Qizbech "the Lion of Circassia" Tughuzhuqo was a Circassian soldier, military commander and a leader of the Shapsug who took part in the Russo-Circassian War. A cavalry commander, he was known for his success in utilising guerilla tactics and raiding behind enemy lines. Qizbech's close family, including all of his sons, were killed in the war, and he refused offers from the Russian Empire to switch sides and join its Imperial ranks. During his life, he emerged as a populist folk hero in Circassia, ransoming Circassian prisoners of war with his own money and raiding Russian supply lines, distributing the loot to Circassian commoners. In oral tradition, songs and ballads were composed in his name, and he was nicknamed the "Lion of Circassia". Qizbech Tughuzhuqo died of wounds received in action on February 28, 1840, during the Siege of Veliaminovsky.
Qizbech's reputation attracted the attention of European journalists and adventurers. Sources and contemporary writers on Qizbech include David Urquhart, secretary of the British Embassy in Istanbul and a supporter of the Circassians who contributed to the Portfolio magazine; Edmund Spencer and John E. Longworth, travellers who reported from Circassia for The Times; and James Stanislaus Bell, who followed Urquhart's lead in writing letters to the British people. The last three of them met Qizbech personally and recorded their memories. Among the Circassian writers of the period, Sultan Khan-Giray provides information about Qizbech. On the Russian side, both the poet Mikhail Lermontov and the Russian Lieutenant General Vasily Aleksandrovich Potto, the first detailed historian of the Caucasian War, mention him. Fyodor A. Shcherbina also provides information about Qizbech.
Biography Name The name Qizbech is standard Circassian. In his own Shapsug dialect, it is Qizbek (Къызбэкь), which is a shortened form of Qizilbek and is recorded as Guz Bek, Ghezil Bek and Kazbek in various sources. He is referred to as Kızıl Bey in Ottoman documents.
Qizbech's original surname was Sheretluqo, while Tughuzhuqo means "son of Tughuzh". The word "Tughuzh" is a Circassian name and also means "wolf" in the Circassian language. Among the Circassians, both surnames and nicknames usually ended with the suffix "-qo", equivalent to the English "-son" suffix.Huvaj, Fahri (2007). Türkçe-Adıgece Adıgece-Türkçe Sözlük. Ankara: KAFDAV Yayıncılık
Early life Not much is recorded about Qizbech's early life, as Circassians did not write down their history, and all knowledge comes from Russian sources. Tughuzhuqo was born in 1777 in the village of Beannash (), to the Shapsug noble house of Sheretluqo. He was the son of Yelmishequ's son Sheretluqo Tughuzh, one of the most prominent figures among the Shapsugs. Songs dedicated to him begin with establishing his lineage:
A theory suggests that the Sheretluqo family comes from Bekkan/Bechkan, which was a branch of Zhaney princes. He was born into a family of seven children. Qizbech was 192–193 cm tall. Historical accounts describe Qizbech as a man of enormous physical stature with a loud voice and audacious, rough mannerisms.
Military service During Qizbech's youth, Jembulat Boletoqo was more influential.Daniel Zander: Der Völkermord des Zaren. Russlands Krieg gegen die Tscherkessen im Kaukasus 1765–1864. S. 177, Anmerkung S. 493: Das überlieferte tscherkessische Heldenlied "Von dem Vollmond", das ihm vorgetragen wurde, enthält diese Ehrenbezeichnung. The Circassian revolution began in Shapsugia in the early 1790s. The conflict culminated in the Battle of Bziyiqo in 1796, when Qizbech was approximately 18 or 19 years old. While the war involved Shapsug peasants rebelling against the nobility, it is unclear as to which side Qizbech supported during the battle. He nearly lost his head during the battle but survived with a deep scar. After the revolution, Qizbech does not appear in written sources between 1796 and 1810. According to Circassian oral traditions, during this period Qizbech met with Hasan Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Anapa, and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca.Sultan Khan-Girey, "Къызбэч икIалэхэр къэзэкъхэм зэраукIыгъэми, уIэгъабэ зэрэтелъми, жъы зэрэхъугъэми къамыубытэу урысхэм зэпымыоу заохэр аришIылIэщтыгъэ. Хьасан-пашэу Анапэ дэсыгъэм илъэIукIэ Чабэм кIуагъэ, ay быслъымэнхэмкIэ цIэ лъапIэу щыт хьаджацIэми Къызбэч Iэсэнэу, уцужьынэу ашIышъугъэп: ыпсэ хэтыфэ шапсыгъэ шъыпкъэу къэнагъ. Шъэджашъэу, мэкъэхъушхоу, иIэбакIи иплъакIи щынагъохэу, нэмыкIэу къэпIон хъумэ, ащ псэемыблэжь банэу а шапсыгъэ лIыхъужъ лъэшым ышIыхэрэм ащ изекIуакIи адыригъэштэ шъыпкъэу щытыгъ итеплъи, джащ фэдэ дунэе къижъукI-къутэжьым хэтыным пае къэхъугъэу къыпшIошIыщтыгъэ" (Adigece) After that, he stayed for a time in Egypt, where at some point he met Muhammad Ali of Egypt and served in the Egyptian army against the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. He returned to Circassia definitively in 1810 and began to appear again in written records. After this, he continued to fight for the Circassian army. In 1810, the Olginske Fortress was taken by the Circassian forces which Qizbech participated. He gained fame between 1810 and 1839, and almost all major Circassian raids on Russian fortifications during this period are associated with his name.
Qizbech started his struggle once the Russo-Circassian War reached western Circassia. Between the years 1810–1840, he stormed the Russian garrisons and settlements with a volley of attacks. His main rival was the Cossack ataman Maxim Vlasov. He rose to fame by defeating Vlasov in 1820. During Vlasov's period, the violence against Circassian villages reached such proportions that Tsar Alexander I removed him from office in July 1826. In 1821, he defeated a Russian campaign on the lands of Shapsug. In the June of the same year, Qizbech attacked the Alexandriyske Fortress with 1,000 men. In October 1822, he was wounded during the assault on the Yelizavetinskaya Fortress. The Circassians believed that Qizbech had met a figure like Khidr (Alebiy in Circassian), Qizbech claimed Alebiy told him the outcome of battles beforehand; it is traditionally believed that he knew he would die before dying in his final battle.
On March 12, 1823, Qizbech crossed the Kuban River with an army of 1,500 and attacked a Russian stanitsa in construction near Yelizavetinsky. While he was fighting the 200-strong Cossack unit stationed there, 200 Cossacks and two cannons arrived from Alexandrovsky Fortress, and the artillery fire halted the Circassians. As Qizbech prepared for an attack, General Vlasov's army approached to the battlefield, prompting the Circassians to retreat. The Cossacks pursued and attacked the retreating forces. During the clashes, Qizbech captured a sergeant and two soldiers. Russian artillery took position and opened fire and Qizbech's eldest son was killed by the artillery, and his body was captured by the Cossacks.
On 9 October 1823, Qizbech unsuccessfully tried ambushing Russian forces near the Alexandrovsky post. Two days later he launched a raid on Elizavetinskaya settlement, and his forces got into an engagement with the defending Cossacks. According to eyewitness accounts, Qizbech fought to break the encirclement; he suffered a severe sabre blow to his left temple and neck, and was pierced through the side by a pike. However, after receiving news of approaching Russian reinforcements, Qizbech headed back to Circassia. The Russians intercepted his forces twice, leading to heavy casualties on the Circassian side; however, Qizbech managed to get back to Circassia, heavily wounded and with 3 captives.
Sultan Khan-Giray had said the following about him:Qizbech was part of the team that designed the Shapsug flag. Russia frequently tried to persuade the upper-class Circassians to switch sides, offering them high privileges. Qizbech resisted and rejected these offers. He punished those who accepted such proposals.
In a letter dated November 8, 1824, Colonel Matveyev wrote to Major General Vlasov:Englishman Favell Lee Mortimer said these:
On January 23, 1825, Qizbech gathered a 2,000-strong army and crossed the frozen Kuban River to avenge the Russian attacks on Circassian villages in 1824. Qizbech attacked two Cossack units there and shortly afterwards, General Vlasov and reinforcements from the surrounding positions joined the battle, and intense fighting lasting 6 hours took place.
In 1830, Qizbech attacked Yelizavetinskaya settlement and destroyed it. In July, Qizbech and his brother Batcheriy gathered 2,500 cavalry and 1,500 infantry and fought for days near Mount Satruk against General Bezkrovni's Cossacks, who were attempting to build a fortress near the Shebsh River. Since the fortress in Satruk was built in a strategically important place on the border of Abzakh and Shapsug, it was frequently attacked by these tribes including the Ubykhs and Natukhajs even during its construction phase. In 1831, Qizbech and his Shapsug unit continued to launch constant attacks on and harass the fortress. On August 14, Qizbech captured the strategic passage roading to Alexeyevskoye Fortress with 3,000 warriors. In September, he attacked Yelizavetinskaya Fortress. On December 1, Qizbech sent several Circassian units across the Kuban to distract the Russian forces, while he himself attacked the Marinska stanitsa with 500 cavalry and 700 infantry.
According to Circassian oral sources, the commander of the fortress at Satruk assigned three collaborator Circassians to assassinate Qizbech. The assassination attempt failed; one of the assassins was killed in the clash, another was captured, and the last one managed to escape.
Due to intense Circassian attacks and harassment, the Russian garrison withdrew from Satruk and abandoned the fortress in 1832. On March 3, about 2 kilometers from the village of Gutehable, a force of 4,000 Shapsug and Abzaks led by Qizbech clashed with a 3,000-strong Bzhedug force with the Cossack support, which they accused of collaborating with the Russians. The Bzhedugs managed to resist the attacks with their defensive positions. On November 24, Qizbech crossed the Kuban River with 700 cavalry and 300 infantry and set fire to the Cossacks' hay depots. The Circassians, noticing Major General Berhman's attempt to quietly trap the Circassians, retreated when they realized that the main Russian force was approaching.
In 1834, heading a force of 700 cavaliers along with Hawduqo Mansur, he brutally defeated a 14,000 soldier Russian troops in the Battle of Abinsk. Again, in the same year, he headed 1,200 cavaliers to victory over 6 thousand Russian soldiers. In the same year, with 1,200 cavaliers, Qizbech encountered a Cossack detachment of less than 300 men. Admiring the courage and determination of the Cossacks, Qizbech withdrew some of his own cavalry to equalize the numerical advantage. The sides fought with equal numbers, and Qizbech's side won the battle. In a separate engagement that same year, he led 900 Circassians to rout another large Russian detachment. In this victory, Qizbech successfully reclaimed the plunder taken by the Russians from nine Circassian auls (villages) and liberated all the Circassian prisoners. During the wars, he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and also visited Egypt. The Egyptian rulers wanted to recruit him into the Egyptian army, but Qizbech rejected the offer.
Russian military historian Vasily Potto, who served in the Russian army in the Caucasus, said these about Qizbech:
In October 1836, Qizbech attacked the Marinska Fortress with 700 men. On December 16, he attacked a Russian unit sent from Georgiy-Afipsky Fortress to cut wood with 200 warriors. In April 1837, Cossack forces who had attacked and destroyed the Abzakh villages near the Ilik and Sup rivers were ambushed during their retreat by Abzakh warriors led by Qizbech. The retreat was marked by nearly continuous engagements, during which Qizbech wounded seven times.