The Kabardian Civil War of 1639–1641 was a major dynastic conflict fought in Kabardia between rival Circassian princely factions and their regional allies. The war was triggered by a bitter struggle over political hegemony, land inheritance, and foreign orientation between the pro-Russian Kambulat branch of the Yidar lineage—supported by the Tsardom of Russia—and the anti-Russian Qaziy faction, led by cousins Alejuqo Shojenuqo and Hatokhshoqo Qaziy, who aligned with the Crimean Khanate and the Lesser Nogai Horde.
The conflict escalated from territorial raids and dynastic feuds into a broader regional war involving coalitions from across the North Caucasus, including the Shamkhalate of Tarki, the Big Nogai Horde, and Tsarist troops from the Terek garrison. The war culminated on July 12, 1641, in the decisive Battle of the Malka River in the Pyatigorye region. Utilizing clever reconnaissance and a feigned retreat that drew the coalition forces into a gorge, Alejuqo Shojenuqo launched a devastating heavy cavalry counterattack that completely encircled and routed the opposing army.
The battle resulted in heavy casualties and the deaths of nearly all opposing commanders, including Chalimat Qudenet, Aydemir I, and the Russian Strelets commander Artemy Shishmarev. The victory established Qaziy Kabardia as the dominant political force in the region, effectively ended the political supremacy of the Yidar dynasty, and deepened the political fragmentation of 17th-century Kabardia.
Background From the 16th to the 18th century, Kabardia was at the epicenter of complex geopolitical rivalries between the era's major powers: the Ottoman Empire and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate; Safavid Iran; and the Tsardom of Russia. Following the death of Sholokh Tepsaruqo in 1616, the title of Grand Prince of Kabardia passed to Qudenet Qambolet, a member of the Yidar lineage. Qudenet received a royal charter and formal recognition from the other Kabardian princes. This allowed Alejuqo Shojenuqo—nephew of Qaziy Pshiapshoqo and the new leader of Greater Kabardia—to launch a campaign against Talostaney with the support of 3,000 Crimean troops. After the military defeat of the Talostaneys, their leader, Qarashey Sholokh, along with his two brothers, attempted to seek refuge in Jilakhstaney, but they were killed by princes Mudar Alkhas and Akhlo Aytech. Nevertheless, this did not prevent the Qaziy and Talostan families from subsequently forming a military alliance against the Yidars and their patron, the Tsar of Muscovy. The tsarist government secured pledges of loyalty from the Talostans and Qeytuqos—along with the delivery of hostages—only in late 1622, following a joint campaign into their lands by the Yidars and a Russian detachment from Terki.
In 1624, following Qudenet's death, the tsarist administration issued a charter granting the princely title to his brother, Pshimakho. However, Pshimakho's claim to the status of Grand Prince was rejected within Kabardia. Despite their sharp internal differences, the Talostans and Qeytuqos united for a long period in opposition to the Yidars, whose policies aimed to consolidate their own status at the expense of Kabardia's de facto independence. Yet, the Yidars had little alternative: they had to either accept the permanent loss of their domestic political influence or continue leveraging their Moscow connections as a powerful instrument against their rivals. Joint military operations by the Yidars and their Russian allies continued through 1626 and 1630. In 1631, after the death of Qudenet—the third consecutive representative of the Yidar family to hold power—Narchu Yelbezduqo received a royal charter to rule. As with his predecessor, however, his rights to the title and status of Grand Prince were not recognized in Kabardia. Consequently, a deep crisis of supreme political authority developed across the realm.
The policies of the Yidars and their Russian backers ultimately stripped the title of Grand Prince of any practical significance. Lacking domestic recognition and denied the legitimate right of seniority in the eyes of the co-ruling princes, the last Yidar Grand Princes were powerless to halt political fragmentation or the secessions of Talostaney and Jilakhstaney. Meanwhile, Qaziy Kabardia—led by cousins Alejuqo Shojenuqo and Hatokhshoqo Qaziy—emerged as the most powerful feudal domain. Its leaders openly sought hegemony over the country, and the Yidars were unable to neutralize them through foreign diplomatic backing alone. Furthermore, the Yidars' own holdings became embroiled in intense rivalries between different branches of their princely house. The heirs of Sanjalay Kanklychev (who died in 1625) were backed by the Qeytuqos, with whom they intermarried. Sholokh Sanjalay—and after his death in 1636, his brother Mutsal Sanjalay—married Alejuqo's sister in accordance with levirate custom. Conversely, the Qambolet branch, which was demographically and militarily weaker, was supported by the Talostans and Jilakhstans. Mutsal Sanjalay's allies in Kabardia aligned with the Crimean Khanate and the Lesser Nogai Horde, both of which were openly hostile to Russia.
Prelude In 1635, an attack by Aidemir-murza, the future Shamkhal of Shamkhalate of Tarki and later a key participant in the events of July 1641, resulted in the death of Kilish Sauslan, the last representative of his branch of the Yidar family. This immediately triggered a dispute over the inheritance of his feudal estate, which comprised eleven villages capable of mobilizing 250 noble horsemen and uorkis.
The primary contenders were two distinct Yidar lineages. The first faction comprised the descendants of Zhelegot, whose great-grandchildren ruled a small, Moscow-vassal principality along the lower Terek River, established under the protection of Terki—the principal Russian military outpost in the North Caucasus. This lineage was led by the brothers Budach, Sholokh, and Alejuqo Sanjalay. The second faction was the lineage of Qambolet, led by Chalimat Qudenet, the successor to Qambolet Yidar and head of the entire Qambolet patronymic.
The Sanjalay brothers possessed powerful domestic allies. Mutsal was married to the sister of Alejuqo Shojenuqo, a co-ruler of Qaziy Kabardia. As the largest fiefdom in Kabardia, Qaziy Kabardia encompassed around 50 villages and could field over a thousand armored cavalrymen alongside more than two thousand infantry. Alejuqo and his cousin, Hatokhshoqo Qaziy, maintained close political ties with the Crimean Khanate and the Lesser Nogai Horde, pursuing an independent policy free from Moscow's control. By contrast, Chalimat Qudenet was the weakest of the Yidar princes, who had seen their standing steadily erode since the early 17th century. His personal domain consisted of just four villages, capable of fielding a mere 35 uorkis.
However, Chalimat enjoyed influential patrons in Moscow alongside powerful relatives across the North Caucasus. His brother, Yakov Kudinetovich Cherkassky, and his cousin, Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky, occupied prominent positions at the Russian court. Ivan Borisovich was a maternal cousin of Marfa Nikitichna Romanova (mother of Tsar Michael Fedorovich) and remained a central figure in the Russian government until his death in 1642. Furthermore, Chalimat was the son of Babasupkh Alkhas—sister to Mudar Alkhas, the Supreme Prince of Jilakhstaney. Another nephew of Mudar Alkhas was the aforementioned Aidemir-Shamkhal, ruler of the Shamkhalate of Tarki—the largest state entity in the North Caucasus, which encompassed nearly half of the feudal holdings and mountain communities of Dagestan.
Course Yidarey Campaign In April 1639, the allies of the Sanjalay lineage—Alejuqo Shojenuqo and Hatokhshoqo Qaziy—destroyed the possessions of Chalimat Qudenet and his ally Narchu Yelbezduqo, even capturing Chalimat's mother and two sisters. Budach and Mutsal Sanjalay were accused of treason for disobedience and secret correspondence with the Safavid government of Iran, leading to their exile from the Terek River into interior Russia. However, their younger brother, Alejuqo Sanjalay, escaped to Kabardia and assumed control over the disputed Yidarey lands. The leaders of Qaziy Kabardia appealed directly to Tsar Michael I to justify their actions. In their letter to the Tsar, they cited the right of Dmitry Mamstryukovich Cherkassky—the sole surviving direct descendant of Temruqo the Brave—to dispose of the disputed Yidarey estates in Kabardia. Furthermore, the letter issued a direct threat: if Moscow provided unconditional support to Chalimat and Yildar Qudenet, Qaziy Kabardia would defect to the Crimean Khanate. The Russian court deemed such a firm tone unacceptable; in September 1640, the Qaziy ambassador was dispatched back with a stern reply. It asserted the Russian government's overarching authority as supreme overlord and arbitrator with the final vote on all territorial disputes, while formally leveling accusations of disloyalty against the entire house of Alejuqo and Hatokhshoqo.
Russian Intervention In the spring of 1641, Chalimat's mother and sisters were finally rescued from captivity. To accomplish this, approximately 3,000 warriors from the Big Nogai Horde were dispatched to Kabardia under the command of Prince Dmitry Gochakov, who successfully secured their release without provoking a large-scale engagement. However, freeing the captive women and transferring Chalimat's subjects to Talostaney failed to resolve the core political dispute.
Yidarey–Jilakhstaney Campaign and Assassinations The feud over the inheritance and the refusal to recognize the Tsarist government's ruling in favor of Chalimat escalated to the point that the anti-Russian faction turned to hired assassins. As Babasupkh Alkhas reported in her account:
"...Prince Sunchaleev's wife of Prince Zhelegosh with her children, with Oleguk-murza Sunchaleev, their nephew, the Kafyr-Kumytsky [Kazi-Kumukhsky] Chuchelov-murza, and sent them to Kazyevo Kabarda to Aleguk and Khotogzhuk, and ordered, sovereign, to buy thieves' people for my son Kelmametek, in order to destroy him. And according to her plan, sovereign, Aleguk and Khotgzhuk and her son Aleguk with that Chuchelov-murza bought the Tatar Chinkireik from Maly Nogai and sent him to our Kabarda and ordered to kill my son Kelmametek."
In May 1641, Princes Alejuqo and Hatokhshoqo launched a direct assault on Mudar Alkhas's holdings. Although Chalimat escaped because he was away from his estates, his uncle Mudar Alkhas was assassinated in mid-May 1641. Shortly thereafter, on May 29, 1641, the leaders of Qaziy Kabardia and their Lesser Nogai allies invaded the lands of Chalimat and his ally Narchu. The Yidars suffered approximately 30 casualties among their noblemen and uorks, while the Qaziy forces captured over 270 prisoners and seized extensive herds of horses and livestock.
Battle of Malka Mobilization These events pushed the conflict into its final phase. A funeral feast—a traditional lament for Mudar Alkhas—brought together Chalimat Qudenet's relatives and allies, initiating a broad mobilization. The Big Nogai murzas, Saltanash Aksakov and Khoroshai Chubarmametev, were recruited for the upcoming campaign against Qaziy Kabardia and the Lesser Nogai Horde. Notably, as early as May 1640, the leaders of Qaziy Kabardia had attempted to diplomatically align with the Big Nogai Horde. Astrakhan voivodes recorded the arrival of a Kabardian embassy led by Hatokhshoqo Qaziy at the encampment ulus of Saltanash Aksakov, where a preliminary pact was drawn up: