CONTRIBUTION OF GAPUROV TO THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF CHECHNYA IN NINETEENTH CENTURY

The paper provides a critical analysis and research findings assessment of Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic Shakhrudin Aidievich Gapurov. The main attention is paid to the most significant scientific results and conclusions made by the author in the process of studying the period of the Caucasian War (1818–1864). It is shown that Gapurov Sh.A., on the basis of a critical analysis of abundant archival materials, argumentatively proved the scientific inconsistency of the "raiding system" concept put forward by M.M. Bliev. According to this concept, the continuous looting and raids of the mountaineers on the Caucasian line caused the Caucasian War. Based on a critical analysis of historical documents, he proved that the main reason for the Caucasian War was a sharp change in Russian policy in the Caucasus, when, instead of predominantly peaceful means, Ermolov A.P. began to establish Russian power in the Caucasus by extremely harsh and repressive methods. The author has convincingly shown that the consequences of the Caucasian War were catastrophic, that it was the greatest tragedy in the history of Russian-Mountain relations, which brought the Chechen ethnic group to the brink of physical and moral destruction. The conclusion of the author regarding the relations between Chechnya and Russia in the XVI–XVIII centuries deserves attention. The author shows that these relations were formed not only on the basis of military conflicts and mutual robberies, but that peaceful good-neighborly relations played an important role in them.


Introduction
In recent decades, in Russia and, particularly, in the regions of the Russian Federation, there has been an outflow of young people from research activities, which could lead to irreversible negative consequences in the future. The work of the researcher has lost prestige. There are many objective and subjective reasons for this phenomenon and solving the problem of attracting young people to research activity requires an integrated approach. One of the important aspects of the social activities aimed at solving this problem is the popularization of both science itself and scientists who dedicate themselves to research work. In this regard, it is necessary to study and demonstrate to young people the contribution of famous scientists in solving important scientific problems in an accessible form. The creative activity of scientists working in the leading scientific centres of the Russian Federation, although insufficiently, is publicized in special journals. Scientific articles and monographs devoted to the creative activity of these scientists in the study of important scientific problems are published. Scientists working in regional higher educational institutions and scientific institutions also make a significant contribution to the development of some scientific areas. However, the creative biography and the achievements of these scientists remain poorly studied, i.e. the history of the science development in the regions remains practically unexplored. Therefore, the study on scientific achievements of leading researchers working in the regions is of scientific and practical interest. From this perspective, in recent years the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic has started research in this direction (Abdulmezhidova, 2007). This article is a continuation of these studies.
A scientific analysis of the development features of the Chechen ethnic group after returning to their traditional homeland shows that they include a noticeable increase in the passionarity tension in the ethnic system of the Chechens (Akhmadova & Makhmudova, 2008). The history of our republic formation after 1957 shows that the most productive period in terms of science and education development, the scientific and pedagogical personnel training of the Chechens, was the sixties and seventies of the last century. The inhumane living conditions in the deportation, which brought the ethnic system of the Chechens to the brink of physical and moral destruction, led to the fact that the people as a whole realized the need to educate children. Suffice it to say, it was during this period (the 60s-70s of the last century) that dozens of doctors of science in various specialties, including natural and mathematical fields, grew up among Chechens (Dorogochinsky, 1978). It was a great number of talented graduates of the leading universities of the USSR (MSU, Leningrad State University, MIPT, RSU, etc.).
Unfortunately, over time, this fanatical persistence in achieving the goals set, in particular, in conquering the educational and scientific heights, has somewhat receded. Pragmatism replaced the former romanticism. Material values, instead of spiritual ones, became a priority for young people and society as a whole. In our opinion, the study of this phenomenon is of particular scientific and practical interest.
What is the reason for the repeated strengthening of the educational and science attachment of the Chechens generation born in Central Asia and whose childhood was subjected to terrible conditions of deportation? The analysis of these processes from the philosophical and ethnopsychological perspective is a topical issue of individual studies. We addressed this topic to convey to the younger generation that within more difficult conditions, the older generation of our scientists showed exceptional willpower, perseverance and hard work, climbing to the top of the scientific Olympus. One of the brightest https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.251 Corresponding Author: Raikom Khasimkhanovich Dadashev Selection and peer-review under (Nikolaev, 1963). This article is devoted to the critical analysis of creative activity and the most significant scientific achievements of this academician.

Problem Statement
The history of science is one of the most important and relevant areas of scientific research. The purpose and objectives of this science, in particular, is an objective study of the history of the most important scientific achievements, as well as coverage of the creative activities of famous scientists, identifying their role and contribution to solving significant scientific problems. Such work contributes to the popularization of both science itself and scientists who dedicate themselves to research work, which is extremely important for solving the problem of attracting young people to scientific activity. However, despite the relevance, the creative activity results of scientists working in the regions remain poorly studied, although they make a significant contribution to the development of science in the Russian Federation. From this perspective, in this work, the authors tried to continue research in this direction based on a critical analysis of the creative activity of the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic Gapurov Sh. A.

Research Questions
The research subject of this article is the historical science development in the Chechen Republic at the beginning of the XXI century. In recent decades, scientific research on the history of Chechnya from ancient to contemporary times has been noticeably intensified in the universities and scientific institutions of the Chechen Republic. Based on the results of these studies, hundreds of scientific articles and dozens of scientific monographs have been prepared and published. However, the results obtained in these studies, despite their relevance, have not been systematized and subjected to the critical analysis yet.
In this regard, the task of this paper is, at least partially, to fill this gap. We have attempted to study the development features of historical science in the Chechen Republic in recent decades by the example of a critical analysis of the results of the scientific activity of Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic Sh.A. Gapurov, on the study of the most complex and dramatic pages of the history of Chechnya of the XIX century, in particular, on the study of the causes and consequences of the Caucasian War, which was the greatest tragedy for both Russia and the mountain peoples.

Purpose of the Study
The aim of the work is to study the historical science development in the Chechen Republic in recent decades based on a critical analysis of the main results of the scientific activity of Professor Sh.A.
Gapurov and his contribution to the study of the most complex, dramatic pages of the history of https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.251 Corresponding Author: Raikom Khasimkhanovich Dadashev Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference eISSN:  1905 Chechnya of the XIX century, in particular, to the study of the causes and consequences of the Caucasian War.

Research Methods
The paper presents a logical analysis of the scientific research achievements of Gapurov Sh.A.
Based on the scientific publications, facts and documents collected in the course of the study, the results are summed up and summary conclusions are drawn. In carrying out the research, the authors used various methods, among which historical (the formation and development of historical science in the Chechen Republic are studied) and theoretical methods (critical analysis and generalization of scientific results obtained by Gapurov Sh.A., the ascent from the concrete consideration of the scientific activity results of Professor Sh.A. Gapurov to the abstract description of the state of research on the history of science in the Chechen Republic).

Findings
Shahrudin Gapurov was born on January 6, 1951 in Central Asia in the city of Tash-Komur, Kyrgyz SSR. His father died when he was only two years old and his mother raised him alone, in difficult conditions of deportation for the entire Chechen people.
In 1958 his family together with fellow villagers returned to their homeland, and he started the first grade in the village of Bulgat-Irzu of Nozhay-Yurt District of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR. When he was 15 years old, his mother also died, and he became an orphan. However, this did not break him down, and after graduating from the eight-year school in Bulgat-Irzu, he continued his studies at the Benoy secondary school. Here the Almighty presented him with a priceless gift embodied in the director of the Benoy secondary school, Leid Mezhidov.
Leid Mezhidov, as a talented teacher, a patriot of his nation, even at the time recognised him as a talented historian. He raised Shahrudin as his own son, cultivated a love for science, the history of his native land and led him on this difficult path of serving science. In 1968, Shakhrudin graduated from the school with a gold medal, in the same year, he entered and in 1972 graduated with honors from the History Department of the Chechen-Ingush State University named after Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Along with gaining great experience in working with people as a teacher, the desire for further professional growth as a scientist also increases. However, there were certain difficulties associated with the period of the USSR collapse. It was almost impossible to continue scientific work on the problems of India. And the growing interest of the people and society in the history of their region and historical processes that took place in the Caucasus, in particular in Chechnya, prompted the idea to address this issue at a serious scientific level. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.251 Corresponding Author: Raikom Khasimkhanovich Dadashev Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference eISSN:  1906 By that time, being a well-known specialist in Oriental history (he, for decades, read the course "History of the countries of Asia and Africa" to students of the History Department of the Chechen-Ingush State University), he started an extremely difficult work. Shakhrudin Aidievich, as a historian and philosopher, conducts a comparative analysis of socio-political processes in the North Caucasus and the countries of the East. Such an analysis allows him on the basis of historical facts to identify the common and special features of the complex socio-political processes that took place in different parts of our planet. The interdisciplinary topic has always been difficult for the researcher, since it is necessary not only to be a high-class specialist in both the history of the Caucasus and the history of Oriental countries, but he (the researcher) must have an analytical mind and the ability to make scientific generalizations..  In particular, the most important results of the dissertation are:  Gapurov Sh.A. has shown that all three regions Kabarda, Chechnya and Dagestan differed from each other in the forms of political structure, in the lifestyle, in the forms of the socioeconomic structure. Also, despite such significant differences, the policy of the tsarist authorities in the North Caucasus at the beginning of the XIX century led to an armed confrontation with all the peoples of the North Caucasus, despite the previously indicated differences. An important conclusion was the assessment that the Russian capital had a rather vague idea of the realities in the North Caucasus. In St. Petersburg, only the general policy in the Caucasus was determined, and the practical ways and methods of its implementation were determined on the spot by the commanders-in-chief of the Russian troops (governors) in the Caucasus, their direct practical activities formed the attitude of the local population to Russia.
The paper provided detailed answers to many questions related to the reasons for the fierce confrontation between the mountaineers and Russia in the Caucasus in the first half of the XIX century, and in fact they could serve as recommendations for establishing effective interaction between the center and the regions, which was especially important at the beginning of the XXI century.
Having defended his doctorate thesis, Shakhrudin Aidievich did not stop. He began to explore the Russian-Chechen relations in the XIX century with greater energy. Shakhrudin Aidievich engaged his students to these studies. The formation of a scientific school begins, which in a short time deserves recognition among the scientific community of Russia.

Recognition of his scientific achievements was confirmed by the election of Gapurov Sh.A. as an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic and its President in 2006.
The need to coordinate and direct all scientific activities in the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic takes a lot of time but this did not affect the efficiency of Gapurov Sh.A. as an academic historian.
In total, Shakhrudin Aidievich has published more than 420 scientific papers, including 20 monographs.
Each monograph and article by Gapurov Sh. A. is unique. These works shed light on the important and at the same time poorly studied processes that took place in Chechnya in the first half of the XIX century. The undoubted merit of Shakhrudin Aidievich is that he argumentatively, based on facts, showed the discrepancy with the reality of the conclusions by some historians, in particular, Vinogradov V.B. and Bliev M.M. about the reasons for the beginning of the Caucasian War of the XIX century. In the works of these historians and their followers, it is emphasized that the main cause of the Caucasian War was the raids of the mountaineers, and Russia is represented as a defending side.
Gapurov Sh.A. in his works (Akhmadov & Gapurov, 2006;Yevdoshenko, 2011) notes that it is overlooked (among other things) that the mountaineers fought in their homeland, defended their lands, villages, families, lifestyle and customs. Shakhrudin Aidievich argues that the raids were mutual and were a common tragedy for both Russians and mountaineers, and, secondly, the raids were a certain form of struggle for freedom and independence of mountaineers. "When raiding the Russian borderlands," writes Gapurov Sh.A., "the mountaineers fought not with the Russian settlers, with whom they had no reason to be hostile, not with the Cossacks, with whom they lived in general peacefully in the XVI-first half of the https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.251 Corresponding Author: Raikom Khasimkhanovich Dadashev Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference eISSN:  1908 XVIII century, but with the tsarist government, which encroached on their laws, customs and freedom" (as cited in Sulumov, 2016).
Perhaps, among the most significant scientific works of Professor Gapurov Sh.A. is a monograph dedicated to the leader of the Chechens in the first half of the XIX century, Bay-Bulat Taimiev (Daukaev, 2018). This work for the first time summarizes and systematizes the huge material from the archives of Moscow, Tbilisi and Vladikavkaz, the entire life path of Bay-Bulat Taimiev, who was characterized by Pushkin A.S. as a "knight of the Caucasus". The work of Gapurov Sh.A. presents Bay-Bulat Taimiev not as a fairy-tale hero, but as a military leader of the Chechens, a political figure and a diplomat who sought compromise ways of joining Chechnya to Russia on the rights of autonomy while preserving the customs, traditions, religion and land of the Chechens. All this is considered against the broad background of a deep analysis of the complex socio-political processes in Chechnya in the first third of the XIX century.
In historical literature, the image of Bay-Bulat was presented as a warrior, the leader of the liberation movement in Chechnya. However, his diplomatic and political activities were practically not considered and analyzed, and his contribution to the further development of Russian-Chechen relations was not evaluated. The work of Gapurov Sh.A. presents a critical analysis and objective assessment of the activities of both B. Taimiev and Russian politicians and governors in the Caucasus.
As shown in the monograph of Gapurov Sh.A., the first third of the XIX century was a fateful period in the history of the Chechen people when the direction of the development vector of Russian-Chechen relations was determined. There were not a lot of options. Chechnya could fully participate in the military confrontation between the mountaineers and Russia, or, as Bay-Bulat Taimiev sought, build a special relationship with Russia, secured by a bilateral treaty, according to which it (Chechnya) would not be a colonial province, but a region with autonomous administration. Life and work of B. Taimiev was devoted to the implementation of the second option.
In his numerous works, Gapurov Sh.A. based on new archival documents shows that the Chechens in principle were ready to recognize and accept the Russian government, but taking into account their traditions and customs. There were all the objective prerequisites for this, which were based on mutually beneficial trade relations. This process began at the end of the XVI century, developed until the XIX century. But at the beginning of the XIX century, this process was noticeably slowed down due to the ambitions of the tsarist generals, who did not want to take into account the psychological characteristics of Chechen society.
The paper shows that Bay-Bulat was a patriot of Chechnya and Russia for the rest of his life. He understood that in the context of a keen struggle for the Caucasus between Russia, Turkey, and Iran, Chechnya would not be able to maintain its independence. He saw the future of Chechnya as part of Russia. But he wanted Russia to establish its power over the Chechens in accordance with their traditions and customs. Bay-Bulat pursued this goal by all means -both peaceful, diplomatic, and when they did not achieve the objective, then by military ones (Jafarov, 2005).
In our opinion, the most significant result of scientific research by Gapurov Sh.A. should be attributed to the fact that based on the analysis of historical documents, he proved that Chechen society at that time was not such a scattered, "wild" tribe, as historians portrayed it. The Chechens were a single society with elements of statehood, and Bay-Bulat Taimiev managed to consolidate the Chechen people https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.251 Corresponding Author: Raikom Khasimkhanovich Dadashev Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference eISSN:  1909 and restore the former statehood. Yes, the forms of the Chechens unification differed from the classical ones adopted in Europe, but Chechnya also differed from them. It was a union of EQUALS. In fact, it was a State of the people, not just in name but in content, a "democratic" state, which was built by Bay-Bulat Taimiev. The paper shows that the "mysterious" murder of Taimiev B. halted the process of state formation and, in principle, largely predetermined the further development of Russian-Caucasian relations.
The result of time-consuming, laborious work on the study of the history of Chechnya, in our opinion, is the monographs of Shakhrudin Aidievich (Bogaevsky, 1927). It would be no exaggeration to state that these monographs pose many of the most controversial and debatable issues concerning the history of the Caucasian War. The monographs based on historical documents convincingly show that the history of the formation and development of Russian-Chechen relations over several centuries (XVI-XVIII centuries) was dominated by the desire of both sides to establish good-neighborly relations.
However, the harsh policy of establishing Russian power in Chechnya by force, military methods, initiated by the governor of the Caucasus, General A.P. Ermolov, led to the beginning of the Caucasian War, which lasted until 1864. The main conclusion of the author that the problems arising between Russia and Chechnya cannot be solved by force and war retains its relevance today. "The Caucasian War was a real tragedy not only for the mountaineers but also for the Russian people, paying with the lives of their sons for the imperial ambitions of the Russian government," the author concludes with bitterness (Butorin, 1930).
As an eyewitness to the tragic events of the late twentieth century, as a man of sophisticated life experience, backed up by a huge amount of information and deep knowledge about the tragic pages of Russian-Chechen relations, for the edification of young scientists, he writes: The Caucasian war and the events related to it should not be the subject of political and ideological speculation on either side. It should be considered as the greatest tragedy in the history of the Russian peoples in the nineteenth century, in the history of Russian-Mountain relations (as cited in Ershov & Tonkonogov, 1971). These edifications can be fully attributed to the tragic events of recent years. Gapurov Sh.A. concludes this idea with the words: We cannot go forward, turning around all the time and looking for only negativity and mutual resentment in our common historical past. We must strengthen our common home, our common homeland -Russia, and for this purpose, we can and should find a lot of positive things in the past: cultural dialogue and cultural interaction between Russia and the Caucasus, Russian transformative activities in the region since the second half of the XIX century, and much more (Gapurov & Tovsultanov, 2019).
The whole book is based on the idea that the relations between Russia and Chechnya were characterized not only by a confrontation but also by a cultural dialogue and cultural mutual influence, that Russia brought the mountaineers the prospect of progressive historical development.
In 2011, the monograph by Gapurov Sh.A. (as cited in Kolosov, 1962) /doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.251 Corresponding Author: Raikom Khasimkhanovich Dadashev Selection and peer-review under  1910 represented by only a few bailiffs, where taxes were not yet established? What motivated these people -"wild liberty love" -in the words of Pushkin? Why did not the older generation of Chechens support this uprising? Why did not plain Chechnya join this uprising? What did this uprising give to the mountaineers? The author does not give ready answers to these questions. He does not give them intentionally, leaving the opportunity for the reader to reason. For this purpose, in the "appendix", the author gives a large layer of documents to provide the opportunity for the reader to judge for himself the complex issues of the history of Chechnya in the last third of the XIX century.
It is difficult in one article, regardless of the volume, to cover and critically analyze the scientific results obtained by such a talented scientist as Sh.A. Gapurov. The authors are sure that the creative activity of Sh.A. Gapurov will be the subject of critical analysis by many experts.

Conclusion
Thus, the paper provides a critical analysis and research findings assessment of Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic Shakhrudin Aidievich Gapurov (Sakhanov & Tilicheev, 1928). The main attention is paid to the most important and significant scientific results and conclusions made by the author in the process of studying one of the most complex and dramatic periods in the history of Chechnya -the period of the Caucasian War.
Based on a critical analysis of the available scientific literature and a huge amount of archival material, Shakhrudin Aidievich Gapurov argumentatively proved the scientific inconsistency of the existing concept of the "raid system", put forward by M.M. Bliev and supported by some historians.
According to this concept, the continuous looting and raids of the mountaineers on the Caucasian line caused the Caucasian War.
Gapurov Sh.A. put forward his own concept of the main causes and consequences of the Caucasian War, according to which the main reason for the Caucasian War was a sharp change in Russian policy in the Caucasus, when the Caucasian governor A.P. Ermolov began to establish Russian power in the Caucasus by extremely harsh, repressive methods. Analyzing historical facts and events of the XIX century, the author has convincingly shown that the Caucasian War was the greatest tragedy in the history of Russian-Mountain relations, which brought the Chechen ethnic group to the brink of physical and moral destruction.
Such contradictory historical figures as Imam Shamil, A.P. Ermolov, Bay-Bulat Taimiev, Alibek-Hadji Aldamov, and others are presented by Sh.A. Gapurov as objectively as possible, without the extremes common for many historians.
Among the numerous questions and historical problems analyzed in the works of Gapurov Sh.A., special attention should be paid to the issues concerning the relationship between Chechnya and Russia in the XVI-XVIII centuries. Based on archival documents, he showed that these relations were formed not only on the basis of military conflicts and mutual looting but that peaceful good-neighborly relation played an important role in them.