One of the most famous national heroes of the Caucasian peoples is Imam Shamil. The biography of this man allows us to conclude that his life was full of sharp turns and interesting events. For many years he led the uprising of the mountain peoples against the Russian Empire, and is now a symbol of freedom and rebellion in the Caucasus. The biography of Imam Shamil will be summarized in this review.
The origin of the hero
Without a family history, the biography of Imam Shamil would not be fully understandable. A summary of the history of the genus of this hero, we will try to retell below.
Shamil came from a rather ancient and noble Avar or Kumyk noble family. The great-great-grandfather of the hero Kumyk-Amir-Khan enjoyed great authority and respect among his fellow tribesmen. Grandfather Shamil Ali and father Dengav-Magomed were Uzden, which is an analogue of the nobles in Russia, that is, belonged to the upper class. In addition, Dengav Magomed was a blacksmith, and this profession was considered very honorable among the highlanders.
Shamil’s mother was called Bahu Meseda. She was the daughter of the noble Avar Bek Pir-Budakh. That is, on his paternal and maternal lines, he had noble ancestors. This is reported by the biography of such a famous person as Imam Shamil (biography). The nationality of the hero has not yet been fully clarified. It is known only that he is a representative of the highlanders of Dagestan. It is well established that Avar blood flowed in his veins. But with some probability we can say that on his father he was a Kumyk.
The birth of Shamil
The biography of Imam Shamil, of course, begins with the date of his birth. This event happened in June 1797 in the villages of Gimry in the accident. This settlement is now located in the western regions of the Republic of Dagestan.
Initially, the boy was named after his paternal grandfather - Ali. But soon he became ill, and the baby, according to customs, to protect him from evil spirits, changed his name to Shamil. It is a variant of the biblical name Samuel and is translated as "heard by God." That was the name of his mother’s brother.
Childhood and learning
As a child, Shamil was a rather thin and sickly boy. But in the end, he grew up surprisingly healthy and strong young man.
Since childhood, the character of the future leader of the uprising began to emerge. He was a curious, lively boy with a proud, adamant and power-hungry character. One of Shamil's traits was unprecedented courage. He began to learn how to use weapons from early childhood.
Imam Shamil was very kind to religion. The biography of this person is inextricably linked with religiosity. The first teacher of Shamil was his friend Adil-Muhammad. At the age of twelve, he began to study at Untsukul under the leadership of Jamaluddin Kazikumukhsky. Then he mastered grammar, rhetoric, logic, jurisprudence, Arabic, philosophy, which for the mountain tribes of the first half of the XIX century was considered a very high level of education.
Caucasian war
The life of our hero is very closely connected with the Caucasian War , and Shamil’s biography repeatedly mentions this. Briefly describe this military conflict between the mountain peoples and the Russian Empire is in this review.
The military conflict between the highlanders of the Caucasus and the Russian Empire began back in the time of Catherine II, when the Russo-Turkish War (1787-1791) was underway. Then the highlanders led by Sheikh Mansour sought to stop the advancement and strengthening of Russia in the Caucasus, taking advantage of the help of their co-religionists from the Ottoman Empire. But the Turks lost in this war, and Sheikh Mansour was captured. After that, tsarist Russia continued to increase its presence in the Caucasus, oppressing the local population.
In fact, the resistance of the mountain tribes did not stop even after the conclusion of the Russian peace with the Turks, but the confrontation reached particular strength after the appointment of General Alexei Ermolov as commander in the Caucasus and the end of the Russo-Persian war of 1804-1813. Ermolov tried once and for all to solve the problem of resistance of the local population by force, which led in 1817 to a full-scale war that lasted almost 50 years.
Despite the rather brutal hostilities, the Russian troops acted quite successfully, putting under their control all the large territories in the Caucasus and subjugating new tribes. But in 1827, the emperor recalled General Ermolov, suspecting him of having connections with the Decembrists, and General I. Paskevich was sent in his place.
The emergence of an imamate
Meanwhile, in the struggle against the offensive of the Russian Empire, the consolidation of Caucasian peoples began. One of the trends of Sunni Islam is spreading in the region - Muridism, the central idea of which was ghazawat (holy war) against infidels.
One of the main preachers of the new doctrine was the theologian Gazi-Muhammad, who was from the same village as Shamil. At the end of 1828, at the meeting of elders of the tribes of the East Caucasus, Ghazi-Muhammad was proclaimed imam. Thus, he became the de facto head of the newly formed state - the North Caucasian imamat - and the leader of the uprising against the Russian Empire. Immediately after the adoption of the title of Imam, Ghazi-Muhammad declared a holy war against Russia.
Now the Caucasian tribes were united in a single force, and their actions acquired a special danger for the Russian troops, especially since Paskevich’s military gift was still inferior to Yermolov’s talent. The war flared up with renewed vigor. From the very beginning, Shamil also took an active part in the conflict, becoming one of the leaders and assistants to Gazi-Muhammad. They fought shoulder to shoulder in the battle for Gimry in 1832, for their native village. The rebels were besieged by the tsarist troops in the fortress, which fell on October 18. During the attack, Imam Ghazi-Mohammed was killed, and Shamil, despite his wound, managed to break out of the encirclement, chopping down several Russian soldiers.
Gamzat-bey became the new imam. This choice was dictated by the fact that Shamil was seriously wounded at that time. But Gamzat-bey was an imam for less than two years and died in a bloody struggle with one of the Avar tribes.
Election as Imam
Thus, Shamil became the main candidate for the role of head of the North Caucasian state. He was elected at a meeting of elders at the end of 1834. And until the end of his life he was referred to only as Imam Shamil. The biography (short in our presentation, but very saturated in fact) of his reign will be presented by us below.
It was the election of the imam that marked the beginning of the most important stage in the life of Shamil.
Fighting the Russian Empire
He put all his strength into it so that the struggle with the Russian troops was successful, Imam Shamil. His biography completely says that this goal has become almost the main thing in his life.
In this fight, Shamil showed considerable military and organizational talent, he knew how to instill confidence in victory in the soldiers, and did not make hasty decisions. The latter quality distinguished him from previous imams. It was these characteristics that allowed Shamil to exert successful resistance numerically numerically exceeding the Russian army.
Management of the Imamat under Shamil
In addition, using Islam as an element of propaganda, Imam Shamil managed to unite the tribes of Chechnya and Dagestan. If, under his predecessors, the union of the Caucasian tribes was quite loose, then with the advent of Shamil, he acquired all the features of statehood.
As a law, he introduced Islamic Sharia instead of the ancient canons of the Highlanders (Adat).
The North Caucasian imamat was divided into districts, at the head of which he put the naibs to imams Shamil. His biography is replete with similar examples of attempts to maximize centralization of management. The Mufti, who appointed the Qadi judges, was in charge of the judiciary in each district.
Captivity
For twenty-five years, Imam Shamil ruled relatively successfully in the North Caucasus. A biography, a brief excerpt from which will be placed below, indicates that 1859 was a turning point in his life.
After the end of the Crimean War and the conclusion of the Paris Peace , the actions of Russian troops intensified in the Caucasus. Against Shamil, the emperor threw experienced military leaders - Generals Muravyov and Baryatinsky, who in April 1859 managed to capture the imamate capital. In June 1859, the last rebel groups were suppressed or ousted from Chechnya.
The national liberation movement broke out among the Adyghe people, and also moved to Dagestan, where Shamil himself was located. But already in August, his detachment was besieged by Russian troops. Since the forces were unequal, Shamil was forced to surrender, however, on very honorable terms.
In captivity
And what can tell us about the period when Imam Shamil, a biography, was captured? A brief biography of this person will not draw a picture of his life for us, but will allow us to compile at least an approximate psychological portrait of this person.
Already in September 1859, the imam first met with the Russian emperor Alexander II. It happened in Chuguev. Soon, Shamil was transported to Moscow, where he met with the famous General Ermolov. In September, the imam was taken to the capital of the Russian Empire, where he was introduced to the empress. As you can see, the leader of the uprising at the court was treated very loyally.
Soon, Shamil and his family were assigned a permanent residence - the city of Kaluga. In 1861, a second meeting with the emperor took place. This time, Shamil asked to be released for a pilgrimage to Mecca, but was refused.
Five years later, Shamil and his family took the oath of allegiance to the Russian Empire, thus accepting Russian citizenship. Three years later, according to the decree of the emperor, Shamil received a noble title with the right to inherit it. A year before, the imam was allowed to change his place of residence and move to a more climatic Kiev.
It is impossible to describe in this short review everything that Imam Shamil survived in captivity. The biography briefly suggests that this captivity was, however, quite comfortable and honorable, at least from the point of view of the Russians.
Death
Finally, all in the same 1869, Shamil managed to ask the emperor for permission to hajj to Mecca. Traveling there took more than a year.
After Shamil brought his plan to life, and this happened in 1871, he decided to visit the second holy city for Muslims - Medina. There he died in the seventy-fourth year of his life. The imam was buried not in his native Caucasian land, but in Medina.
Imam Shamil: biography, family
The family occupied a significant place in the life of this person, however, like any Caucasian mountaineer. Let us learn more about the relatives and friends of the great fighter for the independence of his people.
According to Muslim customs, Shamil had the right to have three legal wives. He took advantage of this right.
The eldest of the sons of Shamil was called Jamaluddin (born in 1829). In 1839 he was taken hostage. He studied in St. Petersburg along with the children of the clan nobles. Shamil later managed to exchange his son for another prisoner, but Jamaluddin died at the age of 29 from tuberculosis.
One of the main assistants to the father was the second son - Gazi-Mohammed. During the reign of Shamil, he became the naib of one of the districts. He died in 1902 in the Ottoman Empire.
The third son, Said, died as a child.
The youngest sons - Muammad-chefi and Muhammad-Kamil - died in 1906 and in 1951, respectively.
Characteristics of Imam Shamil
We followed the path of life that Imam Shamil went through (biography, photos are presented in the article). As you can see, the appearance of this person betrays the real mountaineer, a native of the Caucasus. It can be seen that this is a bold and decisive person, ready to put a lot on the line for a higher purpose. His contemporaries testified more than once to Shamil’s character.
For the mountain peoples of the Caucasus, Shamil will always remain a symbol of the struggle for independence. At the same time, some methods of the famous Imam far from always correspond to modern concepts of the rules of warfare and humanity.