The article deals with the secular historiography of the anti-Russian movement that emerged in the North Caucasus in the last quarter of the 18th century. The author analyzes the main concepts and the source base on which the main conclusions of historians were based. There are several periods in the development of the study of the movement of Sheikh Mansour, for each of which the main scientific works are considered. First, the early Soviet historiography is considered, which tried to fit the movement under the leadership of Sheikh Mansur into the general Soviet narrative. The next stage in the development of historiography is associated with the concealment of the figure of Mansur, which followed the deportation of the Vainakhs to Central Asia, and later declaring it inspired by Turkey. In the late Soviet period, such concepts as “national liberation”, “anti-colonial” and “anti-feudal” were assigned to the movement, even though Mansur did not fit into the concept of the so-called “voluntary integration” of Chechen-Ingushetia into Russia.