Life of Schamyl

Life of Schamyl, by John Milton
Mackie

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Title: Life of Schamyl And Narrative of the Circassian War of
Independence Against Russia
Author: John Milton Mackie
Release Date: September 7, 2007 [EBook #22533]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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SCHAMYL ***

Produced by John Puh

[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected,
author's spelling has been retained.]

LIFE OF SCHAMYL

LIFE OF SCHAMYL;
AND
NARRATIVE
OF THE
CIRCASSIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AGAINST RUSSIA.
BY
J. MILTON MACKIE,
AUTHOR OF "COSAS DE ESPAÑA"
BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY.
CLEVELAND, OHIO: JEWETT, PROCTOR AND WORTHINGTON.
NEW YORK: SHELDON, LAMPORT AND BLAKEMAN.
1856.

PREFACE.
The principal authors who have recently written on Circassia are
Bodenstedt, Moritz Wagner, Marlinski, Dubois de Montpéreux,
Hommaire de Hell, Taillander, Marigny, Golovin, Bell, Longworth,
Spencer, Knight, Cameron, Ditson; and from their pages chiefly has
been filled the easel with the colors of which I have endeavored to paint
the following picture of a career of heroism nowise inferior to that of
the most famous champions of classical antiquity, of a war of
independence such as may not improperly be compared with the most
glorious struggles recorded in the annals of liberty, and of a state of
society perhaps the most romantic and the most nearly resembling that

described in the songs of Homer which the progress of civilization has
now left for the admiration of mankind.

CONTENTS.
I. The Land of Schamyl II. Its History III. The War with Russia IV. His
Birthplace V. His Parents, Atalik, and Teacher VI. His Early Education
VII. His Horsemanship VIII. The Circassian Games IX. His Love of
Nature X. Hunting XI. Camping Out XII. In the White Mountains XIII.
Songs XIV. Dances XV. Festivals XVI. His Religious Education XVII.
His Marriage XVIII. Maids XIX. Wives XX. Female Slave-Trade XXI.
Form of Government XXII. Religious Belief XXIII. Occupations
XXIV. Manners XXV. His Predecessors.--Mahomet-Mollah XXVI.
Khasi-Mollah XXVII. Hamsad Bey XXVIII. Circassian Mode of
Warfare XXIX. Russian Mode of Warfare XXX. His Personal
Appearance XXXI. Becomes Imam, and Continues the War XXXII.
Issues Proclamations XXXIII. His Head-Quarters at Akhulgo XXXIV.
The Siege of Akhulgo XXXV. The Expedition against Dargo XXXVI.
His Domestic Life XXXVII. Prince Woronzoff at Dargo XXXVIII.
Schamyl's Proclamation to the Kabardians XXXIX. His Invasion of the
Kabardas XL. His System of Government XLI. Recent Events

LIFE OF SCHAMYL.

I.
THE LAND OF SCHAMYL.
Circassia--under which name the country occupied by a great number
of tribes of which the Circassians are one, is best known to
foreigners--lies in the Caucasus, a range of mountains which, running
in the direction between north-west and south-east, extends from the
shores of the Black Sea to those of the Caspian, and divides by its wall
of rock the two continents of Europe and Asia.

The traveller approaching these mountains from the steppes inhabited
by the Cossacks subject to Russia, beholds at a distance of thirty miles
a single white conical summit towering high above the otherwise level
horizon. This is the peak of Elbrus, the loftiest in the Caucasian chain,
and called by the natives the Dsching Padischah, or great spirit of the
mountains. Next, is seen the no less solitary top of Kasbek, situated
further eastward, and its snows tinged by the first red rays of the
morning. Then, the whole line of summits, "the thousand peaked," rises
to view; and finally, a lower range covered with forests, and hence
called the Black Mountains, draws its dark and irregular outline against
the higher snows beyond.
The waters shed from the northern declivities of the Caucasus, are
received by two principal rivers, the Kuban and the Terek; while those
which flow down on the south side are gathered into the Rion and the
Kur, or ancient Cyrus. Of these streams the Kuban is the largest, and
empties itself as does the Rion, into the Black Sea; the other two
running eastward to the Caspian.
The western portion more especially of the Black Mountains is heavily
wooded. Gigantic oaks spread their branches above cliffs and summits,
where in less favored climes only the cold pine would be able to find a
scanty subsistence; while the spray of the Black Sea is dashed against
the immense stems of the blood-wooded taxus, and the red and
almond-leaved willows sweep with their long branches the waves. The
box here is a giant of the forest; the stern