The Caucasian territory, which nominally forms one of the provinces of Russia, is bounded on the north by the rivers Kouba and Kouma, on the south by the Araxes, on the west by the Black Sea, and on the east by the Caspian Sea. It formerly consisted of the provinces of Georgia, Imeritia, Mingrelia, Circassia, Daghestan, Shirvan, and Caucasus. Its two principal divisions at present under the Russian government are the Caucasian province, of which Stavropol is the capital, and Transcaucasia, in which the principal city is Tiflis, the capital of Georgia. By an imperial ukase issued in the year 1846, Transcaucasia was further divided for the administration of its affairs into the four governments of Derbend, Shemaka, Kutais, and Tiflis. The principal tribes inhabiting the Caucasus are the Georgians, Imeritians, and Mingrelians of the race of Kartvel, the Midsheghi or Kists, the Lesghians, the Turks or Tatars, the Armenians, the Abasians, the Tscherkessi or Circassians, called by themselves Adighe, the Kabardians, and the Ossetes, besides a great number of Jewish and Cossack settlers. Several of the tribes, particularly the Circassians, Georgians, and Imeritians, are accounted the handsomest people in the world, the men being generally tall and powerful, the women slender and graceful, and both having regular features and expressive eyes. The Lesghians who inhabit a great portion of Daghestan or the mountain land, are one of the most warlike, chivalrous, and independent of the Caucasian races. The Suaniens, who possess one of the loftiest inhabited valleys of the range, are remarkable for their physical strength and agility. The Mingrelians are said to be the descendants of the ancient Colchians. The Abasians and Ossetes are described as the rudest of the mountain tribes. With dark complexions and irregular features, the former have generally a very repulsive expression of countenance, emblematic of their moral and social inferiority. All the inhabitants of these countries are exceedingly fond of adorning their persons; and the traveller is often struck by the appearance of a splendidly equipped cavalier issuing from a cottage of the most miserable description. The Circassian and Georgian females are much sought after by the eastern princes, to whom they are sold even by their fathers and brothers. Most travellers assert that, with the exception of those parts of the country in which the principal races dwell, it is utterly impossible to determine the territorial boundaries of the Caucasian tribes. The state of religion amongst them is equally unsettled and perplexing. Many profess Christianity in a form which retains few or none of its distinctive principles, others are bigoted Mohammedans, and the remainder idolaters. The nobles sometimes profess one form of religion, and the great body of the people another. Many of the old Christian temples, which remain to this day in several districts, contain at the same time the emblems of Christianity in the images of the Virgin and the saints, of Mohammedanism in inscriptions from the Koran, and of idolatry in the idols to whom they bow.
The trade and commerce of the Caucasian provinces are mostly in the hands of the Armenians, who inhabit the various districts of the country, but particularly that of Derbend on the shores of the Caspian. The inhabitants of Daghestan, so celebrated for its warlike and independent tribes, are also very enterprising in their commercial undertakings. In addition to weapons of various kinds, in the manufacture of which they excel, they produce cloth, silk, and beautiful silver work. The Abasians dispose of considerable quantities of a peculiar kind of honey, which, from its intoxicating influence, the Mohammedans are said to use instead of wine. Saltpetre is produced in a very curious manner in Suanethi. A portion of land which has been protected against the influence of snow or rain is covered on the approach of frost with great quantities of it. The inhabitants of this district also dig from the lower regions of Mount Elburz considerable quantities of sulphur, from
which they produce gunpowder for sale among the neighbouring tribes. In the valleys of the Kur, the Phasis, the Alasau, and the Yora, the vine is cultivated with much success. The wine of Kakhetie, which is said to resemble that of Burgundy, is particularly celebrated for its excellence. In some of the Russian provinces the mulberry tree and the cotton plant are cultivated with great profit. The sugarcane has been successfully introduced into the khanate of Talisch. Madder, saffron, rice, millet, barley, Indian corn, wheat, and tobacco, are among the principal articles of export.
The nations of the Caucasus, whose history has been regarded with the deepest interest in modern times, are the Lesghians and Circassians. The Lesghians inhabit the greatest part of Daghestan, which is bounded on the east by a chain of mountains running parallel with the coast of the Caspian, and penetrated in every direction by lofty and rugged spurs from the main chain. The Circassians occupy the mountain territory extending between the river Kouba and the Black Sea. The attempted conquest of these provinces, to which the Russians can lay no claim except that of the stronger over the weaker, has already cost them an immense amount both of blood and treasure. Especially since the year 1829, when by the treaty of Adrianople the Turks delivered over to the Muscovites a region over which they never possessed any sovereignty, the Russian armies have been completely baffled in all their attempts to establish the authority of the czar. The Russians have had to encounter immense difficulties, to traverse dangerous passes, to burn down forests, and to sacrifice immense numbers of lives, in order to gain small portions of territory. The war was for a long time chiefly maintained by the Circassians under their native chiefs; and no sooner did their exertions relax in consequence of the exhaustion caused by a long-continued contest, than a new enemy to Russia arose on the shores of the Caspian. Schamyl, the most devoted follower of the heroic Kasi Mullab, placed himself, on the death of that chief, at the head of the Lesghians. At once the prophet and the warrior of his race, by his enthusiasm and bravery he soon gained the confidence of the tribes, and prevailed upon them to follow a united and determined plan of action under his authority. His influence was daily increased, not only by the victories which he gained, but by the successful manner in which he frequently delivered himself and his followers from the most imminent dangers. His own escape from the rocky fortress of Achulko, where he was completely invested by the forces of General Grabbe, appeared both to his own countrymen and the enemy almost miraculous. In the year 1840 he even ventured to storm many of the Russian forts in the vicinity of the Black Sea; and although unable to retain them in his possession, secured an immense quantity of gunpowder and other munitions of war. The great exertions which were made by the Russians in the following year to reduce the tribes yet unsubdued, and those which had risen against their authority, were completely defeated by his indefatigable activity and bravery. In the year 1842, when the mountain tribes were filled with the greatest alarm in consequence of the advance of General Grabbe, that formidable enemy was completely defeated by Schamyl in the woods of Itchkeri. The Circassians, after again renewing their attacks upon the Russians in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea, were ultimately driven back to their fastnesses; but Schamyl still continued to maintain his position on the Caspian, and inflicted severe losses upon the armies of the enemy. The Russians were evidently at a loss how to proceed against a chief who had baffled all their schemes, who had been a prisoner in their hands, whose rocky home had been frequently in their possession, who had incurred the most imminent dangers and been driven to the greatest emergencies, and who was still opposing them with unconquerable resolution, watching the progress of their troops, cutting off their supplies, and harassing them by constant attacks. Various Russian generals were sent in succession to the Caucasus, new plans of action, defensive and offensive, were tried, but all without effecting any permanent conquest. In the year 1850 the Czarovitch made a progress to Tiflis, and was attacked on his journey by the soldiers of Schamyl in the immediate vicinity of some of the Russian forts. The armies of the czar may occasionally, with the sacrifice of a great number of lives, effect a march over the mountains, but no permanent conquest is achieved. With all the exertions of many years, their real authority is still confined to Georgia, the plains, and the immediate neighbourhood of the forts, of which so many have been erected all over the country. Georgia has now been subject to the civil and military government of Russia for more than half a century, and the result has not been at all favourable to that country. In most other parts of the Caucasian territory, the period during which the Russians have been