Demonstrative destruction of the aul of Dadi-Yurt and the erection of the Vnezapnaya fortress to force the Nokhchi off the Kumyk plain (1819)
After the erection of the Groznaya fortress on the Sunzha in 1818, General Yermolov continued, as historian D. A. Khozhaev writes, to "squeeze unsubdued Chechnya with new fortresses and fortifications," and among these, in 1819, appeared the fortress of Vnezapnaya[1]. Imperial historian Potto names its purpose outright: founded on the eighteenth of July 1819, it "separated the Chechens from the Kumyks" and "blocked [the Chechens'] path through the Salatau mountains"[2]. Potto writes that Yermolov "decided to clear the entire Kumyk plain… by making the Chechens leave it for beyond the Kachkalyk mountain ridge," and getting them to take their families away themselves "was possible only by an example of terror"[2]. The Nokhchi aul of Dadi-Yurt was chosen as the demonstrative victim. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that the aul of 200 households was "one of the richest in Chechnya" and "was famed for its brave and industrious inhabitants and for the beauty and nobility of its girls"[1]. Yermolov ordered Major General Sysoev to surround the aul and, "should they resist, to punish them with arms, giving quarter to no one"[3]. On the fifteenth of September 1819 the aul was surrounded by six Kabardian companies and seven hundred Cossacks, who took it by storming each household under artillery fire[2][1]. Yermolov himself admits the outcome in his "Notes": "all who bore arms were exterminated, and their number could not have been fewer than four hundred men"; of women and children "up to one hundred and forty were taken prisoner… but a far greater number were slaughtered or perished in the houses from the effects of artillery and fire," while the village "consisted of 200 houses" and was "razed to its foundations"[3]. The surviving women and children were led away as prisoners beyond the Terek; historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that during the river crossing 46 captured girls, "unwilling to endure abuse in captivity," perished, "dragging their guards with them into the turbulent river"[1]. After the destruction of the aul, Yermolov finished off the Kachkalyk villages with almost no resistance left; he himself admits: "the example of Dadan-Yurt spread terror everywhere"[3].
Actors
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
The Russian Empire built a ring of fortresses around Chechnya in order to squeeze it and cut it off from its neighbors. Historian D. A. Khozhayev writes that following Groznaya, the fortress Vnezapnaya appeared in 1819, erected in order to "squeeze unsubdued Chechnya with new fortresses and fortifications"[1]. Imperial historian Potto confirms its purpose and date: founded on the eighteenth of July 1819, it "separated the Chechens from the Kumyks" and "barred [the Chechens’] way across the Salatau mountains," and it was linked to Groznaya by a chain of fortifications[2]. General Yermolov had planned this fortress as early as his most humble report of November 1817, proposing that "by extending the Line through the Aksai and Andreyevo villages to the Sulak River, Kizlyar will be covered"[4]. |
Techniques Used
| ID | Name | Use | |
|---|---|---|---|
| T0053 | Abduction of People |
The Russian Empire led the Nokhchi who survived the destruction of an aul away as captives into its own territory. General Yermolov himself writes in his "Notes" that women and children "were taken prisoner numbering up to one hundred and forty"[3], and the imperial historian Potto confirms this[2]. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that during the crossing of the captives over the Terek, 46 captured girls, "not wishing to endure abuse in captivity," perished, "dragging their guards with them into the turbulent river"[1]. |
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| T0139 | Construction of Fortresses |
The Russian Empire built a ring of fortresses around Chechnya in order to squeeze it and cut it off from its neighbors. Historian D. A. Khozhayev writes that following Groznaya, the fortress Vnezapnaya appeared in 1819, erected in order to "squeeze unsubdued Chechnya with new fortresses and fortifications"[1]. Imperial historian Potto confirms its purpose and date: founded on the eighteenth of July 1819, it "separated the Chechens from the Kumyks" and "barred [the Chechens’] way across the Salatau mountains," and it was linked to Groznaya by a chain of fortifications[2]. General Yermolov had planned this fortress as early as his most humble report of November 1817, proposing that "by extending the Line through the Aksai and Andreyevo villages to the Sulak River, Kizlyar will be covered"[4]. |
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| T0052 | Expropriation of Resources |
When laying waste to a Nokhchi aul, the Russian Empire handed its property over to the soldiers as spoils. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that the punitive raids under Yermolov proceeded "with the destruction of the population, houses, crops, orchards, and forests, the driving off of livestock, and the plundering of property," while Russian commanders invaded peaceful lands "to distinguish themselves or to seize booty"[1]. General Yermolov himself admits this in his "Notes": after the destruction of Dadi-Yurt, "the soldiers came away with rather rich spoils"[3]. |
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| T0104 | Mass Killings of Civilians |
During the storming of a Nokhchi aul, the Russian Empire exterminated its inhabitants without distinction of sex or age. Historian D. A. Khozhayev writes that "the brutalized punitive forces spared neither women nor children," and, breaking into the houses, "slaughtered everyone without mercy"[1]. The organizer himself, general Yermolov, admits the toll in his "Notes": "all who bore arms were exterminated, and their number could not have been fewer than four hundred," while "a far greater number were slaughtered or perished in the houses from the effect of artillery and fire"[3]. Imperial historian Potto confirms that the aul was taken only when "every one of its defenders had been exterminated to a man," and those slaughtered or killed in the fire numbered twice as many as the one hundred forty who survived[2]. |
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| T0077 | Punitive Expeditions |
The Russian Empire sent troops to ravage Nokhchi villages as punishment for insubordination. Historian D. A. Khozhayev writes that general Yermolov ordered Major General Sysoyev and Colonel Bekovich-Cherkassky to "surround the peaceful village of Dadi-Yurt" and to "punish it by force of arms, giving quarter to no one"[1]. Yermolov confirms his order in his "Notes": to surround the aul, offer the inhabitants the chance to leave, "and should they resist, to punish them by force of arms, giving quarter to no one"[3]. On the fifteenth of September 1819 the aul was surrounded by six Kabardian companies and seven sotnias of Cossacks and taken by storm[2]. |
|
| T0142 | Restriction of Settlement Geography |
The Russian Empire drove the Nokhchi from the lowland to clear it for itself and for loyal neighbors, and blocked their return with fortresses. Historian D. A. Khozhaev cites the admission of General Orbeliani that this expulsion was a system applied everywhere: "in all of Chechnya there remained not a single aul, not a single household, that had not been resettled from one place to another several times over"[1]. General Yermolov himself, in a report to the emperor, admits this with regard to the Kachkalyk Nokhchi: to clear the Aksai riverside he drove them out of it and placed the fortresses of Amir-Adzhi-Yurt and Vnezapnaya in their place, for the sake of "freeing it [the Aksai] from the Kachkalyks, whom I immediately ordered to be driven out of it; I established the fortress of Vnezapnaya"[4]. |
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| T0022 | Terror |
The Russian Empire destroyed a single village demonstratively, in order to terrorize the rest of the Nokhchi into abandoning their lands. Imperial historian Potto writes that general Yermolov decided to clear the Kumyk plain, "forcing the Chechens to withdraw… beyond the Kachkalyk mountain ridge," and they could be compelled to do so "only by an example of terror," and the aul of Dadi-Yurt "was chosen as the expiatory sacrifice"[2]. Yermolov himself admits this calculation in his "Notes": "only an example of terror can compel them to remove their wives," and after the destruction of the aul "the example of Dadan-Yurt spread terror everywhere"[3]. |
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Instruments
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S0010 | Regular Army |
The Russian Empire built a ring of fortresses around Chechnya in order to squeeze it and cut it off from its neighbors. Historian D. A. Khozhayev writes that following Groznaya, the fortress Vnezapnaya appeared in 1819, erected in order to "squeeze unsubdued Chechnya with new fortresses and fortifications"[1]. Imperial historian Potto confirms its purpose and date: founded on the eighteenth of July 1819, it "separated the Chechens from the Kumyks" and "barred [the Chechens’] way across the Salatau mountains," and it was linked to Groznaya by a chain of fortifications[2]. General Yermolov had planned this fortress as early as his most humble report of November 1817, proposing that "by extending the Line through the Aksai and Andreyevo villages to the Sulak River, Kizlyar will be covered"[4]. |