ABSTRACT
As described above, during his first few years in power Shamil had closed a circle started by Ghāzī Muhammad. The first imām began his struggle aiming at the grand strategy, associated with Shaykh ManṢūr, of expelling the Russians through the unification of all the Muslims of the Caucasus, 1 and with the assistance of neighbouring Muslim powers, mainly the Ottomans. In his final year, Ghāzī Muhammad changed to a strategy of accommodation with the Russians/The third imām started from this latter strategy, which he had inherited from both his predecessors, and ended with the first strategy of all-out resistance.
