Caucasus war victims commemorated in Dagestan

A cultural-and-historical complex “Achoulgo” commemorating those who died in the Caucasus War was opened in Dagestan.

The memorial sits on the Achoulgo mountain in the republic’s Untsukul District and consists of a signal tower that is 17 meter tall, and an exhibition hall featuring copies of Franz Roubaud’s panoramic painting “Storming of Achoulgo”, as well as portraits of statesmen and military figures from the Caucasus War time.

Leader of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov and State Duma members among others attended the opening ceremony.

“We need to overcome the negative consequences of the conflicts of the past and to amplify our potential for cooperation and mutual understanding,” Abdulatipov said. “We need not only to perpetuate our collective memory and destiny, but also to strengthen the unity of our homeland, to raise the young generation in the realization that we are members of one state. This is the purpose the memorial is meant to serve.”

The storming of Achoulgo made history as one the most decisive battles of the Caucasus War. In July-August 1839, the Russian army stormed the fortress of Achoulgo that had served, until then unassailably, as headquarters for Imam Shamil. Up to a thousand fortress defenders and 600 Russian soldiers died in the battle.

As a result of the Caucasian War (1817—1864), mountainous areas of the North Caucasus were merged into Russia. Hundreds of thousands of local highlanders, mostly Circassians, were forced to leave their ancestral lands after refusing to accept the Russian rule.