Khasay Khan Utsmiyev (, ) was an

Imperial Russian The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

general of Kumyk origin.

Life and career

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 (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

. Since childhood, he was sent to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

as a hostage. After graduating from the

Corps of Pages The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) 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 Jurisprud ...

in St. Petersburg from 1825 until the end of his life, Utsmiev served in the Russian army - first as a cadet in the 43rd Jaeger Regiment, later in 1833 he was transferred to the Kherson Grenadier Regiment. He became an officer on March 22, 1834. in 1836 - in the Life Guards of the Grenadier Regiment at the Caucasian Corps. In 1841 he was promoted to second lieutenant and headquarters captain. In 1844 he was a major in a separate Caucasian corps, in 1845 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on 9 January 1852 to colonel. This is when he was married to the Azerbaijani princess and poet

Khurshidbanu Natavan Khurshidbanu Natavan ( az, خورشیدبانو ناتوان / Xurşidbanu Natəvan; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in eit ...

. 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 oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Üzeyir bəy Əbdülhüseyn oğlu Hacıbəyov; russian: Узеир Абдул-Гусейн оглы Гаджибеков, translit=Uzeir Abdul-Guseyn ogly Gadzhibekov; September 18, 1885November 23, 19 ...

as well. This marriage didn't please the relatives of the princess, including Gasim bey Zakir 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 Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...

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 ( az, Mirzə Fətəli Axundov; fa, میرزا فتحعلی آخوندزاده), also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Azerbaijani author, play ...

Mirza Shafi Vazeh Mirza Shafi Vazeh ( az, Mirzə Şəfi Vazeh; ) was an Azerbaijani poet and teacher. Under the pseudonym "Vazeh", which means "expressive, clear", he wrote in both Azerbaijani and Persian, developing the traditions of poetry in both languages ...

, Khachatur Abovyan and

Gabriel Sundukyan Gabriel Sundukian ( hy, Գաբրիել Սունդուկյան; 11 July 1825 – 29 March 1912) was an Armenian writer and playwright, the founder of modern Armenian drama.

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 rev ...

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 of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created out of the former territories of t ...

Mikhail Loris-Melikov Count Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov (, hy, Միքայել Լորիս-Մելիքյան; – 24 December 1888) was a Russian- Armenian statesman, General of the Cavalry, and Adjutant General of H. I. M. Retinue. The Princes of Lori - Lori ...

however decided to summon him to

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

and expel him to

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) 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 ...

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, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

in Voronezh.

Family

He was married three times: #

## Mehdigulu Khan Vafa ## 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)

Awards

Order of St. Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

, 3rd degree (1836) *

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

, 3rd degree (1837) *

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

, 4th class with bow (1838) * Gold saber with the inscription "For Bravery" (1841)

In popular media

* '' Sübhün səfiri (2012)'' — portrayed by Zaur Shafiyev * ''Paradise Under The Shade of Swords (1992)'' — portrayed by Vano Yantbelidze

Gallery

File:Khasay khan with his son Mekhiquli khan.jpg, Khasay Khan with his son Mehdigulu Khan Vafa File:An old building in Shushi.jpg, Utsmiev Palace in

Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govha ...

File:Prince Khasay Musaev Utsmiev.jpg, Portrait by

Grigory Gagarin Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin (russian: link=no, Григорий Григорьевич Гагарин, - ) was a Russian painter, Major General and administrator. His paternal grandparents were Prince Ivan Sergeievich Gagarin and wife. H ...

, 1840s File:Prince Khasay Utsmiev.jpg, Portrait by

, 1844

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Utsmiyev, Khasay Khan Kumyks Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery 1808 births 1867 deaths