67. As Eagles Fly

Author’s Note

Author’s NoteIn 1801 the Kingdom of Georgia, situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, had been peacefully joined to the great Russian Empire.

But to the North, in the impenetrable snow-peaked Caucasian mountains there began a terrible Holy War, which was to last until 1861.

Shamyl, Imam of Daghestan, the Shadow of Allah on Earth, led the fanatical Moslem tribesmen who died rather than be taken alive,

Shamyl’s son, aged eight, was captured during one battle and became a hostage, so the mystical leader of many legends brooded over his vengeance for thirteen years of bloodshed and bravery.

The hero and heroine of this story are fictitious, but the whole background and all the characters mentioned are authentic and part of history.

Shamyl was defeated and forced to surrender in 1859 but was treated kindly by the new Czar, Alexander II.

Djemmal Eddin died after three years in the mountains, pining away for the life he had known and loved in St. Petersburg.