Baysangur of Benoa

Boysghar Beno, also known as Baysangur of Beno or simply Baysangur (; 1794 – 3 March 1861), was a 19th-century North Caucasian commander of Chechen origin. He was one of the naibs (deputies) of Imam Shamil. Baysangur participated in the Caucasian War of 1817–1861.

On May 8, 1860, Boyshar and former naibs of Shamil Uma Duyev and Atabi Atayev raised a new uprising in Chechnya. In June of the same year Boyshar's men defeated Russian forces led by General Musa Kundukhov near the town Fachu. Atabi Atayev's rebels thwarted attempts to strengthen the forces of Russian commander Nikolay Yevdokimov, and Duyev's forces freed the villages of the Argun Gorge from Russian control. The total strength of the rebel forces at that time reached 1,500. In November, they fought against eight hundred cossacks, 9 infantry battalions, and four rifle companies.

Boyshar's zeal and courage was noted by Imam Shamil in the diary of his bailiff Colonel A. I. Runovsky:

Death Alarmed by the uprising of Boyshar, the Russian Army decided to take immediate action. With assistance from Musa Kundukhov, Nikolai Kolovachyov and Artsu Chermoyev, the Russian Army started to round up around the village of Belgatoy thanks for earlier intelligence information of Boyshar's location. Kundukhov used brute force and extreme brutality to crush every Chechen villages remaining, destroying 15 villages in total. Losing their hideout, Boyshar and his men returned to Benoy and tried to continue the resistance, but it was eventually crushed and they were captured.

Boyshar was imprisoned in Khasavyurt and was later sentenced to death by hanging by authority of Major General Pavel Kempert. He was hanged on March 1, 1861.

Since his death, the story of his famed last stand against Russian Army has been popular among Chechens as an example of Chechen heroism.

Memory and image in popular culture

There are streets named after Boyshar Benoyn in a number of settlements of the Chechen Republic and Dagestan. Boyshar is a character in the 1972 historical novel by Abuzar Aydamirov "Long Nights". The song "Gunib" (1991) by Imam Alimsultanov is dedicated to the defense of Gunib and the participation of Boyshar Benoyn in these events. Chechen bard Timur Mutsurayev dedicated his 1997 song "Boyshar" to the Chechen commander, as well as the song "Gunib" (1998) about the defense of Gunib, in which Boyshar appears. In October 2023, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced the creation of a battalion named after Boyshar Benoyn within the structure of the Russian Guard. The number of units is 300 people.