{{Short description|British military intelligence officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person | name = James Stanislaus Bell | birth_date = 9 January 1797 | death_date = {{Death date and age|1858|3|10|1797|1|9|df=y}} | children = 8<ref name=":1" /> | birth_place = Dundee, Scotland | allegiance = {{flag|Circassia}} | spouse = Elizabeth Roberton<ref name=":0" /> | death_place = Glasgow, Scotland<ref name=":1" /> | battles = {{Unbulletedlist | Russo-Circassian War | Mission of the Vixen}} | image = James Stanislaus Bell.jpg | image_size = | caption = }} '''James Stanislaus Bell''' ({{Langx|sco|James Bell}}; {{Langx|ady|Джеймс Белл}}; 9 January 1797, Dundee – 16 March 1858), also known as '''Yaqub Bey''' ({{Langx|ady|Якъуб-Бий}}),<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Neumann |first=Karl Friedrich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9R9DAAAAcAAJ&q=james+bell |title=Russland und die Tscherkessen, part 19 |year=2021 |orig-year=1840 |publisher=Cotta |isbn=978-5-87731-629-4 |pages=81 |language=de}}</ref> was a British merchant, adventurer, and author. He travelled to Circassia in the 1830s and participated in the Russo-Circassian War on the side of the Circassians. During this time, he wrote and published his memoirs.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" />
== Biography == === Early life === He was born in Dundee in 1796.<ref name=":0">{{cite thesis|url=https://acikbilim.yok.gov.tr/handle/20.500.12812/210500|title=Travel literature as a political act: Discourse historical analysis of James Stanislaus Bell's journal of a residence in Circassia|date=31 January 2020|language=en|publisher=Istanbul Yeni Yüzyıl University|first=Taner|last=Akbaş|access-date=20 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619173547/https://acikbilim.yok.gov.tr/handle/20.500.12812/210500|archive-date=19 June 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> His father was William Bell, and his mother was Anna Young.<ref name=":1">{{cite web | url = https://gw.geneanet.org/yuille?lang=en&n=bell&oc=0&p=james+stanislaus | title = Family tree of James Stanislaus Bell | access-date = 20 June 2023 | date = 2019 | language = en | work = Geneanet | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250824191612/https://gw.geneanet.org/yuille?lang=en&n=bell&oc=0&p=james+stanislaus | archive-date = 24 August 2025}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> He had a career as a merchant.<ref name=":0" />
=== Arrival in Circassia === {{Main|Mission of the Vixen}} thumb|Bell's map of Circassia|upright=1.25 Due to its location, Circassia was a key strategic region in the middle of a power struggle between Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=":07">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHlwZwpA70cC|title=The Circassian Genocide|access-date=16 February 2020|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123185222/https://books.google.com/books?id=LHlwZwpA70cC|date=9 April 2013|url-status=live|publisher=Rutgers University Press|first=Walter|last=Richmond|isbn=978-0-8135-6069-4}}</ref> Russia aimed to expand along the Black Sea and reach warm water ports. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, wanted to block Russia. Russia wanted to isolate the Circassians from the international community, but trade with Circassia could not be prevented, and both the Ottoman Empire and the United Kingdom provided the Circassians with firearms and ammunition to fight the Russians. The United Kingdom also provided several advisors, while the Ottomans tried to persuade the Circassians to start a Holy War (Jihad) that would attract the support of other nations.<ref name=":6">Natho, Kadir (2005). "The Russo-Circassian War".</ref>
James Bell arrived in Circassia in 1836, on board a ship carrying a large quantity of weapons under the guise of commercial activities.<ref name=":5">[http://www.archive.org/stream/journalofresiden01belluoft#page/n9/mode/2up Journal of a residence in Circassia during the years 1837, 1838 and 1839. Vol. 1-2. London, 1840]</ref> In November 1836, the Russian military brig "Ajax" detained Bell's ship at Sujuk-Kale ({{Langx|ady|ЦIэмэз}}). At the time of the detention, 8 guns, 28,800 pounds of gunpowder, and a significant amount of other weapons were unloaded. This was considered a provocation instigated by David Urquhart, the first secretary of the British embassy in Istanbul, who had long been trying to support the Circassians.<ref name=":03">Peter Hopkirk [https://books.google.com/books?id=1_41VGoCYU8C&pg=PA158 The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia], Chapter 12 "The Greatest Fortress in the World", pp. 158–159, Oxford University Press, 2001 {{ISBN|0-19-280232-1}}</ref><ref name=":13">O. Ayrapetov "Foreign policy of the Russian Empire (1801–1914)" ("Внешняя политика Российской имPERии (1801–1914)") pp. 149–153</ref> Bell introduced himself as a diplomat and saved his life, but the ship and cargo were confiscated and incorporated into the Russian Black Sea fleet.<ref name=":5" /> London reacted furiously to this detention. The Conservatives brought a question to Parliament regarding the legality of Russia's claim to Circassia. Russia was threatened with war. Following the angry statements from London, Russian Tsar Nicholas I ordered the army and the fleet to be ready for war, thus bringing the two countries to the brink of war.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":13"/> According to the 20 December 1836 issue of ''The Morning Chronicle'', the purpose of the Vixen{{Clarify|date=February 2026}} was "to lift the illegal and piratical blockade established by Russia on the coast of Circassia."<ref name=":2">{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/19625362/Great_Power_Clashes_in_the_Caucasus_Region_Examination_of_the_Vixen_Conflict_1836_Based_on_the_British_Archives|title=Great Power Clashes in the Caucasus Region: Examination of the Vixen Conflict (1836) Based on the British Archives|access-date=20 June 2023|archive-date=21 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621051609/https://www.academia.edu/19625362/Great_Power_Clashes_in_the_Caucasus_Region_Examination_of_the_Vixen_Conflict_1836_Based_on_the_British_Archives|date=2014|url-status=live|language=en|location=Budapest|first=Katalin|last=Schrek}}</ref><ref>''The Morning Chronicle'', 20 December 1836.</ref>
Left without a ship, Bell remained in Circassia. He wasted no time and assisted the Circassians in military affairs. When it was revealed that someone introducing himself as a British diplomat was helping the Circassians, the crisis between Russia and Britain escalated. By 1840, with the support of Polish deserters trained by Bell, several attacks were organized against Russian fortifications on the Black Sea and Gelendzhik cordon lines. These attacks included the Siege of Lazarevsky, the Siege of Mikhailovsky, and the Siege of Velyaminovsky. The Circassians used military tactics taught to them by Bell, such as using cannons, in later battles.<ref>Shtybin, Vitaliy. ''The Adventures of James Stanislaus Bell in Circassia.''</ref> In April 1837, Russian-British relations improved and Urquhart was recalled to London.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":13"/>
== Personal life == His eldest daughter was Emilia (Emelia), and his son was Charles Bell (Charles Napier Bell, 1835–1906).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipenz.org.nz/heritage/bio-detail.cfm?id=3|title=IPENZ Engineering Heritage|access-date=16 May 2011|archive-date=24 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524233250/http://www.ipenz.org.nz/heritage/bio-detail.cfm?id=3|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|James Stanislaus Bell}}
* [http://www.archive.org/stream/journalofresiden01belluoft#page/n9/mode/2up Journal of a residence in Circassia during the years 1837, 1838 and 1839. Vol. 1-2. London, 1840] * [http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Kavkaz/XIX/1820-1840/Bell_2/text1.htm Diary of a stay in Circassia during the years 1837, 1838 and 1839] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204022522/http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Kavkaz/XIX/1820-1840/Bell_2/text1.htm |date=4 December 2020 }} // Oriental Literature. * [http://www.nls.uk/collections/rarebooks/acquisitions/ Bell, James Stanislaus.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022001904/http://www.nls.uk/collections/rarebooks/acquisitions/ |date=22 October 2016 }} [http://www.nls.uk/collections/rarebooks/acquisitions/ National Library of Scotland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022001904/http://www.nls.uk/collections/rarebooks/acquisitions/ |date=22 October 2016 }} == Further reading == {{Commons category|James Stanislaus Bell}} * ''Journal of a Residence in Circassia'' (1840) [https://archive.org/details/journalofresiden01belluoft Vol. 1] and [https://archive.org/details/journalofresiden02belluoft Vol. 2] – via Internet Archive * [http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Kavkaz/XIX/1820-1840/Bell_2/text1.htm 1837, 1838 ve 1839 yıllarında Çerkesya'da kalış günlüğü] // Doğu Edebiyatı.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, James Stanislaus}} Category:1797 births Category:1858 deaths Category:19th-century British memoirists Category:People of the Caucasian War Category:Circassian military personnel of the Russo-Circassian War Category:19th-century British merchants