The first half of the 19th century was a difficult time for Dagestan (now a united republic). Dagestan was torn apart by local rulers into separate competing possessions: Tarkovskoe shamkhalstvo, Mekhtulinskoe possession, Kyurinskoe, Kazikumukhskoe (Kazikumykskoe) and Avar khanates, etc. Alliances were created and destroyed. And the muridism that came to this land further complicated the situation.
The Avar Khanate until 1801 was ruled by the Avar Umma Khan, nicknamed the Great. He significantly expanded the possessions of Avaria, and the Georgian king Heraclius II, like most of the khans of Dagestan and Azerbaijan, paid tribute to him. It was Umma Khan who, after a series of requests sent to St. Petersburg, was accepted into the Russian Empire. The trouble with the powerful khan was that his three wives never brought him an heir. Only two girls were born. One of them was Bahu-Bike (Pahu-Bike).
Bahu-Bike married a noble man from the family of Tarkov shamkhals Sultan-Ahmed. When there were no applicants for the khan's throne, Bahu-Bike convinced the nobles to support her husband. For a short time, Sultan-Akhmed became a khan in the capital of the khanate - Khunzakh (now an Avar village in Dagestan with 4 thousand inhabitants).
Rise of the khansha
In 1823, Sultan-Ahmed died. Nutsal Khan, Umma Khan, Bulach Khan and the young daughter of the Sultanate, the children of the Khan, were still very young. Therefore, the board was forced to take over Bahu-Bike. She was not distinguished by belligerence, but she was extremely respected and loved by the Khunzakh people. Stately, proud, according to her title, unusually beautiful and at the same time charming and hospitable. Her hospitality was famous throughout Dagestan.
The reign of Bahu-Bike promised to become a time of peace and tranquility in the khanate. Unlike her father, she did not seek to unleash wars, continued the course for Russian citizenship, successfully defended the khanate from the murids and preferred to resolve controversial matters with advantageous marriages, for which she was often credited with intrigue. Her young children grew up brave, worthy men, and the beautiful Sultanate was one of the most enviable brides of the Caucasus. Alas, this was partly the reason for the fall of their dynasty.
The Khunzans have long been in an alliance with the Kazikumukh Khanate, and the Khansha Bakhu was in kinship with Aslan Khan Kazikumukh. However, when the time came to woo the grown-up children, Nutsal married the daughter of Shamkhal Tarkovsky, and the beautiful Sultanate liked the son of Shamkhal. Bahu-Bike did not interfere with this, hoping that she could increase the lands of the Accident at the expense of new relatives. But the refusal of the right of Aslan Khan's son to marry the Sultanate infuriated him, and from now on he broke the old alliance in the fight against the murids and the Caucasian gazavat itself.
Soon, the news of Aslan Khan and Bahu-Bik's disagreement spread throughout the Caucasus. Hansha, realizing that Gazi-Muhammad, imam and an old enemy of the pro-Russian Khunzakh, would soon send his army to her lands, sent Nutsal to Tiflis to the Russian command. But the war with the murids was already distracting large forces, so the command provided significant financial assistance and insisted that it be used to form the detachments of the mountain militia.
Disappointed in hopes
Soon the news spread throughout the Caucasus that the irreconcilable Gazi died in a battle with Russian troops during the assault on the village of Gimry, and Shamil was seriously wounded. So there was hope. The new imam was Gamzat-bey, an associate of Shamil, as well as a distant relative of the children of Bahu-Bike. Most importantly, according to the old laws of atalism, Gamzat-bek not only lived in Khunzakh, but was received in the khan's palace, and Bakhu treated him like her own son. Therefore, the woman quite legitimately believed that Gamzat would leave the khanate alone.
But suddenly Gamzat made the most radical demands on Bach, depriving the Khanate, in fact, of any independence. On the advice of the elders and kadis (judges), Khunzakha Khansha replied to Gamzat that she was ready to accept Sharia law on her land, but she would not break the alliance with the Russians. The imam accepted the answer with feigned calmness, but demanded one of the sons of the khanate as his amanat. Bahu decided that Gamzat would not dare to touch his own blood, and sent eight-year-old Bulach to him.
It would seem that the conflict is over. But she clearly underestimated Gamzat's cunning. After some time, near the capital of the khanate, horsemen loyal to Khunzakh discovered Gamzat's army, which had set up a camp. Now the imam demanded the immediate submission of Avaria to his will. Moreover, having learned what danger the eight-year-old Bulach was in, his hot-tempered brother Umma Khan went to the murids' camp in order to rescue the boy, but he himself was captured.
Bahu-Bike was furious and grief over the loss of her two sons. She demanded from Nutsal that he immediately rescue the brothers from trouble. Nutsal replied that it was pointless to go to Gamzat without a large detachment, and asked for a little time to gather an army of loyal nukers. However, Bach lost all caution from grief and ordered to go to negotiations immediately. Nutsal only said at last that his mother did not understand Gamzat's treachery and would lose all her sons. Unhappy Nutsal spoke prophetic words at that moment.
Terrible reprisal
Gamzat-bek received Nutsal and his nukers with feigned cordiality and invited the khan to his tent. The Imam immediately stunned young Nutsal with an offer to lead the entire Murid detachment and receive the title of Imam himself, while Gamzat himself would enter Khunzakh. Nutsal protested, complaining that he understood poorly even in the Qur'an. Suddenly, as if it had been agreed beforehand, Shamil, who was in the same tent, accused the Khunzans that they were all unfaithful. At that moment, Gamzat jumped up and took Nutsal and his captured brothers to perform namaz.
After performing namaz, everyone went to the tents. On the way, the suddenly transformed Gamzat insulted Nutsal and his brothers with the very last words. After Nutsal was called an enemy of Islam, he broke down and drew his saber. This is exactly what the insidious imam was waiting for. One of his bodyguards in the blink of an eye shot the young Umma Khan walking alongside. Nutsal and his nukers realized that this was the last battle, so they rushed at their opponents with all their ferocity. Shots rang out and steel spoke.
Nutsal, despite the absolute hopelessness of the situation, fought desperately and extremely courageously. One of the first, he literally cut down Gamzat's brother, who soon died. Gamzat's brother-in-law also fell under Nutsal's saber. At the same time, the nukers loyal to Nutsal were shot almost point-blank and chopped down with sabers in complete encirclement. However, the young khan, sprayed with hatred, continued to fight. They managed to shoot him in the shoulder, and the left cheek was chopped off by an enemy blade. Nutsal, covering the wound with his hand, continued to chop down the enemies.
Murids no longer dared to approach the khan alone, he put everyone to flight with dying rage. In total, Nutsal hacked to death about 20 people before, bleeding, falling on one of the corpses.
On August 13, 1834, in fact, the tree of the Avar khans was cut short. True, the eight-year-old Bulach was still alive in the imam's captivity.
Death of Bahu-Bike
There are two versions of the further development of events. According to the first, Gamzat-bek entered Khunzakh. At this time, Bahu stood on the roof of the khan's house. Noticing that his sons were not in Gamzat's detachment, and that the imam himself was smeared with someone else's blood, Bahu, trying to maintain his presence of mind, dressed in all black and went out to the enemy, still dignified and stately. There were no more defenders of the khanate, and the Khunzans themselves were completely suppressed.
Gamzat met with the khansha. Bahu, apparently cherishing the hope that at least eight-year-old Bulach remained alive, restrained and coldly congratulated him on the new title of Avar Khan won. At that moment, the treacherous Gamzat made a sign to the murid who was standing next to Bahu-Bike. The warrior hacked the unfortunate mother to death without batting an eye.
According to the second version, Gamzat first decided to deal with Surkhai Khan, an ally of Russia with the rank of colonel, who also had the right to the throne of the Avar Khanate. Later, he transported Bahu to the village of Genichutl, where the khansha spent her last days. Finally Gamzat summoned the woman to him. But in the end, the same dirty and despicable execution was repeated.
It is worth noting that Gamzat-bek's associates reacted extremely negatively to this reprisal. Even Shamil, who reproached the killed khans for infidelity, said that there was no agreement to slaughter all the Avar khans and khansha. Moreover, the future imam advised Gamzat to leave Khunzakh, in which he became hated. But the acting imam already fancied himself the ruler of all Dagestan. In addition, Gamzat said that it was more convenient for him to drive the gazavat from Khunzakh.
The self-styled khan's joy was short-lived
Soon after the massacre of the khans, Gamzat directed his thirst for power to Tsudakhar (Tsudakhar society), who was in no hurry to accept muridism and participate in gazavat. The Imam decided to take Tsudakhar by cunning. He sent a letter demanding the passage of his army, allegedly heading for Derbent. But the aksakals of Tsudakhar, who had heard about the dastardly murder of Bahu-Bike and her children, did not believe the imam and gathered an army. Understanding the prospects, the Tsudakhars fought with Gamzat so desperately that the latter only escaped by flight.
Meanwhile, discontent was ripening in Khunzakh. The murids behaved like masters, and the imam imposed new laws. Finally, a conspiracy matured. According to one of the versions, the local respected old man Musalav could not stand it and told two young Khunzans, Osman and Hadji Murad (the same hero of Tolstoy), that they, being foster brothers with the killed Umma Khan, were obliged to kill Gamzat.
On Friday, all Muslims began to flock to the mosque. Naturally, Gamzat-bey, the imam, also went to the mosque, but armed and accompanied by 12 murids. They had already informed him about a ripe conspiracy. Finally it was time for prayer. Suddenly Osman loudly addressed all those present: "Why don't you get up when the great imam came with you to pray?"
This was a sign. Gamzat, sensing unkindness, began to move back to the door. At that moment, several shots stopped him. The insidious imam fell on the spot. The Murids, of course, rushed to avenge their leader, but only managed to shoot Osman. The Khunzans, who well remembered the dastardly murder of Bahu-Bike and her children, dealt with the murids. The surviving companions of Gamzat took refuge in the khan's house, which the rebellious Avars soon burned down. The naked body of the former imam, contrary to tradition, was left lying near the mosque for four days as punishment for treachery and sins.
Alas, the fate of the eight-year-old Bulach was no less tragic than the fate of his mother. The Murids, having learned about the death of their imam, went to fetch the boy. Despite the protests of even the boy's overseer, the murids seized him and, knowing that he could not swim, drowned the unfortunate man in the river.
