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Chechen people

Chechens (Chechen language|Chechen: ''Hохчи'' / ''Noxçi'') constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as '''Nokhchii''' (singular Nokhchi or Nokhcho), which comes from the name of a large Chechen teip|tribe, the Nokhchmekhkakhoi, and their homeland. The isolated mountain terrain of the Caucasus and the strategic value outsiders have placed on the areas settled by Chechens has contributed much to the Chechen community ethos and helped shape a unique national character.

Origins of the word Chechen

The term "Chechen" is ultimately believed to derive from the Iranian languages|Iranian name for the Nokhchii and it first occurs in Arabic language|Arabic sources from the 8th century. According to popular tradition, the Russian term "Chechen" comes from the name of the village of Chechen-Aul, where the Chechens defeated Russian soldiers in 1732. The word "Chechen", however, occurs in Russian language|Russian sources as early as 1692 and the Russians probably derived it from the Kabardian language|Kabardian "Shashan".Jaimoukha p.12

Geography

The Chechen people are mainly inhabitants of Chechnya, Russia|Russian Federation. There are also significant Chechen populations in other subdivisions of Russia (especially in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Moscow). Outside Russia, countries with significant Chechen diaspora populations are Republic of Georgia|Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and the Arab world (especially Jordan and Syria). These are mainly descendants of people who had to leave Chechnya during the Caucasian War (which led to the annexation|annexing of Chechnya by the Russian Empire around 1850) and the 1944 Stalinism|Stalinist deportation in the case of Kazakhstan. More recently, tens of thousands of Chechen refugees settled in the European Union and elsewhere as the result of the Chechen Wars, especially after 2002.

History

The Chechens are one of the Vainakh peoples, who have lived in the highlands of the North Caucasus region since prehistory (there is archeology|archeological evidence of historical continuity dating back since 10,000 B.C.). In the Middle Ages, the Chechens were dominated by the Khazars and then the Alans. Local culture was also subject to Byzantine influence and some Chechens converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Gradually, Islam prevailed, although the Chechens' Vainakh mythology|own pagan religion was still strong until at least the 19th century. Society was organised along feudalism|feudal lines. The North Caucasus was devastated by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and those of Tamerlane in the 14th.Jaimoukha pp.33-34Dunlop p.3 In the late Middle Ages, the Little Ice Age forced the Chechens down from the hills into the lowlands where they came into conflict with the Terek Cossacks|Terek and Greben Cossacks who had also begun to move into the region. The Caucasus was also the focus for three competing empires: Ottoman Turkey, History of Iran|Persia and Russia. As Russia expanded southwards from the 16th century, clashes between Chechens and the Russians became more frequent. In the late 18th century Sheikh Mansur led a major Chechen resistance movement. In the early 1800s, Russia embarked on full-scale conquest of the North Caucasus in order to protect the route to its new territories in Transcaucasia. The campaign was led by General Yermolov who particularly disliked the Chechens, describing them as "a bold and dangerous people".Dunlop p.14 Angered by Chechen raids, Yermolov resorted to a policy of "scorched earth" and deportations. He also founded the fortress of Grozny (now the capital of Chechnya) in 1818. Chechen resistance to Russian rule reached its peak under the leadership of the Dagestan|Dagestani Shamil in the mid-19th century. The Chechens were finally defeated after a long and bloody war.Jaimoukha (p.50): "The Chechens suffered horrific losses in human life during the long war. From an estimated population of over a million in the 1840s, there were only 140,000 Chechens left in the Caucasus in 1861..." In the aftermath large numbers of ''Muhajir (Caucasus)|muhajir'' refugees emigration|emigrated or were forcibly deportation|deported to the Ottoman Empire.Dunlop p.29ff. Dunlop writes (p.30): "In 1860, according to Soviet-era figures, 81,360 Chechens left for Turkey; a second emigration took place in 1865, when an additional 22,500 Chechens left. More than 100,000 Chechens were thus ethnically 'cleansed' during this process. This was perhaps a majority of their total population..."Jaimoukha p.50 Since then there have been various Chechen rebellions against Russian power, as well as nonviolent resistance to Russification and the Soviet Union's Collective farming|collectivization and antireligion|antireligious campaigns. In 1944 Moscow's oppression reached its apogee as all Chechens, together with several other peoples of the Caucasus, were ordered by Joseph Stalin Operation Lentil (Caucasus)|to be deported ''en masse'' to Kazakhstan and Siberia and at least one-quarter and perhaps half of the entire Chechen nation perished in the process.Jaimoukha p.58Dunlop, Chapter 2 "Soviet Genocide", particularly pp.70-71 ("How many died?")Though "Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitated" in 1956 and allowed to return the next year, the survivors lost economy|economic resources and civil rights and, under both Soviet and post-Soviet governments, they have been the objects of (official and unofficial) discrimination and discriminatory public discourse.Jaimoukha p.60 The Chechen attempts to regain independence in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union led to the two next devastating wars with the new Russian state since 1994.

Language

The main languages of the Chechen people are Chechen language|Chechen and Russian language|Russian. Chechen belongs to the family of Nakh languages (North-Central Caucasian Languages). Literary Chechen is based on the central lowland dialect. Other related languages include Ingush language|Ingush, which has speakers in the nearby Ingushetia, and Bats language|Batsi, which is the language of the people in the adjoing part of Georgia.

Culture

Prior to the adoption of Islam, the Chechens practiced a unique blend of Religion|religious traditions and beliefs. They partook in numerous rites and rituals, many of them pertaining to farming; these included rain rites, a celebration that occurred on the first day of plowing, as well as the Day of the Thunderer Sela and the Day of the Goddess Tusholi. Chechen society is structured around ''tukhum'' (unions of clans) and about 130 ''teip'', or clans. The teips are based more on land than on blood and have an uneasy relationship in peacetime, but are bonded together during war. Teips are further subdivided into ''gar'' (branches), and gars into ''nekye'' (patronymic families). The Chechen social code is called ''nokhchallah'' (where ''Nokhcho'' stands for "Chechen") and may be loosely translated as "Chechen character". The Chechen code of honor implies morality|moral and ethics|ethical behavior, generosity and the will to safeguard the honor of women.

Religion

Chechnya is predominantly Muslim. Some adhere to a Sufi tradition called Muridism, while about half of Chechens belong to Sufi brotherhoods, or tariqah. The two Sufi tariqas that spread in the North Caucasus were the Naqshbandiya and the Qadiriya. The Naqshbandiya is particularly strong in Dagestan and eastern Chechnya, whereas the Qadiriya has most of its adherents in the rest of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Almost all Chechens belong to the Hanafi school of thought of Sunni Islam.Who are the Chechens? by Johanna Nichols, University of California, Berkeley. Salafism was introduced to the population in the 1950s. Some of the rebels involved in the modern Chechen wars are Salafis, but the majority are not.Shattering the Al Qaeda-Chechen Myth: Part 1, by Brian Glyn Williams, The Jamestown Foundation, October 2, 2003

References

Sources

- Amjad Jaimoukha ''The Chechens: A Handbook'' (London, New York: Routledge, 2005)
- John B. Dunlop ''Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998) Category:Chechen people| Category:Ethnic groups in Dagestan Category:Ethnic groups in Jordan Category:Ethnic groups in Kazakhstan Category:Ethnic groups in Russia Category:Ethnic groups in Syria Category:Ethnic groups in Turkey Category:Indigenous peoples of Europe Category:Muslim communities Category:Peoples of the Caucasus be-x-old:Чачэнцы

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