The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Schamyl

SCHAMYL, shä'mĭl, Tartar imam and warrior, leader among the tribes of the Caucasus: b. Aul Himri, northern Daghestan, 1797; d. Medina, March 1871. From 1824 to 1831 he took energetic part in Kasi Mollah's &ldquo;holy war&rdquo; against the infidel Russians, being severely wounded at the storming of Himri. A Sufi, he labored for the recrudescence of his faith in Daghestan, and was markedly successful. From 1837 he was temporal and spiritual head of the mountain tribes. His guerrilla method of warfare long enabled the Circassians to continue the struggle against Russia. During the Crimean War he was supplied by the allies with arms and money. After incredible escapes he was at last taken (6 Sept. 1859), and kept under surveillance, though treated with consideration.