Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/270

Rh 258 CAUCASUS They call themselves Iron, the name Ossetes being that applied to them by the Georgians. Some of them are Mahometans, while the greater part profess Christianity, but retain many of their pagan rites and customs, and are in fact still more than half pagans. They hold the upper valley of the Terek, down to the pass of Daricl, as well as the mountain tract to the west of it, as far as the head waters of the Ardon and the Mamisson Pass. IV. The TCHETCHENS, a people who inhabit the northern slopes of the Eastern Caucasus, extending down to the valley of the Terek. They adjoin the Kabardans and Ossetes on the west, and the Lesghians towards the south, but do not extend up to the highest recesses of the range. They profess the Mahometan religion, and speak a language distinct from all others, of which it is said that there are more than twenty dialects, though their whole population is not estimated at more than 150,000 souls. V. The LESGHIANS, a name under which are generally comprised all the inhabitants of the Eastern Caucasus, though consisting of many petty tribes, speaking dialects more or less different, and in some cases, it is said, radically distinct languages. Their chief seat is in the high mountain region extending eastwards from Kazbek, nnd including all the highest summits of the range as far as Baba Dagh : but they occupy also the southern declivities of the moun tains towards the valleys of the Alazun and the Kur, as well as the rugged mountain tract of Daghestan towards the north-east between the central range and the Caspian. It was these wild mountain tribes that so long offered an unavailing resistance to the Russian arms ; but it is said that the only real bond of union among them was their devoted attachment to Islamism, and that no connection of race unites them together. Their ethnic relations are certainly still very obscure and imperfectly known, and it is supposed by some ethnologists that among them may be found remnants of a number of different nations and races. But it is more probable that when they come to be better known, they will be found to have for the most part a common origin, notwithstanding the remarkable diver sity of dialects spoken among them. A few very small tribes, such as the Udi and the Kubatschi, seem, however, to form an exception, and to belong to essentially distinct races. The most cultivated, as well as the most powerful of the tribes of the Daghestan, is that of the Avares or Avari, who adjoin the Tchetchens on the north, and extend from thence to the central chain. They are the only Lesghian tribe who profess a written language, for which they make use of the Arabic characters. It is unnecessary here to speak of the numerous Turco-Tartar tribes that inhabit the borders of Daghestan, between the mountains and the Caspian, as well as of the Cossacks of the Kuban and the Terek, all these tribes, whether nomad or settled, being confined almost wholly to the plains and steppes that surround the moun tains, and not forming any considerable ingredient in the popula tion of the Caucasus itself. The estimates of the numbers of these mountain tribes are very various, and the Russian official reports do not distinguish the population of the mountains from that of the adjoining districts in cluded in the same governments. But it seems probable that, since the great emigration of the Circassian tribes, the whole population of the Caucasus does not exceed a million of souls. History. The Caucasus was known to the Greeks from a very early period. Without referring to the fable of the Argonauts, it is certain that Greek navigators penetrated in very early times into the remotest parts of the Euxine, and carried on trade with the native population of Colchis, the name which they gave to the rich country at the mouth of the Phasis or Rion. Here, at a somewhat later date, they founded the flourishing settlement of Dioscurias, the name of which is still retained in Cape Iskuria, a few miles south of Sukhum Kaleh. Hence their attention could not fail to be attracted by the vast snowy range of the Caucasus, and we find its name already familiar to JEschylus, who speaks of its star-neigh bouring summits,&quot; and terms it the most lofty of mountains (Prom. Vinct., 720). The same statement is repeated by Herodotus, who had a clear conception of its geographical position, as extending from the Caspian to the Euxine, and forming in this direction the limit of the Persian empire (i. 203, iv. 12). The mountain tribes still retained their independence under the successors of Alexander, nnd it does not appear that any considerable advance was made in the knowledge of these countries till the time of the great Mithri- dates, who subdued all the nations up to the very foot of the moun tains, and even succeeded in making his way with an army along the coast of the Black Sea from Colchis to the Cimmerian Bosporus. His wars in these regions were described by several Greek historians, and Strabo, writing from these materials, shows an acquaintance both with the Caucasus and the adjoining countries, remarkable for its clearness and accuracy. Pompey had declined to pursue Mithri- dates on his adventurous march, and no Roman general ever passed the Caucasus. Under the Roman Empire, however, the frequent relations maintained with the Armenians made the Romans familiar with the names of the Iberians and Albanians on the south side of the chain, while their connection with the tributary kings of Bosporus opened out to them communications with the steppe country to the north. Neither Pliny nor Ptolemy, however, add much that is material to the knowledge already possessed by Strabo. In modern times the chief interest in these regions has arisen from the long-continued struggle of these mountain tribes against Russia, and the energy with which the Circassians and Lesghians especially maintained the contest for independence against all the power of that mighty empire. From the time of the annexation of Georgia, at the commencement of the present century, it became a great object with the Russians to obtain possession of the intermediate mountain country ; but it was not till the treaty of Adiianople in 1 829, by which the Turks ceded to the Russian Empire their nomi nal sovereignty over the Caucasian tribes, that their efforts assumed a systematic form. From that period till the year 1859, tl&amp;gt;e contest was maintained almost without interruption, and with many alter nations of success. The Russians had to encounter immense diffi culties, to traverse dangerous passes, to burn down forests, and to sacrifice immense numbers of lives, in order to gain small portions of territory. The war was for a long time chiefly maintained by the Circassians under their native chiefs ; and no sooner did their exer tions relax in consequence of the exhaustion caused by a long con tinued contest, than a new enemy to Russia arose on the shores of the Caspian. Schamyl, the most devoted follower of the heroic Kasi Mullah, placed himself, on the death of that chief, at the head of the Lesghians. At once the prophet and .the warrior of his race, by his enthusiasm and bravery he soon gained the confidence of the tribes, and prevailed upon them to follow a united and deter mined plan of action under his authority. His influence was daily increased, not only by the victories which he gained, but by the successful manner in which he frequently delivered himself and his followers from the most imminent dangers. His own escape from the rocky fortress of Achulko, where he was completely invested by the forces of General Grabbe, appeared both to his own countrymen and the enemy almost miraculous. The great exertions which were made by the Russians in the following years to reduce the tribes yet unsubdued, and those which had risen against their authority, were completely defeated by his indefatigable activity and bravery. In the year 1842, when the mountain tribes were filled with the great est alarm in consequence of the advance of General Grabbe, that formidable enemy was completely defeated by Schamyl in the woods of Itchkeri. The Circassians, after again renewing their attacks upon the Russians in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea, were ultimately driven back to their fastnesses ; but Schamyl still con tinued to maintain his position on the Caspian, and inflicted severe losses upon the armies of the enemy. The Russians were evidently at a loss how to proceed against a chief who had baffled all their schemes, who had been a prisoner in their hands, whose rocky home had been frequently in their possession, who had incurred the most imminent dangers and been driven to the greatest emergencies, nnd who was still opposing them with unconquerable resolution, watch ing the progress of their troops, cutting off their supplies, and har assing them by constant attacks. Various Russian generals were sent in succession to the Caucasus, new plans of action, defensive and offensive, were tried, but without effecting any permanent con quest. The Crimean War (1854-1856) produced a temporary suspension of the efforts of the Russians in the Caucasus ; but after its termina tion hostilities were resumed with increased vigour, both on the side of Circassia and in Daghestan. In the western districts, indeed, the contest never assumed any important character, and was carried on by a series of petty expeditions against the Circassian and Abkhasian tribes, who never acted in concert, and were compelled to submission one after the other. But it was not till the year 1864 that the last of these wild tribes was finally subdued, and the com plete subjugation of the Circassians was secured by the emigration of the whole people in the manner already noticed. The contest in Daghestan, though it had assumed for a time more formidable di mensions, had been already brought to a close. All the efforts of Schamyl could not prevent the Russians from gaining ground. Step by step they advanced steadily, though slowly, into the in terior of the mountain country, and at last in the winter of 1858- 59 made themselves masters of Weden, Schamyl s principal strong hold, which was taken by storm, and he himself was obliged to flee. This event was followed by the submission of many tribes, and though Schamyl threw himself into the apparently impregnable mountain fastness of Mount Gunib, even this was surprised by the Russian general Prince Bariatinski, and Schamyl himself made prisoner (Sept. 6, 1859). From this time the war in the Caucasus was virtually at an end ; the mountain tribes submitted one after the other, and notwithstanding some occasional petty outbreaks, appear to have passed quietly into the condition of Russian sub jects. It is only of late years that we have begun to obtain accurate Biblio- information concerning the mountain chain of the Caucasus and the graphy tribes that inhabit it. The works of the earlier travellers in this region Pallas, Klaproth, &c. treat principally of the countries that adjoin the Caucasus, rather than of the mountain ranges them selves, and even the elaborate work of Dubois de Montpereux