Between Reality and Fiction: Peace Negotiations of General N.N. Muraviev on “Recognition of the Independence of Shamil`s Imamate under Russian Protectorate” (1855–1856)

Abstract

Since 1996, the issue of certain peace talks with Imam Shamil, undertaken in 1855 on the initiative of N.N. Muravyov, the new Commander in Chief in the Caucasus, has been discussed in modern historical literature. Presented to the academic community by modern Dagestan historians, the “peace plan of Gen. Muravyov”, who proposed “Russia’s recognition of the Imamate as a self-governing region” or “Shamil’s recognition of Russian protectorate over the Imamate”, suggested on Imam Shamil’s side the cessation of hostilities, and on the Caucasian command’s side the lifting of the economic blockade of the Imamate. According to historians, Imam Shamil was personally privy to the peace proposals of Gen. Muravyov; they were “accepted and supplemented by him. “Peace talks between Gen. Muravyov and Imam Shamil,” without references, are presented by historians as a failed and tempting alternative to a long-standing Caucasian war. In their opinion, the promising prospect of recognizing the independence of the Imamate under the “Russian protectorate” was disrupted by the end of the Crimean War in 1856, when, as a result, the question of peaceful coexistence with the Imamate lost its relevance, while in reality an alternative to a grueling and long war was lost through no fault of Imam Shamil: In 1856, the General Commander of the Caucasian troops N.N. Muravyov was replaced by Gen. Prince A. I. Baryatinsky, who since the fall of the same year rapidly moved to active offensive operations on the Imamate, thus continuing the war for another three years (until 1859). In order to determine what the “peace plan of Gen. Muravyov” really was, this article analyzed the main source, giving historians and authors the basis to talk about “the peaceful plan of Gen. Muravyov”, – correspondence between Gen. Baron L.P. Nikolai and Imam Shamil’s son Jamaluddin (1854–1856). An analysis of the source clearly demonstrates the great discrepancy between reality and fiction about the alleged peace talks between Imamate and the Caucasian Command in 1855.