Murid War
The Murid War (1830–1859) was the eastern phase of the Caucasian War in which Russia gained control of the independent peoples of the Caucasus Mountains. When the Russians annexed Georgia in 1801 they had to control the Georgian Military Highway in the exact center which was to only practical route south across the mountains. This divided the war into two parts. In the western or Russo-Circassian War the tribes did not unite and the war was very complex. In the east the tribes joined in the Caucasian Imamate, a military-theocratic state which held out for thirty years. This state was created by Kazi Mulla in 1829–1832 and ruled by Imam Shamil from 1834 to 1859.
Geography: The region of fighting was a rough triangle or rectangle about 150 by 200 km. The northern boundary was the east-flowing Terek River. The eastern boundary was inland from the Caspian Sea where the foothills meet the Caspian plain. The Southern boundary was at most the Samur River, but much of the south was under some degree of Russian control. The Southwestern boundary was the crest of the Caucasus. This area was inaccessible and was only crossed by a few raids into Georgia in the far south. The western boundary was the Georgian Military Highway. At first most of the fighting was within a 50 or 75 kilometer radius of Gimry (42°45′36″N 46°50′17″E / 42.760°N 46.838°E). After 1839 the center of resistance moved northwest to the forests of Chechnya.
The basic distinction is between the forests of Chechnya in the northwest and the high and barren plateaus of Dagestan in the east. In Dagestan, just north of Gimry, the east-flowing Andi Koysu joins the north-flowing Avar Koysu to form the Sulak River which flows north and then east. All three flow in very deep canyons. To the east plateaus and canyons run down to the narrow coastal plain of the Caspian Sea. To the south are more plateaus, canyons and mountains. This region is called Avaria from its major language and was partly ruled by the Avar Khanate at Khunzakh and the Kazikumukh Khanate further south. North of Gimry and the Andi Koysu is the Salatau plateau and west of it is a lower area marked by the village of Andi. North of these are the forested north-south valleys of Chechnya, a region called Ichkeria. At about the line of the Terek the forests give way to steppe. The Chechens used this for winter pasture until the Russians pushed them south. Between the Terek and the mountains was a 30–70 km belt of forested flat country which has now been cleared for agriculture. The western boundary is the Georgian Military Highway which follows the north-flowing upper Terek River. The northwest bend of the Terek was the main area where forest-cutting and Cossack villages were pushed southeast into the Chechen forests.
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