Qeytuqo Aslanbech
Aslanbech Qeytuqo () was the Kabardian Grand Prince between 1737 and 1746. He was the eldest son of Prince Qeytuqo Djembulatiqo. His younger brothers were Qanamet and Djembulat. He believed that the struggles between princes, lords and khans must end and the unity of the tribes should be ensured in order to gather first Kabarda and then the whole Caucasus under a state roof. He gained the support of Jabagh Qazanoqo. Biography. In August 1711, during the Tatar-Circassian wars, Aslanbech Qeytuqo managed to defend Circassia from Tatar raids. He later invaded the Kuban region of the Crimean Khanate  and defeated 15,000-strong units of the Crimean Nuradin in the battle. At the beginning of 1720, the Crimean Khan Saadet II Giray sent his envoys to Kabardia demanding full annexation of Kabardia into the Ottoman Empire. The Kabardian prince Tatarkhan rejected the Crimean ultimatum. In the spring of 1720, Saadet II Giray, at the head of a 40,000-strong Tatar horde, encamped his army at the border of Kabardia. Khan demanded compensation for the Tatar losses and humiliation during the Battle of Kanzhal (1708). Saadet-Giray supported Islam Misost, the leader of the pro-Turkish part of the Kabardian  nobility. The Council of Kabardian nobles sent a delegation declaring that they refuse to be annexed, but wish for peace. The Khan arrested the ambassadors from the Kabardian princes and moved his troops through the Kuban. The Crimean Khan started plundering inner parts of Kabardia: the property of recalcitrant princes, nobles and peasants was plundered and their houses were destroyed. In August 1720, the Crimean Khan Saadet-Girey with 40,000 troops crossed the Kuban River and led his forces against Kabardian princes. The raiding and siege of Kabardia reached to such a point that Kabardian nobles suggested Aslanbech to surrender , but Aslanbech turned them down. The Crimean troops, despite a long siege, were unable to capture the Cherek town. The Kabardians launched a partisan struggle on their territory. In December 1720, the khan with his army retreated from the town of Cherek and returned to the Kuban. Having set up his camp here, Saadet Giray began to send detachments throughout the territory of Kabarda to ruin and plunder the country. The behavior of the khan's troops caused acute discontent among the population of Kabarda, border incidents became more frequent. In January 1721, in Nalchik, a battle took place. During  the battle, most pro-Turkish Kabardians, after realising that their "fellow Muslim" Crimeans were raiding their country, changed sides and joined Aslanbech's army. As a result, the Crimean Tatars were defeated and pushed back from Kabardia. In 1730, Crimean Khan Kaplan-Giray recognized Aslanbech's rule in Kabardia. After this, Aslanbech agreed to be a tributary state to the Ottoman Empire. After this, Islambek Misost, self-proclaimed Prince of Kabardia and Aslanbech's rival, declared that that he has submitted to Russia. Following this, Russian General D.F. Yeropkin advanced Russian troops to the borders of Kabarda. The Crimeans began  to retreat.Aslanbech then went to Crimea. In 1737, he organized a conspiracy against Tatarkhan Bekmurzin. Tatarkhan Bekmurzin fled with his brothers to Astrakhan and Aslanbech was elected as the new prince. In the summer of 1739, the Crimean troops under the command of the Kuban seraskir Kazi-Girey in the summer of 1739 made a large-scale raid on Kabarda and destroyed villages. They captured about 500 prisoners and more than 200 thousand head of cattle. Aslanbech immediately reacted to the invasion of enemy troops. After facing opposition, Qeytuqo Aslanbech with along his supporters left Kabarda. In 1746 he  died. The new head of his clan was his cousin Batoko Bekmurzin, who in the fall of 1747 at the congress of princes was elected the new Grand Prince of Kabarda.