Daniyal Sultan

Daniyal Sultan or Daniyal Bek (1809, İlisu — 1871, Istanbul) was an ethnic Tsakhur nobleman. general-major of the Imperial Russian Army and of the Ottoman Army and the last ruler of the Elisu Sultanate. He is best known to be a naib (viceroy), relative and member of the close circle of Imam Shamil.

Early life He was born to Sultan Ahmad Khan of Elisu and his second wife, Tuti Bike, the daughter of Surkhay II of Gazikumukh . He had four elder brothers: Imran beg, Muhammad beg, Khalil beg and Musa beg. He also had a younger half-brother, Amir Hamza. His father served as a commander of local regiment under Ivan Paskevich but soon fell ill in Tbilisi and returned to Elisu, where he died on .

A succession crisis ensued, and the Russian authorities did not want the eldest son, Imran beg, whose mother, Shamay, was also his father's third cousin. According to Russian intelligence reports, Imran beg was deemed as weak-willed and prone to be the influence of his younger brother Muhammad beg. Moreover, his wife was a daughter of Khalid beg, a son of Surkhay II, who was a sworn enemy of Russian Empire.

The second and the third sons of the deceased sultan were born from Pari Jahan Khanum, a daughter of Bala Agha beg, a close associate of Abbas Mirza, who was arrested by Aleksey Yermolov as a rebel and kept in Metekhi Prison, which made them dismissed from the succession as well.

Musa was more favourable since his mother was a sister of Aslan Khan of Kura Khanate, a major Russian ally. In addition, Musa was also married to a daughter of Murtuzali (d. 1815), another son of Surkhay II, as well as a half-brother of Aslan, who was killed by his father.

In 1832, Daniyal was granted the rank of major by the Russian authorities for resisting Hamzat Bek's invasion of Djaro. Daniyal was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus of the third degree for his accomplishments against the Caucasian Imamate. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1838. He was escorting Jamaluddin, the son of Imam Shamil. who was given as hostage to the Russians in 1839 after the Siege of Akhoulgo. According to Lesley Blanch, Daniyal advised Jamaluddin in Avar to be brave, strong and courageous and to trust his new friends. The same year, Daniyal annexed the Rutul Federation to his lands.

He received the right to wear the uniform of the Russian Imperial Guard of the Grodno Hussars and was promoted to colonel in 1840.

Still hopeful of binge granted the princely dignity, he had his militia fight for the Russian troops against the followers of Imam Shamils in Gazikumukh from March to May 1842. He was granted the rank of general-major on and a few days later was awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir and the Order of Saint Anna.

Under Imam Shamil Schwarz's continuatal curbing of Daniyal's power finally led the Russian authorities to accuse Daniyal of swearing allegiance to his old foe Imam Shamil on 16 June 1844 and to summon him to Zaqatala for arrest. Daniyal failed to show up, which gave Schwarz a reason to march on Elisu. Daniyal was defeated near Aghatai with his 3,000-strong army on 3 July, and his capital, Elisu, was soon captured after a siege. The sultan managed to escape to the mountains, and he became Imam Shamil's naib (viceory) in the Avar village of Irib (now in Charodinsky District). Elisu was destroyed, and only the mosque remained. On August 8, the Russians annexed the sultanate to the Zakatal Okrug. According to Karl Heinrich Koch, Daniyal had been the most sincere Russian vassal by faithfully protecting the country from the raids of Tushetians and the Lezgis. Although he tried to negotiate with Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov in April 1845 for the return of his Russian citizenship, he could not regain his sultanate and so he rejected from the deal.

Daniyal led Imam Shamil's army in 1847 to Zaktal Okrug and recaptured Elisu on 16 May. Caught offguard, the Russians were unable to fight the guerilla in Balaken. Rumours of Haji Murad's arrival for more help to Danyal further alerted Schwarz, who demanded reinforcements. Danyal soon retreated to the mountains on 21 June. After the fall of the Gergebil fortress, Imam Shamil began a campaign in the upper reaches of the Samur River on September 17, 1848. That day, Daniyal suddenly attacked Kala. On September 25, he besieged the village of Akhty, which was the seat of the head of Samurskiy Okrug Okrug (District) of Dagestan Oblast (Region) of the Russian Empire. The neighbouring Tiffliskoe Barracks fell on September 26, and highlanders killed the entire garrison. In early October, Daniyal, Kebet Muhammad and Haji Murad settled down in Miskindzha with 7,000 fighters in order to prevent Moisei Argutinsky from coming to the aid of Akhty's defenders, who were still holding out. However, the Russians managed to break through and to approach the fortress, and Imam Shamil retreated into the mountains.

The Russians launched an offensive against Tabasaransky District in July 1849. To divert them, Daniyal attacked Kumukh. However, the manoeuvre, like others that were undertaken by Shamil, did not distract the Russians, led by Argutinsky, from entering the Tabasaransky District. Daniyal joined Imam Shamil's delegation in March 1853 to be sent to Constantinople to convince the Ottoman Empire to start the Crimean War as early as possible. Daniyal battled the Russian forces on September 12. Imam Shamil's siege of Zakatala Fortress on September 9 had failed, which caused him to withdraw. Danyal captured Zakatala in October. Of the 5,000 Russian soldiers present, 3,000 were wounded or died. The rest escaped since they realised that resistance was impossible they had fought for 36 hours. When Daniyal turned towards Shirvan and captured Signakh and Sheki, in the region, General Grigol Orbeliani asked some of the Russian soldiers in Crimea, Abkhazia and Anapa to reinforce the Tbilisi front.

In April 1859, the Russian troops captured Imam Shamil's capital, the village of Vedeno, and the last pockets of resistance in the territory of Chechnya were suppressed. Imam Shamil and his supporters went to the Dagestan village of Gunib. On August 2, Daniyal surrendered his residence in Irib and the village of Dusrek to Baron Alexander von Wrangel. On August 7, he went with a confession to Prince Aleksandr Baryatinsky, who granted him a full amnesty.

Last years After Imam Shamil's defeat, his full submission was obtained with Daniyal acting as a mediator. Daniyal lived in Tbilisi for a while. His former rank of general-major was returned with his enrollment in the army cavalry and in the Caucasian Army on September 25, 1861. He resigned from the military service on . He arrived in Constantinople in June and visited Sultan Abdulaziz.

Daniyal died in Constantinople on 23 May 1871

Family He had at least three wives with numerous offsprings: Ummu Bike (died in infancy) Juvai Rade (b. 1844) Bala Khanum — daughter of Haji Abdulqadir Khan of Shaki