Sheikh Mansur
Sheikh Mansur ("The-Victorious"; born Mansur Ushurma, Mansur Ucherman; 2 June 1762 – 13 April 1794) was a Chechen military commander and Islamic leader who fought for Chechnya and Circassia. He was influential in the resistance against Catherine the Great's imperialist expansion into the Caucasus during the late 18th century. Sheikh Mansur is considered the first leader of the resistance in North Caucasus against Russian imperialism. He remains a hero of the Chechen and North Caucasian peoples in general, and their struggle for independence. Biography. Mansur Ushurma was born in the aul of Aldi (today a suburb of  Grozny) in the region of Chechnya, centered in the Sunja River valley. Later on, he ventured to the Dagestan hill country for education, eventually settling for a madrasa following the Naqshbandi school of Sufi Islam. In 1784, Sheikh Mansur, now a clouted imam, journeyed back to Chechnya and became upset with the Russian encroachment in the North Caucasus. He ordered the remaining non-Muslim Chechens to stop practicing many of their old pagan traditions with the cult of the dead, to stop smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol, influenced Islamic concepts into social conventions ("adat") , and preached them to attempt Islamic  unity. This was not easy in a land where people had lived under ancient traditions, customs and religions. Islamic tradition in Chechnya, especially in the mountainous areas, was not as strong as it was in Dagestan. But the holy war that he declared was an attempt at unity among the Chechen teips. As Mansur's message became popular with the Chechen people, the Russian Empire attempted to discredit him and ultimately arrest him. In 1785, the Russians sent a punitive expedition of up to 5,000 soldiers to his home in Aldi, only to find the village bare and desolate. Angered , the Russian troops plundered and burned the village to the ground. Upon returning to Aldi with others, Mansur proclaimed a holy war ("gazavat") against the Russians. Soon, Chechen fighters won the Battle of the Sunja, killing and taking hundreds of Russian soldiers captive. After that, Sheikh Mansur rallied resistance fighters from Dagestan through Kabardia. Most of the forces were young Chechen and Dagestani men numbering more than 12,000 by December 1785. However, Mansur suffered a defeat when he tried to infiltrate Russian territory and failed to seize the fort of Kizlyar. After this, the Russian people refortified their settlements and  the Russian Empress Catherine the Great withdrew her forces from Georgia to the Terek River line. In 1786, Russian forces abandoned the new fort of Vladikavkaz, and would not occupy it again until 1803. From 1787 to 1791, during the Russian-Turkish War, Sheikh Mansur moved to the northwestern Caucasus region of Circassia, strengthening Islamic practice there. He led the Circassians and Nogais in assaults against Russian forces. In June 1791, Sheikh Mansur was captured at the Ottoman fortress of Anapa on the Black Sea when it came under siege. He was brought to Saint Petersburg and imprisoned for life . In April 1794, he died at the Shlisselburg Fortress. Appearance. Description by Russian historian Prozitelev: Description by the 3rd Imam of the Caucasian Imamate Imam Shamil: