Muhammad Said Shamil, also referred to in the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

as Muhammad Said Bey, or Said-Bek Shamil (1901 – 21 March 1981) was a North Caucasian politician and émigré leader. The grandson of rebel leader

Imam Shamil Imam Shamil (; ; ; ; ; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in the 1800s, the third Imam of the Caucasian Imamate (1840–1859), and a Sunni Muslim ...

, Shamil was the monarch of the

North Caucasian Emirate The North Caucasian Emirate () was a mainly Avar and Chechen Islamic state that existed in the territory of Chechnya and western Dagestan during the Russian Civil War from September 1919 to March 1920. The emirate's temporary capital was estab ...

during the 1920–1921 Dagestan uprising before later going into exile. He was one of the leading figures of

Prometheism Prometheism or Prometheanism () was a political project initiated by Józef Piłsudski, a principal statesman of the Second Polish Republic from 1918 to 1935. Its aim was to weaken the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, by supporting natio ...

, a Polish-led political project seeking to bring about the disintegration of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and participated in several political projects by North Caucasian émigrés such as the and the (which he led). Shamil played a significant role in encouraging anti-communism in the Arab and Islamic world during the interwar period.

Family and early life

Muhammad Said Shamil was born in 1901 to Muhammad Kamil and Naciba Khanum. Muhammad Kamil (1863–1951), born in

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

, was a general of the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

and additionally the youngest son of

, one of the leaders of North Caucasian resistance to Russia amidst the

Caucasian War The Caucasian War () or the Caucasus War was a 19th-century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. It consisted of a series o ...

. Naciba Khanum was the daughter of a teacher from

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, named Muhammad Said Efendi. Said had two sisters, Nacia (1899–1983) and Nacabat (1916–1983). Shamil was born in Constantinople (now

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

), the capital of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He spent his earliest years in the Arab-majority lands of the Ottoman Empire before returning to the city to begin his education. According to his own recollections he studied at the elite

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

. At this time he also became acquainted with other North Caucasian emigrants. Shamil fought in the Ottoman Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1916 he participated in a

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

meeting billed as the "Congress of the 26 Oppressed Peoples of Russia", organised by the '' Union des Nationalités'' of

Juozas Gabrys Juozas Gabrys or Juozas Gabrys-Paršaitis (February 22, 1880 – July 26, 1951) was a Lithuanian politician and diplomat, best remembered for his efforts to popularize the idea of Lithuania's independence in the West during World War I. Early l ...

. In addition to his native Avar language, Shamil spoke Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Turkish. He married the daughter of , another Dagestani émigré, but the two maintained a strictly formal relationship and never bore any children.

Dagestan uprising

Amidst the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

the

Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC), also referred to as the United Republics of the North Caucasus, Mountain Republic, or the Republic of the Mountaineers, was a transcontinental state in Eurasia. It encompassed the entiret ...

was established as an independent state on 11 May 1918. Later replaced by the

, the region was invaded by the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

in 1919 and

subsequently {{Short pages monitor