Sulumbek of Sagopshi

Sulumbek Gandaloev
ГӀоандалой Сулумбик
Born	1878 Sagopshi, Vladikavkazsky okrug, Terek Oblast, Russian Empire
Died	1911 (aged 32–33) Vladikavkaz, Vladikavkazsky okrug, Terek Oblast, Russian Empire
Nationality	Ingush
Other names	Merciless,[1] Menace to Tsarism[2]
Occupation	Abrek
Years active	1900—1910
Known for	Bank and shop robberies

Sulumbek Gorovozhev (Gandaloev) or Sulumbek of Sagopshi^[a] (c. 1878 – 1911) was an Ingush outlaw (abrek) who is known for his bank and shop robberies with his colleague and comrade Zelimkhan. The robberies were part of a conflict with the Russian authorities. He was involved in high-profile incidents associated with Zelimkhan. Sulumbek is a national hero to the Ingush people, as well as one of the most famous Caucasian abreks.

Sulumbek was born in c. 1878^[3] in the village of Sagopshi, Vladikavkazsky okrug of the Terek Oblast.^[4] He was Ingush by ethnicity.^[b] Sulumbek was the second child in his family. His father Gorozh was a muhacir who had emigrated to Ottoman Empire. Having returned to Ingushetia, he tried to return to Gandalbos but was denied entry by the Cossacks who settled in the village so he had to move to Sagopshi.^[5]

When the Gandaloev family had to feed a Russian bailiff, Sulumbek made fun of him by eating the whole lunch by himself. As a result, the bailiff decided to punish Sulumbek and began to write false denunciations against him to his superiors. Sulumbek could not stand it and one day, meeting a bailiff outside the village, he whipped him, for which he was immediately arrested and convicted.^[3] Sulumbek was jailed to Grozny Prison for 3 years. There he met his future comrade Zelimkhan. Together, they escaped the prison. Their acquaintance was described in the romance of Magomet Mamakaev, Zelimkhan as follows:^[5]

Don't despair, my friend – an abrek from Sagopshi, who had been sitting here for a long time, once told him [Zelimkhan] – let's better think together about how to get free – we need an underground passage.

After his escape, Sulumbek killed the bailiff and, from that moment he became an abrek.^[3]

Sulumbek began his abrek activities in 1900. He led series of raids in Nalchiksky and Vladikavkazsky okrugs, during which, he engaged in skirmishes with the Cossacks and Russian Military units.^[6] His bank and shop robberies were a part of a violent struggle with the Russian authorities.^[7] After Zelimkhan's father and brother Sultamurat, as well as the abreks of his cap, were killed by the Benoevs [ru], his younger brother, Ayub and Sulumbek remained with him for the longest time.^[1]

Sulumbek's comrade Zelimkhan received an insulting letter from Verbitsky,^[8] former ataman of the Kizlyarsky otdel.^[9] Because of that as well as in retaliation for the shooting of Chechens at the Gudermes bazaar and for the ruin of the Ingush village, Tsorkh, he decided to kill him. However, he was talked out from this. Zelimkhan instead decided to rob the Kizlyar treasury which at the same time would disgrace Verbitsky. Like typically, Zelimkhan warned the Russian authorities about his intentions beforehand.^[8] Preparing for the robbery, Zelimkhan created two detachments— the Chechen detachment in the village of Novye Atagi, led by Ayub Tomaev, and the Ingush one in the Nazran okrug, led by Sulumbek.^[10] The group successfully robbed the Treasury on 27 March.^[8] During the robbery, Ayub and Sulumbek killed 4 Russian officers and 7 soldiers.^[1]

Russian authorities threatened to destroy his native village; having learned this, Sulumbek, through intermediaries, negotiated with the Russian authorities and agreed to surrender. He surrendered on the condition that he would be shot and not hanged, since a death by hanging was, for a Caucasian mountaineer, considered shameful and unacceptable. When such guarantees were promised to him, Sulumbek surrendered to the authorities^[4] on 4 November 1910.^[6] However, during the trial, the court sentenced him to death by hanging. The Russian newspaper Kavkazskaya Kopeyka described the last minutes of Sulumbek's life:^[4]

At the sight of the gallows and in general the whole gloomy, ominous situation, speaking of the inevitable proximity of the fatal end, Garavodzhev, as eyewitnesses say, retained a rare outward calm and self-control, and some kind of mysterious, either sarcastic or contemptuous smile was always playing on his thin lips [...] Then he calmly, without haste and without showing the slightest emotion at all, climbed onto the fatal platform and, when the executioner threw a noose around his neck, he himself slid off the stool [...] The last wish of this Zelimkhanovite was that his hands would not be tied and a shroud bag would not be put on him. "I give you my abrek's word of honor that I will not cause any trouble to anyone," he assured his superiors. But, of course, he was denied this.

— Kavkazskaya Kopeyka

According to historian Petimat Akieva, the death of Sulumbek carried "the nature of political protest and struggle against power", which gave "[a]breks in the eyes of the people [...] an aura of national heroes".^[11]

Sulumbek is considered a national hero to the Ingush people,^[12] as well as a famous Caucasian outlaw.^[13]

In 2011, the Ingush writer Issa Kodzoev wrote a romance titled "Sulumbek Sagopshinsky".^[14] In 2019, director Leyla Gagieva shot the documentary film "Ingush Papakha", the first part of which is called "Abrek Sulumbek" and, among other things, describes the life and work of the abrek.^[15] In the same year, A. Sakharov's published collection "Legends and Tales of the Ingush Mountains" included a poem by the author dedicated to Sulumbek.^[16]

Ossetian-born Soviet writer Dzakho Gatuev [ru] wrote about Sulumbek in 1926 as follows:^[5]

The most daring raids of Zelimkhan are associated with the name of Sulumbek, while Zelimkhan inspired the gang with his religious and political popularity. Sulumbek produced a magical effect on the gang with his fearlessness and insane courage. The abreks followed him to almost certain death, to the very center of the city, surrendering into the hands of the troops. In addition to courage, Sulumbek was distinguished by extraordinary willpower, the ability to not get lost in moments of danger and, most importantly, mercilessness. Sulumbek's insane courage is an ideal that every abrek would like to achieve. In a word, Zelimkhan and Sulumbek mutually complemented each other.

The Chechen illi "Asir-Abrek. Chechen song", published in 1924 mentions Sulumbek.^[17] In the Ingush illis, Sulumbek is glorified.^[18] In one of the illis, hidden regret is expressed that the Ingush still do not have effective laws that make it possible to really judge the deeds of a person:^[19]

The fearless wolf — Salambek Sagopshinsky … Salambek rode into the heart of the city on a black horse...

Salambek killed the bailiff Boguslavsky. Salambek attacked the Grozny station. Salambek also attacked the Kizlyar bank. Salambek himself came to his death. Fearless wolf — Salambek Sagopshinsky …

…The general promised to shoot Salambek! This does not mean that he will shoot with his own hands. When even a general promises death, he promises it through the court. No matter how great a general is, greater than the greatest general is the royal law, whose books are like seventy-seven Korans.

— Ingush illi (heroic-epic song)