Chechnyan Jihad Against Russia, And The Slavic Conquest (1800-2007)

The region of the Caucasus mountains -- todayof Russified Sochi as shown above), this struggle
including southern Russia, Armenia, Georgia, andhas assumed the form of violent Jihad and
Azerbaijan -- has a complicated ethnic, religious,terrorism. The racial and religious conflict has
and political history that has caused it to be onecaused Russia, responsible even for the defeat of
of the most war-torn regions in Eurasia today.the Axis in entirety, to feel great fear of the
The role of religion epitomizes this timelessMuslim non-Russian minority.
conflict: Georgia and Armenia are the world's twoNearly all breakaway ethnic groups seeking
oldest Christian (Orthodox) country, havingindependence via violence in Europe are in the
defended and retained their faith as the bulwarkformer USSR states, most of whom Muslim
of their culture since the early 4th century.non-Slavic Turks. The southern tip of Russia
Azerbaijan is Shi'ia Muslim due to the influence of(North Caucasus) is a patchwork of Turkic Muslim
Safavid Shi'ia Iran. The inhabitants in the Northfundamentalist "republics" (legally part of Russia).
Caucasus (today the southernmost tip of Russia)Among them are Islamic Adygea, Dagestan,
are almost universally Sunni Muslim due to the longChechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia,
history of Islamic Mujahidin (Jihadist) presence inIngushya, etc. Each of their languages is either
the region by Turkic Tatar armies whose Jihadrelated to Turkish or Georgian, but their race and
forced the Christian Europeans to the west toculture are Turkish, their religion a fundamental
tremble with fear for nearly 800 years. Most ofbrand of Islam. Anger over continued perceived
the North Caucasian Muslim tribes speak TurkicRussian "hegemony" against these Turkic
languages and are ethnically, culturally, andrighteous Muslims, over the lack of independent
religiously Turkish Sunni Tatars. Some of thestatehood after the 1991 Soviet collapse, hatred
Muslim tribes in the Caucasus include the Ingush,for the leadership of the Jewish oligarchy in Russia
the Adygeans, Karachai, Bashkirs, Dagestanis,and its Christian Slavic culture, and the lack of a
Chechnyans, and the Kalbards.theocratic Islamic Jihadist state in the Caucasus all
The North Caucasian Muslim Tatars enjoyed thehave pitted the Slavs against the Caucasian
rule of their Muslim brothers of the empires of AkMuslims in this age of terrorism. The central organ
Quyunlu, Qara Quyunlu, the Golden Horde, theof this pan-Islamic Jihad against the Christian
original Arab Jihad empire after Muhammad'sRussians is Chechnya, as was such during the
death (the Umuyyad kalifate), thereign of the nearly-mythical culture hero Imam
Baghdad-centered Abbasid empire, and finally theShamil for his violent Jihad in the 19th century as
Jihad state of their Ottoman Turkish brothers toshown above. The Chechnyan Jihad -- along with
the south. But the gradual decline of the Ottomanthat of the Kurds against the Turks -- has claimed
empire that became apparent by 1800 (as well asthe lives of more than the terrorism of al-Qa'ida
the Turks' distraction to bigger conflicts with theseveral times over. The Chechnyan perspective
Christian Slavs in the Balkans and the Shi'ia infidelsblames the Russians' history of colonial oppression
in Iran) caused the Turkic Tatar Muslims in theand military intervention as much worse by
Caucasus to gradually become marginalized andcomparison. The Chechnyan Jihad and struggle for
vulnerable. The tribal confederation-styleindependence has gained mass appeal to their
governments that appeared amongst theseTurkic brothers to the south in Azerbaijan,
Caucasian Muslim communities as well as rockyTurkey, the Arab world, Iran, and Central Asia.
mountains prevented the formation of any unifiedThe main leader of this pan-Turkic Jihad was
nation or political force to defend the Mujahidinterrorist commander and Chechnyan Vice
here. Most tribes here were crop farmers andPresident Shamil Basayav
animal herders as is seen today in the region. Byشمِيل
1800, the Ottoman Turks' decline wasبسايو) or
complimented by the ascension of the new worldAmir Abdullah. The political leaders were Islamists
superpower: the Russian Empire of the OrthodoxDzhokhar Dudaev and Aslan Mashkadov. The duty
faith. The Swedish czarina of Russia Katherina theof Jihad attracted thousands of Mujahidin Islamic
Great had already conquered the Tatar Jihadistsfighters from other Muslim nations with great
of the Crimean peninsula of modern Ukraine,haste. The so-called Islamic Republic of
slaughtering tens of thousands, incinerating all itsIçhkeria was declared as a Taliban-esque
mosques, banning Islam under penalty often ofstate in the Caucasus. The neighboring Dagestanis
death, and expelled thousands. Many whoand other Turkic peoples did the same. Little
remained fled to Islamist empires like that of theRussian intervention was ordered until 1994, but
Ottomans or Iran (Persia), where in the latter thewhen violence and terrorism first ensued, Russia
ultra-fundamentalist Shi'ia theocracy declared thesent a massive army in the First Chechnyan War.
Sunni Turkic Caucasians heretics and executedRussia -- whose authority extends over so many
many. So too, by 1900, Russians had alsonon-Russian ethnic groups (typically Turkic
conquered and annexed the Sunni JihadistMuslims) -- feared that allowing Chechnya and
emirates of Central Asia -- including the ethnicneighboring breakaway states to exist would
Mongol Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Turkicencourage more breakaway republics like
Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Nearly 100,000,000Tatarstan around Kazan in central Russia. The
Muslims lived and died under Russian authoritybrutal three-year war was a disaster for the
before 1991 (when the Islamic republics gainedRussians, as the incredible will of the Mujahidin, the
independence). Russia's expansive efforts in alldifficult terrain, poor infrastructure, the ease for
directions, their endless wars with the Ottomansthe Islamic fighters to retreat to the deep
(who ruled Crimea and de facto the Caucasus),mountains, and the guerilla tactics of the Muslims
and the rich trading [and later oil] opportunitiesmade the war nearly unwinnable in this tiny region.
Russia could inherit from the Black Sea spelled aThe Muslims mass slaughtered Christian Slavs,
coming doom for the Caucasian Muslims soon toincluding women and children, and used mass
be conquered by the infidel. Russia also washostage-taking tactics to discourage Russian
interested in protecting the Christian Georgiansbombardment. The tactic worked in their favor,
and Armenians (who they annexed from Iran inand the hostages were killed by the hundreds.
the 19th century) under Islamic rule. The RussianThe war culminated in the brutal Battle of
invasion of the Islamic Caucasus thus began.Grozniy, where more than 25,000 died on both
The threat of annihilation encouraged warringsides. Though Russia eventually conquered the
Muslim Turkic tribes here to coalesce for the firstcapital, the fact that nearly every Muslim in the
time into native nation-states under the banner ofMuslim-majority region of southern Russia ended
Jihad, Islamic theocracy, and the command ofup in aid to the Islamic fidayin (fighters) against
al-Qur'an (the Koran) for all Muslims to embraceRussian hegemony made the battle a disaster yet
the duty of the Mujahid and Jihad to defend Islamagain. The war quickly spread to Dagestan to the
from the unclean and the "hypocrites" that areeast, which Russia invaded additionally. The
non-believers. The first of these unifying leadersMuslims under Shamil Basayev cooked up the
was Imam Shamil, a Sufi cleric and imam whobroilers by bombing civilian hospitals, retirement
organized the Turkic tribes, created the newhomes, schools, churches, police departments,
government in 1834 along the Caucasus, requiredpand movie theatres as far away as Moscow,
the hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, required pencefoldleaving hundreds of Russians dead. Mass
prayer per day (Salah), and trained new militaryhostage-taking occurred all throughout Russia and
legions of Islamic fighters. All Christians wereDagestan, where hundreds were shot or stabbed
ordered killed or expelled. The chant of Allahuto death. Other pro-Chechnyan Muslims from as
Akhbar (God is most great/far away as Jordan and Turkey even held
أكبر ) drove thehostage small ferry boats in the Black Sea
tribes into battle against a common Russiancarrying civilians on tour, threatening to kill
Christian enemy, the largest empire on earth.hundreds of people therein if Russia did not cease
"A Muslim may obey the Shari'ah, but all his givingthe attack. Many Turks in Turkey and otherwise
of Zakat, all his Salat and ablutions, all hissupported the Jihad in this fashion, as well as
pilgrimages to Makka, are as nothing if a Russianagainst Greek Cypriot passenger ships and planes,
eye looks upon them. Your marriages arebelieving that the Greeks and Russians are in the
unlawful, your children bastards, while there is onesame league of anti-Muslim oppression. The war
Russian left in your lands!"was a brutal disaster, causing Russians
Source: Amina(non-Turks) to fear for their lives all across the
The capital of this Jihad state was at Sochi on theworld's largest continent due to the work of the
Black Sea coast, today a thriving Russian-ownedMuslims in the tiny southern regions alone. Both
coastal resort city and the site of the 2014sides claim that the other performed horrific war
Olympics (see the end for my observations fromcrimes, with the Muslims killing hundreds of civilians
my vacation there). Grozniy became an importantat a time, and Russians performing anything from
center of the new Dagestani-Chechnyan Jihadmass-bombings of mosques to "drunken
state, now the capital of the breakawayrampages" in which hundreds of Muslim civilians
Chechnyan terrorist nation (often called thewere killed in a single night.
Islamic Republic of Içhkeria by the locals).The First Chechnyan War ended with a virtual
The Russians' superior tactics, commanders,stalemate. Russia believed it had proven its political
firearms, and cavalry quickly overrun the Mujahidinrights to the territory by practically demolishing
Turks. Troop transport into the region was easedthe capital (Grozniy) to the ground, but the
by the construction of naval harbors in Russia'sMuslims took pride in the fact that their holy
new Black Sea coastal territory. Nonetheless, thearmies of Islam had repelled one of the largest
sheer will of the the Caucasian Muslims to fightarmies on earth. De facto independence was thus
the Christians to the death in the name of Allahachieved to the Muslims (and the Islamic Republic
and Muhammad offered a brutal resistance, aidedof Içhkeria/Chechnya), and the Islamic
by the Caucasus' difficult mountainous terrain. TheJihadists operated virtually independently. As was
Caucasian War over such a tiny territory took anobvious, no Russian could force them to do
incredible amount of time for its size due to theotherwise thus far. But by 1999, the Second
will of the Islamic fighters, with some historicalChechnyan War began when the Muslims of
citations dating from 1815-1870 when their capitalChechnya pressed into neighboring states legally
of Sochi finally fell. The inability for the Jihadists tounder Russian control, including Ingushetya and
be tamed forced Russia to adopt a brutalDagestan (though both had already aided the Jihad
scorched earth policy akin to that of the Timuridin full). Russia returned with a large army, and the
Uzbek Jihad or the Golden Horde. ConqueredJihad continued against civilians in Russian trains
villages were often burnt to the ground, theirand even in hotels, killing hundreds. Children's
food reserved destroyed or seized, theirhospitals and day-care centers were even
mosques were demolished, thousands slaughtered,bombed. More military leaders and Islamic fighters
and thousands more expelled. Equally so,from all across the Muslim world -- whose eyes
victorious Muslims burnt Russian settlers' villageswere looking upon Chechnya generally with vivid
and camps, publicly desecrated their churches andapproval for their resistance to Russian secular
Bibles, executed priests and settlers en masse byhegemony of the native Islamic peoples --
the thousands, and by killing or raping (or so it isincluding from Saudi Arabia (like general Amir
said) their women and female nurses. Slavery --Khattab), Iran, Iraq, Syria, Uzbekistan,
legal in Islam -- was also used as a tactic by theAfghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine
Muslims after battle victories to discourage theoutside of Israel, and as far away as Islamic
infidels' colonial conquest. Hundreds of thousandsIndonesia. The president of Chechnya, previously
died in the long war between Slavic Christendoma regional governor, called for another Jihad
and Turkic Sunni Islam. Russian legionsagainst Russia and its infidel Slavs. This war was
simultaneously annexed Armenia and Georgiaarguably more brutal, and in many ways continues
from Iran and the Turks in order to gain effectiveto this day whenever the Jihad fails to end.
Christian allies in the long war, as well as toMuslims from the region blew up a series of
prevent Mujahidin from Anatolia (modern Turkey),hospitals and homes in central Russia, killing more
Azerbaijan, or Iran from coming to the aid ofthan 300 civilians during the war. Russia returned
their brothers in the Caucasus. The supplanting ofto the region this time with full ballistic missiles,
the Ottomans and Iranians, the growth of Russiancavalry, and artillery. The Russians were not going
navy and military settlements on the Black Seato be humiliated again, they said, and they were
coast, and the acquisition of Georgian andhardened by anger against the Muslims for their
Armenian Christian allies eventually made theslaughter of Russian civilians, as well as the
Islamic victory impossible. Russia eventuallywidespread hatred of Muslims and Turks by
annexed the region all the way to the borders ofRussians. Aleksandr Litvinenko, the famous
modern Turkey and Iraq. Now after having lostpoisoned spy, was a close associate of the
Armenia, Georgia, and Shi'ia Azerbaijan, RussiaChechnyans and himself a Muslim convert near his
retains the northern border north of thedeath. His poisoning for his support to the Muslims
breakaway states of Abkhazia and Ossetia. Imamencouraged many Muslims to think that Russia
Shamil, the Jihadists' commander, was captured,and Vladimir Putin had ordered the assassination
imprisoned, and eventually expelled from Europeof their own spy, or even blown up the hospitals
to Arabia to end his life in Islam's holiest land.in an attempt to rally public support for the
Some estimate as many as millions died in theMuslims. The Russians bombed the capital of
war, most being Russians due to the fact thatGrozniy once again for nearly a year, virtually
there are so few settlers in the North Caucasus.leveling the city to ash, until the territory was fully
Though the Islamic Jihad had failed, the Muslims ofand legally reincorporated into the Russian
the region would remain rebellious andFederation by Vladimir Putin's government in 2000.
ultraconservative to their Islamic heritage untilUnionist politicians of Chechnya who sought peace
today, causing the North Caucasus to be in manyto spare the Muslim righteous ones from more
parts in a state of constant revolt and often Jihadcalamity were generally killed as traitors, including
for the last 150 years. The Russian Empire -- thepresident Kadyrov. Shamil Basayev, the terrorist
largest nation on earth then and now -- by 1900leader and hero to fundamentalist militant Muslims
stretched from Lutheran Finland to Inuit Alaska,the world over, was killed in a vehicle in
and from the Arctic to northern AfghanistanIngushetya in 2006. It is not known which party
(Durranistan). Like the Crimean Tatars and thewas responsible for the death, but it was most
culturally-Turkic Uzbeks and Kazakhs now underobviously the Russians or the local Russian
Russian rule as well, the Muslim Turks of theminority.
Caucasus did not integrate nor assimilate. TheyNonetheless, the Jihad continued, and thus the
remained staunchly Islamic and culturally Turkish,Second Chechnyan War arguably lives on.
often in private to ease ethnic persecution or toHowever, the formerly-rogue state of Chechnya
circumvent the illegality of Islam. Their cultureis once again under Russian authority to the
declined but remained in isolation due to theextent possible. Terrorist attacks have even
difficulty of the mountainous terrain and theincreased in a sense by the Muslim hand. The
inability for the Tatars of the Caucasus to rally2002 Moscow theatre attack, nearly 600 miles
any effective revolution or full-scale Jihad againstnorth of the Islamic south, forced some 800
the Slavs. Tens of thousands of those whoRussians into hostage bondage, threatening to
survived additionally fled to the Ottoman Empireblow themselves up with all the civilians if Russia
or Iran to be protected by fellow Muslims; in thedoes not withdraw. Chants of "Allahu Akhbar!"
latter, like the Tatars in the Crimea, many were(God is most great) accompanied the filming of
killed by the Shi'ia Persian government for theirterrorist videos from the projection booth
heretical Sunni faith. During World War II, theallegedly. A disasterous Russian military
invading Axis Romanians, Hungarians, Germans,intervention pumped gas into the theatre, killing
Italians, and Bulgarians found a loyal ally in the129 hostages and 41 Muslim terrorists. Hundreds
Mujahidin Muslims under Soviet authority; thewere killed in several different terrorist attacks in
Muslims quickly bound to the Fascists out ofSlavic Russia and the Muslim south alike, including a
mutual hatred of Jews, Communists, Stalin, andcar bomb against the unionist Chechnyan
the secular and atheist governments of the Allies.government headquarters, killing hundreds alone.
For their support of the enemy, Stalin expelledThe Jihad gained the financial and military backing
nearly every single Muslim in Russia to Kazakhstanof al-Qa'ida as well. Female suicide bombers
(the Kazakh SSR). After Stalin's death and the("shahidka") wore full burqas and covered
liberalization of Gorbachev's regime, Muslims andthemselves in bombs. Two planes were hijacked
Tatars were allowed finally to return home. Thein Russia during this time, slaying everyone on
Crimean Tatars of modern Slavic Ukraineboard on both. In 2004, Shamil Basayev
gradually abandoned their staunch Islamic roots,commanded the Mujahidin in the Beslan school
but the Muslims of the new Central Asian republicshostage crisis, holding nearly 1,000 young Russian
like Uzbekistan and the Muslims of Chechnya,children hostage for several days, threatening to
Dagestan, Ingushetiya, and the North Caucasuskill them all along with themselves if Russia did not
retain conservative Islam often in the form ofwithdraw. Another poor-planned Russian
Jihad and terrorism.intervention in a major battle with the Muslims left
As is apparent, the modern Jihad by thesome 330 people dead, including 186 children
Chechnyans against the Russians -- like the Jihad(Source: The Scotsman). The Russian
of other Islamic peoples throughout the world -- iscarelessness throughout both wars towards
not a new phenomenon in the post-colonial andcivilians and Muslims is a source that fuels the
post-9/11 world as most are taught, but rather anJihad even further.
indivisible attribute of Islamic heritage and historyToday, the Russians' legacy of conquest of
since the day that Muhammad sat atop theIslamic peoples has caused it to have one of the
mountain whereupon Gabriel revealed to him whatlargest Muslim populations in Europe at some 3.8%
is now al-Qur'an nearly 1,500 years ago. The Jihadethnic Tatar, 1.2% Turkic Bashkir, 1.1% Chuvash
of these Turkic peoples (outside of nearby Sochi)Turks (thousands being excluded), and 10-15%
in the Caucasus rages on today arguably moreMuslim (Source: CIA World Factbook). Most of
intensely than it did during the above Caucasiancentral Russia is ethnic Mongol (Asian) or Turkic,
War, with the targets now being innocent Russianand most of the far northeast is of Inuit "Eskimo"
Christian civilians anywhere from movie theatrestribes. Western central Russia has a large Muslim
in Moscow to elderly hospitals instead of invadingpopulation around Tatarstan, Kazan, Chuvashia,
soldiers. The fact that the Islamic Uzbeks,etc., regions that were during the Mongol period
Kazakhs, Turkmen, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kyrgyz,Jihad states that Ivan the Terrible obliterated in
and Tajiks all acquired independence from thethe 16th century. Nonetheless, the far south of
brutal atheistic rule that was Stalin's Soviet UnionRussia remains of the Turkish/Circassian
by 1991 but the Tatar and Circassian TurkicCaucasian race with the Sunni faith. This ethnic,
Muslims of the Caucasus did not achievereligious, and social conflict out of demands for
nationhood has fueled an intenseindependence just as much as an innate religious
independence-seeking war for the last decade.conflict rages on today, causing the Slavs to live
Due to the ultraconservative and fundamentalistconstantly with apprehension for the next slash of
Islamic culture of the Turks in the region (outsidethe blade of Islam.