Qizbech the Great

Qizbech Qanoqo , also known as the Qizbech the Great was the Grand Prince of Besleney in the late 18th century.

He belonged to the Qanoqo princely house of the Besleney people. His known brothers were Bechmirza, Mirzabech and Aslanbech, all sons of Tav Sultan (Talostan). Qizbech was the maternal cousin of the wife of the prominent Kabardian prince Hatokhshoqo Hamirza, the Grand Prince of Kabardia.

In 1783, following the Russian invasion of Kabardia and the systematic suppression of its leadership, emissaries representing Qizbech Qanoqo and Aslanbech Boletuqo petitioned the Ottoman government, proposing a formal military coalition between Circassian and Chechen forces and the Ottoman state to resist the further Russian advance into the Caucasus. An Ottoman map made between 1782 and 1785 locate the residence of "Besney Mirza Kizil Bey" (Qizbech) at a meadow called "Farzek". According to a 1785 Ottoman document, Qizbech was receiving 500 kuruş as a salary.

The Antkhir Congress (1783) In October 1783, following the Russian annexation of Crimea, a grand council was convened at the Antkhir plain (located between the Hatuqay and Zhane territories). According to Ottoman documents, leaders from the Besleney, Zhane, Bzhedug, Hatuqay, Chemguy, and Makhosh principalities participated in this congress, where they swore an oath of loyalty to the Ottoman Sultan and requested military aid against Russian incursions.

According to the memoirs of General , who recorded the testimony of Kabardian prince Alkhas Misost Bechmirza who was in the Russian army: Qizbech was elected as the supreme leader of the Kuban Circassians. Alkhas stated that the Circassians chose him because he embodied all the traits of an ideal leader, and the population of "approximately 100,000 households" swore absolute obedience to him. It was during this period of consolidated power that he earned the epithet "the Great". In October, Besleney villages were destroyed by a Russian offensive under General Tekeli, which led to famine. Despite the Russian efforts and the commitment, the Besleney Principality remained aligned with the Ottoman Empire. During the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92), the Besleney leaders, including Prince Qizbech, swore allegiance and declared their readiness for military cooperation with the Ottomans against Russia.

In 1790, the Besleney and other regional leaderships including Kabardia, Bzhedug, and Natukhaj mobilized thousands of warriors to join the Ottoman military campaign. Within this force, the Besleney contributed 500 cavalrymen. During the march, Serasker Battal Hüseyin Pasha constantly delayed the operation by stopping at different places, ignored the regional leaders, and kept refusing to move into Kabardia. On October 12, instead of attacking, Battal Hüseyin Pasha ordered the Ottoman forces to break up and defected to the Russian side. This left the Circassians and other allied forces in a bad position; instead of a coordinated attack, they had to protect the retreating Ottoman troops as they went back to Anapa. The Pasha’s desertion caused the Ottoman front in the Caucasus to collapse and caused it to being seen as a betrayal. By 1792, diplomatic relations between the Besleney and the Ottoman Empire intensified under the mediation of Koca Yusuf Pasha in Anapa. In August 1792, a prominent Besleney delegation led by Hatughuzhuqo Mirza and his atalyk Islam Bek, accompanied by 25 nobles, arrived in Anapa where they were received with official honors, ceremonial robes, and various gifts. By the time Julius Klaproth visited the region in 1807-1808, he recorded that the "powerful prince Kazil Beg Kanoka" was deceased and had been succeeded by his brothers Bekmurza (Bechmirza), Roslanbek (Aslanbech), and Murzabek (Mirzabech).