Ismail Berzeg

Berzeg was born in 1763 in Ubykh and was part of the Berzeg family. English agent and traveler James Bell noted that each Berzeg can send 150 men to the battlefield, and the whole family could put up to 3,000 warriors. Saad-Girey Berzeg, Ismail's predecessor, was the Ubykh leader at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1823, after Saad-Girey's death, Ismail Dogomuqo Berzeg was elected the leader of the Berzeg clan and the commander of all Ubykhs. Ismail lived in the valley of the Sochi River, on its right bank, which is two hours from the sea.

James Bell described Ismail Dogomuko Berzeg: "He was a tall man with beautiful gray eyes. His influence was determined not only by belonging to the strongest surname among the Ubykhs, but also by his ebullient energy, courage and intelligence." James Bell describes him as a religious Muslim.

Beginning in 1827, Ismail Berzeg was actively engaged in organizing a military alliance of the tribes living on the Black Sea coast. By the end of 1839, he managed to unite the entire population between Tuapse and Gagra into one union. It was during this period that the characterization is given to him by J. Bell belongs: "Circassian Washington". At an old age, in 1835, during the assault on Gagra, Ismail Berzeg was seriously wounded. However, in 1836 he commanded the Ubykh detachment during another raid. In the war, Alhaji Ismail lost all his nine sons.

In 1840, Ismail Berzeg organized an attack on a number of Russian outposts on the Black Sea coast. In February-March, the Ubykhs stormed the fortresses of Lazarevskoe, Velyaminovskoe and Mikhailovskoe on the Vulan River. Attempts were made to occupy the forts of the Adler, Golovinskoe and Navaginskoe.

Russian troops had to make great efforts to recapture these strongholds. Later that year, he organized a punitive campaign against the Abaza clans on the coast, who did not take part in the anti-Russian struggle.

In 1841, he participated in negotiations with the Russian military leaders in Sochi, but the negotiations ended in vain. The Russian leaders stated that the Circassians were "poor villagers waiting for help from the English". A Russian officer, Lorer, who witnessed Ismail Berzeg's meeting with the Russians, later wrote in his memoirs that Berzeg answered:[4]

I must say, General, your statements truly astound me. If your master, the Tsar, is so wealthy, and we are so poor and barbaric, why does your master envy us and forbid us from living in our humble mountains? Your lord appears to be greedy and lustful. I'm afraid, sir, we won't be surrendering the Englishmen and Turkish pashas in our lands; we can not abandon them because they are our friends and visitors. No amount of gold or silver, I swear to God, will be able to deviate us from the path of honor.

— Ismail Berzeg

In 1846, Ismail Berzeg, together with his nephew Qerandiqo Berzeg fought many battles with the Russian armies before leaving for Hajj. He died in the same year returning home.