ABSTRACT
Hamza Bek ibn Alī Iskandar Bek al-Hutsālī [Gamzat Bek] was born in 1789 in Hutsāl, one of the biggest villages of Avāristān, into a janka line. 1 His father – a confidant of ‘Alī Sultān Ahmad Khān – ‘was respected by the Avārs for his gallantry and administrative ability/ 2 In his teens Hamza lived for a few years at the khān’s residence, where Pakhu Bike, Alī Sultān Ahmad’s widow, arranged for his education. As a young man he indulged in drinking, but a meeting with Ghāzā Muhammad reformed him. 3 Hamza became a devout Muslim, turned into one of Ghāzī Muhammad’s disciples and joined the Naqshbandiyya. He followed and supported Ghāzī Muhammad when he became imām and proclaimed jihād on the Russians. In fact, being involved already in 1826 in anti-Russian activities, 4 he might have been one of those who encouraged Ghāzī Muhammad to do so.
