THE HIGHEST AWARD OF GENERAL BAKIXANOV

Recently, when working with documents at the State Historical Archives of Azerbaijan, we found the full track record of Lieutenant General Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov, the younger brother of the famous educator Abbas Qulu Aga Bakixanov. As far as we know, the country's archives do not have a single copy of the full track record of Azerbaijani military leaders who served in the tsarist army. Not only originals, even copies of such materials can only be found in the Russian archives.

"Circumstances" of the track record

The track record of Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov is not in any personal files of the general or files of military commanders (there are no such files at all), but in the materials of the case on the suit of his son, Major General Hasan Aga Bakixanov, on the recognition of the rights of the latter to the estate of his deceased sister Ayna Bakixanova (Utsmiyeva by her husband's name). The case was considered by the District Court of Baku in March and April 1889.

The interests of Hasan Aga Bakixanov were represented in court by none other than Hasan bay Malikov (Zardabi) who had the title of court assessor (in the Russian Empire it was a civil rank of the 7th grade, which was equal to the military rank of lieutenant colonel) at the time. As for Ayna Bakixanova, it can be assumed that she was one of the wives of Major General Amir Copan bay Utsmiyev, a Kumyk by nationality. We have no direct evidence for that (marriage certificate, personal correspondence, memoirs, etc.). However, the coincidence of facts taken from various sources speaks in favour of this version. Firstly, Ayna and Amir Copan bay are of the same age - she was born in 1837 and he - in 1836. Secondly, Ayna and Amir Copan bay had no children. Thirdly, their fathers were generals of the tsarist army. In addition, the death certificate for Ayna Bakixanova was issued by the chief of Kaytag-Tabasaran district that housed the family estate of the Utsmiyevs. By the way, the suit of Hasan Aga Bakixanov was satisfied by the court.

Make the enemy run

As for autobiographical information about and military service by Lieutenant-General Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov, the full track record shows that he was born on 6 February 1793 in the family of former Baku khan Mirza Muhammad. By religion he was a "Mohammedan of the Aliyev sect". He was educated at his parents'. The general was married to the daughter of Xan Butay bay - Cimnaz. He had four children from this marriage: sons Hasan Aga, who born 8 May 1833, and Ahmad Aga, who was born 16 June 1838, as well as daughters Nur Cahan (6 June 1832) and aforementioned Ayna (8 September 1837). As stated in the full track record, his wife and children were also "Mohammedans by religion, from the Aliyev sect".

Cafar Qulu Aga had a two-storey stone house, a stone caravanserai, nine stone shops and four fruit gardens in the city of Quba. He owned the villages of Amsar, Cafar Abad and Qadamlar, which were "populated by 120 families, and according to the office description, the amount of land was about 4,000 dessiatinas, comfortable and uncomfortable, and the wife had no property".

With regard to the military service of Lieutenant-General Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov, according to the full track record, he did not graduate from military schools. He served in the Caucasian army. In 1829, 1830, 1842-1845 and 1847-1849, he actively participated in hostilities against Persia, Turkey and mountain people. For his distinguished services in the war with Persia, he was awarded the gold medal "For Diligence" to be worn on Anna's belt (1828) and the Order of St. Anne of the third degree with a bow (8 February 1829). 

On 27 January 1830, for his distinguished services in the battles against the Turks, the commander-in-chief of the separate Caucasian Corps immediately, bypassing the previous titles, upgraded Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov to the rank of lieutenant. In the same year, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir in the fourth degree with a bow (16 March 1830). On 17 September 1831, Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was awarded the rank of lieutenant and transferred to the Transcaucasian Muslim cavalry regiment. On 21 October 1840, he became a staff captain, and a year later (27 December 1841) - a captain.

Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov particularly distinguished himself in battles between Russian troops and mountain people. In acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeological Com-mission (Commission Chair-man A. Berzhe), you can find information about his courage. Here is what Prince Argutinskiy, who led the Russian military campaign in Dagestan, wrote in a report to the commander of the Caucasian army, Count Vorontsov, on 27 July 1845: "The enemy, despite heavy gun fire, was overrun by our onslaught. At this moment, I redirected all the cavalry under the command of Colonel Bakixanov into the intervals of the infantry; for a distance of three miles, they were hot on the heels of the enemy and strewed the field with corpses." Note that in this case, we are talking about the fight with a detachment of Haji Murat.

In another report dated 25 September 1848, Prince Argutinskiy informs Count Vorontsov about details of a battle near the village of Aktam with detachments of Daniyal bay and Haji Murat: "As soon as the enemy faltered, Colonel Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov and his cavalry, despite the speed of the river, crossed it to their rear and brutally attacked those running from the flank."

And here is an excerpt from Count Vorontsov's order on the separate Caucasian Corps dated 6 July 1951: "Even before his movement on Turchi-dag, Prince Argutinskiy sent reserves against the party of Omar: one battalion, two guns, two hundred Cossacks and six hundred militias under the command of Major General Bakixanov and the regiment of Agalar bay. ... The reserves gathered quickly, covered more than 50 miles overnight, met the enemy unexpectedly for him, overran them as they crossed Chiraq-cay and made them run away completely."

From a family of military commanders

For his distinguished service in the campaign against the mountain people, Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav in the second decree (6 December 1842), the Order of St. Stanislav in the second degree with an imperial crown (28 March 1845), the Order of St. Anne in the second degree (19 August 1845), the Order of St. Anne in the second degree with an imperial crown (22 November 1847), a gold sword with the inscription "For bravery" (6 June 1848) and the Order of St. Vladimir in the third degree (18 March 1849).

In 1843, Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was given the rank of staff captain, then captain and a year later - colonel. On 1 July 1849, he was awarded the rank of major general. On 26 November 1850, Major General Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was awarded the highest award of the Russian Empire - the Order of St. George in the fourth degree for 25 years of distinguished service. And he was awarded the version of the order designed for Muslims with the image of the Russian coat of arms - the two-headed eagle instead of St. George.

On 24 May 1854, Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav in the first degree. On 26 August 1856, he attended the coronation of Russian Emperor Alexander II. On 28 May 1861, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne in the first degree "For excellent and zealous service", but with a crown and swords.

In addition to these awards, Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was awarded a gold medal "For diligence" to be worn on Anna's belt, silver medals for his participation in the wars with Turkey and Persia, a bronze medal on St. Andrew's ribbon in memory of the war of 1853-1856, and a gold cross for service in the Caucasus. His full track record only mentions these awards, and there is no information about the dates when the awards were given. On 18 October 1864, Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov was promoted to lieutenant general and dismissed from service. He was given a pension of 2,604 roubles a year.

On 19 March 1866, he was sent to serve in the Caucasus army again. Lieutenant-General Cafar Qulu Aga Bakixanov died on 12 October 1867 in Quba, from where his remains were brought to Baku with special honours for burial in the family vault near the Bibi-Heybat mosque, the most sacred place of the region.

His sons Ahmad Aga and Hasan Aga also served in the Russian Imperial Army and were at the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Army. Ahmad Aga was a colonel in the Life Guards of the Cossack regiment, and Hasan Aga was a major general; the older brother of Abbas Qulu Aga Bakixanov was a colonel.