# Nicholas I — Hadji Murád character guide

> Nicholas I in Hadji Murád by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Nicholas

**First appearance:** 0001-hadji-mur-d

## Snapshot

The remote Russian Tsar whose vanity and distance from the Caucasus turn a brutal war into a matter of imperial theater.

## Who they are

From his throne, Nicholas I regards the mountain campaign as a stage for Russian glory, dispensing pardons and promotions with the same detached flourish. He never meets Hadji Murád face to face, yet his whim decides whether a defector is welcomed or discarded, and his officers perform loyalty for an audience that will never see the blood. His presence exposes the gap between the war as it is lived and the war as it is imagined by those who command it.

## Relationships

### [Zachary Chernyshóv](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/characters/zachary_chernyshov)

_professional_

Tsar Nicholas I commands his minister Chernyshóv with autocratic authority, treating him as a bureaucratic tool.

### [Zachary Chernyshóv](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/characters/zachary_chernyshov)

_professional_

Tsar Nicholas I commands his minister Chernyshóv with autocratic authority, treating him as a bureaucratic tool.

### [Zachary Chernyshóv](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/characters/zachary_chernyshov)

_professional_

Tsar Nicholas I commands his minister Chernyshóv with autocratic authority, treating him as a bureaucratic tool.

## In the story

### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/xv)

The Emperor, portrayed as autocratic and self-deluded, discusses Hadji Murád's surrender and his military strategies while receiving flattery from his court.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/chapters/endnotes)

Mentioned in the context of the Decembrists and his reign.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/characters/nicholas_i
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadji_mur_d_se/characters