From a “false prophet” to an Italian monk: Sheikh Mansur in Russian historiography of the 19<sup>th</sup> – early 20<sup>th</sup> century

The article deals with the historiography of 18 th century (the last quarter) anti-Russian movement in North Caucasus. author analyzes research methods and twritten sources, historians used to form their conclusions. In study Sheikh Mansour activities, one has four basic chronological periods which reveal predominant attention a certain group historical sources. First, come contemporary memoirs about Mansur. next results obtained by Russian military who sought achieve various practical goals. Imperial period were interested details chronology uprising. Separately treats hitherto unknown archival records data.