The North Caucasus has been invaded numerous times throughout history. Its isolated terrain and the strategic value outsiders have placed on the areas settled by Chechens has contributed much to the Chechen communityethos and helped shape its national character.
Chechen society is largelyegalitarian and organized around tribal autonomous local clans, calledteips, informally organized into loose confederations calledtukkhums.
According to popular tradition, the Russian termChechency (Чеченцы) comes from centralChechnya, which had several important villages and towns named after the wordChechen. These places include Chechan, Nana-Checha ("Mother Checha") and Yokkh Chechen ("Greater Chechena").[29] The nameChechen occurs in Russian sources in the late 16th century as "Chachana", which is mentioned as a land owned by the Chechen Prince Shikh Murza.[30] The etymology is ofNakh origin and originates from the wordChe ("inside") attached to the suffix - cha/chan, which altogether can be translated as "inside territory". The villages and towns named Chechan were always situated in theChechan-are ("Chechen flatlands or plains") located in contemporary central Chechnya.[31][32]
The name "Chechens" is an exoethnonym that entered the Georgian and Western European ethnonymic tradition through theRussian language in the 18th century.[33]
From the middle of the 19th century to the first few years of theSoviet state, some researchers united all Chechens and Ingush under the name "Chechens".[34][35] In modern science, another term is used for this community — "theVainakh people".
AlthoughChechan (Chechen) was a term used by Chechens to denote a certain geographic area (central Chechnya), Chechens called themselvesNakhchiy (highland dialects) orNokhchiy (lowland dialects). The oldest mention ofNakhchiy occurred in 1310 by theGeorgian Patriarch Cyril Donauri, who mentions the 'People of Nakhche' amongTushetians,Avars and many otherNortheast Caucasian nations.[36] The termNakhchiy has also been connected to the cityNakhchivan and the nation of Nakhchamatyan (mentioned as one of the peoples of Sarmatia in the 7th-century Armenian workAshkharhatsuyts) by many Soviet and modern historians, although the historian N. Volkova considers the latter connection unlikely and states that the term Nakhchmatyan could have been mistaken for theIaxamatae, a tribe of Sarmatia mentioned inPtolemy's Geography, who have no connection to the Chechen people.[37][38] Chechen manuscripts in Arabic from the early 1820s do mention a certainNakhchuvan (near modern-dayKağızman,Turkey) as the homeland of all Nakhchiy. The etymology of the termNakhchiy can also be understood as acompound formed withNakh ('people') attached toChuo ('territory').[32][39]
The Chechens are one of theNakh peoples, who have lived in the highlands of theNorth Caucasus region since prehistory.[43] There is archeological evidence of historical continuity dating back to 3000 B.C.[44][43] as well as evidence pointing to their ancestors' migration from theFertile Crescent c. 10,000–8,000 B.C.[44]
The discussion of their origins is intertwined with the discussion of the mysterious origins of Nakh peoples as a whole. The only three surviving Nakh peoples are Chechens,Ingush andBats, but they are thought by some scholars to be the remnants of what was once a larger family of peoples.[citation needed]
They are thought to be descended from the original settlers of the Caucasus (North and/or South).[45][46]
Ancestors of the modern Chechens and Ingush were known asDurdzuks. According toThe Georgian Chronicles, before his death,Targamos [Togarmah] divided the country amongst his sons, withKavkasos [Caucas] receiving the Central Caucasus. Kavkasos engendered the Chechen tribes, and his descendant, Durdzuk, who took up residence in a mountainous region, later called "Dzurdzuketia" after him, established a strong state in the fourth and third centuries BC.[47] Among the Chechen teips, the teipZurzakoy, consonant with the ethnonym Dzurdzuk, lives in theItum-Kale region of Chechnya.
Georgian historianGiorgi Melikishvili posited that although there was evidence of Nakh settlement in the Southern Caucasus areas, this did not rule out the possibility that they also lived in the North Caucasus.[48]
The state of Durdzuketi has been recorded since the 4th century BC.[23]The Armenian Chronicles mention that the Durdzuks defeated the Scythians and became a significant power in the region in the first millennium BC.[23]
The Vainakh in the east had an affinity with Georgia, while theMalkh Kingdom of the west looked to the new Greek kingdom ofBosporus on the Black Sea coast (though it may have also had relations with Georgia).[23] According to legend,Adermalkh, chief of the Malkh state, married the daughter of the Bosporan king in 480 BCE.[23]Malkhi is one of the Chechentukkhums.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55]
During theMiddle Ages, the lowland of Chechnya was dominated by theKhazars and then theAlans. Local culture was also subject toGeorgian influence and some Chechens converted toEastern Orthodox Christianity. With a presence dating back to the 14th century,Islam gradually spread among the Chechens,[56][57] although the Chechens'own pagan religion was still strong until the 19th century. Society was organised along feudal lines. Chechnya wasdevastated by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and those ofTamerlane in the 14th.[58][59] The Mongol invasions are well known in Chechen folktales which are often connected with military reports of Alan-Dzurdzuk wars against the Mongols.
According to the missionaryGiovanni da Pian del Carpine, a part of the Alans had successfully resisted a Mongol siege on a mountain for 12 years:[60]
When they (the Mongols) begin to besiege a fortress, they besiege it for many years, as it happens today with one mountain in the land of the Alans. We believe they have been besieging it for twelve years andthey (the Alans) put up courageous resistance and killed many Tatars, including many noble ones.
— Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, report from 1250
This twelve-year-old siege is not found in any other report, however, the Russian historian A. I. Krasnov connected this battle with two Chechen folktales he recorded in 1967 that spoke of an old hunter named Idig who with his companions defended theDakuoh mountain for 12 years against Tatar-Mongols. He also reported to have found several arrowheads and spears from the 13th century near the very mountain the battle took place at:[61]
The next year, with the onset of summer, the enemy hordes came again to destroy the highlanders. But even this year they failed to capture the mountain, on which the brave Chechens settled down. The battle lasted twelve years. The main wealth of the Chechens – livestock – was stolen by the enemies. Tired of the long years of hard struggle, the Chechens, believing the assurances of mercy by the enemy, descended from the mountain, but the Mongol-Tatars treacherously killed the majority, and the rest were taken into slavery. This fate was escaped only by Idig and a few of his companions who did not trust the nomads and remained on the mountain. They managed to escape and leave Mount Dakuoh after 12 years of siege.
— Amin Tesaev, The Legend and struggle of the Chechen hero Idig (1238–1250)
Chechen warrior
Tamerlane's late 14th-century invasions of the Caucasus were especially costly to the Chechen kingdom ofSimsir which was an ally of theGolden Horde and anti-Timurid. Its leaderKhour Ela supported KhanTokhtamysh during theBattle of the Terek River.[62] The Chechens bear the distinction of being one of the few peoples to successfully resist the Mongols and defend themselves against their invasions; not once, but twice, though this came at great cost to them, as their states were utterly destroyed. These events were key in the shaping of the Chechen nationhood and their martial-oriented and clan-based society.[63]
TheCaucasus was a major competing area for two neighboring rival empires: theOttoman andTurco-Persian empires (Safavids,Afsharids,Qajars). Starting from1555 and decisively from1639 through the first half of the 19th century, the Caucasus was divided by these two powers, with the Ottomans prevailing in WesternGeorgia, while Persia kept the bulk of the Caucasus, namely Eastern Georgia, SouthernDagestan,Azerbaijan, andArmenia.[64] The Chechens, however, never really fell under the rule of either empire. As Russia expanded slowly southwards as early as the 16th century, clashes between Chechens and Russians became more frequent, and it became three empires competing for the region. During these turbulent times, the Chechens were organized into semi-independent clans that were loyal to the Mehk-Khel (National Council). The Mehk-Khel was in charge of appointing the Mehk-Da (ruler of the nation). Several of these appeared during the early modern period such asAldaman Gheza, Tinavin-Visa, Zok-K'ant and others. The administration and military expeditions commanded by Aldaman Gheza during the 1650–1670s led to Chechnya being largely untouched by the major empires of the time. Alliances were concluded with local lords against Persian encroachment and battles were fought to stop Russian influence. One such battle was theBattle of Khachara between Gheza and the rivalAvar Khanate that tried to exert influence on Chechnya.[65] As Russia set off to increase its political influence in the Caucasus and theCaspian Sea at the expense of Safavid Persia,Peter I launched theRusso-Persian War, in which Russia succeeded in taking much of the Caucasian territories for several years. The conflict notably marked the first military encounter betweenImperial Russia and the Chechens.[66]Sheikh Mansur led a major Chechen resistance movement in the late 18th century.
Tomb of a Chechen warrior of the 19th century
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Russia embarked on full-scale conquest of the North Caucasus in theCaucasian War. Much of the campaign was led byGeneral Yermolov who particularly disliked the Chechens, describing them as "a bold and dangerous people".[67] Angered by Chechen raids, Yermolov resorted to a brutal policy of "scorched earth" and deportations; he also founded the fort ofGrozny (now the capital of Chechnya) in 1818. Chechen resistance to Russian rule reached its peak under the leadership of the Dagestani leaderImam Shamil. The Chechens were finally defeated in 1861 after a bloody war that lasted for decades, during which they lost most of their entire population.[68] In the aftermath, large numbers of refugees alsoemigrated or were forcibly deported to the Ottoman Empire.[69][70][71]
Since then, there have been various Chechen rebellions against Russian/Soviet power in 1865–66, 1877, during theRussian Civil War andWorld War II, as well as nonviolent resistance toRussification and theSoviet Union's collectivization and anti-religion campaigns. In 1944, all Chechens, together with several otherpeoples of the Caucasus, were ordered by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalinto be deporteden masse to theKazakh andKirghiz SSRs; and their republic and nation were abolished. At least one-quarter—and perhaps half—of the entire Chechen population perished in the process, and a severe blow was made to their culture and historical records.[69][72][73] Though "rehabilitated" in 1956 and allowed to return the next year, the survivors lost economic resources and civil rights and, under both Soviet and post-Soviet governments, they have been the objects of both official and unofficial discrimination and discriminatory public discourse.[69][74] Chechen attempts to regain independence in the 1990s after thefall of the Soviet Union led to thefirst and thesecond war with the new Russian state, starting in 1994.
Chechen-Soviet newspaper, Serlo (light), written in the Chechen Latin script duringKorenizatsiya.
The main language of the Chechen people isChechen. Chechen belongs to the family ofNakh languages (Northeast Caucasian languages). Literary Chechen is based on the central lowland dialect. Other related languages includeIngush, which has speakers in the neighbouringIngushetia, andBatsbi, which is the language of the people in the adjoining part ofGeorgia. At various times in their history, Chechens usedGeorgian,Arabic andLatin alphabets; as of 2008, the official script is RussianCyrillic. Traditionally, linguists attributed both Ingush and Batsbi to the Chechen language (as its dialects) before the endoethnonymVainakh appeared at the beginning of the 20th century.[75][76][77][78][79]
Most Chechens living in their homeland can understand Ingush with ease. The two languages are not truly mutually intelligible, but it is easy for Chechens to learn how to understand the Ingush language and vice versa over time after hearing it for a while.[citation needed]
In 1989, 73.4% spoke Russian,[80] though this figure has declined due to the wars for a large number of reasons (including the lack of proper education, the refusal to learn the language, and the mass dispersal of the Chechen diaspora due to the war). Chechens inthe diaspora often speak the language of the country they live in (English,French,German,Arabic,Polish,Georgian,Turkish, etc.).
The Nakh languages are a subgroup ofNortheast Caucasian, and as such are related to Nakho-Dagestanian family, including the languages of theAvars,Dargins,Lezghins,Laks,Rutulians, etc.However, this relationship is not a close one: the Nakho-Dagestanian family is of comparable or greater time-depth thanIndo-European, meaning Chechens are only as linguistically related to Avars or Dargins as theFrench are to the Russians orIranians.[citation needed]
Some researchers suggest a linguistic relationship between the Nakh-Dagestani languages and the Urarto-Hurrians.[81][82][83][84]
Other scholars, however, doubt that the language families are related,[85][86][87] or believe that, while a connection is possible, the evidence is far from conclusive.[88][89][90] Uralicist and Indo-Europeanist Petri Kallio argues that the matter is hindered by the lack of consensus about how to reconstruct Proto-Northeast-Caucasian, but thatAlarodian is the most promising proposal for relations with Northeast Caucasian, greater than rival proposals to link it with Northwest Caucasian or other families.[91] However, nothing is known about Alarodians except that they "were armed like theColchians andSaspeires," according toHerodotus.[92] Colchians and Saspeires are generally associated withKartvelians orScythians. Additionally, leading Urartologist Paul Zimansky rejected a connection between Urartians and Alarodians.[93]
Genetic tests on Chechens have shown roots mostly in the Caucasus and Europe. Studies on North Caucasian mtDNA indicated a closer relationship of the Caucasus with Europe (Nasidze et al. 2001), while the Y chromosome indicated a closer relationship with West Asia (Nasidze et al. 2003).
A 2004 study of themtDNA showed Chechens to be diverse in the mitochondrial genome, with 18 different haplogroups out of only 23 samples. This correlates with all other North Caucasian peoples such as theIngush,Avars, andCircassians where the mitochondrial DNA is very diverse.[94][95]
The most recent study on Chechens, by Balanovskyet al. in 2011,[96] sampled a total of 330 Chechens from three sample locations (one inMalgobek, one inAchkhoy-Martan, and one from two sites in Dagestan) and found the following frequencies: A weak majority of Chechens belong toHaplogroup J2 (56.7%[96]), which is associated withMediterranean,Caucasian andFertile Crescent populations. Other notable values were found among North CaucasianTurkic peoples (Kumyks (25%)[97] andBalkars (24%)[98]). It is notable that J2 suddenly collapses as one enters the territory of non-Nakh Northeast Caucasian peoples, dropping to very low values among Dagestani peoples.[94][96][99][100] The overwhelming bulk of Chechen J2 is of the subclade J2a4b* (J2-M67), of which the highest frequencies by far are found among Nakh peoples: Chechens were 55.2% according to the Balanovsky study, while Ingush were 87.4%. Other notable haplogroups that consistently appeared at high frequencies includedJ1 (20.9%),L (7.0%),G2 (5.5%),R1a (3.9%),Q-M242 (3%) andR1b-M269 (1.8%, but much higher in Chechnya itself as opposed to Dagestani or Ingushetian Chechens). Overall, tests have shown consistently that Chechens are most closely related to Ingush, Circassians and other North Caucasians, occasionally showing a kinship to other peoples in some tests. Balanovsky's study showed the Ingush to be the Chechens' closest relatives by far.[96][100][101]
Russian military historian and Lieutenant GeneralVasily Potto describes the appearance of the Chechens as follows: "The Chechen is handsome and strong. Tall, brunette, slender, with sharp features and a quick, determined look, he amazes with his mobility, agility, dexterity."[102]
According to a 2021Rosstat study,Chechnya ranked as the tallest region in Russia for men (179.1 cm) and second tallest for women (168.2).[103]
Prior to the adoption of Islam, the Chechens practiced a unique blend of religious traditions and beliefs. Their code of honor is known asquonahalla. They partook in numerous rites and rituals, many of them pertaining to farming; these included rain rites, a celebration that occurred on the first day of plowing, as well as the Day of the Thunderer Sela and the Day of the Goddess Tusholi. In addition to sparse written record from the Middle Ages, Chechens traditionally remember history through theillesh, a collection of epic poems and stories.
An example of Chechen tower architecture, ruins of the medieval settlement of Nikaroy
Chechens are accustomed to democratic ways,[editorializing] their social structure being firmly based on equality, pluralism and deference to individuality. Chechen society is structured aroundtukkhums (unions ofclans) and about 130teips, or clans. The teips are based more on land and one-side lineage than on blood (asexogamy is prevalent and encouraged), and are bonded together to form the Chechen nation. Teips are further subdivided intogar (branches), and gars intonekye (patronymic families). The Chechen social code is callednokhchallah (whereNokhchuo stands for "Chechen") and may be loosely translated as "Chechen character". The Chechen code ofhonor and customary law (adat) implies moral and ethical behaviour, generosity and the will to safeguard the honor of women. The traditional Chechen saying goes that the members of Chechen society, like its teips, are (ideally) "free and equal like wolves".[104][105]
Aphandar, a traditional Chechen musical instrument
Chechens have a strong sense of community, which is enforced by the old clan network andnokhchalla – the obligation to clan, tukkhum, etc. This is often combined with old values transmuted into a modern sense. They are mythically descended from the epic hero, Turpalo-Nokhchuo ("Chechen Hero"). There is a strong theme of representing the nation with itsnational animal, thewolf. Due to their strong dependence on the land, its farms and its forests (and indeed, the national equation with the wolf), Chechens have a strong affection for nature. According to Chechen philosopher Apty Bisultanov, ruining an ant-hill or hunting Caucasian goats during their mating season was considered extremely sinful.[106] Theglasnost era Chechen independence movementBart (unity) originated as a simple environmentalist organization in the republic's capital of Grozny.[107]
Chechen culture strongly values freedom.[citation needed] This asserts itself in multiple ways. A large majority of the nation'snational heroes fought for independence (or otherwise, like the legendaryZelimkhan, robbed from the Russian oppressors in order to feed Chechen children in aRobin Hood-like fashion). A common greeting in the Chechen language,marsha oylla, is literally translated as "enter in freedom". The word for freedom also encompasses notions of peace and prosperity.
Chechnya is predominantlySunni Muslim.[108][28] Most of the population follows either theShafi'i[108] or theHanafi[109] schools of jurisprudence,fiqh. The Shafi'i school has a long tradition among the Chechens,[110] and thus it remains the most practiced.[111] Some adhere to the mysticalSufi tradition ofmuridism, while about half of Chechens belong to Sufi brotherhoods, ortariqah. The two Sufi tariqas that spread in the North Caucasus were theNaqshbandiyya and theQadiriyya (the Naqshbandiyya is particularly strong in Dagestan and eastern Chechnya, whereas the Qadiriyya has most of its adherents in the rest of Chechnya and Ingushetia).[108] There are also small Christian and atheist minorities, although their numbers are unknown in Chechnya; in Kazakhstan, they are roughly 3% and 2% of the Chechen population respectively.[112]
A stereotype of an average Chechen being a fundamentalist Muslim is incorrect and misleading.[113][114] By the late 2000s, however, two new trends have emerged in Chechnya. A radicalized remnant of the armed Chechen separatist movement has become dominated bySalafis (popularly known in Russia asWahhabis and present in Chechnya in small numbers since the 1990s), mostly abandoning nationalism in favor ofPan-Islamism and merging with several other regional Islamic insurgencies to form theCaucasus Emirate. At the same time, Chechnya under Moscow-backed authoritarian rule ofRamzan Kadyrov has undergone its own controversial counter-campaign ofIslamization of the republic, with the government and theSpiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic actively promoting and enforcing their own version of a so-called "traditional Islam", including introducing elements ofSharia that replaced Russian official laws.[115][116][117][118]
^National Geographic Atlas of the World (7th ed.). Washington, DC:National Geographic. 1999.ISBN978-0-7922-7528-2. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles."
^Berge, Adolf (1859).Чечня и Чеченцы. Тифлис. pp. 65–66.Вот исчисление всех племен, на которые принято делить Чеченцев. В строгом же смысле деление это не имеет основания. Самим Чеченцам оно совершенно неизвестно. Они сами себя называют Нахче, т.е. "народ" и это относится до всего народа, говорящего на Чеченском языке и его наречиях. Упомянутые же названия им были даны или от аулов, как Цори, Галгай, Шатой и др., или от рек и гор, как Мичиковцы и Качкалыки. Весьма вероятно, что рано или поздно все или большая часть приведенных нами имен исчезнут и Чеченцы удержат за собою одно общее наименование.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Волкова.Этнонимы и племенные названия Северного Кавказа [Ethnonyms and tribal names of the North Caucasus] (in Russian). Наука. p. 144.
^Берже.Чечня и чеченцы / Подгот. текста и предисл. Я. З. Ахмадова и И. Б. Мунаева, ред. Е. А. Куприянова [Chechnya and chechenz. Ja. Z. Akhmadova and I. B. Munayeva, red. Well. A. Kuprianova.] (in Russian). p. 112.
^Далгат.Родовой быт и обычное право чеченцев и ингушей [Ancestral life and customary law of Chechens and Ingush]. p. 382.
^Jaimoukha, Amjad. The Chechens: A Handbook. Page 24. "Also, the Georgian historian G. A. Melikishvili maintained that the formation of the Vainakh took place much earlier than the first century BC. Though evidence of Nakh settlement was found on the southern slopes of the Caucasus in the second and first millennia BC, he did not rule out the possibility of their residence in the northern and eastern regions of the Caucasus. It is traditionally accepted that the Vainakh have existed in the Caucasus, with their present territory as a nucleus of a larger domicile, for thousands of years, and that it was the ‘birthplace’ of their ethnos, to which the peoples who inhabited the Central Caucasus and the steppe lands all the way to the Volga in the northeast and the Caspian Sea to the east contributed."
^Крупнов Е. И. Древности Чечено-Ингушетии. — Изд-во Академии наук СССР, 1963. — с. 256
^Натаев Сайпуди Альвиевич. ПРОБЛЕМА ЭТНОТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНОЙ СТРУКТУРЫ ЧЕЧНИ В XVIII–XIX ВВ. В ИСТОРИЧЕСКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕ.
^Марковин В. И. «В ущельях Аргуна и Фортанги». Москва, 1965 — с. 71
^Мамакаев М. «Чеченский тайп в период его разложения». Грозный, 1973.
^Шавхелишвили А. И. «Грузино-чечено-ингушские взаимоотношения». Тбилиси, 1992. — с.65, 72
^Пиотровский Б. Б. История народов Северного Кавказа с древнейших времен до конца XVIII в. — Наука, 1988. — с.239
^Н. Г. Волкова. Этнический состав населения Северного Кавказа в XVIII-начале XX века — Москва: Наука, 1974. — с.169
^Jaimoukha (p.50): "The Chechens suffered horrific losses in human life during the long war. From an estimated population of over a million in the 1840s, there were only 140,000 Chechens left in the Caucasus in 1861..."
^Dunlop p.29ff. Dunlop writes (p.30): "In 1860, according to Soviet-era figures, 81,360 Chechens left for Turkey; a second emigration took place in 1865, when an additional 22,500 Chechens left. More than 100,000 Chechens were thus ethnically 'cleansed' during this process. This was perhaps a majority of their total population..."
^Johanna Nichols (January 2003). "The Nakh Dagestanian consonant correspondences". In Dee Ann Holisky; Kevin Tuite (eds.). Current Trends in Caucasian, East European, and Inner Asian Linguistics: Papers in Honor of Howard I. Aronson. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 208.ISBN9027247587.
^Kallio, Petri. "XXI. Beyond Indo-European". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthew (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 2285–2286.
^Kallio, Petri. "XXI. Beyond Indo-European". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthew (eds.).Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 2285–2286.
Roshchin, Mikhail; Lunkin, Roman (2005). "Ислам в Чеченской Республике" [Islam in the Chechen Republic]. In Bourdeaux, Michael; Filatov, Sergei (eds.).Современная религиозная жизнь России. Опыт систематического описания [Contemporary Religious Life of Russia. Systematic description experience] (in Russian). Vol. 3. Moscow:Keston Institute; Logos. pp. 152–169.ISBN5-98704-044-2.
.jpg)
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg)
