View source for Chechens

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Northeast Caucasian ethnic group}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Chechens
| native_name      = {{lang|ce|Нохчий}}<br />{{transliteration|ce|Noxçiy}}
| caption          = Chechens at a wedding, circa 1870–1886
| population       = 2.2 million{{efn|name=a|The total figure is merely an estimation; sum of all the referenced populations only.{{original research inline|date=November 2024}}}}
| popplace         = 
| region1          = [[Russia]]
| pop1             = 1,674,854<ref>{{cite web|url=https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Frosstat.gov.ru%2Fstorage%2Fmediabank%2FTom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK|title=Russian Census of 2021}} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
| region2          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Chechen Republic|Chechnya]]
| pop2             = 1,456,792<ref name="census">[https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Frosstat.gov.ru%2Fstorage%2Fmediabank%2FTom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK Russian Census of 2021] {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
| region3          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Dagestan]]
| pop3             = 99,320<ref name="census"/>
| region4          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Rostov Oblast]]
| pop4             = 14,316<ref name="census"/>
| region5          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Stavropol Krai]]
| pop5             = 13,779<ref name="census"/>
| region6          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Ingushetia]]
| pop6             = 12,240<ref name="census"/>
| region7          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Moscow Oblast]]
| pop7             = 11,491<ref name="census"/>
| region8          = *{{nowrap|{{nbsp|4}}[[Volgograd Oblast]]}}
| pop8             = 8,038<ref name="census"/>
| region9          = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug]]
| pop9             = 7,085<ref name="census"/>
| region10         = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Astrakhan Oblast]]
| pop10            = 6,873<ref name="census"/>
| region11         = *{{nbsp|4}}[[Saratov Oblast]]
| pop11            = 5,748<ref
name="census"/>
| region12         = {{ubl
 | European Union
 | {{nbsp|5}}France
 | {{nbsp|5}}Austria
 | {{nbsp|5}}Belgium
 | {{nbsp|5}}Germany
 | {{nbsp|5}}Sweden
 | {{nbsp|5}}Denmark
 | {{nbsp|5}}Poland
 | {{nbsp|5}}
}}
| pop12            = 130,000 (2009)<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/content/As_Hit_Men_Strike_Concern_Grows_Among_Chechen_Exiles/1508931.html As Hit Men Strike, Concern Grows Among Chechen Exiles], RFE/RL, March 12, 2009</ref>
| region13         = Turkey
| pop13            = 100,000<ref name="host">[http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/12785/chechens_in_the_middle_east.html Chechens in the Middle East: Between Original and Host Cultures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722061015/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/12785/chechens_in_the_middle_east.html|date=2011-07-22}}, Event Report, Caspian Studies Program</ref><ref>Kristiina Markkanen: [http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Chechen+refugee+came+to+Finland+via+Baku+and+Istanbul/1135246619648 Chechen refugee came to Finland via Baku and Istanbul] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121195649/http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Chechen+refugee+came+to+Finland+via+Baku+and+Istanbul/1135246619648|date=2011-11-21}}</ref>
| region14         = Kazakhstan
| pop14            = 33,557<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stat.gov.kz/api/getFile/?docId=ESTAT464825|title=Итоги Национальной переписи населения 2021 года в Республике Казахстан|website=stat.gov.kz|access-date=2022-09-02|archive-date=2022-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902140633/https://stat.gov.kz/api/getFile/?docId=ESTAT464825|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region15         = Iraq
| pop15            = 14,000<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Ahmet Katav|author2=Bilgay Duman|title=Iraqi Circassians (Chechens, Dagestanis, Adyghes)|journal=ORSAM Reports|date=November 2012|issue=134|url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf|access-date=15 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403142200/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf|archive-date=3 April 2013}}</ref>
| region16         = Georgia
| pop16            = 8,400
| region17         = Egypt
| pop17            = 6,700<ref name="host"/>
| region18         = Jordan
| pop18            = 5,700<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reliefweb.int/report/russian-federation/jordan-willing-assist-chechnya-king|title=Jordan willing to assist Chechnya – King|website=Reliefweb.int|date=2007-08-28|access-date=2013-04-20}}</ref>
| region19         = Syria
| pop19            = 5,400<ref name=Jaimoukha>{{citation |last=Jaimoukha|first=Amjad M.|year=2008|chapter=Syria|title=The Chechens: A Handbook|page=232|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-415-32328-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/circassian-ossetian-chechen-minorities-solicit-russian-help-to-leave-syria/24674280.html|title=Circassian, Ossetian, Chechen Minorities Solicit Russian Help To Leave Syria|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=12 August 2012 |access-date=2013-04-20}}</ref>
| region20         = Azerbaijan
| pop20            = 5,400<ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Joshua |title=Chechen in Azerbaijan |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/11317/AJ |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=joshuaproject.net |language=en}}</ref>
| region21         = Norway
| pop21            = 10,000<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/q50Ro/en-av-aatte-norske-fremmedkrigere-fra-nord-kaukasus | title=Én av åtte «norske» fremmedkrigere fra Nord-Kaukasus | date=20 August 2015 }}</ref>
| region22         = Uzbekistan
| pop22            = 1,800
| region23         = Turkmenistan
| pop23            = 1,100
| region24         = United Arab Emirates
| pop24            = 2,000–3,000<ref name=exodus>Chechnya's Exodus to Europe, North Caucasus Weekly Volume: 9 Issue: 3, [[The Jamestown Foundation]], January 24, 2008</ref>
| region25         = Ukraine
| pop25            = 2,877<ref>{{cite web|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/|title=About number and composition population of Ukraine by data All-Ukrainian census of the population 2001|work=Ukraine Census 2001|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine|access-date=17 January 2012}}</ref>
| region26         = Kyrgyzstan
| pop26            = 1,709<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stat.gov.kg/ru/opendata/category/312/|title=Национальный состав населения (оценка на начало года, человек)|website=Национальный статистический комитет Кыргызской Республики|access-date=2020-10-19}}</ref>
| region27         = Finland
| pop27            = 891<ref>{{cite web | url=https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rs.px/ | title=Population 31.12. By Origin, Background country, Language, Year, Age, Sex and Information }}</ref>
| region28         = United States
| pop28            = 250–1,000<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/19/the-chechens-in-america-why-they-re-here-and-who-they-are.html|title=The Chechens in America: Why They're Here and Who They Are|author=Andrew Meier|newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=April 19, 2013|access-date=April 30, 2013}}</ref>{{efn|The actual number of Chechens living in the United States may be higher, as they are categorized as ''Russians'' in censuses.}}
| region29         = Latvia
| pop29            = 136–189
| ref29            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.stat.gov.lv/pxweb/en/OSP_PUB/START__POP__IR__IRE/IRE010/table/tableViewLayout1/|title=Population by ethnicity at the beginning of year – Time period and Ethnicity &#124; National Statistical System of Latvia |website=data.stat.gov.lv}}</ref><ref>[https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/lv/media/9756/download?attachment Latvijas iedzīvotāju sadalījums pēc nacionālā sastāva un valstiskās piederības, 01.01.2023. – PMLP]</ref>
| rels             = [[Sunni Islam]]
| langs            = [[Chechen language|Chechen]]
| related          = Other [[Nakh peoples]] ([[Ingush people|Ingush]], [[Bats people|Bats]])
}}

The '''Chechens''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɛ|tʃ|ɛ|n|z|,_|tʃ|ə|ˈ|tʃ|ɛ|n|z}} {{respell|CHETCH|enz|,_|chə|CHENZ}};<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Chambers Dictionary|publisher=Chambers|year=2003|isbn=0-550-10105-5|edition=9th|chapter=Chechen}}</ref> {{langx|ce|Нохчий}}, {{transliteration|ce|Noxçiy}}, Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chechen {{!}} people {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chechen-people |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> historically also known as ''[[Kistin|Kisti]]'' and ''[[Durdzuks]]'',<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book|last=Jaimoukha|first=Amjad|title=The Chechens}}</ref> are a [[Northeast Caucasian languages|Northeast Caucasian]] [[ethnic group]] of the [[Nakh peoples]] native to the [[North Caucasus]].<ref name="NatlGeoAtlas">{{Cite book|title=National Geographic Atlas of the World|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|year=1999|isbn=978-0-7922-7528-2|edition=7th|location=Washington, DC}} "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles."</ref> They are the largest ethnic group in the region<ref>{{cite web|url=https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Frosstat.gov.ru%2Fstorage%2Fmediabank%2FTom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK|title=Russian Census of 2021}}</ref> and refer to themselves as '''Nokhchiy''' ({{IPA|ce|no̞xtʃʼiː|pron}}; singular Nokhchi, Nokhcho, Nakhchuo or Nakhche).<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Chechenzes|volume=6|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Berge|first=Adolf|title=Чечня и Чеченцы|year=1859|location=Тифлис|pages=65–66|quote=Вот исчисление всех племен, на которые принято делить Чеченцев. В строгом же смысле деление это не имеет основания. Самим Чеченцам оно совершенно неизвестно. Они сами себя называют Нахче, т.е. "народ" и это относится до всего народа, говорящего на Чеченском языке и его наречиях. Упомянутые же названия им были даны или от аулов, как Цори, Галгай, Шатой и др., или от рек и гор, как Мичиковцы и Качкалыки. Весьма вероятно, что рано или поздно все или большая часть приведенных нами имен исчезнут и Чеченцы удержат за собою одно общее наименование.}}</ref> The vast majority of Chechens are [[Muslims]]<ref name="gwu.edu" /> and live in [[Republic of Chechnya|Chechnya]], an [[Republics of Russia|autonomous republic]] within the [[Russian Federation]].

The North Caucasus has been invaded numerous times throughout history. Its isolated terrain and the strategic value outsiders have placed on the areas settled by Chechens has contributed much to the Chechen community [[ethos]] and helped shape its national character.

Chechen society is largely [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] and organized around tribal autonomous local clans, called [[teip]]s, informally organized into loose confederations called [[tukkhum]]s.

==Etymology==

===Chechen===
According to popular tradition, the Russian term ''Chechency'' (Чеченцы) comes from central [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Chechnya]], which had several important villages and towns named after the word ''Chechen''. These places include Chechan, Nana-Checha ("Mother Checha") and Yokkh Chechen ("Greater Chechena").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://proza.ru/2020/04/28/198|title=Миграционные и урбанизационные процессы в ходе ста (Амин Тесаев) / Проза.ру|website=proza.ru}}</ref> The name ''Chechen'' occurs in Russian sources in the late 16th century as "Chachana", which is mentioned as a land owned by the Chechen Prince Shikh Murza.<ref>{{cite web |title=декларация |url=http://orsthoy.ru/images/knigi/%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F0003.pdf |website=orsthoy.ru |access-date=25 November 2022 |language=ru |date=February 1951}}</ref> The etymology is of [[Nakh languages|Nakh]] origin and originates from the word ''Che'' ("inside") attached to the suffix -'' cha''/''chan'', which altogether can be translated as "inside territory". The villages and towns named Chechan were always situated in the ''Chechan-are'' ("Chechen flatlands or plains") located in contemporary central Chechnya.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://drevlit.ru/docs/kavkaz/XVI/Russ_Chech_otn/21-40/35.php|title=РУССКО-ЧЕЧЕНСКИЕ ОТНОШЕНИЯ ВТОРАЯ ПОЛОВИНА XVI-XVII в. DrevLit.Ru – библиотека древних рукописей|website=drevlit.ru}}</ref><ref name="ignorik.ru">{{cite web|url=https://ignorik.ru/docs/vajnahi-i-alani-ruslan-arsanukaev-o-proishojdenii-nazvanij.html|title="Вайнахи и аланы" Руслан Арсанукаев о происхождении названий и самоназваний Чеченцев и Ингушей|website=ignorik.ru|access-date=2020-11-06|archive-date=2022-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124230851/https://ignorik.ru/docs/vajnahi-i-alani-ruslan-arsanukaev-o-proishojdenii-nazvanij.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The name "Chechens" is an exoethnonym that entered the Georgian and Western European ethnonymic tradition through the [[Russian language]] in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Волкова |title=Этнонимы и племенные названия Северного Кавказа |publisher=Наука |pages=144 |language=ru |trans-title=Ethnonyms and tribal names of the North Caucasus}}</ref>

From the middle of the 19th century to the first few years of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet state]], some researchers united all Chechens and Ingush under the name "Chechens".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Берже |title=Чечня и чеченцы / Подгот. текста и предисл. Я. З. Ахмадова и И. Б. Мунаева, ред. Е. А. Куприянова. |pages=112 |language=ru |trans-title=Chechnya and chechenz. Ja. Z. Akhmadova and I. B. Munayeva, red. Well. A. Kuprianova.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Далгат |title=Родовой быт и обычное право чеченцев и ингушей |pages=382 |trans-title=Ancestral life and customary law of Chechens and Ingush}}</ref> In modern science, another term is used for this community — "the [[Nakh peoples|Vainakh people]]".

===Nokhchiy===
Although ''Chechan'' (Chechen) was a term used by Chechens to denote a certain geographic area (central Chechnya), Chechens called themselves ''Nakhchiy'' (highland dialects) or ''Nokhchiy'' (lowland dialects). The oldest mention of ''Nakhchiy'' occurred in 1310 by the [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian]] Patriarch Cyril Donauri, who mentions the 'People of Nakhche' among [[Tushetians]], [[Avars (Caucasus)|Avars]] and many other [[Northeast Caucasian]] nations. The term ''Nakhchiy'' has also been connected to the city [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan]] and the nation of Nakhchamatyan (mentioned as one of the peoples of Sarmatia in the 7th-century Armenian work ''[[Ashkharhatsuyts]]'') by many Soviet and modern historians, although the historian N. Volkova considers the latter connection unlikely and states that the term Nakhchmatyan could have been mistaken for the ''Iaxamatae'', a tribe of Sarmatia mentioned in [[Ptolemy|Ptolemy's]] [[Geography (Ptolemy)|'' Geography'']], who have no connection to the Chechen people.<ref name="source1">{{cite web|title="Вайнахи и аланы" Руслан Арсанукаев о происхождении названий и самоназваний Чеченцев и Ингушей|url=https://ignorik.ru/docs/vajnahi-i-alani-ruslan-arsanukaev-o-proishojdenii-nazvanij.html|access-date=2020-11-06|archive-date=2022-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124230851/https://ignorik.ru/docs/vajnahi-i-alani-ruslan-arsanukaev-o-proishojdenii-nazvanij.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Volkova|first=N. G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqoNAQAAIAAJ|title=Этнонимы и племенные названия Северного Кавказа|publisher=Nauka|year=1973|location=Moscow|pages=134–135|language=ru|trans-title=Ethnonyms and tribal names of the North Caucasus}}</ref> Chechen manuscripts in Arabic from the early 1820s do mention a certain ''Nakhchuvan'' (near modern-day [[Kağızman]], [[Turkey]]) as the homeland of all Nakhchiy. The etymology of the term ''Nakhchiy'' can also be understood as a [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] formed with ''Nakh'' ('people') attached to ''Chuo'' ('territory').<ref name="ignorik.ru"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=817|title = Предание о происхождении чеченцев| date=18 February 2017 }}</ref>

==Geography and diaspora==
{{Main|Chechen diaspora}}
The Chechens are mainly inhabitants of [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Chechnya]].{{sfn|Plaetschke|1929|p=}} There are also significant Chechen populations in other [[subdivisions of Russia]], especially in [[Aukh]] (part of modern-day [[Dagestan]]), [[Ingushetia]] and [[Moscow Oblast|Moscow]].
[[File:Kezenoyam 3.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Kezenoyam]], Chechnya]]
[[File:Хой б1ов тера.jpg|thumb|Khoy, Chechnya]]
Outside Russia, countries with significant diaspora populations are [[Kazakhstan]], [[Turkey]] and [[Arab states]] (especially [[Jordan]] and [[Iraq]]). Those in Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan are mainly descendants of families who had to leave Chechnya during the [[Caucasian War|Caucasus War]], which led to the [[History of Chechens in the Russian Empire|annexation of Chechnya]] by the [[Russian Empire]] in 1859, and the forcible transfer of Chechens from Terek Oblast to the Ottoman Empire in 1865.{{sfn|Hamed-Troyansky|2024|p=40, 74}} Those in Kazakhstan originate from the [[Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush|ethnic cleansing of the entire population]] carried out by [[Joseph Stalin]] and [[Lavrentiy Beria]] in 1944. Tens of thousands of [[Chechen refugees]] settled in the European Union and elsewhere as the result of the recent [[Second Chechen War|Chechen War]]s, especially in the wave of emigration to the [[Western world|West]] after 2002.<ref>Chechnya's Exodus to Europe, ''North Caucasus Weekly'' Volume: 9 Issue: 3, [[The Jamestown Foundation]], January 24, 2008</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Chechnya|}}
[[File:Зумсой._1906_год.jpg|link=https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:%D0%97%D1%83%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B9._1906_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4.jpg|thumb|320x320px|Chechen elders from the clan (teip) {{Interlanguage link|Zumsoy|ru|Зумсой (тайп)}}]]

=== Prehistory and origin ===

{{Main|Nakh peoples#Hypotheses of origins}}

The Chechens are one of the [[Nakh peoples]], who have lived in the highlands of the [[North Caucasus]] region since prehistory.<ref name="src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp">{{cite web|url=http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/sympo/Proceed97/Arutiunov5.html|title=ETHNICITY AND CONFLICT IN THE CAUCASUS(5)|website=Src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp|access-date=17 October 2018}}</ref> There is archeological evidence of historical continuity dating back to 3000 B.C.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal|title=Peering Into the Past, With Words|first=Bernice|last=Wuethrich|date=19 May 2000|journal=Science|volume=288|issue=5469|page=1158|doi=10.1126/science.288.5469.1158|s2cid=82205296}}</ref><ref name="src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp"/> as well as evidence pointing to their ancestors' migration from the [[Fertile Crescent]] c.&nbsp;10,000–8,000&nbsp;B.C.<ref name="auto" />

The discussion of their origins is intertwined with the discussion of the mysterious origins of Nakh peoples as a whole. The only three surviving Nakh peoples are Chechens, [[Ingush people|Ingush]] and [[Bats people|Bats]], but they are thought by some scholars to be the remnants of what was once a larger family of peoples.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

They are thought to be descended from the original settlers of the Caucasus (North and/or South).<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite journal|author=Bernice Wuethrich|date=19 May 2000|title=Peering Into the Past, With Words|url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.288.5469.1158|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=288|issue=5469|page=1158|doi=10.1126/science.288.5469.1158|s2cid=82205296|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="berkeley">{{cite web|author=Johanna Nichols|author-link=Johanna Nichols|date=February 1997|title=The Ingush (with notes on the Chechen): Background information|url=http://ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/ingush_people.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311090332/http://ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/ingush_people.html|archive-date=March 11, 2008|access-date=2007-02-10|work=[[University of California, Berkeley]]}}</ref>

=== Antiquity ===
{{Main|Durdzuks}}

Ancestors of the modern Chechens and Ingush were known as [[Durdzuks]]. According to ''[[The Georgian Chronicles]]'', before his death, [[Togarmah|Targamos]] [Togarmah] divided the country amongst his sons, with [[Caucas|Kavkasos]] [Caucas] receiving the Central Caucasus. Kavkasos engendered the Chechen tribes, and his descendant, Durdzuk, who took up residence in a mountainous region, later called "Dzurdzuketia" after him, established a strong state in the fourth and third centuries BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jaimoukha|first=Amjad|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203356432|title=The Chechens|date=2004-11-10|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-35643-2|location=|page=31|doi=10.4324/9780203356432}}</ref> Among the Chechen teips, the teip [[:ru:Зурзакой|Zurzakoy]], consonant with the ethnonym Dzurdzuk, lives in the [[Itum-Kale]] region of Chechnya.

Georgian historian [[Giorgi Melikishvili]] posited that although there was evidence of Nakh settlement in the Southern Caucasus areas, this did not rule out the possibility that they also lived in the North Caucasus.<ref>Jaimoukha, Amjad. The Chechens: A Handbook. Page 24. "Also, the Georgian historian G. A. Melikishvili maintained that the formation of the Vainakh took place much earlier than the first century BC. Though evidence of Nakh settlement was found on the southern slopes of the Caucasus in the second and first millennia BC, he did not rule out the possibility of their residence in the northern and eastern regions of the Caucasus. It is traditionally accepted that the Vainakh have existed in the Caucasus, with their present territory as a nucleus of a larger domicile, for thousands of years, and that it was the ‘birthplace’ of their ethnos, to which the peoples who inhabited the Central Caucasus and the steppe lands all the way to the Volga in the northeast and the Caspian Sea to the east contributed."</ref>

The state of Durdzuketi has been recorded since the 4th century BC.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> ''The Armenian Chronicles'' mention that the Durdzuks defeated the Scythians and became a significant power in the region in the first millennium BC.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

The Vainakh in the east had an affinity with Georgia, while the [[Malkh|Malkh Kingdom]] of the west looked to the new Greek kingdom of [[Bosporan Kingdom|Bosporus]] on the Black Sea coast (though it may have also had relations with Georgia).<ref name="ReferenceA" /> According to legend, [[Adermakhus|Adermalkh]], chief of the Malkh state, married the daughter of the Bosporan king in 480 BCE.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> [[:ru:Малхистинцы#|Malkhi]] is one of the Chechen [[tukkhum]]s.<ref>Крупнов Е. И. Древности Чечено-Ингушетии. — Изд-во Академии наук СССР, 1963. — с. 256</ref><ref>Натаев Сайпуди Альвиевич. ПРОБЛЕМА ЭТНОТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНОЙ СТРУКТУРЫ ЧЕЧНИ В XVIII–XIX ВВ. В ИСТОРИЧЕСКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕ.</ref><ref>Марковин В. И. «В ущельях Аргуна и Фортанги». Москва, 1965 — с. 71</ref><ref>Мамакаев М. «Чеченский тайп в период его разложения». Грозный, 1973.</ref><ref>Шавхелишвили А. И. «Грузино-чечено-ингушские взаимоотношения». Тбилиси, 1992. — с.65, 72</ref><ref>Пиотровский Б. Б. История народов Северного Кавказа с древнейших времен до конца XVIII в. — Наука, 1988. — с.239</ref><ref>Н. Г. Волкова. Этнический состав населения Северного Кавказа в XVIII-начале XX века — Москва: Наука, 1974. — с.169</ref>

=== Medieval ===
{{Main|Mongol invasions of Durdzuketia|Timurid invasion of Simsir}}
 
During the [[Middle Ages]], the lowland of Chechnya was dominated by the [[Khazars]] and then the [[Alans]]. Local culture was also subject to [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgian]] influence and some Chechens converted to [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]]. With a presence dating back to the 14th century, [[Islam]] gradually spread among the Chechens,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Islam: Islam in the Caucasus and the Middle Volga {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/islam-islam-caucasus-and-middle-volga |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=1-57958-468-3|editor-last=Skutsch|editor-first=Carl|location=New York|page=280}}</ref> although the Chechens' [[Vainakh mythology|own pagan religion]] was still strong until the 19th century. Society was organised along feudal lines. Chechnya was [[Mongol invasions of Chechnya|devastated by the Mongol invasions]] of the 13th century and those of [[Tamerlane]] in the 14th.<ref>Jaimoukha pp. 33–34</ref><ref>Dunlop p.3</ref> The Mongol invasions are well known in Chechen folktales which are often connected with military reports of Alan-Dzurdzuk wars against the Mongols.

According to the missionary [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine|Pian de Carpine]], a part of the Alans had successfully resisted a Mongol siege on a mountain for 12 years:<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tesaev|first=Amin|date=2020|title=К личности и борьбе чеченского героя идига (1238–1250 гг.)|journal=}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=When they (the Mongols) begin to besiege a fortress, they besiege it for many years, as it happens today with one mountain in the land of the Alans. We believe they have been besieging it for twelve years and
they (the Alans) put up courageous resistance and killed many Tatars, including many noble ones.|author=Giovanni da Pian del Carpine|title=|source=report from 1250}}

This twelve-year-old siege is not found in any other report, however, the Russian historian A. I. Krasnov connected this battle with two Chechen folktales he recorded in 1967 that spoke of an old hunter named Idig who with his companions defended the [[Tebulosmta|Dakuoh]] mountain for 12 years against Tatar-Mongols. He also reported to have found several arrowheads and spears from the 13th century near the very mountain the battle took place at:<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krasnov|first=A.I|title=Копье Тебулос-Мта|journal=Вокруг света|volume=9|page=29}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=The next year, with the onset of summer, the enemy hordes came again to destroy the highlanders. But even this year they failed to capture the mountain, on which the brave Chechens settled down. The battle lasted twelve years. The main wealth of the Chechens – livestock – was stolen by the enemies. Tired of the long years of hard struggle, the Chechens, believing the assurances of mercy by the enemy, descended from the mountain, but the Mongol-Tatars treacherously killed the majority, and the rest were taken into slavery. This fate was escaped only by Idig and a few of his companions who did not trust the nomads and remained on the mountain. They managed to escape and leave Mount Dakuoh after 12 years of siege.|author=Amin Tesaev|title=The Legend and struggle of the Chechen hero Idig (1238–1250)}}

[[File:Tschetschenze.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Chechen warrior]]
Tamerlane's late 14th-century invasions of the Caucasus were especially costly to the Chechen kingdom of [[Simsir]] which was an ally of the [[Golden Horde]] and anti-Timurid. Its leader [[Khour Ela]] supported Khan [[Tokhtamysh]] during the [[Battle of the Terek River]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tesaev|first=Amin|date=2018|title=Симсим|journal=РЕФЛЕКСИЯ|volume=2|pages=61–67}}</ref>
The Chechens bear the distinction of being one of the few peoples to successfully resist the Mongols and defend themselves against their invasions; not once, but twice, though this came at great cost to them, as their states were utterly destroyed. These events were key in the shaping of the Chechen nationhood and their martial-oriented and clan-based society.<ref name="Minahan2000">{{cite book|last=Minahan|first=James|title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC&pg=PA168|year=2000|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30984-7|page=168}}</ref>

=== Early modern period ===
{{Main|Circassian genocide|Caucasian War}}
The [[Caucasus]] was a major competing area for two neighboring rival empires: the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and [[Turco-Persian tradition|Turco-Persian]] empires ([[Safavids]], [[Afsharids]], [[Qajar dynasty|Qajars]]). Starting from [[Peace of Amasya|1555]] and decisively from [[Treaty of Zuhab|1639]] through the first half of the 19th century, the Caucasus was divided by these two powers, with the Ottomans prevailing in Western [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], while Persia kept the bulk of the Caucasus, namely Eastern Georgia, Southern [[Dagestan]], [[Azerbaijan]], and [[Armenia]].<ref name="books.google.nl">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5MOYzS3IDTQC&q=Caucasus+divided+between+persia+and+turkey&pg=PA272|title=Conflict and Security in Central Asia and the Caucasus|first=Hooman|last=Peimani|date=17 October 2018|publisher=ABC-CLIO|access-date=17 October 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-59884-054-4}}</ref> The Chechens, however, never really fell under the rule of either empire. As Russia expanded slowly southwards as early as the 16th century, clashes between Chechens and Russians became more frequent, and it became three empires competing for the region. During these turbulent times, the Chechens were organized into semi-independent clans that were loyal to the Mehk-Khel (National Council). The Mehk-Khel was in charge of appointing the Mehk-Da (ruler of the nation). Several of these appeared during the late Middle Ages such as [[Aldaman Gheza]], Tinavin-Visa, Zok-K'ant and others. The administration and military expeditions commanded by Aldaman Gheza during the 1650–1670s led to Chechnya being largely untouched by the major empires of the time. Alliances were concluded with local lords against Persian encroachment and battles were fought to stop Russian influence. One such battle was the [[Battle of Khachara]] between Gheza and the rival [[Avar Khanate]] that tried to exert influence on Chechnya.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://proza.ru/2019/12/30/99|title=Гази Алдамов, или Алдаман ГIеза, воевода и предвод (Амин Тесаев) / Проза.ру|website=proza.ru}}</ref> As Russia set off to increase its political influence in the Caucasus and the [[Caspian Sea]] at the expense of Safavid Persia, [[Peter the Great|Peter I]] launched the [[Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)|Russo-Persian War]], in which Russia succeeded in taking much of the Caucasian territories for several years. The conflict notably marked the first military encounter between [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]] and the Chechens.<ref>
{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGj4B1rdcu0C&q=russo+persian+war+1722+vainakh&pg=PA53
 |title=The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad
 |access-date=25 December 2014
 |isbn=978-0-313-38634-3
 |last1=Schaefer
 |first1=Robert W.
 |year=2010
 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic
 }}</ref> [[Sheikh Mansur]] led a major Chechen resistance movement in the late 18th century.

[[File:Могила Хозы Мамаева.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Tomb of a Chechen warrior of the 19th century]]
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Russia embarked on full-scale conquest of the North Caucasus in the [[Caucasian War]]. Much of the campaign was led by [[Aleksey Yermolov (general)|General Yermolov]] who particularly disliked the Chechens, describing them as "a bold and dangerous people".<ref>Dunlop p.14</ref> Angered by Chechen raids, Yermolov resorted to a brutal policy of "[[scorched earth]]" and deportations; he also founded the fort of [[Grozny]] (now the capital of Chechnya) in 1818. Chechen resistance to Russian rule reached its peak under the leadership of the Dagestani leader [[Imam Shamil]]. The Chechens were finally defeated in 1861 after a bloody war that lasted for decades, during which they lost most of their entire population.<ref>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..."</ref> In the aftermath, large numbers of refugees also [[Ethnic cleansing of Circassians|emigrated or were forcibly deported]] to the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="nichols">{{cite web |url=http://iseees.berkeley.edu/articles/nichols_1995-chechen.pdf |title=Who are the Chechens? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915080123/http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~bsp/caucasus/articles/nichols_1995-chechen.pdf |archive-date=2006-09-15}} by [[Johanna Nichols]], [[University of California, Berkeley]].</ref><ref>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..."</ref><ref>Jaimoukha p.50</ref>

=== Nineteenth and twentieth centuries ===
{{Main|Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush|First Chechen War}}

[[File:RIAN archive 908389 Victory Day parade in Russian Regions.jpg|thumb|Chechen veterans of the [[Great Patriotic War (term)|Great Patriotic War]]]]

Since then, there have been various Chechen rebellions against Russian/Soviet power in 1865–66, 1877, during the [[Russian Civil War]] and [[World War II]], as well as nonviolent resistance to [[Russification]] and the [[Soviet Union]]'s collectivization and anti-religion campaigns. In 1944, all Chechens, together with several other [[peoples of the Caucasus]], were ordered by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin [[Operation Lentil (Caucasus)|to be deported ''en masse'']] to the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh]] and [[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic|Kirghiz]] SSRs; and their republic and nation were abolished. At least one-quarter—and perhaps half—of the entire Chechen population perished in the process, and a severe blow was made to their culture and historical records.<ref name="nichols" /><ref>Jaimoukha p.58</ref><ref>Dunlop, Chapter 2 "Soviet Genocide", particularly pp. 70–71 ("How many died?")</ref> Though "[[Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitated]]" in 1956 and allowed to return the next year, the survivors lost economic resources and civil rights and, under both Soviet and post-Soviet governments, they have been the objects of both official and unofficial discrimination and discriminatory public discourse.<ref name="nichols" /><ref>Jaimoukha p.60</ref> Chechen attempts to regain independence in the 1990s after the [[fall of the Soviet Union]] led to the [[First Chechen War|first]] and the [[Second Chechen War|second]] war with the new Russian state, starting in 1994.

===Twenty-first century===
{{Expand section|date=April 2025}}

==Language==
{{Main|Chechen language}}
[[File:Serlo.png|alt=|thumb|Chechen-Soviet newspaper, Serlo (light), written in the Chechen Latin script during [[Korenizatsiya]].]]
The main language of the Chechen people is [[Chechen language|Chechen]]. Chechen belongs to the family of [[Nakh languages]] ([[Northeast Caucasian languages]]). Literary Chechen is based on the central lowland dialect. Other related languages include [[Ingush language|Ingush]], which has speakers in the neighbouring [[Ingushetia]], and [[Bats language|Batsbi]], which is the language of the people in the adjoining part of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. At various times in their history, Chechens used [[Georgian alphabet|Georgian]], [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] and [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] alphabets; as of 2008, the official script is Russian [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]. Traditionally, linguists attributed both Ingush and Batsbi to the Chechen language (as its dialects) before the endoethnonym [[Vainakhs|Vainakh]] appeared at the beginning of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|date=|others=V. A. Shnirel'man. Byt' alanami. Intellektualy i politika na Severnom Kavkaze v XX veke.|title=But after their unification in 1934 into a single Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Region (Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic since 1936), the authorities did their best to ensure the merger of the Chechens and Ingush into a single people, for which a new name was created "Veinakhs / Vainakhs". In the 1960s–1980s. this identity was actively introduced into the consciousness of the Chechens and Ingush and gradually gained more and more popularity.|url=https://www.klex.ru/pbz|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118174034/https://www.klex.ru/pbz |archive-date=2021-01-18 |access-date=|website=|page=279}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Yazyki i narechiya Rossiyskoy Imperii, Statisticheskiy atlas Rossii A.F. Marksa, prilozheniye 14, Sankt-Peterburg, 1907 god.|url=http://hisdoc.ru/editions/24571/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210091927/http://hisdoc.ru:80/editions/24571/ |archive-date=2017-12-10 |access-date=|website=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|title=Kavkazskiy tolmach: (perevodchik s russkogo na glavnѣyshiye kavkazskiye yazyki)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_gs1HK14VFgC&pg=PA680|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428224127/https://books.google.com/books?id=_gs1HK14VFgC&pg=PA680 |archive-date=2021-04-28 |access-date=|website=|year=1891|page=681}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=N. YA. Marr. Izbrannyye raboty|url=http://apsnyteka.org/489-marr_izbrannye_raboty.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211004658/http://apsnyteka.org:80/489-marr_izbrannye_raboty.html |archive-date=2014-12-11 |access-date=|website=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ИнфоРост |first=Н. П. |title=ГПИБ {{!}} Вып. 1 : [Терская область : археологические экскурсии Всев. Миллера]. – 1888. |url=http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/24475-vyp-1-terskaya-oblast-arheologicheskie-ekskursii-vsev-millera-1888 |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=elib.shpl.ru}}</ref>

Most Chechens living in their homeland can understand Ingush with ease. The two languages are not truly mutually intelligible, but it is easy for Chechens to learn how to understand the Ingush language and vice versa over time after hearing it for a while.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

In 1989, 73.4% spoke Russian,<ref>Mikhailov, Valentin. ''Chechnya and Tatarstan''</ref> though this figure has declined due to the wars for a large number of reasons (including the lack of proper education, the refusal to learn the language, and the mass dispersal of the Chechen diaspora due to the war). Chechens in [[Chechen diaspora|the diaspora]] often speak the language of the country they live in ([[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], etc.).

The Nakh languages are a subgroup of [[Northeast Caucasian]], and as such are related to Nakho-Dagestanian family, including the languages of the [[Caucasian Avars|Avars]], [[Dargins]], [[Lezghins]], [[Lak people (Dagestan)|Laks]], [[Rutul people|Rutulians]], etc.
However, this relationship is not a close one: the Nakho-Dagestani family is of comparable or greater time-depth than [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], meaning Chechens are only as linguistically related to Avars or Dargins as the [[French people|French]] are to the Russians or [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]].{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

Some researchers suggest a linguistic relationship between the Nakhsk-Dagestani languages and the Urarto-Hurrians.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dn73CwAAQBAJ|title=The anthropology of Chechens and Ingush is somewhat different. The Ingush belong to the central cluster of the Caucasian [Mtebid] anthropotype, with pronounced brachycephalization, which indicates a strong mixing with the Koban culture. Whereas the Chechens, although they belong mainly to the Caucasians [Mtebids], combine many elements of the Caspian and even the Pontid. In addition, the Chechens have the highest percentage of the dolichocephalic index among the characteristic brachycephalic Caucasians [Mtebids]. All this testifies that the Chechens, to a greater extent, have preserved the Hurrian substratum.|date=5 September 2017|publisher=J. Taisayev. «Etnogenez narodov Kavkaza.»|isbn=978-5-04-005867-9|location=|page=131|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|others=«Materialy po istorii SSSR. Dlya seminarskikh i prakticheskikh zanyatiy. Vyp. 1. Drevneyshiye narody i gosudarstva na territorii SSSR.»|title="The Urartians themselves, or Alarodians, called their country and state Biainili, from which comes the modern name of Lake Van, in the basin of which the center of this state was located. Since ancient times, Urartian (Alarodian) tribes, akin to the Hurrian population of the countries to the southwest of Lake Van, lived around Lake Van and in adjacent areas. The Urartian (as well as the Hurrian) language belonged to a special linguistic family, among the modern languages the closest to them are some languages of the North Caucasus – Chechen and Ingush."|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3t9BAAAAYAAJ|access-date=|website=|year=1985|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilhelm|first=Gernot|url=https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/year/2016/docId/12848|title="The long-standing assumptions about the connections of Hurrian and Urartian with the Caucasian languages have received serious confirmation thanks to the collected ... correspondences identified in the North-East Caucasian languages, and especially in Vainakh"|publisher=|year=1982|isbn=3-534-08151-X|location=Darmstadt|pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://rusneb.ru/catalog/000199_000009_001495430/|title="The most ancient state on the territory of our country was the Urartian kingdom in the Transcaucasus. The word "Urartu" (the memory of it is preserved in the name of Mount Ararat) is Assyrian, but the inhabitants themselves called their country Biainili (hence – Lake Van). The Alarodian (or Urartian) tribes living around this lake, who spoke a language that has not survived to this day (of the modern ones, Chechen and Ingush are the closest to it), back in the 13th century. BC e. created their own tribal union. "|publisher=Prosveshchenie|others=«Pavlenko N.I., Kobrin V.B., Fedorov V.A. Istoriya SSSR s drevneyshikh vremen do 1861 goda. (Uchebnik dlya pedagogicheskikh institutov), M., 1989 g.»|year=1989|isbn=5-09-000551-6|location=|pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://na5ballov.pro/lib/drevmir/511-aleksandrova-nv-ladynin-ia-nemirovskiy-aa-yakovlev-vm-drevniy-vostok.html|title="Of the peoples existing in our time, the Chechens and Ingush are the closest to the Hurrian-Urartian in terms of language ".|publisher=Астрель|others=«Aleksandrova N.V., Ladynin I.A., Nemirovskiy A.A., Yakovlev V.M. Drevniy Vostok. Uchebnoye posobiye dlya vuzov.»|year=2008|isbn=978-5-17-045827-1|location=|page=371}}</ref>

Other scholars, however, doubt that the language families are related,<ref name="Smeets">{{cite journal |author=Smeets, Rieks |title=On Hurro-Urartian as an Eastern Caucasian language |journal=Bibliotheca Orientalis |volume=XLVI |year=1989 |pages=260–280 |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/reference/id/315299}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Fournet, Arnaud |title=About the vocalic system of Armenian words of substratic origins |journal=Archiv Orientální |year=2013 |volume=1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5551322}}</ref><ref>Johanna Nichols (January 2003). "The Nakh Dagestanian consonant correspondences". In Dee Ann Holisky; Kevin Tuite (eds.). Current Trends in Caucasian, East European, and Inner Asian Linguistics: Papers in Honor of Howard I. Aronson. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 208. {{ISBN|9027247587}}.</ref> or believe that, while a connection is possible, the evidence is far from conclusive.<ref>{{cite book |author=Zimansky, Paul |article=Urartian and Urartians |title=The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia |journal=Oxford Handbooks Online |year=2011 |page=556 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10023756}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Thomas V. |last1=Gamkrelidze |first2=T.E. |last2=Gudava |article=Caucasian Languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |year=1998 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Caucasian-languages}}</ref><ref>Kallio, Petri. "XXI. Beyond Indo-European". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthew (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 2285–2286.</ref> Uralicist and Indo-Europeanist Petri Kallio argues that the matter is hindered by the lack of consensus about how to reconstruct Proto-Northeast-Caucasian, but that [[Alarodian languages|Alarodian]] is the most promising proposal for relations with Northeast Caucasian, greater than rival proposals to link it with Northwest Caucasian or other families.<ref name="Kallio">{{cite book |last1=Kallio |first1=Petri |editor1-last=Klein |editor1-first=Jared |editor2-last=Joseph |editor2-first=Brian |editor3-last=Fritz |editor3-first=Matthew |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=2285–2286 |chapter=XXI. Beyond Indo-European}}</ref> However, nothing is known about Alarodians except that they "were armed like the [[Colchians]] and [[Saspeires]]," according to [[Herodotus]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/7b*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Herodotus — Book VII: Chapters 57‑137|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Colchians and Saspeires are generally associated with [[Kartvelians]] or [[Scythians]]. Additionally, leading Urartologist Paul Zimansky rejected a connection between Urartians and Alarodians.<ref>Zimansky, Paul "Urartian and Urartians." The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia (2011): 556. [https://www.academia.edu/10023756/Urartian_and_the_Urartians]</ref>

==Genetics==
{{further|Genetic history of the Caucasus}}
Genetic tests on Chechens have shown roots mostly in the Caucasus and Europe. Studies on North Caucasian mtDNA indicated a closer relationship of the Caucasus with Europe (Nasidze et al. 2001), while the Y chromosome indicated a closer relationship with West Asia (Nasidze et al. 2003).

A 2004 study of the [[mtDNA]] showed Chechens to be diverse in the mitochondrial genome, with 18 different haplogroups out of only 23 samples. This correlates with all other North Caucasian peoples such as the [[Ingush people|Ingush]], [[Avars (Caucasus)|Avars]], and [[Circassians]] where the mitochondrial DNA is very diverse.<ref name="Nasidze2004">I. Nasidze, E. Y. S. Ling, D. Quinque ''et al.'', "[http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Caucasus_big_paper.pdf Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Variation in the Caucasus] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608081424/http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Caucasus_big_paper.pdf |date=2011-06-08 }}," ''Annals of Human Genetics'' (2004) 68, 205–221.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8525622 |title=Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Variation in the Caucasus |year=2004 |doi=10.1046/j.1529-8817.2004.00092.x |access-date=2022-02-28|last1=Nasidze |first1=I. |last2=Ling |first2=E. Y. S. |last3=Quinque |first3=D. |last4=Dupanloup |first4=I. |last5=Cordaux |first5=R. |last6=Rychkov |first6=S. |last7=Naumova |first7=O. |last8=Zhukova |first8=O. |last9=Sarraf-Zadegan |first9=N. |last10=Naderi |first10=G. A. |last11=Asgary |first11=S. |last12=Sardas |first12=S. |last13=Farhud |first13=D. D. |last14=Sarkisian |first14=T. |last15=Asadov |first15=C. |last16=Kerimov |first16=A. |last17=Stoneking |first17=M. |journal=Annals of Human Genetics |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=205–221 |pmid=15180701 |s2cid=27204150 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The most recent study on Chechens, by Balanovsky ''et al.'' in 2011,<ref name="Balanovsky2011">Oleg Balanovsky ''et al.'', "Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region," ''Molecular Biology and Evolution'' 2011</ref> sampled a total of 330 Chechens from three sample locations (one in [[Malgobek]], one in [[Achkhoy-Martan]], and one from two sites in Dagestan) and found the following frequencies: A weak majority of Chechens belong to [[Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup J2]] (56.7%<ref name="Balanovsky2011"/>), which is associated with [[Mediterranean race|Mediterranean]], [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]] and [[Fertile Crescent]] populations. Other notable values were found among North Caucasian [[Turkic peoples]] ([[Kumyks]] (25%)<ref>Yunusbaev 2006</ref> and [[Balkars]] (24%)<ref name = "Battaglia2008" >{{cite journal|last1=Battaglia|first1=Vincenza|last2=Fornarino|first2=Simona|last3=Al-Zahery |first3=Nadia |last4=Olivieri|first4=Anna|last5=Pala|first5=Maria|last6=Myres|first6=Natalie M|last7=King|first7=Roy J |last8=Rootsi |first8=Siiri |last9=Marjanovic |first9=Damir |title=Y-chromosomal evidence of the cultural diffusion of agriculture in southeast Europe|journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |volume=17 |pages=820–830 |date=24 December 2008 | doi= 10.1038/ejhg.2008.249|pmc=2947100|pmid=19107149|issue=6|url=http://www.draganprimorac.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Battaglia.pdf}}</ref>). It is notable that J2 suddenly collapses as one enters the territory of non-Nakh Northeast Caucasian peoples, dropping to very low values among Dagestani peoples.<ref name="Nasidze2004"/><ref name="Balanovsky2011"/><ref>Yunusbaev 2006.</ref><ref name="Caciagli 2009">Caciagli et al, 2009. ''The key role of patrilineal inheritance in the genetic variation of Dagestani highlanders''.</ref> The overwhelming bulk of Chechen J2 is of the subclade J2a4b* (J2-M67), of which the highest frequencies by far are found among Nakh peoples: Chechens were 55.2% according to the Balanovsky study, while Ingush were 87.4%. Other notable haplogroups that consistently appeared at high frequencies included [[Haplogroup J1 (Y-DNA)|J1]] (20.9%), [[Haplogroup L (Y-DNA)|L]] (7.0%), [[Haplogroup G (Y-DNA)|G2]] (5.5%), [[Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA)|R1a]] (3.9%), [[Haplogroup Q-M242 (Y-DNA)|Q-M242]] (3%) and [[Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)|R1b-M269]] (1.8%, but much higher in Chechnya itself as opposed to Dagestani or Ingushetian Chechens). Overall, tests have shown consistently that Chechens are most closely related to Ingush, Circassians and other North Caucasians, occasionally showing a kinship to other peoples in some tests. Balanovsky's study showed the Ingush to be the Chechens' closest relatives by far.<ref name="Balanovsky2011"/><ref name="Caciagli 2009"/><ref name="Nasidze 2004">Nasidze et al. "Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Variation in the Caucasus", ''Annals of Human Genetics'' (2004)</ref>

Russian military historian and Lieutenant General [[Vasily Potto]] describes the appearance of the Chechens as follows: "The Chechen is handsome and strong. Tall, brunette, slender, with sharp features and a quick, determined look, he amazes with his mobility, agility, dexterity."<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=V.A. Potto. Kavkazskaya voyna v otdel'nykh ocherkakh, epizodakh, legendakh i biografiyakh|url=https://runivers.ru/lib/book4747/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113024009/http://runivers.ru/lib/book4747/ |archive-date=2011-11-13 |access-date=|website=}}</ref>

According to a 2021 [[Rosstat]] study [[Chechnya]] ranked as the tallest region in Russia for men (179.1&nbsp;cm) and second tallest for women (168.2).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://absatz.media/obshestvo/29452-v-rosstate-rasskazali-ob-uvelichenii-srednego-rosta-rossiyan|title=В Росстате рассказали об увеличении среднего роста россиян|website=Абzaц|date=10 March 2023 }}</ref> 

==Culture==
{{see also|Vainakh tower architecture|Vainakh mythology|Chechen cuisine|Chechen art}}
[[File:Istang7.jpg|thumb|right|Istang, a type of woven Chechen carpet]]
Prior to the adoption of Islam, the Chechens practiced a unique blend of religious traditions and beliefs. Their code of honor is known as ''[[quonahalla]]''. They partook in numerous rites and rituals, many of them pertaining to farming; these included rain rites, a celebration that occurred on the first day of plowing, as well as the Day of the Thunderer Sela and the Day of the Goddess Tusholi. In addition to sparse written record from the Middle Ages, Chechens traditionally remember history through the ''illesh'', a collection of epic poems and stories.

[[File:Nikaroi.jpg|thumb|left|An example of Chechen tower architecture, ruins of the medieval settlement of Nikaroy]] Chechens are accustomed to democratic ways, their social structure being firmly based on equality, pluralism and deference to individuality. Chechen society is structured around ''[[tukkhum]]s'' (unions of [[clan]]s) and about 130 ''[[teips]]'', or clans. The teips are based more on land and one-side lineage than on blood (as [[exogamy]] is prevalent and encouraged), and are bonded together to form the Chechen nation. Teips are further subdivided into ''gar'' (branches), and gars into ''nekye'' ([[patronymic]] families). The Chechen social code is called ''nokhchallah'' (where ''Nokhchuo'' stands for "Chechen") and may be loosely translated as "Chechen character". The Chechen code of [[Honour|honor]] and customary law ([[adat]]) implies moral and ethical behaviour, generosity and the will to safeguard the honor of women. The traditional Chechen saying goes that the members of Chechen society, like its teips, are (ideally) "free and equal like wolves".<ref>Jaimoukha. ''Chechens''. Page 83</ref><ref>Gammer, Moshe. ''The Lone Wolf and the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule''. London 2006. Page 4</ref>

[[File:Vainakhish Phandar.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.68|A [[phandar]], a traditional Chechen musical instrument]]

Chechens have a strong sense of community, which is enforced by the old clan network and ''nokhchalla'' – the obligation to clan, tukkhum, etc. This is often combined with old values transmuted into a modern sense. They are mythically descended from the epic hero, Turpalo-Nokhchuo ("Chechen Hero"). There is a strong theme of representing the nation with its [[national animal]], the [[Chechen wolf|wolf]]. Due to their strong dependence on the land, its farms and its forests (and indeed, the national equation with the wolf), Chechens have a strong affection for nature. According to Chechen philosopher Apty Bisultanov, ruining an ant-hill or hunting Caucasian goats during their mating season was considered extremely sinful.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chechen.8m.com/history/bisult_brnfree.html |title=Chechen Republic – History – Born to be free |website=Chechen.8m.com |access-date=2013-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518002148/http://chechen.8m.com/history/bisult_brnfree.html |archive-date=2013-05-18 }}</ref>  The [[glasnost]] era Chechen independence movement ''Bart'' (unity) originated as a simple environmentalist organization in the republic's capital of Grozny.<ref>Wood, Tony. ''Chechnya: The Case for Independence''. Page 46</ref>

[[File:Чеченские дети. Рисунок Т. Горшельта 1858 г.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.13|''Chechen kids'' by [[Theodor Horschelt]], 1858]]

Chechen culture strongly values freedom.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} This asserts itself in multiple ways. A large majority of the nation's [[Folk hero|national heroes]] fought for independence (or otherwise, like the legendary [[Zelimkhan]], robbed from the Russian oppressors in order to feed Chechen children in a [[Robin Hood]]-like fashion). A common greeting in the Chechen language, ''marsha oylla'', is literally translated as "enter in freedom". The word for freedom also encompasses notions of peace and prosperity.

==Religion==
[[File:Мечеть в Толстой-Юрте.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.77|Chechen Mosque Architecture]]

Chechnya is predominantly [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslim]].{{sfn|Roshchin|Lunkin|2005|p=}}<ref name="gwu.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0388.pdf|title=The George Washington University – Washington, D.C.|website=Gwu.edu|access-date=17 October 2018|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011152527/https://www2.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0388.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Most of the population follows either the [[Shafi'i school|Shafi'i]]{{sfn|Roshchin|Lunkin|2005|p=}} or the [[Hanafi school|Hanafi]]<ref>{{cite news |last=McDermott |first=Roger |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=3334 |title=Shafi'i and Hanafi schools of jurisprudence in Chechnya |newspaper=Jamestown |publisher=Jamestown.org |access-date=2013-04-19}}</ref> schools of jurisprudence, [[fiqh]]. The Shafi'i school has a long tradition among the Chechens,<ref>{{cite book |last=Balzer |first=Marjorie Mandelstam |title=Religion and Politics in Russia: A Reader |isbn=978-0-7656-2931-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DEufvUyRcygC&q=Shafi+Chechens&pg=PA113|date=2009-11-09 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe }}</ref> and thus it remains the most practiced.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2372572 |title=The Kremlin's War on Islamic Education in the North Caucasus |author=Mairbek Vatchagaev |date=September 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011204749/http://jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2372572 |archive-date=2007-10-11}} Chechnya Weekly, Volume 7, Issue 34 (September 8, 2006)</ref> Some adhere to the mystical [[Sufi]] tradition of [[murid]]ism, while about half of Chechens belong to Sufi brotherhoods, or ''[[tariqah]]''. The two Sufi tariqas that spread in the North Caucasus were the [[Naqshbandiyya]] and the [[Qadiriyya]] (the Naqshbandiyya is particularly strong in Dagestan and eastern Chechnya, whereas the Qadiriyya has most of its adherents in the rest of Chechnya and Ingushetia).{{sfn|Roshchin|Lunkin|2005|p=}} There are also small Christian and atheist minorities, although their numbers are unknown in Chechnya; in Kazakhstan, they are roughly 3% and 2% of the Chechen population respectively.<ref name="EthnicData">{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.kz/p_perepis/Documents/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%20%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2.rar |title=Archived copy |access-date=July 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511104653/http://www.stat.kz/p_perepis/Documents/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%20%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2.rar |archive-date=May 11, 2011 }}</ref>

A stereotype of an average Chechen being a fundamentalist Muslim is incorrect and misleading.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=13&&issue_id=590 |title=Shattering the Al Qaeda-Chechen Myth: Part 1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040129132549/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=13&&issue_id=590 |archive-date=2004-01-29}}, by [[Brian Glyn Williams]], The Jamestown Foundation, October 2, 2003</ref><ref>Wood, Tony. ''Chechnya: the Case for Independence''. pp. 127–145.</ref> By the late 2000s, however, two new trends have emerged in Chechnya. A radicalized remnant of the armed Chechen separatist movement has become dominated by [[Salafi movement|Salafis]] (popularly known in Russia as [[Wahhabi movement|Wahhabis]] and present in Chechnya in small numbers since the 1990s), mostly abandoning nationalism in favor of [[Pan-Islamism]] and merging with several other regional Islamic insurgencies to form the [[Caucasus Emirate]]. At the same time, Chechnya under Moscow-backed authoritarian rule of [[Ramzan Kadyrov]] has undergone its own controversial counter-campaign of [[Islamization]] of the republic, with the government and the [[Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic]] actively promoting and enforcing their own version of a so-called "traditional Islam", including introducing elements of [[Sharia]] that replaced Russian official laws.<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=topic&tocid=4565c2252&toid=45d0822f2&publisher=&type=&coi=RUS&docid=4dcb91762&skip=0 |title=Kadyrov Exploits Ties with Moscow to Build Islamic State |website=Refworld.org (UNHCR) |access-date=2013-04-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/29/virtue-campaign-women-chechnya-under-ramzan-kadyrov |title=Virtue Campaign on Women in Chechnya under Ramzan Kadyrov &#124; Human Rights Watch |website=Hrw.org |date=2012-10-29 |access-date=2013-04-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120028549 |title=Chechen Leader's Islamic Policies Stir Unease |website=Npr.org|date=3 November 2009 |access-date=2013-04-22 |last1=Garrels |first1=Anne }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Tom Parfitt, Grozny, Russia |url=http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/islamic-republic-chechnya |title=The Islamic Republic of Chechnya |publisher=Pulitzer Center |date=16 March 2011 |access-date=2013-04-22 |archive-date=2013-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607211219/http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/islamic-republic-chechnya |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{Clear left}}

==See also==
* [[List of Chechen people]]
* [[Teip|Teip (Nakh clans)]]
* [[Nakh peoples]]
* [[Peoples of the Caucasus|North Caucasian peoples]]
* [[Islam in Russia]]
* [[Chechens in Jordan]]
* [[Chechens in Syria]]
* [[Chechens in Turkey]]
* [[Chechens in Iraq]]
* [[Chechens in France]]
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Dunlop, John B. (1998). ''Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict''. Cambridge University Press.
* Ilyasov, Lechi (2009). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170602075423/http://zhaina.com/history/205-the-diversity-of-the-chechen-culture.html The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present]''. Moscow (in Russian).
* {{Cite book |last=Hamed-Troyansky |first=Vladimir |title=Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2024 |location=Stanford, CA |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0vpEAAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-5036-3696-5}}
* Jaimoukha, Amjad (2005). ''The Chechens: A Handbook''. London; New York: Routledge.
* {{cite book|surname=Plaetschke |given=Bruno |title=Die Tschetschenen: Forschungen zur Völkerkunde des nordöstlichen Kaukasus auf Grund von Reisen in den Jahren 1918—20 und 1927/28 |work=NAHCHEWORLD , Сайт истории народа Nahche |trans-title=The Chechens |language=de |year=1929 |url= https://nahcheworld.com/книга-бруно-плечке-чеченцы/ |series=Veröffentlichungen des Geographischen Instituts der [[University of Königsberg|Universität Königsberg]] Pr., 11 |publisher=Friedrichsen, de Gruyter & Co m. b. H. |place=Hamburg}}
* {{cite book |surname=Roshchin |given=Mikhail |surname2=Lunkin |given2=Roman |year=2005 |chapter=Ислам в Чеченской Республике |trans-chapter=Islam in the Chechen Republic |editor-surname=Bourdeaux |editor-given=Michael |editor-surname2=Filatov |editor-given2=Sergei |title=Современная религиозная жизнь России. Опыт систематического описания |trans-title=Contemporary Religious Life of Russia. Systematic description experience |place=Moscow |publisher=[[Keston Institute]]; Logos |volume=3 |pages=152–169 |language=ru |isbn=5-98704-044-2}}

== Further reading ==
{{Commons category|Chechen people}}
*[http://www.latautonomy.org/TraditionalSocialOrganisationChechens.pdf Traditional Social Organisation of Chechen people]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719234640/http://www.latautonomy.org/TraditionalSocialOrganisationChechens.pdf |date=2011-07-19 }}

{{European Muslims}}
{{Peoples of the Caucasus}}
{{Ethnic groups of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chechen People}}
[[Category:Chechen people| ]]
[[Category:Peoples of the Caucasus]]
[[Category:Nakh peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Dagestan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Iraq]]
[[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:Muslim communities of Russia]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Europe]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of the Caucasus]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Russia]]