Ali-Agha Shikhlinski

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was born on April 23, 1865, in the village of Kazakhly (now Ashagy Salakhly), in Kazakh uyezd of Elisavethpol Governate.[1] He wrote that his father, Ismayil Agha, was a member of the Shikhlinski Dynasty, an old noble family dating back to as early as 1537.[2] Shikhlinski wrote at the "Officer's Notebook" (Azerbaijani: Zabitin dəftəri), a journal he has been working on since 1904, that his mother, Shah Yemen Khanum was the grandchild of Molla Vali Vidadi, an 18th-century poet. Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky also had two brothers.[3]

Lieutenant colonel Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky (1904)

In August 1876 Shikhlinski entered Tiflis military school and graduated in 1883.[1] He continued his education at Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy in Saint Petersburg as a Junker. He was not only a capable student, but also an excellent cavalryman and gymnast. Upon graduation from the first grade school, on August 11, 1886, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to podporuchik and was assigned to the 39th Artillery Brigade stationed in the city of Alexandropol (now Gyumri). In the course of military service he was promoted to poruchik, then shtabs-kapitan and appointed as commander of the training team. In 1900, Captain Shikhlinski was transferred to Transbaikal Artillery Battalion in Eastern Siberia. He was appointed to the Battery Chief of Transbaikal Artillery Division in the detachment, as well as chairperson of the Artillery Committee, he repeatedly carried out the authorizations of battalion and division commanders. He took part in China Relief Expedition of the Russian Imperial Army.[3]

Artillery officers with Shikhlinski in middle (1905, Port Arthur)

During the Russo-Japanese War Shikhlinski was the commander of an artillery battery. He especially distinguished himself during the siege of Port Arthur when, despite being severely wounded in his leg, he personally aimed the guns which lost their guncrews and repulsed attacks of superior Japanese forces.

For the services in battle on September 28, 1905, he was decorated with the Order of Saint George 4th degree. He was also awarded a Saint George Sword and conferred the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Scheme of "Triangle of Shikhlinski"

In January 1906, Shikhlinski was seconded to Tsarskoye Selo Officer's Artillery College, which he finished with honors in August of the same year and was appointed the instructor of the Artillery College. During his service as the instructor of the college Shikhlinski published a number of works on artillery, including a book titled “Use of Field Artillery in a Battle”, and invented an original target-finding device, which was called “Shiklinski triangle”. In 1908 Shiklinski was promoted to the rank of colonel, and in 1912 he was conferred the rank of major-general and assigned the deputy chief of Officer's Artillery College.

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski's protective glasses that he wore in the First World War (Azerbaijani National Museum of History)

When World War I started in 1914 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was appointed the commander of St. Petersburg garrison artillery. In January 1915 Shikhlinski was seconded to the Northwestern front to manage the training of heavy artillery guncrews. On May 23, 1915, he was appointed the general for errands at the commander-in-chief of the Northwestern front, and after division of the front into two held the same position at the Western front. On October 31, 1915, he was appointed to the position of the general for errands at the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He was charged with creation of heavy artillery battalions and brigades. From April 1916 16, Shikhlinski was the acting inspector of Western Front artillery. He was in charge of the artillery aspects of operations of the Western Front. On April 2, 1917 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general.

After the February Revolution in Russia, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was appointed the commander of the 10th Russian army in September 1917. After the October revolution, he resigned from his position and moved to Tiflis, where he was charged with formation of the Muslim (Azerbaijani) corps. The corps supported the Ottoman Army of Islam in the Battle of Baku with Bolshevik and British forces. In January 1919, the government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic appointed Shikhlinski a deputy to the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic Samedbey Mehmandarov. On June 28, 1919, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was promoted to the rank of General of the Artillery of the Azerbaijani army. After the Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan and establishment of the Soviet regime in Azerbaijan in April 1920, Shikhlinski was arrested and released two months later.

Letter about Samad Bey Mehmandarov and Ali-Agha Shiklinski that Nariman Narimanov sent to Vladimir Lenin (1920)

Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky in Red Army commander uniform (17 February 1929)

In 1920–1921, he was seconded to Moscow, where he was an adviser to the artillery inspection department of Red Army and taught in Higher Artillery School. On 18 July 1921, Shikhlinski was transferred back to Baku, where he taught at a military school and became a deputy to the chairman of the military science society of Baku garrison. In 1926, Shikhlinsky published the Russian-Azerbaijani Concise Military Dictionary. He resigned from military service in 1929 and wrote his memoirs, which were published in 1944.

The building that Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky lived in Baku

He spent his last days in his house, apartment 14 of Jafar Jabbarli Street in Baku. Prior to his death, Ali-Agha Shikhlinski wrote his memoirs "My Memories" in 1942. The book was published nine months after the general's death, in May 1944. A well-known Russian and Soviet military specialist, Doctor of Military Sciences, Major-General Evgeny Barsukov wrote a preface to the book. This book was published by "Azərnəşr" in Azerbaijani and Russian in 1984 with mass circulation (60 thousand) with additions and explanations.[2]

The funeral of Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, who died of cardiosclerosis in the hospital now named after Musa Naghiyev on August 18, 1943, and was organized by philosopher Heydar Huseynov himself. The funeral was accompanied by an orchestra from the Baku Military Garrison.[4]

Ali-Agha's wife Nigar Shikhlinskaya was the first Azerbaijani nurse

• The General (1970 film) (Azerbaijani: General)
• Was Considered The God of Artillery (Azerbaijani: Artilleriyanın allahı sayılırdı)
• Honorable Commander: General Ali-Agha Shikhlinski (Azerbaijani: Sərkərdə ləyaqəti. General Əliağa Şıxlinski)

• "Use of artillery in the battlefield" (1910)
• "A set of tasks for solving mountain and field artillery problems" (1916)
• "Russian-Azerbaijani brief military dictionary" (1926)
• "Worker-Peasant Red Army Artilleryman's Instructions" (1927)
• "My Memories" (1944)