REFLECTION OF CAUCASIAN WARS AND MUHAJIRISM IN THE NOVEL OF ABUZAR AIDAMIROV “LONG NIGHTS”

Abstract

Abuzar Aidamirov (1933 – 2005), a prominent Chechen novelist, poet, publicist and public figure, made a great contribution to the development of Chechen literature. The most important work of Abuzar Aidamirov is the novel “Long Nights” (Chechen: Еха буьйсанаш), which won the writer universal recognition and popularity.

Abuzar Aidamirov started working on the novel during the years of deportation, while living in Kazakhstan. The writer was forbidden to write and publish any publication about the misfortunes of the Chechen people during the Soviet period. Therefore, he created the novel “Long Nights”, the plot of which reflects the historical past, the cruel colonial policy of tsarism against the Chechen people, although it was possible to publish the novel in the Chechen language only in 1972. Abuzar Aidamirov’s novel, which told us about the objective reasons of the Russian-Caucasian Wars and the Muhajirism of Chechens, turned out to be completely unacceptable to the Soviet totalitarian regime.

Official Soviet historiography viewed the Caucasian Highlanders’ struggle for freedom as a jihad, organized by religious fanatics against Christian Russia, inspired by the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. A. Aidamirov depicted in the novel the conquering character of the Russian-Caucasian Wars, the social living of the Chechen people involved in the war, and the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war.

The story of Abuzar Aidamirov’s “Long Nights” covers a wide geographical area. The action takes place in the highland villages of Chechnya, Cossack Stanitses, Vladikavkaz, Tiflis, Constantinople, London and other cities/towns of the world. The characters of the novel are mainly historical persons: Imam Shamil, Baysangur Benoel, Russian generals, the Viceroy of the Caucasus, etc. The writer tells, how the fate of the Chechen people was decided in the palaces of the Russian emperor, the viceroy of the Caucasus and the Ottoman sultan. Abuzar Aidamirov created a highly refined artistic face of the Ossetian general Musa Kundukhov, who was able to deceive a part of the Chechen people and immigrate them to the Ottoman Empire in order to make it easier for the tsarist authorities to manage the conquered territory.

Key words: Chechen novel; Caucasian Wars; Muhajirism.