Balakishi Arablinski

Balakishi Bey Alibey-oghlu Arablinski (1828, Zaqatala - 1902, Derbent) was an Azerbaijani general in the Russian Imperial Army.

He was born in 1828 in the village of Tala (Zaqatala district) into the family of a local nobleman called Ali bey. Arablinski graduated from the St. Petersburg Cadet Academy earning a rank of cornet in 1848. The same year he participated in a siege of the castle of Világos in Hungary, under general Ivan Paskevich. For his bravery he was awarded the order of St. Stanislaw.

In 1854, Balakishi Arablinski participated in a failed Russian attack on the Khanate of Khiva under General Ivan Lazarev. During the Crimean War he served as a battalion commander and was awarded the order of St. Anna with a decorated sword. The Muslim cavalry battalion in which he served was famous for the bravery of many officers.

The last war in which Arablinski participated, with the rank of major-general of cavalry, was the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878. Lieutenant General Balakishi Arablinski retired from the army in 1896 and lived on imperial pension on his Derbent estate until his death on January 2, 1902.

His family is connected to hereditary khans of Derbent and his daughter Sona was married to Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, an Azeri oil millionaire.

Sources

* Sh. Nazirli "Azerbaycan Generallari" Baku, Ganclik, 1991. OCLC|74566808