Portrait of Shamil'

The Imam Shamil' (circa 1798-1870) was the renowned leader of the Muslim peoples of Dagestan and Chechnia, who led his people from the 1820s to 1850's against the encroaching colonialism of the Russian Empire in what became known as the Murid Wars. After an awe-inspiring guerrilla campaign against superior forces, defeat, partly through treachery, occured with his surrender in 1859. He was exiled to Kaluga with his family until he was allowed to leave for Mecca in 1870 but he died on the way in Medina.