The characters of L. Charskaya’s novella “Gazavat” are mostly historical figures: a young Russian officer; his friend, the son of the leader of the rebellious mountaineers, who became attached to Russia and came to love Russians; a young sufferer captured by the mountaineers; a fierce and cruel warrior-murid; a kind, compassionate Chechen woman, and many others. All of them gather around the famous leader of the Caucasian murids, Shamil—the commander in a many-year struggle of the mountaineers for faith and freedom.