The foundations of this militant state were laid on the rock of religious fanaticism, the cleft between the two sects of Omar and Ali having been finally cemented together in the new faith of the Sufis. This great work was begun by the predecessors of Schamyl, but to him is due the credit of having carried it on to perfection, until now the war of sects has been completely merged in the war against the common enemy, and hatred of the "blonde unbelievers" is synonymous with love of Allah and faith in the Prophet. Of this united church Schamyl is the head, he is acknowledged as the second great prophet and Allah's vicegerent, appointed to defeat his enemies and to maintain the liberty originally granted by him to the sons of the mountains. Twice in the year he is believed to hold direct communications with heaven, retiring for that purpose to the privacy of his inner apartments, or the solitude of some cave or retreat among the rocks. There for three weeks he performs his priestly worship with fasting, prayer, and the reading of the Koran, until at length he beholds in a vision the spirit of the Prophet descending out of heaven in the form of a dove, and receives from it the divine commands. On returning from his place of seclusion he delivers these to the assembled congregation of his murids and murschids, and exhorts them with the rapt eloquence of a messenger come directly from God to persevere in the holy war against the Muscovites. Awed by the solemn tones of his voice and by the almost supernatural shining of his countenance, the congregation accepts his words as the inspiration of the Almighty, and bows itself in prayer. Then going out of the mosque he chants a verse from the Koran, and harangues the multitude outside, who thereupon sing a hymn which is half a battle song, and drawing their shaskas swear anew fealty to the faith, and eternal hate against Russia. And finally, the ceremony over, all separate amid shouts of, "God is great; Mahomet is his first prophet; and Schamyl his second!"
The territory over which Schamyl bears rule is divided into provinces, districts, and aouls. A convenient number of aouls forms a district, and five districts a province. Over the latter are set governors who have a control in things both spiritual and temporal which is wellnigh supreme; but for the rightful exercise of which they are answerable to the Imam with their lives. Next in authority are the chiefs of districts, who are called naibs, and whose duties consist in maintaining a supervision over the inhabitants, collecting the revenues, raising recruits, settling feuds, and enforcing due obedience to the law of the scharyat. Finally, in every aoul resides a cadi, or elder, who is required to make reports to his naib of all important occurrences, to keep the peace, to deliver up persons accused of crimes, to promulgate the orders and proclamations of his superiors, and to keep swift horses constantly standing saddled and bridled for the instant despatch of messengers of State.
Every naib, moreover, is bound to maintain in his district an armed force of three hundred riders, to be raised in the manner following. Every ten houses furnish a warrior, the family from whom he is taken being free of all taxes during his lifetime, and the other nine being at the expense of his equipment and maintenance. This soldier is to be ready to march at the minute, and may not lay aside his arms even at night. In addition, every male from fifteen years of age to fifty is liable to be called out for the defence of his aoul, or, in extraordinary cases, for active service in the army. At the same time the horseman of every ten houses takes command of the men on foot from those houses.
Separate from his standing army Schamyl has also a guard constantly attached to his person, which is made up by selection from his murids. They are called by way of distinction Murtosigators. Into their number none are admitted save warriors of well-tried valor, zealous for the faith taught by the murschids, and devoted partisans of the Imam. Called to the high office of guarding the person of their prophet, they must keep themselves pure from whatever in the world might tempt them to a neglect of duty, or even make life too dear to them. If unmarried, they must remain so; if married, they must have no intercourse with their families. They must exercise temperance in living, and strictly keep the scharyat. The extension of the new faith, the maintenance of the supremacy of the Imam, and the triumph of his arms over his enemies, must be the aim of their every thought and endeavor.
In number the murtosigators are about one thousand, and are organized on the decimal system, every ten having a leader, and every ten leaders again a superior, as is the case also in the regular army. They receive a regular monthly pay, besides a share in all spoils. In time of comparative peace, while one half of them keep watch over the life of the imam, rendering access to him a matter of extreme difficulty, the other half act as lay preachers of his political Sufism; and in time of actual war, they are the soul of his army, caring not for their lives but only for his, leading the raid, covering the retreat, a strong wall of defence around the faithful, and the terror of the enemy, by whom not one of them has ever been taken alive.
In imitation of the grades of office in the Russian armies, Schamyl established a difference of rank among his own chieftains. Three of his most eminent partisans received titles corresponding to those of generals; and a number of his murids, especially the chiefs of the murtosigators, were made captains. At the same time these high officers were distinguished by decorations after the European fashion. The generals were authorized to wear on each breast stars of silver; the captains had silver plates of an oval form; and the chiefs of the guard who had distinguished themselves by acts of extraordinary heroism were presented with medals bearing complimentary inscriptions in the Arabic character. There were also various other rewards of military merit established, such as epaulettes of beaten silver, daggers with silver hilts, and ensigns decorated with fine needle-work. And to correspond with these marks of honorable distinction were instituted badges of disgrace, such as the patch sewed on the back, and the rag tied around the right arm. Finally, a system of military punishments was introduced, comprising various fines, imprisonment, and death.
For a revenue Schamyl does not depend, like his predecessors, on the fifth of the booty taken from the enemy, and the fines imposed for violations of the scharyat, but has introduced a regular system of taxation. A poll-tax to the amount of a silver rouble, or its value in kind, is levied on every family; one tenth of the produce of the land goes into the public treasury; the property of every person dying without direct heirs, falls to the government; and the wealth accumulated in the mosques and shrines, consisting of the gifts of the pious, has been applied to the uses of the State, the mollahs receiving regular pay in exchange, and the wandering dervishes, who lived on voluntary contributions, having either been incorporated into the army or driven out of the country. Economical in the use of his revenues and living himself in a style of simplicity scarcely superior to that of his comrades in arms, the Imam has accumulated considerable funds, and is known to have deposited in secret places in the woods of Andi and Itchkeria treasures of gold, precious stones, and various valuables. The sinews of his war are not indeed gold and silver, but love of freedom and hatred of the infidel; still he understand as well as the rulers of countries more civilized, that riches are a strong ally; and moreover he can neither issue paper-money nor live by borrowing. But while he has wisely laid up in store for the conduct of the war and the upholding of his government whatever could be saved by frugal and simple living, he has always dealt out with a liberal hand the means necessary for rewarding acts of extraordinary valor or self sacrifice, for making converts to the faith of the Sufis, or for winning over to his side a hostile tribe or chieftain.
The mountaineers acknowledging the rule of Schamyl do not number more than about six hundred thousand, the entire population of the Caucasus being estimated at a million and a half. The forces of the Imam have never exceeded twenty thousand. On the other hand, the Russian army in the mountains during the last dozen years has consisted of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand men of all arms. These have been distributed indeed throughout both Cis and Trans-Caucasia, a portion of them being occupied in vainly endeavoring to conquer the Circassians proper in the western extremity of the mountains, but a greater proportion, say from fifty to one hundred thousand, being concentrated along the line of the Tchetchenian and Lesghian highlands. According to the Russian ordnance accounts of the year 1840, their total expenditure of artillery cartridges was 11,344, and of musket cartridges 1,206,675. Large expenditure, and small result.