Temruqo's conquest of Central Caucasus or Mshansk-Sonsk Campaigns were a series of military expeditions conducted between 1552 and 1567 by the famous Kabardian prince Temruqo and his allies against various groups in the Central Caucasus. The campaigns involved forces from Kabardia, allied Circassian principalities, the Nogai Horde, and the Tsardom of Russia, and targeted communities inhabiting the mountain regions of the central North Caucasus, including areas around the Darial Gorge.
The expeditions formed part of Temruqo's efforts to strengthen Kabardian influence in the region. These campaigns affected the political balance in the Central Caucasus during the mid-16th century and occurred within the broader context of growing political and military cooperation between Temruqo and the Russian state.
Background
Russo-Circassian Alliance Temruqo was a skilled ruler and military leader. He noticed the increasing military support from the Ottomans to the Tatars and feared this would affect the Circassians' ability to thwart any possible assault. Temruqo explored the possible allies, and settled his choice on the Tsarist Russia. In 1557, Temruqo sent a delegation to Moscow to seek alliance with the Russians. The delegation included his sons Sultan Qul and Bulat Gery, who were welcomed by Ivan the Terrible. Ivan agreed to join the alliance with Kabardia.
Based on the treaty of alliance between the Circassians and the Russians, Circassian cavalry forces participated in several battles with the Russian army in Poland and the Baltics. Ivan supported Temruqo's goal to extend his power inside Circassia and to unify the lands of Circassians under his reign. Temruqo established a fort in Mozdok that enabled the Circassian and Russian forces to perform joint training. Ossetian and Ingushetian lands, as well as the Turkic people, became subjects of the Kabardian raising power. Temruqo's expansion extended towards the Georgian kingdoms in the south.Khasht, Ali. Circassian Prince Temroqwa Idar.
In 1560, Anastasia Romanovna, Ivan's first wife, died. It was proposed that Ivan would marry Catherine Jagiellon in öderken to strengthen diplomatic relations with Poland. However Ivan instead decided to marry Temruqo's daughter, Gwashanay. A high-level delegation was sent to betroth Gwashanay. She was accompanied by her brother, Sultan Qul, on her way to Moscow. Gwashanay was later baptized and became known as Maria Temruqoovna. Her brother married the daughter of a member of the tsar's entourage who handled the state treasury. He was later baptized and became known as Mikhael.
Background of the Circassian-Kumyk War
In the 16th century, the powerful Kabardian princes, in their desire to expand their territorial borders and strengthen their influence, encountered opposition from the Shamkhalate of Tarki, whose rulers sought to push back Kabardian influence and subordinate them to their authority. The Shamkhal of Tarki regarded the Kabardian princes as his most dangerous adversaries in achieving these aims. The contradictions between the Shamkhal and the Kabardian princes were further exacerbated by the policies of the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. The Shamkhal viewed Russia’s consistent support of Kabarda as an undesirable strengthening of his rival, which complicated relations between Tarki and Russia. In their struggle for dominance in the northeastern Caucasus, both the Kumyk and Kabardian princes attracted other regional rulers to their respective sides. The feudal groupings thus formed resorted, depending on the political situation in the Caucasus, to the assistance of neighboring states.
Upon becoming Grand Prince of Kabardia in the 1550s, Temruqo faced opposition from several Kabardian princes who sought the position of Grand Prince of Kabardia for themselves. Among them was the Kabardian prince Qanshao Jilakhstenqo, son of Jilakhsten, who, after leaving Kabardia, allied with the Kumyks and reportedly raided Kabardian territory multiple times each year. According to some accounts, during the summer these forces attacked hayfields and disrupted the harvest of millet—the principal agricultural crop of the Kabardians—forcing much of the population, except those mobilized for militia service, to seek refuge in the Kistin Gorge. These actions are said to have been motivated by the seizure of Qanshao’s lands by the families of Bitu and Maremshao Yidar.
Military Campaigns
Svan-Ossetian-Ingush campaign Judging by the Nikon chronicle, in the september of 1562, Temruqo together with his Russian and Nogai allies led campaigns against the "Mshansk" and "Sonsk" taverns. The word "Mshansk" is believed to be derived from the Kabardian word for Ingush, "мыщхыш" (mishkhish) the "Sonsk" taverns or the "Son" people are identified to be the Svan people by modern historians, as the Svans are still called "Sone" in the Kabardian language to this day. Sources also mention Ossetians taking place in the conflict, with the societies of Digor, Kurartin, and Tagaur, together with the Ksani Eristavate being mentioned as taking side in this campaign.
Before this campaign, Temruqo requested military aid from Ivan the Terrible to "defeat their enemies" in central caucasus. Thus, the Russian Tsar sent Temruqo a total of 1000+ Russian-Cossack forces to move under his command. In september, Temruqo with the help of the Russian commander Grigory Pleshcheyev and other Nogai Murzas, started his campaign in the central Caucasus, aiming to establish dominance over the region.
Temruqo launched his aggressive expedition in september and advanced into the lands of the central Caucasian people, causing destruction and killing many inhabitants. The Kabardian-Russian-Nogai forces expanded deeper into the territories, attacking the Tatsky and Skinsky regions, they reportedly destroyed 164 Ingush-Svan-Ossetian taverns and captured the towns of Mokhan, Kavan, and Engir. Temishka Murza was murdered in the campaign, and the Ingush nobles Burnat, Ezdnaur, Burnak, and Dudyl, as well as the Ossetian nobles of Aznaur and Dudar were taken as prisoners. this campaign caused the Ingushes to retreat deeper into the mountainous gorges.
Following the campaign, some of the Feappii retreated into the mountains, while others migrated to the Aukh region under the protection of the Shamkhalate of Tarki. According to the Ingush historian and archivist Bersnako Gazikov, this campaign took place in the regions of Yoalkhote, Sunzha, Darial, and Gazalte. According to Ingush legendary songs, the folkloric Ingush noble Cherbazh was "terribly wounded" during the incursion and fled the region, later settling in the village of Aulurt located near Dzheyrakh-Aramkhi rivers.
The legendary Ingush song "Makhinan" talks about this campaign:
First Circassian-Kumyk War
In 1552, the Kumyks, with several allies, went to war with the Kabardians. These military confrontations and border clashes lasted until 1567, where the Kumyk Shamkhal Budai I was killed by the Kabardian forces, and the war ended in a Circassian victory. The Kumyks were allied with the Nogais from Lesser Nogai Horde, Avars from the Avar Nutsaldom, and the Kabardian princes from factions that were against the rule of Temruqo the Brave of Kabardia. The Kabardians were allied with the Western Circassians from the Principality of Besleney and Abazinia, and got military aid from the Tsardom of Russia.
Battle of Kishzhibek
In 1552, Kabardian prince Qanshao Jilakhstenqo persuaded the Avar Utsmi—identified in the sources as Khadan Utsmi—to invade Kabardia, whose population was reportedly weakened by internal strife. Khadan accepted and called upon his allies, including the Nogais and the Kumyks, assembling a united force against the Kabardians. In response, the Kabardians called upon their Trans-Kuban allies, the Abazins under Lev Achba and the Besleneys under Aldjeruqo Qanoqo.
Supreme command of the allied Kabardian forces was entrusted to Prince Aldjeruqo. As the Avar Utsmi crossed the Terek River, Prince Aldjeruqo and his advance guard met the invading force and attempted negotiations. After negotiations failed, Aldjeruqo withdrew to prepared defensive positions. Two days later, the Utsmi advanced toward the trenches, and Aldjeruqo engaged the enemy. A fierce battle followed, reportedly lasting two days. According to a legend preserved by the Ortanov family, this battle marked the Kabardians’ first encounter with firearms. During the fighting, Kabardian forces reportedly heard a thunderous roar and observed smoke rising near Chegem. A volunteer named Vartan was said to have crossed the Chegem River at night and captured a matchlock from Dagestani troops. For this act, he was allegedly elevated to the rank of wark (noble).
On the third day, hostilities resumed. During the renewed fighting, the Utsmi was killed, causing confusion among his forces. According to the legend, the Kabardians exploited this disorder, launched a coordinated assault, and drove the opposing army toward the Terek River. It is claimed that only one-third of the invading force managed to escape. In the course of the battle, Prince Koshkao, described as one of the instigators of the campaign, was also killed. The battle thereafter became known as Kishzhibek, a name interpreted as meaning “salvation lies not in stone walls, but in the courage of men.” The battle is commemorated in the following traditional song:
Our mowers have postponed their work until next summer, and our ripe millet has been destroyed by wild boars.
Our herdsmen galloped home on bare saddles. Our young women wept bitterly.
Our people were worn out from the constant walking into the gorges; even the iron boilers were damaged on the road.
We placed our hopes on the Chegem trenches, stood ready for battle, and our princes inspected the Kishzhibek positions.
Utsmiy was eager for battle! A bloody battle began; our two detachments of troops joined forces in the fortifications.
The blood of the enemies flowed like a wide stream, and the corpses of the slain enemies lay on the ground like a wooden bridge.
Russian intervention
In July 1557, the Circassian mirza Kavklych Kanukov arrived at the court of Ivan the Terrible, requesting protection against the Kumyks. A similar appeal was made in October 1558 by the sons of Temruqo—Bulgeruk and Saltankul. According to the sources, information about these negotiations was communicated to the Kumyks, and in 1559 a Kumyk embassy arrived at the Russian court requesting protection from Circassian princes who had entered Russian allegiance. However, complaints received from the Kabardian Circassians accused the Kumyks of conducting raids against them. In response, the Russian government dispatched a military expedition against the Shamkhalate of Tarki in support of the Kabardians.
In the summer of 1560, an army under the voevoda I. S. Cheremisinov departed from Astrakhan by sea. Transported on vessels—likely strug boats—the force sailed along the western coast of the Caspian Sea toward Tarki, the center of the Tarki Shamkhalate. According to the chronicles, Cheremisinov’s army included streltsy, Cossacks, and the so-called “Astrakhan people.” After landing near Tarki, Cheremisinov reportedly led an assault on the settlement, located approximately two kilometers from the coast, and captured it within half a day. The voevoda did not attempt to retain control of the town; instead, it was plundered and burned.Pensky V. V. Op. cit. — p. 267.Crimean Affairs. — pp. 324, 330.