|
PART TWO Eight years had passed since Bastiko Pşımef’s death. The Russians had since placed western Caucasia under a tight military cordon. They had obstinately rebuilt the fortresses, which the Adiğes had destroyed during the final years of the famous Basti. Nevertheless they had not been able to establish any effective control in the hinterland. The confrontation had continued in general in the form of border clashes. The Russian troops attempting to infiltrate deeper had been repulsed at each time. Şayze, Basti Pşımef’s widow, though physically healthy, emotionally had had a distressing life. The uneasiness caused by uninterrupted state of war, sequential bereavements, and sickness had rendered her old age unbearably hard to sustain. Her elder brother Geriyiko Ali and her cousin Şemız too had been frustrated by the protracted warfare. The leading members of the grand Indar Family had either fallen in the battle fields or had died away in sorrow and frustration. Presently the younger generation of the family followed their path. No one could predict where they would stop. Major changes had taken place in the Basti district at the coast. During the past eight years since the demise of Pşımef. Natho Melah, Koce Eşav, Yeftale Famok’s widow Sirse, Pşımef’s sister Nefıj and Biyenko Bital’s widow Haçegoş had passed away in bed one after the other. A dozen of the youth, who had gone out to fight the enemy, never returned. Nogay Ali and Topal Rıza, two the old servants of the household, too died during the winter of the same year when Pşımef died., as if they could not stand life without him. Pşılı 1 Samir and Şeril, the elder son of Pşılı Ortan, were still at the service of the family. Thanks to their loyal attachment that Şayze could stay tranquil. Her younger son Bastiko Osman was another source of satisfaction to her. The young Basti, never deemed warfare as a fact of life. To him, hostility in the absence of a reasonable balance of strength between the sides involved, was absurd. He had been convinced that he would not be able to persuade anyone else to believe so. He had witnessed his father trying in vain to persuade his colleagues to go in for a peaceful settlement. So he opted not to directly involve in action. Nevertheless her demonstrated his solidarity with the community by providing the fighters with material support. He let them have free of cost all what he could obtain from the traders in weapons. Osman was good both in business and in agriculture. He availed his time in his occupations and in his family. His world outlook was distinctly different than that of his elder brother Ahmet. At times they quarreled. Bastiko Ahmet was set to gain his father’s position in the community. Following the demise of Ali and Şemız, his maternal elders, he was convinced that his turn for leadership of the Adiğe community on the coast had come. He considered himself as a leader. He was used to lead the youth of the Basti quarters, join forces with Karabatır, and assail the Russian positions. In the process many of the young men had been killed. Osman always opposed his brother’s conduct. He contended that Ahmet could do what he pleased to; but he ought to let the people in the household alone. In fact the attributes of leadership no longer existed in the Basti family. The same fact applied in the case of the Basti Family proper in the Psıfabe Valley. They had lost their erstwhile grandeur. Due to the Russian incursions, the Çığızaç village was no longer a secure place to live in. The Psıfabe branch of the Bastis, therefore, had abandoned their age old home in the village; and had moved out to Çemko.2 In recent years contact between the Bastis in the Psıfabe Valley and those on the coast had gradually become less frequent. The youger generation Bastis hardly knew each other. They were only aware of each other’s existence. Bastiko Ahmet acted as the representative of Zanıko Karabatır in Tsemez. It was quite normal for Ahmet to support his own brother-in-law. Besides; he took pride in being a son-in-law to the celebrated Adiğe leader, Zanıko Sefer Bey. Şayze and Osman had not been perturbed over Ahmed’s conduct alone. Sefer Bey’s daughter Hangoş was no longer the docile bride Şayze and Osman had been used to. Parallel to her husband, she too had grown haughty and poised to impose her own authority on the females in the neighborhood. Osman’s wife Shurun though had grown up as an orphan, had been brought up under the care of Goşemıd and Şayze, both ladies of vision. May be not of a noble background as Hangoş, Shurun was by no mean inferior to her.
The rivalry between the two young ladies escalated beyond the tolerance
of a patient lady as Şayze.
For the first time she frowned. She told them that after her death they were to become the Goşe3 of the household, and strongly reminded them that they ought to deserve the position. She went on, - Remember! Your husbands are my sons. It would be a great shame to you two as Adiğe women if you were to fail to put up well. It would involve default in being respectful. I would not expect my daughter-in-laws commit such a grave mistake. O0O Basti Osman existed in two different worlds at the same time. One was a happy life full of satisfaction; the other was fraught with sorrow and frustration. The war and its consequences formed his unhappy existence. Each year the Russians built a new fortress or a stronghold on the coast in addition to the ones they had already set up there. They steadily enhanced there military capability year by year. In Pşat and Gelincik they had established two major marshaling areas, surround with stone walls, within which there were barracks, storage’s and arsenals. A church towered in the center of each of the fortresses. The Fort Şepsin, eight miles inland relative to Pşat, had been rebuilt each time it was destroyed by the Adiğe forces. The Fort Şasi, to the north on the Bay of Tesemez, too had been destroyed twice; and each time was rebuilt soon afterwards. Fort Anapa had been strongly fortified, and was guarded by a powerful garrison. The fortresses of Nicholay, Mazgah and Subastir along the Abın Stream had been like daggers hacked at the heart of the Şapsığ land. These were enviously guarded. The Russian strategy had been aimed at dividing the Adiğe homeland into two, eastern and the western sectors; severing all connection between them. The enemy strongholds referred to above virtually encircled the Bay of Tsemez, where Bastiko Osman lived. The farthest of the Russian fortresses was at a distance of two or three days of horse-ride from Tsemez. Tsemez had been the only place in the area where the Russians could not hold on, despite repeated attacks. They kept it under constant surveillance. The Russian warships appeared on the horizon of the Bay of Tsemez as soon as the Black Sea calmed down in the spring, and patrolled in the off shore waters all through the summer. Basti Osman, a pacifist in principle, was annoyed at the sight of the warships. At times a steamer or a large sailboat would anchor in the entrance of the Bay, where it would stay motionless for days. At times a fleet would turn up there and block the entry in to the Bay. At such instances the young fighters used to take position on the hills behind, covered by dense forests. Each armed with a loaded matchlock and sheltered behind a tree, ready to fire. They would stay there for hours, and some times for days. The young Basti would watch in distress the unequal show of force. He could neither join the Adiğe fighters, nor could afford to desert them. Every morning and evening he carried bread and water to the boys on duty. He consoled himself, murmuring, “That is all I possibly could do!” What made Osman happy, however, were the apparently simple daily routine. Notwithstanding the blockade of the Russian Navy he sustained business, cultivated the land, and maintained domestic animals. The Russians, while paying lip service to the Peace Agreement with the Ottoman Government, continued to undermine Caucasia’s trade through the sea. Commercial vessels, which appeared in the Caucasian shores, were harassed by the Russians on the pretext of searching for contraband goods. They seized, all kinds of merchandise, and in certain cases arrested the crew and sunk the vessels. Notwithstanding the hazards involved, daring Turkish and Caucasian seamen maintained navigation between the Turkish mainland and Caucasia, risking their life. The seamen had developed methods to bypass Russian blockade. They unloaded the cargo at Abhazya, close to Anatolian shores; to be transshipped it northwards either overland or by sea on lighter sails capable of navigating close to the shore at night and hide in daylight. It was not an easy job by any means. The parties involved in such transactions had no assurances to give to one another. Mutual confidence and mutual solidarity against the common enemy were the only guaranty on which the transactions rested. Osman was one of the merchants involved in this kind of business. His father and his relatives had been doing the same for many years. He was following their example. Some times he was ashamed of not having joined the fighters; was guilty conscious. Nevertheless; his preoccupation was as important as fighting was. Through barter trade he helped people to procure their urgent needs. He supplied gunpowder, bullets and similar other items to the fighters. The achievements of his employees pleased him. On every occasion he congratulated and rewarded them for their success. Such were the occasions when he enjoyed life. He would laugh, and enjoy talking. He would tell his men, - The Russians attempted to deny our people a handful of salt, among other things. And you have undone it. More importantly, you have lent our people the energy to resist the enemy further on for some time. The district where Osman lived had been built, long before his birth, by his father Pşımef and his five courageous friends- Yeftale Famok, Bjafe Pezad, Koce Eşav and Serkuse Aşa. His grandmother Goşemıd had been their source of inspiration and guidance. Natho Melah and Biyenko Bital, also from Psıfabe, had joined them later on. They had thus laid down the foundations of a dignified Psıfabe colony amongst the proud residents of the coast. The Psıfabe colony had felt at home only after Bastiko Pşımef’s marriage with a daughter of the Geriyikos, the most prominent family in the coast. They had earned every thing the hard way. They had fought in the forefront if and when needed. Yeftale Famok had been drowned in the River Kuban in the aftermath of a confrontation with the enemy. Yaftale Famok was the first casualty suffered by the Psıfabe colony. Osman’s father, Bastiko Pşımef, by virtue of his fair conduct and wisdom, had earned an esteemed place for himself among the leading personalities of the coast. At the same time he had been preoccupied in trading and supervised the crowded colony in the best possible manner. Osman was well aware of the long background of the colony and the Basti Family. He had listened, at numerous occasions, the family elders narrating the story of how they had come from the Psıfabe Valley and had settled down in the coast. The first generations of the settlers from the Psıfabe Valley, though not all of them belonged to the Basti family, had managed to exist in cohesion. The next generation, however, was the product of intermarriages within and outside the Psıfabe colony. Koce Eşav was a nephew of Goşemıd, Pşımef’s mother. Pşımef’s sister, Nefıj, was married to Serkuse Asha. Pşımef’s son Osman, Bjafe Pezad’s son Musa, and Koce Eşav’s son Neov happened to be brother-in-laws by virtue their marriage with the daughters of Yeftale Famok. Similar matrimonial relations had been established between the Pşılı4 families within the Psıfabe colony. Thus the various families comprising the Psıfabe colony in the coast had mostly become relatives to one anther through intermarriages. Given that the Adiğe traditions ruled out marriage of individuals having blood relationship, the third generation had been compelled to look outside the colony for their spouses to be. Hence; Serkuse Asha’s elder daughter Kubihan, Bjafe Pezad’s daughter Hafidze, and Koce Eşav’s second daughter Asiye; were married to boys in the Kutak village outside the Psıfabe colony. Similarly; Yeftale Famok’s second son Hamız, and Serkuse Asha’s son Hüseyin too married with girls from outside the colony. His friends called Hüseyin by his nickname “Kuyuzuko”. So he was better know as such. Being cousins, Osman and Hüseyin used to put up with one another very well. The first generation regarded Basti Pşımef as the unquestionable leader of the colony. Members of the second generation were attached to Osman rather than to his elder brother Ahmet. For Ahmet was practically a wanderer. He seldom could be found in the colony. The order that had been established by Bastiko Pşımef at the start was maintained throughout. The unity of purpose, and the sense of common destiny, were sustained. The misery caused by the prolonged war rather enhanced soldiery and mutual reliance among the members of the colony. To forestall any possible friction, Pşımef had seen to it that everyone had his own house. He had distributed the available land. Nevertheless there were certain things that had be done jointly. Hence a sort of voluntary cooperative labor had been introduced in the colony. They grazed their domestic animals, cultivated their lands, and harvested the yield jointly. Ali Mirza’s son Sülemiş and Topal Rıza’s son Neil attended, along with other children, the school run by Albek Hoca and Hasan Efendi. The two Nogay boys had learned basic Islam, and reading of the Holy Qur’an at an early age. Incidentally; during the final days of Bastiko Pşımef, Sülemiş and Neil had begun teaching the colony children. Now the two were grown mature persons. Basti Osman was regarded as the most pious person in the district. Unless otherwise required, he offered the obligatory five times prayers at the mosque as conducted by Sülemiş, now the Imam of the district. Nebil was the Müezzin.5 Osman enjoyed his enchanting voice. The knowledge possessed by Sülemiş and Nebil was limited to what they had learnt from Albek Hoca and Hasan Efendi. And that was enough for Osman to be satisfied with. Notwithstanding the petty disputes between Hamgoş and Skurun, the wives of the Basti brothers, the female life in the colony had been more colorful. The recent dreadful events had not suppressed their womanly sentiments. They accomplished many a jobs together. They exercised mutual assistance in such jobs as laundering and baking. The wool used on the textile hand-looms in the colony was washed, combed, and spun by the dexterous hands of the same females. In the process they chatted together, educated the youger ones of their kind, and repeated one by one the standards of behavior as developed in consonance with the traditions. Whenever it came to the topic of marriage, the young girls would feel shy and run away. The elders then changed the topic. They mostly talked about the battles, famous heroes, and popular leaders. The young girls would sing folk songs on legendary heroes. Fresh melodies were added to those centuries old. The more recent songs and stories were rather gloomy. The ones more sentimental among them would sob as they listened. Basti Osman’s wife, Skurun, was the most respected among the females in the colony, though she was junior in age to her sisters and her sister-in-law. Her eldest sister, Karej, was an authoritative person; while her elder sister, Nefin, was compliant like her husband, Bjafe Musa. Both sisters never envied Skurun. They did their best to ensure her happiness. Skurun had been impressed in her childhood by Goşemıd; while Şayze tempered her youth. She had been a major source of comfort to her bereaved mother, Sirse, when her father, Yeftale Famok drowned in Kuban. Skurun’s character, therefore, had been molded by the salient characteristics of three females, who had important part in her training. She received authority and discipline from Goşemıd, patience and understanding from Şayze, and love and affection from her own mother. All these virtues had shaped her personality in balanced proportions. Osman was in his late twenties; but he looked much older to his age. He generally had been quiescent and meditative. It reflected his inner world as being fraught with anxiety. Skurun had been conscious of the mental condition of her husband. She knew the factors responsible for his worries. She feared that a catastrophe might follow in the near future. Often at night she phantomed footsteps in the courtyard, and stayed sleepless for hours, listening to outside. The other females of the colony also had similar foreboding. Skurun concealed her own premonition from others. She tried to dispel their anxiety by trying to appease them. Skurun and Osman had three children- one son and two daughters. She expected her fourth child. She had been particularly worried about the future of her children. Her sleeping habit was disturbed by time due to added anxieties. Her five years old son Kadir was fond of Pşılı Kundey. Most of the time he was with Kundey, who had begun helping him learn riding at so an early age. Skurun was alarmed to see her little son riding. She feared he too would one day join the fighting men. Notwithstanding the depressive condition caused by the prevalent anxieties, there was something that lent Osman, his wife, and other members of the colony the stamina to struggle for existence. It was the will to exist, the hope that soothed their troubled heart. O0O Basti Osman was against war; but he was helpless; for there was nothing that he could do to stop it. He was afraid that others would severely react to his opinion. Osman was in his early youth when his father was at the prime of his popularity. He had the opportunity to listen his father speaking. He had grasped the essence of what he meant to say. His father’s message was by no means complicated. It was clear and simple enough to be understood by persons at any age and at any level. Basti Pşımef had been trying to bring home that Russia was a super power; that she maintained hundred-thousand strong armies, which were constantly reinforced both in terms of munitions and manpower; while the strength of the Adiğes was limited. To sustain a state of belligerency with no reasonable balance of strength was nothing but folly. It was out right nonsense. It meant suicide. At least it was tantamount to causing death and misery of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Besides; the Adiğes were divided. Furthermore; there was no hope of receiving substantive help from anywhere in the world; and there was no doubt about it. Under the circumstances, therefore, there was no alternative to make peace with the enemy. Peace was better than being annihilated. At least it meant gaining time. Osman had been imbued with his father’s views as such in his early youth; and regarded it as absolutely correct.
The ideas which he had inherited from his father had in effect driven
him into isolation. It had also caused him being at loggerheads with
his elder brother, Ahmet.
Ahmet had left home for Adegum several days in advance, urging him to take part in the Meeting as a representative from Tsemez. He had complied with his brother’s request so a not to offend him. Osman was, however, excited by the proceeding of the Adegum Meeting, and the speeches made there. He reckoned confirmation of Muhammed Emin as the Naib and the Commander-in-Chief as an exceptional feat. Osman had received it as an important step towards the realization of one of his father’s aspirations. His father, for the whole of this active life, had been urging the Adiğes to “rally under a unified command”. His appeal had not been not heeded. “Could it be that now a stranger from outside materialized my father’s dream”, conjectured Osman. Osman was back from Adegum highly excited. He first confided her aged mother. He narrated her the whole of what happened at Adegum; and inferred, “May be something good is going to happen!” Osman, unaware of what Ahmet and Karabatır thought about the whole affair, was highly optimistic. In their absence he generously complimented the two for their ostensible contribution to the endeavor. He said, - Nan!6 This time I liked them. They performed very well this time. The Adiğes, for the first time have agreed to unite. Şayze gazed at her son and smiled. She was happy to know that her sons’ approach had converged at least on one point. The episode ushered a new period in Osman’s life. He was relieved of his frustrated mood. He continually watched the Naib, though from a distance. He prayed for his success. Osman told his associates that Muhammed Emin was a virtuous, intelligent and courageous person. Provided with the support he needed, the Naib could carry the Adiğes to victory, Osman advocated. O0O Muhammed Emin was indeed an intelligent and capable person. He had a strong will power. In two years he was proficient in Adiğe language. He could speak it flawless. He grasped the geography of the region, and was familiar with the nature and the sensitivities of the people. He had a marvelous stamina. He continually traveled, visiting the country from one end to the other. At each stop he had appropriate things to say to the local audience. He was an excellent speaker. He virtually enchanted his audience. He knew how to persuade people. Muhammed Emin wouldn’t while away the opportunities at hand. The former leaders would set out to attack the Russian lines no sooner they gathered a few men around. Muhammed Emin , however, wouldn’t dash at the enemy, even though he could rally a thirty to forty thousand strong force at any given time. He was set not to act unless the Russians attacked. His priority was to consolidate the foundations of national unity. He wished to avail the prevailing calmness in aligning the Adiğe peoples around the common axis of the faith. His efforts had begun yielding positive results within one year. The entire Adiğe people had rallied under his iron will. In the mean time he had organized a one-thousand strong gendarme force, each unit being commanded by a local leader. Thus he was able to woo the local leaders, on one hand; and managed to curb domestic lawlessness, on the other. He set up judicial tribunals to function in conjunction with the gendarme, which received popular concent. The judges issued verdicts in accordance with the Islamic tenants and the mandates of the traditions, as deemed appropriate. There was little disgruntlement on account of the taxation introduced by Muhammed Emin. An Adiğe treasury was in the making for the first time. The revenue collected directly had comforted the administration. A gunpowder factory and several arsenals had been set up. There had been a good number of guns out of use in the coastal region. Some had been abandoned by the Ottomans, and the rest had been captured from the Russians. These were overhauled and repaired. Gun-men were trained to use the weapons when the time came. Understandably; implementation of the plans designed didn’t come by easily. It was not welcomed in the first instance by the people. The leaders, pushed into the background, were disgruntled; were prone to find fault with the initiatives taken; and indulged in subversive propaganda against the Naib, playing up his uncompromising attitude with respect to religion. Muhammed Emin had miscalculated the situation. He wrongly had taken the general atmosphere of compliance as unconditional submission on the part of the people. He therefore, had made a rash decision to implement certain measures, which he had deferred to an opportune time. He untimely embarked upon implementing the measure throughout the country at once, rather than selecting a pilot area to experiment them first. The Naib had been educated by Imam Şamil. He was an adherent of the Imam’s school of Muridism. He attempted to implement in Adigey the same model as had been applied in Dagistan and Çeçenistan. He issued a directives addressed to the regional leaders and the Kadis to the same end. That proved the last drop to cause the glass to overflow. The Christian Ubihs and the Şapsığ highlander rebelled, ambushed and killed the gendarme squads, and raided the Regional Tribunals and arrested several Kadis. The Naib, though highly incensed, was able to control his rage. He retracted, declaring that his instructions had been misinterpreted. He publicly admitted that the Adiğe customs and traditions were in force, that at there was nothing overriding them. His power of persuasion once again restored peace and order. Although appeared lenient in the beginning, Muhammed Emin didn’t forgive the recalcitrant. Once peace had been fully restored, he got the culprits apprehended one by one. They were prosecuted, and most of them were punished. Muhammed Emin had been well on his way. He was lucky as much he was resourceful. During the period the Russian right flank was commanded by General Cereberakoff. He belonged to an Armenian merchant family in Adigey. He was educated at a Russian school in Taman. In his boyhood, when Anapa was still under Ottoman control, Cereberakoff had served for the Ottoman Army. He had been a private interpreter to the commanding office of the fort. While serving at Fort Anapa, he had made friendship with a number of Turks and Adiğes. He changed side when Anapa was over-run by the Russians. Subsequently he was recruited in the Russian army, to be rewarded with quick promotions. General Cereberakoff was familiar with the Caucasians. He knew by experience that the Caucasians, once persuaded, could turn to dependable allies. Hence, he contended, it would be ill advised to hard-press them to submission. Cereberakoff persuaded his superiors. Accordingly he maintained a defensive posture, except reinforcing the fortresses under his command. The pacifist stance of General Cereberakoff had indeed was a good luck to the Naib. It provided him with peaceful time he so badly needed to organize and build up. 1A vassal or
a servant of the Bey.
|