The title of this article may seem provocative. Typically, such topics in Western publications, such as Radio Liberty, or on resources promoting a “decolonization” agenda, are accompanied by stories of atrocities allegedly committed by Russians during the Caucasian War (1817–1864). Often, the horrors associated with the tragic events in Western Caucasus, including the expulsion of the Circassians, are mentioned. However, the Caucasian issue is not just a historical drama; it is a complex geopolitical knot that remains relevant for Russia. The Caucasus not only provides access to the Black Sea but also controls strategic mountain passes, serves as a buffer against external threats, and opens pathways to the Middle East. This is why historical events in the Caucasus are often used for political pressure on Russia, extracting episodes from the past that are presented in a one-sided manner.
Abroad, the Caucasian War is frequently depicted as a merciless crusade. British diplomat Gifford Palgrave expressed it this way: “Their only crime was not being Russian.”[1] However, this picture is far from the truth. Let us examine what happened in Western Caucasus, relying on historical sources and facts.
The Caucasian War was a multi-layered conflict, intertwining the interests of the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, and local peoples. Western Caucasus, populated by the Circassians (Adyghe people), became an arena of struggle not only because of Russia’s desire to secure its borders but also due to the active interference of external forces.
The Russian Empire began its advance into the Caucasus in the 18th century to secure its southern borders from raids and to establish control over a region that was strategically important for trade and protection against the Ottoman Empire. Historian N.S. Kinyapina emphasizes: “The Caucasus was not only a geographical but also a strategic barrier that ensured the safety of Russia’s southern provinces.”[2] After the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, which concluded the Russo-Turkish War, Russia gained rights to the Black Sea coast, which intensified its interest in Western Caucasus.
Circassian society, however, was not monolithic. As historian V.V. Degoiev notes, “Circassian tribes were fragmented, and many were in a state of constant internecine conflict.”[3] Some groups collaborated with Russia, while others, under the influence of the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain, resisted. The Ottoman Empire, losing influence in the Caucasus, supplied the Circassians with weapons and promised support to maintain its positions. British agents, in turn, used the Caucasus as a tool to weaken Russia. Historian S.M. Iskhakov points out: “British diplomacy actively worked with Circassian leaders, providing them with financial and moral support.”[4] This is confirmed by reports from British consul James Longworth, who in the 1830s met with Circassian leaders and urged them to resist.[5]
Thus, the Caucasian War was not merely a confrontation between Russia and the Circassians but a complex conflict in which external forces exploited local peoples to achieve their geopolitical goals.
One of the main accusations against Russian troops is their alleged excessive cruelty. Special attention is drawn to the figure of General Grigory Zass, who is often portrayed abroad as a bloodthirsty tyrant. Stories about the heads of Circassians being impaled on stakes around the fortress of Prochnokopskaya have become a favorite narrative of diaspora activists. Pre-revolutionary author D.V. Rakovich wrote: “The residence of Zass, the fortress of Prochnokopskaya, horrified not only the Kuban residents but also all passersby. It was surrounded by a high rampart with a palisade on top, on which in many places the heads of Circassians were stuck.”
Similar actions were attributed to other commanders, such as General Alexei Velyaminov. General Grigory Philipson recalled: “The trophies of this day were several corpses of mountaineers, whose heads were severed, wrapped, and sewn into canvas. For each head, Velyaminov paid one chervonets and sent the skulls to the Academy of Sciences. Therefore, for each killed mountaineer, there was a fierce struggle, which sometimes cost many lives on both sides… The struggle for corpses and the severing of heads became part of the customs and traditions of the Caucasian troops. For the first time, despite the excitement of the novelty of the scenes and impressions, the sight of the heads wrapped in canvas, tied to the ends of Cossack spears, evoked a feeling of disgust and revulsion in me.”[7]
These testimonies are shocking, but they cannot be viewed out of context. Severing heads was part of the military culture of the Caucasus at that time and was not exclusively a “Russian” practice. Philipson noted that the Cossacks had adopted this custom from the local peoples: “A mountaineer goes to war with a companion; they mutually swear to protect each other until the last moment of life, and then, if one of them is killed, the other will certainly bring back the body, or at least the head of the killed, to his family, as proof that he has indeed perished; otherwise, the survivor is obliged to provide for the family of the killed comrade.“[8]
Modern Caucasian scholar Aslan Mirzoev confirms: “Until the beginning of the 18th century, among the Kabardians, there was another custom related to duels, namely, the severing of heads. According to folklore, not everyone was honored with this; only noble knights received this honor after death resulting from a duel. According to custom, the head of a slain enemy was brought back, tied by the ‘ache’ (a tuft of hair on the top of the head) to the saddle’s girth… Among some groups of Black Sea Circassians, as well as among the Sadz, this custom was widespread even in the first half of the 19th century. Among the Abkhazians, the motivation for this custom was as follows: if the head of the slain enemy was brought back and buried in such a way that no one knew the burial place, then, according to their beliefs, the soul of the slain could not take revenge on the murderer. The custom of severing heads was practiced in its time by many peoples and was mainly of a ritual nature.“[9]
Not only the Circassians practiced such actions. The Tushuri Georgians, who were at odds with the Lezgins, severed heads and body parts of their enemies to intimidate their opponents. A contemporary described the Tushuri warrior Shote as follows: “Tall, nearly three arshins high, thin, slightly hunched, with what appeared to be a large wart on his dry face and expressive fiery eyes, he presented a very imposing figure, not stopping for anything or anyone in battle. All of Georgia, from infants to elders, knew and honored him as a remarkable hero, while for the Lezgins, he served as a terror and a fright. He was well known to the Governor of the Caucasus, the illustrious Prince Vorontsov, who always received him with honor. Among the Lezgins, children were frightened during their crying by the name of Shote. For example, a credible event is reported that in the Didoy aul Khupro, on a dark night, a 2-year-old child was crying uncontrollably in one of the sakles. The mother, unable to calm the child, began to frighten him by invoking the name of Shote; however, as this method did not help, she opened the window and stuck the child out headfirst, accompanying her action with the words: ‘Here, take him, Shote,’ and the infant immediately fell silent. The relieved mother pulled the child back into the sakle and, oh horror — the infant turned out to be headless. This merciless act was committed by Shote, who was waiting for someone from the adults to emerge from the sakle, but he found the opportunity to behead the child and did not hesitate to do so. The father and older son rushed after Shote, quietly catching up with him as he walked toward the outskirts of the aul, and they both attacked the killer, but the bloody encounter did not last long; it ended with the deaths of both attacking Lezgins. Villagers found the slain without their right hands.
I will mention another case that vividly illustrates Shote… in one of the bloody skirmishes with the Lezgins, a small party of Tushuri managed to prevail, and the fleeing Lezgins left 17 corpses on the field. At that time, the Tushuri also captured a herd of cows, to the tails of which Shote ordered 17 Lezgin heads to be tied.».[10].
Cruelty was mutual. General Alexander Dondyukov-Korsakov recalled: “The old Caucasian soldiers and officers were extremely irritated by this terrible disorder, but their resentment reached its peak when, advancing further into the forest, they saw the grotesquely mutilated bodies of their comrades who had fallen the day before, hanging from all the trees along their path… I saw one soldier who was brought to my tent: he recounted that when our detachment passed on the 10th, celebrating their victory, all evening and night the mountaineers, with shouts and songs, continued to torment and torture our wounded. He himself, rolling into a ravine and seeing two approaching mountaineers, pretended to be dead; the mountaineers, wishing to confirm this, inflicted several more wounds on him with their sabers.”[11].
This cruelty is also reflected in the poetry of that time. The poet Alexander Polezhaev in his poem “Dead Head” expressed sympathy for the fallen highlander, rather than admiration for the actions of the Cossacks:
«What phantom do I see arise
Beneath the moon’s deceptive gleam,
Upon a spear in mystic guise?
No phantom this! In truth, I deem,
A foe’s grim curse before me stands—
A ghastly head from warring lands,
Of mountain son, of battle’s breed.
Her fate is sealed in endless sleep
On native fields where blood runs deep,
Where deadly blades her doom decreed.
Five piercing blows her skull did rend;
In death’s grim throes, her eyes did blur,
With blood’s dark tide, her torments blend,
Her silent agony to stir.».
И далее:
«The warrior’s might, so fierce, so grand,
A vengeful spirit did o’erthrow;
His lifeless corpse, by cruel demand,
No honored grave was laid to know.
His head, defiled, now darkly stains
The steel of that tenth spear’s cruel frame,
While his freed soul ascends, unchained,
To realms beyond, to newer flame.»[12].
General Zass, who is often demonized, operated in the context of a brutal war. His methods—raids, ambushes, and taking hostages—were a response to the tactics of the Circassians, who conducted raids on Russian settlements and captured prisoners for ransom or sale into slavery. Zass wrote: “The system of offensive warfare that I adopted from the very beginning of my command was, in my opinion, necessary on the part of the Labinskaya cordon. Only by following it could we deter peaceful mountaineers from treachery in the future and prevent the rebellious from frequent incursions into our territory by small parties and even larger groups. The enemy, knowing the strength of our weapons, is less likely to embark on enterprises that require him to send his best people far away, thereby weakening the defense of his auls. As for the raids by predatory parties and gatherings, having realized through long experience that it was actively impossible to repel their incursions with defensive measures alone along the entire Line, I became convinced of the necessity of preempting them on-site whenever I received news of their movements. In addition to maintaining the fear of our weapons in the mountains, this approach had the obvious advantage that it was easier to catch a gathering off guard on-site, or to find it soon after it crossed the Laba, than to track and catch it across the expanse of the steppe between the Laba and the Kuban, where its trail could easily be lost among the numerous tracks of peaceful mountaineers and their herds.”[13].
The practice of taking hostages, which is criticized today, was also part of the realities of the Caucasus. The Swiss traveler Frédéric Dubois de Montperré, who had a critical view of Russia’s policy in the Caucasus, noted: “The aim of all the raids and piracy of the Circassians is captives, or slaves, whom they sell to the Turks if the Russians do not pay a large ransom for them. Soldiers are primarily ransomed. However, experience has shown that this is a sure way to encourage banditry, and thus it was decided to pay them with retribution. An order was given to capture as many prisoners as possible, and this kind of branch of military economy was entrusted to Colonel, now General Zass, the ‘demon of the Circassians,’ as they call him themselves, and indeed, one can say that no one more daring, cunning, and active could have been chosen. Already in the early summer of 1834, Colonel Zass captured over sixty Circassians, who were taken to Ekaterinodar for exchange. Soon, Ali-bey and his associates joined them. A ransom of ten prisoners was demanded for the chieftain. It is certainly hard to find a better way to wean the Circassians from their bad habits; it is strange that this was not thought of earlier.“[14].
Even in the 19th century, brutal practices such as decapitation were condemned. Among the Kabardians, this custom was abolished in the 18th century under the influence of Islam. Aslan Mirzoev writes: “The custom of decapitation disappeared in the early 18th century with the establishment… of Islam. According to tradition, the initiative to abolish this custom, which by that time was perceived as ‘barbaric’ even by the Kabardians themselves, belonged to a well-known political figure, philosopher, and folk sage, Jabagh Qazanoqo.”[9].
In the Russian army, decapitation was being eradicated by the command. When rumors of Zass’s actions reached Nicholas I, the emperor ordered the cessation of this practice: “It has come to the attention of His Majesty the Emperor that some local commanders in the Caucasus are allegedly beheading mountain people killed in battles and impaling their heads on poles, causing general irritation among the inhabitants. As a result, His Majesty has granted me the highest authority to ascertain the truth of these rumors, and if they are indeed true, to take the most decisive measures to put an end to such inhumane acts in the future, which are so contrary to the noble views of His Majesty… In reference to Your Excellency No. 824, I have the honor to report that the heads of the killed mountain people were only impaled on poles by the commander of the right flank, Lieutenant General Zass. However, upon receiving this information upon my assumption of governance in the region, I informed him to cease such actions…”[16].
The Caucasian War was a tragedy for all sides. All participants were cruel, and to blame only the Russians for this is to ignore the historical context. Today, attempts to use the events of the 19th century to incite ethnic hatred or weaken Russia have a political background. History has already given its assessment. We must learn the lessons, remember the difficulties of the past, and work for peace in the present.
Souces:
[1]: Palgrave, G. (1868). Narrative of a Year’s Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia. London.
[2]: Киняпина, Н.С. (1974). Кавказ и Средняя Азия во внешней политике России. Москва: Наука.
[3]: Дегоев, В.В. (2000). Кавказская война: истоки и последствия. Москва: РОССПЭН.
[4]: Исхаков, С.М. (2010). Российская империя и Кавказ: геополитические аспекты. Москва: Восточная литература.
[5]: Longworth, J. (1840). A Year Among the Circassians. London: Henry Colburn.
[7]: Филипсон, Г.И. (1885). Воспоминания.
[8]: Там же.
[10]: Антонов, В.В. (1890). Эпизоды из Кавказской войны.
[11]: Дондуков-Корсаков, А.М. (1885). Мои воспоминания.
[12]: Полежаев, А.И. (1833). Мертвая голова.
[13]: Засс, Г.Х. (1840). Записки о Кавказской войне.
[14]: Дюбуа де Монперэ, Ф. (1839). Путешествие вокруг Кавказа. Черкесский морской берег.
[15]: РГВИА. Ф. 13454. Оп. 6. Д. 1213; Оп. 8. Д. 31: Распоряжение штаба отдельного казачьего корпуса и рапорт о запрещении отсекать головы горцев. 1841 г.
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