defeated him. No one realizes this except him and me.” End [of story].

This is confirmed by the story that as [Russian] forces in the village of Uhlib prepared to fire their cannons according to their zakon [regulations] while Vorontsov advanced, they had fired them only once when his adjutant came running up, signaling them to stop.

When he approached them, he said, “Vorontsov forbids this.” He was asked why, and said “What is Vorontsov supposed to be joyous and happy about? Don’t you see them?” He pointed to the first aid [convoy] for the wounded. One end of it had gotten to Uhlib, but the other end had still not left [the village of] Tsadaqar.

He said, “In truth, those murids are not leaving the Saltah fort because we defeated them in battle. In fact, they are going away [only] because its water has been polluted and they cannot perform their religious duties [i.e., ablutions] there.” It was reported that the [Russians] lost seventeen thousand [regular soldiers] in Saltah in addition to [the irregular forces] from various regions who were killed and those who died from sickness. (Praise God, whose reign has no decline and no end!)…

The attack on Akhdi

In the fall of that year [1848], the imam sent out armies and artillery with their equipment and soldiers, all led by Daniyal Sultan. He captured the fortress of Nichik and those in it: three hundred hypocrites and their leaders. When the imam caught up with that force, he freed those prisoners and sent their leaders to the fortress at ‘Irib. The forces stopped in Akhdi and found the population there, even the women and children, overjoyed at the imam’s approach and burning with desire to meet him. [Shamil’s force] laid siege to the fort there and attacked it. [Among the imam’s forces,] the men of Akhdi were among those who fought most intensely there and many were killed. Some hypocrites from that place [Akhdi] were in the fort alongside the Russians.

On one of those days, Hajj Yahya al-Chirkawi hit the powder magazine of the fortress with a cannon-ball. This set it on fire and the magazine exploded. The fortress wall next to the magazine collapsed. Nothing prevented the naibs from going into the fortress except their slowness and procrastination. No one rushed to storm it [, though, except Misigulaw al-’Andi, but the defenders were already filling the breach [in it] with bags of provisions [grain]. [The defenders] became very thirsty during the siege.

Then those under siege [accidentally] set the artillery shells [stored] in one of their towers on fire, which burned up a few of their soldiers. The imam ordered [his men] to put gunpowder under a wall on another side of the fortress. The powder caught fire [and] the wall was split in half. The inner half stayed up but the outer half crashed down. The situation for the defenders was thrown into confusion. They fled from their battle stations to houses located inside [the fortress]. [Again,] no one stormed into the fortress except for the naib Qadi al-Ishichali by himself.

Just as they were laying siege and fighting there, the [Russian] commander Argutinskii appeared with a great army on the side of a mountain coming from the direction of Shirakhal and began to attack them. People’s faces changed color, their hearts dropped, their mouths dried out, and their voices fell silent. The enemy fired cannons down that slope and those laying siege to the fortress returned to the village. Those inside it [the besieged] came out and threw themselves in the water because they were so thirsty. The only thing left for those [who had been laying siege] to do was to escape.

This was the situation when two messengers came to the imam from one of his naibs who had been stationed to guard the Hazra side of [the fortress] with a cavalry detachment of less than five hundred. They reported, “We encountered a detachment of [enemy] forces there. We put them to flight, killed some of them, captured some, and plundered their things.” End [of story].

A story: A Christian, who had been captured in that battle, had [later] accepted Islam, and had become a good Muslim, reported that almost five hundred [Russian] cavalry troops had been there. Hypocrites and Christians had gathered [there] from the region of Qubah. They were camped, waiting for Argutinskii to fire a blank into the air as the signal for a simultaneous attack from two directions against the forces of the imam.

They were eating and drinking. Nothing in the sky or on the ground gave them the impression that they were about to be attacked. Their horses were scattered around [the camp]. Some of these [soldiers] were bathing, some were asleep, and some were sitting, not paying any attention to their weapons. At first a soft, pleasant breeze blew on them, but then a group of riders surrounded them. They saw that there [were so many of them,] it was as if they covered the face of the earth. There was a multitude of painted and white flags among them. [Shamil’s forces] took some of the [Russians] prisoner, plundered some others, and [let] a few others escape, although they forced them to surrender their weapons and mounts.

When the two messengers arrived [with this news], the hearts of [Shamil’s followers] became calmer, their souls felt encouraged, their spirits were lifted, and they raised their voices. The imam ordered the one-eyed Muhammad Efendi al-Humi to go after the enemy with twenty of the imam’s comrades to do battle with them and hold them back. The people [of the village], even its women and children, moved against [the enemy, too]. They fought them and put them to rout. The [Russian] commanders began to go back up the mountain. [The imam’s forces] attacked from behind them, advancing until they reached the summit of the mountain. Those who had been in the fortress retreated back into it, fortified themselves in it, and were again under siege [as before]. The next morning, [the fort’s] nachal’nik [commander] sent the hypocrites from Akhdi who were there in the fortress back to their village, saying that the fortress would be conquered the next day [anyway]. When these [hypocrites] arrived back [in Akhdi village], the imam sent them and some others from there to the ‘Irib fort as hostages. Among them was the village scholar, the poet Mirza Ali.

The next day, Argutinskii came from the direction of Hazra. The armies met each other on the open plain and did battle. The wise and brave naib of ‘Iri, ‘Uthman; its mufti, the scholar Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf al-Nuqushi; as well as the two emigrant scholars, Hajiyaw ibn al-Tsitawi al-Huchuti and Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Latif al-Ilisuwi…were martyred. Then the [imam’s forces] fled and the enemy attacked them from behind, plundering their things as well as capturing and killing some of them. The whole group fled and the imam returned [to Akhdi]. The men of Akhdi did not attack them from behind like other hypocrites [had].

The imam stationed watchmen from among his followers at narrow places on the roads. They were to confiscate anything that had been taken from the people of that area’s villages and give it back to [its rightful owners]. Among those taken prisoner [by the Russians] in that battle, some died in their hands while others were exchanged for hostages held there and in Nichik. Most of those taken prisoner or killed there were Daniyal Sultan’s people. To console him on his return, I wrote him a letter containing these two couplets:

What good is regret, when things are foreordained?
Indeed, we strive to achieve only that which is predestined.
The Lord decrees and upon the servants [mankind]
Is the duty to be content. All of them shall be rewarded…

The battle at Chokha fort

In 1265 AH [=1849 CE], when the cursed Argutinskii moved against the fortress at Chokha and began to widen the road to it, the imam mustered his forces on the plain of Hutub. He convened a council there of his naibs and summoned the naib of that fortress, Hajj Musa to it. He [Shamil] had told him [Hajj Musa] in secret that the enemy was going to attack two mountains: first the mountain of Sughur and then a mountain to its right, ‘Ali Mamad. The imam ordered them to dig earthworks on those two hills and barricade themselves in trenches.

They came in the afternoon to do this and started working after nightfall. The imam spent the night between the two hills, [supervising their work] and keeping them from falling short in this task. In the morning, he assigned each naib to a battle station and they prepared themselves as necessary.

On the third day after this, the cursed Argutinskii came down with his Satanic retinue [of troops]. Some men went out to do battle with him there. The Russians then set up large cannons one cannon-shot away from the fort and equipped them with trenches and overhangs. They began firing heavy artillery at soldiers all around the area. This caused so much damage that the imam’s tent was moved three times [to protect it].

Then [the Russians] (May God abandon them!) captured a mountain in front of the fort and a mountain behind it. They kept on firing until they had destroyed most of the fort’s walls, its buildings, and the tower that stood on top of it. They forced those inside the fort to take cover so that they could no longer fire back at [those attacking] them. When matters came to such a state, the naibs lowered their heads, people’s resolve was weakened, their fortitude diminished, and their strength dissipated.

The imam gathered together all his naibs, including the commander of the fort. He first criticized them but then offered some encouragement. He said, “Those Russian commanders are working day and night to establish themselves [here] and promote their authority. They follow their zakon [law] with their arms, legs, knees, and teeth.79 You do not hold fast to the religion of God, who is your Lord and your Creator, except with the two sides of your little finger and thumb, thus.” He made a circle with those two fingers.

[Despite their initial successes in these battles against Shamil, the Russians ultimately did not capture the Chokha fort. They pulled back after this failed series of assaults, but Shamil’s forces continued intermittent attacks on the Russian positions in their vicinity The next selection includes al-Qarakhi’s most detailed account of Hadji Murat. Its negative portrait of him differed dramatically from Tolstoi’s depiction. The Shining of Daghestani Swords clearly contrasted Shamil’s honorable son Ghazi Muhammad with the untrustworthy Hadji Murat, depicted in this section as a traitor to Shamil’s cause.]

The first ghaza at Shali

At the beginning of winter in the year 1266 [AH=1849 CE] the Russians came with a large group to cut down the forest there. The imam assembled an army and set out with cannons, equipment, and soldiers. They were cutting down trees there and burning them every day from morning to night. Shamil’s men would fight them them from the rear and also attack them with cannons and guns from the front, depending on what they were able to do. The situation continued in this way until the end of winter. Then they [the Russians] left, having suffered many losses. They [the imam’s forces] returned [home, too]. Among the martyrs there were the scholar and naib Turach al-Karati as well as the courageous naib Murtaza ‘Ali al-‘Uruti (May God bless them!) In this year, a gunpowder factory was built at the water [i.e., to use the river’s current to run its machinery] and all of its equipment and supplies were set up.

The appointment of Shamil’s son Ghazi Muhammad as a naib

When Turach, the naib of Galalal, was martyred, the imam consulted learned men and notables about naming his son Ghazi Muhammad as [Turach’s] successor. He ordered scholars and followers of the path [i.e., Sufi leaders] to seek the best course [in this matter]. This negligent transmitter [i.e., al-Qarakhi, the author of the work] saw the office of naib written down for [Ghazi Muhammad] in a book.

That winter was when I began to live with the imam in Darghiyya. He renamed me “Muhammad Tahir.” My name had been Muhammad Tilaw. After that, I stayed with him season upon season [i.e., continuously] until my father died, which happened between the time when his son Jamal al-Din came back [i.e., March, 1855] until the Russians climbed up to Burtinah to build a fort there [in December 1857].80

The [scholars] approved of that [appointment of his son] after some consideration and deliberation. When [Ghazi Muhammad] was chosen, he was eighteen and had not reached full maturity He studied there in Karata with several teachers. They guided him to the best policies and educated him in the best principles of leadership. When he assumed this position, he continued to be distinguished by insight [hilm] and wisdom as well as to be marked by kindness, mercy, and respect for eminent people. He did not dwell on things or act arrogantly, and did other things appropriate for a leader and a naib [of Shamil] by attempting to promote religion, guard [the community], and act with caution, while demonstrating courage, horsemanship, and skill. (May he continue to be like this until the coming of the Mahdi on the Day of Judgment and may he continue to increase his capacity for knowledge and justice, as well as his happiness through piety and kindness!) He has never held himself back from thanking the One [God] who offers much grace.

The second, third, and fourth ghazas at Shali

At the beginning of the winter of 1267 AH= [1851 CE], the infidels came there [to Shali] again with more equipment and greater forces than before in order to cut down trees.⁸¹ The imam came out [to engage them] with his army as in the first engagement [there]. [The imam’s forces] fought [with the Russians] in this manner until the end of winter, enduring great hardships and marches on horseback under very difficult conditions. They would come out of their night bivouac every morning into [conditions of] extreme winter cold and travel to distant battlefields through the deep Chechen mud, returning after sunset. In these circumstances, they inflicted casualties [on the Russians] and suffered casualties [themselves]. (Praise God, Lord of the two worlds!) This was the great battle of Shali. Two smaller battles took place there in the eighth and ninth years [i.e., in 1268 and 1269 AH=1851 and 1852 CE].

The second, third, and fourth military raids at Qaytaq and Tabarsaran

Numerous messages and messengers began to arrive from those places [Qaytaq and Tabarsaran], asking him to send a naib with an army there to govern them according to the sharia and unite them under its rule, so they could act as one against the ill-fated Russians. Shamil sent his troops and equipment there at the beginning of the summer of this seventh year [i.e., 1267 AH=1850/51 CE]. They set up camp on the mountain of Rughchah. He sent his naib ‘Umar al-Salti with two other naibs, Qadi al-Ishichali and Nur Muhammad al-Qarakhi, accompanied by their followers and other men: about three thousand [troops in all]. He [‘Umar] turned back on the road [though], so Shamil dismissed him and his two commanders.⁸²

The naib Hadji Murat al-Khunzakhi [i.e., Tolstoi’s Hadji Murat] asked Shamil to send him [in their place] accompanied by five hundred horsemen, including the naib Husayn al-Girgili, Shan Kiray deputy of the naib Ibrahim al-Gimrawi, and the naib Batir al-Mililti, along with their retinues. Then the imam went away and camped in the village of Bukhdah. He moved on to stop at the mountain of Durchali and the Russians attacked his army there. A new naib, the scholar Muhammad al-’Uradi al-Hidali, was among the martyrs in that battle.

As others were fleeing, the imam’s son Ghazi Muhammad, still a callow youth and not yet fully mature, held his ground with about six followers. Many of those who ran away were saved because he himself had stood firm against the attackers. This was his first battle after he had been made a naib. (Praise God (May He be exalted!), for giving him success and setting him on the right course!)

Hadji Murat went with his followers to mount an attack in the village of Buynakh on the house of Shahwal Khan, the paternal uncle of Abu Muslim Khan Shamkhal. They killed him and captured his sons and wife, who was the sister of Jamaw Khan al-Khaydaqi. They seized the weapons, valuables, and other things that they found in his house. The brave naib Batir al-Mililti was injured there and died in Tabarsaran. They departed with the prisoners and property. When they reached Qaytaq, its people asked them to release the women and children and they would get her brother Jamaw to make peace with them. Hadji Murat would not agree to this and paid [them] no attention.

The imam had sent [Hadji Murat and his men] there to establish themselves in a secure location, to build a strong fortress, and to govern the people of those regions so that they would be led to oppose the enemy and obey him. However, Hadji Murat did not follow this plan, but went his own way. He kept on attacking and raiding here and there [i.e., everywhere].

They would drag those prisoners with them wherever they went, like a mother cat carrying her kittens. They did this for some time. The people of these regions did not come to terms with him [Hadji Murat] and did not join forces with him. They went back to fighting among themselves. That woman [the wife of the shamkhal uncle] escaped on the road during an incident in which that courageous emigrant Shan Kiray and others were martyred. When Hadji Murat returned [from his campaign], the imam also returned and dismissed him.

Addendum: Hadji Murat’s dismissal weighed on him and he became quite depressed and upset. He and his followers secretly tried to corrupt the people of Khunzakh against their naib and against the imam, forcing most of its notables to follow Hadji Murat’s orders, renounce their loyalty to the imam, and abandon their pact with the naib. When this became obvious, some of the imam’s troops moved against them. They gathered in the village of Raqahchi for the battle.

After all this, the people disavowed Hadji Murat, but he remained under the imam’s authority and Shamil forgave him. After that, no house [there] would receive [Hadji Murat] as a guest, and there was no dwelling where he could be at ease. Most of the things in his house were destroyed due to his bad behavior. It is said that because he feared being denounced [to the imam], he fled to the Russians with some cash.

His followers and family remained behind in that area, and most of his places for hiding his treasure were uncovered. During the time when the imam was at the battle of Shali during the eighth year [i.e., 1268 AH=1851/52 CE], Hadji Murat was staying in the [Russian] fortress at the Sunja [river, i.e., Groznaia (modern Groznyi)].

[Hadji Murat] sent Shamil a message, asking him to let his children [join] him, but [Shamil] did not answer. He [sent another message] asking again. The imam literally replied, “O you fool who has forsaken Islam! I am not such a fool like you that I would let them be sent there to abandon it [Islam] like you.” Then Hadji Murat went to the fortress of Char.83 They say that he regretted having fled [to the Russians]. I, Muhammad Tahir, was told this by a reliable source who had been with him in the fortress of Char. It was said that [Hadji Murat] would not eat or drink with them [there] and finally went to the village of Nukhuh. He got into a quarrel with a headman there while walking in a field and talking with him. [Hadji Murat] killed [the man] and most of his comrades. He fled with seven of his comrades in the direction of Ilisu and was killed there. (Praise God, Lord and Creator!)

…

[During this long period of intermittent attacks on Russian outposts, Shamil had captured some Georgian noble women and girls to trade for his son Jamal al-Din: an exchange that ultimately did take place.]

The return of Shamil’s son, Jamal al-Din, to him

The imam provided for those [young] women and those who were with them [i.e., the Georgian noble women and their servants]. There were some twenty-odd individuals in the women’s section of his house. He treated them as is customary [according to Islamic practice]: veils covered their faces, and they were shown honor, esteem, and respect. Messengers came constantly from their families, demanding the release of these women in exchange for [some kind of] ransom. After about nine months, the long and short of it was that Jamal al-Din was exchanged for the commander of the Tsuntiya fortress, and those women were released for thirteen and a half weights of silver. Other prisoners were exchanged one for one. They designated a place for this [exchange] at a site between Muhras Shu’ayb and the Uysunghur fortress.

The imam arrived there with his naibs, their followers, his son Ghazi Muhammad, his comrades, the [captured] commander [who was to be exchanged], some other captives who were with him, and those young women, who were riding in a wagon. They camped on the banks of the Michik River. [The Russians] arrived and set up camp on the opposite side [of the river].

They went from one side to the other in small groups. Word came from the Baron, in whose hands the matter rested [on the Russian side], for them to send the imam’s son Ghazi Muhammad with about twenty of his companions to see him and meet his brother [Jamal al-Din]. The imam said, “Let him go, if he wishes, trusting in God.”

Ghazi Muhammad set out with thirty riders. They crossed the river and stopped on a hill, where they lined up in a row facing them [the Russian forces]. Some [Russian] commanders came up to them with a row of infantry soldiers standing behind them. The Russians stopped in front of them and formed lines, with Jamal al-Din in the middle of their formation. Ghazi Muhammad pointed to Jamal al-Din and greeted him. Jamal al-Din would have joined Ghazi Muhammad’s group, but Ghazi Muhammad ordered him to stay in their ranks until the [appropriate] time.

The cursed deserter Butay and his son were alongside the Russians. He began to greet the murids, but not one of them even looked at him. No one answered him or showed him and his son any courtesy That bothered Butay and weighed on him.

Ghazi Muhammad sent [a message] to the imam that he should have those [Georgian] women brought [to him], so [Shamil] sent them on their wagon. When they came up behind Ghazi Muhammad, the Russians brought three wagons filled with silver and prisoners for the exchange.

Yunus took the son of Chavchavadze, who was seated on a horse, and gave him back to [his father] as the fulfillment of his promise to him. Ghazi Muhammad commended [the prisoners] and told them, “Our son has returned because of you.” He literally said to the infidels, “We have not harmed your children. We are not people of treachery and forbidden behavior [haram]. We are warrior true believers.” Then their spokesman said to Ghazi Muhammad, “Don’t fire any cannons and rifles here in celebration, in order not to frighten these women and children of ours.” He agreed and ordered them to bring their wagons of silver to other side of the river.

Earlier, the imam had ordered them to take off Jamal al-Din’s clothes and to dress him in our clothes [as soon as he was exchanged]. Having moved the people [i.e., the murids and exchanged prisoners] to the side away from Jamal al-Din, Ghazi Muhammad ordered him to change clothes. Then, when they had moved away from [the Russians], people began to crowd around Jamal al-Din to look after him and greet him. When they had crossed the river, those who were in the wagons full of silver began to throw out bags of silver, saying, “This is for you, this is for you,” but the people [there] didn’t pay any attention and didn’t care about anything but Jamal al-Din.

This [scene] increased his standing in the infidels’ eyes. Two of their [Russian] officers came with them and praised the imam for how well he had raised those children and treated them with respect. They left after embracing Jamal al-Din.

One fifth of the silver was set aside [for the imam’s administration] and the remainder was divided among those who had participated [in the capture of enemy prisoners to be held as hostages]. Then they all moved on.

When they were all camped in one place, the naibs formed up their men into ranks and he had them go around with Jamal al-Din, passing the units rank by rank so that they could have their fill of looking at him. They rejoiced in God’s blessing and glory. They fired their weapons to show happiness [on his return] and anger at [their] enemies. As for the imam, he sat under a tree—crying, humbling himself before God, thanking Him, and saying, “Praise God and exalt Him!” He asked me, “Did you not see what your Lord did with what was given by you [to Him] as a trust and charge [i.e., Jamal al-Din]?”

Conclusion: See how God caused the return of the one He had been given as a trust and charge [Jamal al-Din] from the hands of His manifest enemy, the cursed Russian tsar! [Shamil] had raised him for sixteen of his years and had taught him knowledge that would benefit Islam and Muslims. [The tsar] had given him valuable gifts and had bestowed all sorts of precious and suitable items on him. (See how his father’s trust in God bore fruit that all was excellent, dear, and wonderful! This came only from God, the Powerful, the Wise! There is no power and strength save in God!)

…

[After Jamal al-Din had been sent back, Shamil’s military situation soon deteriorated. The end of the Crimean War in March 1856 finally allowed the Russians to break a stalemate that had continued between them and Shamil in the Caucasus for almost fifteen years. In the summer of 1856, the Russian army began a series of intensive campaigns in Daghestan that took place over the next three years and finally resulted in the capture of Shamil’s capital at New Darghiyyah in April 1859. Shamil himself did not actually surrender to the Russians until September 6, 1859, after they had cornered him on the Ghunib plateau, as described in the next excerpt]

The great disorder and upheaval all over Daghestan during which Shamil fell into Russian hands

In the spring of 1275 AH [=1859 CE], when it became known that the Russians had made up their minds and were heading against Ma’arukh, they [the imam’s forces] burned down the villages of Andal and Baqulal [to force their inhabitants] to move to the mountain of Kalal. The approaches to it were reinforced with great effort. [Shamil’s] equipment, consisting of gunpowder, cannons, and baggage belonging to him and those with him, was transported to that mountain.

His most valuable property was located in Inkhub. A severe famine there had grown worse after a two-year drought and an epidemic among its livestock. Its population became weaker and weaker because of all this and because of how difficult it was to do work, both in places already mentioned and in various other areas not discussed.

[Shamil] was not safe on the mountain [of Kalal] and during the first part of 1276 AH [=late summer and fall of 1859 CE], a [Russian] general came down with a vast army from the mountains of ‘Andal to the plains of Tandub. This terrifying force along with their hypocrite helpers advanced down the Irghin river and crossed over a small bridge. Every regional Russian commander had come out from his area with his own detachment of troops, and they [the Russians] carried loads of “red and white” [i.e., copper and silver coins] to win the hearts of simple people and make slaves out of freemen. End [of story].

The men of Baqulal and Andal conveyed Shamil, his bearers, and his soldiers, together with their children and most valuable goods, to Karata. Then they went back to their homes and left him there. (May God reward them well!) By order of the imam, the naib Qadi al-Ishichali burned the tools that they left on that mountain and destroyed the cannons. Some men, especially those who had been [the imam’s] comrades [only] during the prosperous times, looted the wealth and property of Shamil that had been left there. [Still] other men, some of his closest friends and esteemed naibs in particular, hurried to join the Russians, offering “hearing and obedience” [to their commands].

Shamil left Karata with his son Ghazi Muhammad and those in their retinue, [carrying] their baggage and most valuable property. They had burned Ghazi Muhammad’s house in Karata with the intention of climbing up to the Ghunib plateau.

The people [must] have been jealous of them, considering what this group endured. When they got to the mountains of Rughchah and Guwal, [people] blocked [their passage]. They passed through the Bizu’ river valley to the area of Buq Muhammad. That country was a place inhabited by emigrants from Tumal. On the second night there, Shamil and Ghazi Muhammad climbed up [to Ghunib] with their families [to escape] from the battles [against them], attacks [on them], and pillaging of their belongings. Some of his comrades climbed up there with them, leaving their families behind, but some stayed behind while their families climbed up. The imam’s entire treasury, his treasurer Hajiyaw al-‘Uruti, and the majority of his soldiers stayed behind in that area.

One night, the treasurer, those with him who were commanders of the artillery and the soldiers—Isbahi al-Chirkawi, the naib Dibir al-’Andi, and others—set out for the ‘Irib fort to see Daniyal Sultan. Qurbanli Muhammad al-Batsadi, the naib of Qaralala, went with them, along with his comrades, among whom were Hajiyaw ibn Hajj Dibir al-Qarakhi, who had been separated [from them] when they left Ishchali. Rebels gathered from the three villages of the Qarakh valley and met them in the forest of Bizu’. Most of the comrades of that [Qaralala] naib then joined up with these rebels, who stole the large amounts of cash and valuable property on hand.

Hajiyaw al-Qarakhi “roared thunder and raged lightning” to prevent them from doing this, but his injunctions had no effect on them. Those brigands gained nothing from their robbery, since this property had not been blessed as theirs by law, and they fell into misfortune. Then the treasurer and those traveling with him stayed in the village of Tsurib, a place inhabited by refugees from Akhdi that was located between Qinsir and Qaralala. (Praise the Exalted One!) How much had the imam collected over the course of ten years for his personal treasury and collection of valuables! God did what He did when the people became envious that it [the treasury] had been locked up and their hearts shuddered and grew foul with unclean [greed].

The first part of this chapter about the beginning of the unrest skipped over the fact that the imam had already ordered his treasurer not to hold back [these valuables: i.e., Shamil refused to keep the public treasury for himself]. End [of story].

They [the treasurer and his group] stayed about three nights in Tsurib. Daniyal Sultan sent [a message] to them: “Come to us or return to Qarakh, so the criminals don’t attack us again.” They returned to Qarakh. The treasurer stayed with a host there in the village of Qurush with all that remained of the imam’s books and other things. This host and the judge [of Qurush] took out [for themselves] what they thought were the best books [God’s power, [though, came down on them for that and they later repented. The judge gave some of these books to this author [me]. I brought some to the imam’s son Ghazi Muhammad and some to my son. Among these works was the Meccan Bestowal written by al-Quduqi.

Then Murtaza ‘Ali, the brother of Qibid Muhammad al-Tiliqi, came with some comrades. He was a naib from the Russian side. He took all that they [the treasurer and his group] had with them of treasuries, belongings, and soldiers and conveyed them to Tiliq. The Russian commander allowed Qibid Muhammad and Murtaza ‘Ali to keep all of those belongings and treasuries, but combined these soldiers with their soldiers. The road was left open for those [traveling] with these goods [to go wherever they wanted]. The treasurer Hajiyaw al-’Uruti was detained by them for some time.

There were no forts left, except the ones that had surrendered to them [the Russians] and not a single naib, except those who had hung their heads and given in to them. Daniyal Sultan surrendered the fort of ‘Irib near Qinsir with all its stores of gunpowder, shells, cannons, rifles, and so forth. But he himself set out with his comrades to see the general in Tandub, claiming that he had been invited by him. He was ordered to send his family and belongings to Chartalah. He was given about one hundred backs [i.e., porters] to carry them there.

Then the Russians took up positions around the plateau of Ghunib. They set up camp on the Kahal mountain next to Ghunib. Naibs and other [former Shamil followers] were with them, both eminent and ordinary men.

Shamil had with him [only] such notables as the talented emigrant scholar Hajj Ibrahim al-Chirkisi, the emigrant scholar Hajj Nasrullah al-Qabiri al-Kurali, and the tough-minded scholar Ghalbaz al-Karati who was depressed by being dismissed as a naib and by his son’s death in some incident. It was said that he literally told them at a meeting about truce negotiations, “Our fathers used to say, ‘You (meaning the Russians) have sweet tongues and great wealth. At first, these two things weigh little, but later, they become heavy. We do not want peace with you.’” End [of story].

The gentle scholar and brave teacher Hajiyaw al-Qarakhi who had been dismissed as a naib, two other naibs—the eloquent scholars al-Andali and al-Khunzakhi, as well as the son of his [Shamil’s] paternal uncle Ibrahim al-Gimrawi, the consummate gentleman Milrik Murtaza ‘Ali al-Chirkawi al-Mugharrib, the naib Murtaza al-’Urkachi al-Mugharrib, and the naib Ghursh al-Sughuri were there among the nearly two hundred people on the battlefield. All of those in Ghunib, men or women, defended its roads and borders according to their strength. Then the Russian general, the Baron, summoned the blind Muhammad Efendi al-Huyami who had lived in Qarakh near Shamil, as well as Muhammad Tahir [the author of this work] and his student Hajiyaw al-Qarakhi, to visit him. He sent them to the imam to negotiate a peace agreement.

When they reached the fort at Ghunib, the imam would not let anyone enter it except those who would agree to stay with him there. So Efendi and Muhammad Tahir went back, while Hajiyaw went into it and remained with him. For this reason, he fell into severe trouble for some period of time after that with [the Russian] administration and was enslaved [by them], but then was set free. End [of story].

A group of Russians climbed up to Ghunib in Safar 1276 AH [=September, 1859 CE] from a place that had been overlooked by the guards. Their leader, Amirasol Muhammad al-Kudali, was killed there and his comrades were taken prisoner. All of the guards who had been [assigned to] various areas of the Ghunib [plateau] gathered in the village. Some men and women from Ghunib, as well as other outsiders like the scholar Nasrullah and the emigrant Kamal al-Ghuludi, were martyred there. The [Russian] general, their commanders, our [Muslim] notables who had become their allies, and their troops moved up to [Ghunib]. Shamil gathered the men there in the mosque [inside the fort]. At that time, the scholar Dibir ibn Inkachilaw al-Khunzakhi and his family went away from there out into the countryside. He was led away from the right course by that, but then was brought back. They drew close to him [again] by making him a naib. End [of story].

[Shamil] pleaded with, cajoled, and admonished those gathered in the mosque, together and individually. He called each of them by name, summoning them to the struggle, to die for the faith, and to seek out death in battle. No one, however, displayed any eagerness for this, even his two sons, with the excuse that [they wanted] to be merciful to their children. Intermediaries came to him [Shamil] from them [the Russians] demanding [that he sign] a peace agreement and come to the [Russian] general. Daniyal went with this [proposal] to his son-in-law Ghazi Muhammad. It is said that [Shamil] yielded to this only because [Ghazi Muhammad] urged him on. He agreed only on the conditions that he and his comrades could still bear arms when they met the general and that the general would permit him to go on the pilgrimage to the Bayt al-Haram [in Mecca] accompanied by those who wanted to join him.

They agreed among themselves that, if the Russians [were to try to] separate them from Shamil or if they tried to take away their weapons, they would begin fighting and would seek their own deaths in combat against them. With this settled, they set out. Nevertheless, the Russians moved between Shamil and his comrades and took Shamil’s weapons, claiming that the general was afraid of armed men.

God the Wise and Mighty (May He be exalted!) did not allow what had been agreed upon to happen. It is said that Murtaza al-’Uruti protested about this at the time but Ghalbaz put him off. End [of story]. Someone who had been with the Russians there later reported that if [Shamil’s followers] had begun to fight right then, they could have killed most of the [Russian] commanders and notables.

People [allied with the Russians] seized and plundered the property, weapons, and horses that had belonged to Shamil, his two sons, and their followers. When all of the [local] infidels and the Muslims became mixed together there, our notable men who had previously made peace with the Russians began to talk quietly among themselves, ashamed [of what they had done] in Shamil’s presence. From among them, the judge Aslan al-Tsadaqari said, “If a frog falls in a hole, he won’t clean off the dirt. Let’s [just] pass on by him,” and they went away

They allowed the people there to return to their home territories, but Shamil and his two sons were taken with their families to a [Russian] camp on the mountain at Kahal, and from there to the fortress at [Temir-Khan-] Shura accompanied by an armed guard.

Shamil, accompanied by his experienced [personal] secretary ‘Abd al-Karim al-Chirkawi, his son Ghazi Muhammad, and two colleagues, the scholars Hajiyaw ibn Ghaziyaw al-Karati and Tush al-Karati, was sent to visit the tsar in two expensive carriages with an honorable and distinguished cavalry escort… [When Shamil surrendered, he was sent to meet Tsar Alexander II in St. Petersburg]

Imam Shamil’s journey to the great tsar

In 1277 AH [=1860–1861 CE], an imperial edict came by telegram from the city of St. Petersburg summoning him there. We traveled [there] with [Shamil]. Captain Runovskii and an imperial agent from St. Petersburg were with us to accompany the imam on the trip. This type of agent was the tsar’s special ambassador, urgently dispatched for special important missions. The imam rode with his most beloved son in one magnificent carriage and we traveled in another until we reached Moscow. From there, we took a train. After we had gotten off of it, we met a man at the outskirts of the city of St. Petersburg who would become one of the imam’s friends: an intelligent, quick-witted man who served as our interpreter and now lives in the well-protected domains of Islambol [Istanbul] at the side of the great padishah [the Ottoman Sultan]. He is Colonel Boguslavskii, who can speak and translate Arabic, Persian, Turkish, English, French, and other European languages. At that time, he was the adjutant to the duty officer: a general who is the assistant to the tsar’s minister who supervises all Russian military affairs.

[Boguslavskii] was a man of true and penetrating intellect, brimming with intelligence. Hence, he was asked repeatedly to translate between the imam and the great tsar, and also between the imam and the general. We found at our disposal another magnificent carriage prepared for the imam. This colonel came up to him, greeted him, welcomed him, and offered him hospitality. He spoke with him in Arabic and how skilled he was! O how incredibly skilled!

…

[The next passage provides al-Qarakhi’s impressions of an observatory in St. Petersburg that he also visited on this trip. His reactions conveyed ambivalence about the relationship between science and devout faith.]

The wonders of St. Petersburg

When we were there, they took us once to a place where there was a group of astrologers and seers. They had so many books that you couldn’t count them and a very long telescope through which they could see stars, even at noon.

Is it surprising that with this telescope they can see any star they want and in any place in the sky by studying the science of the stars, prohibited among us to investigate, or that the one person who has figured this out, is [now] looking for ways to use this [knowledge]? The first argument [against it] is that much of what the astrologer tells us will frighten most people. The ignorant man who is weak in his faith wrongly believes that he cannot know about the transcendental [i.e., God]. [That man’s] heart is troubled, which leads him to associate things [with God] that he should not.84 Indeed, nothing is concealed from Him on the earth or in the sky. “He knows what is seen and what is not. He is the Great, the most High.”⁸⁵ The second argument [against it] is that because the knowledge of [when] an ill-fated or lucky star will rise gives an advantage to travelers, soldiers, and those with some other goal, permitting them either to pursue a desired activity or to refrain from it by looking at their star. However, this is legitimate. What benefits man should not be forbidden (haram). “For each one, there is a goal to which God turns him.”⁸⁶ God is most knowing about the truth of things. This is the end of what I, that is Muhammad Tahir, have gathered together as a detailed summary of Shamil’s circumstances and it concludes here…

[The final section of The Shining of Daghestani Swords discussed events that took place after al-Qarakhi had left Shamil, culminating in Shamil’s death during his pilgrimage trip to Mecca. The final section of The Shining of Daghestani Swords presented here described Shamil’s last days, and marked the actual end of the earliest 1872 manuscript of the text]

Addendum about the time when Shamil was bathed in all blessing

On 22 Safar, 1286 AH [=June 4, 1869 CE], [Shamil] set out to travel with his family to God’s Sacred House [Mecca] but they kept his son, the esteemed Ghazi Muhammad, and his wife from joining him. Shamil asked for Ghazi Muhammad to come with him, but they would not permit it. Two hours after the noon prayer on that day, Shamil boarded a ship leaving from Anapa [a Black Sea port]. News of this event was sent on the long thread known as “the telegraph.” [That report] reached [Temir-Khan-] Shura about four hours after the noon prayer. Praise [God,] who makes [some of] what is created serve [other parts of] creation! What is stranger, the arrival of that news from Anapa to [Temir-Khan-] Shura in [just] two hours, while the journey takes two months by trade caravan, or the fact that the tsar sent Shamil just like that on the hajj pilgrimage?

The poet said: “If the Merciful One [God] honors a slave with His power, then no [other] creature can ever humiliate him.” (Praise the Lord, powerful Ruler of all creation! Peace be upon the prophets! Praise God, Lord of the two worlds!) End [of story].

Another poet said, “When the Ruler of the realm [God] helps his slave, his orders must be carried out [even] by free [people].”

It was reported in the Russian newspaper that when Shamil’s ship came to Islambol [Istanbul], he sent two comrades who were traveling with him to the padishah of Islam [the Ottoman sultan] to request him to allow [Shamil] to go ashore there. He gladly and nobly permitted this. When he disembarked, he was met by such a large crowd of notables and great men that most of them were only able to shake the hands of people who had shaken Shamil’s hand. Food was prepared for him by the Russian tsar’s representatives there as a way to show him hospitality and he was asked to accept it. He told them, “Your ruler has treated me with hospitality and has honored me with the best treatment so far. Now I am the guest of the Ottoman sultan,” and praised them.

When Shamil stayed in Istanbul, he was given a great welcome. The great imam prepared a house for him that he had bought for 6,500 piasters. While Shamil was staying there, they brought him five gold coins each day

They showed him the rarest treasures of the padishah of Islam [the Ottoman sultan]. The most surprising thing he saw was a millstone that turns around and pours out many small, delicate, sharp needles with eyes in them. Then they took him out onto the sea to a Mahmud ship.87 He thought that it looked like a decorated piece of cotton cloth with many points because of [the light that] fell on the [patched] holes that had been caused by iron [cannonballs]. When Shamil saw it with everything that was on it, he observed, “This is not a ship, but a village! How can you fight on it when you can’t see the shore?”

Then the ship began to rumble with a “karkar” sound and raised up so that the shore was visible. Shamil said to those with him quite sincerely as it rose up, “They are throwing us in the sea!”

It was reported that he was asked there, “Of what you have seen in your life, what compares best with this?” He answered, “I would compare this with the brave warriors whom I left behind among the people of the mountains of Daghestan. One of them could resist an entire enemy army.” This [account] was confirmed by a report that when the Russian tsar was traveling to Ghunib, many of the mountain peoples’ leaders and notables met him on the imperial iron bridge. The tsar praised them by saying, “Shamil was pleased with you and I am pleased with you.” End [of story].

A follower of Shamil who had been with him on that trip told us: “When Shaykh Shamil was staying in Istanbul, a Daghestani scholar settled there [in Istanbul], who was angry about what Shamil had been doing, came to visit him. We were sitting and talking with Shamil, who told us, “Go and bring him in.” The man came in to discuss what his problem was. This scholar said that Shamil had killed men and taken away property. Shamil answered by [showing him] the justifications for what he did in [Islamic legal] books. He silenced the man who had come for this discussion, so he went away.”

Shaykh Shamil knew that the padishah of Islam [the Ottoman sultan] was equipping an army to fight Ismail Pasha of Egypt, who had rebelled by refusing to turn over the big cannons that [the sultan] had demanded [from him].88 Shamil asked that this matter be put off until he had presented himself to [Ismail] Pasha. [The sultan] agreed to his request.

When [Shamil] presented himself to [Ismail], [Ismail] showed him great respect, came off of his throne, and seated Shamil on it. Shamil then spoke with him about this matter and told him: “It would not be fitting for a fight to break out between the two of you that would delight the infidels.”

Ismail Pasha said to Shamil, “I will do what you command in this affair.”

Shamil said, “I think that you need to send your son to him.” When he sent his son [to the sultan], everyone rejoiced and showed their joy by firing a great number of rifle shots. The padishah’s daughter was sent to marry that son [of Ismail], for which happiness was shown in Egypt in the same way [i.e., by firing shots in the air].

One day, one of their scholars came to him and spoke with him about that killing [in Daghestan mentioned above]. Shamil said, “We acted according to the books of sharia in all situations.” He replied, “If that’s true, then good for you.” Shamil ordered [Islamic legal] books to be brought. Two men brought them out in a sack. Shamil showed the justification for what he had done. The scholar accepted this and was convinced by it.

As his departure was approaching, Ismail Pasha showed his goodwill to [Shamil] and gave him abundant gifts. When the ship came one night to a place where a pharaoh had once drowned, the waves of the sea rose up.⁸⁹ The ship’s captain complained to Shaykh Shamil. [Shamil] gave a note to one of his comrades and told him to throw it in the sea without having it touch the ship. He threw it in and [the sea] calmed down. We found that news of this [event] had reached Alexandria and the sharif [governor] of Mecca before Shamil left the ship. This is the end of what his associate told us. God, may He be exalted, is most-knowing!

Shaykh Shamil had stayed six months in Istanbul during his hajj pilgrimage, waiting for the great imam [the Ottoman sultan] to invite him [for a visit] and to say goodbye [to the sultan] when he saw [him]. When six months passed and he wanted to visit the holy house of God [Mecca], Shamil went to take his leave. When [Shamil] came to him, the great imam shook [Shamil’s] hand. Russian notables say that this had not happened before and would not happen after that. The shaykh al-Islam or mufti of the [great] imam was there and was skeptical of [Shamil’s] level of [religious] knowledge.⁹⁰ He examined him and did not find him [deficient] as he had feared. The imam gave Shamil 3,000 piasters for his travel expenses. There were 500 pilgrims and 16 servants traveling with Shamil. Two of his wives joined him [for this trip]: Zahida, daughter of Jamal al-Din al-Ghazi-Ghumuqi, and Shawana the Christian, accompanied by four daughters and a young son named Muhammad Kamil.

They prepared a good ship for him that is called a “steamer.” He was visited on this ship by the shaykh al-Islam and other notables from the [Ottoman] court. Those in his retinue there said that he was planning to return to radiant Medina and live there until his death, instead of going back to Istanbul or to Russia, but this never passed his lips [i.e., he never actually said this]. This is the end of what the Russian newspapers tell us.

He is now, that is in Sha’ban, 1287 AH [=November, 1870 CE], in radiant Medina according to what we have heard. May God provide for us and for him a good end [to life]! In this year, 1287 AH [=1870 CE], the Russian tsar allowed Shaykh Shamil’s son Ghazi Muhammad to visit his father [in Medina] and the sacred house of God [in Mecca] for a period of seven months. It was not suitable for Ghazi Muhammad to go to see his father [directly] from Istanbul, because of Arab brigandage on the routes between there and radiant Medina. So he went to noble Mecca [instead].

The notables accompanying Shamil found the climate unhealthy in Medina and his two daughters died there. They kept asking him if they could go back to Istanbul, but Shaykh Shamil would literally reply, “I want one thing for myself: I want to die here. Why would I move anywhere else?” He took sick for a while and in Dhu al-Hijja on 1278 AH [sic: should be 1287 AH], Shaykh Shamil passed away with the grace of God. May He be exalted! He was buried with honor and praise in the garden of Baqiyya [in Medina] among the honored shrines near the shrine of al-’Abbas.91 News of his death reached Ghazi Muhammad while he was in honored Mecca the venerated. He recited the phrase “We are from God and it is to Him we return,” and wept until his eyes became red and swollen. He then arranged a meal for all the Daghestani pilgrims there as a charitable offering [in memory of Shamil] and literally said to them, “My father once governed [your] area. When you arrive back in your homeland, ask its people to say a funeral prayer for him, and request that they forgive him and pardon whatever he did that caused them harm.” He added, “I am a prisoner of the Russian tsar. Pray for me that God (May He be exalted!) releases me from captivity”

Ghazi Muhammad then came to radiant Medina. He visited the shrines there before coming to his father’s tomb. It is reported that he now intends to move his father’s family to Mecca the venerable in accordance with an order from the sharif of Mecca, since Shamil had entrusted the care of his family to him. Then Ghazi Muhammad returned to the Russian tsar’s custody, as the two of them had arranged. The tsar sent his [Ghazi Muhammad’s] family to serve his father’s family.

They report that the tsar gave him four young men and four young women as servants for his wife and that he [the tsar] sends a large stipend to him and to the family of his father, set at 300,000 piastres for him and 300,000 for his family. At present in 1289 AH [=1872 CE], he is in Istanbul with his family and his father’s family, honored and esteemed in the presence of the great notables there.

[At this point, the earliest manuscript of the work ends. The other manuscripts continue for two or three more pages, but the story really ends here with Shamil’s death.]

Notes

1      Al-Qarakhi, Muhammad Tahir, Khronika Mukhammeda Takhira al-Karakhi, edited and translated by A.M.Barabanov and I.Iu.Krachkovskii (Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR, 1941, 1946), Introduction, 8. The Russian translation was published in 1941, the Arabic original in 1946. All references to these texts will first indicate the Russian, then the Arabic text page numbers.

2      Ibid.

3      Muhammad Tahir Qarahi, Kafkasya Mucahid İmam Şamil’in Gazavati, ed. Tahir Olgun and Tarik Cemal Kutlu (Istanbul: Gözde Kitaplar Yaymevi, 1987).

4      All phrases and sentences in brackets [] have been added to clarify the meaning of the text.

5      Most subsequent repetitions of this standard ritual Muslim praise of God that follow the divine name throughout the text have been left out of this translation. Many less common expressions of religious praise have been retained and enclosed by parentheses, though, to provide a sense of how the original text was structured.

6      Muhammad’s family and companions are viewed in the Islamic world as the most faithful Muslims.

7      This phrase derives from the rule stated in the Quran that Islamic leaders should “promote the good and prohibit the evil.” (See, for example, Quran 3:104, 3:110.)

8      “Customary law” (often called adat in the nineteenth-century Caucasus) refers to man-made rules not based on God’s revelation. Thus, it was the exact opposite of the sharia: the Islamic holy law based on God’s revelation through the Quran and the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad. See Moshe Gammer, Muslim Resistance to the Tsar: Shamil and the Conquest of Chechnia and Daghestan (London: Frank Cass, 1994), pp.42–43.

9      Al-Qarakhi criticized revering rulers like the tsar as idols. Idol worship is a clear sign for Muslims that men are not obeying God’s law. Rulers act like idols when they make their own laws. Imperial monarchs were suspect because they claimed legitimacy to rule that belonged to God alone. Al-Qarakhi called the tsar padishah, alluding to the pre-Islamic imperial Persian monarchs often regarded as illegitimate by devout Muslims.

10    Ghazi Muhammad was the first imam (religious leader) who led resistance to the Russians between 1829 and 1832.

11    Hamza Bek, the second imam, succeeded Ghazi Muhammad in 1832 but was killed in 1834.

12    Shamil led the resistance from 1834 until 1859 as the third imam. Al-Qarakhi mentioned Mecca and Medina, the two holiest places in Islam, as well as Balkh (in Afghanistan) and Bukhara (in Central Asia) to convey the extent of Shamil’s reputation across the Muslim world.

13    Considerable debate continues about the nature of this resistance movement: how much was it a typical Sufi project and to what extent was it something new, labeled “muridism” by some scholars? See the discussion in Part III “War of Worlds” below to further explore this question.

14    All dates in the original Arabic text were given in hijri years (AH): the 354-day lunar calendar that began with Muhammad’s hegira (flight) to Medina on July 16, 622 of the common era (CE). They are followed in this edition by CE years in brackets.

15    A typical eulogy for Sufi leaders.

16    Muslim writers often contrast the illegitimacy of adat (customary law) with the legitimacy of sharia (holy law), because only holy law comes from God. Although Muslim theologians generally do not oppose customary law that agrees with sharia, they agree that customary precedent is an inferior source of law to divine revelation. In nineteenth-century Daghestan, customary law endured in particular through each local group’s distinct succession rules. See Anna Zelkina, In Quest for God and Freedom (New York: New York University Press, 2000), pp.14–15.

17    Kawthar is the fountain of redemption in paradise.

18    The Ka’ba in Mecca is the holiest site in Islam, near the place where, according to Muslim belief, Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma’il).

19    The Hashimis were members of Muhammad’s subtribe in Mecca.

20    The shamkhal was the hereditary ruler of a Turkic group in the eastern Caucasus. Since the late eighteenth century, shamkhals had generally allied with the Russians, most recently since 1818.

21    These two scholars were masters of the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi order to which Shamil belonged. Both Shamil and Ghazi Muhammad had been initiated into this order by Jamal al-Din, who began to preach in the Caucasus in the 1810s. Shamil continued to consult Muhammad Efendi as a Sufi leader throughout his own career.

22    Quran 39:18

23    Quran 77:39.

24    Based on Quran 37:177.

25    Quran 2:279.

26    Based on Quran 32:21.

27    Quran 3:139.

28    The fatiha is the opening chapter of the Quran, memorized by all Muslims as a catechism of faith.

29    This sentence refers to the five religious obligations known as the “pillars of Islam”: prayer, reciting the “Testament of Faith,” maintaining a daytime fast during the month of Ramadan, making a pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj) once in life, and giving charity. Muslim legal scholars do not agree on any number of grave sins, but it is clear that this author wanted to promote a fairly encompassing definition of sin by choosing such a large number. S.v. Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd edition), article “Khatia.”

30    This refers to Sa’id Efendi al-Harakani, an alim who had declared jihad against the Russians in 1819 but later opposed the Naqshbandis. See Gammer, Muslim Resistance to the Tsar, p.43.

31    Consumption of alcohol is forbidden by the Quran.

32    Khunzakh was the capital of the hereditary rulers of the Avar people, who generally allied with the Russians and opposed the movement of Ghazi Muhammad, Hamza, and Shamil. At this time, Pakhu Bike was the Avar regent for her infant son and was the daughter of Umma Khan.

33    The implication was that God was admonishing Muslims through natural portents like earthquakes.

34    This is the night of the holiest Islamic celebration, when sheep are slaughtered to celebrate how God allowed Abraham not to sacrifice Ismail.

35    Indiri and Targhu were both Chechen villages near the Russian forts Vnezapnaia (“sudden”) and Burnaia (“stormy”) built respectively in 1820 and 1821 to complement the first Russian defensive fort in Chechnia: Groznaia (“menacing”) which had been built in 1819 (the site of modern Groznyi).

36    Quran 12:18. The implication is that the woman knew for certain that her children would enter paradise as martyrs in holy war.

37    Muhammad Efendi al-Yaraghi was a learned Muslim scholar in the Avar area who belonged to the chain of Naqshbandi Sufi shaykhs. He had been Hamza Bek’s shaykh and spritiual teacher in the village of Chokha, beginning in 1801. See Zelkina, In Quest for God and Freedom, 102–103, 160.

38    Buraw was the Daghestani name for the Russian fort at Vladikavkaz.

39    Hasan and Husayn were Muhammad’s two grandsons. Their names were often used together in Muslim names.

40    Quran 2:156.

41    Quran 3:178.

42    Muhammad is considered by Muslims to be the last prophet of God, so this is about the highest praise that a devout Muslim could give someone and not be considered blasphemous.

43    Kashf is a technical Sufi term to describe mystical knowledge of the world beyond everyday phenomena, akin to knowledge of Plato’s noumena (“things as they are”) but in an Islamic religious mystical context.

44    Here Shamil alluded to Quranic descriptions of heaven, in which beautiful maidens (houris) attend martyrs.

45    In the late summer of 1831, Ghazi Muhammad and his disciples (probably including Shamil) had attacked Russian forces several times in Chechnia.

46    Various versions of the phrase “hearing and obedience” provide a formula for how Muslims ought to follow Islamic law.

47    The ‘Id al-Fitr is a major Muslim holiday which marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and contemplation in daylight and nighttime celebration for Muslims.

48    Quran, 63:8. This is an ironic Quranic passage since it cites hypocrites wrongly referring to themselves as more honorable than Muhammad.

49    The implication is that he had abdicated his responsibility as an Islamic leader to command what is good and forbid what is bad.

50    The Hanafi and Shafi’i rites are two of the four schools of Islamic legal interpretation among Sunni Muslims. They are named for their founders. They differ slightly on how to interpret specific aspects of law, but not on basic prohibitions such as the ban on drinking alcohol. Al-Qarakhi was trying to show how this judge attempted to cite a specious religious technicality to argue that one Muslim rite’s judge could not punish sins committed by another rite’s follower. He had Shamil respond that all Muslims regardless of rite must uphold basic Islamic law.

51    The implication here is that Shamil and the Shamkhal would both recognize each other’s authority in their respective domains: the Shamkhal in the lowlands and Shamil in the mountains.

52    Quran 13:17.

53    Shamil compared his situation to that of Muhammad when he had to make the hegira (flight to Medina). In 622, Muhammad fled from Mecca, the city where he had begun to receive divine revelations in 610 CE, to Medina because of a plot against him.

54    Russian soldiers apparently defecated in houses when they captured villages, just as in Hadji Murat they were said to have fouled a well.

55    Here are two stock descriptions of an effective Islamic government, in which the ruler commands what is obligatory and forbids what is prohibited while the people “hear and obey” what he says.

56    Men and women engaging in such activity together would have seemed questionable to Shamil given how Islamic injunctions against inappropriate mixing of the sexes were traditionally interpreted.

57    According to Islamic law, it is legitimate to take plunder from an enemy in battle under strict constraints.

58    Islambol, which in Turkish means “full of Islam,” was an Islamic alternative developed during the Ottoman era to the actual name of the city Istanbul, which apparently comes from a Greek phrase meaning “to the city”

59    A fatwa is a judicial opinion issued by someone regarded as knowledgeable about Islamic law.

60    I.e., to imply that those who stayed peacefully inside their houses would not be hurt. The Ansal group was trying to tell the people that they were only after Shamil’s murids.

61    I.e., to bolster their own spirits against the attackers.

62    The people of Saba (called Sabaeans and recognized in the Quran as legitimate monotheists) were members of a pre-Islamic civilization that flourished in Yemen but was later broken up into small tribal groups.

63    Quran 78:26.

64    The murtaziqs were a standing cavalry army who were excused from regular labor for military service under the command of Shamil’s naibs. Every group of ten households in territories controlled by Shamil was obliged to pay for an armed horseman who was called a murtaziq. See Gammer, Muslim Resistance to the Tsar, pp. 228–229.

65    In other words: “if you follow agreements you have made, then we will conclude one with you, but if not, then God knows what will happen.”

66    Quran 32:21.

67    The term sunna refers to “the words and deeds of Muhammad”, the second most important component of the sharia after the Quran. “Sunni” is the adjective of this word.

68    This probably referred either to Leontii Pavlovich Nicolai or his brother Aleksandr Pavlovich Nicolai, both important Russian commanders in the Caucasus.

69    The story of Moses and the Exodus is mentioned in the Quran, along with accounts of many other Jewish and Christian prophets in the Abrahamic tradition.

70    Barabanov translates chalandar as “field officer.” Its meaning is not clear.

71    The word translated here as commander is sardal, a variant of the term sardar used in Hadji Murat See, for example, p.112

72    As noted earlier, Shamil had named one of his sons for the first imam Ghazi Muhammad.

73    Quran 13:17.

74    These three Arabic proverbs are used to describe situations that have become severe and distressing. See E.W.Lane, Arabic—English Lexicon (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 2000), volume 1, 221, 728.

75    Shamil had become separated from his family when he went to fight the Russians, apparently in the action referred to above in which Sultan Bek al-Dilimi was martyred.

76    Muhammad al-Mahdi is the messiah believed to be coming to mankind on Judgment Day.

77    Quran 13:17.

78    A footnote in one version of The Shining of Swords identified Zandiqi as a Chechen village.

79    Here al-Qarakhi used the Russian word for law (zakori) to emphasize its infidel and illegitimate character. The use of this term parallels al-Qarakhi’s many references to the adat’. the customary law of the Muslim mountaineers that Shamil and his followers also did not consider legitimate, because the only legitimate law was the sharia (holy law).

80    Al-Qarakhi thus indicated that he lived continuously with Shamil from 1849 until at least 1855 and therefore was an eyewitness to the events of that time period.

81    Clearcutting forests was a major component of the Russian campaign in the mountains. This deprived the native forces of cover, disrupting their ability to move stealthily. In this way, it hindered their ability to take advantage of mobility and surprise, two of the most important aspects of their guerilla war against the larger, better supplied Russian army units.

82    Umar apparently retreated after a skirmish with the Russians on the way to Qaytaq and Tabarsaran.

83    That is, the Russian fort at Zakartalah.

84    “Associating” other things or beings with God (in Arabic, shirk) is a grave sin for devout Muslims, because this denies his transcendence and his oneness. For them, God is one being and transcends all creation.

85    Quran 13:9.

86    Quran 2:148.

87    This presumably refers to one of the newer Ottoman sailing vessels acquired during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (ruled 1808–1839).

88    In the summer of 1869 when this story was taking place, Ismail Pasha, the khedive of Egypt (ruled 1863–1879) had just opened the Suez Canal: a sign that he was beginning to assert some independence from the Ottoman Sultan, who was still regarded as his sovereign. Al-Karakhi was trying to show Shamil’s standing as an Islamic diplomat by demonstrating how he tried to make peace between these rulers.

89    This is a reference to the biblical and Quranic story of the Pharaoh who drowned with his army in the Red Sea while pursuing Moses.

90    This refers to the chief Ottoman religious official: the shaykh al-Islam. The term imam here refers to the Ottoman sultan.

91    Shamil died in March 1871 CE which corresponds to Dhu al-Hijja 1287 AH, not 1278 AH.