The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-06-16
sCHAM I'll.


Ba.oum. IL was once place of some
Importance, and is supposed to be the
historic Seb,s.opolis. Il was captured
by the Russians in 1871 aud its dec.-
dence has dated from thst time The
region about IL Is sparsely settled, the
who. c province probably not contain
ing more than 100, 600 souls Recen.
dispatch=s reported that violen. COM
bat had taken place there on Monday
the Russians being driven oat Ten
thousand natives joined the Turks while
the town was SIT on fire by them and
the fortIications seizel. "All the sur
rounding country" says the dispatch.
is rising II the support of the Turks"
Further reports of Russian repulses
have also been received. Eight thous-
and troops | 800 C,ueassians. 10 900
rifles and some mounted batteries have
been dispatched to that country from
Constantinople to aid al insurrection in
the mountains of Caucasus In the
meantime it is reported that the second
son Of ,chamvl, who lives at st. Peters
burg a. An officer of the Imperial Guard
has been sent To tins Circassian country
to take part in sppeasing the rebellion
which has broken out there. II is also
curIously stated that Schamyfs eldest
son has been sent out by the Turks to
command the Circassians. II will there
fore be u matter of interest 10 learn Of
the remarkable career Of Schamyl, and
of the tribes whose chiet,ain he WAS
tor twenty years.
The people OF the Caucasus have long
been known as u warllke, adventurous
aud semi -barbarous race. This region
is about 200 miles long and varies in
width from Go 10 100 miles No other
country on the globe contains so many
different nations or tribes. In Strabo's
time seventy dialects were spoken At
present there are more than l00-Per-
sian. Turkish, Finnish. and Teutonic
words b.ing among those that are
found. The prevailing religion is the
Mobammcdan. but Christians are num-
bercd among them For century and
half they have split up into an inf
nite number Of clans or petty tribes,
when the aggression of Peter the Great
Ioccnsed them into organization. and
in lIo5 the encroachmeB,s of the Rus
siaus had become SO great that the war
cry WAS sounded, and has seldom been
sileacei since The Russians have, oil
the other hand, been groaily incensed
. at tho bar barities shown toward the
Christians OF Georgia In 1891 the Cir
cassisn leader was made a prisoner and
pu, to death War followed more bit
I ter sni desperate than ever. One of
their cbicftsins. thirty or forty years
age after years of hard Sighting against
the Ruesitns. fell at iiimri. with all his
fr u.s. except one dead around him
. This ,oung survivor WAS Schanyl. He
was - years Of age. aud said to have
been 4 silent and earnest man. learned
beyond his people and believing him
sslt INSPIRED from Allah. They called
hlm The Prophet Warrior IF the
Caucasus
His arrival a. the great conflict at
Himri had 50 much ot ystery In il for
lns people that he WAS regarded by
them with reverence, and not long af-
ter ward he was again the sole survivor
of battle and eventually established
over the people. He ma ie his head
quarters AT a place built upon almost
iuac ccessible rocks in the mountains and
fortified il with treL ches, earthen para
pets and covered WAYS. So great did
his power become against the Russians
thst iu 1880. the Car Nicholas. irrl
tIfei by hts bolaness and defiance sent
powerful array against him, with
orders In capture Schainyl alive or dead,
4 great battle was fought, In which the
Russians suffered enormous losses and
Scbamyis forces were snnihilated. but
ScAamyl himself escaped. But i, was
pyrrhlc victory Every tribe III Cau-
C.>us was eurnged and in arms against
the Car, snd helped to strengthen the
cause uf SChamyl. He adopted the
gu, ,riIla system of warfare, and in that
the mountains ard ravineS gave him
further aid The Russians eouli not
cope with thin He continually en-
Conragvd 'hem 10 cross the boundary
line, and when they had entangIed
themselves among the mountains and
the raviues. the tIrcasSiaus would shoot
them from the ovcrhanging rocks
above. On one occasion the Russians
made "A lormitiable attack. but were re-
pulsei with the loss of 1000 men. The
Crsr WAS greatly mortified and sent an
atrcy army and "a new General Ii was
nearly Sn,l,lated. and the General
Prince came very near being maie a
prisoner
>chamyi then assumed the offensive.
aud ia l>4s. 1850 an1 1883 made irrup-
;Ious iI,to Russian territory IL one time
driving them hack eight leagues Af,er
the Crlmean MAR Rassla renewed opc
rstions IN the Caucasus. aud continued
them un,il lsj9 Hsr army ss,yed the
tirCss>ian stronghold and drove
>chsGyl t. a mountain fort near the
Caspian Sea. Here he uia ie as; dss-
peTa;e struggle. bat WAS captured and
,akeu 10 ~ Petersburg q prisoner,
where rs received Csnsiicraie treat
meut The country MAS couQuep a
~ leAs; Russia considered that the
Georgian Christians voali no longer
j,e lsr>ecn;r,i ard peace ha> s,uoc
prevailed L. 1864 sb, ut zoo 600 Cir
..4>>.als r,tasNtl Ia Turkey. and made
their h,is, ur the - ae>s.sn an.l north
wc,tttu >!,ss. i 81: Blsvk "a Eng
l.>A .ui.s2., I. & 5ho>e ,copl, have
called ih,in the hsu3,.tlsts~t. the hta,
at. aud uobif>; oi tmanAIad. Others
have pssiur,i them A. senl-bsE,araus
bsn,i> II outltws. living entirely l,y
piuudtF. given 60 polygsmy. ami selling
,beir daughters ~ Turkish markets 80
the nun ber. sometimes. Of ore thousand