ABSTRACT
T he defeat, in succession, of the two Muhammadan Powers left Russia free for many years to devote the whole of her military strength in the Caucasus to the subjugation of the mountain tribes. Persia never again ventured to oppose her in arms; Turkey, not until 1854; and the Crimean war, in so far as concerned the Caucasus, served to hasten rather than to retard Russia’s final triumph. From the treaty of Adrianople onward the conquest of the Caucasus means the conquest of Daghestan and Tchetchnia, and of the country of the western tribes ; and as the present work, for reasons already given, concerns itself hardly at all with the desultory warfare waged, with varying success, against the last-named until their final defeat and expa triation in 1864, the remaining chapters will be devoted almost exclusively to the narrative of the long struggle known, owing to the religious spirit imparted to it by the native leaders, as the Murid war. And to begin with, let us see what is meant by Murid and Muridism.
