Eldar Ismailov: "Azerbaijanis wore awards for serving in imperial convoy proudly"

This year, the researcher, genealogist, full-fledged member of the International Academy of Genealogy Eldar Ismailov's book 'Azerbaijanis in the convoy of Russian emperors' was published. The book tells about the history, traditions, stationing, selection principles and personnel of one of the His Imperial Majesty's Own convoy's units - a team of Muslims, which was formed in 1839 and in 856 became the 4th (Muslim) platoon of Life Guards Caucasian Squadron of the His Imperial Majesty's Own convoy. For 42 years, until the abolition of the Life Guards Caucasian Squadron of the His Imperial Majesty's Own convoy in 1881, Azerbaijanis served in this division of the Russian Guard. A considerable part of the book is focused on biographical essays of officers, as well as lower ranking soldiers serving in the team and a platoon of Muslims: more than 200 lower ranking soldiers from the ranks of this unit were made officers of the Russian army.

Today, Eldar Ismailov ' visited the studio of Vestnik Kavkaza and talked about writing this book and features of the service of Azerbaijanis in the imperial convoy.

- Let's start with you telling us about your work with sources.

- My main sources are archival materials. 70-80% of this book's materials are documents of the Russian State Military Historical Archive and other archives, including the city archives of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the National Archive Department of Azerbaijan. As well as publications of military historians of the 19th century and more recent ones.

Most illustrations are from the collection of the Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature in Baku. Unique photos relating specifically to the convoy were identified there. In addition, I used photographs already published in other scientific journals and materials from the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive located in Krasnogorsk.

- Your book says that, starting from the 1830s, mainly Russian officers were in charge of the Muslim cavalry, but already by the 1870sб Muslims, in particular Azerbaijanis, were also among officers. When did this transition take place and why?

- Muslim horse regiments were regular units created in the Caucasus during the period of military actions. That is, they were recruited for certain military campaigns. After the cessation of hostilities, the Muslim horse regiments were mainly disbanded. In the Russian army, mainly professional military men were in charge of regiments, that is, those who had gone through a certain military school. For the period when Muslim horse regiments were formed (late 1820s - early 1830s), there was no professional military in the Russian army among Azerbaijanis. The officer corps included Azerbaijanis, but it was Russian officers, military professional officers, who were in charge of regiments.

The change occurred in the second half of the 19th century. People from the Caucasus, including Azerbaijanis, began to enter military schools. They received training, finished military schools, colleges; their career was connected precisely with the army. Having passed a certain school, they could be in charge of regiments. This was at the time of the 1877 Russian-Turkish war. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were a sufficient number of such professional soldiers among those who came from the Caucasus, including Azerbaijanis.

- There were cases in the history of the Russian imperial army when lower ranking adherents of a different faith were awarded St. George's crosses. However, not many officers among them were awarded the Order of St. George. In your book you mention several officers awarded the Order of St. George. In particular, Hasan Bey Agalarov was awarded the Order of St. George of the Fourth class for suppressing the 1848-1849 Hungarian revolution. Can it be regarded as a sign of special respect for merits of people from Transcaucasia?

- The history of the Order of St. George occupies a special place in the Russian award system. This is the most honorable military order in the Russian Empire. Its lower class is the Decoration of the Military Order of Saint George, which was renamed the Cross of St. George in 1913. It was established for the lower ranks, that is, non-officers.

The Order of St. George is officer's award. About 10 years ago I published a book in Moscow titled 'Azerbaijanis - holders of the St. George Cross'. It describes the biography and history of service in the Russian imperial army. These were 19 people. 19 Azerbaijani officers of Russian army were awarded the Order of St. George of the Fourth class. Three of them were awarded the Order of St. George of the Third class. This is the highest award received by immigrants of Muslim origin from the Caucasus. In the entire history of this order, only four military leaders ( the Third class is a fairly high degree, the so-called general order) were awarded the Order of the Third class, and three of them were Azerbaijanis. And the first of them was awarded this order in the rank of lieutenant colonel. It was nonsense for the Russian imperial army.

- You mentioned that many Azerbaijanis, who served in the imperial convoy, could stay in military service. In particular, Javad-Khan Shirvansky, who joined the  Caucasian-Gorski half-squadron, ended up serving in the famous Life-Guards Hussar Regiment. Can we say that the service in the imperial convoy was a kind of social elevator for many immigrants from Azerbaijani people?

- You are right, it was a certain 'social elevator'. The service of Azerbaijanis in the convoy was unique because Muslims were not subject to military conscription. They were not called out for active military service, I mean lower ranking soldiers. Regular regiments, regular units were formed locally in the Caucasus for the period of hostilities, and then were disbanded.

The convoy is the regular part of the Life Guards, that is, the Guards unit. Many people from Azerbaijan, Georgia and the North Caucasus could join this unit and serve in St. Petersburg. A period of four years was set for the lower ranks in this unit. After this time, initially they were made to the cornets of cavalry, that is, they get a commission. It was up to them to decide their fate. They could continue the service, having shown desire, abilities, or could return to their homes in the Caucasus. The situation changed in 1869, only those who had passed the exams could be commissioned as cornet in cavalry divisions. Having passed the exams, he became a cornet and was transferred to certain regiments of the regular Russian army. Those who did not pass the exam were transferred to the police ensigns - these are the same irregulars. Their fate can be also different. They could continue their military service as warrant officers and rise to some new heights, or could remain with this rank until the end of life. Many of them have joined the ranks of Caucasian officials, police officials, Transcaucasian guards. Others continued service in the regular regiments, there are interesting names, interesting personalities among them.

- Many Russian officers were interested in the culture of the mountaineers in the years of the Caucasian war, in particular, they wore their national clothing. How do you describe relations of the Azerbaijani irregular cavalry with the Russian military units?

- Judging by the memories of Russian officers, as relationships between coworkers. Enough flattering memories about it were left in memoirs.

- Your book says that Ali-Mardan Topchibashi's father served in the imperial convoy. Could his relative's service in the imperial convoy influence Topchibashi's fate and political views?

- It couldn’t influence political views, because Topchebashi was at a very young age when his father passed away. But it probably influenced his further life. When enrolling the St. Petersburg University, it was taken in account that your father was an officer, and not just an officer, but served in a convoy.

He served in the convoy four years like others, and then continued to serve in the Caucasus, seconded to the Caucasian Cossack units. The topic of the descendants of the ranks who served in the convoy is a separate topic for research. For example, the parents of the First State Duma's deputy Ibrahim-Bek Gaidarov, who later emigrated to Turkey, served in the convoy. Rashid Behbutov's ancestor also served in the convoy. That is, it is a separate topic for research.

- How do you generally assess Azerbaijanis' service in the Russian imperial convoy?

- Reviews of this service are preserved in memories, in service records, which are published, and in the awards, which they wore proudly, I think.