The Beginnings of the Naqshbandiyya in Dghestn and the Russian Conquest of the Caucasus

Author(s): Moshe Gammer

Source: Die Welt des Islams, New Series, Vol. 34, Issue 2 (Nov., 1994), pp. 204-217
Published by: BRILL
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1570930 .
Accessed: 27/12/2014 22:57

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Die Welt des Islams.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Die WeltdesIslams34 (1994), ? E.J. Brill, Leiden

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN

DAGHESTAN AND THE RUSSIAN CONQUEST OF THE
CAUCASUS

BY

MOSHE GAMMER
Tel Aviv

The importance of the Naqshbandiyya in the modern history of

Daghestan is acknowledged in contemporary historiography. Ac-
knowledged, that is, within the general neglect of the Naqshbandiy-
ya in Western scholarship. It is known fairly well that this tdi/fa led
the thirty-year-long (1829-1859) resistance to the Russian con-
quest, that it led further uprisings in 1863, 1877-1878 and 1920.
With the recent flow of information from the USSR and later CIS,
it is becoming clearer that the Naqshbandiyya still holds a strong
position in the contemporary life of Daghestan.1 In comparison,
the beginning of its activity in the country is shrouded by clouds of
political interests-past and present-ignorance and prejudice
which make most of the descriptions an incredible combination of
factual errors, misunderstandings and fantasy. The aim of this
article is to disperse some of these clouds.
The Naqshbandiyya is one of the major sufi tariqas and tP/ifas.
Originally called .tariqatal-khawajagdn(lit. the path of the masters)
and founded by Abiu YaCqub al-Hamadani (d. 1240), it is named af-
ter Shaykh Muhammad Bahai) al-Din al-Naqshbandi (1318 - 1389),

1 For which see, Alexandre Benningsen and Chantal

Lemercier-Quelquejay,
Islam in the Soviet Union (London, 1967); idem and idem, Le Soufi et le commissaire.Les
musulmansen URSS (Paris, 1986); Alexandre Benningsen and S. Enders
confreries
Wimbush, Muslims of the Soviet Empire. A Guide (London, 1985). The best descrip-
tion of the sujfit.'ifas in the Northern Caucasus, although it deals mainly with the
Qadiriyya, is Chantal Lemercier-Quelquejay, "Les tariqatau Caucase du Nord,"
in: A. Popovic and G. Veinstein (eds.), Les ordresmystiquesdans l'Islam: Cheminements
etsituationactuelle(Paris, 1986), pp. 37-38. For the so-called "Caucasian war" the
best book available is stillJohn FredericBaddeley, TheRussianConquest of theCauca-
sus (London, 1908).

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 205

who gave it its final structure.2The Naqshbandiyya was from its in-
ception "strictly orthodox"3 and played an "especially important
[role] in ensuring the attachmentof the Turkish peoples to the Sunni
tradition" .4
From its area of origin in Central Asia, the Naqshbandiyya
spread to other parts of the Muslim World. In India Shaykh Ahmad
Faruqi Sirhindl (1564-1624) transformedit into "the vanguard of
renascent Islamic orthodoxy".5 From there "the militant reviva-

2 Western scholarship has only recently started to deal seriously with the
Naqshbandiyya. Thus, although its importance in the history of the Muslim world
had been recognized in the past, no comprehensive studies of this tariqahave been
published so far. The major recent publication on the Naqshbandiyya is the volume
of the proceedings of a conference held in Sevres in May 1985 on this t.'ifa-Marc
Gaborieau, Alexandre Papovic and Thierry Zarcone (eds.), Naqshbandis.Historical
Developments andPresentSituationof a MuslimMysticalOrder(Istanbul, 1990). Impor-
tant are also works by Maartin van Bruinessen on the Naqshbandiyya in Kurdistan
and in Indonesia-"Agha, Shaykh and State. On the Social and Political Organi-
zation of Kurdistan" (Utrecht, 1978); "The Origins and Development of the
Naqshbandi Order in Indonesia," DerIslam,No. 67 (1990), pp. 150-179. The best
overviews of the Naqshbandiyya and its history are Hamid Algar's "A Brief Histo-
ry of the Naqshbandi Order," in Gaborieau, Papovic and Zarcone (eds.), op. cit.,
pp. 3-44 (which partly supplantshis "The Naqshbandi Order: A Preliminary Sur-
vey of Its History and Significance," StudiaIslamica,Vol. 44 (1970), pp. 123-152)
and his "The Present State of Naqshbandi Studies," in Gaborieau, Papovic and
Zarcone (eds.), op. cit., pp. 45- 56. For historical background-informationsee Jiir-
gen Paul, Die politischeundsozialeBedeutungderNaqshbandiyya in Mittelasienim 15.
Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1991. Otherwise one has to use the brief descriptions in the se-
cond edition of TheEncyclopedia of Islam(El), in J. Spencer Trimingham, TheSufi
Ordersin Islam(Oxford, 1971) (hereafter: Trimingham), especially pp. 82-84 and
Annemarie Schimmel, MysticalDimensionsof Islam(Chapel Hill, 1975), especially
pp. 363-373. On the "Uwaysi tradition" in the Naqshbandiyya as well as on the
Naqshbandiyya in Eastern Turkistan, see Julian Baldick, ImaginaryMuslims. The
UwaysiSufisof CentralAsia (London, 1993), especially pp. 25- 26. For its influence
on resistance to Western encroachment and on fundamentalist movements, see
BernardLewis, TheMiddleEastandtheWest(New York, 1966, paperback), pp. 97-
100 (hereafter: Lewis).
3 Its "orthodoxy" is stressed by the fact that two of its three silsilas go back to
Abiu Bakr and only one to cAll, cf. Algar, "A Brief History . .. ," pp. 4-6. And
cf. Trimingham, pp. 149-150; Al-Shaykh al-Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Ghazi-
Ghumuqi al-Daghestanl, Al-Addbal-Murdiyyaft al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandiyya (Pe-
trovsk, 1270/1905), p. 77 (hereafter: Sayyid Jamal al-Din).
4 Trimingham, p. 63.
5 Lewis, p. 96. For Sirhindl's biography and teaching, see Yohanan Friedman,
ShaykhAhmadSirhindi(Montreal, 1971). And cf. Schimmel, op. cit., pp. 363 -373.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
206 MOSHE GAMMER

lism"6 of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya as it became known

(after Sirhindi's nickname Mujaddid-iAlf-i Thanz;lit: the reformer of
the second millenium) spread to the Middle East and from there into
the Causasus, too.
According to local traditions,7 the first Naqshbandi leader in the
Caucasus was Shaykh Mansuir, who was in many respects the
precursor of the movement in the nineteenth century.8 He was
"the first to preach and lead the ... Holy War against the in-

6 Lewis, p. 97.
7 Il'ia Nikolaevich Berezin, Puteshestviepo Vostoku,Vol. I: Puteshestviepo
Dagestanui Zakavkaz'iu(Qazan, 1849) (hereafter: Puteshestvie),p. 821; I. R-v
"Nachalo i postepennoe razvitie miurdizma na Kavkaze," Russkiikhudozhestvennyi
listok, 20 November [2 December] 1859 (No. 33), p. 113. And cf. Lemercier-
Quelquejay, "... Caucase du Nord," p. 38.
8 The most comprehensive work on Shaykh Mansuiris Alexandre Benningsen,
"Un mouvement populaire au Caucase du XVIIIe siecle: La 'guerre sainte' du
Sheikh Mansur (1785-1794). Page mal connue et controversee des relations
Russo-Turques," Cahiersdu mondeRusseet Sovietique,Vol. V, No. 2 (April-June
1964), pp. 159- 205. Baddeley (pp. 47 - 52, 55 - 56) summarisedall the works avail-
able at his time, including Ottino's claim that Shaykh Mansur was in fact an Italian
Dominican monk, which Baddeley rightly rejected. Two articles published after
Baddeley, are P. ludin, "Lzheprorok Ushurta[sic!]-Shikh Mansur. (Iz istorii
religioznykh dvizhenii na Kavkaze)," Russkiiarkhiv,1914, No. 10, pp. 217-228;
M. Ia Korol'kov, "Sheikh Mansur anapskii. (Epizod iz pervykh let zavoevaniia
Kavkaza)," Russkaiastarina,1914, No. 5, pp. 410-417. In addition, two Soviet
works can be added-Nikolai Aleksandrovich Smirnov, "Sheikh Mansur i ego
turetskie vdokhnoviteli," Voprosyistorii, 1950, No. 10, pp. 19-39; and Sh.B.
Akhmadov, "Ob istokah antifeodal'nogo i antikolonial'nogo dvizheniia v Chechne
v kontse XVIII v.," Izvestiiachecheno-ingushskogo institua,
nauchno-isledovatel'skogo
Vol. IX, Part 3, Vypusk 1 (1974); Akhmadov's grand opus on Shaykh Mansur,
written without hope of ever being published in the Soviet Union, was published
after its collapse, just in time for an international conference on the subject held in
Groznyi in May 1992-Sh.B. Akhmadov, Imam Mansur(Narodno-osvoboditel'noe
dvizheniev Chechne i na Severnom kavkazev kontseXVIII v.) (Groznyi, 1991). A review
of it by the author of this article is due in MiddleEasternStudies.For the abstracts
of the papers at the above conference, see Nauchno Issledovatel'skii Institut
Gumanitarnykh Nauk Chechenskoi Respubliki, SheikhMansur i osvoboditel'naia
bor'banarodov Severnogo KavkazavposledneitretiXVIII veka.Tezisydokladov i soobshchenii
mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoikonferentsii (Groznyi, 1992). Caucasian expatriate literature
includes, E. Kaval, "Sheikh Mansur," UnitedCaucasus,No. 8 (25) (August 1953),
pp. 23-27; Tarik Cemal Kutlu ImamMansur(Istanbul, 1987). The Romantic na-
ture of Shaykh Mansuir and the events surrounding him inspired at least two
novels-V.I. Savinov, ShikhMansur.Vostochnyi romanv chetyrekh
chastiakh(St. Peters-
burg, 1853); Edmund Spencer, TheProphetof theCaucasus.An HistoricalRomanceof
Krim-Tartary,3 vols. (London, 1984).

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 207

fidel Russians in the Caucasus," and although he failed "in his

endeavour to unite ... the fierce tribes of the mountain and the
forest ... he it was who first taught them that in religious reform
lay the one chance of preserving their cherished liberty and inde-
pendence".9
However, Shaykh Mansur, if a Naqshbandi at all, did not estab-
lish the order in the Caucasus. This was, in fact, done by the
Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya, a branch of the order called after
Shaykh Diya al-Din Khalid al-Shahrazuri (1776-1827).10 One of
the latter's disciples, Shaykh Ismail al-Kurdumiri, was active for a
few years in Shirvan as Shaykh Khalid's khalifa in the late 1810s.
Following the annexation of the Khanate, in 1820, the Russian
authorities started to persecute the movement. Two of Shaykh
Ismd'-l's khalifas were exiled to Siberia and he himself followed a
"gentle hint" from the Russian governor and left for the Ottoman
Empire. 1
With his departure the spread of the movement in Shirvan was
temporarily arrested. But the seed sown by Shaykh Ismail found a
fertile ground in Daghestan where it was transferred by another of
his disciples-Shaykh Khass Muhammad al-Shirvani. He ordained
Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaraghi, who in turn ordained al-Shaykh al-
Sayyid Jamil al-Din al-Ghazi Ghumuqi.12

9 Baddeley, p. 47.
10 For Shaykh Khalid, see Butrus Abu-Manneh, "The Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyyain the OttomanLandsin the Early19thCentury,"Die WeltdesIs-
lams, Vol. XXII (1982), pp. 1-12 (hereafter:Abu Manneh);AlbertHourani,
"Sufismand ModernIslam:MaulanaKhalidand the NaqshbandiOrder," in
idem, TheEmergence
of theMiddleEast (London, 1981), pp. 75-89.
11 Makhmudbekov,"Miuridicheskaiasekta na Kavkaze," Sbornik
materialov
dlia opisaniia mestnosteii plemenKavkaza, Vol. XXIV (1898), Part I, p. 22;
Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Baghdadi, al-Hadiqaal-Nadiyyaf Addibal-Tarfqaal-
Naqshbandiyya(Cairo, 1212 H), pp. 79-80.
12 Sayyid Jamal al-Din, p. 80. Similarly [Apolon Runowski,] "Dnevnik
polkovnika Runovskogo sostoiavshego pristavom pri Shamile vo vremia
prebyvaniiaego v gor. Kaluges 1859po 1862god," in Aktysobrannye ar-
kavkazskoi
kommissiei(AKAK), Vol. XII, pp. 1490-1496, entry for 3 [15] July
kheograficheskoi
1860(hereafter:Runowski'sdiary).Lemercier-Quelquejay (op.cit., p. 38) gives
correctlythe silsila in Daghestanwithoutconnectingit to ShaykhKhalid.She also
detailstherethe Shaykhswho wereordainedby ShaykhJamalal-Din.Algar("A
BriefHistory. . .," p. 36), on the otherhand, givesa vagueand shortdescription
of the originsof the Naqshbandiyyain the Caucasus,quotingTurkishsources.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
208 MOSHE GAMMER

Russian and following them Soviet sources called the Naqsh-

bandiyya-Khalidiyya in the Caucasus Miuridizm.13 With very few
exceptions14 they described Miuridizm as a separate movement,
completely different from, and even opposed to, its parent-move-
ment-Sufism. In extreme cases "Miuridism" was even described
as a new religion, separate from Islam. The cause of this was, in ad-
dition to political interests, the ignorance of Russian authors with
regard to both Islam and the Caucasus. Some of the accounts of the
NaqshbandI-Khalidi silsila in the Caucasus, for example, resemble
tales from the Arabian Nights rather than factual reports. That con-
temporary and even later Western authors-even Baddeley-
accepted these descriptions is understandable; after all they depend-
ed exclusively on Russian sources. But it is quite incredible to find
Western scholars in the 1960s subscribing to such theories.
Accordingly, some Russian sources proposed that Shaykh Mu-
hammad al-Yaraighl

May justly be considered as the founder of the politico-religious move-

ment which, under the name of Miuridism, united for a time in the great
struggle for freedom a majority of the Mussulman inhabitants of DShestan
and Chechnia, but he never took upon himself the actual leadership, and
is wrongly counted by some as the first imrm.15

Daghestan of the late 1810s and early 1820s was in turmoil. Rus-
sian rule undermined the traditional way of life and the political,
economic and social structure not only of the country under their
control, but of many communities which had not yet come under
Russian domination. The economy of the unpacified (nemirnye)com-

13 Frommurid-discipleof a suiftshaykh. Accordingly,all the mountaineerswho

foughtthe Russiansunderthe bannerof the imamsarecalledindiscriminately mur-
ids [miuridy].
Unfortunately,many Westernscholarsand Caucasianexpatriates,
who shouldhave knownbetter,have adoptedthis terminology.E.G.,-W.E.D.
Allen and P. Muratoff,Caucasian A Historyof the Warson the Turco-
Battlefields.
CaucasianBorder,1828-1921 (Cambridge,1953);AytekKunduh,Kafkasya Miiridiz-
mi (GazavatTarihi)(Istanbul,1987);MohyieddinIzzatQuandor,"Muridism:A
Studyof theCaucasianWarsof Independence,1819-1859," (Ph.D. Dissertation,
ClaremontCollege,1964).See alsoMosheGammer,"Shamilin SovietHistorio-
graphy"in: MiddleEastern StudiesQ. 28 (1992)pp. 729-77.
14 A very notableexceptionwas the greatRussianOrientalistV.V. Barthold
[Bartol'd].See, for example,his Islam(Petrograd,1918), p. 15.
15 Baddeley,p. 234.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 209

munities was strongly affected by Russian economic warfare.16

Boycotts against specific communities and the prevention of others
from using fields and winter pastures in the lowlands disrupted
traditional patterns of commerce and food production upon which
the mountaineers were dependent, since they had never been self-
sufficient.
The Russian "punitive expeditions," destroying everything in
their path further disrupted the economic life of these communities,
while the thwarting of a great part of their raids-a traditional way
to complement their income-played its part as well. A strong blow
was dealt to the traditional economy of Chartalah when the Russians
stopped the slave trade of these communities with the Ottoman Em-
pire, the slaves usually being Georgians and Armenians captured in
raids.
The pacified (mirnye)parts of Daghestan had other burdens, apart
from the damage incurred by the disruption of commerce. In addi-
tion to the payment of taxes to their rulers, which were raised in
many cases, they had now to supply the Russian forces with food,
firewood, pack-horses and two-wheeled carts (carabas) on demand
and for a negligible price at best. The owners were not compensated
if their horses died or their carts were broken. Furthermore, corvee
was imposed on them, mainly in paving and maintaining roads.
"All the economic burdens," wrote a Russian general in 1841, "of
maintaining and spreading our conquests in Daghestan, lies on the
small, pacified part, which has, in addition, to supply [us with]
militia". 17

16 For what may be called economic warfare against the mountaineers in this
period, see for example, V.G. Gadzhiev and Kh.Kh. Ramazanov (eds.), Dvizhenie
gortsevsevero-vostochnogoKavkazav 20-50kh gg. XIX veka.Sbornikdokumentov (Ma-
khachkala, 1959) (hereafter: Dvizhenie),pp. 29-30, 33-34, 35-39, documents
Nos. 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, Wrede to Vel'iaminov, 29 September [11 Oc-
tober] 1819, Peters to Vel'iaminov, 19 [31] July 1820, Aslan Khan of Kurdahto
Wrede, not later than January, "List of Auctioned Goods, confiscated from mer-
chants from CAndi,'"14 [26] May, Vel'iaminov to Zuhum Q.adlof Aqfisha, 5 [17]
June, Vel'iaminov (CoS Caucasian Corps) to Vel'iaminov (Chief Civil Adminis-
tration), 7 [19] June, Vysotskii to Vel'iaminov, 15 [27] September, Ermolov to
Governor of Georgia, not later than December 1821.
17 Dvizhenie,pp. 312 -324, document No. 168, "Excerpt from Survey of the Dis-
astrous Situation in Northern Daghestan, with a Short Outline of Preceding
Events," [by Kliige-von-Klugenau] 31 December 1841 [12January 1842], p. 323.
And cf. ibid., pp. 307-308, document No. 165, "Excerpts from Report by the Office

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
210 MOSHE GAMMER

In Chechnia the situation was worse. In addition to the economic

warfare and the "punitive expeditions," the Russians pushed south
the population between the Terek and the Sunja rivers and settled
Cossaks in their stead. 18By doing so they deprived the Chechens of
a great deal of fertile land. But the impact of this push was much
stronger because of the long-at least a century long-process of
Chechen immigration north and north-eastward.19 Thus, the hu-
man counter-wave fleeing south, being contrary to the long-
standing pattern of migration, created havoc among the Chechens.
The contact with Russia created other changes as well, which un-
dermined local traditions and the fabric of society. One of the most
important was the introduction-planned or accidental-of alcohol-
ic drinks on a massive scale.20 The results of it were immediate. In
1819, for example, the people of Aqfusha were praised by Ermolov
"for their morality, good nature and industry ... But dissoluteness
has already made its appearance in the wake of strong drink for
which of course they had to thank Russian 'civilization' ,,.21
In addition, the Russian anti-Islamic policy-and despite all the
declarations to the contrary it was anti-Islamic22-threatened the
people with loss of their identity.

of Mountaineers Administration," not before July 1840; A. Iurov, "1843-i god na

Kavkaze," Kavkazskiisbornik, Vol. VI, pp. 39-40; idem and N.V., "1840, 1841 i
1842-i gody na Kavkaze," ibid., Vol. XI, p. 195 (note).
18 This expulsion and the extremely cruel and brutal way in which it was car-
ried out (apart from distributing the girls among the officers and selling all the other
captive Chechens into slavery, the Russians with the aim of prompting a Chechen
exodus from specific areas, practiced wholesale extermination of entire villages,
men, women and children) must be considered as a major initial reason for the
Chechens' more vociferous hatred of the Russians than that of the Daghestanis.
19 For this process, see Natal'ia Grigor'evna Volkova, Etnicheskiisostav naseleniia
severnogoKavkaza v XVIII-nachale XX veka (Moscow, 1974), pp. 168-193.
20 The introduction of alcoholic drinks seems, in fact, not to have been planned,
at least not by the authorities. But neither can it be regarded as accidental being
of such a central importance in Russian, indeed European, social behavior. Later,
it was the ban on drinking imposed by "Muridism" which elicited the strongest
emotional reaction among the Russians. For example, Ivchenko to von Krabbe, 21
January [2 February] 1830, No. 22, as quoted in Nikolai A. Volkonskii, F. von
Klieman and P. Bublitskii, "Voina na vostochnom Kavkaze s 1824 po 1834 g.v
sviazi s miuridizmom," Kavkazskii sbornik, Vol. XI, p. 149 (hereafter: "Voina" +
Vol. of K.S.).
21 Baddeley, p. 134.
22 See below, pp. 213 -215.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 211

In the political sphere,

what all the rulers found, even when they were initially well disposed
toward Russia, was that Russian sovereignty was much more restrictive
than the traditionalpatterns of dominance in the region. Rulers who open-
ly opposed the Russians were ousted, but even those who agreed to Russian
terms lost most of their power and their territories were eventually
annexed.23

Under these circumstances an atmosphere of apres moi le diluge

prevailed. The different rulers, whether out of weakness of charac-
ter, despair or other reasons became engrossed in drinking, gam-
bling and in some cases, debauchery.24 To finance these activities
and/or to fill their pockets before being ousted by the Russians, they
put pressure on their subjects. And since their authority had already
been undermined they had to use brutal force.
One such ruler, much trusted and respected by the Russians, was
Aghalar Bek, the defacto ruler of Ghtazi-Ghumuq in the 1840s and
1850s. He was described as passing his time in endless drinking ses-
sions. Any servant who was not quick enough to serve him a bottle
would be pricked by a fork, a knife or any other instrument in the
Bek's hand. By "indiscriminate beating and flogging" he "severely
inculcated reverence towards the Russians upon his people ... The
entire Khanate trembled before him." But, states the Russian
source, "the people had become used" to his behaviour "and
though afraid of the khan, they were devoted to him".25
To their subjects these rulers appeared increasingly illegitimate
and unjust. The mere fact that they were appointed by the Russians
in disregard to local customs and traditions deprived them of any
legitimacy. Furthermore, their behaviour being contrary both to the
'adat and to the shariFawas sheer zulm. This was emphasized by the
increased economic burden-the responsibility for which was, to a
great extent, attributed to the local rulers-and by their use of brutal
force.

23 Muriel Atkin, Russiaand Iran, 1780-1828

(Minneapolis, 1980), p. 165.
24 See, for example, Kakhanov to Pankrat'ev, 9
[21] June 1831, No. 245, as
quoted in "Voina," Vol. XIII, p. 287.
25 Viacheslav Soltan, "Obzor sobytii v Dagestane v 1855 i 1856
godakh," Kav-
kazskii sbornik, Vol. XII, pp. 503 -505. This last sentence obviously testifies more
of Russian psychology than of the state in that Khanate.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
212 MOSHE GAMMER

Thus, the people felt that they were abandoned by their leaders
just when they needed them most-when their physical and spiritual
world was crumbling. It was at this precise moment that the
Naqshbandiyya-Khilidiyya arrived on the scene with what seemed
to be the right answers.26 The Naqshbandis, and among them
Shaykh Khalid, believed that the umma had gone astray. They
regarded it their duty to restore it to the right path which was imitat-
ing the ideal period of the Prophet and his companions. Naqshbandi
adherents, therefore, were guided to lead their life according to the
sunna of the Prophet, to fulfil exactly the commandments of the sha-
rFiaand to avoid any bidca.
But adherence to the sharia was not only the duty of each in-
dividual. The sharFiawas meant to guide public life, and the duty of
the rulers was to rule according to it. And it had been the failure of
the rulers to do so in the first place that had led the umma astray. It
was, therefore, the duty of the Naqshbandiyya to guide the rulers
back to the right path. Otherwise, there was an implicit threat: The
duty of the people to obey their rulers was valid only for as long as
their orders did not contradict the sharica.27
Also, Shaykh Khalid was extremely hostile to all those who did
not belong to the ahl al-sunna, and he ordered his followers to "pray
for the survival of the exalted Ottoman state upon which depends Is-
lam and for its victory over the enemies of religion, the cursed Chris-
tians and the despicable Persians".28
Propagating such views, the Naqshbandiyya-KhSlidiyya, not sur-
prisingly, had a spectacular success in Daghestan and Chechnia:
While the glittering circle of Russian bayonets closed in on every side,
Mula Muhammad [al-Yaragh] 's influence had been growing steadily year

26 The followingdescriptionis basedon Abu Manneh,pp. 12-17.

27 ShaykhKhSlid'sdisciplesin the Caucasusdevelopedthis notion further:
Muhammadal-Yaraghiis reportedto have statedthat "a Muslimshouldbe no
one'sslave[butGod's]andshouldnotpayanytaxes,notevento a Muslim[ruler].
A Muslimmustbe a freeman and equalitymust reignamongthe believers,"-
Neverovskii, 0 Nachale,p. 5.
28 Quotedin Abu Manneh,p. 15. ShaykhKhalidalso exhorted"his disciples
to finishthe 'khatm
al-khawjakdn'
(i.e., the endingprayerswhichclosethe dhikrin
the Naqshbandipractice)by a prayer(dui'a) for God to 'annihilate(ahlik)the
Jews, Christians,fire worshippers(majus)and the Persian Shiites (raw,fidal-
Ajaim) . . .' "-ibid., loc. cit.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 213

by year. Intangible, immaterial, it passed surely and silently through the

opposing hedge of bristling steel as a miraged ship through opposing cliffs,
or as a moss-bod fire creeps up against the wind. The two forces, material
and moral, moving in concentric rings of opposite direction, kept equal
pace, and just when to outward seeming the last spark of liberty was tram-
pled under the foot in Central Daghestan by the soldiers of the tsar, the
sacred flame was ready to burst forth and illuminate the land on every side,
even to its outermost borders.29
The Russian sources claim unanimously that Muhammad al-
Yaraghi and his disciples preached jihad against the Russians from
the very beginning. This would not be surprising. After all, the Rus-
sians were the aggressors in this case, and the sharr;amakes it obliga-
tory on every Muslim to conduct a jihad in defence of Muslim
lands.30 In 1819 for example, it was an important Calimand later
opponent of the Naqshbandis-Sa'ld Efendl al-Harakani-who
declared jihad on the Russians and called upon all the people and rul-
ers of Daghestan to join it.31
The Russian sources also attribute some disturbances in Daghes-
tan in 182932 and the great uprising of 1825- 1826 in Chechnia and
Kabarda33 to the influence of Muhammad al-Yaraghl's preaching.
However, a close examination of the sources shows clearly that
any emphasis on the duty of jihad was in principle only. In practice
jihad was relegated to a secondary place and to an unspecified future.
The first concern of Muhammad al-Yaraghi and his disciples was to
establish and enforce the sharFa and to eradicate the 'ddat. "Oh
people," the Shaykh rebuked the mountaineers,

29 Baddeley,p. 242.
30 For how the Russiansunderstoodthe Muslim conceptof jihad, see A.I.
Agronomov,Dzhjikhad. Sviashchennaia
voinamukhammedan (Qazan, 1877); N.V.
Khanykov,"Perevodmusul'manskikh postanovleniio voine," SbornikgazetyKav-
kaz, 1846, pp. 282-298.
31 Followingthe Russian offensiveinto Chechniawhich had begun in 1818
severalrulersand communitiesin Daghestanjoinedforcesto resistthe Russians.
They weredefeatedand subduedone by one. Fortheseeventssee Baddeley,pp.
124-129.
32 Forwhich,see Dvizhenie,
pp. 42-48, documentsNos. 22, 23, 24, Ermolovto
?, 25 January[6 February],Ermolovto Bekovich-Cherkasskii, 5 [17] February,
ErmolovtoJakubowski,19February[3 March]1824;"Voina,"Vol. X, pp. 175-
183.
33 In 1825a revoltbrokeout in Chechnia,whichhad some messianicaspects.
For theseevents, see Baddeley,pp. 148-153.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
214 MOSHE GAMMER

you are neither Muslims, Christians, nor Pagans ... The Prophet said:
'He is true Muslim ... who obeys the Qurin and spreads my sharria. He
who acts according to my commandments, will stand in Heaven higher
than all the prophets who preceded Muhammad' . . Vow, oh people, to
stop all your vices and henceforth to stay away from sin. Spend [your] days
and nights in the mosque. Pray to God with zeal. Weep and ask him to for-
give you.34
Only after the re-establishment of the shariCaand the Muslims'
return to the right path would they become virtuous and strong
again and would be able to successfully wage a jihad and liberate
themselves. Meanwhile, until "the right time to take up arms
against the unbelievers" arrived,35 or until "one of the powerful
rulers of Islam subdues the Russians to the glory of the faith," the
mountaineers "are allowed to submit to the Russians" and even to
"give them hostages".36
Thus, far from being the blind fanatics of the Russian sources, the
leaders of the Naqshbandiyya-Kh5lidiyya in the Caucasus displayed
from the very beginning remarkable pragmatism. If approached,
they even might-though not necessarily would-have come to an
accommodation with the Russians. But the Russians persecuted the
movement from the very beginning,37 and if this persecution was
intermittent it was only due to the fact that the Russians were preoc-
cupied with other problems, on the one hand, and to the remoteness
and inaccessibility of many parts of Daghestan, on the other.
This attitude towards "Miuridism" stems from the traditional
Russian xenophobia towards Islam, in fact towards any religious
movement other than the state-run Orthodox church. The numer-
ous Russian manifestos to the natives notwithstanding, Russian
policy was indeed anti-Muslim. The repeated efforts to spread (Or-
thodox) Christianity among the mountaineers would alone suffice to

34 A speechby Muhammadal-Yaraghlas givenby Neverovskii,0 nachale, pp.

5-6. A somewhatdifferentand shorterversionwas publishedin "Voina," Vol.
X, p. 20. Yet another,longerversionwasprintedin Kuzanov,No. 2, pp. 32-33.
35 Neverovskii, 0 nachale,p. 6.
36 Muhammadal-Yaraghito the peopleof Chirkah,as publishedin "Voina,"
Vol. X, p. 28. Neverovskii(pp. 13-14) attributesthis speech to Ghazi
Muhammad.
37 E.g., ibid.,pp. 8-9, 11-12; Kuzanov,No. 2, pp. 33-34, 35-36.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 215

demonstrate this aspect of Russian policy.38 These were reinforced

by measures restricting Muslim religious practice; the one to cause
the greatest uproar was the prohibition to perform the hajj.39
But there is more direct evidence: A Russian document stated
with rare and unusual candour:
A complete rapprochement between them and us can be expected only
when the Cross is set up on the mountains and in the valleys and when tem-
ples for Christ the Saviour replace the mosques. Until then the force of
arms is the sole true bastion of our rule in the Caucasus.40
This xenophobia was in the present case enforced by usual Russi-
an suspicion and intolerance of any movement or activity indepen-
dent of the authorities.41 The result was that from the very begin-
ning "Miuridism" was defined as a fanatic movement, fanatic
being tantamount to anti-Russian. Equally, the call to implement
the shari-a became synonymous to a call for jihad in the Russians'
eyes even when it came from their native allies.42
During the wars of 1826- 182943 both Daghestan and, to a lesser

38 For Russian
missionary activities, see, for example, AKAK, Vol. VI, Part II,
pp. 501, 507, documents Nos. 880, 890, 891, Vol. VIII, pp. 704-707, 708,
710-711, documents Nos. 598, 599, 600, 602, 605, 607, Vol. IX, pp. 340-342,
document No. 303, Vol. X, pp. 239-240, document No. 291, Vol. XII, pp.
1069-1070, 1080, documents Nos. 940, 949; Dvizhenie,p. 555-558, document No.
308; [Musa Kundukh] "Memuary gen. Musa-pashy Kundukhova (1837-1865),"
Kavkaz(Paris), 1937, No. 10 (46), pp. 23-25.
39 Dvizhenie, pp. 41-42, document No. 21, Vel'iaminov to Area Commanders,
not later than September 1822. And cf. Neverovskii, 0 nachale,p. 10; V[asilii]
N[ikolaevich] N[oro]v, "Kavkazskaia ekspeditsiiav 1845 godu. Rasskaz ochevidt-
sa," Voennyisbornik,1906, No. 11, p. 10.
40 Mark Osipovich Kosven and Khadzhi-Murat Omarovich Khashaev (eds.),
Istoriia,geografiiai etnografiia
DagestanaXVIII-XIX vv. Arkhivnye materialy(Moscow,
1958), pp. 362-368, "Historical Survey of the StamurDistrict" by Andre de
Simon [Andrei Frantsevich Desimon], 1839. Quotation from p. 367.
41 E.g., John Frederic Baddeley, TheRuggedFlanksof theCaucasus(London and
Oxford, 1940), Vol. II, pp. 12-18.
42 See, for example, Reoute to Pankrat'ev, 5 [17] August 1831, No. 145, as
quoted in "Voina," Vol. XIV, p. 194.
43 For Russia's wars of 1826-1828 with the
Qajars and of 1828-1829 with the
Ottomans, see Hamid Algar, ReligionandStatein Iran, 1785-1906. TheRole of the
Ulamain theQajarPeriod(Berkeley, 1969), pp. 82-93; Baddeley, pp. 154-222; Wil-
liam Monteith, KarsandErzerum.WiththeCampaigns of PrincePaskiewitch
in 1828 and
1829 andan Accountof theConquests of RussiaBeyondtheCaucasus from the Timeof Peter
theGreatto the Treatyof Turcoman ChieandAdrianople (London, 1856), pp. 120-330.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
216 MOSHE GAMMER

degree, Chechnia remained fairly quiet. The little trouble given to

the Russians44 was instigated by Ottoman and QaSjar agents:
Persians and Turks in turn sent emissaries to stir up the mountaineers
against the Russians in the hope of diverting part of the army of the Cauca-
sus from the scene of the conflict. The Persians furnished their agents with
money, and sought to achieve their end by an appeal to their cupidity. The
Turks, better inspired, or more sagacious, were content to work upon their
religious feeling, and to the honour of the Daghestanis, be it said, they
proved far more susceptible to moral than material inducements.45
A partial reason for this relative calm was the fact that the Naqsh-
bandl leadership refrained from declaring jihad in favour of the
Ottomans (their anti-Shl'i bias precluded a jihad in favour of the
Qajatrsanyway). Whatever their reason for doing so-out of a realis-
tic appreciation of the balance of power, or because they hoped that
the Ottomans would win and oust the Russians out of Daghestan,
or both-they now had to face two consequences of the Russian
victory:
(1) The Russians were now intent on the final pacification of all
the mountain areas which had escaped their rule yet. Prince Paskie-
wicz, the Russian Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasus, chose to
deal his first blow to the Daghestani communities in Chartalah,
which he carried out between 8 and 15 March 1830.46 The moun-
taineers realized the Russian intention fully not only by witnessing
their militry activities and preparations,47 but also because the
Russians did not try to keep their intentions secret.48

44 For the events of these years in Chechnia and Daghestan, see "Voina," Vol.
XI, pp. 1-107, 127-145.
45 Baddeley, pp. 244-245,
paraphrasing, in fact, "Voina," Vol. XI, pp.
108-109. After bringing the Russian's view Baddeley gives, as if in an after-
thought, a far better reason: "No doubt also the fact that the Persians were Shiites
had much to do with their non-success"-ibid., p. 245. For Ottoman activity
among the mountaineers in those years, see M.M. Gabrichidze (ed.), Shamil-
stavlenniksultanskoiTurtsiii angliiskikhkolonizatorov
(Sbornikdokumental'nykh
materialov)
(Tbilsi, 1953) (hereafter: Shamil), pp. 1-7, 9-12, documents Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6,
7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14. "Voina," loc. cit. (as in previous note).
46 "Voina," Vol. XI, pp.
175-182, "Stsena iz pokoreniia Dzharo-Belakan,"
SbornikgazetyKavkaz, 1846, pp. 15-20.
47 See, for example, Shamil, pp. 12-13, document No. 15,
"Summary of a
Debriefing of Georgians Returning from Captivity in Daghestan," 25 April [7
May] 1830, No. 548.
48 For the events of 1829 in Chartalah, see "Voina," Vol. XI,
pp. 127-137.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NAQSHBANDIYYA IN DAGHESTAN 217

(2) The Ottoman defeat had a shattering psychological effect on

the population and despair crippled their resolve to resist the Rus-
sian offensive into the mountains. Many said openly that if "the
Russians have beaten the sul.tan and the shah, how could we fight
them? God help us, if they come here. It will be the end of this
world"' .49
Some Naqshbandi activists felt strongly that the situation was crit-
ical. "We have not paid [proper] attention to our strong infidel ene-
my and his preparations" declared one of them, and thus had not
noticed that Russia had "conquered Aqfusha, Targhu, Mekhtuli
and Khunzakh and defeated the Qajars and the Ottomans. Now, we
hear that he has arrived in Chartalah. In all of Daghestan only
Hindil, Kunbfut .. ., Avaristan ... and the people of Gartolu [?]
are still free," and even here, "the rulers of Avaristan . . . intend
to make peace with the Russians".50
They felt that urgent action was needed to unite the mountaineers
and resist the Russian advance and they acted accordingly. In late
1829 a gathering proclaimed the most prominent among them-
Ghazi Muhammad al-Gimrawi al-Daghestani-imam of Daghestan.
This opened a new stage in the history of the Caucasus-that of
the thirty year long resistance led by the imams Ghazi Muhammad,
Hamza Bek, and the most famous and successful of them, Shamil
(Shamuyil).

For the Russian plans for 1830, see Dvizhenie,pp. 60-62, 68-72, documents Nos.
35, 39, Paskiewicz to Nesselrode, 18 February [2 March], Paskiewicz to the Em-
peror, 6 [18] May 1830; "Voina," Vol. XI, pp. 150-52, Vol. XII, pp. 63-69.
49 AKAK, Vol. VII, pp. 517-518, document No. 470, Meddox to Paskiewicz,
8 [20] February 1931, No. 19.
50 Proclamation by Ghazi Muhammad as quoted in "Voina," Vol. XI, pp.
158-159.

This content downloaded from 111.68.96.57 on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 22:57:42 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions