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Withdrawal through Andalal (1741)

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Withdrawal through Andalal (1741)
Part of the Nader's Campaigns
DateSeptember 1741
Location
Dagestan
Result Persian withdrawal harried,[1]
causing heavy casualties[2]
Belligerents
Lak Khanate
Mekhtuly Khanate
Avar Khanate
Lekia		 Persian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Murtazali-Khan
Ahmed-Khan Mekhtuly
Kadi Pir Magomed		 Nader Shah
Lutf Ali Khan
Haydar Bek
Strength
Unknown, presumably numerically inferior Unknown
Casualties and losses
50,000 men[3] 30,000 men
33,000 camel and horses
79 guns[4]

The withdrawal of Andalal by the Persian army under Nader Shah took place after he broke off the siege of the last Lezgian fortress in order to return to Derbent for winter quarters. His withdrawal came under heavy raids by the Lezgians. However, there is no mention of any pitched battle around Andalal, or anywhere else during the withdrawal, in any of the primary or secondary material in the established historiography of Nader's Campaigns.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][excessive citations]

The Withdrawal

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The withdrawal took place in Andalal; the mountainous part of Avaria. The previous years and months during Nader's Dagestan campaign had been bloody years with firm resistance offered by the Lezgins, Tabasarans, Avars, Kumyks, and others, as well as the relentless counter-attacks by Nader Shah due to this, whose campaigning in Dagestan was a devastating one to everyone. However, by September 1741, all of Dagestan – except several Avar territories – had fallen under Persian hegemony.[16] Nader decided to attack from two flanks; at Andalal and Avaria, through the Aimakin Gorge.[17] As commented by English historian L. Lockhart;[18]

"With the Avars remaining unconquered, the key to all of Dagestan remains out of reach of Nader Shah."

The terrible danger looming over Avaria rallied Avar society. An important Avar leader, Qadi Pir Muhammad [ru], sent a message of support to all societies. Religious leader Ibrahim Haji Andalan Gidatlinsky twice before turned to the Shah of Persia, trying to persuade him not to conduct an unnecessary war with the Avar Muslims. Moreover, by Nadir Shah, according to legend, they were sent letters and legates from Andalal. Following the rejection by Nader, Qadi Pir Muhammad replied: "Now, between us can not be peace. As long as our mind is not going blur, we will fight and destroy the invading enemy."

Avars threw rocks from above the mountain at the troops who were passing by. In September 1741 there was an ambush in Aymakinskom gorge. Here the contingents under Lutf Ali Khan and Haydar-Bek were utterly defeated. From the 4,000-strong detachment, Haidar Bek led, only 500 people survived. And from the 6,000-strong detachment, only 600 survived. The winners won much booty: 19 guns, much ammo, and all the baggage.[citation needed] Following the retreat,[19][better source needed] the Persian army extricated through Kumukh, Khorsekh, Tchyrag, Richa, Kurakh, and eventually to the Iranian town of Derbent.[20]

Historiography of the conflict

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There is no mention of a set-piece battle fought in the vicinity of Andalal in any of the primary sources,[21][22][23][24][25][26][excessive citations] nor is there any reference to such an engagement in any of the secondary source material focusing on the subject of Nader's Campaigns.[27][28][29][30][31][excessive citations]

There are however well established accounts of the withdrawing Persian columns coming under constant harrying by the Lezgis and their allies. The Lezgis who refused to commit to any set piece battles,[32] repeatedly harassed the withdrawing Persian army, making Andalal a "calamitous region"[33] for Nader Shah's forces as they suffered from a combination of terrible weather conditions, strained logistics, outbreaks of disease and ceaseless harassment by Lezgi skirmishers.[34]

Nader Shah's ultimately failed attempts at annexing Dagestan became a source for legends, myths, and folk-tales amongst the people of the North Caucasus. The Avar epic Srazhenie s Nadir Shakhom, (The battle with Nāder Shah), and the Lak Pesnya o geroe Murtazaali, (Epic of the hero Mortażā ʿAlī), provide a vivid and colourful picture of the triumph over "the scourge of the universe." These works represent the pinnacle of the Dāḡestānī epic genre; their significance to the mountain peoples "can be compared to that of Slovo o polku Igoreve (The lay of the army of Igor) in Russian epic poetry".[35] And the Kumyks, in turn, preserve the memory of their hero Akhmed-khan Mekhtuly, who made one of the most dominant roles in the defeat of the troops in Andalal.

References

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  1. ^ Axworthy, Michael(2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, I. B. Tauris
  2. ^ "History of Nadir Shah's Wars" (Taarikhe Jahangoshaaye Naaderi), 1759, Mirza Mehdi Khan Esterabadi, (Court Historian)
  3. ^ Sotavov, Nadyrpasha A. (2013). "Nader Shah's Campaign in Avaria and Lakia. Defeat of the "Terror of the Universe" in Andalal". The Collapse of the “Terror of the Universe” in Dagestan: A Monograph (PDF) (in Russian) (2nd ed., expanded and revised ed.). Makhachkala: ID “Epoha”. p. 208.
  4. ^ Piotrovsky, Boris B. (1988). "Defeat of Nader's Troops in Dagestan". History of the Peoples of the North Caucasus from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. p. 424. ISBN 5-02-009486-2.
  5. ^ Kashmiri, Abdol-Karim, Bayān-e Vāghe, Edited by K. B. Nasim Lahur, 1970
  6. ^ Vatazes, Basile, Persica; Histoire de Chah-Nader, ed. N Iorga, Bucharest 1939
  7. ^ Mohsen, Mohammad, Zobdat-ol-Tavarikh, edited by Behruz Gudarzi, Tehran 1375
  8. ^ History of Nadir Shah's Wars (Taarikhe Jahangoshaaye Naaderi), 1759, Mirza Mehdi Khan Esterabadi, (Court Historian)
  9. ^ Mohammad Kazem Marvi Yazdi, Rare views of the world 3 vols., Ed Amin Riahi, Tehran, Third Edition, 1374
  10. ^ Hanway, Jonas, An Historical Account of the British Trade, 1: 251–3
  11. ^ Floor, Wiilem(2009). The rise & fall of Nader Shah: Dutch East India Company Reports 1730-1747, Mage Publishers
  12. ^ Axworthy, Michael(2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, I. B. Tauris
  13. ^ Malcom, History of Persia
  14. ^ Ghafouri, Ali (2008). History of Iran's wars: from the Medes to now. Etela'at Publishing
  15. ^ Lockhart, Laurence, Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based Mainly upon Contemporary Sources, London, 1938
  16. ^ АВПР, ф. «Сношения России с Персией», 1741 г.
  17. ^ Ramazan Gadzhimuradovich Abdulatipov. [Russia and the Caucasus. Edwin Mellen Press. 29 October 2015. ISBN 9780773431942. Retrieved 19 November 2015. Russia and the Caucasus: On the Arduous Path to Unity] Edwin Mellen Press, 2000 ISBN 978-0773431942 p 15
  18. ^ Lawrence Lockhart, 1938. Р. 202.
  19. ^ Ramazan Gadzhimuradovich Abdulatipov. Russia and the Caucasus: On the Arduous Path to Unity Edwin Mellen Press, 2000 ISBN 978-0773431942 p 15
  20. ^ G., I. "HEROIC RESISTANCE OF THE AGULS AGAINST IRANIAN CONQUEROR NADER SHAH IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY". ВЕСТНИК САРАТОВСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА (in Russian) (3). ISSN 1994-5094. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  21. ^ Kashmiri, Abdol-Karim, Bayān-e Vāghe, Edited by K. B. Nasim Lahur, 1970
  22. ^ Vatazes, Basile, Persica; Histoire de Chah-Nader, ed. N Iorga, Bucharest 1939
  23. ^ Mohsen, Mohammad, Zobdat-ol-Tavarikh, edited by Behruz Gudarzi, Tehran 1375
  24. ^ History of Nadir Shah's Wars (Taarikhe Jahangoshaaye Naaderi), 1759, Mirza Mehdi Khan Esterabadi, (Court Historian)
  25. ^ Mohammad Kazem Marvi Yazdi, Rare views of the world 3 vols., Ed Amin Riahi, Tehran, Third Edition, 1374
  26. ^ Hanway, Jonas, An Historical Account of the British Trade, 1: 251–3
  27. ^ Floor, Wiilem(2009). The rise & fall of Nader Shah: Dutch East India Company Reports 1730-1747, Mage Publishers
  28. ^ Axworthy, Michael(2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, I. B. Tauris
  29. ^ Malcom, History of Persia
  30. ^ Ghafouri, Ali (2008). History of Iran's wars: from the Medes to now. Etela'at Publishing
  31. ^ Lockhart, Laurence, Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based Mainly upon Contemporary Sources, London, 1938
  32. ^ Axworthy, Michael(2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, I. B. Tauris
  33. ^ "History of Nadir Shah's Wars" (Taarikhe Jahangoshaaye Naaderi), 1759, Mirza Mehdi Khan Esterabadi, (Court Historian)
  34. ^ Ghafouri, Ali (2008). History of Iran's wars: from the Medes to now. Etela'at Publishing
  35. ^ N. V. Kapieva, Pesni narodov Dagestana (Songs of the peoples of Dāḡestān), Leningrad, 1970. page 19.

See also

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