Imperial Russian
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
He was born on 3 April 1808, to Musa Khan Utsmiyev, ethnic Kumyk Prince of Aqsay as his middle son. He had an elder brother named Sultan Murad (d. 1841) and a younger brother Adil. His sister Tuti Bika Khanum was married to Ismayil bek Kutkashensky, the first Azerbaijani ever to be decorated with
Order of St. George
The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...
.
As a child, Utsmiev was taken to
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
as a hostage. After completing his education at the
Page Corps
The Page Corps (; ) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprudence prepared boys for civil service. The present-day equiva ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, he began his military service in 1825 and served in the
imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
for the rest of his life. He started as a cadet in the 43rd Jaeger Regiment and was transferred to the Kherson Grenadier Regiment in 1833. He was commissioned as an officer on March 22, 1834. In 1836, Utsmiev joined the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. He rose through the ranks, being promoted to second lieutenant and shtabs-kapitan in 1841, to major in the Separate Caucasian Corps in 1844, and to lieutenant colonel in 1845. On January 9, 1852, he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
This is when he was married to the Azerbaijani princess and poet
Khurshidbanu Natavan
Khurshidbanu Natavan (; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyric poetry, lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in either Azerbaijani language, A ...
. As a devout Sunni going to live among Shias, Khasay Khan also brought a Sunni mullah, Mullah Muhammad, who would become the grandfather of
Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the Az ...
as well. This marriage didn't please the relatives of the princess, including
Gasim bey Zakir
Gasim bey Ali bey oglu, better known by his pen name ''Zakir'' (; died 1857) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani poet of the 19th century and one of the founders of the critical realism and satirical genre in Azerbaijani literature. He is consi ...
who strongly criticized her for marrying her lessers. His slightly blind right eye was often made fun of by Karabakh poets.
In 1857, he was appointed to serve in the Caucasian army for political purposes. He met with
Alexander Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright.
His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
in 1858, who described him speaking French like a true Parisian, without an accent. He was also in contact with other Caucasian intellectuals such as
Mirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov, also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Iranian Azerbaijanis, Iranian AzerbaijaniMirza Shafi Vazeh, Khachatur Abovyan and Gabriel Sundukyan in Tbilisi. He was friends with Decembrist exile
Alexander Bestuzhev
Alexander Alexandrovich Bestuzhev ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бесту́жев, p=bʲɪˈstuʐɨf, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Byestuzhyev.oga; ) was a Russian writer and Decembrist. After the Decembrist revo ...
as well.
In 1861 he was sent to the command of the Commander of the troops in the Dagestan region, a year later he was promoted to major general on 30 August 1862.
Dismissal and death
He was said to be offended by a discriminative comment and challenged the historian and one of the ideologists of Russian expansionism and chauvinism, General Rostislav Fadeev, to a duel. The reason for the duel was the words in Fadeev's book "Letters from Caucasus", where he insulted Islam and compared Caucasians to underdeveloped children who would not survive without the help of a “white man”. When he heard of Fadeev's writings from Irakli Gruzinsky, Khasay Khan called the general-historian for these words "rascal" but didn't shoot him. This caused huge insecurity issues for Utsmiyev and wrote to authorities to let him to move to Ottoman Empire with his family in 1866. Overseer for
Terek Oblast
The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created ...
,
Mikhail Loris-Melikov
Count Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov (; ; – 24 December 1888) was a Russian-Armenian statesman, general of the cavalry and adjutant general of His Imperial Majesty's Retinue.
The princes of Lori, Loris-Melikov, are the representatives ...
however decided to summon him to
Stavropol
Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities.
E ...
and expel him to
Voronezh
Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
on 25 April 1866. At first, Utsmiyev attempted to kill himself, but was unsuccessful in his trial. He would die under mysterious circumstances on 3 May 186721 April in
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...
in Voronezh.
Family
He was married three times:
#
Khurshidbanu Natavan
Khurshidbanu Natavan (; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyric poetry, lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in either Azerbaijani language, A ...
##
Mehdigulu Khan Vafa
Mehdigulu Khan Utsmiyev (; 1855, Shusha – 1900, Tiflis) was a lyric poetry, lyrical poet of Azerbaijan of Kumyks, Kumyk and Javanshir clan, Javanshir descent, a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Russian Army. He authored poetry under pseudony ...
## Khanbike Khanum (1856–1921)
# A noblewoman from Qaplanov clan
## Azamat Bike (b. 18 September 1859)
# Pari Khanum Hamzayeva
## Reyhanat Bike (b. 12 July 1853)
## Sotikhan Bike (b. 5 July 1859)
## Musa Utsmiev (b. 4 August 1864)
## Sultan Murad Utsmiev (b. 23 November 1866)
Order of St. Vladimir
The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'.
Grades
The order had four ...
File:Khasay khan with his son Mekhiquli khan.jpg, Khasay Khan with his son
Mehdigulu Khan Vafa
Mehdigulu Khan Utsmiyev (; 1855, Shusha – 1900, Tiflis) was a lyric poetry, lyrical poet of Azerbaijan of Kumyks, Kumyk and Javanshir clan, Javanshir descent, a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Russian Army. He authored poetry under pseudony ...
File:An old building in Shushi.jpg, Utsmiev Palace in
Shusha
Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...
File:Prince Khasay Musaev Utsmiev.jpg, Portrait by
Grigory Gagarin
Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin (, - ) was a Russian painter, Major General and administrator.Grig ...
, 1840s
File:Prince Khasay Utsmiev.jpg, Portrait by
Grigory Gagarin
Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin (, - ) was a Russian painter, Major General and administrator.Grig ...