the leader of the greatest revolt is shamil-- shamil the avar. he unified the entire north caucasus-- which included chechens, who were dagestanis at the time-- and other peoples, to fight the russian authorities. narrator: shamil led the caucasians in an epic defensive battle, here at ahogo. ( speaking native language ) translator: ahogo is the holiest place in dagestan and for all muslims of northern causasia. this is where the most important battle of the caucasian war was fought. the russians assaulted this mountain for three months and could not take it. 3,000 russians and 1,000 people from the mountains died here. only seven of our mountain people survived the battle. narrator: eventually, the czarists prevailed, but the caucasians still dreamed of autonomy. in 1918, bolshevik revolutionaries exploited caucasian desires. it began a pattern of betrayal. wixman: lenin lied. he got all caucasians to support him in the russian revolution, and they did. and then, instead of being given a caucasian republic, they were divided into mini territorie