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THE

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF

SCHAMYL AND THE MURIDS.

BY

BARON AUGUST VON HAXTHAUSEN.

AUTHOR OF TRANSCAUCASIA,' THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE,' ETC.
1

'

LONDON

CHAPMAN AND HALL,

1855.

TTk* Siaht nf

7V,/

193,

PICCADILLY.

printed by

john edw4rd taylor, little queen" street,

Lincoln's inn fields.

PREFACE.

The manuscript
kindly sent to

me by Baron

publication of his larger

to

which

interest

it

may be

work on Transcaucasia,

considered a supplement. The

and importance attached

offer the

Author's

book

name and

introduction,

has been

Haxthausen, since the

state of these countries induce

and

Work

of the following

to the present

me

to translate

to the English Public.

reputation

The

a sufficient

are

and guarantee of the correctness of

his statements.

Whether the reader

dissents from, his views, he

accepts, or

must acknowledge

that they spring from the convictions of an en-

lightened observer, and a high-minded and conscientious writer.

J. E.

London, September 25th, 1855.

TATLOE.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTEE

Mo The Ark. Limit of

Prophecy. G-og and Magog. Steppes.

Early Legends.

hammed's

I.

PAGE

Civilization.

Agricultural and Pastoral Races

CHAPTEE
Geographical Features.

II.

Rivers and Mountains. NatuExtent and Popula-

ral Character of the Country.

tion.

Yariety

of Races and Languages, Circassian,

Abkhasian, Ossetian.

Eastern

and Southern Trans9

caucasia

CHAPTER

III.

Races. Countries bordering the Cas The Ancient Iran. Magi. Zal and Roostern Eire-worship. Baku, Peter L Exploring Ex-

Early History.
pian Sea.

CONTENTS,

OrnruzcL
Islamism.
Timiir.
Eussian
p editions,
Government. Eock-caves. Trade of the Easto Chi-

Symbol of the

nese Colonists.

Dragon. European

Factories on the Caspian.-Armenian Traders.

De-

scendants of the Ten Lost Tribes.Variety of Trading

Western Caucasus. Colchis.

Georgia, The Iberians

Nations.

Dioscurias.

..........

CHAPTEE

20

IV,

Importance of these Countries. Wars of Persia and

Turkey. Decline of Mohammedanism .Progress of

Her Diplomatic Skill. Military Frontier.

Eussia.

Obstacles to Eussia's Designs. Position of England.

Circassians, Conjectures on the Present

35

Legend of Iran and Turan.

Wall of the Caucasus. Eomans
and Persians. Khosru Anushirvan. City of Derbent

44

CHAPTEE
Ormuzd and Ahriman.
Dulkarnein.

Crisis

V,

Great

CHAPTEE

VI.

The Sassanides. Military Colonies. Principalities.

Serir. Genghis Khan. The Scham Khal

....

CHAPTEE

VII.

The Caucasus. Shahs of Persia. Advance of Eussia,

Political Position of Caucasia. Mountaineers,

57

CONTENTS.

Vll

and Persians. Nume Trade with the Circassians. Introduction of Christianity. Muridism
Georgia and Armenia.
rous Eaces.

Policy

Tatars

of Eussia.

62

CHAPTEE
The Murids.

Strict

Origin of Muridism.

Mohammed.

His

VIII.

Mohammedans. The Sultan.

Mosque at Jarach. Moollah

Character and Position.

War. Kazi Mohammed.

The Kazamet

Preaches

Anecdote of Hadji Ismael.

72

CHAPTEE

IX.

The Kazamet. Disturbances

in the Eussian Provinces. Arslan Khan. His Interview with Moollah Mohammed. War between Perand Turkey. Khan of Avaria. Kazi Moollah

Opposition to Muridism.

sia

CHAPTEE

Gamzad

Khan

tures to the

of Ghamzad.

85

X.

Renewed Fervour of the MuBeg chosen Commander. His Over-

Death of Kazi Moollah.

rids.

Treacherous Conduct
Khan. Schamyl chosen

of Avaria.

Death of the

Leader

96

CHAPTEE

XI.

His Person and Character. Defeat of

His Extraordinary Escapes. Schamyl's Influence over the Murids. Campaigns of 1839-

Imam

Schamyl.

the Eussians.'

1843. Generals Grabbe and Golovin

106

CONTENTS.

VIU

CHAPTER XIL
Civil

and Military Organization.

PAGE

Reforms

in Turkey,

and Egypt. Mehemet Ali.-European Diplo Schamyl's Policy. His pretended Inspiration.
Blood Revenge. Code of Laws. Steps to Paradise.
JNaibs. Murtosigators
.117
Persia,

macy.

THE

TRIBES Of THE CAUCASUS.

CHAPTER

I.

EAELY LEGENDS. THE AEK. LIMIT OF CIVILIZATION. MOHAMMED'S PEOPHECY. GOG AND MAGOG. STEPPES. AGEICULTUEAL AND PASTOEAL EACES.

The

Caucasus, the

highest

mountain-range

in

world in ancient times, presents

the civilized

features of incalculable importance

and

interest,

both internally and with relation to the history

of

mankind

at large.

at the present

armed might
Allied Powers

More than

moment, when
of

Russia

are

and

engaged

momentous importance and

ever perhaps

in the East the

of
in a

the

Western

war of such

extent,

it

is

not

improbable that these countries, of which we

propose to treat in the following

pages,

may

form a central point in the history of the world,

on which

may hang

the destinies of the future,

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

pregnant

with

and changes that may

events

baffle all anticipation

and conjecture.

In ancient times the tribes of Western Asia

and Europe, dwelling

moun-

at the foot of these

looked up with wondering gaze to those

tains,

snowy summits, never trodden by the

man, which,
vilization,

in their eyes,

of

formed the limit of

ci-

and beyond which dwelt those hordes

of barbarians, without
thians

foot

name

or history, the Scy-

and Hyperboreans.

With

these mountains were naturally associated

the oldest popular legends and mythes.

the race of the Divs

When

and Jinns, which inhabited

the world before the creation of man, alienated

themselves from the Deity, they were banished

to the Caucasus,

where

it

is

supposed they

still

dwell in their ice-palaces, under their king, the

Padishah of the Jinns, who holds his court in

the Elbrouz, " the resplendent, holy, blest

moun-

tain/'

On

the other hand, the Grecian

informs us, that

from heaven

for

when Prometheus
man, Zeus,

mythology

stole the fire

as a punishment,

chained him to the rocks of the Caucasus.

Another legend, which

that,

when

still

survives, relates

the Deluge abated, the Caucasus

first

EARLY LEGENDS.
appeared above the waters

a cleft in

it

which

and

There

is

portance,

finally

Ark

but the

again floated

landed on Ararat.

however another legend, of high im-

especially at the present time, as its

belief exerts a mysterious

on the coming

We

first

of the Elbrouz,

is still visible

story goes on to say, that the

further,

Ark

here the

summit

landed, on the highest

making

of

crisis

and magical influence

world's

the

history.

have said that the Caucasus was regarded

The

as the limit of the ancient civilized world.

barbarous hordes of the North had, even within

the times

through

of

this

way

repeatedly forced a

history,

mountain

and swept over

barrier,

the civilized countries with the sword of conquest.

Against these irruptions the monarchs in

early times erected an

and two strong

gates,

immense

wall,

with towers

a defence similar to the

great wall of China.

Mo-

This well-known fact in history caused

hammed

to deliver a prophecy,

which in the pre-

moment contributes mainly

Mohammedan races against the

to stir

and north of the Caucasus, and

to inflame

sent

all

the

dwellers beyond

with the most ardent fanaticism.

says in the Koran, "

up

them

Mohammed

Beyond the Caucasus dwell

b 2

;:

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

Gog and Magog

one day, when the

full

time

is

come, they will pass the mountains, and will slay

the Faithful, and destroy the blest realm of the

Believers/'*

Before considering specially the political and

religious position of these countries at the pre-

sent day,

we

them and

their inhabitants.

To

shall first take a general survey of

the north of the Caucasus, between the

* The Bible makes mention of

first
is

Magog

This genealogy

there called the second son of Japheth.

is

is

in several places

where the genealogy of the human race

in Genesis x. 2,

given

Magog

repeated in 1 Chron.

5.

i.

Ezekiel (38

Gog, the prince in the land of Magog,

and

39) foretells that

will

come from the north, and subdue the land of the Lord
Lastly the Re-

but that there his grave will be prepared.

velations

(xx.

prophesy

7-9)

that,

thousand years, Satan will gather

as the sands of the sea,

but that

fire

after

a dominion of a

Gog and Magog, numerous

and surround the camp of the

from heaven

will destroy

The abode of Magog is supposed

saints,

them.

to be found in the country

about the Palus Mseotica, which thence

may

take

its

name

and the prophecy of Ezekiel has been referred to the great

ruption of the Scythians through the Caucasus, B.C. 633,

they devastated Asia, and ruled

it

ir-

when

for twenty-eight years,

and

found their graves in Syria.

Mohammed

seems to have taken his prophecy from Ezekiel

and the Revelations

with the Bible, the

but instead of foretelling, in accordance

final

overthrow of Magog, he prophesied

the destruction of the empire of the Faithful.

STEPPES.

Black Sea, or

its

continuation the Sea of Azof,

and the Caspian, and north of both, extends an

immense barren Steppe, the greater part

of which,

between the Sea of Azof and the Caspian,

On

salt character.

of a

digging but a few feet into

the earth, salt water rises.

map, from

trace on the

is

Possibly

this

we may

circumstance, the

junction of the two Seas in one, in prehistoric

These plains

times, perhaps before the Deluge.

admit only of cultivation along the banks of the

rivers, the

rest

nomads and

being abandoned to the roving

their herds.

This Steppe forms only a portion of the vast

plains

which extend in an uninterrupted

line

from the Carpathian and Silesian mountains

we may even
Sea,

say from

Normandy

to the

China

and may perhaps have been an immense

ocean before the Deluge, separating that portion

of the earth inhabited

by the race of

Adam

from

the northern zone.

Through

all

times of history these plains have

been the heritage and country of nomadic peoples.

From

the very origin of the

the story of Cain and Abel,

* " Nulla est

silva,

we

human

observe the two-

nulla mons, nullus lapis,"

ful expression of Ovid.

race, in

is

the mourn-

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

fold leading directions of

man's

and pastoral occupation

and

manner the formation

life

in a corresponding

of the earth itself pre-

sents, in its varied local features, the

which

agriculture,

inducements

in general determine these directions.

High

mountains, and wide barren plains, are the natural basis of pastoral

whilst the fertile cen-

life,

lands invite and foster the pursuits of agri-

tral

culture.

We

observe

usually on

the

earth's

surface

these lines of demarcation everywhere running

near

and

to,

arable

soil,

in large

fertile,

and pasture-land intermingled, both

and small extent

immense

one another,

intersecting,

nevertheless in parts

tracts of country,

thousands of square

miles (as for instance in Arabia) are adapted

by

nature only for pasture.

Thus, whilst in
its

all

parts of the world,

various inhabitants,

we

see one portion devo-

ting themselves* to the labours of the

#

We expressly use

the choice of forms of

the

among

field,

and

word devote mankind is ruled in

by inner, deep and secret laws
:

life,

laws of nature, but not of a fatalist nature.

Man

has the

free exercise of his will, especially in those matters appertain-

ing to his
feeling,

mode

and

of

habits.

life

but he

is

influenced

by sympathy,

Nations, like individuals, follow similar

laws of choice and guidance. In Adam were united the basis of

PASTORAL

LIFE.

the other to the occupations of pastoral

life,

this

presents the significant fact, of one great section

of

mankind standing opposed

of

life

We

to another.

from the opinion that the pastoral

differ

was the older or primitive mode

that the social

life

and

ordained by God.

so likewise large bodies of

one mode of
tribes

life

life,

and

agriculture

the two forms are equally old

it

original,

of

connected with

sprang from

madic

and modes

in views

As

individuals,

men, have passed from

to the other.

Shepherds and no-

have occasionally adopted a settled

dwelling, whilst agricultural people have, although

both these forms of life, agricultural and pastoral

whilst in his

sons Cain and Abel they were strikingly contrasted, even to a

distinction in worship

of the

human

thenceforth

it

and

sacrifice.

The fundamental dualism

race was herein prefigured and instituted

was divided into the two

men and nomads. "Which

is

classes of the

the nobler form,

husband-

who can

decide

If the higher outward forms of cultivation belong to the agricultural class,

who can

feelings, the effect of

tell,

on the other hand, those inner

contemplation or of intuition, resulting

from an intimate communion with nature, which the nomadic

class peculiarly possess?

At present the

agricultural races

occupy a higher position than the pastoral, for no nomadic

people have hitherto embraced Christianity permanently.

herdsmen of the Alps are not properly a nomadic people

though their pursuits are
of

life

pastoral, they

The
;

al-

have a settled mode

they form the transition between the two

states.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

more

rarely,

madic

life.

exchanged their pursuits

Nevertheless the

general, as a body, have never

pastoral

life,

inhabited
lage,

not

nomad

for a no-

races

abandoned

indeed because the

may have been wholly

soil

in

their

they

unfitted for

til-

but because the laws of nature have im-

planted in the spirit of these peoples an inalienable attachment to this

sity.

for

mode

of

life,

as of neces-

The Arabs and Mongols have been nomads

thousands of years, and will remain so to the

end of the world

and the Turks,

to the present

day, have never been an agricultural people, but

live, especially in

Europe, as in the

field or

camp.

CHAPTER

II.

NAGEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS.
TURAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. EXTENT AND POPU-

LATION.

VARIETY

OF RACES AND LANGUAGES, CIRCASSIAN,

ABKHASIAN, OSSETIAN.

EASTERN

AND SOUTHERN TRANS-

CAUCASIA.

We

shall

now

return from our digression, the

peculiar bearing of which will be explained hereafter, to

the geographical position of the Caucasus,

and the

Asiatic countries

as

beyond

we have remarked, extend

traversed almost solely

it.

On the north,

those vast plains,

by nomadic

tribes.

Along

the entire northern line of the Caucasus, a luxuriant vegetation

more northern

appears, contrasting with

salt

Steppe.

From

this

the centre of

the Caucasian range issue two large rivers, not

far distant

from one another, which soon take

opposite directions.

The Kouban

(the

Hypanis

of the Ancients), rising at the foot of the Elbrouz,

flows west into the Sea of Azof; and the Terek,

b 3

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

10
rising in

Mount Kasbek,

eastward,

flows

Both

empties into the Caspian Sea.

number of

ceive in their course a

and

rivers re-

small tribu-

and run through extensive marshes, lined

taries,

The

with impenetrable banks of tree-like reeds.

country in the foreground of the Caucasus, comprising

spurs,

its

and the

from

valleys

fluvial

eighty to a hundred miles wide,

is

throughout

but thinly peopled.

fertile,

The

entire length of the

mountain -range, from

the Black Sea, opposite to the Crimea, as far as

Baku, may be about 750 miles.

on the

east,

and descending gradually

west, the mountains

mostly in

lie

north-west and south-east.

rallel

the snow-line

feet

the

direction

which

(" the

rise to the limit of

whilst the northern range (" the

White Mountains")
14,000

in

They form two pa-

chains, the southern one of

Black Mountains") does not

to

Rising steeply

rises

everywhere from 10,000

above the

level of the sea

some

mountains, as the Elbrouz, attaining a height of

more than 18,000

16,000.
loftiest

On

feet,

the side open to the Steppes, the

summits are

visible at

tance, as far as Sarepta

dred miles.

and the Kasbek above

an immense dis-

on the Volga, three hun-

The mountain-range

consists of a

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
series of

rounded summits with few

tween them

11

intervals be-

whilst the line of glaciers, rising

in the centre, forms

an almost impassable and

continuous line of wall with dentated summits,

down to the valleys,

Numerous rapid moun-

the acclivities being clothed,

with impervious
tain-streams

forests.

wind through the narrow

valleys,

but there are no other rivers or lakes of any importance.*

The Caucasus forms the

line of demarcation,

separating Asia from Europe, and marking at the

same time

certain boundaries in

Here

and animal kingdoms.

limit of the countries
* It

is

the vegetable

for instance is the

where the jackal

is

found,

necessary to be clearly acquainted with these natural

features of the country, to understand correctly the political

importance of the Caucasus, and the character of the present

war

in those parts.

In confirmation of

my own

observations,

I quote the description given by another traveller.

background of the Steppes rose

in

" In the

immeasurable rows the

Above the dark, wooded, prosnowy mountains stood forth, in the most
like columns, horns, tops, and pyramids.
fanciful forms,
Such rugged and steep walls of rock and snow, such bold
snowy

giants of the Caucasus.

jecting spurs, these

summits, as the giants of the central range of the Caucasus

exhibit, are to

the Taurus,

be found neither in the Alps of Switzerland,

Mount

Atlas, the Balkan, the Apennines, nor

other mountains in Europe." (Der Caucasus,

1848, p. 181.)

any

by M. Wagener,

12

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

an animal which

is

jacent Crimea, nor on

same

not seen even in the ad-

European

soil,

within the

latitude.

On

the southern acclivity of the Caucasus

the countries of Mingrelia, Georgia,

by

richly gifted

On

nature.

lie

and Gooria,

the mountains

is

luxuriant pasture for cattle, in the valleys, rich

arable soil

with magnificent

forests,

where the

southern laurel grows beside the noble beech

of the north, interlaced everywhere with vines,

which have become indigenous to the

soil,

the

dwelling of every description of game, and the

native habitat of the pheasant.

The

and more
van,

and

eastern slopes

the

valleys are

Who

beautiful.

is

still

grander

a stranger to Shir-

theme of admiration

the

to

poets, the hallowed plains of the

Persian

Koor (Cyrus)

and Araxes, or again, the pasture-lands of Karabagh, which produced a race of horses scarcely
inferior to the

to the

Arab

Thence the country

rises

Koordish and Anatolian Alps, from the

centre of which the majestic Ararat steps forth,

16,000

feet in height, in solitary grandeur.

also, in

Armenia, the

fertility,

from

soil

is

remarkable for

its artificial irrigation

are bare, grey,

Here

its

the heights

and destitute of vegetation.

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.

13

Russian Transcaucasia, and the independent

mountain

may

districts,

together perhaps some-

what exceed in extent the kingdom of Prussia,

and be rather smaller than Great Britain and

Ireland.*

The

free

mountain

smaller half of the country

is

territory forms the

the total population

estimated at less than four millions.

be added Ciscaucasia, the cultivated

If to this
plains,

and

those capable of cultivation, north of the Cauca-

the vast Steppes, comprising the

far as

sus, as

* The following
rate,

may

statistical account, if

suffice to afford

Transcaucasia

66,550 sq. miles, with 2,150,000 inhab.

The free MounO

An nr
46
' 6
^

tain districts!

Ciscaucasia

not precisely accu-

general points of comparison.

56,080

Total, 169,190 square miles,

Great Britain^
and Ireland )

"

g2

620,000

Gernmny(with-|
out Prussia)

"

and 4,320,000 inhabitants.

The Kingdom^
of Prussia

~ n aaa

28 ,000,000 inhab.

16,500,000

17,000,000

Sweden .... 170,000

3,200,000

182,000

12,300,000

11,330

4,300,000

Spain

Belgium ....

In the Caucasian countries the population on the square

mile

is

only about 25 or 26

and in England 332

about 19.

in

whilst in Belgium

Germany, 180

in

it

is

380,

Sweden, only

;:

14

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

entire belt

between the Black Sea and the Cas-

may be computed

pian, this country

from 150,000

to

170,000 square

population of four millions and a

There

miles, with a

half.

no country, of the same

is

to contain

extent,

which

comprises such a variety of races, differing in

origin,

and

physiognomy, character,

Probably indeed

dress, as this.

have been

still

more the

the accounts given

if

religion,

manners
this

may

case in remote times

by ancient

writers appear

exaggerated, that in the market at Dioscurias on

the Black Sea

met and
six

more than three hundred peoples

traded, yet

Strabo mentions twenty-

languages in the eastern Caucasus alone, in

Albania, where the Lesghians

now

dwell.

The

Arabian writers Ibn-Haukal and Masudi mention seventy-two languages,

be spoken in the

east,

Babel of tongues.

'

Mountain

of

Abulfeda

Tongues/

calls

the moun-

Djebel-il-Alason/ or

To

the present day, the

name

of Lesghians,

a great resemblance in

manners and

peoples comprised under the

who have

to

about Derbent, a perfect

Albanian Gate

tain of the

which were said

customs, speak thirty different languages.

The

total

number

of languages spoken in these

countries at the present day amounts to seventy

LANGUAGES.
and, although

it is

15

improbable that these

have been originally independent,

is

all

remark-

none of the inhabitants speaking them

able that

can understand the

villages

it

may

rest.

Frequently four or

five

have a distinct language, wholly unintel-

ligible to

any other

tribe.

The following

primitive

languages, with their dialects, have a wider range.

1.

to

The

Circassian, a primitive language, said

belong to the Finnish stem, branches out into

number

of dialects

thirty-two have been enu-

The

merated, each spoken by a distinct people.

sixteen Circassian tribes, properly so called, are

estimated to comprise a population of rather above

500,000

the four

Kabardian

about 36,000 to 40,000

tribes,

110,000; making

tribes

number

the twelve Abadian

in all a population of

about 700,000.
2.

The Abkhasian

guage,

its

unknown.
tribes,

said to be a primitive lan-

connection with any others being quite

The Abkhasians

numbering together

45,000 to 50,000
3.

is

are divided into five

a population of

souls.

The Ossetian language

vation.

from

is

of Persian deri-

In a former work, on Transcaucasia,

we

have given an account of this remarkable Iranian

Germanic people.

The Ossetes

are divided into

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

16

sixteen tribes, scarcely

souls

numbering

in all

40,000

they are settled in the heart of the Cau-

casian mountains.
4.

The

eastern

portion

of

the Caucasus

is

inhabited by a very mixed population, of small

tribes,
ally,

It

who speak languages which

but have not yet been

differ materi-

sufficiently

examined.

remains consequently uncertain which of them

can be regarded as primitive languages, and which

merely as

dialects.

About

fifty-three tribes

have

been enumerated, among which the Tchetchens

are divided into fourteen stems,

200,000 heads.

The

numbering about

thirty-six tribes

comprised

under the general name of Lesghians, which,

though perfectly

alike in character,

costume, speak the

most

al-

manners, and
languages,

different

comprise a population of about 500,000.

The

eastern Caucasus

is

said to contain about

800,000 inhabitants, but we must observe that

these statistics are only approximate

they

may

nevertheless serve to give a general idea of the

political

importance of this large extent of coun-

try.

The

district south-east of the

Caucasus, bor-

dering the Caspian Sea, including about three

hundred thousand square

miles,

and stretching

to

a
:

17

TATARS.

the frontiers of Persia into the provinces of Daghestan, Shirvan,

etc., is

inhabited by Tatars, with

here and there isolated settlements of other peoples,

Persians, Chinese, Hindoos, etc.

there are

few traces of the original Medio-Iranian population,

who appear

On

Tatars.*

been

to have

lost

among

the

the other hand, the Tatars are

found also scattered in the eastern

districts of the

Georgian

Russian

tribes, in

Kakhetia,

tical tables state their

etc.

numbers

to

Whilst eastern Transcaucasia

statis-

be 709,600.

is

inhabited by

* The Tatars appear in history a semi-mythical people

they are unquestionably the basis of the population of Turan,
the "night-land," the "night-people," contrasted with the
"light-land," or Iran, of the legendary history of Persia,

monarchy comprising many

peoples, united

by one and the

same language. In modern history they appear a very powerful race,

under two names,

as

Tatars, accompanying the

great expeditions of the Mongols, and as Turks,

who were

pay of the Saracens, and afterwards

their con-

first

in the

querors, and the founders of a powerful empire.

of Tatars,

we do not now understand

In speaking

the term to apply to

any primitive race or nation, but rather an aggregate of peoples speaking the

same language.

stance, are evidently of

who

Mongol

The
origin

JSTogai Tatars, for in;

whilst those Tatars

inhabit the country from Derbent to Persia are of Cau-

casian origin.

Finnish race.

The Turks perhaps belong originally to the

The Tatar language is that of conversation

in "Western Asia, Persia,

Europe.

and Turkey,

like

the French in

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

18

the Tatar race, the whole of western Transcaucasia belongs

to the

This nation

Georgians.

occupies Georgia, Kakhetia, Imeretia, Mingrelia,

Suanetia,
souls,

and Gooria, with a population of 67 7,000

on 35,000 square miles: of these perhaps

not more than 600,000 belong to the Georgian

race,

the

being Tatars, Armenians, Turks,

rest

Koords, Russians, Germans, and Jews.

The southern portion

of

Transcaucasia, or

Russian Armenia, 8200 square miles in extent,

contains 164,500 inhabitants, including 110,000

Armenians, the rest being Tatars, Koords,

etc.

Beside these, the Armenians are scattered over

these countries

their total

number

is

all

stated to be

nearly 300,000 *

These are the principal nations inhabiting

Two

large extent of country at the present day.

of

them only can boast a

civilization

which reach back many thousand

as traditions

which connect

and history

years, as well

their origin directly

Noah

with Holy Writ, and their genealogy with

# Koppen, the best Russian

this

statist,

estimated (before 1838)

the male population to be 679,497,with a total of 1,500,000

souls.
tars,

The Georgian male population was 182,431

319,230 males;

the Ta-

the Armenians, 147,303 males.

The

above number did not include the Mingrelians, Suanetians,

and Goorians.

19

ARMENIAN LITERATURE.
and the patriarchs of the human
the Armenians

race.

These are

and Georgians, who embraced

Christianity at the beginning of the fourth century,

and

and

at a very early

literature of their

time possessed a writing

own,

the

Armenian

es-

The other nations have no wri-

pecially rich.

ting or records of their history, the only account

of their origin being derived

from tradition and

mythical sources

is

(as

our

that a

own

in fact,

highly probable

observation would lead us to infer)

mine of legendary

these peoples

still

* See the works of

other travellers.

it

lore

remains among

unexplored.*

Yon Koch, Wagener,

Bodenstedt, and

Dubois, in his great work on the Caucasian

countries, has directed his attention to matters of natural history,

more than

to these ethnological subjects.

20

CHAPTER

III.

EACES. COUNTEIES BOEDEEING THE CASTHE ANCIENT IEAN. THE MAGI. ZAL AND

ROOSTEM.
EIEE-WOESHIP. BAKU. PETEE EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS. OEMUZD. ISLAMISM. TIMUR. RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. EOCK-CAVES. TEADE OE THE EAST.
CHINESE COLONISTS. SYMBOL OE THE DEAGON. EUEOPEAN EACTOEIES ON THE CASPIAN. ARMENIAN TEADEES.
DESCENDANTS OE THE TEN LOST TEIBES. YAEIETY OE
TEADING NATIONS* *WESTEEN CAUCASUS. COLCHIS. DIOS-

EARLY HISTOEY.
PIAN SEA.

I.

CUEIAS.

At an

GEOEGIA. THE

IBEEIANS.

early period these countries

a mist of legendary history,

them

The

emerged from

and

allusions

to

are found in the oldest parts of the Bible.

ancient Persian

legends

and royal books

speak of these countries, which are in a great

measure the theatre of their principal national

events.

Here was the holy land

of the Magi,

the land likewise of the heroes Zal and Roos-

tem.

In Grecian mythology western Caucasia

EARLY RACES.
was the scene of

21

the Argonautic Expedition.

Herodotus was acquainted with these countries,

but there

is

tions of them,

want of clearness
which

subsequent authors

in his

descrip-

found also in almost

is

all

in fact a veil of obscurity

shrouds this portion of the earth's surface.

It is a

ly

remarkable fact that the names of scarce-

any of the peoples mentioned by the ancients

The Armenians

exist at the present day.

only nation
ages.

who appear

are the

here in the records of

The Georgians seem

all

be the Iberians

to

the Lesghians, the Albanians (inhabitants of the

Caucasian Alps).*

The

Circassians are probably

the Zicchi of the ancients.

In the remotest ages, before history and mythe

were distinguished, the eastern countries along

the Caspian Sea possessed great historical importance.

Here was the

cradle of the Persian

monarchy, the true Iran in

for the

name

limited sense

its

afterwards extended to

Here was the country, the scene

all

Persia.

of their actions,

of the heroic race of Persia, of Zal

and Roostem

and even in the times of Peter

the exploits of

# See Hitter's Erdkunde.

No

I.,

writer gives a

more admi-

rable and detailed account of tke ethnographical, historical,

and geographical features of these countries than

Bitter.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

22
the Shah

Nam eh

were

handed down

still

Probably a

popular songs of the country.

gent research might
*
there.

In the midst of

discover traces of

still

tile

Median Magi.
;

dili-

them

land of heroes, Iran pro-

this

Mugon,f the country

per, lay the holy land of

the

in the

The

soil

is

remarkably

of

fer-

Strabo says that a wooden plough only was

required for

its tillage,

ficed to yield

and

that one sowing suf-

two or three harvests.

This hallowed and favoured country of the

Magi was the

* Peter

I.

cradle of the worship of

despatched several small expeditions from the

Caspian Sea to explore these shores.

chored at the mouth of the Koor
hospitably received

On

Ormuzd,

their departure

by the

In 1720, a vessel an-

the captain and crew were

prince, or Beg, of the country.

he gave them an entertainment, at which

popular songs were sung, reciting the praises of the great

Shah Khosru Anushirvan the Just.

The Beg then pronounced an encomium on the Emperor Peter, adding these
words, so prophetic for Bussia, " Every seed brings forth
its fruit

lies

in

its

own

time."

In

this country,

below Derbent,

the city of Shah-berain (now Shabran), which

is

frequently

mentioned in the Shah Nameh.

of the river Didjelat (Araxes),

The songs of Boostem tell

where was the cavern in which

the king and hero of Turan, Afrasiat, imprisoned the pious

king Bidgiam, and closed the cave with a rock,

tem

whom

liberated.

f The present desert of Mogan

recalls the

name.

Boos-

23

FIRE-WORSHIP
of that religion

and

primitive,

which ranked next

to the true,

mankind,

traditional religion of

preserved and

transmitted, although veiled, in

Judaism, until

God

revealed Himself

Here were the

world in Christ.

eternal

to

the

and holy

Baku,* which issued from the ground

fires at

flames spontaneously, as

it

in

were the antitype of

Mithras, the Sun, the symbol of Ormuzd.

But

mankind

early

religion

the symbol was converted into an idol,

fell off

from

simple form of

this

a carved image to which worship was addressed.

* The sacred

fires at

Baku, of which we have given an

ac-

count in a former work on Transcaucasia, present one of the

most wonderful spectacles in the world. After warm autumnal

rains, the fires are visible in the evening,
all

when

in a short time

the fields around Baku, as far as the eye can reach, are

covered with white flames.

distance

down from

the

At times

hills in

these flames roll in the

broad masses

but they are

only meteoric, without heat or the power of inflaming.

clear night these fires are seen playing

the

hills rise

move

above them in dark forms.

singly, at another they unite,

on the

One

while the flames

waving to and

morning they disappear.

nights the plain

is

covered with an astonishing blue

889.
fires

It

is

clear

four

autumnal

dark, but the summits of the hills are

mountain Soghda-Ku
of Ormuzd.

In

fro with

At about

a continual movement, like spectral forms.

o'clock in the

In a

plains, whilst

fire,

particularly the sacred

the Mountain of Paradise, in the time

See Heineggs' Kaukasus,

i.

155,

and Hitter

ii.

remarkable that the ancients never mention the

of Baku.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

24

Mithras, or Lucifer, the later demiurgus, the morning-star

night,

which ushers on the Sun and dispels the

became an

same country of
combated

idol

but afterwards, in

doctrines of

was born, who

Iran, Zoroaster

this idol-worship,

this

and restored the pure

Ormuzd.

Subsequently, however, after Alexander's time,

when

the Parthians established a

new Partho-

Persian kingdom, the old religion was obscured,

idolatry spread,

and led even

to the deification

The Parthian dynasty

of man.

cides asserted their descent

of the Arsa-

from Ormuzd and

Mithras (Mithridates), called themselves " Fratres Solis et Lunae,"

Pompey indeed

Rome

and claimed divine honours.

carried the worship of Mithras to

and there are

;*

still

traces of its having

spread thence over the Alps into Carinthia, Salz-

burg, and the north of Europe.

The Persian
prevailed

over

religious element

the

however

Parthian.

in time

The Sassanides

succeeded to the throne, and the great Shah

Khosru Anushirvan restored the worship

muzd.
ally

At length

arose Islamism, which gradu-

supplanted the

latter,

# The Christian episcopal mitre

Mithras worship.

of Or-

Timur invaded and

may be

a faint trace of the

25

THE GHEBERS.

conquered the country, uniting the original innate

Mo-

hatred of the Turanians against Iran, with

hammedan

He

fanaticism.

resolved to extirpate

sacred Iranians, the Ghebers

the

population, in consequence, nearly

and

was

their place

filled

by the

the Iranian

perished,

all

Tatars,

occupy the country.

The

partially revived after

Timur's death

who

still

fire-worship however

and thou-

sands of pilgrims from the mountains of Persia

and Hindostan (whither the Ghebers had

fled)

resorted to the sacred fires at Baku, to perform

their

The Mohammedan Shahs

devotions.

Persia treated

reign of

them

as enemies,

of

and under the

Shah Abbas they underwent a general

persecution

only a few pilgrims succeeding, va-

riously disguised,

where they

in

secretly

reaching the holy places,

performed their devotions.

Under the government

tion has ceased

Russia

of

all

persecu-

the pilgrims are protected, and

some wealthy merchants

of the race of the

Ghe-

bers, in Astrakhan, have erected the remarkable

temple

we have

elsewhere described,* Atesh-Dja,

with houses of entertainment for the anchorites

and

pilgrims.

From

year to year the

these anchorites diminishes

* See

number

of

there rarely arrive

Transcaucasia/ page 441.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

26

and the race appears

fresh pilgrims from India,

drawing toward extinction.*

Beside the heroic nation of the Iranians, with

my t lies and

their

traditions,

we meet here

like-

wise the sacred nation of the Medes, with the

Magi

priestly tribe of the

and

tection of heroes

whilst under the pro-

priests, a peaceable

mer-

The

posi-

cantile people

gradually sprang up.

tion of these

countries

constituted

them

a natural mart for the exchange

of commodities between

such they have been in

when

on the earth's surface

Europe and Asia; and

all

times of tranquillity,

the land has been free from the inroads of

barbarians.f

remarkable that the aborigi-

It is

# Throughout these countries are everywhere found

rocks, artificial caverns,

and

inscriptions.

The

hewn

strangest and

most remarkable occur on the east spurs of the Caucasus.

Here

rises

Mount Besh-Barmak,

the Five-finger Mountain

the Priest- Mountain (Barmek, the high-priest of the Magi).

This mountain resembles an immense castle of fairyland, built

by

giants, full of caverns,

niches, graves,

and

up is a spring, a resort
it is

rock-chambers and steps, platforms,

inscriptions in various languages.

for pilgrims, even

High

from a great distance

likewise an abode of predatory Tatars. (Eitter,

ii.

872.)

f Before the birth of Christ no Asiatic monarch, had turned

his

arms against

this

hallowed land.

Cyrus warred with

the Scythians on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and

Darius attacked them from the European

side.

Here was

the centre of the high-road of commerce between Asia and

CHINESE COLONISTS.
nal inhabitants, the Iranians

27

and Medes, whose

national tastes were averse to commercial enter-

were not the introducers of

prise,

spirit into these countries,

ers,

this trading

but a race of foreign-

an Indo-Chinese (Indo-Seric) people, who,

driven from their distant

homes

of China, were received

and

in the south-west

He-

settled here.

rodotus points out the existence of Indo-Seric

Xenophon

colonies.

nias

gives an account of

on the Araxes as an eastern colony, more

Mar

than 400 b.c.

Ibas, in his chronicle, states

that the sons of Indian princes sought

ceived protection from the

b.c.

and

Armenian Arsacides,

Visha-Bakaghak, or City of the Dragon,

a dragon being everywhere set up as an

Europe

and

for

many

centuries

it

was the

first

who invaded

medanism destroyed the

it

idol.'""

remained undisturbed by

Although Alexander's name figures in

all

the legends

connected with this country, he was never there.

it

re-

145, and founded a city on the Moschic

plains,

war.

Gym-

with a hostile army.

Pompey
Moham-

link of tradition with former ages

persecuted the religion of Ormuzd, and annihilated the

sanctity attached to this country

and

its

inhabitants.

Timur,

Shah Abbas, and Nadir Shah laid waste the ]and.

# The Dragon is the symbol of the Chinese Fo or Buddha,
and is still the imperial arms of China. Arms, and figures
upon, the standards had almost always in ancient times a
religious meaning.

The

Griffin (allied to the

Dragon)

.2

is,

ac-

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

30
to the

Caucasian markets, for barter with the

Europeans.

Hither

the Middle Ages,

also, in

the Venetians, and afterwards the

sorted, to

Genoese, re-

procure the celebrated manufactures

of the East

and the mention of India and her

costly products

by the German and French Min-

nesingers, always refers to the countries on the

As

western shore of the Caspian Sea.*

the sixteenth century the English

and Queen Elizabeth

here,

also

Hamburg merchants

sought to establish connections with this

country
in

factories

1561 sent Jenkin-

in

son ambassador to Shirvan.

had

early as

Olearius describes their journey thither

The Russians

1636.

course here; in

too had a trading inter-

1712 they

and experienced great

settled in

losses

when

plundered by the Lesghians.

Shemaki,

this city

Peter

I.

was

made an

expedition to avenge this incursion, defeated the

Lesghians, and conquered

Shemaki from him

in

but Nadir Shah afterwards re-took

it

the Turks however took

1722:

the whole country

from the Turks, destroyed the

city,

and

in

1734

# The Apostle Bartholomew introduced Christianity into

these parts,
as St.
ii.

India

Matthew did

930.)

Interior (opposed to India Orientalis),

into the north of Asia Minor.

(Eitter,

ARMENIANS.
founded a new bazaar and

31

city at

a short dis-

tance from the site of the former one.

This Indo-Chinese race was nearly annihilated

by Timur,

and

Mohammedan

in a spirit of

their place

was

fanaticism,

in the course of time filled

who

by the Armenians, likewise a trading

people,

have by degrees spread

in the East,

and have

far

and wide

at the present clay the chief part of the

trade with the interior of Asia in their hands.

These pursuits have brought them into close connection and intercourse with the so-called ancient
or Black Jews, scattered over the interior of Asia

from China to the Caspian Sea

seat

is

at

but their chief

Bokhara, where they reside in great

numbers, having a mysterious

tion

under native princes.

political organiza-

There

is

hardly any

doubt of their being descendants of the Ten

lost

Tribes.*

Whilst these

districts in

Eastern Caucasia were

the great depots for the wares from Asia, and the
chief trade

was

in the

hands of these industrious

* Benjamin of Tudela, in 1175, was informed in

Persia,,

that on the high plains of Nishon, twenty-eight days' journey

from Samarkand, in a territory covered with

castles

and towns,

there dwelt an independent Jewish people, of the Tribes of

Dan, Zebulon, Asher, and

JS"aphthali,

Amarca, a Levite.

ii.

(Eitter,

487.)

under a Prince Joseph

32

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

and peaceable Sero-Indian

the

West Caucasian

colonists,

we

find in

or Colcliian districts a cor-

responding commercial system, carried on in the

who had
from time immemorial. Prom

same manner by a colony of

been settled there

foreigners,

those eastern depots the wares destined for Eu-

rope were carried to the western trading-places

and harbours, the centre of which was the

brated Dioscurias (probably the
of

Sukhum

little

cele-

harbour

In the time of Mithridates,

Kale).

Strabo says, seventy peoples met here for trade

and the

Indian and Bactrian wares,

in

traffic

precious stones, and costly stuffs, brought great

wealth to the kingdoms of Prusias, Attalus, and

Mithridates.

was
the

laid

In Pliny's

waste

time

all

this

country

nevertheless he relates that, at

commencement

of the

Roman

dominion, the

enormous trade carried on here required 130

interpreters

Romans

among

partially

The

these various peoples.

abandoned

nel of the trade with Asia,

this original chan-

and diverted

another course, by Alexandria and the

it

Red

into
Sea.

After the destruction of Dioscurias, the mar-

ket of the Asiatic bartering trade was removed

further into the interior, toward Georgia, where,
especially in the valley of the

Koor, between

Tiflis

THE COLCHIANS.
and Erivan, the trade
century

it

33
In the seventh

revived.

again perished

and the Eastern trade

only survived in Shemaki, as long as the Sassa-

Ghebers.

When

the latter were persecuted

Mohammedans,

the

ward the Volga,

moved north, tokingdom of Khozar,

into the

in consequence.

In the centre of the Colchian

dotus places the
of

Xerxes

Saspires,

they

by

the trade

which flourished again

hosts

Ormuzd, the

the followers of

nides protected

district

who

Hero-

served in the

probably identical

are

with the later Iberians and the present Geor-

Nothing certain

gians.*

gin

Ritter

is

is

known

of opinion that

of their ori-

they also might

The word

have been Indo-Chinese immigrants.

Tchin occurs repeatedly in the names of places,

as Tchin-Kartnet, Tchin-Val, etc.

that the
castes

Iberians also were

from the

first

Strabo says

divided into four

was chosen the king,

ac-

cording to age, the next in age being appointed

judge and general

from the second

class

were

# The name Georgia occurs in Pompeius Mela, according

to

whom

it signifies

agriculture,

perhaps

in connection with

the rivers Koor, Koorgi, Gurgi, Koorgestan.

Christian times
St.

George.

its

derivation

The Georgians

was attributed

In subsequent
to the

name

of

are indeed the chivalrous people

of the Caucasian countries.

c 3

34

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

chosen the

priests,

who kept

neighbouring peoples;
the warriors
slaves.

peace with the

of the third class

were

and the fourth were servants and

There was a community of goods in

families, the oldest administering the property.

This certainly points to an early connection with

India.

Even

at the present

divided into four classes,

nobles,

and peasants or

the eldest

member

day the Georgians are

the

serfs

princes, clergy,

the king (Czar)

of the race of the Bagratides,

and the eldest of the second noble race

Princes Orbellian)
shal of the

is

is

kingdom.

(the

hereditary crown-field-mar-

35

CHAPTER

IV.

WAES OF PEESIA AND

DECLINE OE MOHAMMEDANISM. PEOGEESS OF
BUSSIA. HEE DIPLOMATIC SKILL. MILITAET FEONTIEE.
OBSTACLES TO EUSSIA's DESIGNS. POSITION OF ENGLAND.
CIECASSIANS. CONJECTUEES ON THE PEESENT CEISIS.

IMPOETANCE OF THESE COTJNTEIES.

TUEKEY.

The

sketch we have given in the foregoing pages

will

show the importance which these countries

have for centuries possessed, in a religious, political,

and commercial point of view.

until the

It

was not

Turks had completely conquered the

Byzantine kingdom, and the two

Mohamme-

dan empires of Turkey and Persia became consolidated,

that

they

began

to

recognize

value of the possession of this country.

first

the

They

overthrew the power of the two Christian

kingdoms, which had arisen here since the fourth

century,
early

Armenia

times

and

Persians

Georgia.

and Greeks,

after this conquest Persians

But,

as

in

so likewise

and Turks, fought

TRIBES 0E THE CAUCASUS,

36

upon

this soil,

knowing well that whatever Power

had the absolute command of

try,

would be master

Asia.

The two nations held

being attached to

coun-

whole of western

also of the

nearly poised for centuries

casia

this belt of

the balance of

power

Eastern Transcau-

and Western

Persia,

The country

Transcaucasia being under Turkey.

however sank gradually under these governments

into barbarism

and

ruin.

Mohammedanism
ries,

has, in the course of centu-

undergone gradual dissolution, and

its

mis-

sion in the world appears drawing to a close

the

Mohammedan

all

moral weight, in proportion

nations have

sunk into enervating sensuality

by degrees
as

lost

they have

even the martial

energy of the people has given way, and their

military discipline steadily declined.

There

mains scarcely any perceptible trace of an

lectual or scientific spirit, such as

loped

among

the Arabians.

was

re-

intel-

early deve-

In short, the Chris-

tian nations have in every respect gradually gained

a vast superiority over the

Mohammedans.

Whilst the Turks and Persians were

struggling
countries,

for the possession of the

or keeping one

check, a great political

either

Caucasian

another jealously in

Power

in the

North had

CONQUESTS OF RUSSIA.

made
a

37

rapid progress, which was for more than

century engaged in war with the two

hammedan

and other countries.

nations, in these

Russia has shown equally her

diplomacy and in the

in

Mo-

skill

and power

Following the

field.

political axiom, " Divide et impera," she has uni-

formly succeeded in preventing the union of the

two

great

Mohammedan

Powers.

Whenever

she has been at war with one, she has maintained friendly relations with the other;

while

the senseless antipathy and jealousy of Persia and

Turkey

is

so rooted,

and

their political foresight

so small, that, notwithstanding

sons of long experience,

Russia

is

waging a

w^ar

at

all

this

the bitter les-

very

moment

with Turkey, and

is

at

the same time at peace with Persia, nay, has

almost found an

ally in the latter nation.

Russia has partly forced her way through the

Caucasus, partly encompassed

it

advancing by

slow degrees, and acting with moderation, she

has

succeeded in

obtaining

whole of these countries.

possession of the

By

the last treaty of

peace with Persia and Turkey, she gained an extremely advantageous and secure military frontier

along the heights of the mountain-range,

which, but for natural obstacles, would lay Persia

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

38
as

Turkey

well as Asiatic

tirely in the

power of a

and en-

defenceless,

Russian

sufficiently large

army.

Two
to

obstacles indeed there are, and only two,

advance of Russia,

this

-England

and the

But

for these

Mountain races of the Caucasus.

impediments,
able,

by a

Russia would unquestionably be

great effort, to advance her frontiers to

The

the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

other countries of Europe might stand

by and

bear to witness such aggression on the part of

Russia

indeed

it

might in certain respects bring

advantage to some of them, as the position of

western Russia would be considerably changed,

by the diversion of

so important a

power from

that portion of the empire toward the south

east.

But England,

self-defence,

must of

her

for

right

on the war to the knife

own

and
and

security

and of necessity carry

for the question at issue

involves the security of her possessions in the

East Indies; this momentous question

background of the

We

picture.

fills

the

have mentioned

a second barrier to the advance of Russia south-

ward,

the

Mountaineers of the Caucasus

for

half a century they have fought for the freedom

of their hearths

and homes

and who can regard


THE PRESENT

39

CRISIS.

without interest and admiration the heroic struggle they have maintained ?

At the present moment we may probably be

entering on a great political crisis in the world's
history,

one which may

in all the political

The war

for the

and

entail

an entire change

social relations of Asia.

conquest and possession of the

Caucasian provinces will probably decide, whe-

by

ther this change will be effected rapidly

ternal causes, or gradually

Such events

ment.
to

many

as are

ex-

by

internal develop-

now

passing give rise

great questions, inviting speculation as

to their probable solution

but the ways of Pro-

vidence are often inscrutable to our weak sight,

and the

issues of the future

are

obscu-

lost in

rity.

If

England can succeed

tical zeal of

Islamism,

in rekindling the fana-

now

almost expiring,in

raising the standard of the Faith, in the person

of

Schamyl and the

principles of Muridism,

in effecting the union of Sunnites

Turks and Persians,

were

to

if

and

Shiites,

a large English

army

advance from the East Indies and cross

the Persian Gulf, whilst a French

army landing

in

Asia Minor were to appear simultaneously on the

theatre of war, forming a nucleus for the military

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

40

organization of the undisciplined

masses,

Mohammedan

Russia would unquestionably be placed

But the question

in a very perilous position.

beset with difficulties of extraordinary

It is

is

moment.

not an easy matter to plant, to form, and to

maintain a European army there.

On
come

the other hand, supposing the Russians to

off conquerors,

of the

and

European armies

to

compel the remains

to evacuate the country,

what power could in such a case

torious advance?

arrest their vic-

Unchecked, they would take

possession of the entire countries as far as the

Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean

own

defence,

and, for her

and security against any renewed

attack on that side, Russia would be compelled

to annihilate the

in

two great Mohammedan Powers

which event possibly some temporary

pies, as

satra-

Khiva and Bokhara, might be formed.

But Russia, once planted on the Mediterranean,

would

rule

Egypt with an

iron hand.

This in-

deed would be the knell of England's power.

Again, assuming the reverse of this picture, and
that the armies

by the

of the

Western Powers, aided

fanatical spirit of Islamism,

were

finally to

conquer, and succeed in driving back the Russians over the

Caucasus, what then

The em-

41

PROSPECTS OF THE FUTURE.

What

barrassment in reality would only begin.

is

then to be the fate of the Caucasian countries

Can

be imagined that these Christian lands,

it

after

having been freed from the

yoke

for half a century,

Mohammedan

and placed under a Chris-

tian government, should

be again subjected to

the miserable rule of Persia and Turkey, and

up

given

to the cruelty

and extortion of Pashas

and Sirdars?

But

us

let

suppose

Persia and Turkey to

be momentarily reanimated.
to

be erected,

Armenian

Are new kingdoms

for instance, a Christian Georgio-

one, with

other

doms, according to their

Mohammedan

king-

nationalities, Koordish,

Chaldaeo-Syrian, Persian, and Tatar? These would

indeed be very feeble powers.

national feeling or bond, no

among

trol.

historical tie,

result in anarchy, as soon

European Powers had withdrawn

The only

their con-

Christian nation which

is

capable of a social organization, Armenia,

weak
it

no

and, wanting these, any such combina-

would inevitably

as the

common

exists

these races, although they speak the same

language
tions

There

to

would

country

assume an independent
at
it

really
is

too

political position

once re-unite with Russia, with which

has deep-rooted political and religious

42

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

As soon

sympathies and relations.

any

as

turbance or embarrassment in Europe and

rica

dis-

Ame-

were to clieck the power and energy of France

and England,

all

would again be

these countries

thrown into the arms of Russia.

It is not

im-

probable that the Western Powers, shrinking before such

momentous consequences,

from entering upon

this

new

theatre of war, or

which

setting the avalanche in motion,

be impossible to arrest in

its

will abstain

course.

it

would

Russia, on

her side, clearly shrinks from pushing these fearful

questions to an issue.

She carried on the war

very feebly in 1854, remaining on the defensive,

and making
obtained.

little

use eyen of the victories she

The Western Powers

averse to drive Russia into a

likewise

more

may be

serious war,

seeing that, even in the event of her entire defeat,

such victory could only displace her for the

moment from

her present advantageous position.

Should however the storm which

time averted,

for a

The

time.

life

nations Persia

where

The
tries

is

it

is

gathering be

can be only for a short

and vigour of the Mohammedan

and Turkey

is

almost extinct, and

the power to resuscitate

them ?

vast importance of these Caucasian coun-

can only be estimated by an investigation

43

CHANCES OF THE WAR.

into their history through past ages

whilst at

the same time the circumstances of the present,

and the probable

issues of the future, raise the

importance of their position, as connected with

the great questions touching the reorganization
of the East, the dissolution of

Mohammedanism,

and the probably not very distant triumph and

spread of Christianity in the East.

44

CHAPTER

V.

OEMUZD AND AHRIMAN. LEGEND OF IRAN AND TURAN. DULKARNEIN. GREAT WALL OE THE CAUCASUS.ROMANS AND
PERSIANS. KHOSRU ANUSHIRVAN. CITY OF DERBENT.

The

history of

all

from the

ages, even

earliest

mythical times, exhibits the general existence of

a leading and firm conviction, that the

moun-

of the Caucasus constituted

natural

tains

barrier

the

and surest defence against the irruption

of the Northern hordes into the civilized countries

of

Western and Central Asia,

great monarchies of antiquity.

of the past will

show the absolute

the seats of the

brief review

necessity for the

great Southern Powers to hold possession of the

countries south of the Caucasus.

The
upon a

oldest religious belief of the Persians rests

principle of dualism.

From

the

first

ing proceeded Ormuzd, the principle of

Be-

Good

and afterwards sprang from the same source

Ahriman, the principle of

Evil.

These principles

ORMUZD AND AH III MAN.

were

in

opposition

perpetual

45

the

in

universe,

which in the material world was seen in a struggle of light with darkness.

The earth and man-

kind, according to the Iranian or ancient Persian

mythe, were divided between

man: the sun-land,

to

Ormuzd and

or land of the South, belonged

Ormuzd, together with the good, the

monarch, to

noble, the

These were com-

pious inhabitants of the South.

prised in Iran,

Ahri-

and the Iranian race under

whom

were considered

all

their

other peoples and kings

On

vassals.

the contrary, the

dark land of night, the North, Mongolia, Tartary

and Scythia, belonged

to

Ahriman, to

were attached the barbarian and bad

Night-land and
a

kingdom

its

The

races.

inhabitants likewise formed

Turan

incessant struggle

whom

the opposite of Iran.

This

of the empires of light

and

darkness, of Iran and Turan, gave rise to that

marvellous mythical history, handed

national annals,

and cut

The legend runs

from

Shah Nameh

thus.

in the

in cuneiform characters

on the rocks throughout Persia

the grand epos of the

down
it

sprang

of Pirdousi.

After a long contest

between Turan and Iran, a king

at last

mounted

the throne of Iran, the most pious and powerful

monarch that ever

lived: this

was Dulkarnein.

TRIBES OP THE CAUCASUS.

46

He

many

subjected Turan, and ruled the world for

years in peace and happiness.

In order to

parate for ever Turan from Iran, this

se-

monarch

caused an enormous wall to be built from one

end of the world

which are

to the other, the remains of

to be seen in parts,

still

from the China

Sea, across the north of Persia, along the Caucasus,

and which had even

Europe extended

in

to the Pillars of Hercules.*

This Eastern legend, which

we

find in these

became

various parts of the world,

localized in

# This legend, of a wise and powerful king,

the remotest times, and to

whom

who

ruled in

the greatest works, in-

all

cluding these world-encompassing walls, were attributed, did

not belong exclusively to the Iranians

other Asiatic peoples.

it

was common

to the

The Tyrians named him Malek-art-is

(King of the Earth), the Tyrian Hercules of the Greeks.

the Hindoos he

is

called K-art-ikea (the Great

Egyptians, Artes (the Strong).

He

is

the

Hero)

Mars

mans, the Ares of the Greeks and Scythians

By

by the

of the Bo-

(Bitter,

ii.

838).

This world-wide monarch also set the boundary pillars of the

kingdom of Light,

in the
Dionysos

in the west,

lars of Hercules

andri,

in the east, in the west,

east, in further India,

and

in the centre.

under the name of the Indian

under the name of Hercules, the

in the centre, the

Pil-

Ara or Columna Alcx-

mentioned by Ptolemy, north of the Caucasus, toward

the Tanais.

It

is

certain that Alexander

was never

part of the world, and his connection with the story

dary. Derbent

was

in that

is

legen-

also considered to lie in the centre of the

world's boundaries, the Porta Portarum (Gate of Gates),

LEGEND OF DULKAKNEIN.
the Caucasian countries,

mon

47

a process which

is

com-

in popular tradition, as for instance in the

remains of antiquity in the north of Germany,

which the annalists of the Middle Ages

attri-

bute to the Romans, and to Charlemagne and his

Franks, and which are assigned at the present

day by popular story to the Swedes in the Thirty

Years' War.

karnein

is

In the Caucasian countries Dul-

identified with

Alexander the Great

and the erection of the great wall

there, together

with every object of wonder, are attributed to

"Iskander," although

it

notorious that Alex-

is

ander w as never there.*

T

Thus

far the

legendary and mythical accounts.

# The Koran adheres to the oldest and primitive legend

it

does not regard the infidel Alexander as the rightful monarch,

but the trne believer the Persian Shah,

who made

the pilgrim-

age to Mecca with Abraham. Dul-k-ar-nein means

two Horns," which seems to allude

Ammon, and the oldest monarchs,

Sesostris, who indeed penetrated

to the

"Man with

Egyptian Jupiter

the Egyptian Alexander,

The

into the Caucasus.

story of the Macedonian Alexander being the offspring of a

god. Jupiter

Ammon

or the Indian Dionysos, which

is

found

in various forms throughout the East, has undoubtedly contri-

buted to the popularity of

this stranger there

the divinity of his birth gave

the world

may have tended

tain that he

authority.

had a

him

the notion that

a right to the

monarchy of

to spread his celebrity

it is

cer-

belief in possessing a high descent

and

TMBES OF THE CAUCASUS*

48

Before passing to the period of history,

briefly consider the existing

and

of defence

which have

we

will

remains of these lines

and the conjectures

fortification,

them from accurate

arisen respecting

accounts or the actual state of their ruins.

The remains
show

of these walls in the

formed one

clearly that they never

nuous

Caucasus*

wall, like that of China.

The

conti-

character of

the country rendered such an unbroken line of

defence quite unnecessary, and perhaps impossible.

Most

of the steep summits' of the Caucasus

and

are nearly impassable for single pedestrians,

entirely so for

armed and mounted

was needful therefore merely

among

common

tradition

is

was continued from one Sea

sufficiently

It

to close the defiles

the mountains by walls and gates.

ther the

been

troops.

Whe-

true, that the wall

to the other, has not

examined and determined

we

can only judge by the remains of walls and gates

in certain

narrow mountain-passes, together with

occasional longer, continuous, ruined walls.

Starting from the Black Sea, remains of this

# The author has not himself visited those parts of the
country where traces of these walls exist

he follows, in

account the statements of credible writers, as

Dubois, and others.

Yon

this

Hitter,

49

THE CAUCASIAN WALL.

wall are found

north of Mingrelia in

Then

parts, for a length of ninety miles.

casionally

are

various
oc-

found valleys and passes which

have been closed by walls,* in the country of the

Valgires on the Arredon, of the Sakhas on the
Flog, and in a valley of the Taganri.

We

come

and Vla-

to the celebrated Pass of Dariel

dikaukas, which

manner, and

is

quite in a

fortified

now

modern

said to have scarcely any trace of

is

the old walls and gates remaining.

try of the Ingushes are found,

In the coun-

on the Shalgier,

the mural remains of Vapila.

On

the southern acclivity of the

the river Alazan,

Gate.

The

is

Shah Dag, on

the chief pass, of the Albanian

traveller

Reineggs found

still

exist-

ing here in the eighteenth century the remains

of a wall, in tolerable preservation, nearly ninety

miles long and in parts

120

feet high.

These vast

remains are connected with others, which close

the entire line of the Caucasian Wall on the Cas-

pian Sea near Derbent.

The

wall

still

extends

five miles in tolerable preservation.

The

erection of these walls,

which led to
*

it,

and the causes

are simply matters of specula-

A map by General Yon Khatof

is

said to indicate clearly

the line of these great walls.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

50

tion as they undoubtedly existed in prehistoric

times

they have from age to age however been

extended and restored, according to the necessity

of political circumstances.

Some

writers are of

opinion that, after the Scythians had penetrated

into Asia through the Pass at Derbent, laying

waste the country, and had retired again after a

dominion of twenty- eight years,

incursion

this

naturally induced the inhabitants to construct

these walls,
possible,

and

close the passes as securely as

a conjecture which appears not im-

probable, although

it

has no historical confirma-

tion.

The Georgian

chronicles mention

Ardam, the

governor of the Persian Shah Aphridun (Peridun),

as the first builder of the walls

them

to

Xerxes Isphandiar.

by the Greek and Roman

No

others attribute

mention

writers

Christian era of the continuous wall.

until after

Pompey

(b.c. 66)

made

before
It

the

was not

invaded the peaceful

countries of the Caucasus, that the walls

by degrees known

is

to Europe.

Strabo

became
first

re-

lates the existence of the central chief pass, called

the Caucasian Gate, Pylee Caucasise, which was

at that

time closed by walls and gates.

conversed with persons

who had

Pliny

seen them, and

MOUNTAIN PASSES.

51

speaks of them as a miracle of nature, whose

Procopius de-

gates were closed with iron bars.

scribes the Pass minutely,

tary importance

and dwells on

he says, that

all

the other passes

of the Caucasus could only be crossed

trians,

and

its mili-

by pedes-

but that this was passable by horsemen

carriages,

and that through

opening the

this

equestrian tribes of Sarmatia, the Avars, Aorses,

Chozars,

etc.,

could penetrate into Iberia, and

upon the Romans

in the west,

fall

and on the Persians

in the east.

As the western Caucasian

to the

countries belonged

Romans, and the eastern lands

sians, this

Powers;

to the Per-

Pass was naturally disputed by both

in

the wars which ensued, each con-

quered in turn.

The Persian Shah Kobad ob-

When

tained possession of these countries.

his

son Khosru Anushirvan concluded peace in 563

with the

Emperor

Justinian,

monarchs, both of whom in

all

two great

boundary questions

exhibited the deepest political

that this

these

insight,

was not a point on which

agreed

their interests

and policy clashed, but that the necessity of

position rather gave

them a common

their

interest in

holding and defending this narrow Pass against

the barbarous hordes of Sarmatia,

They
d 2

there-

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

52

remain open to

fore agreed that the Pass should

the eastern

ever

and western

nations,

Power was entrusted with

receive

and that which-

its

defence should

from the other 1,100,000 pieces of gold,

towards the cost of

its

maintenance.

The Sassanidan Shah Kobad and his son Khosru

Anushirvan, in

whom

were reawakened

all

the

sympathies and traditions of the ancient Persian

Shahs, restored the pure doctrines of Ormuzd.

They regarded with

peculiar love

and veneration

the hallowed land of the Iranians, of the

and the sacred

fire,

Magi

the country of Zoroaster, and

the great race of heroes from which had sprung

Zal and Roostem,

The Shah Kobad wished

to

convert the whole country into a garden of Paradise,

encompassed by a wall

and commenced the restoration

wall.*

he erected Baku,
of the Caucasian

His son Khosru Anushirvan completed

the work, and founded the city of Derbentf at

# The erection of such a

wall,

encompassing and protecting

the kingdom against the invasions of Barbarians, belonged to

the spirit and ideas of that time. The Emperor Jnstinian songht
in like manner protection from the irrnptions of the northern

Barbarians by walls and ramparts (Valles Trajani,

etc.).

t There occurs no earlier mention of this city if there had

been any town there previously, Khosru at least rebuilt it and
surrounded it with walls.
;

53

DERBENT.

the Eastern Pass (Porta Caspia), on the Caspian

Sea.

The Persian
deficient,

gated

historical sources of that time are

or have not been sufficiently investi-

and we are indebted

for

most of our

in-

formation respecting these remains to the Arabian

writers

country was already under

who

Edrisi, etc.

The

Mohammedan

rulers,

Ibn Haukal, Masudi,

accepted the legends and traditions respect-

ing the Caucasian walls, but considered them as

a protection against

Gog and Magog

of the Bible

and the Koran, instead of the Turanians, the

fol-

lowers of Ahriman, the Divs and Jinns. Derbent

was sacred

in their eyes,

from the circumstance

Mohammed had called this city "the Gate

Faith." The Mohammedan rulers added much

that
of

the place,

to

and

it

is

consequently

distinguish what they built,

difficult to

and the part

ori-

ginally belonging to the Sassanides.*

# The name of the

The

city is different in various nations.

Persians and Armenians call

it

dur (Door), and bent

narrow,

signifies

Derbent, from der, dar,

i.e.

narrow

gate.'

Among the Turks we find the name Demir-Capi, i. e. Iron

Gate. Among the Arabians, Bab-el-Abwabi, i. e. Gate of the
Gates of the Faithful

i. e.

and among the

later

Arabians

also,

Bab-

The Tatars call it Balk-Borcah,

the Boundary House. Marco Polo (an. 1300) calls it also

el-Hadidi,

i. e.

the Iron Gate.

" Porta di Ferro."

54

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

The

city of

Derbent stands on a rock, extend-

ing along the seashore.

It has seven iron gates,

each with two towers and a mosque.* The walls

built

by the

were

fortified

Sassanides, with extraordinary care,

The

with watch-towers.

was

city

divided into seven quarters, and the Khalif Ha-

roun-al-Raschid erected the iron gates.

Here begins the Caucasian Wall, which

ex-

tended from the sea to the mountain of Ha-

Ibn Haukal

nashp.

960) says that the

(a. d.

wall was carried far into the sea, to protect the

harbour (now completely closed with sand) from

storms and hostile attacks.
wall ran about three

The army

city.

filed

of limestone,

that

it

In this

hewn

I.,

as late as

1720, de-

All these walls are built

into square stones, so large

would require
first line

second parallel

hundred yards from the

of Peter

between the two.

fifty

men

to

remove one.

of the Caucasian wall there were

seven iron gates, and over each gate were two

lionsf (or sphinxes), as talismans, before which

the infidels were said to shrink,

who were

con-

* The mosques undoubtedly date from the time of the

hammedan
f These

Mo-

rule.

lions are clearly of the time of the Sassanides

Mohammedans

erected no statues or sculpture.

the

55

THE CAUCASIAN WALL.

stantly striving to

undermine the

and

walls,

to pe-

Seven

netrate into the country of the Faithful.*

roads led from these seven gates to the

Masudi

city.

commences on the

states that the wall

seashore, runs to the fortified tower of Kaliat Ta-

and proceeding thence has iron gates

barestan,

at intervals of fourteen miles, each

tower.

with a strong

Edrisi (a.d. 1151) acids, that the entire

Caucasian Wall had three hundred gates and

towers, which

is

plainly an exaggeration, although

he names a great number of them.f

Derbent declined gradually

and

century,
* There

is

its

after the sixteenth

defences were neglected

an old legendary basis for

the

When

this story.

Is-

kander (Dulkarnein) erected the great wall between the king-

doms of Ormuzd and Ahriman (Iran and Turan), he employed

the dog-nosed Divs lick and gnaw this perpe-

various metals

tually, to destroy it

they

will,

it

is

believed, succeed one

Judgement. The Mohammedans converted

day before the

last

the Divs into

Gog and Magog.

Derbent a prophetic tradition

still

Among

the inhabitants of

prevails, that the

the Faithful will not be destroyed, until an infidel

yellow faces shall force their

country.

way through

the walls into the

"When Niebuhr asked the Turks what

were meant

empire of

enemy with

hostile people

in this story, they replied, the Russians.

On

his

putting the same question to the Arabs, they thought the

Europeans

at large

were intended,

their encroachments in time be

f See

Hitter,

ii.

865, seq.

as

removed

Stamboul would by
to

Bagdad.

(Eitter.)

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

56
great walls

fell

into ruin,

tonly destroyed.

and were

is

wan-

It nevertheless retains its place

in the history of the world,

portance

in part

and

its

military im-

incalculable, being the link connect-

ing the Caucasian line of defence with the Cas-

pian Sea.
his

When

Peter

I.

entered Moscow, after

campaign in the Caucasus, the most impor-

tant of
silver

all

his trophies

were considered to be the

keys of the iron gates of Derbent.

57

CHAPTER

VI.

THE SASSANIDES. MILITAEY COLONIES. PKINCIPALITIES.

SEEIE.
GENGHIS KHAN. THE SCHAM KHAL.

The

Sassanides, with a view to secure their do-

minion over these countries, which they considered so important, not only restored the old

and

walls

fortified all the

also established

narrow passes, but they

on the northern

the chain of the Caucasus a

and

fortified towers, to

of the Barbarians,

acclivities

number

withstand the

and serve

along

of towns

first

attacks

as places in

which

to assemble and make their defensive prepara-

They

tions.

likewise planted on either side of

the wall, and in the mountains, military settle-

ments, colonized by people of various nations, for

the defence of the mountain-range

these colonies

were chiefly under the rule of native princes,

who,

after the fall of the

nides,

kingdom

of the Sassa-

formed small independent dynasties, and

d 3

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

58

a long period defended their ancient faith

for

Mohammedans,

against the

whilst they lived in

Probably a

perpetual fends with one another.

who resemble them

part of the Lesghians,

their

mode

of

life

and

entirely in language,

in

dress, although differing

may be

the descendants of

these military colonists.^

The Sassanides

also followed the ancient tra-

ditions of Persia, restoring the primitive feudal

state,

spirit

which resembled that of the Germans in

and character

they planted on the Borders

hereditary feudal princes, answering to the Mar-

graves of Germany.

In ancient times the

cele-

brated heroic Persian race of Zal and Roostem

ruled here, in true feudal union with the Shah.

Khosru Anushirvan

dence of a Border prince

mountain

pality of the

Shirvan, as the resi-

built
:

he formed a princi-

districts

above the Koor,

with which he invested one of his kinsmen, of the

race of the Sassanides.

Masudi mentions them

as existing since the year 590.

The most remarkable margravate was founded

* The case
are

now

is

at the present

established

mountain

tribes,

day reversed military colonies

by the Bussians

as a defence against the

formed of the various Cossack peoples

extend along the whole line of the Caucasus.

they

THE SASSANIDES.

59

by the Sassanides above Derbent,

Lord

pality of the

territory of Serir

of the

began

by

at

a distance of three

who

Christians,

zaren),

yet lived on the

Semid), the capital

near the frontier of the

was, a.d. 960,

ter-

country of the king of

ritory of Serir lay the

(or

it

North of the

best terms with the Moslems.

Asmid

princi-

Golden Throne.* The

days' journey north of Derbent

inhabited

the

of

kingdom

and whose king was

which was

of Chozi (Cha-

Jew; he never-

theless maintained the best understandinp; with

Serir

The prince

and Chozi.

bore the Persian

title

of Padishah of Serir,

of the Golden Throne.

Behram Khopin,

or king of Serir
i.e.

King

The commander-in-chief,

kinsman of the Shah Khosru

Anushirvan, received this margravate for his son

as

an hereditary

honour Bal

fief.

(Baal, Bel),

He

also bore the title of

and was presented by the

Shah, as a token of his high dignity, with a

magnificent

golden throne, the work of

many

years.

Whether

these Sassanides or Gheber princes

afterwards abandoned the religion of

and became

Ormuzd

Christians, or whether the country

was conquered and the throne usurped by a race

# Ibn Haukal

(a.d. 960) is

our chief aiithority here.

60

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

of Christian Greek princes,

history

found

this

country entirely Christian

kingdom

of Edrisi (1130), the

still

in the time

existed,

was overthrown by Genghis Khan.

it

however appears
the

kingdom

which

In the year 960, Ibn Haukal

silent.

is

a question on

is

title

have partially survived in

to

of the

The

but

Golden Horde, on the Volga,

founded in 1250 by Genghis Khan, and destroyed

trict

by Timur

1395

in

;* whilst in this dis-

was formed the new Mohammedan

princi-

Scham Khal, the Tatar-Lesghian

Tarku. The rise and extent of this prin-

pality of the

prince in

cipality is very obscure.

Mohammedan sway

It is

should have co-existed with

the Sassanidan or Christian

this country, unless

Tarku

of

impossible that the

it

kingdom

of Serir in

were confined to the town

probably the

Mohammedan dominion

extended originally over a mountain

district

more

to the west, the princes of which, after the de-

struction of the

kingdom

of Serir, obtained

over the greater part of the

The

power

latter.

traditions of the country relate that, un-

* Al Wardi (1340) evidently confounds the ancient Prince

of the Golden Throne, with the later

Golden Horde,
Serir.

whom

he

calls

Mongol Khan of the

Serir-ed-Dehab, after the old

THE SCHAM KHAL.

61

der the Khalif of Damascus, governors were ap-

pointed in the frontier provinces, one of

was placed on the north-eastern

Cau-

side of the

Scham Khal,

casus, with the high title of

whom

or Vice-

roy of the Khalif, to act as a defence against the

Uruss (Russians). The power of the Scham Khal

of

Tarku, based on the remarkably favourable

position he occupied, increased considerably

acted an important

Peter

and

I.

Persia.

part

in

the

he

war between

In the year 1740 his power

extended over nearly the whole of the Caucasus,

to the Black Sea.

countries

had

After

all

fallen into the

the Transcaucasian

power of Russia, by

conquest or gradual acquisition, the

became a mere

vassal to that Power,

virtual political existence.

his origin

and

Scham Khal

position,

and

lost all

The Scham Khal, from

was the ancient outpost

Gog

defence of Islamism in the north against

and Magog.

The
peared

title
;

of Viceroy of the Khalif has disap-

but the position, power, and

religious influence over the

of the Caucasus

political

Mohammedan

and

races

which he possessed survive to

the present day, transmitted to the neighbouring

prophet of Muridism, Schamyl.

62

CHAPTER

SHAHS

VII.

ADVANCE OF EUSSIA.
MOUNTAINEERS.-
GEORGIA AND ARMENIA. TATARS AND PERSIANS. NUMEROUS RACES. POLICY OF RUSSIA, TRADE WITH THE CIRCASSIANS. INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. MURIDISM.

THE CAUCASUS.
POLITICAL

OF PEESIA.

OF

POSITION

The Caucasus

CAUCASIA.

has through

all

times been a pro-

tecting barrier to the ancient monarchies of Asia

The hardy mountaineers have

against the North.

contributed to maintain this defence, but without

own

ever surrendering their

independence, not-

withstanding the repeated attempts of the Persians, Byzantines,

and Turks,

These attempts have

all

hammedan Shahs

of

Caucasus Alaphat,

i. e.

to subjugate them.

proved vain.

The Mo-

Persia called the eastern

Mountains of Victory,

as

they boasted of having reduced under their do-

minion here one hundred and seventy peoples.

Where

is

now

their

dominion

proverb says, " If the

Shah

is

An

old Persian

too mighty,

let

him

DECLINE OF PERSIA.

63

the Caucasus !"

The Persians

make war on

only

have indeed occasionally seized posts on the north

side of the Caucasus,
built

towns

founded settlements, and

for a short

time indeed their sway

But the

extended as far as the Volga.

was untenable,

moment, but
Kuli

Khan
it,

suddenly again.

Thamas
for-

Derbent, about the year 1740, and

as if prophetically, Iran

Destruction).
last

lost as

hastily in a favouring

(Nadir Shah) erected a formidable

tress north of

named

snatched

position

From

Gharab

that very time,

(Iran's

when

the

powerful and warlike monarch occupied the

throne of Persia, Iran gradually sank, and Persia's

power and name

are

now

forgotten in the Caucasus

nearly effaced and

the Sultan and the

Turks alone meet any longer with consideration

and sympathy among the Caucasian

The

political relations of the

completely changed
Asiatic

country are

now

whereas in former times the

Powers carried

Caucasus, at times

races.

their

victorious,

arms beyond the

but quickly again

losing their northern conquests,

at the present

time the great Northern Power has extended her

dominion into the south Caucasian countries, and

occupies a threatening position on the frontier

heights between the two Asiatic empires.

It is

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

64

not probable that this position can be merely a

temporary one.

race, civilization characterized the South,

barism the North

the picture

the Northern

prevail,

contrary, well organized

is

now

and bar-

reversed

and decay every-

whilst in the South barbarism

where

human

In the early times of the

Power

on the

is,

and consolidated

and

it is

not imaginable, that the two enfeebled Asi-

atic

empires can ever regain the power, unaided,

to drive Russia from her position.

But other and

unlooked-for events have arisen, and the Eastern

Powers have received such formidable aid and

support from unexpected quarters, that the balance of the future trembles on the beam.

To understand

aright the political position of

these countries, in this great war, the relations

existing

among

political, social,

died.

the various races inhabiting them,

and

religious, require to

Viewing them

collectively,

be stu-

we have

here

three separate national groups, which from time

immemorial have dwelt

and

distinct,

side

by

side, yet separate

the mountaineers of the Caucasus,

the western races, and the eastern races.

The

first

of these races, without entertaining

any sympathy

for Turks, Persians, or

Europeans,

cherish a growing hostility, a deep-rooted hatred

GEORGIA AND ARMENIA.

toward Russia

all

dependent, with

they

demand

is

65
remain

to

freedom of action

full

in-

they re-

quire the former Powers to secure their freedom,

but without

They

them.

Mohamme-

are for the greater part

and have recently found a great

dans,

and

being willing to unite with

at all

around

religious centre, a hero,

political

whom

they

gather.

The western

nations, Georgia

Christian, for the

most part connected w ith the

r

At no

Russian Church.

modern

cient or

and Armenia, are

period, either in an-

times, have they

had any po-

national, or religious connection with the

litical,

Eastern Caucasians.

They have a profound

sion to the Persians

and Turks, and

support Russia against those Powers.

menians are decidedly attached

although this feeling

among

may

able whether any influence or

lity.

Their old

of 1800,

men

still

how barbarously

always

The Ar-

Russia

but

not universally prevail

the Georgian nobles,

Europe could ever succeed

to

will

aver-

it is

very question-

power from Western

in shaking their fide-

remember the events

the Turks and Persians

treated the Georgians, extorting a tribute of boys

and
to

girls

from them, and forcibly compelling them

embrace Islamism.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

66
In 1795
destroyed

Aga Mohammed took and

Tiflis,

completely

and the Georgian king only

re-

All hope died

tained possession of Kaishaur.

away, and on his deathbed he bequeathed his king-

dom

to the

Emperor Paul, beseeching him

in his

testament to occupy and protect the country, and

When

to maintain the Christian faith.

Alexander

succeeded to the throne, he long hesitated whether to accept a present so beset with difficulties.

now between

has

Tiflis

inhabitants

The

forty

and

fifty

thousand

by Tatar and Per-

eastern side, inhabited

Mohammedan' faith,

sian races, all of the

are in-

imical to the Russians, notwithstanding the mild

treatment they have received.

pect

little

they

will,

Russia can ex-

aid from these peoples

on the other hand,

rise

but whether

and take a de-

cided part against Russia, and openly join the

Turks and Persians,

With

is

quite another question.

the latter people they have no sympathy

they are ignorant of the feeling of independence,

and have

for centuries

been accustomed to foreign

rule.

The mountainous
inhabited

districts of the

by perhaps more than

Caucasus are

a hundred dif-

ferent peoples, remains of races, or distinct

and

RUSSIAN POLICY.
independent

tribes.

67

There has never been any

united government or action

a warlike state has

already lasted more than one generation, though

it

cannot be called a regular war.

In early times

the two most populous races of the Caucasus,

the

Circassians

and Lesghians, made frequent

predatory incursions upon

this the

all

their neighbours

Russians would not suffer

they planted

Cossacks near them, to keep them in check, and

them from time

chastised
beries.

At length Russia

to time for their rob-

seriously

formed the

project of taking possession of these countries

but, notwithstanding the vast increase, the gigantic

development of her power, the attempt proved

perfectly futile.

Russia therefore abandoned her

plans of conquest

by the sword, and sought

to

accomplish her object by other and peaceable

means, by introducing among the inhabitants European

civilization, luxury,

wants, and customs.

Instead of measures of severity, force, and prohibition, she

opened her markets to the Circassians,

permitted the sale of children, and endeavoured

to

win the people over by good

offices

and pre-

sents.

Among

the Circassians in the west this system

was. crowned with partial success: regular war-

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

68

fare lias for

many

years ceased in that part of

the country, and only occasional predatory attacks of small bands of Circassians took place.

The system would have

sults, if a

better re-

regular and organized trade had been

established;

with great

but such an attempt was attended

difficulties.

been carried into

Germans.

much

led to

It

might perhaps have

by

effect in the first instance

The German

institution of guilds

and

trading fraternities contains the elements of a complete legal organization,

rendered

and

available

which might have been

under such circumstances,

which might have been

to

safely entrusted

the carrying out of such trade with the Circassians,

under certain

pervision.

privileges, control,

and

su-

These Germans might perhaps have

co-operated with the honest

Karaim Jews*

in

carrying their trade into the heart of Circassia.

Such a system, consistently carried

out,

would

in

time doubtless have tranquillized this country,

and a peaceful intercourse have been established

with the mountaineers, even at a partial eventual

independence

sacrifice of their

this has

however

not been the case, and recent events have entirely

broken

off all

amicable relations.
# See

'

Transcaucasia.'

THE CIRCASSIANS.
If with the introduction of

tion

among

European

civiliza-

these mountaineers, they at the

time remained Mohammedans,

gradually disappear

many of

energy and

traits of character, their

of

69

same

the noble

spirit,

would

they would become a race

mere licked barbarians. True

civilization

could

only spread on the introduction of Christianity

and

this

might probably be

tions of zealous

by the

effected

and able missionaries

exer-

for a great

part of the Circassians were in fact Christians

Mohammedanism

in early times.

by the nobles and princes

has been profor

more than

a century, and at the present time

the lower

fessed

classes of the Circassians are without

They

belief.

and sympathies
see

definite

are said to have received Christi-

and ancient

anity from the Genoese,

we

any

still

exist

traditions

among them

a proof that these sympathies

indeed
are not

wholly effaced, in their attachment to their ancient weapons,

which the Genoese brought

they assure us), and on

many

of

which are

seen Latin inscriptions and names.

The

(as
still

ruins of

Genoese churches and crosses are found every-

where

in the mountains,

and no Circassian ever

rides past these without dismounting, falling on

his knees,

and paying

his devotions.

;;

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

70

Russia had indeed at one time nearlv succeeded

t/

war with the Circassians

in arresting the

they

merely kept up a mutual surveillance, and

esta-

blished almost a friendly intercourse

but Russia

failed entirely in her attempts to pacify the East-

ern Caucasus

the

se-

and regular character, and was conducted

rious

on a larger

In this country other grounds

scale.

of enmity existed

Mohammedanism
in Circassia has

the

war here assumed a more

in

Daghestan

long period

has prevailed generally, which

found

Mohammedan

for a

less

ardent followers

Murids has

sect of the

here

arisen

religious fanaticism has increased with inconceiv-

able rapidity

and prophets and leaders have ap-

who have introduced

among the people, and

peared,

unity of spirit and

action

organized the mili-

tary operations of the country.

The accounts we receive are very incomplete and

inaccurate. These mountaineers use the sword, but

not the pen,

the Russians

lowed to write

state policy forbids this.

al-

rich

Occasionally travellers have brought us

true statements, but far

and

but are not

the inventive genius of the European

field for

press

fight,

it is

more generally false ones

no uncommon thing

pleasure in imposing

upon

for people to take

travellers, particularly

INACCURATE REPORTS.

when they manifest

no places of public

71

There are

a curious turn.

no coffeehouses, where

resort,

such information can be obtained

in Tiflis, for

example, the war with the mountaineers

is

never

mentioned.

Foreign military

Danes and French

officers

have

Prussians, Austrians,
frequently accompanied

the armies of Russia in their campaigns, to perfect

themselves in field service

met with

the best reception,

they have uniformly

and been treated

comrades by the Russians.

in

all

This has naturally

and reserve on

called for discretion

the accounts they have

consequence in short

is,

as

made

their part,

public.

The

that comparatively fewr

accurate and connected accounts of this

memora-

war have reached Europe.

ble Circassian

A manuscript of considerable
communicated

to the author

interest has

by

been

a friend, from

which the following account of the origin and

spread of Muridism

man by

birth, the

is

taken.

Although a Ger-

w riter had ample

r

of studying closely the character

and

political

together with

opportunities

and

religious

circumstances of the Circassians;

many

personal accounts respecting

the mountaineers of the Eastern parts, which he

has introduced into his narrative.

72

CHAPTER
THE MURIDS.

VIII.

STHICT

MOHAMMEDANS. THE SULTAN. ORIMOSQUE AT JAEACH. MOOLLAH MOHAMMED. HIS CHARACTER AND POSITION. -PREACHES WAR.
KAZI MOHAMMED. ANECDOTE OF HADJI ISMAEL. THE
GIN OE MURIDISM.

KAZAMET.

The Murids are

not properly a

their religion differs

that of other

Mohammedan

sect:

on no doctrinal grounds from

Mohammedans

a politico-religious party.

they form rather

In fact they preach

expressly the unity of the Shiites and Sunnites,

they urge upon both parties the duty of forget-

and

internal dissensions,

and

of upraising the standard of the Prophet,

and

ting their religious

striving for that

Mohammed,
it

to

cc

grand and simple injunction of

conquer the world and subject

to the Faithful,
55

lievers.

and to extirpate the Unbe-

In their external,

political organization,

they follow the Persian Soofism; but, on the other

hand, they acknowledge the Padishah of Turkey as

the lawful Khalif.

Nevertheless they reason thus

AUTHORITY OF THE SULTAN.

The Khalif

weak

is

he has

73
from the

fallen off

pure doctrines of Islamism, he makes peace with

the Unbelievers, and allows
his person

or he

is

he

is

them

to

be about

in their power, their prisoner,

a direct apostate

His sway over the

Faithful has consequently de facto ceased, and

this

has reverted to the

large,

and

their Moollahs.

sovereignty of the people

med

Mohammedan bodv at
Thus we recognize the
in Islamism.
Moham-

everywhere raises up new prophets and

leaders from the people,

by him

enemy

who

are commissioned

to lead the Faithful to victory against the

:

these they are

Muridism,

like

bound

to obey.

everything great in

life

and

and was unfolded gradually from

history, sprang

an insignificant germ.
In the village of Jarach, in Daghestan, there
stands

among

the other small huts a

storied building

humble two-

a small staircase on the outside

* History abounds in analogies. "When Pope Pius YII. concluded the Concordat with Napoleon, and issued a Bull, reconstituting the Episcopacy of Erance, a number of the Bishops,

who during

the Revolution had been expelled from their Sees,

and had not been reinstated, protested against the Concordat.

schism ensued: "la petite Eglise" nearly separated from

Rome, and openly

called the

Pope an Apostolical apostate

this movement.

but Napoleon, with an iron hand, suppressed

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

74

leads to the

which
is

the

sheltered from fthe sun

is

village

little

mounts

wooden balcony on the second

Mosque

and

story,

This

rain.

the Crescent that sur-

indicates the service of the building.

it

Withinside everything is simple, naked, and lowly.

All

mosques have a

certain air of simplicity, but

they have frequently handsome vestibules, elegant

vessels containing water for ablution, etc.
is

There

nothing of this kind here: the mosque at Ja-

rach

is

a naked apartment, thirty paces long and

eighteen wide, dimly lighted

windows,

like portholes

brown, and the

carpet.

by three small round

the walls are greyish-

floor covered

with a miserable

felt

In the middle stands a kind of pulpit,

rudely carved of walnut-tree wood.

On

the walls

are inscribed in large letters, half effaced, texts

from the Koran. This humble

by the simple power

village

of eloquence,

cradle of an insurrection,

which has

Mosque

has,

become the
set

Daghe-

stan in flames, and soon spread over the whole

of the Caucasus.

Mohammed,

In

this little

mosque Moollah

the father and founder of Muridism,

preached, with a fervent and inspiriting enthusiasm.

Moollah

Mohammed

sing appearance,

tall

was a

and

thin,

man

of an impo-

with noble, dark

MOOLLAH MOHAMMED.
and expressive
though quite

features,

blind,

75

lustrous black eye,

from long night study and

watching, white hair, and a short white beard.

His mild and cheerful

severe mental

toil,

features, yet

indicated the learned Moollah,

who was

also distinguished

with

wide blue over-garment.

its

marked by

by the green turban,

blood stained his hands; his

life

Never had

was pure, hardly

could sinful thoughts be imagined to have ever

The views which the Mosque

entered his mind.

commanded
ghestan,

over the broad green forests of Da-

bounded on the

far horizon

by the blue

waves of the Caspian, early impressed on

his

youthful mind, had in manhood, after he became

blind,

remained deeply graven on

outward world to him,

his soul,

associated with

the
every

thought of himself and of those attached to him.

He

spent his

life

in religious observances,

and in

the study of the holy books, which he expounded

to his disciples.

able old man,

And

this pious, gentle, peace-

who appeared

scarcely to be con-

nected with the earth but by the breath of

whose
fect

gentle voice

silence,

this

man preached

of the people like one

and

relentless war,

was scarce audible

man,

the

life,

in per-

uprising

preached a bloody

and ardent, inextinguishable

e 2

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

76
hate

His trembling,

guiltless

arms which he sent forth

hands blessed the

to shed

torrents of

blood.

Next

in

rank to Arslan Khan, Moollah Mo-

hammed was

the highest Cadi, or judge, in the

Khanate of Kuril.

Until the year

1823 he

lived

peaceably in Jarach, occupied with his study of

the holy books
tivals

and

On

his judicial duties.

fes-

he expounded the teachings of the Prophet

to the people,

who

gathered from even distant

lands, to listen to the inspired preacher.

From
and the

the tithe of the produce of his parish,*

and presents of the

freewill offerings

pious, he soon acquired a considerable income.

Nevertheless he himself lived in indigence, whilst

he gave largely to the poor.

the country acknowledged

All the Moollahs of

him

the

learned scribe) in Daghestan.

degrees gathered around him,

his dwelling, read with

first

Alim

(or

multitude by

who assembled

him the Koran, and

in

lis-

tened eagerly to his expositions.

Amongst

the most diligent and attentive of

these pupils, Kazi

Mohammed,

khara, was pre-eminent

* The tithe (zekot)

is

among

a native of Bo-

he resided seven years

the

Mohammedans

the legal impost by which the clergy are supported.

likewise

KAZI MOHAMMED.
with the Mooliah,

who

received

77

him

into his in-

Suddenly he quitted

timacy and confidence.

his

old master, to return, as he said, to his native

country.

But

had passed, he had

ere a year

re-

turned to Jarach, where he lived as before with

the aged Mooliah

Mohammed.

The

who

latter,

loved him as a son, soon remarked an unaccountable change in his whole

Kazi

Mohammed

manner and mode

shunned

all society,

of

life.

no longer

frequented the mosque, nor attended the exposi-

Koran, scarcely ever quitting his

tions of the
cell.

at

little

Once Mooliah Mohammed surprised him

midnight

he found him, by his solitary lamp,

The

deeply buried in the study of the Koran.

old master, in astonishment, asked

of this change in his

that there

life

him the cause

and manner remarking

;

must be some

secret

cause, perhaps

the burden of some sin upon his conscience, which

no prayers and fasting could

" Assuredly/' replied

have a great secret

expiate.

Kazi

and therefore

have returned to thee, to prove

all

Mohammed,

thy paternal love and care of

it

is

" I

that I

my

gratitude for

me

during these

seven years, by disclosing to thee the means of

attaining this holy mystery. Since I quitted thee,

a year and a clay ago, a

new

light has fallen

on

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

78

my

mind, and revealed to

me

the true and pro-

Ye men

found sense of the holy books.

of

Da-

ghestan vainly imagine that ye understand the

law; but ye

all

and thou

ay,

likewise,

who

art

so deeply read in the

Koran

dead word, but not

deep and divine import

its

perceive only the

Mohammed

In vain did Moollah

him the new

!"

press Kazi

light

and know-

ledge that had been revealed to him.

" It were

to

communicate

unbeseeming

to

for

me/' said Kazi, " to attempt

who moreover

to teach so celebrated an Alim,

has been
desirest,

my

we

paternal instructor

but

will repair together to the

if

renowned

who has initiated me

new knowledge."

Effendi Hadji Ismael,

deep secrets of this

Moollah

Mohammed

thou

in the

consented, and they jour-

neyed together, accompanied by several other of

the pupils, to Kurdamir, a village in Shirvan,

where Hadji Ismael

at that

time resided.

On

they found the venerable Effendi

their arrival

engaged in cutting young twigs from his mulberry-trees,

to

feed his

ment and dread

the holy

man

silkworms.

seized on

all,

doing a thing so

ticularly forbidden

Astonish-

when they saw

strictly

by the Koran.

and par-

Hadji looked

up, and without any customary greeting, he said

HADJI ISMAEL.
to

79

Moollah Mohammed, " Ye well know that

it is

forbidden by the Koran to lop off these twigs

but

is

was only to prevent the extirpation of

this

trees

which are so necessary in Arabia.

different in this country

here

the mulberry-twigs without at

trees

at the

The

case

w e can prune
7

all

injuring the

same time they serve

for food to

one of the most useful of God's creatures, which

means

gives the

of livelihood

to

innumerable

people/'

The wisdom

of this remark struck the hearers

and prepared

forcibly,

their

minds

teachings and revelations which they

from Hadji Ismael.

his scholars

Moollah

for the

new

now received

Mohammed and

remained some time with the Effendi,

gaining an insight into the true sense of

many

parts of the Koran, conversing on the decline of

the Faith, and the

means

on the chief subject,

all

the Unbelievers.

of

opened
lah

all

of reviving

throwing

After Hadji

it,

but above

off the

yoke

Ismael had

the stores of his knowledge to Mool-

Mohammed, he bestowed on him

his benedic-

tion as a Murshid, or spiritual preacher, urging

him solemnly

to devote his

life

to the revival of

the Faith in Daghestan.

It is a

remarkable circumstance, that Hadji

Is-

80

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

mael suddenly disappeared, and nothing was ever

heard of him again there or elsewhere

he had

kindled the spark, and Muridism speedily spread

throughout Daghestan. The Russians assert that

man was an

this

remarkable

sian

Government, which

a rupture with Russia,

emissary of the Per-

at that time anticipated

who was

sent to

stir

up

an insurrection in Daghestan, with a view to embarrass the operations of Russia.

On

his return to Jarach,

Moollah

Mohammed

devoted himself more than ever to the study of

the holy books, shutting himself
the whole day long.
tity increased,

up

The reputation

and pilgrims flocked

in his cell

of his sancto

him from

quarters to hear his teaching and exhortation.

all

He

dwelt more frequently and more earnestly

than ever on the corruption of the age, the degeneracy of the Faith, and the necessity of
storing

its

re-

inner vitality, in order to secure the

victory against its external enemies.

In

this

man-

ner he gradually prepared his hearers for carrying

out the great object he had in view, and by degrees their confidence in

more

fervent

One
in

day,

greater

him became more and

and unbounded.

when

the multitude was assembled

numbers than

usual,

he appeared

MOOLLAH MOHAMMED.

81

before them, and with an emphatic and solemn

energy, he preached to them of the necessity of

repentance, reproached

them with

their indiffer-

ence to their religion, denounced the Moollahs

and

their

engrossing care for their worldly interests.

He

for their neglect of their sacred duties,

then proceeded to accuse himself as an example

of this laxity of duty, confessing before the as-

sembled people

his errors

and ignorance,

in never

having truly understood or acted up to the meaning and

spirit of

the Law.

sess

relieve

me

"it

is

your

gift,.

ble in the dark

of
I

"

Take

all

that I pos-

my burden!" he exclaimed;
am unworthy of it: I stum-

I have imperfectly,

nay

falsely,

taught and preached the holy laws of the Koran

to you."

Touched by

earnestness

his

the people entreated

him not

and humility,

to give

away the

little

he had received from them, which, they

said,

he had employed indeed almost wholly in

acts

of beneficence

and begging him,

for the

future, not to refuse the pious gifts of the Faithful.

that

But the

old

man remained

same day he distributed

sessed

among

all

resolute,

and

that he pos-

the poor, living himself in great

poverty.

e 3

82

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

The following address was written clown by

one of his hearers

made and

copies of

through

circulated

Daghestan.

We

were rapidly

it

whole

the

of

give a literal translation of

on account of the extraordinary

it,

political effect it

produced.
"

Your

wealth, your dowries, your marriages,

your children

lie

under a curse

stamped them with the

seal of hell

has

Allah

for ye con-

tinue to live in your sins, ye will not acknow-

ledge and

fulfil

He who

the law of the Prophet,

acknowledges the true God, says the Koran, can

be the slave of no

bow

first

commands

the holy

not

man he must

of his religion,

before the great

duty

is,

follow

men

and obey

and dares
His

of the earth.

by persuasion and the sword,

to

spread the light of the true Faith in the world,

to forsake his family

and country, when danger

threatens Islamism, and to

the Unbelievers.

And

ye

arm himself

what have ye done

what do ye ?

The Russians have come

country, and

ye

their

have

against
?

into the

cowardly submitted to

sway without a struggle

The

free

Mus-

sulman has abjectly taken the yoke, and become

the slave of the Unbeliever,

has desecrated his mosques,

of the Infidel,

who

who

has trampled on

PREACHING THE KAZAMET.

who

his freedom,

83

probably, nay assuredly, con-

And

templates the destruction of Islamism.

miserable cowards, devoid of

commands and words

of the

faith,

and heedless

of the Prophet, ye

pursue greedily earthly good, and allow our

People

ligion to perish.

the curse

and the Khalbruks

mosques
prayers.

Heaven

in vain

ye frequent the

of the Unbelievers bars

your access to the throne of Allah.

form penance, but above

war (Kazamet).
prayer, fasting,

and

give

and your

disdains your rites

The presence

all

and penance

my

Pray, per-

hasten to the holy

Prepare yourselves

you now

seal

Kamaz

In vain ye observe the

re-

since the Russians have

come among you, your brow has borne the

of

ye,

for

it

by

the hour will come,

benediction

for

the

battle

From

the day

when

this energetic

harangue

was delivered dates the birth of Muridism.

hearers
spirit

were

carried

and enthusiasm

away by the
:

The

old man's

the speech spread with

the rapidity of lightning in the country far and

wide.

The

disciples of

Moollah

Mohammed

dis-

persed themselves in the mountains, organizing

insurrection,

and reducing the general ferment

into systematic action.

Associations were formed

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

84

in every part,

and

their

teachings,

which had each

common

their defined object

worship, together with secret

and speedily a general organization

under fixed legal forms.

85

CHAPTER

IX.

THE KAZAMET. DISTUBBANCES

ABSLAN KHAN. HIS INTEBVIEW WITH MOOLLAH MOHAMMED. WAE BETWEEN PEESIA AND TUBKEY. KHAN OE AYAEIA. KAZI MOOLLAH.

OPPOSITION TO MTJEIDISM.

IN THE EUSSIAN PBOYINCES.

The

doctrines of Moollah

Mohammed

were not

received without opposition in certain quarters.

Some
lif

Kha-

of the Moollahs maintained that the

(Sultan) alone

had the right

to

declare the

Kazamet, or war against the Unbelievers

likewise that the

Koran

the w^ar

forbids

and

when

the Faithful are the weaker party, lest the Faith

But these

be exposed to danger.

no

effect

upon the mass

The

who folMoollah Moham-

latter thenceforth lived in

retirement, in his
service in the

cell,

leaving

mosque.

stery that attended his

had

of the people,

lowed openly the teaching of

med.

objections

His

it

complete

only to perform

piety,

secluded

and the my-

life,

enhanced

the effect and influence of his doctrines and dis-

86

TRIBES 0E THE CAUCASUS.

courses on the minds of

initiated increased daily

as their

all

the

number

of the

they acknowledged him

Murshid, and called themselves Murids

(teaching disciples, or apostles).

At

first

these roaming Murids restricted their

preaching mostly to penance, after the example

of

their

master, Moollah

Mohammed;

movement

a short time the insurrectionary

creased,

and they preached the war with

The Murids

and turning toward the North

exclaimed,

met

then, standing

!"

"

Mussulmen

arise

in-

fervour.

visited every Aoul, or village,

collected the inhabitants

hill,

but in

and

upon

(Russia), they
to

the Kaza-

Every one who opposed them they beat

with a wooden

shaslca, or sabre,

which they made

on purpose.
Beside the increasing predatory incursions and
sallies

of the independent mountaineers, disturb-

ances also broke out in the districts occupied

by, or dependent on, Russia,

w hich, although
7

oc-

curring singly, showed the general spread of the

political ferment.

On

the occasion of a partial

rising of this kind taking place at

Kury, General

Yermolof summoned Arslan, the Khan of Kazi-

kumik and Kury,

vestigate

a dependant on Russia, to in-

and suppress

it.

Arslan

Khan

desired

ARSLAN KHAN.
Moollah

Mohammed

to

87

appear with his followers,

and defend themselves.

On

the high-road, not far from Kirag, near the

village of

Kassimkent, Arslan

old Murshid, surrounded

Murids and Moollahs.

to

by

Khan met the

a large

blind

number

of

The Khan hastened up

Moollah Mohammed, and in an angry and

menacing tone asked him how he could dare to

"

hold such insurrectionary harangues.

Knowest

thou not the superior might of the Russians, and

dost thou not reflect
will

how much

innocent blood

be shed by thy fault?"

" I

know

w^ell," replied

Moollah Mohammed,

"that the Russians are stronger than we, but

Allah

is

one and

far stronger still

all,

sinners,

penance and pray

world,

We

than they.

and need repentance

I have

are,

do

withdrawn from the

to obtain Allah's grace

do no

man

wrong."
" But do not your followers

roam over the

country, preaching the Kazamet, and ill-treating

all

who oppose them ?

Knowest thou not what

misery you are bringing upon us?"

"

My

Murids acknowledge the truth of the

Scripture; they only remind the people of the

commands

of Allah

and the Prophet

and

if at

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

88

times their zeal carries them away, to commit

which are not allowed in every-day

actions

life,

only shows the people the more strongly

this

what

is

it

Khan,

I exhort to

throw

and prophet.

truth,

we

are

hasten-

all

meanest slave as well as the greatest

ing, the

unless

thee too,

the cares of the

off

world, and to reflect whither

lord

And

necessary to do.

There

no saving health,

is

we acknowledge and
and do

his

attain to Allah's

holy will according to the

Shariat/
"
slan

the

Thy words

"I know my duties, and punctually fulfil

commands prescribed in the Koran, and the
:

prayers of the Shariat/

"

answered Ar-

are superfluous/

Thou

liest!"

exclaimed the Murshid. " Thou

and thy

art a slave of the Unbelievers (Russians);

observance of the holy

less

and unprofitable/

He had
offended

rites is therefore

hardly uttered these words

Khan

felled the old

with a blow of his

fist,

demand a
soon saw, by the
to

man

when

to the

and ordered

(attendants) to disperse the

and

worth-

the

ground

Nukars

his

Murids and Moollahs,

fine of each.

silence with

But the Khan

which

were received, that he had gone too

his orders

far

he had

MOOLLAH MOHAMMED.

89

struck a holy man, a blind old man, and punished

Moollahs and Murids for obeying a plain com-

mand of the Koran. He called Moollah Mohammed to him, and begged him to forget the offence.
" But I entreat thee/' he added, " let not thy

Murids
sians

violate the

Russian laws;

would then order me

I delivered so holy

my
"

who would

me

the wrath of Allah,

if

an Alim as thou to the Russeize

on

my

Khanate and

all

5 '

possessions.

Thy offence

Khan,

self

and

have sworn to perform toward them, and

the fear of drawing on

sians,

to deliver thee up,

be obliged to choose between the duty

I should

which

Rus-

for the

against

me God

will forgive

I counsel thee at least not to

but,

bind thy-

wholly and heartily to the Russians

do not

subjugate to them the people of Daghestan.

If

thou mayst not allow thy subjects to obey the

Tarikat,* do not at least deter the other inhabitants of

Daghestan from doing

may be

politic,

likewise

so.

Such conduct

and prove of advantage

to thee

the more enemies the Russians have,

* The authentic expositions of the Koran are divided into

three parts

1.

3.

and

the Makarifat, which treats of doctrines

the Tarikat, which expounds the morality of the Koran

2.

the Shariat, which comprises the judicial portion, and also

refers to the usages

and observances of daily

life.

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

90

them

the more needful to

is

thy friendship, and

they will load thee with honours and presents

but when they have subjugated the whole of Daghestan, thou wilt be superfluous to them, and

thou wilt lose thy power, thy influence, perhaps

thy Khanate."

Khan was inwardly convinced

Moollah Mohammed's words he

Arslan
truth of

him with

of the

loaded

presents, but collected the fines from

the other Moollahs, and informed General Yer-

Prom

molof that he had restored order.

that

time however he was no longer trusted.

On

his return to Jarach,

Moollah

Mohammed

found an immense multitude awaiting his

anxious to hear what had happened to

arrival,

him

he

endeavoured to pacify them, and forbade them to

take up arms until he should give the signal.

Soon afterwards he summoned the

rach,

and elected the Shikh-Shaban of Avaria

known by

the

hand upon

his

(afterwards the celebrated leader

name

chiefs in Ja-

of Kazi Moollah), laid his

head and gave him

his benediction as the Kazi,

the chief of the Kazamet, or holy war.

addressed the chief in these words

"

The Khan at

of Kuril

rule of the Russians,

is

He

then

under the power and

bound hand and

foot

but

KAZT MOOLLAH.
ye are

free,

and your duty

91

to

it is

begin the war.

command

In the name of the Prophet I

Kazi Moollah, return to thy home,

people,

arm them, and with the

begin the holy war

fall,

every

collect the

blessing of Allah

who
but woe to

Paradise awaits those

man who

thee,

slays a

Russian

!"

who turn their backs on the Giaour

Prom that time Moollah Mohammed took no
active part in the movement
in fact he did not

those

again even preach, but lived in complete seclusion.

Arslan

him up

Nevertheless Yermolof in 1825 ordered

Khan

to seize the Murshid,

to carry out this order

to

deliver

Horul Beg received the charge

at Tiflis.

and took him

and

he surprised the old man,

Kurach, whence however by the

aid of his friends he escaped to Tabassaran,

and

remained concealed there.

Meanwhile the war which broke out between

Persia and Turkey diverted the attention of the

Russian Government in Caucasia from Daghe-

Kazi Moollah

skilfully

took advantage of

this to increase the spread of

Muridism, and to

stan.

gain the entire eastern side of the Caucasus to

his projects.

Agents from Persia aided him,

citing the people to insurrection,

speedy assistance.

in-

and promising

Nevertheless Kazi Moollah

92

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

wisely abstained from any offensive operations

until the year 1830, contenting himself with for-

He won

tifying his strength internally.

over the

mountaineers, not only by his eloquence, but even

employed

force

when they

resisted his

summons,

enforcing obedience in numerous villages, which

He

he obliged to give him hostages.

also

pelled the hereditary district chiefs, the

and Begs,

to

ate of Avaria

The Khan

Khans

In the Khan-

embrace Muridism.
however

com-

his efforts wholly failed.

of Avaria

w as dead
r

was

his son

only in his fourteenth year, and his mother ruled

for him.

band

of fanatical

Bakhu

village of Asbatli.

the young

Khan

Murids entered the

Bike, the mother of

Nunzal, sent to Kazi Moollah,

desiring

him not

resided

but saying that she was ready to send

him one

to

go to Khunzach, where she

of her other sons as a hostage.

Kazi

Moollah, without heeding her request, pressed

ward

at the

as far as

head of 8000 Murids, into the land

Khunzach, and a portion of

even entered the

despair

city.

his troops

The inhabitants were

in

they had no confidence in their youthful

Khan. His mother then, sword

among

for-

in hand, appeared

the helpless assembly of the inhabitants.

" I see/

she exclaimed, " you are unfit to use

93

FAILURE OF THE RUSSIANS.

the sword

give

it

up

to us

women, and

clothe

yourselves in our tchedras (linen garments)."

The

men were

they

put to shame by these words

took courage, threw themselves on the enemy,

headed by their young Khan, and routed them.

Kazi Moollah was wounded in the head, and
caped with

es-

difficulty.

These reverses however did not daunt Kazi

Moollah

he assembled his followers, and formed

stronghold

his

in the forests

of Tchunkeskan.

Russian detachments made frequent excursions

thither,

ble

but without giving him any serious trou-

and even considerable expeditions, under

General Rosen and Prince Bekovitch, were

These

tended with no success.

failures

at-

on the

part of the Russians served only to increase the

fame of Kazi Moollah, and

his respect in the eyes

" See ye not/

of the superstitious Lesghians.

he would exclaim, " the clear proofs that we and

our holy task are under the protection of Allah

To gain

the victory, ye need only to pray

strikes the foe

See ye not

invisible

how

they shrink

power?"

Kazi Moollah now assumed the

after another,

Allah

with blindness, so that they can-

not discover us.

back before an

offensive,

one

he took Azlebi, Parent, and Tarku.

94

He

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

besieged Burnaya, and was on the point of

when General

Disterlo arrived just in

time to relieve the place.

Kazi Moollah was de-

taking

feated,

it,

and

retired into his forests

in ten days

however he appeared before Vnezapnaya, but

to take

On the

it.

he retreated.
battle

at

received, in

bassaran,

approach of General Emanuel,

Subsequently he fought a bloody

the

Murids were

failed

village

Aukh,

of

in

which the

In his forest retreat he

victorious.

August 1831, a deputation from Ta-

who announced

had embraced

to

him

his doctrines, that

that the people

Heaven had

in

consequence blessed them, that they had fought

and conquered the Giaours on Mount Karnauk,

and had driven them

An

entirely out of Tabassaran.

event occurred, which added essential im-

In 1831 a report was

portance to his position.

suddenly spread abroad (which proved to be a

false

one), that

the Persians had unexpectedly

invaded the southern provinces.

All the Russian

troops in Daghestan in consequence were

two battalions remain-

south, to Shirvan, only

ing in garrison at Derbent.

of Daghestan thus

Kazi Moollah.
remained

moved

fell at

The whole country

once into the power of

Tabassaran alone, in the south,

faithful to the

Russians

it

was conse-

KAZI MOOLLAH RESIGNS.

quently devastated.

Derbent

95

Kazi Moollah laid siege to

but, after eight days' blockade, he

was

forced to retire, on the approach of General Ka-

khanof.

He

then went to northern Tabassaran,

where he joined the family of the Murshid,

Moollah Mohammed, and married his daughter.

He

afterwards

home with

the

and returned

considerable booty.

But the
decline.

attacked Kizliar,

star of

He

command

Kazi Moollah now began to

repaired to Ghimry, and resigned

of the

Agatzeh-Kale, to

Muriels, in the

Gamzad Beg.

camp

at

Colonel Mikla-

shevski attacked and completely defeated him.

96

CHAPTER
*

X.

DEATH OF KAZI MOOLLAH. RENEWED FERVOUR OF THE

MURIDS. G-AMZAD BEGr CHOSEN COMMANDER. HIS OVERTURES TO THE KHAN t-'F AVARIA. TREACHEROUS CONDUCT
OF GHAMZAD. DEATH OF THE KHAN. SCHAMYL CHOSEN
-

LEADER.

Eakly

in

victories,

1832 Kazi Moollah gained

on the

line

a few

more

between Vladikaukas and

But General Rosen now repaired

Kizliar.

person to Tchetchenia, plundered

it,

in

and crossing

the Soulak proceeded to Ghimry, the birthplace

of Kazi Moollah.

from Derbent the

Since his unsuccessful retreat

latter

had

lost the confidence

now

of the mountaineers, and Daghestan was

but

He summoned Gamzad Beg

lost.

but the

latter refused to

collected

obey the

his followers

all

was born

I
I

die here
die

to his aid,

call.

He

then

around him, and ad-

dressed them in these words

drawing near

all

: " I

see

my

end

upon the spot where

for the holy truth

of the

9?

DEATH OF KAZI MOOLLAH.

Let him alone who

Tarikat, for the holy Shariat.

is

me!"

prepared to die remain with

The
bloody

battle

Ghimry was

at

at length the village

and

obstinate

was taken.

Kazi

Moollah defended himself in his house, and

with
his

The Russians exposed

inhabitants.

all its

dead body,

as they

found

effect

it,

to instil a salu-

women and

tary terror into the captive

The

fell,

children.

produced was precisely the reverse

death restored to Kazi Moollah the reputation of

sanctity,

which he appeared to have

close of his

life.

lost at

the

The dead body appeared with

one hand grasping his beard, and the other pointing to heaven

Mussulman

in

but this
prayer,

is

and

the attitude of the

all

the spectators at

once believed that Kazi Moollah had breathed

his last in a

garded

moment

of fervent prayer

this as a fresh proof of his

inspiration,

and the

they re-

sanctity

and

belief in his doctrines gained

new strength. The Murshid, the aged Moollah

Mohammed, repaired to Gamzad Beg at Irgana,
and gave him his benediction, as the chief of the
holy war and successor of Kazi Moollah.

This appointment must be regarded as

vised and unsuitable

but

it is

ill-ad-

only a proof

how

deep root Muridism had already gained, and what

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

98

power

had acquired, that even under

it

management
lah

was owing that

it

To Kazi Mool-

did not dissolve.

it

this

bad

this

danger was averted

the theocratic, political, and military state, which

he had established, maintained

efficiency,

and subsequently

organized with admirable

its

this

skill

and

existence

has been further

by Schamyl.

The newly-appointed commander, Imam

Azem Gamzad

Beg, was born at Stuzal

of middle stature and somewhat stout

was the Circassian one, but

his

cap

he was

his dress

entirely white

he wore a turban,

over

green, white,

black, according to circumstances.

of his entry into

On

el

or

the day

Khunzach he had a black turban,

because the Prophet wore one of that colour on

his entry into
in the

Five Russian deserters,

Mecca.

Russian uniform, constantly accompanied

him, which caused the report

sians that he

had

he sought

in the interior.

the Rus-

a Russian guard of honour.

Gamzad Beg maintained

1833

among

a passive attitude in

to consolidate his

first

At the

close of that year

power
he

in-

vaded and conquered the country of Gergebii,

and defeated the Khans of Mekhtuli and Akusha,

who were
The

allied to the

richest

S chain. Khal of Tarku.

and most powerful prince of

this

GAM Z AD
district

99

BEG.

was the Khan of Avaria, who had

in

former times received extraordinary honour from

Gamzad Beg

the Sultan.

entertained a

and envy

feeling of hatred

and importance
his

and he determined

him

in

rank

to seize

upon

After conquering the intervening

throne.

territory,

Khan, who

for this

in the general opinion far surpassed

deep

and

enlisting

under

standard

his

all

capable of bearing arms, willing or unwilling, he

invaded Avaria at the head of 33,000 men.

sent

to the

offers

young Khan

He

of uniting with

him, couched in such plausible and even humble

language, that the

Khan immediately

perceived

the deceitful snare, and haughtily refused them,

His mother Bakhu Bike, however, who

by her

before had,

was no

years

and heroism, de-

resolution

feated the attack of Kazi Moollah,

that valour

five

saw

clearly

was here unavailing, and that there

assistance to

be hoped

for

she therefore

pressed her son to ride into Gamzad' s camp, and

conclude a peace

young Khan
and

thus

refused.

entreaties, she

whether
;

it

on any terms.

The proud

After in vain using tears

said, "

My

son, I

know not

be fear or pride that makes you act

but as your resolution

I will myself

is

taken, so

is

mine

go to the camp of Gamzad Beg."

f 2

TEIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

100

The young Khan now,

his

mother not

ger.

in his turn, entreated

to expose herself to such a dan-

At length

it

was resolved that Omar Beg,

the Khan's youngest brother, a lad of sixteen,

Gamzad

should bear the message of peace to

Beg.

The

issue of the negotiation

with impatience.

Khan and

his

Hours passed

was awaited
In vain the

on.

mother gazed anxiously from the

high terrace in the direction of the enemy's camp,

the

fears

young lad did not return

The mother's

overpowered her; she earnestly

at length

implored her son to ride to the camp, and ascertain the fate of his brother,

and

to offer terms of

peace on any terms.

The Khan could no longer

tears.

"

As you

resist his

are determined on

he replied, " I go to

meet

it

!"

mother's

my

He and

death,"
his

Nu-

kars (vassals) leaped on their horses, and rode off

to the

enemy's camp, their minds

presentiment.

When

filled

with sad

they had proceeded about

half the distance, a violent thunderstorm

came on

so suddenly, that instantly the streams overflowed,

while the lightning flashed around them, and the

thunder rolled incessantly overhead. The Khan's

charger reared, and refused to

stir

tious followers regarded this as a

his supersti-

warning from

THE KHAN OE AVAR! A.

lieaven for

them

to return

101

them

but, on seeing

again, the indignation of his

mother knew no

bounds, and she reproached him bitterly for his

cowardice.

Burning with shame, and gnashing

his teeth with rage, the

upon

his horse,

Khan threw

and galloped

himself again

at full

lowed by only eight Nukars, to the

Gamzad came
with an

air of

speed,

fol-

camp.

hostile

out to meet him, received him

the utmost respect and humility,

and conducted him

to his tent,

where he found

his brother.

Gamzad however
to begin a quarrel

soon found an opportunity

he declared that one of the

Khan's Nukars had stolen one of his horses

and as the Khan had paid no heed

plaint,

nor punished the offender,

this as a personal insult,

to put the

the

Khan

Nukar

to

to the

Gamzad

treated

and was himself about

Tired with rage,

death.

tent,

at the eight
fell

were

and made a

sign to the Murids standing in front of

stantly several shots

On

High words ensued.

sudden Gamzad quitted the

all

com-

declared that he would allow no one to

punish his Nukar.

they

it.

fired into the tent,

In-

aimed

Nukars, who were standing together:

dead on the

Gamzad's nephew, seized

spot.

his

Tchonan Beg,

pistol

and aimed

102

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

Khan's brother, who perceiving the move-

at the

ment

same instant

fired at the

The Khan now rushed out

clown

cut

(sabre),

of the tent, with

and with herculean strength

him

before

all

fell

Beg mortally wounded.*

dead, and Tchonan

drawn shaska

Omar Beg

man

off a head, or cleft a

Murids, speechless with

each stroke struck

The

to his girdle.

terror, hardly

dared to

# The following incident manifests the general deep veneration

and attachment in the East to the princely

Tchonan Beg, when mortally wounded,

side,

and said to him, " Listen, father

ments to

live.

liege lord

I have raised

my

rulers.

called his father to his

!

I have hut a few mo-

hand against the son of

Allah has willed that I should be a criminal

have no other son

fulfil

my

last

wish

my

You

save Bulatch Beg, the

youngest and only brother of our Khan, and adopt him as

your

may
him.

you

and guard him

child,

not

He
for it

misdeed. "

will
:

as the apple of

into the hands of the wicked,

fall

one day be the

Khan

your eye, that he

who wish

to slay

of Avaria, and reward

perhaps this act will procure

me

pardon for

my

Tchonan Beg expired immediately he had uttered

these words.

The

old

man

concealed him in his Aoul.

at once took Bulatch Beg,

and

The Murids however discovered

him: the boy, who was only twelve years

old, exclaimed,

You have killed my mother, my brother, my whole house

Take me to my cousin Arslan
let me live, I am so young
<c

Khan, of Kazikumik, he will reward you in a princely

manner." But the Murids were merciless, and carried him
to Tcherakul,

where he threw himself from a rock into the

torrent of the Kolsu.

Avaria became extinct.

With him

the ancient princely race of

TREACHERY OF GAMZAD.

The Khan received a wound

defend themselves.
in his face
laid

103

covering

with his

it

hand, he

left

down

about him with his right, cutting

every one

who came

near him

eye-witnesses of

the scene declare that he slew above twenty men,

and among them the brother-in-law of Gamzad.

His formidable strength, and the strong feeling
of old respect to the sacred person of the

disarmed resistance, and

took to

all

lowed by

others,

and the Khan

Thus terminated the

zal, at

of

fell

But

fired, fol-

dead.

Khan Abu Nun-

the handsomest
a victim

twenty-two years of age,

and noblest man of

chery.

life

flight.

was

presently from a distance a shot

Khan,

When

his people,

to trea-

the news of the event reached the

camp, the mountaineers wr ere seized with panic,

accustomed as they had been from childhood to

honour the Khan of Avaria as the

The people
the

of princes.

fled in all directions, until at length

Murid Schamyl succeeded

and inducing them

in rallying them,

to return.

Gamzad Beg now

force to

first

repaired with his military

Khunzach, the chief town of Avaria,

which he took without

resistance.

Khan's mother, with the

He

slew the

rest of the family,

thus became sole master of Avaria.

He

next

and
at-

104

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

tempted

to

conquer Dargo likewise, an indepen-

dent country, the inhabitants of which were

fa-

vourably inclined to the Russians

at-

tempt he

failed

but in this

he was defeated, and obliged to

retire into Avaria.*

A second time Gamzad Beg prepared

to invade

Dargo, but before he could carry his plan into execution, he

fell

by the hand of two brothers, Osman

and Hadji Murad.

brothers of

Omar

men were

These

the foster-

Beg, the second brother of the

Khan Abu Nunzal of Avaria. They had served

as Murids under Gamzad
but their father re;

proached them with their faithlessness to the race

of their native princes of Avaria,

them

and instigated

to avenge the death of their foster-brother

Omar

Beg.

in the

mosque

ther Hadji

They did
at

so,

and shot Gamzad Beg

Khunzach.f

Murad

The younger bro-

escaped, and seized

upon the

throne of Avaria.

Although a Murid, Gamzad Beg lacked enthusiasm,

and he was therefore not regarded by the

people, like Kazi Moollah, as a prophet sent

by

# The manuscript communicated to the author by his friend,

mentioned above, ends here.

t This murder of Gamzad Beg is graphically related by

Yolker des Caucasus/ p. 307.

Bodenstedt, in his

'

SCHAMYL CHOSEN COMMANDER.

His ambition and

Allah.

lated

by the

zeal

105

were not stimu-

religious motive of fighting against

the Unbelievers, but he took advantage of his

position of

promote

to

commander
his

own

of the holy war, merely

personal interests, and to

indulge his ambition.

After the death of
of the

war devolved

Gamzad Beg,

the conduct

of course,

and without

as

any further nomination, on

old

Imam Schamyl

Murshid Moollah Mohammed, who had con-

Gam-

secrated for the office Kazi Moollah and

Schamyl' s

zad Beg, having died.

tial

the

brilliant

which he surpassed

qualifications, in

other Murids, pointed

him out

son for such a command.*

mar-

all

the

as the proper per-

Schamyl had been

the favourite pupil and faithful companion, as

well as the most valiant and skilful warrior, of

On

Kazi Moollah.
at

the taking of

Kazi's side, pierced

contrived to save his

Gamzad Beg,

by two

life

likewise,

is

Ghimry he
balls

how he
Under

unknown.

Schamyl was by

fell

far the

most distinguished warrior.

# In the

first

instance Tashav Hadji offered himself as a

candidate for the command, but he voluntarily submitted, in

1837, to Schamyl,

who was

far his superior in ability.

106

CHAPTER

XI.

IMAM SCHAMYL. HIS PEESON AND CHAEACTEE. DEFEAT OF

THE RUSSIANS. HIS EXTEAOEDINAEY ESCAPES. SCHAMYL's
INFLUENCE OVEE THE MUEIDS. CAMPAIGNS OF 1839-1843.
GENEEALS GEABBE AND GOLOVIN.

Imam Schamyl,

like

Kazi Moollah, was born in

the village of Ghimry, in the country of the Koissubulins, in 1797.

of very noble

In stature he

is

not

tall,

and handsome proportions.

but

He

not by nature physically strong, but he has

is

acquired remarkable power and vigour by every

kind of bodily exercise.

and regular shape,

His head, of a beautiful

his aquiline nose, small

mouth,

blue eyes, blond hair and beard, and delicate

white skin, seem to point rather to a Germanic

than an Eastern extraction.

His hands and

feet

are

formed with the most beautiful symmetry

his

mien and every movement are proud and

dignified.

From

his

childhood Schamyl manifested an

SCHAMYL.

107

iron character, a calm dignity in his whole de-

He

meanour, which nothing conld shake.

ed

solitude,

every one

and maintained a reserve towards

same time he studied with

at the

ardent zeal under

Eddin, to

court-

his

w hom he
r

ately attached,

and

master, Moollah

has always been affectionto

whom

he

still

and unreserved

deepest veneration

Djelal

showr s the

filial

obedi-

Entire days and nights has he passed in

ence.

the rocky defiles of his native mountains, buried

in the study of the

Koran, the Arabian theoso-

phy, and the doctrines of Soofism, together with

the ancient Persian heroic legends and songs.

He

has manifestly faith in himself, and in his vocation as a prophet sent

with

by

Whilst gifted

Allah.

fiery eloquence, his extraordinary talents as

a general are unquestioned.

Upon

the death of

Gamzad Beg

the greater

part of the Murids in Avaria were slain.

Murad defended
against

the country and

Schamyl with great

self closely to

Russia.

skill,

and

Schamyl's

on assuming the command, was

Russian

General Lasskoi,

native village Ghimry.

the

throne

allied

first

to

Hadji

him-

exploit,

defeat the

who had taken

his

Nevertheless he failed to

obtain any firm footing in Avaria

the inhabit

108

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

had a hatred against the Murids, which was

tants

by the treacherous murder

increased

their

of

Khan.

We

pass over the series of engagements be-

tween Schamyl and the Russians, which have

been repeatedly published

we have

how

far the accounts

received are correct and trustworthy

cannot say

one thing

is

well

w$

known, that he

carried on a guerilla warfare, with a genius

and

energy scarcely paralleled in history.

On

several occasions

of desperate peril, but

escape

by boldness

Schamyl was in

situations

he always contrived to

In more than

or stratagem.

one instance he ostensibly submitted to the Russians

but no sooner had they in consequence

withdrawn, than he threw

off the

mask, and em-

ployed the opportunity to increase his influence

and power

he represented to his followers that

the Russians were struck blind

that in the

most advantageous

by

Allah,

positions,

and

when

they had him nearly in their power, their reason

suddenly forsook them, their sight was darkened,

and, unaware of their advantages, they
full liberty to escape.

him with

left

him

The Russians reproached

deceit

and treachery, but

his conduct

him

in the eyes of his

own

only raised

people,

109

RUSSIAN CAMPAIGNS.
as the

Mohammedans regard every breach

with Infidels as a venial

act.

of faith

In 1837 Schamyl apparently submitted to Ge-

and thus induced him

neral Fesi,

the country with his troops

to evacuate

in consequence of

which stratagem, Schamyrs influence increased

to such a pitch, that his old rival

and many

voluntarily submitted to him,

wavering and

even

hostile

Tashav Hadji
of the

joined

tribes

his

ranks.

In the years 1839 to 1843 the Russians made

great efforts to conquer the country.

Grabbe, a very'

skilful

officer,

took

against Schamyl with great energy

was gradually hemmed

at length

field

the latter

more and more,

faithful

followers

into the

impregnable rock-fortress of Akhulgo.

Grabbe

the

until

he was driven with a few thousand

most

of his

in

General

at first

almost

General

contemplated starving him out,

but Schamyl had accumulated immense stores

of every kind.

and was

The

place was regularly besieged,

at length taken, after incredible efforts

but Schamyl had escaped,

be found in the

On

fortress

he was

nowhere

to

another occasion he escaped, in a perfectly

mysterious manner, from almost certain death or

"

110

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

imprisonment
side of

this

happened when he

fell at

Kazi Moollah, wounded by two

was thought

to be dead

but

balls

after a short

breast,

on which the wounds were

With one

still

as-

bared

visible.

voice they exclaimed, " Allah has re-

Schamyl from the dead, to

called

his

he

time

he on a sudden appeared again among his

sembled Murids, and exposed to view

the

rule over the

living

The Avarians once surrounded the Murids

the castle of Khunzach, and set

perished by

fire

or the

effecting his escape.

fire

in

to it; all

sword, Schamyl alone

But these escapes were

al-

ways a profound mystery, Schamyl representing

them

as attributable to

an especial miracle from

Heaven.
In the year 1841, the Russians, under the

command

of

the

Governor- General

Golovin,

opened a campaign with a great display of power,

but which was unattended with any success.
the same

manner another

completely failed;

whom

and

called.

expedition, in 1842,

even

the Mountaineers most

Yermolof and Sass, won no

In

General

Grabbe,

feared,

next to

laurels

and was

re-

The Georgian Prince Argutinski Dol-

goruki alone met with any success at that pe-

Ill

TACTICS OF SCHAMYL.

gaming possession

riod,

of the

Khanate

of Kazi-

kumik.

One
and

instance of Schamyl's warlike character

may

tactics

In the autumn of

suffice.*

1841 the Russians made an expedition against

Tchetchenia.

They forced

their

way

into the

country, exposed to harassing attacks on every

side

a constant

fire

was kept up from behind

every bush, tree, and rock

and they advanced

amidst martial shouts from their unseen enemies

in

but the Mountaineers nowhere appeared

any

force,

nor engaged in any

battle,

ex-

cept near the Asule, where bloody combats took

which ended however in no decided

place,

The Russians burned down the

sults.

and the

stores of hay,

and carried

and children, and some herds of

rassed

women
all

these

army

for

no sooner had they passed,

Tchetchens

appeared again and ha-

of the

than the

cattle

villages

were obliged to keep with the main

spoils they

body

off the

re-

their

rear.

October, without

The expedition ended

any great

in

advantage having

been gained.
Scarcely

had the Russian troops dispersed

their different quarters,

to

when Schamyl appeared

* Compare Bodenstedt, 'Die Volker des Caucasus,'

p. 543.

112
in

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

the country they had quitted, at the head

He

of his followers.

who were

immediately compelled

ail

capable of bearing arms to join him,

threatening

all

who

held back with a fine of a

or fifty Russian lashes with the

silver rouble,

In a few days his army increased to

knout.

With

15,000 men.

the rapidity of lightning he

invaded the country of the Kumyks,

allies

of

the Russians, burned their villages, slew or took

prisoners the inhabitants, drove off

and advanced

mand

there

The Colonel

to Kizliar.

went out

to

and the guns taken.

two

of the

fortresses,

had advanced,
at

his

failed

they

rear

sallied

and

cut

Schamyl had

could

attain

in

com-

meet him, with a few

hundred men and two cannon

killed,

the cattle,

all

but they were

all

The commandants

between which Schamyl

out,

to

off

his

effected

their

form a junction

They

retreat.

his

object.

retreat,

ere

The Russian

Generals were only two versts apart

Schamyl

pressed on between them with his troops, which

he rapidly formed into three columns, attacked

the Russians with two of these, right and

and, protected

by

left,

the third, carried off to the

mountains cannon, prisoners, and forty thousand

head of

cattle.

113

PRINCE W0R0NZ0F.

This exploit raised the fame of Schamyl to an

incredible pitch
in the war,
first

same time

at the

inasmuch

as the

it

was an era

Mountaineers

time captured two pieces of

for the

artillery,

the

Czar's pistols, as they called them.

In 1842 General Grabbe undertook an expedition into the country of the

tirely failed.

called, the

Gumbetes, which en-

Grabbe, Sass, and Golovin were

re-

whole plan of operations was changed,

and simply defensive measures were adopted;

the only object being to cut off

supplies to

and thus starve them

the Mountaineers,

This system was

pursued

Governor- General

Von

to the

all

for

some

Neidhart,

command, but without any

out.

years,

by

who succeeded
signal success.

This General had great administrative talent, by

the exercise of which he has effected
in this department.

much good

In a military point of view,

the conquest or pacification of the mountain tribes

has not advanced a single step.

In 1845 Prince Woronzof, one of the most

men whom Uussia poscommand in the Caucasian

distinguished and noble

sesses,

assumed the

war, with almost royal authority.

the administration until 1854.

He

retained

During the

early

part of his government the relations of Russia

114

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

much more
tribes, who have

with the Mountaineers became

vourable

collective

pacified.

and the western

name

fa-

the

of Circassians, were almost wholly

The war, properly

speaking, had here

long been extinguished, and

only occasionally

who contented

small predatory bands appeared,

themselves with capturing a few prisoners, with

a view to obtain a ransom, or carrying off
to a

hundred head of

cattle

to the

fifty

mountains.

Prince Woronzof had intercourse with the chiefs,

and

is

said to have given

and succeeded greatly

He

ment.

Circassians,
girls for

rich presents,

winning

their attach-

organized an active trade with the

and permitted the

sale of

boys and

Turkey.

The war
in the

in

them

against Schamyl meanwhile remained

same suspense.

Woronzof attempted, by

burning and cutting down long paths through

the forests, to open the country

by degrees

but the forests were too

and the land

dense,

beyond them too mountainous and

to render this

work

successful.

# Napoleon did something similar to

He

;*

inaccessible,

effected little

this,

when he

inter-

Vendee by long and broad roads. By this means

the nerve of defence was materially severed in the forests,
and the resistance in 1830-31 was speedily overcome.
sected the

115

STATE OF THE CAUCASUS.

here in conquest.

Since the breaking out and

the continuance of the war with Turkey and the

Western Powers, the communication between the

Caucasus and Constantinople has become per-

The Mountaineers have been

fectly open.

by

assisted

provisions

greatly

supplies of guns, ammunition;

and, although

mation has been received,

clear that the

authentic infor-

little
it

Russians have

and

appears to be quite

lost all influence over

the Mountaineers, that Schamyl at the present

moment

is

the acknowledged head of

all

the in-

habitants of the Caucasus, and that the Russians

are

now

The

restricted to act

Circassians gladly accept the supplies

ammunition,

salt,

etc.,

the Western Powers

this

on the defensive.

that they

from Constantinople and

but any inference from

would welcome an

alliance

the Turks and the Western Powers,

roneous

of

is

with

quite er-

they by no means desire the vicinity

of the latter, which they

obnoxious and

fatal to

would regard

them with

as equally

that of the Rus-

Indeed they might probably in the end

sians.

agree even better with the Russians.

Schamyl himself would consent

Whether

to a co-operation

with the Western Powers appears, from his chavery problematical

racter,

he desires to

rule,

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

116

but undoubtedly not to be subject to the Sultan.

Whether one

of the

many

through Circassia has

is

very doubtful

prisoners, robbed,
sians

emissaries sent to

really ever reached

him
him,

they have generally been taken

nay murdered, by the Circas-

117

CHAPTER

XII.

AND MILITAEY ORGANIZATION. EEEOEMS IN TUEKEY,

AND EGYPT. MEHEMET ALI. EUEOPEAN DIPLOMACY. SCHAMYL'S POLICY. HIS PEETENDED INSPIEATION.

CITIL

PEESIA,

BLOOD
Great

EEYENGE.

CODE

OE LAWS.

STEPS TO PAEADISE.

as Schaniyl's military exploits

undoubt-

edly are, his talents for organization and admi-

Since he has had

nistration surpass even these.

the

command

of his country, he has organized

a government complete in
military constitution,

in the

an admirable

and a regular

which has now stood the

The forms

itself,

test of

legislation,

many

years.

of the civil and military constitution

Mohammedan

States are based

upon the

laws of their religion, modified only according to

the

national

sians,

customs and bias of Arabs, Per-

and Turks.

declined,

and

Since

its spiritual

Mohammedanism

has

power has waned, these

forms of government have shared the general

decay.

The bond which

still

holds these States

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

118
together

munity of
ful in a

that element of nationality

is

faith,

war

and com-

which becomes especially power-

like the present.

It

must not be

and Turks,

forgotten, that the Arabs, Persians,

with their Caucasian admixture of blood, are

akin to the noblest and most highly-gifted na-

Hence we

tions.

many,
hold

that, whilst

see the fact, inexplicable to

Turkey

longer as

itself

is

a State, yet in the

the Empire of the Turks

and vigour.

scarcely able to up-

always

The Mohammedan

camp

exhibits

life

rulers have long

seen and recognized the superiority of the Christian States

but they have

imagining that

this arises

forms, and that

it

fallen into the error of

merely from outward

only requires these forms to be

imitated and adopted, to annul this superiority

of the Christian nations.

Half a century ago an attempt was made to

introduce

into

Turkey European

the Sultan Selim paid with his

tempt.

institutions

life

for the at-

Since then an amazing change has taken

new

military organization.

that the

European armies of

place, especially in the

It is undeniable,

Turkey have shown great

the present

war

whether

skill

and valour in

this is attributable to

the reform in their organization, to European in-

MOHAMMEDAN REFORMS.
struction
tial

and command, or

spirit

of the

is

much

we must

at

mar-

leave.

reform have

partially carried out,

but with

probably because the warlike

less success,

spirit of the nation

This

a question

attempts

In Persia similar

been made, and

to the inherent

which readily adopts

nation,

these improvements,

119

has almost become extinct.

reform in the

system of organization

has been pursued the furthest in the Arabian

branch of Mohammedanism.

In Egypt

Mehemet

Ali has remodelled not only his army, but the

whole

civil

system

government, entirely upon a European

and, ostensibly at least, his measures

were crowned with success

but, although ap-

parently dictated

by an enlightened

new system was

grafted

most

fearful

caprice

upon a

policy, this

spirit

and despotism,

carried out with wonderful energy.

of the

certainly

Had

he

succeeded in overturning the empire of the Os-

mans, and in founding a new Arabian one

at

Constantinople, he might probably have averted

for a time the downfall of

Mohammedanism.

vigorous Oriental empire of this character might

perhaps have

pean

satisfied the

state policy, to

the present

moment

demands

of a Euro-

which such an empire

(at

that of Turkey) seems to be

120

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

But the timid European

a bitter necessity.

di-

plomacy, which shrank from any departure from

the beaten tract, and strove to uphold the totter-

ing existence of Turkey at

all

hazards, in order

to adhere to the traditions of the past, prevented

this

it

annihilated the fleets of the Viceroy, re-

pulsed his army from Syria, and thus destroyed

his

power of conquest.*
once

tunities,

macy

Such favourable oppor-

never return

lost,

and the

diplo-

Europe now contemplates the chances

of

of the future, blind to the issue of events

and

powerless to control them.

* In saying

this,

we

protest expressly agaiost the charge

In the victory of Christianity we recognize

of partisanship.

merely the point in the world's history to which

all lines

Mohammedanism,

must

fate converge

out,

when

has

it

fulfilled

in

all its

the purpose of

phases,
its

mission.

of

die

We

speak here simply in the spirit of the temporary state policy

and England viewed the matter

Austria, France,

of Europe.
differently

and instead of securing, in a powerful and

organized empire under

Mehemet

well-

Ali, a really efficient bul-

wark against Russia, they preferred propping up the miserable Government of Turkey. Russia alone acted at that time
with wisdom and consistency to her the preservation of a
:

Turkish empire was a

at the present

moment

political necessity,
!

and

if

nay,

it is

means, be kept from dying, no Power would even

more

to effect

this than Russia

spite of all the efforts of

inheritance arises

so even

"the sick man" could, by any

herself.

now do

But should he

die, in

England and France, the question of

what then

121

schamyl's policy.
Scliamyl likewise

Power

is

aware that

perfectly

Russia cannot be opposed with any

like

hope of success, or even

and

of organization

safety, except

discipline

all

by the aid

and he appears

to have established such, both civil

fulfilling

the requirements

of

and

military,

his

position,

with remarkable genius, deep intelligence, and

persevering energy.

Schamyl has formed an

Mehemet

ception of his task to

like the

civil

he founds

pline,

Ali's

instead

of,

copying servilely the European

latter,

forms and

entirely different con-

institutions,
all

and military

his institutions

disci-

upon

reli-

gious and national basis, such as he finds exist-

and he adopts European forms and practices

ing,

only as far as they appear to

cal,

and

him

needful, practi-

applicable.

The whole

and

of Schamyl's social

nization rests on a theocratic basis.

set the

to the

orga-

civil

Allah has

Caucasus as a barrier or protecting

Empire

of the Faithful, against

Magog, against the Unbelievers

Avail

Gog and

there he has

planted the mountain races, and appointed

them

the watchful guards of this frontier defence

their

duty

it

is

believers,

to

combat

whose

to the last with

hostility

the

Un-

and attacks grow ever

122

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

fiercer as the world's

judgement approaches. But

as the Khalif is weak,

tors

and

raised

and surrounded by

infidels, Allah, to

up prophets and

Kazi Moollah was the

meet

trai-

this danger, has

leaders of the holy war.

first

consecrated and ap-

pointed to this task, and

through him Allah

made known
and the

office

To

men

these

Gamzad Beg succeeded,

now devolved on Schamyl.

his will;

has

the Faithful are

bound

to render

unconditional obedience.

Schamyl declares openly and solemnly

Murids and the people, that he has

moments

important

commands.

receives

up

Before engaging in any great un-

he

no one

closely:

fasting,

holy books.

by

religious

retires into a cavern, or shuts

is

and absorbed

On

him-

allowed to approach him.

For three weeks he remains in

and

at

immediate

their

dertaking, Schamyl prepares himself

self

direct re-

from Allah and the Prophets, and

velations

practices

to the

seclusion, praying

in the study of the

the last evening he

summons

the leaders and Moollahs, and communicates to

them the

revelations

hammed, under
to him.

who

are

He

and commands which Mo-

the form of a dove, has imparted

then goes forth

collected

in

large

among

the people,

multitudes

before

123

PROPHETIC MISSION.
his courtyard

he prays, recites verses from the

Koran, and declares with a loud voice what

The

Allah and the Prophet have commanded.

people

and renew

their daggers,

and

true to the Faith,

ers.
is

They then

great,

hymn, the men draw

sing a solemn

all

all

remain

their oath to

to extirpate the Unbeliev-

disperse, crying aloud, " Allah

Mohammed

is

his

first

Prophet, and

Schamyl his second/ *

5

The prophetic mission

of Kazi Moollah under-

went continual fluctuations of opinion among the

people

sometimes they believed on him,

at other

times doubted, according as he was fortunate

He

or unsuccessful.

the close of his

life,

was nearly deserted toward

and

was only

it

death

his

that fully confirmed the belief in his mission.

The

belief

in

Schamyl grew up

now

the
at

prophetic
first

gradually,

perfectly established.

no one has dared

the disaster

is

and regarded
the people.

character

to ascribe

but

Even under

it

of
is

defeat

any blame to him

attributed to the fault of others,

as a trial inflicted

by Allah upon

At the present moment

there

is

pro-

bably not one of the Faithful in the Caucasus

who doubts

that

Schamyl has the mission of an

* Compare Bodenstedt,

p. 487.

124

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

inspired prophet from Allah.

In consequence,

he everywhere meets with unreserved obedience,

and has performed incredible

The
and

old

Shiites

Schamyl
the

new

sectarian

hatred

exploits.

between Sunnites

has been completely appeased by

Caucasus

in the

revelations,

new

the

which the

doctrines,

lips of the

Pro-

phet proclaim, have dissolved the old disputes,

and reconciled

all

differences of opinion.

There are more than

fifty

peoples in the Cau-

casus, all differing in origin, language, manners,

character,

and modes of thought

and these races

are divided into innumerable clans.

They have

always

remained perfectly independent, one of

another

tocracies
princes.

they were either democracies, or

under the rule of petty hereditary native

No power

has ever been able to esta-

blish here a monarchy.

mountain

aris-

Although some of these

have been occasionally in a

tribes

tain kind of dependence

cer-

on the adjacent nations,

yet the entire population have never formed an

integral part of

time

all

any monarchy.

the present

appear bound together by a powerful

religious fervour,

phet,

At

common

faith

in the Pro-

and a deep hatred against the Unbelievers.

Here may perhaps be the germ of a future

SCHAMYl/s REFORMS.

monarchy under the Prophet.

such a supposition

man

single

at

It

true that

is

upon the head of

rests

Schamyrs

125

death, probably

organization and union would

all this

to the ground:

fall

among
command-

hitherto no one, except him, has appeared

these Mountaineers possessing similar

ing talents.

Schamyl has even succeeded

stricting the

which

fearful

for centuries

custom

by

fected,

this

the peoples

he has

ef-

Moollah; and even

where formerly only anger and passion

ruled, ready

succeeded.

tom

all

referring disputes of this kind to the

spiritual jurisdiction of the

here,

greatly re-

blood-revenge,

of

has cursed

and races of the Caucasus

in

obedience
If

has for the most part

Schamyl once puts down the cus-

of blood-revenge, he

is

undisputed master of

the Caucasus.

ral

It is said that

Schamyl has published a gene-

code of laws,

of course a paraphrase of the

Koran,

which

punishments.

prescribes an infinite variety of

Most

of these are

money

for instance in the case of theft, a fine of

the value of the thing stolen,

to

double

one-half the

be given to the person robbed,

fication,

fines

as

sum

an indemni-

and the other half to be paid into the

Gr

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

126

Severer punishments of impri-

military chest.

sonment are

and

der, treachery,

ecutions take place

loss of
full

violation of faith, death

by the sword,

ignominy.

In the

first

ex-

either without

case the criminal sits

bares his neck and breast him-

says his prayers,

bows

his

head forward, and

In the second in-

thus receives the fatal stroke.

stance, the executioner strips his neck

his

mur-

in cases of

honour, or accompanied by a sentence of

down unbound,
self,

and

also inflicted,

head

forcibly to the block.

victed of treachery

is

and bends

Muriel con-

shot or stabbed.

In accordance with the doctrines of Soofism,

which they have adapted

to their state, the Be-

which

lievers constitute four steps of the ladder

conducts to Allah and Paradise.

Upon

est or fourth step stands alone the

representative of Allah

and

the high-

Murshid, the

Mohammed

this

Upon

grade can only be occupied by one person.

the next lower, or third step, stand the representatives of the

Murshid.

On

the second stand

the disciples of the Faith, the Murids.

lowest or

first

who adhere
religious

On

the

step stand the people, the Believers,

simply to the outward practices and

observances

whilst the three others

participate in the theosophic doctrines

and

their

127

SCHAMYl/s REFORMS.
mysteries, according to certain relations

and gra-

dations.

Schamyl has divided

his

realm into provinces,

How

and these into governments under Naibs.

many

there are of these

Naibdoms form

five

placed a head,

who

temporal power.

we do

not know.

Every

a province, over which

is

unites both the spiritual and

The Naibs

declare the law,

decide disputes, watch over the fulfilment of the

outward religious observances

the taxes, and

summon

the

(the Shariat), raise

men

to war.

Schamyl has founded a regular system of

taxation

whereas in former times, according

to the ancient Caucasian customs, the revenues

Kazi Moollah and

of

only of a share of
a fifth part.

The

Gamzad Beg

consisted

the spoils of war, namely

tithe of each harvest

and generally introduced

as

was

first

an impost for the

Murshid.
All the taxes and presents

made

to the

mosques

and places of pilgrimage, which formerly the

Moollahs and Dervishes received,
the

war.

common

now go

into

chest, for the support of the holy

The Moollahs

receive a fixed payment,

and

the Dervishes are either enlisted in the army, or

must beg.

In some wealthy Naibdoms a

poll-

128

TRIBES OF THE CAUCASUS.

tax of one silver rouble for each family has been

introduced

amount

is

in the other districts

produce to that

received.

The property

of those

given to the military chest,

who
if

fall

in battle

is

there are no direct

heirs.

The

military organization, in

its

general fea-

tures, is the following.

Every Naibdom maintains three hundred armed

Every ten houses in an Aoul furnish

horsemen.

one horseman
he

taken

is

is

the family and house from which

Equipment and main-

free of tax.

tenance are found by the nine other houses.

men, from

upon

fifteen to thirty years of age, are called

to be exercised in arms,

of need,

if

myl's army.

the country

is

and must

The warrior chosen and equipped by

rest of the militia

from those

command

of the

The

strict-

families.

est discipline prevails in the

is

army, and disobe-

punished with death.

Schamyl has a

select

body-guard of (formerly) a

whom

he him-

Valour,

fidelity,

thousand men, the Murtosigators,

self

in time

attacked, enter Scha-

every ten houses, then takes the

dience

All

chooses from the Murids.

ardour for the doctrines of Muridism, are their

necessary qualifications.

They undertake arduous

129

THE MURTO SI GATORS.

and the

duties, practise temperance, continency,

strictest

observance of the Shariat (prayer and

ceremonial

are

duties),

distinguished

by

their

and the most

zeal for the spread of their religion,

In return, they are richly

unreserved obedience.

rewarded, and enjoy the highest honours and the

greatest

are free to retire after serving a certain

of years, but this

number

Every ten men

not usual.

is

They

from the people.

consideration

have a leader, and ten such bands a captain.

Up

been a

to this time there has never

found among the Murtosigators.

ralleled

the true support of

war, his

arm and

is

the

never has one of them

hands of the

fallen alive into the

are

Their unpa-

ardour united with their coolness,

terror of their enemies

traitor

foe.

Schamyrs

his shield,

These

men

powder,

everywhere

in

in peace, the in-

spired apostles of his doctrines,

the

executors of his commands.

Most remarkable
tions
in

are the orders

and decora-

which Schamyl has introduced since 1840,

outward appearance an imitation of the Eu-

ropean and Russian

rious

possibly however a myste-

meaning may be attached

to them, as

so frequently the case in the East.

is

The Orders

are granted for distinguished bravery

and severe

TRIBES OE THE CAUCASUS.

130

wounds, and give pecuniary advantages.

are three gradations
silver

the lowest order

There

is

a round

medal, the second a triangular order, and

the third consists of silver epaulets

this

last

confers princely rank.

In contrast to these military rewards are certain punishments.

by a piece of
the back

felt

man

Cowardice in battle
tied

marked

round the arm or sown to

thus disgraced generally soon

seeks and finds his death in battle.

THE END.

JOHN EDWAED TAYLOE, PBINTEB

QUEEN STEEETj LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
5

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