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57 
 
chance. He wrote a letter to the Ottoman sultan and asked for help.
132
 Moreover 
during the war he tried to establish contacts with the Ottomans, British and French, 
but he failed to acquire what he hoped.
133
 Although the British, particularly, 
Palmerston, interested in “the romantic Chief of the Circassians” and “for his 
cooperation … were even ready to establish and independent Circassian state after 
the war, to be headed by the imam”
134
, Shamil did not find any help or material 
support from the British. 
The period between 1854 and 1855 testified the last but the most meagre 
struggles of Shamil and June 1856 was a turning point for his Imamate. Prince 
Alexandr Ivanovich Bariatinskiy, in order to conclude the conquest of the region, 
was appointed as the Commander in Chief of the Caucasian Army. Bariatinskiy, 
together with his chief of staff, Dimitry Alekseevich Miliutin organized a three-
year campaign, which was concluded with the capture of Shamil.
135
 During the 
spring of 1859, the Russians launched a general offensive, which was completed 
with the seizure and destruction of Shamil’s capital Vedeno on 13 April 1859. At 
the end of September, at last, the Russians captured him in Gunib.
136
 
 
                                                 
132
 For the correspondence between the Ottomans and Shamil in that period see Mustafa Budak, 
1988. “1853-56 Kırım Harbi Başlarında Doğu-Anadolu-Kafkasya Cephesi ve Şeyh  Şamil,” 
Kafkasya Araştırmaları I, İstanbul, 52-8. 
133
 For some of the letters of Shamil see Pertev Boratav, July-December 1969. “La Russie dans les 
Archives Ottomanes in Dossier Ottoman sur L’Imam Chamil,” Chairs du monde Russe et 
Sovietique, 10(3/4): 524-535. Moshe Gammer, 1991. “Imam Shamil and Shah Mohammed: Two 
Unpublished Letters,” Central Asian Survey, 10(1/2): 171-79. Masayuki Yama’uchi, 1985. ‘I. From 
Ottoman Archives,’ Central Asian Survey, 4(4): 7-12. And also see 1985. “Shamil: New Documents 
and Correspondence,” Central Asian Survey, 4 (4): 1-5. 
134
 Gammer, Muslim Resistance, 272. 
135
 Moshe Gammer, 1994. “Price Bariatinskii –Conqueror of the Eastern Caucasus,” Central Asian 
Survey, 13(2): 237-247.  
136
 For the life of Shamil after his capture see Austin Lee Jersild, 1995. “Who was Shamil?: Russian 
Colonial Rule and Sufi Islam in the North Caucasus, 1859-1917,” Central Asian Survey, 14(2): 205-

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58 
 
In conclusion, the Imams, Sheikh Shamil, in particular, within a period less 
than fifty years, through a well-defined set of rules of conduct changed the values 
and existing social and political structure of the North Caucasus. At the root of 
these changes there was one main motive: Islam. The Islamic identity that was 
shaped by the orthodox version of Naqshbandiya, mainly as a result of Russian 
assaults which aimed to colonize the region, transformed and politicised itself and 
took the shape of struggle of independence. Nevertheless, in addition to the 
Russians, Shamil had to struggle with the local powers and some of his rival 
groups. Thus, in order to remove those groups Shamil initiated a series of reforms 
and replaced the existing political and social order with a new one. In this process 
the  Shari’a was the main guide. Through the basic principles of Shari’a and his 
nizams, Shamil, for the first time in the North Caucasus established a 
comprehensive and well functioning state structure and spread his authority almost 
all over the North Caucasus. 
                                                                                                                                        
223; Mücahit, August 1953. “İmam  Şamil Mekke ve Medinede,” Birleşik Kafkasya (Vereinigtes 
Kaukasien), (Munich), 8 (25): 9-11; Zelkina, God and Freedom, 233-4. 

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59 
 
 
CHAPTER II 
RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
NORTH CAUCASIAN MOUNTAIN REPUBLIC 
1-From Revolution to Revolution: February-December 1917: 
After the defeat of Shamil, Russian operations and the Mountaineers’ 
struggle continued in the western parts of the North Caucasus until 1864.
137
 
Nevertheless, the overwhelming dominance of the Russians, with a half-million 
strong army, made the struggle a futile effort. Most of the Circassian population, 
because of the ruthless Russian repression, was forced to immigrate to the Ottoman 
Empire and dispersed throughout the territories from the Balkans to the Middle 
East.
138
 
“…[S]ome Circassian leaders advocated departure to Turkey and obtained 
the agreement of the Ottoman government for an orderly settlement in 
Anatolia. It was not only bayonets that urged on this wave of migration but 
also religious provocation, deliberately supported by the Russian 
government, which finally caused mass psychosis which gripped not only 
the Circassians but also the other North Caucasians.”
139
 
 
Therefore, by the last quarter of the 19
th
 century, the Russians managed to 
suppress and subjugate the region. They settled the Cossacks and other Russian 
populations in the North Caucasus, and severely changed the balance of population 
and power in favour of the Russian Empire. As a consequence, disturbances broke 
                                                 
137
 A. Namitok, 1956. “The “Voluntary” Adherence of Kabarda (Eastern Circassia) to 
Russia,”Caucasian Review, (Munich), 2: 17-33. Ramazan Traho, 1991. ‘Circassians,’ Central Asian 
Survey, 10(1/2): 40-49. 
138
 See Chapter I, footnote 23. 

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