The Russian–Kumyk warsЗолотоордынская цивилизация. Сборник статей. Выпуск 2. – Казань: Институт истории им. Ш.Марджани АН РТ, 2012 () were a series of military conflicts between the Russian Tsardom (and later the Russian Empire) and the Kumyk Tarki Shamkhalate and other Kumyk states and feudal possessions (the Principality of Endirey, the Utamysh Sultanate, the Mehtuli Khanate, Kaitag Utsmiate and other Dagestani and North Caucasian entities) during the 16th–18th centuries. At the end of the 18th century, as well as during and after the Caucasian War, and throughout the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, conflicts continued in the form of uprisings in Shamkhalate, Northern Kumykia, Southern Kumykia, and in the form of anti-colonial protests of individual villages (societies). In the result of these wars and uprisings, some Kumyk areas and villages were destroyed several times over.
Background The fall of the Golden Horde in 1502 opened up prospects for the Kumyk Shamkhal rulers to expand their borders to the north.Очерки истории северных кумыков / Ю. М. Идрисов. — Махачкала : Лотос, 2014 Soon, the rulers of the Tyumen Khanate (Shamkhalian, or Caucasian Tyumen), a state entity with its center at the mouth of the Terek river, were under the influence of the Shamkhals. In the west, the interests of the Shamkhalate clashed with Adyghs (their Kabardian branch), in the north – with the Astrakhan Khanate.
The rulers of Tyumen Khanate in the first half of the 16th century, backed by "Circassians" (Kumyk, other Turkic and Kabardian feudal lords allied with them), repeatedly interfered in the civil strife in the Astrakhan Khanate, and in 1532 even appointed the Tyumen ruler Ak-Kubek, the son of Murtaza and grandson of Ahmat, to its throne.Кушева Е. Н. Народы Северного Кавказа и их связи с Россией (вторая половина XVI – 30-е годы XVII века) / Утверждено Институтом истории АН СССР. — М.: Изд. АН СССР, 1963. — С. 237—238. — 1500 экз. In 1556 the Astrakhan Khanate was conquered by the Russian tsardom. This event, along with the marriage of Ivan the Terrible to the Kabardian princess Maria daughter of Temruk, lead to Russia's involvement in the politics of the Caucasus.
The early campaigns of Russia In 1557, the Kabardian embassy appealed to the Russian administration in Astrakhan with a request for military action against Shamkhalate of Tarki. Similar request was repeated by the embassy of 1558, from the sons of Temryuk Idarov, one of the princes of Kabarda. According to the kavkazologist E. Kusheva, the reason behind the petitions of Kabardians could have been the enmity of Temryuk Idarov towards the Shamkhal.Кушева Е. Н. Народы Северного Кавказа и их связи с Россией (вторая половина XVI – 30-е годы XVII века) / Утверждено Институтом истории АН СССР. — М.: Изд. АН СССР, 1963. — С. 237—238. — 1500 экз. Ivan IV soon sent an army against the Shamkhalate and Caucasian Tyumen.
In the summer of 1560, the troops of the voivode I.S. Cheremisinov moved out of Astrakhan by sea with the goal of capturing the capital of Tarki Shamkhalate — Tarki. Russian troops managed to take the city, but did not try to hold it, being satisfied with just burning it.Текст из «Лебедевской летописи» — лл. 229 об., 230 (ПСРЛ. — Т. 29. — С. 289). Тот же текст, но с другой орфографией, в «Никоновской летописи» (ПСРЛ. — Т. 13, 2-я пол. — С. 330).
The Shamkhal did not stop involving in the affairs of the Kabardian princes. The general battle between allied Temryuk Idarovich's and the tsar's army, from one sine, and the Shamkhal Buday and his also Kabardian ally Pshimkhao Kaitukin, from the other, took place in 1566, ending in the death of Shamkhal Buday, his brother Surkhai and their Kabardian ally.Очерки истории северных кумыков / Ю. М. Идрисов. — Махачкала : Лотос, 2014 The battle was of great importance, as the western possessions fell away from Shamkhalate, while it is mentioned that in the 16th century Shamkhals collected "yasaq" (tributes) from the areas stretching to Balkaria and Karachay.
The Idarovs then directed the tsarist campaigns to the Tyumen Khanate, whose ruler Soltaney, in alliance with the Shamkhal, desperately resisted the united Russian-Kabardian invasion. However, in 1588 Streltsy founded the fortress of Terki in the very center of Tyumen Khanate on the river Terek.Кушева Е. Н. Народы Северного Кавказа и их связи с Россией (вторая половина XVI – 30-е годы XVII века) / Утверждено Институтом истории АН СССР. — М.: Изд. АН СССР, 1963. — С. 237—238. — 1500 экз.
Two years later, an attack was made on the lands of the Shamkhals, but the attack was repulsed by the Kumyks. The lands of the Tyumen Khanate were finally conquered and annexed by the Russian Tsardom in 1594.Кушева Е. Н. Указ. соч. — С. 230.
Khvorostinin's Dagestan campaign of 1594 After reaching agreements with the Georgian tsar Alexander II, as well as with the Kumyk Qrym-Shamkhal (Vice-Shamkhal, a relative of Shamkhal, who traditionally was considered as an heir to the throne), the Russian army of 5,000 people, under the command of voivode Khvorostinin, departed the Koisinsky fortress and began its advance towards Tarki. Shamkhal preferred not to engage in open battles against the Russians. Tarki, with its fortifications being not strong enough, was quickly occupied.
Shamkhal did not negotiate and avoided direct clashes with the Russians, exhausting the latter with small raids and keeping Tarki in a wide blockade. The mountaineers did not give the Russians any rest day or night. According to V. Potto:Потто В. А. Кавказ до Петра // Кавказская война в отдельных очерках, эпизодах, легендах и биографиях: в 5 томах. — 2-е изд. — СПб.: Тип. Е. Евдокимова, 1887. — Т. 1: От древнейших времён до Ермолова. — С. 8—10."Shamkhal was a supporter of the wait-and-see method of warfare and followed the Dagestani rule – To catch the scorpion by the tail."The Russians' rear communications were targeted. Not a single supply dispatch could reach Tarki or travel out of it safely.Попко И. Д. Терские казаки со стародавних времён. (Исторический очерк) = Терскіе казаки съ стародавнихъ временъ. — вып. 1. — СПб.: тип. Кулиша, 1880. — 518 с. Meanwhile, due to hot weather and the lack of food, a fever began to develop within the Russian army. The number of sick and wounded in the clashes with Kumyks grew every day. At the same time, the Shamkhal's army was continuously replenished with the arrival of new reinforcements. The blockade ring was gradually closing in.
The situation of the besieged became catastrophic, and Khvorostinin decided to withdraw from Tarki. On a dark night, Russian troops set out to move back towards the Koisinsky fortress. At first, retreating troops managed to withstand scattered attacks of the Dagestanis, but the arrival of the main forces led by Shamkhal himself forced the Russians to abandon their heavy loads and wounded.Попко И. Д. Терские казаки со стародавних времён. (Исторический очерк) = Терскіе казаки съ стародавнихъ временъ. — вып. 1. — СПб.: тип. Кулиша, 1880. — 518 с.
In the end, only a quarter of the total number of the Russian troops, that had previously marched from the Koisinsky fortress, returned back.Шишов А. В. Глава 1. Кавказ среди исламского мира. Сближение с Россией // Схватка за Кавказ XVI—XXI века / Гл. ред. С. Н. Дмитриев. — М.: Вече, 2007. — С. 16—17. — 480 с. — (Военные тайны России). The total losses of the Russian army in that campaign amounted to 3,000 people.Соловьёв С. М. История России с древнейших времен. Книга вторая = Исторія Россіи съ древнѣйшихъ временъ. — 2-е изд. — СПб.: Товарищество «Общественная польза», 1851—1879. — Т. 6—10. — С. 627—628, 640. — 1726 с. — According to some local tales, out of 1,000 Terek (Grebensky) Cossacks who marched, no more than 300 people returned home. The campaign ended with no success.
Buturlin's campaign of 1604–1605 Schevkal campaign In the beginning of the 17th century, the North Caucasus plunged into internecine wars. Local feudal lords often sought help from neighboring powers. The Kabardian vassals of Moscow, as well as the Okotsk murzas, supported Moscow's expansion. Russia's intervention was also facilitated by a new request from the Georgians seeking support against the Ottoman Empire and its close regional ally Shamkhalate, which regularly carried out attacks on Iberia.
Trying to take advantage of the favorable political situation (another war between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavids began), the tsar's government decided to organize a new expedition to Dagestan. The army consisted of 10,000 Streltsy, the Yaitsk and Terek Cossacks, local vassals of Moscow (some pro-Russian Kabardian feudal lords and Okotsk murzas). The army amounted to a significant force in the region. According to a Dutch merchant Isaac Massa, a total of 50,000 people was led by voivode Ivan Mikhailovich Buturlin (this headcount estimation isn't supported by any other source and is most likely an exaggeration).Масса И. Краткое известие о Московии в начале XVII в. / Пер., прим. и ввод. статья А. А. Морозова; пер. стихов В. А. Зоргенфрея. — М.: Госсоцэкизд, 1937. — С. 73. — (Иностранные путешественники о России). In 1604, the tsarist troops set out on a campaign.Карамзин Н. М. Глава I. Царствование Бориса Годунова. Годы 1598—1604 // История государства Российского. — СПб.: Тип. Н. Греча, 1816—1829. — Т. 11.
Kumyks, as in 1594, did not engage in major clashes with the Russians, and conducted guerrilla warfare. Russian troops occupied the entire Kumyk planes and stormed Tarki. Shamkhal Surkhai II retreated to the Avar Khan's strongholds, granting the authority over his army to his enterprising nephew Sultan-Mut. Soon Buturlin encountered shortage of supplies and was forced to send part of his army to Astrakhan and Terki fortress. The retreating troops were attacked by Sultan Mut, but managed to repel the attackers causing significant losses.
However, in the longer term the prince Sultan-Mut managed to create a coalition of Kumyks, other Dagestan peoples and some anti-Russian Kabardian feudal lords – relatives of Sultan-Mut on the maternal side. Assistance was also provided by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, who sent 1,000 janissaries and Crimean Tatars. The allied army attacked fortresses built by the Russians. Koisinsky fortress, the Russian fortress on Aktash and some other fortresses fell. Buturlin found himself completely cut off.
Soon Sultan-Mut's troops besieged Tarki. They filled up the ditches and erected a mound of sand and brushwood at the level of the fortress wall. The most important Russian footholds were two upper towers, which had wide firing range. A huge powder charge was laid under one of the tower. After the explosion the "best squads" of Moscow Streltsy were killed, and the janissaries and Dagestani forces stormed the stronghold. Part of the fortress wall was destroyed, and large storming forces poured into the gap. However, the Russians managed to repel all the attacks, with huge damage to the attackers. The besieged also suffered heavy losses.
Seeing the futility of further struggle, the parties began negotiations. They resulted in an agreement on safe departure of the Russian army to the Terki. However, the people of Kumykia and Dagestan, after recognizing the devastation of their lands and many killed countrymen, pushed Sultan-Mut to take decisive action against the retreating Russians.
Soon Buturlin's army was encircled by Kumyk and their allies, and completely destroyed in the Battle of Karaman, in which Ivan Buturlin himself fell. According to the Russian chronicles, the losses of Russians amounted to about 7 thousand people, "in addition to the boyar people". N. Karamzin and few other sources wrote about 6,000–7,000 losses of the Russians.