Temryuk's campaigns in Central Caucasus

Temryuk's campaigns in Central Caucasus (also called "Mshansk–Sonsk Campaigns" in sources^[7]) were a series of military expeditions conducted between 1562 and 1567 by the famous Kabardian prince Temryuk Idar and his allies against various groups in the Central Caucasus. The campaigns involved forces from Kabardia, allied Circassian principalities, the Nogai Horde, and the Tsardom of Russia, and targeted communities inhabiting the mountain regions of the central North Caucasus, including areas around the Darial Gorge.

The expeditions formed part of Temryuk's efforts to strengthen Kabardian influence in the region. These campaigns affected the political balance in the Central Caucasus during the mid-16th century and occurred within the broader context of growing political and military cooperation between Temryuk and the Russian state.

Temryuk Idar was a skilled ruler and military leader. He noticed the increasing military support from the Ottomans to the Tatars and feared this would affect the Circassians' ability to thwart any possible assault. Temroqwa explored the possible allies, and settled his choice on the Tsarist Russia. In 1557, Temroqwa sent a delegation to Moscow to seek alliance with the Russians. The delegation included his sons Sultan Qul and Bulat Gery, who were welcomed by Ivan the Terrible. Ivan agreed to join the alliance with Kabardia.^[8]

Based on the treaty of alliance between the Circassians and the Russians, Circassian cavalry forces participated in several battles with the Russian army in Poland and the Baltics. Ivan supported Temroqwa's goal to extend his power inside Circassia and to unify the lands of Circassians under his reign. Temroqwa established a fort in Mozdok that enabled the Circassian and Russian forces to perform joint training. Ossetian and Ingushetian lands, as well as the Turkic people, became subjects of the Kabardian raising power. Temroqwa's expansion extended towards the Georgian kingdoms in the south.^[9]

In 1560, Anastasia Romanovna, Ivan's first wife, died. It was proposed that Ivan would marry Catherine Jagiellon in order to strengthen diplomatic relations with Poland. However Ivan instead decided to marry Temroqwa's daughter, Gwashanay. A high-level delegation was sent to betroth Gwashanay. She was accompanied by her brother, Sultan Qul, on her way to Moscow. Gwashanay was later baptized and became known as Maria Temryukovna. Her brother married the daughter of a member of the tsar's entourage who handled the state treasury. He was later baptized and became known as Mikhael.^[9]

In several narratives, Temroqwa was described as a tyrant who only cared about his rule. However, after his death, many elegies were written for him. Temroqwa allied with Tsarist Russia under the belief of unity against shared enemies.^[9][8]

In 1556 Temroqwa led a military campaign against the Tatars. He managed to expel the Tatars from the Circassian lands and to chase the fleeing troops until Taman Peninsula. There, Temroqwa established the city which is now known as Temryuk.^[10]

Background

In February 1560, Tsar Ivan IV decided to send the renowned military commander Ivan Semenovich Cheremisinov on a campaign to North Dagestan: "The Tsar sent Ivan Semenovich Cheremisinov with his men to the Shavkal and Tyumen to address the Kabardian princes' grievances and the wrongdoings of Shavkal."

V. V. Penskoy suggests that one reason Cheremisinov was chosen for this mission was his two-year tenure as the voivode of Astrakhan, which would have given him valuable knowledge of local politics and the ability to gather intelligence on the region.

In the summer of 1560, Cheremisinov's army sailed from Astrakhan to attack the Crimean Shavkal's territory. The Russian army traveled along the western coast of the Caspian Sea to Tarkov, the center of the Tarkov Shahmhal. The army included musketeers, Cossacks, and "Astrakhan people." Upon landing near Tarkov, Cheremisinov led an attack on the city, which was captured in half a day. Cheremisinov chose not to hold Tarkov, but instead plundered and burned it, taking many captives.

According to V. V. Penskoy, referencing a later account by historian S. A. Belokurov, Tarkov was not a large fortress like Kazan or Astrakhan, but rather a small town in a naturally fortified location. While it had stone walls that provided some defense against mountain raiders, it was no match for Cheremisinov's well-armed troops, who likely had firearms and possibly cannons.

E. N. Kusheva suggested that by the mid-16th century, Tarkov was already the center of the Tarkov Shahmhal. During the battle, the Shahmhal, whose name is not recorded in the Russian chronicles, retreated into the mountains. According to epigraphic evidence, this leader may have been Budai I ibn Umal-Muhammad.

By 1560, tensions had escalated, leading to a Russian military expedition against the Shamkhalate of Tarki. A Russian force under Ivan Cheremisinov launched an attack, briefly capturing Tarki before retreating due to supply issues.^[11]

In 1562, the Kabardian prince Temryuk Idarovich undertook an aggressive campaign against the Ingush, who lived in anticipation. Detachments of Nogai Murzas come to his aid. The Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, married to Temryuk's daughter Maria, sent 1,000 Cossacks under the command of Grigory Pleshcheev to help him. As a result of this unification of the Kabardino-Nogai-Cossack campaign for discovery, 164 settlements were defeated, judging by the Russian chronicles. The Ingush went to the mountains again. Kabardians settled on their former territory.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

After his campaign against the Ingush, Temryuk turned his focus to the Ossetians, He invaded the Ossetian societies in the Digor, Kurtatin, and Tagaur regions, as well as the Ksani Eristavate in Central Ossetia. Assisted by a contingent of 500 streltsy and 500 Cossacks from Tsardom of Russia, Temryuk's forces captured key Ossetian nobles, including Burnat, Aznaur, Burnak, and Dudar, and occupied several settlements.^{[17][18][19][20][7][21]}

Temryuk Idar — relying on the assistance of Russian military units, carried out a series of major campaigns against Kabardian princes aligned with the Crimean Khanate, led by Psheapshoko Kaitukin. These campaigns helped secure unobstructed connections between Kabarda and the Russian state with Georgia.^[22]

By 1560, tensions had escalated, leading to a Russian military expedition against the Shamkhalate of Tarki. A Russian force under Ivan Cheremisinov launched an attack, briefly capturing Tarki before retreating due to supply issues.^[11]

Circassian-Kumyk clashes of 1566

A major battle in 1566 saw the forces of Temryuk Idarov clashing with a coalition led by Shamkhal Budai and Nogai allies. The battle resulted in the death of Shamkhal Budai and a temporary Kabardian occupation of Kumyk lands.^{[23][24][25][26]}

By this time, rival political factions had emerged in Circassia, particularly over the question of foreign alliances. In 1563, several Circassian princes proposed to the Ottoman sultan joint military action against Astrakhan, with the aim of restoring it to Ottoman control. In 1565, envoys from the so-called “Mountain Circassians” arrived in Bakhchisarai and repeated the same proposal.^[27]

Nevertheless, when the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire launched a campaign against Astrakhan, the western Circassians refused to take part in it. In response, the Crimean Khanate sent a punitive expedition against the Circassians. However, according to a report sent to Moscow by A. Nagoy, “the Circassians defeated the sons of the Tatar tsar,” and the Tatars paid a heavy price for the campaign.^[27]

Between 1563 and 1567, Kabardia was torn by armed conflict between the pro-Muscovite faction of Temryuk Idar and an anti-Muscovite coalition led by Psheapshoko and Aslanbek of the Kaytuk family, supported by the Crimean Khanate and the Lesser Nogai Horde. In 1563, Temryuk's opponents launched a large-scale offensive that forced him and his sons to flee to Astrakhan, but soon Ivan IV of Russia dispatched a Muscovite force of about a thousand men — Streltsy and Cossacks under Prince Ivan Dashkov — to restore him. With their help, Temryuk defeated his rivals and reclaimed his lands, forcing the anti-Muscovite chiefs to retreat. Continued skirmishes through 1566–1567 followed, as Temryuk's enemies sought Crimean and Nogai assistance to counterbalance his growing strength, while he secured permanent Russian support through the construction of the Terek Fortress on the Terek River. Despite Crimean attempts under Devlet I Giray to intervene, their raids failed to dislodge Muscovite or Kabardian forces. By the end of 1567, Temryuk stood victorious — his alliance with Muscovy firmly established him as the dominant power in Kabarda and marked the beginning of enduring Russo-Circassian influence in the North Caucasus.^[3]

War was of great importance, as the western possessions fell away from Shamkhalate, while it is mentioned that in the 16th century Shamkhals collected "yasaq" (tributes) from the areas stretching to Balkaria and Karachay.

The Idarovs then directed the tsarist campaigns to the Tyumen Khanate, whose ruler Soltaney, in alliance with the Shamkhal, desperately resisted the united Russian-Kabardian invasion. However, in 1588 Streltsy founded the fortress of Terki in the very center of Tyumen Khanate on the river Terek.^[28]

Two years later, an attack was made on the lands of the Shamkhals, but the attack was repulsed by the Kumyks. The lands of the Tyumen Khanate were finally conquered and annexed by the Russian Tsardom in 1594.^[29]