One of the most famous national heroesCaucasian peoples is Imam Shamil. The biography of this person leads to the conclusion 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 now is a symbol of freedom and rebellion in the Caucasus. The biography of Imam Shamil will be briefly summarized in this review.
The origin of the hero
Without a family history, the biography of Imam Shamil will not be fully accessible. A summary of the history of the kind of this hero, we will try to retell below.
Шамиль происходил из довольно древнего и знатного Avar or Kumyk noble family. The great-great-grandfather of the hero Kumyk-Amir-Khan enjoyed great prestige and respect among his fellow tribesmen. Grandfather Shamil Ali and father Dengav-Magomed were uzden, which is analogous to the nobility 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-Messeda.She was the daughter of a noble Avar Bek Pir-Budaha. That is, he had noble ancestors both on his father's and maternal lines. 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 elucidated. It is only known that he is a representative of the mountaineers of Dagestan. It is well established that Avar blood flowed in his veins. But with some probability we can say that he was a Kumyk by his father.
Birth of Shamil
Biography of Imam Shamil, of course,starts from the date of his birth. This event happened in June 1797 in the villages of Gimry on the territory of the accident. This settlement is now located in the western regions of the Republic of Dagestan.
Initially, the boy was named after his grandfatherfather line - Ali. But soon he fell ill, and the child, according to custom, in order 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." Also called his mother's brother.
Childhood and learning
As a child, Shamil was a rather thin and painful boy. But in the end, he grew up surprisingly healthy and strong young men.
Since childhood, the disposition of the future began to emergethe leader of the uprising. He was a curious, lively boy with a proud, uncompromising and overbearing character. One of the traits of Shamil was unprecedented courage. He began learning how to use weapons from early childhood.
Очень трепетно к религии относился Имам Шамиль.The biography of this person is inextricably linked with religion. The first teacher of Shamil was his friend Adil-Muhammad. At twelve, he began to study at Untsukul under the leadership of Jamaluddin Kazikumukhsky. Then he mastered the grammar, rhetoric, logic, jurisprudence, Arabic, philosophy that for the mountain tribes of the first half of the XIX century was considered a very high level of education.
The Caucasian War
Life is very closely connected with the Caucasian War.our hero, and this is repeatedly mentioned by the biography of Shamil. Briefly describe this military conflict between the mountain peoples and the Russian Empire is in this review.
Military conflict between the mountaineers of the Caucasus andThe Russian Empire began in the time of Catherine II, when the Russian-Turkish war was going on (1787-1791). Then the highlanders, led by Sheikh Mansur, sought to stop the advancement and strengthening of Russia in the Caucasus, using the help of their co-religionists from the Ottoman Empire. But the Turks lost in this war, and Sheikh Mansur was captured. After this, tsarist Russia continued to build up its presence in the Caucasus, oppressing the local population.
In fact, the resistance of the mountain tribes is notIt also stopped after the conclusion of the peace of the Russians with the Turks, but the opposition reached a peculiar strength after the appointment of General Alexei Yermolov as commander in the Caucasus and the end of the Russian-Persian war of 1804-1813. Yermolov tried once and for all to solve the problem of resistance of the local population by force, which in 1817 led to a full-scale war that lasted almost 50 years.
Despite the rather brutal fighting,Russian troops acted quite successfully, placing under their control all the large territories in the Caucasus and subordinating new tribes. But in 1827 the emperor recalled General Yermolov, suspecting him of having links with the Decembrists, and General I. Paskevich was sent to replace him.
The emergence of the Imamate
Тем временем в борьбе с наступлением Российской Empire began consolidation of the Caucasian nationalities. In the region, one of the currents of Sunni Islam is spreading - muridism, the central idea of which was ghazavat (holy war) against infidels.
One of the main preachers of the new teachingwas the theologian Ghazi-Muhammad who was from the same village as Shamil. At the end of 1828, Ghazi Muhammad was proclaimed Imam at a meeting of elders of the East Caucasian tribes. Thus, he became the de facto head of the newly formed state - the North Caucasian Imamate - 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 ina single force, and their actions acquired a particular danger to the Russian troops, especially since Paskevich’s commanding gift was still inferior to Ermolov’s talent. The war broke out with a new force. From the very beginning Shamil took an active part in the conflict, becoming one of the leaders and assistants of Gazi-Muhammad. They fought shoulder to shoulder in the battle for Gimry in 1832, for their home village. The rebels were besieged by the royal troops in the fortress, which fell October 18. During the attack, Imam Ghazi Mohammed was killed, and Shamil, despite his injury, managed to break out of the encirclement, hacking down several Russian soldiers.
Gamzat-bek became the new imam.This choice was dictated by the fact that Shamil was seriously wounded at that time. But Gamzat-bek stayed imam for less than two years and died in a bloody struggle with one of the Avar tribes.
Election as imam
So the main candidate for the roleHead of the North Caucasian state became Shamil. He was elected at a meeting of elders at the end of 1834. And until the end of his life he was called not only Imam Shamil. A biography (brief in our presentation, but very rich in fact) of his board will be presented below.
It was the election of the imam that marked the beginning of an important stage in the life of Shamil.
Fighting the Russian Empire
He put all his strength on the fact that the struggle against the Russian troops was successful, Imam Shamil. His biography fully states that this goal became almost the main one in his life.
In this struggle, Shamil showed considerable military andorganizational talent, he knew how to instill confidence in the soldiers in victory, did not take hasty decisions. The latter quality distinguished him from the previous imams. It was these characteristics that allowed Shamil to successfully defeat the Russians in numbers that exceeded his army.
Management of Imamat at Shamil
Also using Islam as an elementpropaganda, Imam Shamil managed to unite the tribes of Chechnya and Dagestan. If, under his predecessors, the union of the tribes of the Caucasian peoples was fairly loose, then with the coming to power of Shamil he acquired all the features of statehood.
As a law, he introduced the Islamic Shari'ah instead of the ancient canons of the Highlanders (adat).
The North Caucasian Imamate was divided into districts,at the head of which Naib put the Imam Shamil. His biography is replete with similar examples of attempts to maximize the centralization of control. The judicial authority in each district was in charge of the mufti, who appointed qadi judges.
Captivity
Twenty-five years of relatively successful rules onNorth Caucasus Imam Shamil. The 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 conclusionOf the Parisian world, the actions of the Russian troops intensified in the Caucasus. Against Shamil, the emperor threw experienced commanders - generals Muravyov and Baryatinsky, who in April 1859 managed to seize the capital of the Imamate. In June 1859, the last rebel groups were suppressed or ousted from Chechnya.
The national liberation movement broke outamong the Adygei, and also moved to Dagestan, where Shamil himself was located. But in August, his detachment was besieged by Russian troops. Since the forces were unequal, Shamil was forced to surrender, however, on very honorable conditions.
In captivity
And what can tell us about the period whenthe captivity was Imam Shamil, a biography? A brief biography of this person does not draw us a picture of his life, but will allow you to create at least an approximate psychological portrait of the person.
Already in September 1859, the imam first metwith the Russian emperor Alexander II. It happened in Chuguev. Soon Shamil was transported to Moscow, where he met with the famous General Yermolov. In September, the imam was taken to the capital of the Russian Empire, where he was presented to the empress. As you can see, the leader of the uprising at the court were very loyal.
Soon Shamil and his family were assignedpermanent residence - the city of Kaluga. In 1861 there was a second meeting with the emperor. This time, Shamil asked to let him go to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, but was refused.
Через пять лет Шамиль и его семья принесли oath of allegiance to the Russian Empire, thus, taking Russian citizenship. Three years later, according to the decree of the emperor, Shamil received a noble title with the right to transfer it by inheritance. A year before this, the Imam was allowed to change his place of residence and move to a more favorable climate.
It’s impossible to describe everything in this short review.what Imam Shamil survived in captivity. The biography briefly indicates that this captivity was, however, quite comfortable and honorable, at least from the point of view of the Russians.
Death
Finally, in the same year of 1869, Shamil managed to get the emperor’s permission for the hajj to Mecca. The trip there took more than a year.
After Shamil embodied his plans inlife, and it happened in 1871, he decided to visit the second holy city for Muslims - Medina. There he died at the seventy-fourth year of life. Imam was buried not in his native land of the Caucasus, but in Medina.
Imam Shamil: biography, family
The family occupied a significant place in the life of this person, however, like in every Caucasian highlander. Let's learn more about the family and friends of the great fighter for the independence of his people.
According to Muslim customs, Shamil had the right to have three legitimate wives. Right, he took advantage of it.
The eldest of the sons of Shamil was called Jamaluddin(born in 1829). In 1839 he was taken hostage. He studied in St. Petersburg on a par with the children of tribal nobles. Later, Shamil managed to exchange his son for another prisoner, but Jamaluddin died at the age of 29 from tuberculosis.
One of the main assistants of 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 in infancy.
The younger sons — Muammad-shefi and Muhammad-Kamil — died in 1906 and in 1951, respectively.
Characteristics of Imam Shamil
We traced the life path that the Imam went through.Shamil (biography, photos are presented in the article). As you could be sure, this man’s appearance betrays the real highlander himself, who comes from the Caucasus. It can be seen that this is a bold and decisive personality, ready for the sake of the highest goal to put a lot on the line. His contemporaries testified to the firmness of Shamil’s character more than once.
For the mountain peoples of the Caucasus, Shamil will always beremain a symbol of the struggle for independence. At the same time, some of the methods of the famous Imam do not always correspond to modern concepts of the rules of warfare and humanity.
