Najmuddin of Gotzo[1][2][3][a][b] (1859 – October 1925) was a North Caucasian religious, military, and political leader who led multiple uprisings against the Bolsheviks during and after the Russian Civil War.

A poet and teacher of Arabic prior to the Russian Revolution, Najmuddin first served as Mufti of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus.

Najmuddin led a series of rebellions in both Dagestan and Chechnya against Russian authorities, seeking to establish an independent Islamic theocracy in the North Caucasus under his leadership.

[4] Alibek Ṭahaq̇adiqala [ru], a Bolshevik revolutionary in Dagestan during the Russian Civil War, later claimed that Najmuddin was on one occasion removed from office and imprisoned for seven months after inflicting injury upon a thief as punishment for stealing.

[11] Following the deaths of his father and brother, Najmuddin inherited large tracts of land, including 10,000 sheep across both mountainous and lowland pastures.

While in the Ottoman Empire, Najmuddin met Muhammad Zapir, a religious educator to Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and a meeting was arranged between the two.

The meeting primarily concerned the conditions of Muslims living under the Russian Empire, and Najmuddin requested permission to become imam of Dagestan.

However, due to extremely low turnout in Dagestan Oblast, the provincial executive bureau decided against sending any deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Empire of the First Convocation [ru].

[13] Xalilbeg Musajasul [ru], an Avar artist who was acquainted with Najmuddin, noted that despite his wealth, he personally was characterised as a simple, humane, and kind individual.

[21] Magomed Dzhafarov, a colonel of the Imperial Russian Army and the military of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, remarked that Najmuddin was intelligent,[23] proud and arrogant, and that he was well-connected to the working class despite his wealth.

[4] Following his appointment as mufti, Najmuddin delivered a message to the population in which he called for unity and announced that any measures against sharia would be prosecuted to the strongest possible extent.

[25] Alibek Ṭahaq̇adiqala, a member of the Central Committee from the Socialist Group, assessed Najmuddin's move not as one of a religious fanatic, but as a carefully-calculated step performed to achieve support from the people.

[27] Among Najmuddin's closest political allies was sheikh Uzun-Hajji, who travelled across the North Caucasus spreading propaganda in favour of a theocracy.

Presented with what seemed to be a fait accompli, the liberal intellectuals among the Union of Highlanders of the North Caucasus agreed to attend, while scheduling another conference for a later date.

Upon his accession to the role, Najmuddin stated in a message to the people: Beware of crimes prohibited by Allah: murder, theft, robbery, plunder.

Three days later,[31] he was instructed to give up his title by the congress's attendees, who were largely religious Muslims that shared Najmuddin's opposition to the intellectuals.

Those attending feared that a restoration of Shamil's Imamate would encourage sectarian enmity and bloodshed between the North Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

On 23 March 1918, the Armed Forces of Dagestan Executive Committee urged Najmuddin to stabilise the city after pushing the Bolsheviks out [ru], to which he agreed.

Red Army forces under Sultan-Said Kazbekov [ru] also encircled the village of Kostek, where Najmuddin was based, and began shelling.

The tide of the battle began to shift in favour of the Highlanders three days later, when Magomed Dzhafarov forced the Bolsheviks to retreat at the village of Karanay.

[13] The Volunteer Army of White movement leader Anton Denikin entered the North Caucasus in April 1919, invading Chechnya [ru].

[49][50] According to Dagestani historian Murtazali Dugrichilov, both the Red and White armies sought to divide Najmuddin and Uzun-Hajji in an effort to ensure that both would be defeated.

[52] Uzun-Haji died in combat in March 1920, and Najmuddin left the North Caucasus for Georgia after the Red Army conquered the region.

[4] An uprising against communist rule in Dagestan began on 11 May 1920, with a group of North Caucasian political figures gathering in the village of Vedeno and declaring the restoration of the monarchy of Imam Shamil.

[55] Said arrived in Dagestan on 29 October 1920, and, in spite of his protestations that he was too young to be a monarch, he was crowned in a ceremony overseen by Najmuddin in the village of Gidatli [ru].

Residents of smaller villages were quick to join Najmuddin's forces, while those in larger settlements were subject to a massive propaganda campaign.

According to plans jointly developed by Najmuddin and Mitayev, Shatoy and Vedeno would be the first locations to join the uprising, alongside Andi and Khasavyurt.

[60] The Soviet security forces quickly began attempting to stop Najmuddin and Mitayev from organising their uprising, arresting members of several underground anti-communist cells throughout Dagestan.

The congress, which comprised 74 sheikhs, qadi, and teachers of Arabic, accused Najmuddin of being "an enemy of Muslims not only in Dagestan, but in the whole world, deserving the most severe punishment".

In 1923, he contacted the head of the local branch of the Joint State Political Directorate via a relative, expressing his desire to end the conflict.