Hadji Murat was an Avar military leader during the revolutionary wars against the Russian Empire in Dagestan and Chechnya. Throughout his career, he sided both with and against the Russians, but it would be his exploits under the revolutionary leader Imam Shamil that would lead to his notoriety with the Russians as a mythologised, fearless warrior.
After falling out with Shamil, he would once again turn to the Russians with the intent of gathering men and guns to attack Shamil and save his family, who had now been kidnapped. However, it would end in tragedy, after escaping the Russian escort watching him he was ambushed by both old and new enemies. His head was severed, embalmed and sent to the Emperor himself and still resides in St. Petersburg.
His legacy can be seen in the Leo Tolstoy's novella where he is the titular character. Tolstoy compared him to a tartar thistle for his tenacity and durability, much like how the flower is so difficult to pick that in its fight, it will be destroyed.
