Sulumbek of Sagopshi explained

Sulumbek Gandaloev
Native Name:ГӀоандалой Сулумбик
Native Name Lang:inh
Birth Date:1878
Birth Place:Sagopshi, Vladikavkazsky okrug, Terek Oblast, Russian Empire
Death Place:Vladikavkaz, Vladikavkazsky okrug, Terek Oblast, Russian Empire
Nationality:Ingush
Occupation:Abrek
Years Active:1900—1910
Known For:Bank and shop robberies
Nickname:Merciless, Menace to Tsarism

Sulumbek Gorovozhev (Gandaloev) or Sulumbek of Sagopshi (1878 – 1911) was an Ingush outlaw (abrek) who is known for his bank and shop robberies with his colleague and comrade Zelimkhan. The robberies were part of a conflict with the Russian authorities. He was involved in high-profile incidents associated with Zelimkhan. Sulumbek is a national hero to the Ingush people, as well as one of the most famous Caucasian abreks.

Biography

Background

Sulumbek was born in 1878 in the village of Sagopshi, Vladikavkazsky okrug of the Terek Oblast. He was Ingush by ethnicity. Sulumbek was the second child in his family. His father Gorozh was a muhacir who had emigrated to Ottoman Empire. Having returned to Ingushetia, he tried to return to Gandalbos but was denied entry by the Cossacks who settled in the village so he had to move to Sagopshi.

When the Gandaloev family had to feed a Russian bailiff, Sulumbek made fun of him by eating the whole lunch by himself. As a result, the bailiff decided to punish Sulumbek and began to write false denunciations against him to his superiors. Sulumbek could not stand it and one day, meeting a bailiff outside the village, he whipped him, for which he was immediately arrested and convicted. Sulumbek was jailed to Grozny Prison for 3 years. There he met his future comrade Zelimkhan. Together, they escaped the prison. Their acquaintance was described in the romance of Magomet Mamakaev, Zelimkhan as follows:

After his escape, Sulumbek killed the bailiff and, from that moment he became an abrek.

Abrek activity

Sulumbek began his abrek activities in 1900. He led series of raids in Nalchiksky and Vladikavkazsky okrugs, during which, he engaged in skirmishes with the Cossacks and Russian Military units. His bank and shop robberies were a part of a violent struggle with the Russian authorities. After Zelimkhan's father and brother Sultamurat, as well as the abreks of his cap, were killed by the, his younger brother, Ayub and Sulumbek remained with him for the longest time.

Sulumbek's comrade Zelimkhan received an insulting letter from Verbitsky, former ataman of the Kizlyarsky otdel. Because of that as well as in retaliation for the shooting of Chechens at the Gudermes bazaar and for the ruin of the Ingush village, Tsorkh, he decided to kill him. However, he was talked out from this. Zelimkhan instead decided to rob the Kizlyar treasury which at the same time would disgrace Verbitsky. Like typically, Zelimkhan warned the Russian authorities about his intentions beforehand. Preparing for the robbery, Zelimkhan created two detachments— the Chechen detachment in the village of Novye Atagi, led by Ayub Tomaev, and the Ingush one in the Nazran okrug, led by Sulumbek. The group successfully robbed the Treasury on 27 March. During the robbery, Ayub and Sulumbek killed 4 Russian officers and 7 soldiers.

Death

Russian authorities threatened to destroy his native village; having learned this, Sulumbek, through intermediaries, negotiated with the Russian authorities and agreed to surrender. He surrendered on the condition that he would be shot and not hanged, since a death by hanging was, for a Caucasian mountaineer, considered shameful and unacceptable. When such guarantees were promised to him, Sulumbek surrendered to the authorities on 4 November 1910. However, during the trial, the court sentenced him to death by hanging. The Russian newspaper Kavkazskaya Kopeyka described the last minutes of Sulumbek's life:

According to historian Petimat Akieva, the death of Sulumbek carried "the nature of political protest and struggle against power", which gave "[a]breks in the eyes of the people [...] an aura of national heroes".

In culture

Sulumbek is considered a national hero to the Ingush people, as well as a famous Caucasian outlaw.

In 2011, the Ingush writer Issa Kodzoev wrote a romance titled "Sulumbek Sagopshinsky". In 2019, director Leyla Gagieva shot the documentary film "Ingush Papakha", the first part of which is called "Abrek Sulumbek" and, among other things, describes the life and work of the abrek.[1] In the same year, A. Sakharov's published collection "Legends and Tales of the Ingush Mountains" included a poem by the author dedicated to Sulumbek.

Ossetian-born Soviet writer wrote about Sulumbek in 1926 as follows:

Folksongs about Sulumbek

The Chechen illi "Asir-Abrek. Chechen song", published in 1924 mentions Sulumbek.[2] In the Ingush illis, Sulumbek is glorified. In one of the illis, hidden regret is expressed that the Ingush still do not have effective laws that make it possible to really judge the deeds of a person:

Sources

English sources

Russian sources

Notes and References

  1. (2019-04-01)
  2. Book: Kosterin, A.. 1924. https://www.ruthenia.ru/sovlit/c/1017295.html. Асир-Абрек. Чеченская песня. Asir-Abrek. Chechen song. Ровесники: сборник содружества писателей революции "Перевал". Сборник № 1. Peers: a collection of the community of writers of the revolution "Pass". Collection № 1. ru. Moscow. Gos. izd-vo.

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