Imam Shamil
 |
Imam Shamil |
Imam Shamil (
1797 - March
1871) was an
Avar political and religious leader of the
Muslim tribes of the
Northern Caucasus. He was a leader of anti-Russian resistance in the
Caucasian War and was the third
Imam of
Dagestan and
Chechnya (
1834-
1859).
Imam Shamil was born in
1797 in the small village of
Gimry which is in current-day
Dagestan. His father was a free landlord, and this position allowed Shamil to study many subjects including
Arabic and logic. Shamil also joined a
Sufi order, and established himself as a well-respected and educated man among other Muslims of the
Caucasus.
Shamil was born at a time when the
Russian Empire was expanding into the territories of the
Ottoman Empire and
Persia (see
Russo-Persian War, 1804-13 and
Russo-Turkish Wars). Supported by the Persian
Shah, many Caucasian tribes rebelled against Russian rule in what became known as the
Caucasian War. Some of the earlier leaders of
Caucasian resistance were
Sheikh Mansur, and
Ghazi Mollah. Shamil was actually childhood friends with Mollah, and would become his disciple.
In
1834,
Ghazi Mollah died at the
battle of Ghimri, and Shamil took his place as the premier leader of the Caucasian resistance. Shamil was effective at uniting the many, frequently quarreling, Caucasian tribes to fight against the Russians. He made effective use of
guerrilla warfare tactics and the
resistance continued under his leadership until
1859. On
August 25,
1859 Shamil and his family surrendered to Russian forces and were jailed in the Dagestan
aoul of
Gunib.
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After Shamil was imprisoned, the citizens of Kazan built a palace for Shamil in their city, but the tsarist government exiled him to Central Russia. |
After his capture, Shamil was sent to
Saint Petersburg to meet the
Tsar, and then was exiled to
Kaluga, then a small town near Moscow. In
1869 he was given permission to retire to the holy city of
Mecca, and he travelled there through
Istanbul. He died in
Medina in
1871 while visiting the city, and was buried in the
Jannatul Baqi which is also the site where many important personalities from Islamic history are buried. His two sons (
Cemaleddin and
Muhammed Şefi) became officers in the Russian army, while two other sons (
Muhammed Gazi and
Muhammed Kamil) served in Turkish army.
Shamil continues to be revered in the Caucasus for his resistance to the Russians, and is held up as a role-model by those leading the current fight against Russian control of the region. The
Chechen warlord
Shamil Basayev was named after him.
*
Grigol Robakidze. "Imam Shamil".
Kaukasische Novellen, Leipzig, 1932; Munich, 1979 (in German)
* Lesley Blanch.
The Sabres of Paradise. New York: Viking Press. 1960.
* Nicholas Griffin.
Caucasus: Mountain Men and Holy Wars*
Leo Tolstoy.
Hadji Murad*
The Jihad of Imam Shamil*
The song of Shamil*
The Song of Shamil on classical guitar
