NEW ARABIC SOURCES ON THE HISTORY OF RELATIONSHIP OF SHAMKHAL MAHDI-KHAN TARKOVSKY AND BIYBULAT TAIMIEV

Within the framework of the article, the authors for the first time introduce into scientific circulation the correspondence between Shamkhal Mahdi Khan Tarkovsky, his nephew Khan Muhammad-bek and Qadi Abdulkarim al-Atagi (from the village of Atagi), dedicated to the conclusion of a political alliance between Shamkhal and the authoritative Chechen foreman Biybulat Taimiev. The correspondence, reconstructed by the authors on the basis of the newly discovered five letters of its participants, shows the complexity and contradictory views of the subjects of negotiations on their goals and objectives, as well as the ambiguous position of their active participant and mediator - qadi s. Big Atagi Abdulkarim. In addition, the letters included in this correspondence reflect the historical and political views of Mahdi Khan as an integral part of his political program to restore the former power of Tarkov shamkhalism. The published letters significantly clarify the details and mechanisms of interaction between Shamkhal Mahdi Khan and Biybulat Taimiev and other influential figures in Chechnya. The analysis of the content of the letters being analyzed is based on textual, paleographic and historical-comparative methods of analysis. The article also reveals the political context of the studied correspondence.