Died: 4 February 1871 (aged 73) Medina, Hejaz, Ottoman Empire
Imam Shamil was the son of a religious and noble Avar family. Avars are a native Caucasian ethnic group that lives in the north Caucasus between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Shamil’s original name was ‘Ali. During a childhood illness, ‘Ali was rechristened Shamūēl, a name meaning “that which repels sickness.” Shamūēl was modified to Shamil, the name by which he is known today in both Arabic and European sources.
Shamil studied grammar, logic, rhetoric, and Arabic, acquired prestige as a learned man, and in 1830 joined the Murīdīs, a Ṣūfī (Islāmic mystical) brotherhood. Shamil received his initial training in guerrilla warfare while fighting under Ghazi Muhammad, the first spiritual leader of the Daghestani Muslim forces.
For some time in the 16th century Dagestan was an Ottoman province. From 1747 onward, Dagestan was invaded by the Russians. The Russian army under Gen. Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov suppressed the people's resistance in 1819. In 1830, tribes in Dagestan declared jihad against Russia. Imam Shamil was the legendary figure who led resistance against the Russians.
By the age of 20, he had travelled to Syria as a young man to learn from Sheikh Khalid Al-Baghdadi, the 31st Sheikh of the Naqshbandi order, and became highly educated in the religious sciences.
Upon returning home to Dagestan, he joined the resistance against Russian forces that sought to expand into his country. However, after being injured in the battle of Gimri in 1832, he retreated to the mountains in order to recover.
Shamil exercised a combination of religious, administrative, and military powers. His reputation was not marred even by several military defeats to the Russian army in 1835-1836, and his subsequent, highly successful military campaigns of 1837 brought him further renown. His influence spread to Chechnya and the other Caucasian Muslim countries, where he was referred to as the "Eagle of the Mountains."
He was also able to strategically reorganise and unify the Muslim ranks throughout the Caucasus. The townspeople honoured him greatly and would always rush to accommodate his fighters.
When he was captured after 25 years of heroic resistance, Russian Tsar Alexander II personally met with him and even admired him for his resistance. In 1869, he was granted permission to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. He died in Medina, the city of the Holy Prophet, while visiting the city in 1871.
Imam Shamil - leader of Muslim Dagestan and Chechen mountaineers
