FRIDTJOF NANSEN ... TOP-. THROUGH THE CAUCASUS TO THE VOLGA
Translated by G. G. WHEELER ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK W W NORTON
COMPANY, ING Publishers From a sketch made at Geneva, 1929 PREFACE
The journey described in this book was made in the summer of 19255
and was the continuation of the one described in an earlier book,
Armenia and the Near East Gjennem Armenia . The author gladly uses
this opportunity to express his gratitude to Presidents Sainursky
and Korkmazov in the Repub lic of Daghestan for the extraordinary
hospitality shown to his fellow-traveller and himself during their
interesting stay in this remarkable land. He would also like to
thank the local authorities in the different places they came to,
especially in Astrakhan, for their friendly welcome. It is not
possible in a short sketch such as this to give in any way complete
impressions of the lands and the many peoples the journey took them
through, especially when it was made so quickly, and the
impressions were so changing and over whelming. For fuller
information as to the natural conditions and the manifold peoples
in the Caucasus and Daghestan the reader may be referred to the
following among others Erckert, Der Kaukasus und seine Volker, 1887
Merzbacher, AILS den Hochregionen des Kaukasus, 1901 Freshfield,
The Exploration of the Caucasus, 1902 the various descriptions of
travels by C. Hahn Aus dem Kaukasus, 1892, and others in 1896,
1900, and 1911. A good account of our knowledge of the anthropology
and customs of the 5 THROUGH THE CAUCASUS TO THE VOLGA Caucasian
peoples will be found in Arthur Byhan, Die kaukasischen Volker in
Buschan, Ulustrierte voL II, part 2, 1926. The most Important
sources for the study of theCaucasian peoples 3 long-drawn-out
fight for freedom against the Russians are the many Russian
military reports from the campaigns, and the many Russian accounts
of the course of the fighting and so on. It Is mainly on these
Russian printed sources that J. F. Baddeley based his work. The
Russian Conquest of the Caucasus, 1908, which describes the
struggle of the Daghestaners and the Chechens for freedom. As a
result of the nature of these sources and the lack of sources from
the other side, it is only to be expected that this valuable work,
in part at least, should express the Russian outlook on the course
of the fighting and the conditions In Daghestan, even though the
author has tried his best to guard himself against this.
Bodenstedts account in Die Volker des Kaukasus und ihre
Freiheitskdmpfe gegen die Russen, 1855, seems, on the other hand,
to be less coloured by a Russian point of view but he did not have
access to the rich Russian material we now have. Olaf Lange,
Kavkasus, Copenhagen, 1891, gives an entertaining survey of
Muridism and Daghestans fight for freedom, mostly based, it is
true, on Bodenstedt. The Pole, Lapinski Tefik Bey, in his Die
Bergwlker des Kaukasus und ihr Freiheitskampf gegen die Russen,
1863, gives an interesting description of 6 PREFACE the fighting by
the Circassians and Abkhasians, and of Ms share in it. These
introductory words cannot be brought to an end without my hearty
thanks to Captain Vidkum Quisling for his untiring kindness as a
travelling companion, and for the valuable help he has given the
author through his knowledge of Russian and his many-sided
attainments. FRIDTJOF NANSEN LYSAKER, Mommber 1929 CONTENTS CHAPTER
PAGE PREFACE 5 I. TIFLIS 15H. THROUGH THE CAUCASUS 33 HI. THE
MOUNTAIN PEOPLES NEAR THE MILITARY ROAD 53 IV. OVER THE CAUCASUS 73
V. TO DAGHESTAN 93 VI. MURIDISM AND THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM 121 VII.
SHAMYL 139 VHI. EXCURSIONS IN DAGHESTAN 179 DC. OVER THE CASPIAN TO
ASTRAKHAN 2Og X. THE VOLGA 225 INDEX 253 ILLUSTRATIONS DR...
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