were not enough forces to develop the offensive. Soon shamkhal with allies went on the defensive from the Persian troops led by Aras Khan. In the end, on November 30, he retreated to Derbent. In August 1579 he ended up with a new Ottoman army led by Mehmet-bey and the Crimean Tatars. In 1580, all these troops went on the offensive and the army of Chopan II participated in the conquest of Shirvan, Karabakh, along with Yerevan and Tabriz (one of the capitals of Iran). In 1585, relations with the Ottomans suddenly deteriorated, as a result of the intention of the sultans to turn Dagestan into one of their eyalets and the construction of fortresses on the Terek river. Not wanting to enter into an open conflict, Chopan prevented this plan in every possible way. Relations between the Gazikumukh shamkhalate and Iran begin to recover. At the same time, back in 1586, Chopan II sent an embassy led by his sons Surkhay and Sultan-Mut to the Moscow Tsar in order to improve relations between states. However, he failed to fully improve relations with his neighbors: Russian troops began to prepare for the resumption of control over the lands in the basin of the Terek and Sunzha rivers, the Kakhetian king Alexander II supported some of the sons of Chopan II with demands for power. In 1588, the Russians built a fortress on the Terek river. In this regard, Chopan II saw a threat to his possession and began activities against them alone. He died in 1589. According to other sources, Chopan was the ruler of the country from Kaitag, the Kura valley, Avaristan, the Circassians and the Terek river to the Caspian Sea and died in Buynak in 1574. Family He had 4 or 5 sons, 4 of them were from the daughter of utsmi (ruler) of Kaitag Sultan Ahmed: Andiy-shamkhal Eldar-shamkhal Muhammad-shamkhal Giray-shamkhal (Surkhay?) One of his sons was considered illegitimate from the daughter of the Kabardian ruler Uzun-Cherkess: Sultanmut See also Buday I Shamkhal (title) Shamkhalate of Tarki References Sources Gerber, Johann (1760). Information about the peoples and lands located on the western side of the Caspian Sea between Astrakhan and the Kura river and about their condition in 1728. St. Petersburg. pp. 36–37. Dubrovin, Nikolay (1871). History of war and domination of Russians in the Caucasus. The peoples inhabiting the Caucasus. Vol. 1. St. Petersburg. pp. 291,