Chechens (Noxi)
Total population
1.5 - 2 million est. worldwide (including Chechen diaspora)
Regions with significant populations
Russia 1.5 million (Including Chechnya and other Russian Republics) Within the Russian Republics:  Chechnya 1.250,000 Dagestan 97,000 (Including refugees) Ingushetia 97,000 (Including refugees) North Ossetia 5,000 Kabardino-Balkaria 5,000 Krasnodar Krai 3,000 Other places in Russia: Moscow 100,000 Russian Far East 20,000 Outside of Russia:  Georgia 40,000  Jordan 56,000  Turkey 90,000  Kazakhstan 75,000  Syria 55,000  Saudi Arabia 50,000  Azerbaijan 10,000 est. Rest of the world: 250,000 - 500,000
Languages
Chechen, Russian
Religions
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Ingush, Bats, Kists

Chechens (Chechen: Hохчи / Noxçi) constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region.

They refer to themselves as Noxçi. There are many theories concerning the name's origin, including: the village of Nakhsh, the remains of which can be found high in the mountains, nexça — sheep cheese, nox — a plow. Some refer to the Biblical Noah (Nox in Chechen).

The Russian term for the nation - "Chechen" - is also of debated origins, but the prevalent theory is that the ethnonym Chechen derives from the name of the ancient village of Chechana, which in Russian is written as Chechen-aul. The village is situated on the bank of the Argun River, near Grozny. Another theory derives the name from chechenit' sya "to talk mincingly".^[1]

The dispute concerning labels for the Chechen people is reflective of their ancient and enduring history. 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.

Geography

The Chechen people are mainly inhabitants of Chechnya, which is internationally recognized as part of the Russian Federation. From 1994 to 1996 a fierce and bloody war was waged all across this country's landscape, destroying cities and families. In 1996, a cease fire treaty between the Russians and Chechen forces was achieved.

There are also significant Chechen populations in other Russian regions (especially in Dagestan and Moscow city). Outside Russia, countries with significant Chechen populations are Georgia, Turkey, Jordan and Syria. These are mainly descendants of people who had to leave Chechnya during the Caucasian Wars around 1850, which led to the annexing of the area called Ingushetia, which included the territories of Ossetia and Chechnya.

Origins

The Nakh clans, the ancestors of the Chechens and Ingush, lived in the mountains of the region until the 16th century, where they began settling in the lowlands. ^[2] This was also the time when the Islamization of these peoples began, under the influence of bordering nationalities. ^[2]

Language

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

Culture

Prior to the adoption of Islam, the Chechens practiced a unique blend of 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 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 gars (branches), and gars into nekye (patronymic families). The Chechen social code is called “Nokhchallah” where "Nokhcho" (Noxçuo) stands for "Chechen" and may be loosely translated as "Chechen character", "Chechenness". The Chechen code of honor implies moral and ethical behavior, generosity and the will to safeguard the honor of women.^[4].

Religion

Chechnya is predominantly Muslim, its inhabitants having converted to Islam under the Ottoman Empire during the 15th Century . Each clan is led by a spiritual mystic. Some adhere to a Sufi mystic branch of Sunni Islam called Muridism. About half of Chechens belong to Sufi brotherhoods, or tariqa. 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 Islam.[1]

Salafism was introduced to the population in the 1950s. Some of the rebels involved in the Chechen war--particularly those who followed Shamil Basayev--are Salafists, but the majority are not.

Images

Chechen elderly women	Chechen men praying	Chechen children	Dzhokhar Dudaev and his family

References

• - Who are the Chechens? by Johanna Nichols, University of California, Berkeley. (pdf)
• - Shattering the Chechen-al Qaeda Myth, by Brian Glyn Williams Part 1, The Jamestown Foundation
• The Chechens: A Handbook, by Amjad Jaimoukha, London, New York: Routledge, 2005.

External links

• Chechen World Online