ABSTRACT
By the end of 1839 Shamil was ‘like a dropped rag; no one looked at him and no one approached him’. 1 By the end of 1840, ‘all tribes between the Sunja and the Avār KoyṢū submitted to the iron will of Shamil, acknowledging him as an absolute ruler, and at a single gesture by him rushed in any direction [he pointed to]’. 2 Several circumstances, masterfully taken advantage of by Shamil, assisted this phoenix-like rise to power, not the least being misdeeds by the Russians: ‘We ourselves co-operated with Shamil as only true friends could,’ wrote Iurov in bitter irony. 3
