Nakh peoples
Encyclopedia
Nakh peoples are a group of historical and modern ethnic groups speaking (or historically speaking) Nakh languages
and sharing certain cultural traits. In modern days, they reside almost completely in the North Caucasus
, but historically large areas of the South Caucasus
may have also been Nakh.
The only healthy, living branch of the Nakh languages are now the Vainakh languages
(spoken by the Vainakh peoples, namely Chechens, Ingush
and Georgian Kist
), due to the extinction of other peoples. The only non-Vainakh modern Nakh people are the Bats people
in Northeast Georgia
, but they are largely assimilated and their language is highly endangered.
Although the Vainakh are only a branch of Nakh peoples, due to the present day situation where the only well-known Nakh are Vainakh, the words Vainakh and Nakh are frequently confused. Hence the word Vainakh is mistakenly applied to historical non-Vainakh frequently.
10,000-8000 BC: People speaking a language ancestral to the Northeast Caucasian languages
migrated from the Fertile Crescent
to the slopes of the Caucasus bringing domesticated animals, crops, and irrigation.
6000-4000 BC: Pottery was introduced to the region. Neolithic
settlements near Ali-Yurt and Magas
yielded clay dishes polished and drilled stones, and stone tools (such as axes and knives). Remains of settlements made out of clay bricks were found in the plains. Settlements with "cyclopean" stone walls and buildings were found in the mountains (at Doshkhakle, Kart, and other places), some of them dating to 8000 BC.
4th century BC-11th century AD: The mountain clans founded an association of clans called Durzukia, which survived into the early Middle Ages despite incursions by Khazars, Huns
, Arabs, Persians
, Mongols
and others. The first mention of the name "durdzuki" according to the writing of the Arab writer Ibn al-Faqih and al-Baladzori falls into the first half of the 6th century, stating "the construction of Chosroes Anushirvanom (VI) in Durzukia 12 gates and stone fortifications. Georgian source Kartlis Tskhovreba
clearly states that Durzuks paid tribute to the Khazars
.
7th-11th centuries: State of Serir
12th-15th centuries: the State of Simsir was a union of Vainakh teip
s. They started a national struggle of liberation from the Golden Horde
. After the Mongol invasion Islam
started its spread in the region. The spread of Islam seems to have started in the lowland part of the Vainakh states at this time, associated with the advent of the Arabic language
and Arabic writing. Inscriptions on monuments from this time, preserved in some Vainakh villages, also testify to this.
13th-14th centuries: Independence wars against Tatar-Mongol hordes and army of Tamerlane.
17th century to nowadays: ongoing struggle between Chechens and Russians over the independence of what is Chechnya to the Russians, but Ichkeria to Chechens; Ingush remain less openly rebellious, but still have a particularly problematic conflict with the Ossetes ; Batsbi and Kists are considered Georgians and are part of Georgia (living mainly in the Tusheti region)
1829-1859: Caucasian Imamate
, a kind of multi-floor structure that was used for dwelling or defense (or both). Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.
Residential towers had two or three floors, supported by a central pillar of stone blocks, and were topped with a flat shale roofing. These towers have been compared to the prehistoric mountain settlements dating back to 8000 BC.
Military ("combat") towers were 25 meter high or more, with four of five floors and a square base approximately six meters wide. Access to the second floor was through a ladder. The defenders fired at the enemy through loopholes
and the top of the tower had mashikul – overhanging small balconies without a floor. These towers were usually crowned with pyramid-shaped roofing built in steps and topping with a sharpened capstone.
Buildings combining the functions of residential and military towers were intermediate in size between the two types, and had loop-holes and mashikuls.
Nakh towers used to be sparingly decorated with religious or good-wishing petrographs, such as solar signs or depictions of the author’s hands, animals, etc.. Military towers often bore a Golgopha cross.
included a supreme god Dela and a goddess of fertility Tusholi. There were also phallic cults.
A whole number of peculiar monuments, natural and artificial, served as shrines for ritual services. Vainakhs chose mountains (such as the Tsei-Lam Range), lakes (Galanchoge-Ami) and some species of plants, pear-trees in particular, for exercising rituals. These shrines were places for prayers and for the sacrifice of domestic animals.
The most primitive shrines (sielingi) were low rectangular pillar-shaped stone structures with a niche for candles. These shrines were raised on the village outskirts and at the graveyards to protect both the living and the dead. Better known are shrines in the form of small houses topped with ridged step roofing, like Myatsil Sanctuary on Mat-Lam Mountain near the town of Vladikavkaz
. Such a large range of shrines belonging to
Beginning from the 11th – 12th century, Georgia
n Christian
influence on the Nakh tribes are attested, for example, by the Tkhaba-Yerdy Church
consecrated to St. Thomas
in Assa Valley, and extant churches in Ingushetia.
Islamic influence intensified in 18th and 19th centuries. Examples of Islamic architecture from that period are the tower-shaped mosque
s in the villages of Makazhoi and Khimoi.
The general Islamic rituals established burials with the further penetration of Islam inside the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Stone steles, churts, inscribed with prayers and epitaphs, began to be erected at the graves and more prosperous mountaineers were honoured with mausoleums after death. The Borgha-Kash Mausoleum dating to the very beginning of 15th century and built for a Noghai prince is a good example of these.
, forced Vainakhs to use their territory of residence as efficiently as possible. They leveled the steep slopes, organized terraces
suitable for agriculture
. On the barren rocky slopes of rocks, which are unsuitable for agriculture
Vainakhs hew foundations for terraces
. On carts harnessed donkeys and oxen, they brought black soil
of the lowland
s, and filled with it artificial terraces
. For maximum harvest was organized by the entire irrigation system, which consisted of a small artificial stream canals connected with the mountain rivers, these canals were called Taatol, they also built a small stone canals called Epala, and quite small wooden troughs Aparri. Some scholars notably I. Diakonov
and S. Starostin
proposed that Epala and Aparri may correspond to Urartian irrigation canal name "pili" and Hurrian "pilli/a".
Some irrigation structures were built also on lowlands but they were less complicated.
and carriages made Vainakh masters were highly valued in the region and beyond. Products of Vainakh masters bought not only the Caucasian peoples
, but also such excess power with an established industry like Russia
. To support non-competitive domestic producers, Russia, overlaid Vainakh manufacturers of large fees. At this complaining Terek Cossacks in their letters to Russian Government, despite the fact that they are a natural enemy of the tree. In 1722 the Russian Army bought 616 Vehicles for 1308 rubles, at a time when the annual salary of the governor of the three villages was only 50 rubles.
Carpet weaving
Since ancient times, the Vainakhs have been producing thin felt carpets called Istang. Vainakh rugs are distinguished by a peculiar pattern and high quality. Jacob Reineggs, who visited the region in the 18th century, noticed that Chechen and Ingush women skillfully manufactured carpets and fringes
. Ornamen Vainakh carpets were divided among themselves into different groups dependent on patterns;
, cosmogonic tradition, remnants of stock-breeding and landtilling, totemic beliefs and folk calendar.
, Galanchoge Lake, the epic war of Pkhagalberi (hare riders) dwarves against Narts, Kezanoi Lake, and myths about how sun moon and stars appeared.
The Nakh myth of the legendary Pkharmat
being shackled on Mount Kazbek by God Sela because he has stolen heavenly fire from him shows some parallels with Greek Myth of Prometheus
and Georgian Amirami. The Legendary war of Pkhalberi(hare riders) dwarves against Narts can be compared to Greek "Crane and Pygmies war" by Said-Magomed Khasiev The Golden Fleece myth seems to be binded to Nakh 11 years calendar tradition. In such a myth, ram skin was placed in an oak frame "Jaar" for 11 years, and produced golden fleece named "Dasho Ertal".
, and the Islamic
Lot. The story tells us that there once there was a very rich settlement at the place where now there is a lake. Despite their wealth, the people of this city was very greedy. Once God Dela sent his representatives in the guise of beggars, to test people. They asked all residents to give them food, but residents of the city in response to abused and driven away, and only one poor family in the village shared with them their food.
Legend has it that a poor family left a burnt bread for himself and gave a white bread to her guests. Leaving the house, guests reported that after some time behind the front door will be collected in puddles. And when this happens they should gather the bare necessities, leave their home, and go to the mountains. Predicting unknown guests came to pass. Poor families do not disobeyed and did everything as they told the guests.
They said the rich of the impending disaster, and asked to follow them, but greed did not allow them to leave their treasures. In the evening the family watched the terrible catastrophe, they saw the water covers their house along with those who remained.In memory of terrible events Vainakhs named the lake, lake of sorrow and cruelty, Kezanoi lake.
Dela-Malkh was sun god playing central role in religious celebrations. On 25 December Nakhs celebrated Sun Festival
in honor of Sun Gods birthday.
The names of stars and constellations were also connected to myths. So Vainakhs call:
s and winged horses
and some journeys to another worlds and magic. In almost all fairy tales good triumph over evil.
Vainakh society felt a strong Byzantine
influence that led to the adoption of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in some parts of the country (particularly the mountainous South). However, Christianity
did not last long. After the devastation of the country by Tamerlane, Christianity
was eroded (due to the temporary loss of contacts between Georgia and Nakh Christians) and gradually the Chechens and Ingush returned to their native pagan beliefs
(while the Bats were permanently Christianized). Islam
began to spread on Nakh peoples lands from 16th and 17th centuries.
Vainakhs are predominantly Muslim
of Shafi`i school of thought of Sunni Islam
. The majority of Chechen
(approx 1.5 million) and Ingush
(500.000 people) people are Muslim
of the Shafi`i school. Kists
(about 7.100 people) are partly Sunni Muslim
s and Georgian Orthodox when Bats
approx. 3.000 people are Christian (Georgian Orthodox)
By rite, most Chechens are Qadiris, with a considerable Nakshbandi minority. There is also a tiny Salafi
minority(Sunni sect). The two main groups (Salafism is more of a modern introduction to the region, and is still considered to be completely foreign) have often had divergent responses to events (for example, the Qadiri authorities initially backing the Bolsheviks after the promised to grant freedom to the Chechens from Russia; while the Nakshbandis were more sceptical of the Bolsheviks' sincerity)
However, as is also the case with other Caucasian groups, such as the Georgians
, Abkhaz
, and Circassians, Islam did not wipe out all traces of the native religion. Many Chechens and Ingush even refer to the God of the Muslim religion (usually "Allah", from Arabic) as "Dela", who is the head god of the original Nakh pantheon (parallel to how Georgians refer to the Christian God as Ghmerti, their original main god). The Nakh interpretation of Sharia often is more resemblant of the adat than of sharia as practiced in other Muslim countries, though some note that this may actually be closer to the original intent in some ways. There is a common saying that "Muhammad may have been an Arab, but Allah is Chechen for sure", emphasizing this attitude towards the restrictive Islam of the Middle East that is often imagined in the West as representing the behavior and culture of all Muslims. Despite syncretism
, most Nakh peoples are often regarded as either "Muslim people" (in the case of Ingush, Kists and Chechens), or as "Orthodox Christian people" (Batsbi). Nonetheless, worship of the original pantheon, with the exception of Dela, for the most part has no modern continuity and was replaced by Islam, despite some syncretism (i.e. building mosques consistently near streams, where temples were, reverence for the adat, etc.).
There is considerable tension among Chechens about religion. This largely asserts itself in the conflict between the pan-Islamist/Wahhabi/Salafi creed which vows to "cleanse Islam of impurity and syncretism"(i.e. de-Chechenize Islam in Chechnya to bring it more in line with global Islam), and those who view the indigenous form as superior, or otherwise as a national custom to be defended. Among the claimant governments for the land of Ichkeria, both the Western exiled Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Russian installed Kadyrov regime are largely hostile to Wahhabism/Salafism, while the reaction of the Caucasus Emirate is considerably more positive, though still at times rather uncomfortable towards it (see certain statements by Dokka Umarov, for example). The Kadyrov government, meanwhile, opposes Wahhabism in name, but still rules Chechnya with a rather harsh interpretation of sharia law, including banning of bare-headed women in public, mandatory Qu'ran study in schools (with the interpretation favored by the government promoted), the death penalty for suspected homosexuality and so on. The exiled Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, meanwhile, has consistently stated both that the indigenous interpretation is a national trait (to be preserved) and that Ichkeria should be a secular state, national state, and while Islam may certainly be a part of the Chechen identity at times, it is certainly neither a requirement nor more important than any other aspect.
This attitude (by the democratic Ichkerian government) has been largely consistent (except for in 1998 when Maskhadov briefly allowed sharia courts to appear due to intense pressure from his opponents, including Shamil Basayev and Salman Raduyev, in an attempt to find unity by compromise). It is noted by many observers, Chechen, Russian (such as Valery Tishkov) and Western (such as Paul B. Henze, though his wife is in fact Abkhaz, as well as Tony Wood and Anatol Lieven), that oftentimes, as seen in countries like Turkey and Albania, nationalist imagery -particularly the wolf, an animal viewed as symbolic of the Chechen nation
- is given far more importance than religion.
. Teip
is a unit of tribal organization of Vainakh people. Teip's has its own council of elders and unites people from the political, economic and military sides. All cases teips left solely to the democratically elected representatives of houses i.e. "Tsa". Number of participants of Teipan-Khelli depends on number of houses.
Most teips made unions called Tukkhum
. Tukkhum
is a military-economic or military-political union teips. Tukhums governed by a Board of Representatives of Teips, Teipan-Khelli. Teips counsil of elders choose one or several people to submit their Teip
in Tukkhum-Khelli (Counsil of Tukkhum). New Teip were taken in tukhums depending on its geographical location and on depends on the harmonization of Tukkhum Counsil Elders. Joining a Tukhum depended on desire of the Teip
itself. No one could force a teip to join a Tukkhum.
To address issues of national scale worked Mexk-Khel, the People's Council. Representatives of the Council were elected by each Tukkhum Counsil and had an enormous influence on the destiny of the people. Could start a war or prohibit any or tukhum or Teip
prevent war. As it was forbidden Akkhis to fight against the Kabardian Kings in 14th century. Orstkhoys Tukhum was banned for their disobedience, when they were going to completely destroy north-Daghestan Vainakh clans of Aukh. For disobedience of its orders Mekhk-Khel could raise an army from all parts of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Mexk-Khel, could gather in different places at different times. It was gathering in Terloi Moxk and Äkkhi Moxk's Galanchoge region. In Galainchoge still stands giantic Mexk-Kheli stone, around which Mexk-Kheli members solved issues.
All Vainakh Counsils also bore responsibility and respect for law and order. The problem is not solved in Teip
council could move to Tukkhum counsil and further even to Mekhk-Khel. That was called "Mexkidaqqar" meaning "to make a state matter" and "bringing to Mexki". Mexk-Khel name come from Nakh word Moxk, the state. On the top of the social structure stands nation
which is referred to in most Nakh languages something resembling "Kham"
, have been very impressed by the democratic
nature of the indigenous Chechen governments prior to Russian conquest. According to Western Ichkerophile Tony Wood, the Vainakh people, in particular the Chechens (as the Ingush and the Batsbi have fallen under foreign domination much more frequently and as a result, the indigenous system and democratic
values are less deeply ingrained), could be described as one of the few nations in the world with an indigenous system highly resemblant of democracy (others cited are often Scots
, Albanians
and Basques; notably, all three, much like the Vainakh peoples, are mountain dwelling peoples with a clan-based social organization and a strong attachment to the concept of freedom). Even more interestingly, in the 19th century, a couple of Circassian tribes overthrew their traditional aristocracy and established a democratic, egalitarian society, with some adoptions from the Nakh system. Of course, this advance, which may have spread eventually to all of the Circassian tribes, was halted by their political state being annihilated by Russian conquest, a fate later shared by the rest of the Caucasus.
It is notable especially that the Chechen and Ingush systems, as well as the system later adopted from them by some Eastern Circassian tribes, is resemblent especially of the Western democratic republic. It has a central government with a legislative body (the Mexk-Kel), a body resemblent of an executive branch (the Council of Tukhum) as well as a judicial branch (the other councils). The adat and other bodies have served as the constitution. The members to all three of the main national councils of the nation were, in fact, elected, making the inherent indigenous democracy of the Nakh peoples even more striking.
During the Soviet Union period as well as currently during Ramzan Kadyrov
's regime, the Taip-Council system has been heavily criticized by Russian governments and the puppet governments installed by Russia in Chechnya and Ingushetia, who view it as a destabilizing force and an obstacle to maintaining order. The claim is that such a system was illustrative of the anarchic nature of the Caucasian ethos, despite espousing Socialism (which could be considered much more compatible, if its original ideals were followed, with the Chechen system than with the brutal oligarchic rule of the Communist Party) at the same time.
The democratic and egalitarian nature and democratic values of freedom and equality of Chechen society has been cited as many as a major reason why their persistence in resistance to Russian rule has been so intense (as well as the fact that there was no elite to be coopted by Tsarist authorities, as Wood notes).
As the third most important value to the moral code, it has a profound effect on the functioning of the teip
system. Several times, originally foreign groups have been completely integrated into the teip
system, becoming their own teip
. A notable example is the Germans
who lived among the Chechens during their exile in Kazakhstan and Siberia
: during even as short a period of 13 years, the Germans decided to join the teip
system, and the new "German" taip was founded by M.Weisert, whose relatives still lived mainly in Germany
. There have also been several periods where Jews
living in Chechnya founded their own teip (teip Dzugtoi), which is still in existence, though it has shrunk considerably due to the flight of people from Chechnya due to the brutal war. There are also teips that were formed, sometimes temporarily, by Russians
(teips Orsi, Arsoi), Poles
or Ukrainians
. These taips are often eventually viewed as integral parts of the nation
, despite their foreign origin.
to the Caucasus, perhaps due to population or political pressures back in the Fertile Crescent. Others who believe the so-called "Urartian version", such as George Anchabadze and Amjad Jaimoukha, still hold that those original migrants contributed to both the genetic and cultural traits of the modern Ingush and Chechens, but that the primary ancestors were Nakh-speaking migrants from what became Northeastern Urartu.
and Urartian
civilizations in modern day Armenia
, Turkey
and Kurdistan largely due to linguistic similarities (Nakh shares the most roots with known Hurrian and Urartian)- either that the Nakhs were descended from Hurrian tribes, that they were Hurrians who fled north, or that they were closely related and possibly included at points in the state.
Although all historians agree they were closely related, there is a wide variety of views on the nature of the relationship.
According to ethnic Circassian Caucasus specialist Amjad Jaimoukha
, at least
It has been noted that at many points, Urartu in fact extended through Kakheti into the North Caucasus. Jaimoukha notes in his book:
The Georgian chronicles of Leonti Mroveli state that the Urartians "returned" to their homeland (i.e. Kakheti) in the Trans-Caucasus, which had become by then "Kartlian domain", after they were defeated.
Apparently, Xenophon visited Urartu in 401 BCE, and rather than finding Urartians, he only found pockets of Urartians, surrounded by Armenians. These Urartians, as modern scholars infer, were undergoing a process of assimilation to Armenian language and culture.
Jaimoukha notes that the first confirmed appearance of a consolidated Vainakh nation in the North Caucasus spanning the range the Zygii would later have (with a few additions later) was after the fall of Urartu, and notes that numerous people think that they were a regathering of Nakh tribes fleeing the crumbling state and the invasion of the Armenians, who ended up assimilating most of those who stayed behind. The Ancient Greek chronicler Strabo mentioned that Gargareans
had migrated from eastern Asia Minor (i.e. Urartu) to the North Caucasus. Jaimoukha notes that Gargareans is one of many Nakh roots- gergara, meaning, in fact, "kindred" in proto-Nakh.
Other Nakh roots throughout the Republic of Armenia, Naxcivan, and Turkish Armenia have been found.
Jaimoukha provides a number in his book. Yerevan is thought to be the cite of the similarly named ancient Èribuni (from the Nakh nation-tribe of the Èrs
, which lived in the region + bun, the root in Chechen that generated the word "shelter" or "lair"). The Nakh Èr
nation also contributed to a number of other roots- for example the Arax valley (Èrashki, from a Hurrian/Nakh hydronym forming suffix). Near the Èrs lived a tribe known as the Nakhchradzor. The Dzurdzuks, a name the Georgians called the early medieval inhabitants of Ichkeria later, had a name derived from the settlement of Durdukka, near Lake Urmia. The area around Lake Sevan, known as Eriaki in Urartian times (i.e. perhaps from the Ers) also contributes a number of roots. Old Armenian name for the lake include Gegharkunik and the Sea of Gegham ; whereas the old Georgian name for the lake was Lake Ereta, referring once again to the Ers who lived around it. The Georgian name for the region, meanwhile, was Gogharena, possibly drawing from the "Gargarean" root.
In addition to these, there is also the very name of Naxcivan (Nakhichevan, from Nakh+Che+Bun), and Lake Van (similarly, from Bun, although it may instead be from Urartian biani; it is nonetheless the Armenian rendering of the Ersh
bun). There may be an increasingly long list of further Nakh placenames in the South Caucasus that are less well-known, or not yet identified. The area of Nakhichevan and the site of Durdzukka on Lake Urmia (which rendered the historical Georgian name for the Chechens, the Dzurdzuks) point to an area which was on the Southeast periphery of what became Urartu. According to that, the flight of people from the area may have taken place as early as the 9th or 8th century BCE (when the area was being fought over by Urartians and Iranian tribes, the Medes
), long before the invasion of Cimmerians or the rise of the Armenian kingdom. All of this, however, is based around guesswork and individual interpretation of data, as there are little remaining resources on the details of the flight north of the "Gargareans".
However, the nature of the relationship between the Nakh in the northern and eastern reaches of the Urartian state and the Central Urartians themselves is not known. Their languages were not identical, but seem to possibly have been related (Urartian biani to Ersh buni, to use the "house" root). Some scholars, such as Amjad Jaimoukha
, propose that the Urartians were Nakh, or passed their language on to the Nakh in some way, etc., etc.; or that the Hurrians were a common ancestor to the Nakh peoples and the Urartians. There is much confusion, however, in how large the category of "Nakh" peoples is, whether the Urartians and Hurrians are a branch of Nakh, or conversely, whether the Nakh are a branch of Hurrians. There is also the view that the Urartians and Hurrians formed a separate linguistic branch from the Nakh, equal to it in time depth (but maybe or maybe not closer to Nakh than other branches).
The migration may have occurred much earlier than the fall of Urartu- as Jaimoukha points out, archaeological finds traced to the modern Chechens (at least according to him) date much further back. It is possible that rather than fleeing Urartu's collapse (or those of its predecessors) they may have instead been fleeing the Urartians themselves (or their predecessors). Although the migration of Hers (a related people) to Hereti occurred later, this does not mean that the Dzurdzuks could not have fled much earlier.
s, the Nakh peoples have once included a much broader range of nations according to some historians and linguists. Some of these proposals are largely accepted, though others are debated. Due to the loss on much historic writings in the Caucasus, most of the research done to find which peoples are Nakh is by linguistic substratums and place names. These groups were one-by-one eliminated via assimilation, eradication or other methods, so that the only substantial Nakh groups left today are the Chechens and Ingush (and the tiny Kist and Bats groups, the latter of which is verging on extinction through assimilation). In addition to proposed connections of the Nakh to the Urartians and the Hurrians (by authors such as Amjad Jaimoukha), the list of possible historic Nakh peoples includes the following.
Sophene
According to Georgian scholars I.A. Djavashvili and Giorgi Melikishvili
Urartu
an state of Supani
was occupied by ancient Nakh tribe Tzov, state of which is called Tsobena in ancient Georgian historiography. Sophene was part of the kingdom of Urartu
in the 8th-7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishtis I of Urartu
resettled many of its inhabitants to his newly built city of Erebuni
.
Gargarei People
The earliest evidence of the distant ancestors of the Vainakhs the Gargarei
Peoples, who lived on the northern slopes of the Caucasus mountain
range, are given in Geographica
of Strabo
(1st century BC) and in Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder
(1st century AC). Strabo wrote that "... the Amazons
live close to Gargarei, on the northern foothills of the Caucasus mountains
". The Amazons were attributed to the Circassians via the root maze. Gaius Plinius Secundus
also localizes Gargarei
at North of the Caucasus, but calls them Gegar. Some scholars (P.K. Uslar, K. Miller, N.F. Yakovleff, E.I. Krupnoff, L.A. Elnickiy, I.M. Diakonoff
, V.N. Gemrakeli) supported that Gargarei
is earlier for of Vainakh ethnonym. The Ancient Greek chronicler Strabo mentioned that Gargareans had migrated from eastern Asia Minor (i.e. Urartu) to the North Caucasus. Jaimoukha notes that Gargareans is one of many Nakh roots- gergara, meaning, in fact, "kindred" in proto-Nakh. If this is the case, it would make Gargarei virtually equivalent to the Georgian term Dzurdzuk (referring to the lake Durdukka in the South Caucasus, where they are thought to have migrated from, as noted by Strabo, before intermixing with the local population) which applied to a Nakh people who migrated North across the mountains to settle in modern Chechnya and Ingushetia.
Èrs
A people who inhabited Northern Armenia, and then, (possibly) later, mainly Hereti
in Southeast Georgia
and Northwest Azerbaijan
. This is considered to be more or less confirmed as Nakh, on the basis of a large number of placenames. The urban center of their culture in ancient times was the fortress-city of Erebuni
(Eribuni in their language, meaning "lair of the Èrs", combining the roots Èr+(i)+buni home;lair). This city is now Yerevan
, the capital of the Republic of Armenia. After those living in Northern Armenia fled their homeland as Urartu, the Èrs (having become the "Hers" of the Georgian Chronicles) may have set up and ran the state of Hereti
. They were assimilated eventually, and their language was replaced by Georgian or Azeri.
Kakh and Kakheti
The old inhabitants of Kakheti
and Tusheti
in Eastern Georgia. According to Amjad Jaimoukha
, the Kakh apparently called themselves Kabatsas and their territory Kakh-Batsa. If they were Nakh, they may or may not be ancestral to the modern Bats, and they may or may not be closely related to them; and were linguistically assimilated by the rest of Georgiandom. However, the view that the Kakh were a Nakh people is not widely held, so they should not be included in a basic list.
Tsanars and Tzanaria
The Tsanars were a people of East-Central Northern Georgia, living in an area around modern Khevi
. Tsanaria was their state, and it distinguished itself by the decisive role it and its people played in fending off the Arab invasion of Georgia. Their language is thought by many historians (including Vladimir Minorsky and Amjad Jaimoukha) to be Nakh, based on placenames, geographic location, and other such info. However, there is opposition to the Nakh theory for their language, with others claiming they spoke a Sarmatian language like Ossetic. They, too, eventually were assimilated to Georgiandom.
Dvals
The Dvals were a historic people living in modern-day South Ossetia and some nearby regions, as well as the southern parts of North Ossetia (South and West of the Gligvs, South and East of the Malkh). They integrated themselves into the Georgian kingdom and produced a number of fine calligraphers and historians (in Georgian). They also produced an Orthodox saint- Saint Nicholas of Dvaleti. The language of the Dvals
is thought to be Nakh by many historians, though there is a rivaling camp arguing for its status as a close relative of Ossetic
. Various backing for the Nakh theory (different scholars use different arguments) includes the presence of Nakh placenames in former Dval territory, evidence of Nakh–Svan contact which probably would've required the Nakh nature of the Dvals or people there before them, and the presence of a foreign-origin Dval clan among the Chechens, seemingly implying that the Dvals found shelter (like the Malkhs are known to have done) among the Chechens from the conquest of their land by foreign invaders (presumably Ossetes). The Dvals were assimilated by the Georgians (and possibly the Ossetes as well) and conquered by the Ossetes in the north. It is thought that Dval did not go fully extinct until the 18th century, making the Dvals the most recent Nakh people known to have died out (if they were Nakh).
Malkh
The Malkhs were a Nakh people who lived in modern day Kabardino-Balkaria
, Karachay-Cherkessia
, and the western part of North Ossetia and once briefly conquered Ubykhia
and Abkhazia
. They were conquered first by Scythian-speaking Alan tribes and then by Turkic tribes, and seem to have largely abandoned their homeland and found shelter among the Chechens, leading to the formation of a teip named after them. Those who stayed behind were either wiped out or assimilated. Their name may (or may not have) survived though: the Balkars in the region call themselves "Malkhars" (although this could also be from root of the Volga river, which gave "Bulgars"). The common rendering of their name is the Malkh, but they may have been the Melkh or some other closely related name.
Arshtins
Before the 19th century, the Arshtins were a Vainakh tukkhum living in between the Ingush and Chechens (see Split of the Vainakhs), with vague affinities, along the Sunzha's middle reaches and their tributaries. They were mostly known as Karabulaks, which they are called in Russian, from their Kumyk name. They also called themselves "Baloi". They were variously called an independent people, a subgroup of Chechens, or a subgroup of Ingush (which was further complicated by the fact that many in the 19th century considered Ingush to be a subgroup of Chechens, including many Ingush themselves). Their language is thought to have been somewhere between Chechens and Ingush (not unlike today's Galanchozh dialect spoken by the Myalkhi tukhum).
The Arshtins eventually were wiped out by Russian imperialism. The late 1850s saw the end of the Eastern and Central Caucasian resistance to Tsarist rule was defeated; and in 1865, the Deportation of Circassians occurred. Although they mainly targeted Circassians for expulsion or murder, the Arshtins also fell victim. In May–July 1865, according to official documents, 1366 Arshtin families disappeared and only 75 remained. These 75 families joined (or rejoined) the Chechen nation as the Erstkhoi tukhum.
Nakh languages
The Nakh languages are a small family of languages spoken chiefly by the Nakh peoples, in Russia , in Georgia, and in the Chechen diaspora ....
and sharing certain cultural traits. In modern days, they reside almost completely in the North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
, but historically large areas of the South Caucasus
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
may have also been Nakh.
The only healthy, living branch of the Nakh languages are now the Vainakh languages
Vainakh languages
The Vainakh languages consist of the dialect continuum between the Chechen and Ingush languages, mainly spoken in the Russian republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia, as well as in the Chechen diaspora. Together with Bats it forms the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian languages family....
(spoken by the Vainakh peoples, namely Chechens, Ingush
Ingush
Ingush may refer to:* The Ingush language* The Ingush people, an ethnic group of the North Caucasus...
and Georgian Kist
Kist people
The Kists are a Nakh-speaking ethnic group in Georgia related to the Chechen and Ingush peoples. They primarily live in the Pankisi Gorge, in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, where their total number is approximate to 5,000 people.-Origins:...
), due to the extinction of other peoples. The only non-Vainakh modern Nakh people are the Bats people
Bats people
The Bats people or the Batsbi are a small Nakh-speaking community in the country of Georgia who are also known as the Ts’ova-Tush after the Ts’ova Gorge in the historic Georgian province of Tusheti , where they are believed to have settled after migrating from the North Caucasus in the 16th...
in Northeast Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, but they are largely assimilated and their language is highly endangered.
Although the Vainakh are only a branch of Nakh peoples, due to the present day situation where the only well-known Nakh are Vainakh, the words Vainakh and Nakh are frequently confused. Hence the word Vainakh is mistakenly applied to historical non-Vainakh frequently.
Prehistory
The early history of the Nakh peoples has been tentatively reconstructed from linguistic analysis and archaeological evidence.10,000-8000 BC: People speaking a language ancestral to the Northeast Caucasian languages
Northeast Caucasian languages
The Northeast Caucasian languages constitute a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, northern Azerbaijan, and in northeastern Georgia, as well as in diaspora populations in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East...
migrated from the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
to the slopes of the Caucasus bringing domesticated animals, crops, and irrigation.
6000-4000 BC: Pottery was introduced to the region. Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
settlements near Ali-Yurt and Magas
Magas
Magas is the capital of the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. The town was founded in 1995; it replaced Nazran as the capital of the republic in 2002. In terms of population, Magas is the smallest capital of a federal subject in Russia: -History:...
yielded clay dishes polished and drilled stones, and stone tools (such as axes and knives). Remains of settlements made out of clay bricks were found in the plains. Settlements with "cyclopean" stone walls and buildings were found in the mountains (at Doshkhakle, Kart, and other places), some of them dating to 8000 BC.
4th century BC-11th century AD: The mountain clans founded an association of clans called Durzukia, which survived into the early Middle Ages despite incursions by Khazars, Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, Arabs, Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
, Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
and others. The first mention of the name "durdzuki" according to the writing of the Arab writer Ibn al-Faqih and al-Baladzori falls into the first half of the 6th century, stating "the construction of Chosroes Anushirvanom (VI) in Durzukia 12 gates and stone fortifications. Georgian source Kartlis Tskhovreba
The Georgian Chronicles
The Georgian Chronicles is a conventional English name for the principal compendium of medieval Georgian historical texts Kartlis Tskhovreba , literally "life of Kartli", Kartli being a core region of ancient and medieval Georgia, known to the Classical and Byzantine authors as Iberia...
clearly states that Durzuks paid tribute to the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
.
7th-11th centuries: State of Serir
12th-15th centuries: the State of Simsir was a union of Vainakh teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
s. They started a national struggle of liberation from the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
. After the Mongol invasion Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
started its spread in the region. The spread of Islam seems to have started in the lowland part of the Vainakh states at this time, associated with the advent of the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Arabic writing. Inscriptions on monuments from this time, preserved in some Vainakh villages, also testify to this.
13th-14th centuries: Independence wars against Tatar-Mongol hordes and army of Tamerlane.
17th century to nowadays: ongoing struggle between Chechens and Russians over the independence of what is Chechnya to the Russians, but Ichkeria to Chechens; Ingush remain less openly rebellious, but still have a particularly problematic conflict with the Ossetes ; Batsbi and Kists are considered Georgians and are part of Georgia (living mainly in the Tusheti region)
1829-1859: Caucasian Imamate
Towers
A characteristic feature of Vainakh architecture in the Middle Ages, rarely seen outside Chechnya and Ingushetia, was the Vainakh towerVainakh medieval towers
The Nakh medieval towers were a characteristic feature of medieval architecture of the Nakh peoples in Chechenya and Ingushetia, with few parallels outside that region. Some towers were used as dwellings, others had a military purpose; some combined both functions.The roots of Nakh tower...
, a kind of multi-floor structure that was used for dwelling or defense (or both). Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.
Residential towers had two or three floors, supported by a central pillar of stone blocks, and were topped with a flat shale roofing. These towers have been compared to the prehistoric mountain settlements dating back to 8000 BC.
Military ("combat") towers were 25 meter high or more, with four of five floors and a square base approximately six meters wide. Access to the second floor was through a ladder. The defenders fired at the enemy through loopholes
Embrasure
In military architecture, an embrasure is the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle...
and the top of the tower had mashikul – overhanging small balconies without a floor. These towers were usually crowned with pyramid-shaped roofing built in steps and topping with a sharpened capstone.
Buildings combining the functions of residential and military towers were intermediate in size between the two types, and had loop-holes and mashikuls.
Nakh towers used to be sparingly decorated with religious or good-wishing petrographs, such as solar signs or depictions of the author’s hands, animals, etc.. Military towers often bore a Golgopha cross.
Sanctuaries, temples and mosques
The Vainakh pagan pantheonVainakh mythology
The Vainakh people of the North Caucasus include the modern Chechens and Ingush, who are today predominantly Muslim in religion. Nevertheless, their folklore has preserved a substantial amount of information about their pre-Islamic pagan beliefs...
included a supreme god Dela and a goddess of fertility Tusholi. There were also phallic cults.
A whole number of peculiar monuments, natural and artificial, served as shrines for ritual services. Vainakhs chose mountains (such as the Tsei-Lam Range), lakes (Galanchoge-Ami) and some species of plants, pear-trees in particular, for exercising rituals. These shrines were places for prayers and for the sacrifice of domestic animals.
The most primitive shrines (sielingi) were low rectangular pillar-shaped stone structures with a niche for candles. These shrines were raised on the village outskirts and at the graveyards to protect both the living and the dead. Better known are shrines in the form of small houses topped with ridged step roofing, like Myatsil Sanctuary on Mat-Lam Mountain near the town of Vladikavkaz
Vladikavkaz
-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...
. Such a large range of shrines belonging to
Beginning from the 11th – 12th century, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
n Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
influence on the Nakh tribes are attested, for example, by the Tkhaba-Yerdy Church
Tkhaba-Yerdy Church
Tkhaba-Yerdy is the ruins of the largest medieval Christian church in Ingushetia, Russian Federation. It is located deep in the Assin Gorge between the auls of Khairakh and Puy, Dzheyrakhsky District, near the border with Georgia...
consecrated to St. Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
in Assa Valley, and extant churches in Ingushetia.
Islamic influence intensified in 18th and 19th centuries. Examples of Islamic architecture from that period are the tower-shaped mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s in the villages of Makazhoi and Khimoi.
Necropoles
Burial vaults or crypts remained from the pagan period in the history of Vainakhs, before they accepted Islam in the 16th century (partially, the entire region, Islam has spread only in the 17th century.). They were built either a bit deepening into the ground or half underground and on the surface. The latter formed whole “towns of the dead” on the outskirts of the villages and reminded sanctuaries from the outside, with a dummy vaults constructed of overlapping stones. The deceased were placed on the special shelves in the crypts, in clothes and decorations and arms.The general Islamic rituals established burials with the further penetration of Islam inside the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Stone steles, churts, inscribed with prayers and epitaphs, began to be erected at the graves and more prosperous mountaineers were honoured with mausoleums after death. The Borgha-Kash Mausoleum dating to the very beginning of 15th century and built for a Noghai prince is a good example of these.
Agricultural structures
Lack of arable land in sufficient quantities in the mountainous areasCaucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
, forced Vainakhs to use their territory of residence as efficiently as possible. They leveled the steep slopes, organized terraces
Terrace (agriculture)
Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...
suitable for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. On the barren rocky slopes of rocks, which are unsuitable for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
Vainakhs hew foundations for terraces
Terrace (agriculture)
Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...
. On carts harnessed donkeys and oxen, they brought black soil
Chernozem
Chernozem , also known as "black land" or "black earth", is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus 7% to 15%, and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia...
of the lowland
Lowland
In physical geography, a lowland is any broad expanse of land with a general low level. The term is thus applied to the landward portion of the upward slope from oceanic depths to continental highlands, to a region of depression in the interior of a mountainous region, to a plain of denudation, or...
s, and filled with it artificial terraces
Terrace (agriculture)
Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...
. For maximum harvest was organized by the entire irrigation system, which consisted of a small artificial stream canals connected with the mountain rivers, these canals were called Taatol, they also built a small stone canals called Epala, and quite small wooden troughs Aparri. Some scholars notably I. Diakonov
Igor Diakonov
Igor Mikhailovich Diakonov was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert in the Ancient Near East and its languages....
and S. Starostin
Sergei Starostin
Dr. Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin was a Russian historical linguist and scholar, best known for his work with hypothetical proto-languages, including his work on the reconstruction of the Proto-Borean language, the controversial theory of Altaic languages and the formulation of the Dené–Caucasian...
proposed that Epala and Aparri may correspond to Urartian irrigation canal name "pili" and Hurrian "pilli/a".
Some irrigation structures were built also on lowlands but they were less complicated.
Vehicles
СartsCart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
and carriages made Vainakh masters were highly valued in the region and beyond. Products of Vainakh masters bought not only the Caucasian peoples
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, but also such excess power with an established industry like Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. To support non-competitive domestic producers, Russia, overlaid Vainakh manufacturers of large fees. At this complaining Terek Cossacks in their letters to Russian Government, despite the fact that they are a natural enemy of the tree. In 1722 the Russian Army bought 616 Vehicles for 1308 rubles, at a time when the annual salary of the governor of the three villages was only 50 rubles.
Carpet weavingWeavingWeaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
Since ancient times, the Vainakhs have been producing thin felt carpets called Istang. Vainakh rugs are distinguished by a peculiar pattern and high quality. Jacob Reineggs, who visited the region in the 18th century, noticed that Chechen and Ingush women skillfully manufactured carpets and fringesFringe (trim)
Fringe is an ornamental textile trim applied to an edge of an item, such as drapery, a flag, epaulettes, or decorative tassel.Fringe originates in the ends of the warp, projecting beyond the woven fabric...
. Ornamen Vainakh carpets were divided among themselves into different groups dependent on patterns;
- Сarpet with colorful ornaments
- Rug with fringe
- Plain rug, without any decorations or ornaments.
- Thick floor rugs
- Expensive wall carpet
Mythology
Only a few fragments of Vainakh mythology have survived to modern times. These fragments consist of the names of deities personifying elements of animist ideas, Nart sagaNart saga
The Nart sagas are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form the basic mythology of the tribes in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay-Balkar and Chechen-Ingush folklore....
, cosmogonic tradition, remnants of stock-breeding and landtilling, totemic beliefs and folk calendar.
Legends
The greatest samples of Nakh mythology are the legends of PkharmatPkharmat
thumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
, Galanchoge Lake, the epic war of Pkhagalberi (hare riders) dwarves against Narts, Kezanoi Lake, and myths about how sun moon and stars appeared.
The Nakh myth of the legendary Pkharmat
Pkharmat
thumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
being shackled on Mount Kazbek by God Sela because he has stolen heavenly fire from him shows some parallels with Greek Myth of Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
and Georgian Amirami. The Legendary war of Pkhalberi(hare riders) dwarves against Narts can be compared to Greek "Crane and Pygmies war" by Said-Magomed Khasiev The Golden Fleece myth seems to be binded to Nakh 11 years calendar tradition. In such a myth, ram skin was placed in an oak frame "Jaar" for 11 years, and produced golden fleece named "Dasho Ertal".
Legend of Kezanoi Lake
Legend has explicit parallels with Biblical Sodom and GomorrahSodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
, and the Islamic
Islamic mythology
Islamic mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Islam from a mythographical perspective. Many Muslims believe that these narratives are historical and sacred and contain profound truths...
Lot. The story tells us that there once there was a very rich settlement at the place where now there is a lake. Despite their wealth, the people of this city was very greedy. Once God Dela sent his representatives in the guise of beggars, to test people. They asked all residents to give them food, but residents of the city in response to abused and driven away, and only one poor family in the village shared with them their food.
Legend has it that a poor family left a burnt bread for himself and gave a white bread to her guests. Leaving the house, guests reported that after some time behind the front door will be collected in puddles. And when this happens they should gather the bare necessities, leave their home, and go to the mountains. Predicting unknown guests came to pass. Poor families do not disobeyed and did everything as they told the guests.
They said the rich of the impending disaster, and asked to follow them, but greed did not allow them to leave their treasures. In the evening the family watched the terrible catastrophe, they saw the water covers their house along with those who remained.In memory of terrible events Vainakhs named the lake, lake of sorrow and cruelty, Kezanoi lake.
Legend of Galanchoge Lake
Legend tells of an incident which occurred when two women decide to wash clothes in the sacred lake Galanchoge, which was the abode of Vainakh's supreme deity Dela's daughter Tusholi. In continuation of story insulted goddess punishes the offenders turning them into stones, all the same goddess could not remain in distorted lake. She has turned into a mythical bull, and began to destroy the settlements are located on the hillside. Disaster continued until the bull was tamed in the settlement located in place of new Galanchoge settlement. Vainakhs found use for the tamed animal, with its help they plowed their fields. But unfortunately the next spring in the fields that were plowed by sacred animal began to appear springs. The water flooded the fields and turned them into a lake, and Tusholi again turned her face and settled into a new clean abode.Cosmology and creation
In ancient Nakh cosmology universe was created by supreme god Dela. Earth, created in three years, was larger than heavens three times and was propped up on the gigantic bull horns. The realm of the Vainakh Gods was over the cloads. Ishar-Deela was the ruler of the subterranean world, Deeli-Malkhi. Deeli-Malkhi was larger than realm of the human, it took seven years to create it. Nakhs believed when sun sets in the west it goes to the netherworld and vice versa. Deeli-Malkhi wasn't an evil realm of dead or undead. It was almost similar to the upper world with some improvements in its social structures. There was no judgment in life after life.Dela-Malkh was sun god playing central role in religious celebrations. On 25 December Nakhs celebrated Sun Festival
Malkh-Festival
Malkh is a festival gifted to the Deela-Malkh in Vainakh mythology. 25 December was the Birthday and the festival of the sun. During the ceremonies suppliants turned to the east. Also in Nakh Architecture temples and house façades were directed to east. Nakh people believed that Sun went to visit...
in honor of Sun Gods birthday.
- Milky WayMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
the route of scattered straw - Great BearUrsa MajorUrsa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April...
the seven brothers’ seven stars meets 7 sons of the god of the universe Tq'a. In the Ingush version of the legend PkharmatPkharmatthumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
, seven sons Tq'a were punished by his wife Khimekhninen for help Magal, stealing fire from Tq'a. She lifted them up into the air, far from land that they have become the seven starsUrsa MajorUrsa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April...
. - Gemini (constellation)Gemini (constellation)Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Its name is Latin for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology...
as - SiriusSiriusSirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
, BetelgeuseBetelgeuseBetelgeuse, also known by its Bayer designation Alpha Orionis , is the eighth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest star in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel only rarely...
and ProcyonProcyonProcyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor. To the naked eye, it appears to be a single star, the seventh brightest in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of 0.34...
Nakhs named as Tripodstar - OrionOrion (constellation)Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
as Evening star - CapricornusCapricornusCapricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac; it is often called Capricorn, especially when referring to the corresponding astrological sign. Its name is Latin for "horned male goat" or "goat horn", and it is commonly represented in the form of a sea-goat: a mythical creature that is half...
as Roofing towers - VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
depending on daytime as sunset star and sunrise star. and The name of the star (planet) is - NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
as
Fairy tales
In Nakh fairy tales can be found people with supernatural abilities, magic artifacts, mythic animals as dragonDragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s and winged horses
Pegasus
Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
and some journeys to another worlds and magic. In almost all fairy tales good triumph over evil.
Religion
In the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Vainakh society felt a strong Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
influence that led to the adoption of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in some parts of the country (particularly the mountainous South). However, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
did not last long. After the devastation of the country by Tamerlane, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
was eroded (due to the temporary loss of contacts between Georgia and Nakh Christians) and gradually the Chechens and Ingush returned to their native pagan beliefs
Vainakh mythology
The Vainakh people of the North Caucasus include the modern Chechens and Ingush, who are today predominantly Muslim in religion. Nevertheless, their folklore has preserved a substantial amount of information about their pre-Islamic pagan beliefs...
(while the Bats were permanently Christianized). Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
began to spread on Nakh peoples lands from 16th and 17th centuries.
Vainakhs are predominantly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
of Shafi`i school of thought of Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
. The majority of Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
(approx 1.5 million) and Ingush
Ingush people
The Ingush are a native ethnic group of the North Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai . The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language...
(500.000 people) people are Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
of the Shafi`i school. Kists
Kist people
The Kists are a Nakh-speaking ethnic group in Georgia related to the Chechen and Ingush peoples. They primarily live in the Pankisi Gorge, in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, where their total number is approximate to 5,000 people.-Origins:...
(about 7.100 people) are partly Sunni Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and Georgian Orthodox when Bats
Bats people
The Bats people or the Batsbi are a small Nakh-speaking community in the country of Georgia who are also known as the Ts’ova-Tush after the Ts’ova Gorge in the historic Georgian province of Tusheti , where they are believed to have settled after migrating from the North Caucasus in the 16th...
approx. 3.000 people are Christian (Georgian Orthodox)
By rite, most Chechens are Qadiris, with a considerable Nakshbandi minority. There is also a tiny Salafi
Salafi
A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...
minority(Sunni sect). The two main groups (Salafism is more of a modern introduction to the region, and is still considered to be completely foreign) have often had divergent responses to events (for example, the Qadiri authorities initially backing the Bolsheviks after the promised to grant freedom to the Chechens from Russia; while the Nakshbandis were more sceptical of the Bolsheviks' sincerity)
However, as is also the case with other Caucasian groups, such as the Georgians
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
, Abkhaz
Abkhaz
Abkhaz and Abkhazian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Abkhazia, a de facto independent region with partial recognition as a sovereign state, otherwise recognized as part of Georgia...
, and Circassians, Islam did not wipe out all traces of the native religion. Many Chechens and Ingush even refer to the God of the Muslim religion (usually "Allah", from Arabic) as "Dela", who is the head god of the original Nakh pantheon (parallel to how Georgians refer to the Christian God as Ghmerti, their original main god). The Nakh interpretation of Sharia often is more resemblant of the adat than of sharia as practiced in other Muslim countries, though some note that this may actually be closer to the original intent in some ways. There is a common saying that "Muhammad may have been an Arab, but Allah is Chechen for sure", emphasizing this attitude towards the restrictive Islam of the Middle East that is often imagined in the West as representing the behavior and culture of all Muslims. Despite syncretism
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
, most Nakh peoples are often regarded as either "Muslim people" (in the case of Ingush, Kists and Chechens), or as "Orthodox Christian people" (Batsbi). Nonetheless, worship of the original pantheon, with the exception of Dela, for the most part has no modern continuity and was replaced by Islam, despite some syncretism (i.e. building mosques consistently near streams, where temples were, reverence for the adat, etc.).
There is considerable tension among Chechens about religion. This largely asserts itself in the conflict between the pan-Islamist/Wahhabi/Salafi creed which vows to "cleanse Islam of impurity and syncretism"(i.e. de-Chechenize Islam in Chechnya to bring it more in line with global Islam), and those who view the indigenous form as superior, or otherwise as a national custom to be defended. Among the claimant governments for the land of Ichkeria, both the Western exiled Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Russian installed Kadyrov regime are largely hostile to Wahhabism/Salafism, while the reaction of the Caucasus Emirate is considerably more positive, though still at times rather uncomfortable towards it (see certain statements by Dokka Umarov, for example). The Kadyrov government, meanwhile, opposes Wahhabism in name, but still rules Chechnya with a rather harsh interpretation of sharia law, including banning of bare-headed women in public, mandatory Qu'ran study in schools (with the interpretation favored by the government promoted), the death penalty for suspected homosexuality and so on. The exiled Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, meanwhile, has consistently stated both that the indigenous interpretation is a national trait (to be preserved) and that Ichkeria should be a secular state, national state, and while Islam may certainly be a part of the Chechen identity at times, it is certainly neither a requirement nor more important than any other aspect.
This attitude (by the democratic Ichkerian government) has been largely consistent (except for in 1998 when Maskhadov briefly allowed sharia courts to appear due to intense pressure from his opponents, including Shamil Basayev and Salman Raduyev, in an attempt to find unity by compromise). It is noted by many observers, Chechen, Russian (such as Valery Tishkov) and Western (such as Paul B. Henze, though his wife is in fact Abkhaz, as well as Tony Wood and Anatol Lieven), that oftentimes, as seen in countries like Turkey and Albania, nationalist imagery -particularly the wolf, an animal viewed as symbolic of the Chechen nation
Chechen wolf
The wolf is the national animal of the Chechen nation, and it is also the national embodiment. The national feeling of Chechens towards the wolf has many aspects.-As a poetic or symbolic comparison to the Chechen nation:...
- is given far more importance than religion.
Social Structure
Traditionally Nakh peoples known as a society with a highly developed and complex clan system. In which individuals are united in family groups called "Tsa" - house. Several Tsa's are part of the "Gar" -branch or "Nekh"-road, a group of Gar's is turn in to a TeipTeip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
. Teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
is a unit of tribal organization of Vainakh people. Teip's has its own council of elders and unites people from the political, economic and military sides. All cases teips left solely to the democratically elected representatives of houses i.e. "Tsa". Number of participants of Teipan-Khelli depends on number of houses.
Most teips made unions called Tukkhum
Tukkhum
Tukkhum an alliance of teips, unrelated by blood but united in a higher association for the joint solution of common problems - the protection from enemy attack and economic exchange...
. Tukkhum
Tukkhum
Tukkhum an alliance of teips, unrelated by blood but united in a higher association for the joint solution of common problems - the protection from enemy attack and economic exchange...
is a military-economic or military-political union teips. Tukhums governed by a Board of Representatives of Teips, Teipan-Khelli. Teips counsil of elders choose one or several people to submit their Teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
in Tukkhum-Khelli (Counsil of Tukkhum). New Teip were taken in tukhums depending on its geographical location and on depends on the harmonization of Tukkhum Counsil Elders. Joining a Tukhum depended on desire of the Teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
itself. No one could force a teip to join a Tukkhum.
To address issues of national scale worked Mexk-Khel, the People's Council. Representatives of the Council were elected by each Tukkhum Counsil and had an enormous influence on the destiny of the people. Could start a war or prohibit any or tukhum or Teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
prevent war. As it was forbidden Akkhis to fight against the Kabardian Kings in 14th century. Orstkhoys Tukhum was banned for their disobedience, when they were going to completely destroy north-Daghestan Vainakh clans of Aukh. For disobedience of its orders Mekhk-Khel could raise an army from all parts of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Mexk-Khel, could gather in different places at different times. It was gathering in Terloi Moxk and Äkkhi Moxk's Galanchoge region. In Galainchoge still stands giantic Mexk-Kheli stone, around which Mexk-Kheli members solved issues.
All Vainakh Counsils also bore responsibility and respect for law and order. The problem is not solved in Teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
council could move to Tukkhum counsil and further even to Mekhk-Khel. That was called "Mexkidaqqar" meaning "to make a state matter" and "bringing to Mexki". Mexk-Khel name come from Nakh word Moxk, the state. On the top of the social structure stands nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
which is referred to in most Nakh languages something resembling "Kham"
Political Structure
Many observers, including Russians such as Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, have been very impressed by the democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
nature of the indigenous Chechen governments prior to Russian conquest. According to Western Ichkerophile Tony Wood, the Vainakh people, in particular the Chechens (as the Ingush and the Batsbi have fallen under foreign domination much more frequently and as a result, the indigenous system and democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
values are less deeply ingrained), could be described as one of the few nations in the world with an indigenous system highly resemblant of democracy (others cited are often Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
and Basques; notably, all three, much like the Vainakh peoples, are mountain dwelling peoples with a clan-based social organization and a strong attachment to the concept of freedom). Even more interestingly, in the 19th century, a couple of Circassian tribes overthrew their traditional aristocracy and established a democratic, egalitarian society, with some adoptions from the Nakh system. Of course, this advance, which may have spread eventually to all of the Circassian tribes, was halted by their political state being annihilated by Russian conquest, a fate later shared by the rest of the Caucasus.
It is notable especially that the Chechen and Ingush systems, as well as the system later adopted from them by some Eastern Circassian tribes, is resemblent especially of the Western democratic republic. It has a central government with a legislative body (the Mexk-Kel), a body resemblent of an executive branch (the Council of Tukhum) as well as a judicial branch (the other councils). The adat and other bodies have served as the constitution. The members to all three of the main national councils of the nation were, in fact, elected, making the inherent indigenous democracy of the Nakh peoples even more striking.
During the Soviet Union period as well as currently during Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
's regime, the Taip-Council system has been heavily criticized by Russian governments and the puppet governments installed by Russia in Chechnya and Ingushetia, who view it as a destabilizing force and an obstacle to maintaining order. The claim is that such a system was illustrative of the anarchic nature of the Caucasian ethos, despite espousing Socialism (which could be considered much more compatible, if its original ideals were followed, with the Chechen system than with the brutal oligarchic rule of the Communist Party) at the same time.
The democratic and egalitarian nature and democratic values of freedom and equality of Chechen society has been cited as many as a major reason why their persistence in resistance to Russian rule has been so intense (as well as the fact that there was no elite to be coopted by Tsarist authorities, as Wood notes).
Observance of sacred duties of hospitality with regard to the taip system
According to Nakh ethos and moral codes such as the adat, hospitality is considered extremely important, less important only than freedom (considered of first importance) and equality (second importance).As the third most important value to the moral code, it has a profound effect on the functioning of the teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
system. Several times, originally foreign groups have been completely integrated into the teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
system, becoming their own teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
. A notable example is the Germans
Caucasus Germans
Caucasus Germans are part of the German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union. They migrated to the Caucasus largely in the first half of the 19th century and settled in the North Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and in the region of Kars...
who lived among the Chechens during their exile in Kazakhstan and Siberia
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population, often classified as "enemies of workers," deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite...
: during even as short a period of 13 years, the Germans decided to join the teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
system, and the new "German" taip was founded by M.Weisert, whose relatives still lived mainly in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. There have also been several periods where Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
living in Chechnya founded their own teip (teip Dzugtoi), which is still in existence, though it has shrunk considerably due to the flight of people from Chechnya due to the brutal war. There are also teips that were formed, sometimes temporarily, by Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
(teips Orsi, Arsoi), Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
or Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
. These taips are often eventually viewed as integral parts of the nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
, despite their foreign origin.
Haplogroup J2a4b*
A 2011 study by Balanovsky and a number of other genetics scientists discovered that the Y-DNA haplogroup J2a4b* (a subclade of J2, located mainly in the Middle East, Caucasus and Mediterranean) was highly associated with Nakh peoples. It comprised a majority of the Y-chromosomes of Ingush and Chechen men, with the Ingush having a much higher percentage, 87.4% than Chechens, who had 51-58% depending on region (the lowest was among Chechens in Malgobek, highest in Dagestan and Achkoi-Martan). Balanovsky et al. speculated in the paper that the differences between fraternal Caucasian populations arose due to genetic drift, which would have a greater effect on the Ingush than the Chechens due to the smaller population size of the Ingush (another possible reason for the difference is the greater absorption of foreign peoples into the Chechen populace than the Ingush, reflecting an older theory that the Ingush are more "archaic" than other Caucasian peoples). The high frequencies among Chechens and Ingush of J2a4b* are the highest ever reported for the haplogroup as of yet (other relatively high frequencies, between 10 and 20 percent, are found in the Mediterranean and Georgia).Migration from the Fertile Crescent c.10000-8000 BCE
Many scholars, such as Johanna Nichols and Bernice Wuethrich hold that the Dzurdzuks were descended from extremely ancient migrations from the Fertile CrescentFertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
to the Caucasus, perhaps due to population or political pressures back in the Fertile Crescent. Others who believe the so-called "Urartian version", such as George Anchabadze and Amjad Jaimoukha, still hold that those original migrants contributed to both the genetic and cultural traits of the modern Ingush and Chechens, but that the primary ancestors were Nakh-speaking migrants from what became Northeastern Urartu.
Various Interpretations on the Relationship with Urartu and Urartians; Hurrians
It is widely held by various authors that Nakh nations had a close connection of some sort to the HurrianHurrians
The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East who lived in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age.The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia to a large part consisted of Hurrians, and...
and Urartian
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
civilizations in modern day Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Kurdistan largely due to linguistic similarities (Nakh shares the most roots with known Hurrian and Urartian)- either that the Nakhs were descended from Hurrian tribes, that they were Hurrians who fled north, or that they were closely related and possibly included at points in the state.
Although all historians agree they were closely related, there is a wide variety of views on the nature of the relationship.
According to ethnic Circassian Caucasus specialist Amjad Jaimoukha
Amjad Jaimoukha
Amjad Jaimoukha has written a number of books on North Caucasian – specifically Circassian and Chechen – culture and folklore. According to The Circassian Encyclopaedia Amjad Jaimoukha (name in Circassian: Жэмыхъуэ Амджэд; the Circassian personal name "Амыщ" is also sometimes quoted; in...
, at least
It is certain that the Nakh constituted an important component of the Hurrian-Urartian tribes in the Trans-Caucasus and played a role in the development of their influential cultures.
It has been noted that at many points, Urartu in fact extended through Kakheti into the North Caucasus. Jaimoukha notes in his book:
The kingdom of Urartu, which was made up of several small states, flourished in the ninth and seventh centuries BCE, and extended into the North Caucasus at the peaks of its power...
The Georgian chronicles of Leonti Mroveli state that the Urartians "returned" to their homeland (i.e. Kakheti) in the Trans-Caucasus, which had become by then "Kartlian domain", after they were defeated.
Apparently, Xenophon visited Urartu in 401 BCE, and rather than finding Urartians, he only found pockets of Urartians, surrounded by Armenians. These Urartians, as modern scholars infer, were undergoing a process of assimilation to Armenian language and culture.
Jaimoukha notes that the first confirmed appearance of a consolidated Vainakh nation in the North Caucasus spanning the range the Zygii would later have (with a few additions later) was after the fall of Urartu, and notes that numerous people think that they were a regathering of Nakh tribes fleeing the crumbling state and the invasion of the Armenians, who ended up assimilating most of those who stayed behind. The Ancient Greek chronicler Strabo mentioned that Gargareans
Gargareans
In Greek mythology, the Gargareans were an all-male tribe. They had sex with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. Varying accounts suggest that they may have been kidnapped, raped, and murdered for this purpose, or that they may have had relations willingly...
had migrated from eastern Asia Minor (i.e. Urartu) to the North Caucasus. Jaimoukha notes that Gargareans is one of many Nakh roots- gergara, meaning, in fact, "kindred" in proto-Nakh.
Other Nakh roots throughout the Republic of Armenia, Naxcivan, and Turkish Armenia have been found.
Jaimoukha provides a number in his book. Yerevan is thought to be the cite of the similarly named ancient Èribuni (from the Nakh nation-tribe of the Èrs
Èrs
The Èr people, also known as Èrsh or the Hers, are a little-known ancient people inhabiting Northern modern Armenia, and to an extent, small areas of Northeast Turkey, Southern Georgia, and Northwest Azerbaijan...
, which lived in the region + bun, the root in Chechen that generated the word "shelter" or "lair"). The Nakh Èr
Èrs
The Èr people, also known as Èrsh or the Hers, are a little-known ancient people inhabiting Northern modern Armenia, and to an extent, small areas of Northeast Turkey, Southern Georgia, and Northwest Azerbaijan...
nation also contributed to a number of other roots- for example the Arax valley (Èrashki, from a Hurrian/Nakh hydronym forming suffix). Near the Èrs lived a tribe known as the Nakhchradzor. The Dzurdzuks, a name the Georgians called the early medieval inhabitants of Ichkeria later, had a name derived from the settlement of Durdukka, near Lake Urmia. The area around Lake Sevan, known as Eriaki in Urartian times (i.e. perhaps from the Ers) also contributes a number of roots. Old Armenian name for the lake include Gegharkunik and the Sea of Gegham ; whereas the old Georgian name for the lake was Lake Ereta, referring once again to the Ers who lived around it. The Georgian name for the region, meanwhile, was Gogharena, possibly drawing from the "Gargarean" root.
In addition to these, there is also the very name of Naxcivan (Nakhichevan, from Nakh+Che+Bun), and Lake Van (similarly, from Bun, although it may instead be from Urartian biani; it is nonetheless the Armenian rendering of the Ersh
Èrsh language
The Èrsh language was the language of the Èr Èrs people.According to placenames, it was a Nakh language, a kin to the language of the historical Malkh nation, as well as modern Chechen, Ingush and Batsbi, and possibly others...
bun). There may be an increasingly long list of further Nakh placenames in the South Caucasus that are less well-known, or not yet identified. The area of Nakhichevan and the site of Durdzukka on Lake Urmia (which rendered the historical Georgian name for the Chechens, the Dzurdzuks) point to an area which was on the Southeast periphery of what became Urartu. According to that, the flight of people from the area may have taken place as early as the 9th or 8th century BCE (when the area was being fought over by Urartians and Iranian tribes, the Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
), long before the invasion of Cimmerians or the rise of the Armenian kingdom. All of this, however, is based around guesswork and individual interpretation of data, as there are little remaining resources on the details of the flight north of the "Gargareans".
However, the nature of the relationship between the Nakh in the northern and eastern reaches of the Urartian state and the Central Urartians themselves is not known. Their languages were not identical, but seem to possibly have been related (Urartian biani to Ersh buni, to use the "house" root). Some scholars, such as Amjad Jaimoukha
Amjad Jaimoukha
Amjad Jaimoukha has written a number of books on North Caucasian – specifically Circassian and Chechen – culture and folklore. According to The Circassian Encyclopaedia Amjad Jaimoukha (name in Circassian: Жэмыхъуэ Амджэд; the Circassian personal name "Амыщ" is also sometimes quoted; in...
, propose that the Urartians were Nakh, or passed their language on to the Nakh in some way, etc., etc.; or that the Hurrians were a common ancestor to the Nakh peoples and the Urartians. There is much confusion, however, in how large the category of "Nakh" peoples is, whether the Urartians and Hurrians are a branch of Nakh, or conversely, whether the Nakh are a branch of Hurrians. There is also the view that the Urartians and Hurrians formed a separate linguistic branch from the Nakh, equal to it in time depth (but maybe or maybe not closer to Nakh than other branches).
The migration may have occurred much earlier than the fall of Urartu- as Jaimoukha points out, archaeological finds traced to the modern Chechens (at least according to him) date much further back. It is possible that rather than fleeing Urartu's collapse (or those of its predecessors) they may have instead been fleeing the Urartians themselves (or their predecessors). Although the migration of Hers (a related people) to Hereti occurred later, this does not mean that the Dzurdzuks could not have fled much earlier.
Historical Nakh nations
Although today the Nakh primarily comprise the Vainakh (Chechens and Ingush) to the point that the two words are often erroneously used as simileSimile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like", "as". Even though both similes and metaphors are forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas...
s, the Nakh peoples have once included a much broader range of nations according to some historians and linguists. Some of these proposals are largely accepted, though others are debated. Due to the loss on much historic writings in the Caucasus, most of the research done to find which peoples are Nakh is by linguistic substratums and place names. These groups were one-by-one eliminated via assimilation, eradication or other methods, so that the only substantial Nakh groups left today are the Chechens and Ingush (and the tiny Kist and Bats groups, the latter of which is verging on extinction through assimilation). In addition to proposed connections of the Nakh to the Urartians and the Hurrians (by authors such as Amjad Jaimoukha), the list of possible historic Nakh peoples includes the following.
SopheneSopheneSophene , or ) was a province of the Armenian Kingdom and of the Roman Empire, located in the south-west of the kingdom. It currently lies in modern-day southeastern Turkey....
According to Georgian scholars I.A. Djavashvili and Giorgi MelikishviliGiorgi Melikishvili
Giorgi Melikishvili was a Georgian historian known for his fundamental works in the history of Georgia, Caucasia and the Middle East. He earned an international recognition for his research of Urartu....
Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
an state of Supani
Sophene
Sophene , or ) was a province of the Armenian Kingdom and of the Roman Empire, located in the south-west of the kingdom. It currently lies in modern-day southeastern Turkey....
was occupied by ancient Nakh tribe Tzov, state of which is called Tsobena in ancient Georgian historiography. Sophene was part of the kingdom of Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
in the 8th-7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishtis I of Urartu
Argishtis I of Urartu
Argishti I was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 785 BC to 763 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan....
resettled many of its inhabitants to his newly built city of Erebuni
Erebuni
Erebuni may refer to:*Erebuni Fortress, the fortress of ancient kingdom of Urartu, now territory of Armenia*Yerevan, capital of Armenia*Erebuni, Armenia, a district of Yerevan*Erebuni Museum*Erebuni Airport...
.
Gargarei PeopleGargareansIn Greek mythology, the Gargareans were an all-male tribe. They had sex with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. Varying accounts suggest that they may have been kidnapped, raped, and murdered for this purpose, or that they may have had relations willingly...
The earliest evidence of the distant ancestors of the Vainakhs the GargareiGargareans
In Greek mythology, the Gargareans were an all-male tribe. They had sex with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. Varying accounts suggest that they may have been kidnapped, raped, and murdered for this purpose, or that they may have had relations willingly...
Peoples, who lived on the northern slopes of the Caucasus mountain
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
range, are given in Geographica
Géographica
Géographica is the French-language magazine of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society , published under the Society's French name, the Société géographique royale du Canada . Introduced in 1997, Géographica is not a stand-alone publication, but is published as an irregular supplement to La...
of Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
(1st century BC) and in Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
(1st century AC). Strabo wrote that "... the Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
live close to Gargarei, on the northern foothills of the Caucasus mountains
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
". The Amazons were attributed to the Circassians via the root maze. Gaius Plinius Secundus
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
also localizes Gargarei
Gargareans
In Greek mythology, the Gargareans were an all-male tribe. They had sex with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. Varying accounts suggest that they may have been kidnapped, raped, and murdered for this purpose, or that they may have had relations willingly...
at North of the Caucasus, but calls them Gegar. Some scholars (P.K. Uslar, K. Miller, N.F. Yakovleff, E.I. Krupnoff, L.A. Elnickiy, I.M. Diakonoff
Igor Diakonov
Igor Mikhailovich Diakonov was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert in the Ancient Near East and its languages....
, V.N. Gemrakeli) supported that Gargarei
Gargareans
In Greek mythology, the Gargareans were an all-male tribe. They had sex with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. Varying accounts suggest that they may have been kidnapped, raped, and murdered for this purpose, or that they may have had relations willingly...
is earlier for of Vainakh ethnonym. The Ancient Greek chronicler Strabo mentioned that Gargareans had migrated from eastern Asia Minor (i.e. Urartu) to the North Caucasus. Jaimoukha notes that Gargareans is one of many Nakh roots- gergara, meaning, in fact, "kindred" in proto-Nakh. If this is the case, it would make Gargarei virtually equivalent to the Georgian term Dzurdzuk (referring to the lake Durdukka in the South Caucasus, where they are thought to have migrated from, as noted by Strabo, before intermixing with the local population) which applied to a Nakh people who migrated North across the mountains to settle in modern Chechnya and Ingushetia.
ÈrsÈrsThe Èr people, also known as Èrsh or the Hers, are a little-known ancient people inhabiting Northern modern Armenia, and to an extent, small areas of Northeast Turkey, Southern Georgia, and Northwest Azerbaijan...
and HeretiHeretiHereti was a historic province in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. It roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakheti region and a portion of Azerbaijan's northwestern districts.-History:...
A people who inhabited Northern Armenia, and then, (possibly) later, mainly HeretiHereti
Hereti was a historic province in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. It roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakheti region and a portion of Azerbaijan's northwestern districts.-History:...
in Southeast Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Northwest Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. This is considered to be more or less confirmed as Nakh, on the basis of a large number of placenames. The urban center of their culture in ancient times was the fortress-city of Erebuni
Erebuni
Erebuni may refer to:*Erebuni Fortress, the fortress of ancient kingdom of Urartu, now territory of Armenia*Yerevan, capital of Armenia*Erebuni, Armenia, a district of Yerevan*Erebuni Museum*Erebuni Airport...
(Eribuni in their language, meaning "lair of the Èrs", combining the roots Èr+(i)+buni home;lair). This city is now Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, the capital of the Republic of Armenia. After those living in Northern Armenia fled their homeland as Urartu, the Èrs (having become the "Hers" of the Georgian Chronicles) may have set up and ran the state of Hereti
Hereti
Hereti was a historic province in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. It roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakheti region and a portion of Azerbaijan's northwestern districts.-History:...
. They were assimilated eventually, and their language was replaced by Georgian or Azeri.
Kakh and KakhetiKakhetiKakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
The old inhabitants of KakhetiKakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
and Tusheti
Tusheti
Tusheti is a historic region in northeast Georgia.-Geography:Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya and Dagestan to the north and east, respectively; and by the Georgian historic provinces Kakheti and...
in Eastern Georgia. According to Amjad Jaimoukha
Amjad Jaimoukha
Amjad Jaimoukha has written a number of books on North Caucasian – specifically Circassian and Chechen – culture and folklore. According to The Circassian Encyclopaedia Amjad Jaimoukha (name in Circassian: Жэмыхъуэ Амджэд; the Circassian personal name "Амыщ" is also sometimes quoted; in...
, the Kakh apparently called themselves Kabatsas and their territory Kakh-Batsa. If they were Nakh, they may or may not be ancestral to the modern Bats, and they may or may not be closely related to them; and were linguistically assimilated by the rest of Georgiandom. However, the view that the Kakh were a Nakh people is not widely held, so they should not be included in a basic list.
Tsanars and TzanariaTzanariaTzanaria was a historic district in the early medieval Caucasus, lying chiefly in what is now the northwestern corner of Georgia’s Mtskheta-Mtianeti region....
The Tsanars were a people of East-Central Northern Georgia, living in an area around modern KheviKhevi
Khevi is a small historical-geographic area in northeastern Georgia. It is included in the modern-day Kazbegi district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...
. Tsanaria was their state, and it distinguished itself by the decisive role it and its people played in fending off the Arab invasion of Georgia. Their language is thought by many historians (including Vladimir Minorsky and Amjad Jaimoukha) to be Nakh, based on placenames, geographic location, and other such info. However, there is opposition to the Nakh theory for their language, with others claiming they spoke a Sarmatian language like Ossetic. They, too, eventually were assimilated to Georgiandom.
Gligvs
Gligvs, a mysterious people in the North Caucasus attributed by Georgian historians to be a Nakh people. They may be ancestral to the Ingush, but the term used by Georgians consistently for the Ingush is "Kist", causing large amounts of confusion (as the Nakh people in Georgia who speak Chechen are also called "Kists").DvalsDvalsThe Dvals were an old people in the Caucasus, their lands lying on both sides of the central Greater Caucasus mountains, somewhere between the Darial and Mamison gorges...
and Dvaleti
The Dvals were a historic people living in modern-day South Ossetia and some nearby regions, as well as the southern parts of North Ossetia (South and West of the Gligvs, South and East of the Malkh). They integrated themselves into the Georgian kingdom and produced a number of fine calligraphers and historians (in Georgian). They also produced an Orthodox saint- Saint Nicholas of Dvaleti. The language of the DvalsDvals
The Dvals were an old people in the Caucasus, their lands lying on both sides of the central Greater Caucasus mountains, somewhere between the Darial and Mamison gorges...
is thought to be Nakh by many historians, though there is a rivaling camp arguing for its status as a close relative of Ossetic
Ossetic language
Ossetian , also sometimes called Ossete, is an East Iranian language spoken in Ossetia, a region on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains....
. Various backing for the Nakh theory (different scholars use different arguments) includes the presence of Nakh placenames in former Dval territory, evidence of Nakh–Svan contact which probably would've required the Nakh nature of the Dvals or people there before them, and the presence of a foreign-origin Dval clan among the Chechens, seemingly implying that the Dvals found shelter (like the Malkhs are known to have done) among the Chechens from the conquest of their land by foreign invaders (presumably Ossetes). The Dvals were assimilated by the Georgians (and possibly the Ossetes as well) and conquered by the Ossetes in the north. It is thought that Dval did not go fully extinct until the 18th century, making the Dvals the most recent Nakh people known to have died out (if they were Nakh).
MalkhMalkhThe Malkh were an ancient nation, living in the Western/Central North Caucasus. They are usually regarded as the Westernmost Nakh people , and there name has a Nakh root . Their name may have actually been something closer to "Melkhi", but the common rendering is "Malkh"...
s
The Malkhs were a Nakh people who lived in modern day Kabardino-BalkariaKabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
, Karachay-Cherkessia
Karachay-Cherkessia
The Karachay-Cherkess Republic , or Karachay-Cherkessia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: -Geography:*Area: *Borders:**internal: Krasnodar Krai , Kabardino-Balkar Republic , Stavropol Krai ....
, and the western part of North Ossetia and once briefly conquered Ubykhia
Ubykhia
Ubykhia was a commonwealth of Ubykh tribes in the 14th-19th centuries. It was situated in what is today Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia....
and Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
. They were conquered first by Scythian-speaking Alan tribes and then by Turkic tribes, and seem to have largely abandoned their homeland and found shelter among the Chechens, leading to the formation of a teip named after them. Those who stayed behind were either wiped out or assimilated. Their name may (or may not have) survived though: the Balkars in the region call themselves "Malkhars" (although this could also be from root of the Volga river, which gave "Bulgars"). The common rendering of their name is the Malkh, but they may have been the Melkh or some other closely related name.
Dzurdzuks and Dzurdzuketia
The Dzurdzuks were the historical name held by Georgians for the Chechens. They constructed numerous kingdoms, notably Dzurdzuketia, and they were noted for their exceptionally fierce devotion to freedom and their ability to resist invaders, ranging from the Arabs to the Scythians to Turkic peoples to the Mongolian invaders. They seemed to also have been employed as mercenaries by various parties. They had a written language using Georgian script (it is not known whether they used their own language however) but most of these writings have been lost, reduced to a few pieces. After the 14th century Second Mongol Invasion of Dzurdzuketia, they radically changed their culture due to the destruction wrought by the two invasions (including, as Amjad Jaimoukha notes, the destruction of their memory of their past ), and became known as the Ichkeri (Turkic for "freedom people"), and their land as Ichkeria. It was then (as the Ichkeri) that the taip system became formalized into its well-known modern form. The term Ichkeri also included the Ingush (for the most part), until they broke off. The name Ichkeri is cognate to the name of Chechens or their land in many languages at that time, including Michiki (Lak) and Mitzjeghi. Only after the Russian conquest did the name "Chechen" become the internationally accepted name for the Chechens.Kists
Historical Georgian name for the Ingush, or rather, a Western group of Dzurdzuks under Alanian and (later) Circassian rule. According to Johanna Nichols , they never fought, even once, a war for any purpose for any other purpose but defense, not counting when they were employed as mercenaries.Isadiks
The Isadiks were an Ancient Nakh people of the North Caucasus who were dependent on farming. They were probably undone by Scythian invaders. A remnant of them may have been absorbed by the Vainakh, as their name can now be seen in the Chechen teip Sadoy.Khamekits
The Khamekits were an Ancient Nakh people of the North Caucasus who were dependent on farming. They were probably undone by Scythian invaders. A remnant of them can have been absorbed by the Vainakh, as their name may now be seen in the Ingush teip Khamkhi.ArshtinsArshtinsThe Arshtins were a group of Vainakh living in between the Ingush and Chechens, along the Sunzha's middle reaches and their tributaries. They were mostly known as Karabulaks, which they are called in Russian, from their Kumyk name. They also called themselves "Baloi"...
Before the 19th century, the Arshtins were a Vainakh tukkhum living in between the Ingush and Chechens (see Split of the Vainakhs), with vague affinities, along the Sunzha's middle reaches and their tributaries. They were mostly known as Karabulaks, which they are called in Russian, from their Kumyk name. They also called themselves "Baloi". They were variously called an independent people, a subgroup of Chechens, or a subgroup of Ingush (which was further complicated by the fact that many in the 19th century considered Ingush to be a subgroup of Chechens, including many Ingush themselves). Their language is thought to have been somewhere between Chechens and Ingush (not unlike today's Galanchozh dialect spoken by the Myalkhi tukhum).The Arshtins eventually were wiped out by Russian imperialism. The late 1850s saw the end of the Eastern and Central Caucasian resistance to Tsarist rule was defeated; and in 1865, the Deportation of Circassians occurred. Although they mainly targeted Circassians for expulsion or murder, the Arshtins also fell victim. In May–July 1865, according to official documents, 1366 Arshtin families disappeared and only 75 remained. These 75 families joined (or rejoined) the Chechen nation as the Erstkhoi tukhum.