in the campaign “Failed Attempt at Religious Subjugation of the Highlanders to the Empire through the Hiring of the Preacher Taj ad-Din Mustafin (1836-1841)”
In 1836, the command of the Russian Caucasus Corps sent the hired preacher Taj ad-Din Mustafin, paid by the treasury, to the Groznaya fortress to undermine the influence of Tashu-Hadji (sheikh, imam of Chechnya in 1834-1836, spiritual and military leader of the Chechen resistance) - a spiritual track running parallel to the punitive military actions against the villages that had harbored Tashu-Hadji (campaign C1158). The goal was stated in the source: "with the aim of undermining the spiritual influence" of Tashu-Hadji "and reducing the effectiveness of the preaching of ghazawat" (ghazawat - the highlanders' war for independence from the Russian conquest)[1]. The agent "had managed to make a trip to the lowland societies of Dagestan" when Tashu-Hadji, by letter, "under threat of death forbade him to appear on Chechen territory"[1]; the response is cited by the historian Pokrovsky: "I instruct you that you shall not travel about in these lands without our permission, and if you are not foolish, you should withdraw before harm is done to you"[2].