Tashaw-Hadji

Tashaw-Hadji[lower-alpha 1] (1770 – died 1843 or later) was one of the prominent leaders of the North Caucasian resistance during the Caucasian War, a companion of imam Shamil. He was the imam of Chechnya since 1834. Upon the death of Gazi-Muhammad, he was one of the major candidates at the elections of the Imam of Dagestan, losing to Shamil by one vote only. Later, he became one of the mudirs of Imam Shamil. He was also the governor (naib) of Aukh.

Tashaw-Hadji
Native name
Воккха Хьаж/Taşaw-haci Endireyli
Birth nameTashaw
Other name(s)Tashev-Hadji
Born1770
Endirey, Kumykia
Died1845
Sayasan, Chechnya
AllegianceCaucasian Imamate
Service/branchArmy
RankImam, Naib
Battles/warsCaucasian War

Early biography

Origin

According to majority of sources, Tashaw-Hadji was born in the village of Endirey in the Northern Kumykia.[2] According to Giorgi Kazbegi, however, he was born on the Michik river.[3] This version is criticized by a Soviet researcher A. B. Zaks.[lower-alpha 2]

The ethnicity of Tashaw-Hadji remains unknown. However, due to his native village, Endirey, having a mixed Chechen-Kumyk population, it is likely he was of mixed background.[5][6][lower-alpha 4] Tashaw-Hadji himself spoke vaguely about his ethnic belonging, sometimes claiming he came from Turkey.[10] Overall, different sources claim him as either a Kumyk[9] or a Chechen. N. I. Pokrovsky mentions him both as a Kumyk and Chechen.[11]

Before the Caucasian war

In the 1820s, Tashaw was a mullah in his native Endirey. He studied under prominent Dagestani religious figures, Said of Arakan and Muhammad of Yarag.[12]

Tashaw-Hadji took part in the resistance to the Russian Empire led by Beibulat Taimiev in 1818-1826, along with his fellow Endireyans.[12]

In 1831, Tashaw left Endirey, when the exposure of Endirey and its gate-keeping location made it a constant target of all warring parties. According to Anna Zaks, the reason to leave Endirey was in the destruction of a part of the village by the first Imam of Dagestan Gazi-Muhammad, who by doing so hoped to force the wavering part of Endireyans to join his struggle. It was at that time that Tashaw fled Endirey and joined the Imam. At the exact same time when Endirey was under attack from Gazi-Muhammad, its crop fields were being burned by the Russian troops in retaliation for resisting the Russian rule.[13] That was the reason why Russian documents referred to Tashaw as to a "fugitive of the Endirey village".[14]

According to another view, proposed by the professor Hasan Orazaev, who refers to local archive materials, the reason for Tashaw leaving Endirey was the treachery from the local "rich men and mullahs", who secretly accepted the submission to the Russian Tsar. Seeing that local population rose against this betrayal of the nobility, even ready to be killed, but not subdued, Tashaw might have decided to join the fight from the mountainous and more protected areas, as Endirey's lowland and easily accessible location had led to it being ravaged multiple times by the Russian troops, during many military campaigns.[15]

After Tashaw had to leave Endirey, he initially settled in Salatavia in the village of Almak,[16] then moved to Chechnya, to the village of Sayasan, which became his last home until his death in 1843 or later.

Notes
  1. Chechen: Воккха Хьаж; Kumyk: Taşaw-haci Endireyli
     • Also known as Tashev-Hadji and Tashav-Hadji from Endirey[1]
  2. She writes about Tashaw as a Kumyk, a native of Endirey, at the same time criticizing the version about his Chechen origin and about his alleged birth in Michik. To refute the theory she is citing the work of imam Shamil's personal scribe Muhammad Tahir al-Qarahi.[4]
  3. According to N. S. Semenov, they were a majority.[8]
  4. Moshe Gammer also mentions the possibility of Tashaw being both a Kumyk or a Chechen as the village of Endirey had a present Chechen minority.[7][lower-alpha 3] This is combined with the fact that he calls himself in the local written sources in Arabic al-Indiri, which means "from Endirey". At the same time, in his earlier work, Moshe Gammer mentioned Tashaw as an "Indiri Kumyk, leader of Chechens".[9]

References
  1. Назир ад-Дургели 2012, p. 142.
  2. Мухаммад Тахир аль-Карахи 1941, p. 82.
  3. Казбек 1885, p. 40.
  4. Оразаев & Ханмурзаев 2023, pp. 29, 54, 83, 124, 135.
  5. Ахмадов & Хасмагомадов 2005, p. 134: "Скорее всего, он был смешанных кровей, что не редкость в Эндери, имевшем кумыкские и чеченские кварталы."
  6. Gould 2016, p. 276: "Given that he was from the mixed Chechen-Qumuq village of Enderei, Hajji Tashaw would likely have been of mixed ethnic background."
  7. Gammer 2006, pp. 49–50: "Tasho's place of birth and even his nationality are a matter of a debate. In local chronicles (written in Arabic) he is known as 'al-Indiri', . meaning 'from the village of Enderi'. As such he could be either a Kumyk and a Chechen, since Enderi was a Kumyk village with a sizeable Chechen minority among its population."
  8. Семенов 1895, p. 234: "В жителях Эндрея и всех мелких аулов самого верхнего пояса плоскости, населенных по преимуществу отпрысками чеченского племени, явно проявляются черты характера их родичей — чеченцев."
  9. Гаммер 1998, p. 101.
  10. Ахмадов & Хасмагомадов 2005, p. 134.
  11. Покровский 2000, pp. 255:
    • "Что же касается Ташов-Хаджи, то этот последний, кумык по происхождению, в описываемое время действовал в Чечне."
    • 258: "Наконец, в письме к ауховцам Ташов-Хаджи называет себя наместником Гази-Мухаммеда, хотя в Дагестане в это время был уже третий имам. Шамилю чеченский вождь, очевидно, не хотел подчиняться."
    • 284: "Трения между этими двумя вождями мюридизма для нас не новость, и нет ничего удивительного в их возобновлении. В результате этого Ташов-Хаджи совершено устраняется от дел и имя его с этого времени исчезает из документов. Что произошло опять между Шамилем и чеченским вождем — нам не удалось выяснить (...)"
  12. Оразаев & Ханмурзаев 2023, p. 174.
  13. Волконский 1889.
  14. Оразаев & Ханмурзаев 2023, pp. 63–64.
  15. Оразаев & Ханмурзаев 2023, p. 270.
  16. Каяев Замир-Али 1990, p. 84.

Bibliography

English sources
  • Gammer, M. (2006). Harris, J. (ed.). The Lone Wolf and the Bear: Three Centuries of Russian Defiance of Russian Rule. Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 1–252. ISBN 0-8229-5898-8.
  • Gould, R. R. (2016-09-20). Writers and Rebels: The Literature of Insurgency in the Caucasus. Eurasia Past and Present. New Haven, London: Yale University Press. pp. 1–336. ISBN 978-0300220759.

Russian sources
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