Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky
Encyclopedia
Circassia
Circassia was an independent mountainous country located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia and was the largest and most important country in the Caucasus. Circassia was located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea...
n origin who led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.
Background
Being a MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
by birth and a son of one of Kabarda's rulers, Alexander converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and joined the Russian service at unknown date and circumstances. In 1707, he was commissioned by Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
to study navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. We find him back in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
towards the end of 1711, when he was dispatched back to Kabarda and persuaded the local rulers to support the tsar in his operations against Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Dreaming of Eldorado
Two years later, a TurkmenTurkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
traveller arrived in Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
and announced to local authorities that the Oxus River, formerly flowing to the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
, had been diverted by the Khiva
Khanate of Khiva
The Khanate of Khiva was the name of a Uzbek state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Persian occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740–1746. It was the patrilineal descendants of Shayban , the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
ns to the Aral Sea
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...
in order to extract golden sand from the river waters. Prince Gagarin, who was a local governor at that time, sent his envoys to the Khanate of Khiva
Khanate of Khiva
The Khanate of Khiva was the name of a Uzbek state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Persian occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740–1746. It was the patrilineal descendants of Shayban , the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
in order to verify the fable. They returned with a sack of golden sand, allegedly extracted from the Oxus.
The fable was then given credit, and the Turkmen brought to St. Petersburg. Tsar Peter, informed about the fabulous wealth of Khiva, was desperately in need of gold to proceed with the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
. On 14 February 1716 a contingent of 7,000 troops was placed under the command of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky as a Muslim by birth and an expert in the art of warfare.
Bekovich-Cherkassky was commissioned: 1) to survey the river-bed of the Oxus and to report on the possibility of its diversion to the Caspian; 2) to force the Khivan khan into subservience; 3) to erect a chain of fortifications along the Oxus; 4) to send envoys to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in order to establish direct trade with the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
.
Khivan disaster
Bekovich-Cherkassky received these orders in AstrakhanAstrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
, where he was engaged in the surveying work, preparing the first map of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. He was promoted captain and commanded a preliminary expedition in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
. He left some of the Cossacks on his way in order to set up the forts in Krasnovodsk and Alexandrovsk
Alexandrovsk
Alexandrovsk may refer to:*Alexandrovsk, Murmansk Oblast, a closed administrative-territorial formation in Murmansk Oblast**Alexandrovsk Urban Okrug, the municipal formation which it is incorporated as...
.
Back in Astrakhan by February 1717, Bekovich raised another army and started towards Khiva, together with some engineers and land surveyors. It was many months later that several Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
returned and brought the appalling news of the catastrophe that befell the Khivan expedition. The newly-built forts in Turkmenistan were at once evacuated, and that at considerable loss from inclement weather and the Turkmen tribesmen.
What exactly happened with Bekovich-Cherkassky remains a matter of some controversy. According to a few surviving members of his contingent, they advanced to within 120 km from Khiva
Khiva
Khiva is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva...
, when the khan attacked them with a 24,000-strong army. After three days of bloody fighting, the Khivans were routed.
Seeing that the enemy was very numerous, Bekovich-Cherkassky understood that diplomacy had a better chance of success. The Russian officer, accompanied only by 500 of his men, rode into the enemy's camp to propose terms. The khan pretended to surrender to him, welcomed him warmly, persuading him to divide the Russian army to dwell in five separate towns in order to facilitate foraging. The Khivans then attacked the five towns one by one, slaughtering most Russians, selling the others as slaves, and executed all Russian officers including Prince Cherkassky.
Peter the Great did nothing to avenge the defeat since he was still occupied by the war with Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and also by the hostility of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. It was more than a century later that the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
resumed its military expeditions into Central Asia. In 1873 Russians decided to engage in ethnic cleansing sending General Nikolai Golovachiov against a local Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
tribes that was believed were responsible in killing of Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky.