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 Faraj bey Agayev (1811-1891), a military commander, first Azeri lieutenant-general in the Russian Army.
He was born in 1811 in a noble family in Shusha. When 26 years old he joined voluntarily the Russian Army and served in the Caucasus Muslim regiment. In 1838 he got the officer rank. Soon afterwards for his exemplary service count Paskevich, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Caucasus, transferred him to the Emperor's Guards. On the seventh year of his military service Agayev became rotmister (the Cavalry captain) of the Guard and three years later he was promoted to the colonel rank and was appointed the regiment commander.
In 1844, when inspecting the Guard troops, the Emperor Nicolas I attended Agayev's regiment, met him personally and was very satisfied with his work. Soon after this meeting, the Russian Tsar even formally adopted Faraj bey as his son. From that day all the official documents referred to Faraj bey as Nicolas Nicolayevich Agayev.
In 1850 Faraj bey Agayev was sent to his native region of Caucasus to continue his service. He worked in the Caucasus military headquarters, took an active part in the Caucasus wars (between Russian and mountain Caucasus people). Initially, Agayev headed the Ossetian cavalry and then he became a commander of his native Shusha cavalry detachment. In 1853 he was promoted to the rank of general for his heroism in the battle of Kerukdere. During the Russo-Turkish war in 1878, Agayev was further promoted to the rank of the general-lieutenant and was awarded with a sword from the Russian Emperor.
After 45 years of service Faraj bey Agayev retired from the army in 1882 at the age of 72. He spent his last years in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) and was closely engaged in philanthropy.
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