PVWF+XP Gimry, Republic of Dagestan, Russia
Not far from the village of Gimry stands a stern defensive tower known as the Gimry Tower. It was built to defend the aul by Ghazi Muhammad and his murids, among whom was Shamil, after their defeat near Khunzakh in 1830. The Gimry Tower is believed to be a witness to the death of Ghazi Muhammad – the first Imam of Dagestan.
When the construction of the tower near Gimry was completed, Ghazi Muhammad, addressing Shamil, said: “They will come again. And I will die in this place.” This premonition soon came true.
Two years later, on October 10, 1832, Baron Rosen’s troops approached the aul of Gimry. Velyaminov, commanding: 2 infantry regiments (Moscow and Butyrsky), a battalion of the 41st Jäger Regiment, 2 companies of sappers, cavalry from the Georgian regiment, and 11 artillery pieces; advanced to Gimry from Temir-Khan-Shura along the Karanay road. Along another road leading to Gimry through Erpeli, Lieutenant Colonel Klugenau advanced with a battalion of the Apsheron Infantry Regiment and three artillery pieces. By Baron Rosen’s order, Ahmed Khan Mekhtulinsky gathered a militia from among his subjects and moved toward Irganay to prevent the residents of that village from joining the Gimry defenders; however, the militiamen dispersed without participating in the fighting.
According to General Velyaminov’s report, Ghazi Muhammad commanded a detachment numbering at least 3,000 murids. Shamil, describing the events while in exile in Kaluga, claimed that the defenders of Gimry numbered about 600.
After a bloody battle, the aul was taken. Behind the first wall were two towers with loopholes. After the Russian troops captured the first wall, only a few people remained in the towers. They refused to surrender and began firing back. Then Velyaminov ordered the towers to be fired upon with cannons. The cannon shots forced the besieged to leave the towers. Some came out hoping to break through. Soldiers surrounding the towers bayoneted those who emerged.
Imam Ghazi Muhammad rushed at the besiegers and was pierced by a palisade of bayonets. According to legend, Shamil, with superhuman effort, jumped far from the tower, ending up behind the ring of soldiers. He miraculously managed to escape and disappear from the battlefield.
One of the few besieged who managed to avoid death was Shamil — the future Imam of Chechnya and Dagestan, who managed to break out of the surrounded tower. In doing so, Shamil killed several soldiers and was himself severely wounded by a bayonet in the chest.
A. F. Rukevich — an officer of the Erivan Regiment — in his memoirs reports: “After stubborn resistance, the tower was taken by our troops, and all the defenders along with Kazi-Mulla himself were bayoneted, but one, almost a youth, pressed against the wall by a sapper’s bayonet, stabbed a soldier with a dagger, then pulled the bayonet out of his wound, jumped over the corpses, and leapt into the abyss yawning near the tower. This happened before the eyes of the entire detachment. When Baron Rosen was informed of this, he said: ‘Well, this boy will cause us trouble in time.’”
After Shamil’s capture, the wife of Colonel Chichagov, who was assigned to Shamil during his life in Kaluga, composed a biographical sketch of Shamil’s life based on his personal stories and memories. The episode related to the death of Ghazi Muhammad, according to Shamil, appeared much more vividly:
“Then Kazi-Magomed said to Shamil, ‘Here they will kill us all, and we will perish without harming the unbelievers; it is better to go out and die fighting our way through.’ With these words, he pulled his hat down over his eyes and rushed out the door. Just as he ran out of the tower, a soldier struck him on the back of the head with a stone. Kazi-Magomed fell and was immediately bayoneted. Seeing that two soldiers with aimed rifles stood at the door, Shamil instantly jumped out and found himself behind both. The soldiers immediately turned to him, but Shamil cut them down. A third soldier ran from him, but he caught and killed him. At that moment, a fourth soldier thrust a bayonet into his chest, so that the tip entered his back. Shamil, grabbing the rifle barrel with his right hand and cutting down the soldier with his left (he was left-handed), pulled out the bayonet, clenching the wound, and began to slash both ways, but killed no one because the soldiers stepped back, struck by his courage, and were afraid to shoot so as not to wound their comrades surrounding Shamil.”
The very first tower no longer exists; only the ruins of its foundation remain. But local enthusiasts built a new Gimry Tower on the same spot. Inside it is completely empty; one can climb a wooden staircase to the roof, which offers a stunning view of the surroundings. The new structure is equipped with loopholes and has an observation deck; it externally resembles the once-ruined ancient tower. Memorial plaques have been installed around it, one of which bears the words: “Here Imam Shamil landed after jumping from the sakli on the day of the death of the first Imam of Dagestan and Chechnya, Ghazi Magomed.”
Sources:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gimry
https://welcomedagestan.ru/placepost/gimrinskaya-bashnya/
