# Hadji Murád — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Hadji Murád by Leo Tolstoy.

- [Hadji Murád](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/hadji-mur-d.md): The chapter introduces Hadji Murád, a renowned Avar leader who has defected from Shamil's forces and seeks refuge with the Russians. He arrives at Sado's aoul, where he is hosted and protected despite the danger. The cha
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/i.md): Hadji Murád, a former naïb of Shamil, arrives as a fugitive at a hostile Chechen aoul and seeks refuge in the home of Sado. Despite the danger of harboring him, Sado welcomes him and pledges to protect him at the risk of
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/ii.md): Russian soldiers on ambush duty at a plane tree discuss the commander's gambling debts and the tedium of service. Avdéev laments his voluntary enlistment in place of his brother. Two Chechen scouts, Bata and a companion,
- [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/iii.md): Late at night in the fortress, Prince Vorontsóv and his wife Márya Vasílevna host a card game with officers Poltorátsky and the regimental adjutant. The Princess's presence distracts Poltorátsky, causing him to play poor
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/iv.md): Hadji Murád, after three sleepless nights fleeing Shamil's murids, rests at Sado's aoul. Warned that the village elders plan to detain him, he and his murid Eldár escape under cover of darkness, pursued by mounted villag
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/v.md): Early morning, two companies under Poltorátsky march out to fell trees beyond the Shagirínsk Gate. While the officers discuss the death of General Sleptsóv, a skirmish erupts with Chechen horsemen. During the exchange, s
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/vi.md): Young Prince Vorontsóv brings Hadji Murád into his home, where he meets Princess Márya Vasílevna and her son Búlka. Hadji Murád presents his dagger to the boy, and the family treats him warmly, though he remains wary. A 
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/vii.md): Avdéev, wounded in a skirmish, is taken to the hospital where the doctor fails to extract the bullet. As he lies dying, he asks his comrades to write a letter home expressing his contentment and forgiveness. He dies shor
- [VIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/viii.md): The chapter shifts to the Avdéev family farm, where Peter's father, mother, brother Akím, and sister-in-law thresh oats. The old man bitterly regrets that Peter, a hardworking and childless son, enlisted in place of his 
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/ix.md): Prince Vorontsóv, the Russian Viceroy in Tiflis, receives news of Hadji Murád's surrender during a formal dinner party. The conversation among the guests revolves around Hadji Murád's exploits, with flattery directed at 
- [Hadji Murád's Surrender and First Days Among the Russians](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/x.md): Hadji Murád meets with Prince Vorontsóv to formally surrender and pledge his service to the Russian Tsar, though both men silently recognize the mutual distrust underlying their words. Hadji Murád requests help to free h
- [XI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xi.md): On the fifth day of Hadji Murád's stay in Tiflis, Lóris-Mélikov visits him at the Viceroy's command to record his life story for the Emperor. Hadji Murád begins his narrative, recounting his birth in Tselméss, his mother
- [XII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xii.md): Lóris-Mélikov observes Hadji Murád's murids—Khan Mahomá, Eldár, Gamzálo, and Khanéfi—as they debate Shamil's holiness, smoke secretly, and reveal their diverse loyalties. Lóris-Mélikov grows suspicious that Gamzálo's ope
- [XIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xiii.md): Hadji Murád continues his life story to Lóris-Mélikov, recounting the murder of the Khans by Hamzád, his own revenge killing of Hamzád, the subsequent rise of Shamil, his refusal to join Shamil, his arrest and torture by
- [XIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xiv.md): Prince Vorontsóv writes to the Minister of War, Chernyshóv, detailing his interactions with Hadji Murád since his arrival in Tiflis. Vorontsóv describes Hadji Murád's anxiety over his family held by Shamil, his requests 
- [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xv.md): At a state dinner, Nicholas I discusses Hadji Murád's surrender and his own strategic plans for the Caucasus, while receiving flattery from his courtiers. The chapter then delves into Nicholas's daily routine, including 
- [XVI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xvi.md): A Russian raiding party marches into Chechnya in January 1852. The column, including Butler and his company, encounters Chechen horsemen and artillery fire. They pursue the mountaineers, burn an abandoned aoul, and retre
- [XVII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xvii.md): The aoul that hosted Hadji Murád is destroyed by the Russians. Sado returns to find his home ruined, his son killed, and his livelihood burned. The community is overwhelmed by a visceral disgust and perplexity at the sen
- [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xviii.md): Hadji Murád arrives at the fort and is received by Major Petróv, Butler, and Márya Dmítrievna. He is lodged in the guest-chamber, and his relations with the household are established: he is contemptuous of the Major, dra
- [XIX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xix.md): Shamil returns to Vedenó after an unsuccessful campaign and deals with the situation of Hadji Murád's family, who are held captive. He issues a proclamation urging Chechens not to surrender to the Russians and decides to
- [XX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xx.md): Hadji Murád has spent a week at the Major's fort, forming bonds with Márya Dmítrievna and Butler. On the day of his departure, he gives gifts and exchanges farewells, but a blood feud erupts when Arslán Khan attempts to 
- [XXI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xxi.md): Life in the Chechen forts continues with routine alarms and minor skirmishes. A new commander, Prince Baryátinsky, arrives and organizes a detachment for an expedition. A farewell dinner is held for General Kozlóvsky, wh
- [XXII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xxii.md): Hadji Murád, frustrated by Vorontsóv's delays in securing his family's release, moves to Nukhá to negotiate with his adherents. He receives a visit from Councillor Kiríllov, whom he treats contemptuously, and later learn
- [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xxiii.md): Hadji Murád resolves to escape from the Russians into the mountains to rescue his family from Shamil. He prepares his henchmen, listens to a song of martyrdom, and recalls memories of his mother and son, Yusúf, before se
- [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xxiv.md): Butler seeks solace in the poetry of warfare, drinking, and courting Márya Dmítrievna, who rebuffs him. A detachment arrives, leading to a drunken party. Later, Kámenev arrives with the severed head of Hadji Murád, shock
- [XXV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xxv.md): Hadji Murád, allowed to ride outside Nukhá with a reduced Cossack escort, seizes an opportunity to escape toward the mountains. He shoots the lead Cossack Nazárov and spurs his horse, triggering a chase. The chapter then
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/endnotes.md): The endnotes provide translations, historical clarifications, and contextual explanations for terms and references in the main text, including corrections to earlier biographical errors about Tolstoy's meeting with Hadji

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