Shamkhal, or Shawhal (Kumyk: Şawxal) is a title used by Kumyk rulers in Dagestan and the Northeast Caucasus during the 8th–19th centuries. By the 16th century, the state had its capital at Tarki and was thus known as the Shamkhalate of Tarki.
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Shamkhal (title) in the context of Persian Expedition of 1796
The Persian expedition of Catherine the Great of 1796, like the Persian expedition of Peter the Great (1722–1723), was one of the Russo-Persian Wars of the 18th century which did not entail any lasting consequences for either belligerent.
The last decades of the 18th century were marked by continual strife between rival claimants to the Peacock Throne. Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (r. 1762–1796) took advantage of the disorder to consolidate her control over the weak polities of the Caucasus, which was, for swaths of it, an integral Persian domain. The kingdom of Georgia, a subject of the Persians for many centuries, became a Russian protectorate in 1783, when King Erekle II signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, whereby the Empress promised to defend him in the case of Iranian attack. The shamkhals of Tarki followed this lead and accepted Russian protection three years later.
Shamkhal (title) in the context of Shamkhalate of Tarki
The Shamkhalate of Tarki, or Tarki Shamkhalate (also Shawhalate, or Shevkalate; Kumyk: Таргъу Шавхаллыкъ, romanized: Tarğu Şawxallıq) was a Kumyk state in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, with its capital in the ancient town of Tarki. It formed on the territory populated by Kumyks and included territories corresponding to modern Dagestan and adjacent regions. After subjugation by the Russian Empire, the Shamkhalate's lands were split between the Empire's feudal domain with the same name extending from the river Sulak to the southern borders of Dagestan, between Kumyk possessions of the Russian Empire and other administrative units.
At some point the Shamkhalate had vassals from the Caspian Sea to Kabarda and Balkaria. The Shamkhals also possessed the title of the Vali of Dagestan and had their residence in the ancient Khazar-Kumyk mountainous shelter.