PrinceAlexander Bekovich-Cherkassky (Russian:Алекса́ндр Беко́вич-Черка́сский), bornDevlet-Girei-mırza (Russian:Девлет-Гирей-мурза; died 1717), was aRussian officer ofCircassian origin who led the first Russianmilitary expedition intoCentral Asia.[1]
AMuslim by birth, and the son of one ofKabarda's rulers, Alexander converted toChristianity and joined the Russian service, although the dates and circumstances of these events are not on record.[2] In 1707, he was commissioned byPeter the Great to studynavigation in Western Europe, and towards the end of 1711 he was back inRussia. From there, he was sent back to his native Kabarda and persuaded some powerful men there to support the Russian Tsar in his operations against theOttoman Empire.
Two years later, aTurkmen traveller arrived inAstrakhan and announced to local authorities that theOxus River, formerly flowing to theCaspian Sea, had been diverted by the Khivans to theAral Sea in order to extract golden sand from the river waters. Prince Gagarin, who was a local governor at that time, sent his envoys to theKhanate of Khiva in order to verify the fable. They returned with a sack of golden sand, allegedly extracted from the Oxus.
The fable was then given credit, and the Turkmen brought toSaint Petersburg. Tsar Peter, informed about the fabulous wealth of Khiva, was desperately in need of gold to proceed with theGreat Northern War. On 14 February 1716, a contingent of 7,000 troops was placed under the command of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky as a Muslim by birth and an expert in the art of warfare.
Bekovich-Cherkassky was commissioned: 1) to survey the river-bed of the Oxus and to report on the possibility of its diversion to the Caspian; 2) to force the Khivan khan into subservience; 3) to erect a chain of fortifications along the Oxus; 4) to send envoys toIndia in order to establish direct trade with theMughal Empire.
| Russo–Khivan War of 1717 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Khiva |  Russia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Shir Ghazi | Peter the Great Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 24,000 | Total: 6,655 3,727 infantry 617 cavalry 2,000 cossacks 26 artillery crew with 22 guns 232 marines several auxiliaries | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Almost all the troops killed or captured | ||||||
Bekovich-Cherkassky received these orders inAstrakhan, where he was engaged in the surveying work, preparing the first map of theCaspian Sea. He was promoted captain and commanded a preliminary expedition inTurkmenistan. He left some of the Cossacks on his way in order to set up the forts inKrasnovodsk andAlexandrovsk.
Back in Astrakhan by February 1717, Bekovich raised another army and started towards Khiva, together with some engineers and land surveyors.
According to Mikhail Terentyev, Bekovich's army consisted of the following:
Total: 6,655[3]
It was many months later that severalTatars returned and brought the appalling news of the catastrophe that befell the Khivan expedition. The newly built forts in Turkmenistan were at once evacuated, and that at considerable loss from inclement weather andTurkmen tribesmen.
What exactly happened with Bekovich-Cherkassky remains a matter of some controversy. According to a few surviving members of his contingent, they advanced to within 120km fromKhiva, when the khan attacked them with a 24,000-strong army. After three days of bloody fighting, the Khivans were routed.
Seeing that the enemy was very numerous, Bekovich-Cherkassky understood that diplomacy had a better chance of success. The Russian officer, accompanied only by 500 of his men, rode into the enemy's camp to propose terms. The khan pretended to surrender to him, welcomed him warmly, persuading him to divide the Russian army to dwell in five separate towns in order to facilitate foraging. The Khivans then attacked the five towns one by one, slaughtering most Russians, selling the others as slaves, and executing all Russian officers including Prince Cherkassky.
Peter the Great did nothing to avenge the defeat since he was still occupied by thewar with Sweden, and also by the hostility of theOttoman Empire. It was over a century later that theRussian Empire resumed its military expeditions into Central Asia.
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