CHECHEN
(Own name: Noxcijn)

A North Eastern indigenous Caucasian people numbering nearly a million, who together with Ingush form the Vajnakh group. The name Chechen was a Russian invention derived from the name of the first conquered settlement. Apart from diaspora Chechen in the Middle East, they live primarily in Chechnia. Approximately 60,000 Chechen live under the name of Akki in Dagestan, and up to .50,000 in Central Asia. The traditional non-hierarchical social structure of taip, i.e. clan formations centered around a fellowship of free equal people endures. Originally a mountain people, many came under the influence of Christianity from Byzantium. They began to resettle in the lower slopes north of the mountains from the sixteenth century onwards and in the eighteenth century became familiar with the teachings of Naqushbandia Islam through contact with neighboring peoples, and gave strong support to the Sufi uprising against the Russian conquest through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the final incorporation of their territory into the Russian Empire many sought exile in the Ottoman Empire. The main part of the Chechen diaspora today lives in Turkey and the Middle East. The Chechen who stayed in Russia retained their opposition to Russianization, and later, under Soviet power, to collectivization. They fell victim to massive political purges. On 23 February 1944 the entire Chechen population was deported to Kazakistan. Their republic was dissolved and their land given away to new settlers, mainly Russians. In the part which was given to Dagestan, Lak were forcibly moved into Chechen settlements. From 1957 the Chechen were permitted to return but there were serious limitations regarding land and work permits. The Akki Chechen could not return to their villages because of the Lak having been settled there. Dagestan is attempting to solve the problem peacefully by building new Lak settlements and resettling Chechen to their former houses. Chechen history after the first encounter with the Russian army, can be described as one long struggle towards independence. Chechnia declared itself an independent state in 1991 but this has not been recognized. Today all governmental and power structures are Chechen and in 1994 the name of the Chechen Republic was changed to Chechen Republic Ichkeria

Editor note: This information is taken from "The North Caucasus: Minorities at a Crossroads" written by Helen Krag and Larsh Funch.