Sheikh Mansur facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sheikh Mansur (Ushurma)
Born	c. 1760 Aldi, Chechnya
Died	13 April 1794 (1794-04-14) (aged 33) Shlisselburg, Russian Empire
Allegiance	Chechen Confederatión Circassia
Rank	Military-religious leader
Battles/wars	Sheikh Mansur Movement

Sheikh Mansur, whose real name was Mansur Ushurma, was a brave Chechen military and religious leader. He was born around 1760 and died in 1794. He led a big movement against the Russian Empire in the North Caucasus region. He was very important in fighting against Catherine the Great's efforts to expand her empire into the Caucasus in the late 1700s. Many people see Sheikh Mansur as the first leader of the resistance in the North Caucasus against Russian rule. He is still a hero for the Chechen and other North Caucasian people who fought for their freedom.

Sheikh Mansur's Life Story

Early Life and Education

Mansur Ushurma was born in a village called Aldi. Today, Aldi is a part of the city of Grozny in Chechnya. His village was located in the Sunzha River valley. Later, he traveled to the mountains of Dagestan to get an education. He studied at a madrasa, which is a type of Islamic school.

Becoming a Leader

In 1784, Sheikh Mansur returned to Chechnya as a respected imam, an Islamic religious leader. He was very unhappy about the Russian Empire moving into the North Caucasus. He told the Chechen people who were not Muslim to stop their old traditions, like worshipping ancestors. He also told everyone to stop smoking and drinking alcohol.

Sheikh Mansur wanted to bring Islamic ideas into the social rules of the land, called adat. He preached about uniting all Muslims. This was a difficult task because people in this area had followed ancient customs and religions for a long time. Islamic traditions in Chechnya, especially in the mountains, were not as strong as in Dagestan. But Sheikh Mansur declared a holy war, called gazavat, to try and unite the different Chechen family groups, known as teips.

Fighting the Russian Empire

As Sheikh Mansur's message became popular, the Russian Empire tried to make him look bad and arrest him. In 1785, the Russians sent about 3,000 soldiers to his home in Aldi. But when they arrived, the village was empty. The Russian troops were angry, so they robbed and burned the village.

When Mansur returned to Aldi and saw what happened, he declared a holy war against the Russians. Soon after, Chechen fighters won the Battle of Aldy. They killed many Russian soldiers and took hundreds captive. After this victory, Sheikh Mansur gathered fighters from Dagestan and Kabarda. By August 1785, his forces included more than 12,000 young Chechen and Dagestani men.

However, Mansur faced several defeats when he tried to attack Russian territory. He tried to capture the fortresses of Kizlyar in July, Grigoriopolis, and then Kizlyar again in August 1785.

Kumyk Support

Some of Sheikh Mansur's main fighters were the Kumyks from northern Kumykia. Kumyk princes, like Chapalav Anji-Murtazali and Makhach Uruskhan, helped lead the first attack on the Russian army in Kizlyar. These princes and their noble followers, called uzdens, made a rule: if anyone betrayed them by telling the Russians about the uprising, they would be killed and their house destroyed.

After the battle of Kizlyar, the Russians made their settlements stronger. The Russian Empress Catherine the Great even moved her soldiers from Georgia back to the Terek River line. In 1786, Russian forces left a new fort called Vladikavkaz. They did not return to occupy it until 1803.

From 1787 to 1791, during the Russian-Turkish War, Sheikh Mansur moved to the northwestern Caucasus, in a region called Circassia. There, he helped make Islamic practices stronger. He led the Circassians and Nogais in attacks against the Russian forces.

Capture and Death

In June 1791, Sheikh Mansur was captured at the Ottoman fortress of Anapa. This fortress was on the Black Sea and was under attack by the Russians. He was taken to Saint Petersburg and put in prison for the rest of his life. In April 1794, he died at the Shlisselburg Fortress.

What Sheikh Mansur Looked Like

Here are some descriptions of Sheikh Mansur from people who knew him or wrote about him:

Tall, handsome, slender brunette with a pale face and passionate speech. Fanatic. His name became a threat to the Russians. The young missionary's powerful speech and ardent to self-forgetfulness, with his handsome, outstanding appearance, quickly gave him admirers of both sexes.

Sheikh Mansur had a courageous, fascinating appearance and, despite the fact that he did not know literacy, possessed an extraordinary gift of speech. He was so tall that in a crowd of people he seemed to be sitting astride a horse.

Sheikh Mansur's Legacy

• The Chechens and Circassians still honor him as a national leader.
• Sheikh Mansur was the main character in two Romantic novels in the mid-1800s. One was in Russian by V. I. Savinov, and another was in English by E. Spencer.
• Akhmat Kadyrov Square was named after Sheikh Mansur until 1996.
• Many songs have been written about Sheikh Mansur by artists like Timur Mutsurayev and Turpal Djabrailov.
• Streets have been named after Sheikh Mansur, for example, in the city of Khasavyurt in Dagestan.
• Sheikh Mansur belonged to the Elistanzkhoy teip. He was married to Chachi and had three children when he was arrested: a son named Yasa (8 years old), and two daughters named Ragmet (4 years old) and Namet (1 year old).
• The Sheikh Mansur Battalion is a group fighting on the Ukrainian side in the conflict against Russia.

See also

• Sheikh Mansur Movement
• Caucasian Imamate
• Russo-Circassian War
• Caucasian War
• Russian–Kumyk Wars