Ali Agha Shikhlinski | |
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| Nickname | "The God of the Artillery" |
| Born | (1863-03-03)March 3, 1863 |
| Died | August 18, 1943(1943-08-18) (aged 80) |
| Buried | 40°21′49″N49°48′36″E / 40.3636837°N 49.8099878°E /40.3636837; 49.8099878 |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire (1886–1917) Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918–1920) Soviet Union (–1929) |
| Branch | Imperial Russian Army Azerbaijani Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1886–1929 |
| Rank | Lieutenant general General of the Artillery |
| Commands | 5th Battery, 29th Artillery Brigade 1st Division, 21st Artillery Brigade 10th Army |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards |     |
| Spouse | Nigar Shikhlinskaya |
Ali Agha Ismail Agha oghlu Shikhlinski (Azerbaijani:Əli Ağa İsmayıl Ağa oğlu Şıxlinski;); 3 March [O.S. 15 March] 1863[a] – 18 August 1943) was anAzerbaijanilieutenant-general of theImperial Russian Army, Deputy Minister of Defense and General of the Artillery ofAzerbaijan Democratic Republic and aSoviet military officer.
Ali Agha Shikhlinski was born on April 23, 1865, in the village of Kazakhly (nowAshaghy Salakhly), inKazakhuyezd ofElisavethpol Governate.[1] He wrote that his father, Ismayil Agha, was a member of the Shikhlinski Dynasty, a noble family dating back to as early as 1537.[2] Shikhlinski wrote at the "Officer's Notebook" (Azerbaijani:Zabitin dəftəri), a journal he had been working on since 1904, that his mother, Shah Yemen Khanum was the grandchild ofMolla Vali Vidadi, an 18th-century poet. Ali Agha Shikhlinsky also had two brothers.[3]
In August 1876 Shikhlinski enteredTiflis military school and graduated in 1883.[1] He continued his education atMikhailovsky Artillery Academy inSaint Petersburg as aJunker. He was a capable student, excelled as a cavalryman and as a gymnast. Upon graduation from the first grade school, on August 11, 1886, Ali Agha Shikhlinski was promoted topodporuchik and was assigned to the 39th Artillery Brigade stationed in the city of Alexandropol (nowGyumri). In the course of military service he was promoted toporuchik, thenshtabs-kapitan and appointed as commander of the training team. In 1900, Captain Shikhlinski was transferred toTransbaikal Artillery Battalion inEastern Siberia. He was appointed to the Battery Chief ofTransbaikal 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 inChina Relief Expedition of theRussian Imperial Army.[3]
During theRusso-Japanese War Shikhlinski was the commander of anartillery battery. He distinguished himself during thesiege of Port Arthur when, despite being severely wounded in his leg, he personally aimed the guns which lost their gun crews and repulsed attacks of superior Japanese forces.
For the services in battle on September 28, 1905, he was decorated with theOrder of Saint George 4th degree. He was also awarded aSaint George Sword and conferred the rank oflieutenant-colonel.
In January 1906, Shikhlinski was seconded toTsarskoye 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 ofcolonel, and in 1912 he was conferred the rank ofmajor-general and assigned the deputy chief of Officer's Artillery College.
WhenWorld War I started in 1914 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was appointed the commander ofSt. Petersburg garrison artillery. In January 1915, Shikhlinski was seconded to theNorthwestern 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 theWestern 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 the 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 oflieutenant-general.
After theFebruary Revolution in Russia, Ali Agha Shikhlinski was appointed the commander of the10th Russian army in September 1917. After theOctober Revolution, he resigned from his position and moved toTiflis, where he was charged with formation of the Muslim (Azerbaijani) corps. The corps supported theOttoman Army of Islam in theBattle of Baku withBolshevik and British forces. In January 1919, the government ofAzerbaijan Democratic Republic appointed Shikhlinski a deputy to the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan RepublicSamad bey Mehmandarov. On June 28, 1919, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to the rank of General of the Artillery of the Azerbaijani army. After theRed Army invasion of Azerbaijan and establishment of theSoviet regime in Azerbaijan in April 1920, Shikhlinski was arrested and released two months later.
In 1920–1921, he was seconded toMoscow, where he was an adviser to the artillery inspection department ofRed 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.
He spent his last days in his house, apartment 14 of Jafar Jabbarly Street inBaku. 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 wrote a preface to the book. This book was published by "Azərnəşr" inAzerbaijani andRussian in 1984 with mass circulation (60 thousand) with additions and explanations.[2]
The funeral of Ali Agha Shikhlinski, who died of cardiosclerosis in the hospital now named afterAgha Musa Naghiyev on August 18, 1943, was organized by philosopherHeydar Huseynov himself. The funeral was accompanied by an orchestra from the Baku Military Garrison.[4]
A short biographical film named "The General", directed byRauf Kazimovski, was released in 1970. AnAzerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company tanker was named after him in 1980. There is a street inBaku andGazakh named after him. By the decision of theCouncil of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR dated July 28, 1990, the sixth cotton collective farm inSabirabad District and 135th secondary school, located in the seventh Micro-District ofBaku, was named after him. There is a memorialbass-relief on the building that he lived in. On July 23, 1990, under the decree of thePresident of the Republic of Azerbaijan, "General Ali Agha Shikhlinski" scholarship was established for the students of higher education. In 1996, a descendant of the military commander, film directorZia Shikhlinski, made a short documentary film named "Was considered the god of artillery", which was aired on November 16, 2006, inBaku, organized with the assistance of theRussian Embassy in Azerbaijan. In 2014,President of AzerbaijanIlham Aliyev signed an order on commemorating 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 skillful 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"[5]
Ali Agha Shikhlinski was one of the characters of Russian-Soviet writerAlexander 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"[2]
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3rd ClassOrder of Saint Stanislaus (1891)[6] 3rd ClassOrder of Saint Anne (1896)[6] 2nd ClassOrder of Saint Stanislaus with Swords (1901)[6] 2nd ClassOrder of Saint Anne (1904)[6]Gold Sword for Bravery (1905)[2] 4th ClassOrder of Saint Anne for Bravery (1905)[2] 2nd ClassOrder of Saint Anne (1905)[6] 4th ClassOrder of Saint George (1905)[6] 4th ClassOrder of Saint Vladimir with Swords and Banners (1905)[2]Russo-Japanese Silver War Medal (1907)[2] The Highest Favor (1907)[7] Bronze Medal "In memory of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty" (1913)[2]
Legion of Honour (1913)[6] 3rd ClassOrder of Saint Vladimir (1913)[6] 1st ClassOrder of Saint Stanislaus (1915)[6] 1st ClassOrder of Saint Anne (1915)[6] 2nd ClassOrder of Saint Vladimir with Swords (1915)[6]
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