Ali-Agha Shikhlinski

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski
Native name Azerbaijani: Əli Ağa Şıxlinski
Russian: Али-Ага Шихли́нский
Birth name Ali-Agha Ismail-Agha oglu Shikhlinski
Nickname(s) "The God of the Artillery"
Born (1865-04-23)April 23, 1865
Kazakhli (now Ashagy Salakhly), Kazakhsky Uyezd, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire
Died August 18, 1943(1943-08-18) (aged 78)
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR
Buried Yasamal Cemetery (40°21′49″N 49°48′36″E / 40.3636837°N 49.8099878°E / 40.3636837; 49.8099878Coordinates: 40°21′49″N 49°48′36″E / 40.3636837°N 49.8099878°E / 40.3636837; 49.8099878)
Allegiance Russian Empire Russian Empire (from 1886 to 1917)
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (to 1920)
Soviet Union Soviet Union (to 1929)
Service/branch Artillery
Years of service 1886–1929
Rank Russian Empire Lieutenant-General of The Imperial Russian Army (since 1917),
Azerbaijan Artillery General of The National Army of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (since 1919)
Unit Artillery
Commands held 5th battery of the 29th Artillery Brigade
1st Division of the 21st Artillery Brigade
The 10th Army (Western Front)
Battles/wars China Relief Expedition
Russo-Japanese War
Battle of Nanshan
Siege of Port Arthur
World War I
Awards
Spouse(s) Nigar Shikhlinskaya

Ali-Agha Ismail-Agha oglu Shikhlinski (Azerbaijani: Əliağa İsmayılağa oğlu Şıxlinski), sometimes anglicized as Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky (Russian: Али-Ага Шихлинский; 3 March [O.S. 15 March] 1863 – 5 August [O.S. 18 August] 1943)[lower-alpha 1] was an Azerbaijani lieutenant-general of the Russian imperial army, Deputy Minister of Defense and General of the Artillery of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Soviet military officer.

The Russians nicknamed him "The God of the Artillery" because of his unsurpassed service and victories in theoretical and practical development of artillery.[1][2] In 1926, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was able to publish "Russian-Azerbaijani brief military dictionary" (Azerbaijani: Rusca-azərbaycanca qısa hərbi lüğəti, Russian: Русский-азербайджанский краткий военный словарь) in Baku in three scripts, Cyrillic, Arabic and Latin.[3] Thus, he became the founder of military vocabulary in Azerbaijan.

Life and military career

Early life

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was born on April 23, 1865 in the village of Kazakhly (now Ashagy Salakhly), in Kazakh uyezd of Elisavethpol Governate.[4] He wrote that his father, Ismayil Agha, was a member of the Shikhlinski Dynasty, an old noble family dating back to as early as 1537.[5] Shikhlinski wrote at the "Officer's Notebook" (Azerbaijani: Zabitin dəftəri), a journal he has been working on since 1904, that his mother, Shah Yemen Khanum was the grandchild of Molla Vali Vidadi, an 18th-century poet. Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky also had two brothers.[6]

Early Military Career

Captain Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky (1904)

In August 1876 Shikhlinski entered Tiflis military school and graduated in 1883.[4] He continued his education at Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy in Saint Petersburg as a Junker. He was not only a capable student, but also an excellent cavalryman and gymnast. Upon graduation from the first grade school, on August 11, 1886, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to podporuchik and was assigned to the 39th Artillery Brigade stationed in the city of Alexandropol (now Gyumri). In the course of military service he was promoted to poruchik, then shtabs-kapitan and appointed as commander of the training team. In 1900, Captain Shikhlinski was transferred to Transbaikal Artillery Battalion in Eastern Siberia. He was appointed to the Battery Chief of Transbaikal Artillery Division in the detachment, as well as chairperson of the Artillery Committee, he repeatedly carried out the authorizations of battalion and division commanders. He took part in China Relief Expedition of the Russian Imperial Army.[6]

Russo-Japanese War

Artillery officers with Shikhlinski in middle (1905, Port Arthur)

During the Russo-Japanese War Shikhlinski was the commander of an artillery battery. He especially distinguished himself during the siege of Port Arthur when, despite being severely wounded in his leg, he personally aimed the guns which lost their guncrews and repulsed attacks of superior Japanese forces.

For the services in battle on September 28, 1905, he was decorated with the Order of Saint George 4th degree. He was also awarded a Saint George Sword and conferred the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Officer's Artillery College

Scheme of "Triangle of Shikhlinski"

In January 1906, Shikhlinski was seconded to Tsarskoye Selo Officer's Artillery College, which he finished with honors in August of the same year and was appointed the instructor of the Artillery College. During his service as the instructor of the college Shikhlinski published a number of works on artillery, including a book titled “Use of Field Artillery in a Battle”, and invented an original target-finding device, which was called “Shiklinski triangle”. In 1908 Shiklinski was promoted to the rank of colonel, and in 1912 he was conferred the rank of major-general and assigned the deputy chief of Officer's Artillery College.

World War I

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski's protective glasses that he wore in the First World War (Azerbaijani National Museum of History)

When World War I started in 1914 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was appointed the commander of St. Petersburg garrison artillery. In January 1915 Shikhlinski was seconded to the Northwestern front to manage the training of heavy artillery guncrews. On May 23, 1915, he was appointed the general for errands at the commander-in-chief of the Northwestern front, and after division of the front into two held the same position at the Western front. On October 31, 1915 he was appointed to the position of the general for errands at the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He was charged with creation of heavy artillery battalions and brigades. From April 1916 16, Shikhlinski was the acting inspector of Western Front artillery. He was in charge of the artillery aspects of operations of the Western Front. On April 2, 1917 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general.

Azerbaijani National Army

After the February Revolution in Russia, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was appointed the commander of the 10th Russian army in September 1917. After the October revolution, he resigned from his position and moved to Tiflis, where he was charged with formation of the Muslim (Azerbaijani) corps. The corps supported the Ottoman Army of Islam in the Battle of Baku with Bolshevik and British forces. In January 1919, the government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic appointed Shikhlinski a deputy to the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic Samedbey Mehmandarov. On June 28, 1919, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to the rank of General of the Artillery of the Azerbaijani army. After the Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan and establishment of the Soviet regime in Azerbaijan in April 1920, Shikhlinski was arrested and released two months later.

Red Army

Letter about Samad Bey Mehmandarov and Ali-Agha Shiklinski that Nariman Narimanov sent to Vladimir Lenin (1920)
Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky in Red Army commander uniform (17 February 1929)

In 1920–1921, he was seconded to Moscow, where he was an adviser to the artillery inspection department of Red Army and taught in Higher Artillery School. On 18 July 1921, Shikhlinski was transferred back to Baku, where he taught at a military school and became a deputy to the chairman of the military science society of Baku garrison. In 1926, Shikhlinsky published the Russian-Azerbaijani Concise Military Dictionary. He resigned from military service in 1929 and wrote his memoirs, which were published in 1944.

Death

The building that Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky lived in Baku

He spent his last days in his house, apartment 14 of Jafar Jabbarli Street in Baku. Prior to his death, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski wrote his memoirs "My Memories" in 1942. The book was published nine months after the general's death, in May 1944. A well-known Russian and Soviet military specialist, Doctor of Military Sciences, Major-General Evgeny Barsukov has written a very valuable preface to the book. This book was published by "Azərnəşr" in Azerbaijani and Russian in 1984 with mass circulation (60 thousand) with additions and explanations.[5]

The funeral of Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, who died of cardiosclerosis in the hospital now named after Musa Naghiyev on August 18, 1943, and was organized by philosopher Heydar Huseynov himself. The funeral was accompanied by a mournful orchestra from the Baku Military Garrison.[7]

Ali-Agha's wife Nigar Shikhlinskaya was the first Azerbaijani nurse

Legacy

In 1970, a biograhical short film "The General", was released named, directed by Rauf Kazimovski. His name was on a tanker belonging to the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company in 1980. There is a street in Baku and Gazakh named after him. By the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR dated July 28, 1990, the sixth cotton collective farm in Sabirabad District and 135th secondary school, located in the seventh Micro-District of Baku, was named after him. There is a memorial bass-relief on the building that he lived in. On July 23, 1990, under the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, "General Ali-Agha Shikhlinski" scholarship was established for the students of higher education. In 1996, a descendant of the famous military commander, film director Zia Shikhlinski, made a short documentary film "Was considered the god of artillery", which was aired on November 16, 2006 in Baku, organized with the assistance of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan. In 2014, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order on holding the 150th anniversary of General Ali-Agha Shikhlinski.

A well-known Russian and Soviet military specialist, Doctor of Military Sciences Evgeny Barsukov wrote about him:

Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky was one of the few Russian gunners who possessed deep theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of tactics, and had a rare talent in the art of applying this knowledge in practice, especially in combat. In this sense, he was my most faithful adherent, and it is to him that Russian artillery is very much obliged by its skilful combat operations on the battlefields.

We were in many respects in solidarity with him, I think I will not be mistaken if I say that the main idea of civic duty was with Ali-Agha, who, like me, guided, recognizing the Soviet power, was convinced: "I always served honestly and will serve my people, from which he left, and to the government, which my people put above themselves"[8]

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was one of the characters of Russian-Soviet writer Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov's "Port-Arthur" and "Zvonaryov Family" novels.

Despite his rank, there were no signs of arrogance in Ali-Agha. Although General Shikhlinski did not finish his military academy, his natural intelligence and practical perception led him to a great influence in artillery science.

— Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov, "Zvonaryov Family"[5]

Films

  • The General (1970 film) (Azerbaijani: General)
  • Was Considered The God of Artillery (Azerbaijani: Artilleriyanın allahı sayılırdı)
  • Honorable Commander: General Ali-Agha Shikhlinski (Azerbaijani: Sərkərdə ləyaqəti. General Əliağa Şıxlinski)

Honours and medals

Grave of Ali-Agha Shikhlinski in Baku

Bibliography

Books written by Ali-Agha Shikhlinski

Works

  • "Use of artillery in the battlefield" (1910)
  • "A set of tasks for solving mountain and field artillery problems" (1916)
  • "Russian-Azerbaijani brief military dictionary" (1926)
  • "Worker-Peasant Red Army Artilleryman's Instructions" (1927)
  • "My Memories" (1944)

See also

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are in the Julian calendar with the start of year adjusted to 1 January. All other dates in this article are in Gregorian calendar (see Adoption of the Gregorian calendar in Eastern Europe).

Citations

  1. ↑ "150 лет назад родился "бог артиллерии" русской армии и АДР". Vesti.az. Vesti.az. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Юбилей, который ждут". Echo.az. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "The God of Artillery in Baku". Azernews.az. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Kiçik qəbri olan böyük general". Teleqraf.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nəzirli, Şəmistan (2005). General Əliağa Şixlinski ömrü (PDF) (in Azerbaijani). Baku: Uğur. p. 248. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  6. 1 2 "ИСТОРИЯ "БОГА АРТИЛЛЕРИИ" - ГЕНЕРАЛА АЛИ АГА ШИХЛИНСКОГО". www.bigcaucasus.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Али Ага Шихлинский - Бог артиллерии". vakrf.ru. 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Zakharovich Barsukov, Evgeny. Предисловие к книге А. А. Шихлинского "Мои воспоминания" (in Russian).
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Qocayeva, Adilə. "Görkəmli sərkərdə". Anl.az. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  10. ↑
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