The Caucasian Imamate, also known as the NorthCaucasus Imamate, was a state established by the imams in Dagestan and Chechnya during the early-to-mid 19th century in the North Caucasus, to fight against the Russian Empire during the Caucasian War, where Russia sought to conquer the Caucasus in order to secure communications with its new territories south of the mountains.
The peoples of the Caucasus, or Caucasians, are a diverse group comprising more than 50 ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus.
Abrek is a North Caucasian term used for a lone North Caucasian warrior living a partisan lifestyle outside power and law and fighting for a just cause. Abreks were irregular soldiers who abandoned all material life, including their family and friends, in order to fight for a just cause, to worship, and to meditate. The term was mostly used by people who struggled against Russian colonialism, mostly a guerrilla struggle during Russian expansion in the North Caucasus in the 19th century. An abrek would renounce any contact with friends and relatives, and then dedicate his life to praying and fighting for justice. Some abreks stole from the rich to give to the poor while others protected Caucasian villages from foreign attacks. The abrek lifestyle included a lonely life in the unexplored wilderness. Later, the majority of abreks became devoted Sufi Muslims. During the Caucasian War, which is divided into the Russo-Circassian War and the Murid War, there was constant raids between Russian and Caucasian settlements.
Kunta-Ḥājjī al-Iliskhānī (Kishiev) was a Chechen Muslim mystic, the founder of a Sufi branch named Zikrism, and an ideologue of nonviolence and passive resistance. He is a follower of the Qadiriyya Sufi order.
Zelimkhan "Kharachoevsky" Gushmazukayev and better known simply as Zelimkhan, was a Chechen outlaw (abrek) who gained fame in the late Russian Empire due to his spectacular bank and train robberies as part of a violent struggle with the Russian authorities. Since the Russian Revolution he has been mythologized as a version of a Chechen Robin Hood, first by the Bolsheviks and later by Chechen nationalists. Today the name Zelimkhan is given to Chechen and Ingush children.
Count Ernst Johann von Stackelberg was a Baltic German military figure and diplomat.
The Battle of Gimry, fought on 17–18 October 1832 during the Murid War, was General Aleksey Velyaminov's capture of Ghazi Muhammad's headquarters at Gimry. Ghazi Muhammad was killed but Imam Shamil escaped.
The Battle of Aldy, also known as the Battle of the Sunzha was a battle between the Russian Empire and Chechen forces of Sheikh Mansur in 1785. The Russian troops under command of Colonel De Pieri were surrounded and defeated by the forces of Sheikh Mansur. De Pieri and 840 Russians and Cossacks were killed, with 162 more taken captive, several hundred injured and the remainder of the Russian forces fleeing through the woods, chased by Chechen fighters.
The Russian conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan, between 1829 and 1859 also called the Murid War, was the eastern component of the Caucasian War of 1817–1864. In the Murid War, the Russian Empire conquered the independent peoples of the eastern Ciscaucasus.
The Battle of Sofia was the culmination of Russian General Iosif Gurko's Western Squad for the defeat of the Orhaniye army in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). It led to the Liberation of Sofia from Turkish rule.
The Tatar Cavalry Regiment was one of the regiments of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division of the Imperial Russian Army, which was formed from Tatars (Azerbaijanis) of Elisavetpol and Baku Governorate, and also the Borchali uezd of Tiflis Governorate.
Talkhig of Shali was a 19th-century North Caucasian commander. A native of Shali and a representative of the taip Kurchaloy, he was a military leader and statesman of the North Caucasian Imamate. He was also a mudir (general-naib) and head of artillery of the North Caucasian Imamate, as well as a naib of the districts of Shali and Greater Chechnya.
Shuaib-Mulla of Tsentara was a North Caucasian commander and naib of the Caucasian Imamate during the Caucasian War. He was one of Imam Shamil's closest associates and was nicknamed the "Marshal of the Forests" for his skill in guerrilla warfare by Count Pavel Grabbe.
Grigory Khristoforovich von Zass was a Russian Imperial general who commanded Russian cavalry troops in the Napoleonic Wars and Russo-Circassian War, initially gaining prominence for his genocidal actions against the Circassians, whom he reportedly saw as a "lowly race". He was the founder of the city of Armavir, Russia.
The Battle of Gordali was one of the fiercest battles of the Caucasian War. The battle between the Separate Caucasian Corps of the Caucasian Army under the command of Colonel Baklanov and the Chechen troops under the leadership of Naibs Eski and Talkhig took place on August 11, 1852, near the village of Gurdali, located on the Michik River. The purpose of the campaign was to destroy the village of Gordali. The Russians managed to break into the village, but due to heavy losses Baklanov was forced to retreat.
The 205th Separate Cossack Motor Rifle Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Russian Ground Forces. Part of the 49th Combined Arms Army, the brigade is based in Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Krai.
The Battle of Dadi-yurt the capture of the village of Dadi-yurt on 14 (26) September 1819 by order of General Yermolov. During the storm by the Russian forces, the village was completely destroyed.
The battle of Khankala happened on 17 February 1807. In this action, the Khankala fortification was taken by storm. Russian forces entered Chechnya from three directions under the command of General of Infantry S. A. Bulgakov. The purpose of the expedition was to establish control over the strategically important Khankala Gorge.
Astemir was an Orstkhoy outlaw (abrek) and governor (naib) in Caucasian Imamate. Astemir was the companion and brother-in-law of Beibulat Taimiev. In 1825, even participating in uprising of Chechnya. He was a prominent figure, leading the units of outlaws in raids on the Imperial Russian Caucasian Line
The Sheikh Mansur Movement, also known as the 1785–1791 Insurgency in the North Caucasus, was a major war between the Russian Empire and the North Caucasians, caused by the Chechen religious and military leader Sheikh Mansur, who opposed the Russian expansionist policies and wanted to unite the North Caucasians under one, single, Islamic state.
Russian Empire 
Caucasian Imamate