Independent Caucasian Muslim State, 1850s

[MerryPrankster]

What if, in the aftermath of the Crimean War, an independent Muslim buffer state between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was established in the Caucasus? The highlanders fought against Russian imperialism for generations and used the Crimean War as an opportunity to make trouble in the Russian rear, so they could claim the right to have some "spoils of war."

Any ideas? John knows a lot about this stuff.