САБЛЯ ИМАМА ТАШУ-ХАДЖИ САЯСАНСКОГО: К ВОПРОСУ О ПОДЛИННОСТИ ОДНОГО ЭКСПОНАТА

Abstract

The authors of the essay endeavored to research facts from the military history of the Caucasian War that are related with Tashu-Hadji Sayasanovsky, a campaigner for the third Imam Shamil and a notable leader of the movement for gazavat and Sharia in Chechnya and Dagestan. The study’s major plot is associated with the examination of the legitimacy of the bladed weapon, the owners of which claim it to be a trophy saber of Imam Tashu-Hadji. Despite the local context of this his-torical event, the circumstances associated with the person of Tashu-Hadji naturally increase the collection value of the saber. Summarizing the information about the military campaigns in which Tashu-Hadji took part, the authors expressed their opinion about the most likely circumstances when the saber could actually fall into the hands of the Russian military. The paper pays special emphasis on the examination and analysis of the exhibit owners’ arguments. The authors conclude that, despite the verisimilar and plausible arguments, there are numerous inconsistencies and con-tradictions in the information about the saber of Imam Tashu-Hadji, which is stated by its owners. Thus, the authenticity of the attribution of this collection item is called into question. The article’s materials were published historical evidence, presented by memoirs of Caucasus conquest partici-pants, official correspondence of Russian military officials, works of military historians contem-poraneous with the events, and Arabic-language works of Caucasian Muslim authors.