What did other peoples say about the Chechens? The whole truth about Chechnya and the Chechens from the lips of a tsarist officer, without embellishment

But those who have had to deal directly with representatives of the Chechen people do not always share the historical enthusiasm for their antiquity and chosenness. Take, for example, the Russian General Ermolov, commander of the Caucasian Corps and commander-in-chief in Georgia during the Caucasian War. “It is they, the Chechens, who outrage the entire Caucasus,” he wrote in his notes of 1816–1826. “Cursed tribe... This people, of course, is neither more vile nor more insidious under the sun.” One cannot help but recall the poetic lines of Pushkin: Run, Russian maidens, Hurry, red ones, the Chechen goes home across the river. Or Lermontov: An angry Chechen crawls to the shore, sharpens his dagger.4 By the way, both great Russian poets spent a lot of time in the Caucasus, so they probably knew firsthand about the Chechen people. Before the revolution, the Chechens caused a lot of damage to their neighbors, for example, the Terek Cossacks. Numerous cases of robberies and murders have been recorded, the victims of which were also representatives of Russian nationality. As we see, representatives of different nations do not have a uniform opinion about the Chechens. In the eyes of some, they appear to be an ancient nation deserving respect and worship. In the eyes of others, they are treacherous robbers. True, few people do not note the strength, dexterity, and loyalty to their own laws inherent in the Chechens. The Frenchman Alexandre Dumas also paid tribute to the Chechens in the book “Caucasus” (1859): “If there is a crevice ahead that his horse does not dare to overcome on the move, the Chechen wraps the horse’s head with a cloak and, trusting himself to the Almighty, forces the pacer to jump over a chasm up to 20 deep. feet." "East is a delicate matter". Apparently, this statement applies to the Chechens to the fullest extent. It is difficult to understand another culture without being inside it.

I tried to very concisely describe the chronicle of life in “peaceful” Grozny before and during the “Chechen revolution”. I immediately apologize for possible chronological inaccuracies. After all, over the years, too many events have happened in my life, and I cannot accurately remember the sequence of all events.

My friends, Grozny residents, who responded to this story, ask me to write about Grozny in more detail. I have to disappoint them with my refusal. It's too hard to remember all this. Remember the details and go back to the past again. For three years after fleeing Chechnya, I fought again every night. Every night I was drenched in sweat and woke up in fear, when in a dream I had no ammunition or weapons, and the steps of the Chechens were getting closer and closer. Every night I saw the ruins of houses, shops, cut down public gardens and the burnt shell of my apartment.

Now I sleep peacefully and don’t want to go back to these nightmares. Excuse me.

Many Grozny residents are now scattered throughout Russia. Many of them can write much more and better than me, because I am not a professional writer, just an ordinary technician. I asked those of them who responded to also write about it, but... As one of them wrote, he is simply afraid for his family. After all, the Chechens have now invaded Russia, feel unpunished, and can easily kill anyone who dares to describe what they saw. After all, what is written becomes a document condemning those responsible for what happened, and the one who wrote it becomes a witness. I understand him and don't blame him. He worries about the safety of his family.

I, too, have more than once received “reviews” for this story with promises to “tear off the head,” “soak it,” “cut it,” etc. As you can see, his fears are justified, because he is in Russia and there is no one to protect him. The story was written at the request of the writer V.N. Mironov (author of the book: “I was in this war”), who fought in the first Chechen war.

So, the year is 1990...

For many years now, starting around 1980, normal people With the onset of darkness, they were not very eager to leave the safe walls. After all, we lived in a republic in which laws and power were purely nominal, and given the specific features of the local population in the evening it became, to put it mildly, unsafe. The Chechens have always looked askance at those of other faiths, and after Gorbachev successfully fragmented the country and each nationality began to strive for sovereignty, everyone began to dream of expelling the “invaders.” Well, some did it in a “civilized” manner, others were just starting to talk about it, but the Chechens began to resolve this issue in their own way. Even in the distant stagnant times, our republic was in first place in terms of crime. Almost every Chechen or Ingush boy walked with a knife and used it without hesitation. Robberies, beatings, violence were so commonplace that they were no longer perceived. Well, except sometimes when the victim turned out to be high-flying, such as the leading actress of one of the troupes touring in our drama theater. The Chechens managed to steal it immediately after the performance and found it only the next day, cut into pieces.

In addition, the laws turned a blind eye to this. The statement about “hot, Caucasian blood” was always ready; besides this, it was impossible to offend the “younger” brother. Now, if the Russian guys inadvertently beat up the Chechen guys, then everything would rear up: “How dare they?!”

Life becomes more and more fun every day. Anarchy. No, of course, there are plenty of people in police uniforms on the streets, but the republic is no longer subject to any laws. It is unknown who these police are protecting. The streets are full of armed Chechens in civilian clothes and spotted clothes. Salaries and pensions are delayed for several months and are not fully issued. The delays are getting longer. A new high-rise KGB building was captured and looted. Later, an acquaintance of ours, a KGB major who worked in this building, told me details about the seizure. On the weekend there were only two people on duty in the building. Their post was in the lobby. When the crowd began to break into the locked doors, one officer on duty, a Russian, went to the doors to talk to the crowd. His Chechen partner shot him several times in the back. After which he opened the doors and let everyone in. Looting and vandalism began. The bandits captured a thousand complete sets of uniforms and weapons for special forces. But that's not all they robbed. They carried everything, even pens and paper. What they couldn’t take, they destroyed on the spot. The building contained unique telephone equipment. Only 5 or 6 such sets were produced for the entire Union, they cost a colossal amount of money. The equipment was shot and broken.

Later, Russian guys, technicians, from the central security department were “invited” as specialists to restore the functionality of the equipment at least partially. They told me, as their former colleague, what they saw there. The entire building was turned into one huge toilet and pigsty. Ragged, dirty walls, piles of feces in the corridors, puddles of urine and vomit. It was impossible to look at the equipment without shuddering. Chopped cables, wires torn out of panels, where there were some indicators or light bulbs, scattered and crushed blocks and boards. Of course, it was impossible to talk about any restoration. But even if something could be done, the guys had no desire to talk about it. They already knew that this would be working for the enemy.

Whatever the general belief that everyone works only for money, people have already begun to wake up. Not everything is bought and sold...

The seizure took place, Moscow chose not to notice it, and the Chechens became convinced of their impunity. But few people even in our city knew about this, because no one is interested in such departments and their fate. The abduction of the rector of our university, Kancalik, caused a much greater resonance in the city.

The purpose of the abduction was quite simple, despite all subsequent official versions and explanations. The Chechens made it clear who is boss in the republic and what will happen to those who do not understand this. After all, there was a process of squeezing out infidels from all leadership positions. Among our acquaintances there were people from different walks of life, including heads of various enterprises and factories. We have already heard from them that the Chechens are offering them to resign from their positions. But no one took this seriously. After this demonstrative abduction, everyone realized that this was serious. The abduction took place brazenly and openly. In the middle of the working day, during regular classes, armed Chechens in civilian clothes arrived and went into the rector’s office, took him out, shoved him into a car and drove away safely. The witnesses who were there suddenly forgot everything and refused to say anything. After several months of official searches, a burned corpse was allegedly found somewhere, but we will apparently never know the real truth. Only one thing is certain, Kankalik’s death was terrible, because falling into the hands of animals in human form is scary.

Weapons are sold not only at the bazaar, but right in front of the bank. The assortment is of course extensive, you can buy everything from a knife to a mortar. Ammo, mines, and grenades are also in abundance. The saliva is flowing, but not over the teeth. This is only available to Chechens. For us, even the cost of one machine gun cartridge, 60 rubles, already bites. And Russians are not supposed to have weapons. This is a privilege only for our own people. We are strangers, we are being hunted, both literally and figuratively.

After the popular and “voluntary” expression of will, when the Kremlin’s protege, General Dudayev, became king, which, by the way, even the Chechens themselves did not hide, after the shameful withdrawal of the unarmed Russian army from their own territory, everyone hastened to disown us. Yeltsin and his retinue sold us or gave us away, just like Russian weapons, his protégé. As a result, we became strangers to everyone. To the Chechens - as “invaders” or “occupiers”, whom they always dreamed of “slaughtering”, to the Kremlin - as “subjects” of another territory.

When they simply killed, it was somehow no longer frightening, but they often cut the living into pieces, raped small children and threw them from balconies... It was scary. Someone waved it off: “Yes, all this is nonsense, you haven’t seen it personally?!” But over time, these disappeared. However, they also stopped asking what was new, and so everything is clear. Yes, everyone is used to it. Death no longer seemed like some kind of frightening word. She was simply there for us every day, every night, every second.

The chaos only grew. Before going to bed, I checked my sawn-off shotgun, made by my friend from a double-barreled 28-caliber over-and-under, and placed it under my arm. If it was quiet outside, it was impossible to fall asleep; the silence was frightening. When there was shooting here and there, it was possible to fall asleep. True, for some time my wife and I argued about what we were shooting from. She learned to distinguish weapons by sound so well, despite their variety, that she often outdid me. Phonetic hearing probably helped. Having argued, one could fall asleep, listening, of course. We learned to sleep with half an ear, became closer to nature, to our smaller brothers.

One afternoon, among the signs of various institutions on the walls near the entrances in our large, ring-shaped courtyard, I noticed “Republican Cossack Society.” I became interested. The fact is that I began to realize a long time ago that I did not want to be another ram to the slaughter. Of course, he knew that we all walk under God, but I decided to give my life, if I had to, as dearly as possible. I began to arm myself slightly, depending on my capabilities. At least I always had a knife and a sawn-off shotgun in a homemade holster, under my jacket, of course. And two cartridges in the barrels means two Chechens, it’s boring to go alone, but it’s always more fun with company. And the Chechens I knew somehow began to respect me more. “Dzhigit” is a good guy by nature - against sheep! Even if he’s unarmed and with a machine gun, he’s a hero! And then they started noticing, their acquaintances, of course, started calling him “a man.” And what’s strange is that I never demonstrated weapons at all, it’s stupid and dangerous, although sometimes the scabbard stuck out from under my jacket, but apparently they can smell it too. I began to probe my reliable comrades, even though there were only a few of them left. The conclusion is sad. The Russians have forgotten how to fight. It’s not for nothing that the Soviet government educated us for many years. True, one comrade, the one who helped me with the sawn-off shotgun, also turned out to be no mistake. He was also “always ready.”

In general, I remembered that I come from the Cossacks, a proud and independent people, and I felt ashamed. Our ancestors stood on bayonets with their bare hands; there were never any prisoners in the surrounded Cossack villages, because both old and young fought to the last, but what about us? They've completely shrunk down. My mother went to the front at the age of 17, defended Grozny, was wounded, but me??? The enemy is walking around the city, slaughtering people from right to left, and we are all playing civilized. Or maybe this is called cowardice? So maybe at least the Cossacks woke up?

I went up to some floor. A large deserted room like a hall, rows of chairs. In the corner is a table, behind which a man is slowly sorting through papers. I said hello and introduced myself. The man was delighted, shook my hand, and asked how he could help. I decided not to pull the cat by the tail, but asked directly whether it was time for the Cossack brothers to take up arms or should we wait until there was no one left? The man grew bored and began to explain to me, like a child, that this is none of our business, that this is what the state is for. And now, they say, the most important thing is to prepare for the elections of the ataman, this is the urgent matter of today! I realized that I shouldn’t have come. I didn’t listen to the end... I went outside, and the sun was shining there, the weather was just a sight for sore eyes, live and be happy! Well, let's rejoice...

Year 1993

One day I was driving with a friend to his neighborhood and, having dropped him off, I stopped in the distance near a bazaar located between the neighborhoods, waiting for my friend to return. I noticed that some middle-aged jackal in civilian clothes was walking towards me with an unsteady gait. It is immediately clear that nothing good can be expected. I looked around carefully, no one seemed to be paying attention to me anymore. I cocked the sawed-off shotgun, placed it between the seats and waited further. Fits.

- Hey, Jew, take me to the sixth microdistrict.

I start the conversation as if I were with a mentally ill person, trying not to worry him.

You see, friend, I don’t have gas and I can only go to the garage, I would be glad, but I can’t. By the way, I’m not a Jew, but a Cossack, if you’re interested.

I told you, Jew, that you are going to take me now, or I will throw a grenade behind your seat and you won’t have time to jump out.

I took a closer look, maybe he’s not lying, one of his pockets is bulging out, I don’t know if there’s a grenade or an apple in there, but it doesn’t look like a pistol. It’s really difficult to get out of “constipation” quickly. Once again I quickly and quietly look around, no one seems to be looking at us. I place the sawn-off shotgun with its barrels on the door and point it at his stomach.

You should probably know the difference between Jews and Cossacks. And now, very calmly, slowly and silently, you move away from the car, facing me and don’t try to twitch or scream, I shoot well.

He immediately sobers up and begins to turn pale.

Yes, you are not a Jew, but I will still catch you...

With one hand I start the engine, change the speed and move off smoothly. Another twenty or thirty meters, with my hand out, holding it at gunpoint and switching gears, although it is very inconvenient, I begin to pull away. I look in the mirrors, he stands motionless. It blew by. This time it was successful.

AFTERWORD...

What happened next?
The fate of refugees in their home country is one out of millions. Wandering around the Moscow region, forced emigration and the farewell “hello” of the Yeltsin apparatus in the form of deprivation of Russian citizenship. Then - a Canadian passport paid for at the dear price of Western “democracy” and work in Korea, where these lines were written...

Yuri Kondratyev

STATEMENTS ABOUT CHECHENS

Ermolov:
“It is they, the Chechens, who outrage the entire Caucasus. Damn tribe!
Their society is not so populous, but has increased enormously in the last few years, because it accepts friendly villains from all other peoples who leave their land after committing any crimes. And not only.
Even our soldiers are fleeing to Chechnya. They are attracted there by the complete equality and equality of the Chechens, who do not recognize any power among themselves.
These robbers welcome our soldiers with open arms! So Chechnya can be called the nest of all robbers and the den of our fugitive soldiers.
I presented these swindlers with an ultimatum: hand over the fugitive soldiers or the revenge will be terrible. No, not a single soldier was extradited! It was necessary to exterminate their villages.
This people, of course, is neither more vile nor more insidious under the sun. They don't even have the plague! I will not rest until I see with my own eyes the skeleton of the last Chechen...”

“Downstream the Terek live the Chechens, the worst of the robbers who attack the line.
Their society is very sparsely populated, but has increased enormously in the last few years, for the villains of all other nations who leave their land due to some kind of crime were received in a friendly manner.
Here they found accomplices, immediately ready to either avenge them or participate in robberies, and they served as their faithful guides in lands unknown to them. Chechnya can rightly be called the nest of all robbers."

Notes from 1816–1826, when Ermolov was commander of the Caucasian Corps and commander-in-chief in Georgia during the Caucasian War.
“I have seen many peoples, but such rebellious and unyielding people as the Chechens do not exist on earth, and the path to the conquest of the Caucasus lies through the conquest of the Chechens, or rather, through their complete destruction.”

“Sovereign!.. The mountain peoples, by example of their independence, give rise to a rebellious spirit and love of independence in the very subjects of your imperial majesty.”
(from A. Ermolov’s report to Emperor Alexander I on February 12, 1819)

“The Chechens are the strongest people and the most dangerous...” Ermolov.
“It is just as impossible to conquer the Chechens as it is to smooth out the Caucasus. Who besides us can boast that they saw the Eternal War?
(General Mikhail Orlov, 1826).

Faced with many Caucasian peoples N.S. By the time Semenov created his collection of articles, he clearly singled out the Chechens with his attention:
“a tribe which I have studied more than other tribes, and which, in its integrity and vitality, deserves greater interest”
“Chechens, both men and women, are extremely beautiful people.
They are tall, very slender, their physiognomy, especially their eyes, is expressive.

In their movements, the Chechens are agile, dexterous, in character they are all very impressionable, cheerful and witty, for which they are called the French of the Caucasus.
But at the same time they are suspicious, hot-tempered, treacherous, insidious, vindictive.
When they strive for a goal, all means are good for them. At the same time, the Chechens are indomitable. unusually resilient, brave in attack, dexterous in defense” Berger.
“...The Chechens did not burn houses, did not deliberately trample fields, and did not destroy vineyards. “Why destroy the gift of God and the work of man,” they said...
And this rule of the mountain “robber” is a valor that the most educated nations could be proud of, if they had it...”

A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky in “Letter to Doctor Erman”

“We tried to destroy the Chechens as our enemies by all means and even turn their advantages into disadvantages.
We considered them an extremely fickle people, gullible, treacherous and treacherous because they did not want to fulfill our demands, which were incompatible with their concepts, morals, customs and way of life.
We denigrated them so much only because they did not want to dance to our tune, the sounds of which were too harsh and deafening for them...”

General M. Ya. Olshevsky.

“Someone rightly noted that in the Chechen type, in his moral character, there is something reminiscent of the Wolf.
Lion and Eagle portray strength, they go after the weak, and the Wolf goes after someone stronger than himself, in the latter case replacing everything with boundless audacity, courage and dexterity.

And once he gets into hopeless trouble, he dies silently, expressing neither fear, nor pain, nor groan.”

(V. Potto, XIX century).

“Manic hatred of Chechens is explained by the subconscious envy of people deprived of the genes of courage, morality, and intelligence”

("General Newspaper", 04/17-23/1997)

– One nuance. Skinheads beat the “blacks” - but are afraid of the Chechens. Why?
– And you read Solzhenitsyn. Even our classes and the Gulag administration did not touch the Chechens in the zones.

Chechens are people of amazing personal courage.
The film “My Friend Ivan Lapshin” starred a former prisoner convicted of murder.
He played the guy who, in the story, stabbed the hero Andrei Mironov. Andrey was afraid of him even outside the frame, in life. After 11 years of imprisonment, the criminal world released him...
This prisoner told me a story from the life of the zone.

One day one of the thieves stabbed a Chechen. And there are swamps around, you can’t escape.
So, the Chechens, who had served their sentence and were already living in the settlement, made an adaptation and jumped into the zone through the barbed wire. And they cut many people - and, as you understand, they remained in the zone for a very long time.
With all the love for our people, our people wouldn’t jump...
Skinheads know: if you stab a Chechen, they will kill everyone.
And they even set them on other foreigners, like a dog on a leash...

Elena 01/26/2008, 00:11

“It’s hard to be Chechen.
If you are a Chechen, you must feed and shelter your enemy, who knocks on your door as a guest.

You must, without hesitation, die for the girl’s honor. You must kill a bloodline by plunging a dagger into his chest, because you can never shoot in the back.
You must give your last piece of bread to your friend. You must get up and get out of the car to greet the old man walking past.
You should never run, even if there are a thousand of your enemies and you have no chance of winning, you still have to take the fight.

And you can't cry no matter what happens. Let your beloved women leave, let poverty ruin your home, let your comrades bleed on your hands, you cannot cry if you are a Chechen, if you are a Man.
Only once, only once in your life can you cry: when Mother dies.”
NO_COMMENT 01/26/2008, 04:37

Chechens - there is so much in this word! No matter how much the enemies like it! But I have nothing against other nationalities!
Mouravi 01/30/2008, 15:48

Salaam Alaikum. To begin with, I’ll just tell you a story from my life.
I was talking to one guy once. He is Kazakh, his name is Arman. He lives in the city of Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan.

There has been a gold mine there since Soviet times, which stopped with the collapse of the Union. But local residents began to climb there at their own peril and risk (it is far from safe).

It is a whole underground labyrinth. To better visualize it, I can say that it has the shape of a Christmas tree turned upside down.
During operation, it was electrified and all power supply systems were working, but after stopping, everything stopped by itself, and it took on the appearance of a dark abyss.

But having no other way of food in the 90s, people climbed there in the hope of catching luck. Many people actually died there, lost in the tunnels and branches of the mine.
Arman also dealt with this for a long time. He told how people lived in tunnels for several days, seeing only the light of a flashlight, and looking for gold ore.
He said that over time, people began to feel depressed in eternal darkness, and the experienced ones said: “So it’s time to go up.”

In those difficult conditions, all conventions were erased and all decency was forgotten. Darkness, lack of clean air, fear weighed on the human psyche. But there was an exception.

He said that even in these conditions, local Chechens who also went down into the mine observed all the rules of national behavior and ethics. Even little things.
He watched with great surprise as the younger ones did not sit down to eat before the older ones.
As if the earth began to fall from above (they worked without equipment, by hand), then everyone, driven by the instinct of self-preservation, tried to be the first to jump out of the face into the tunnel.

And only the Vainakhs tried to push each other out first (the younger ones, the older ones, and the older ones).

What can I say, I was very pleased to hear that my brothers, even in the most extreme and life-threatening conditions, remained CHECHENs, who, according to Yakh, first of all think about their friend and brother, and then only about themselves.

Girl E
It just so happened that in the course of my life I came across many Chechens.
1) Handsome men.
2) Smart.
3) They know how to force themselves to be respected both by words and actions.
4) Amazing sense of humor.
5) When you walk with a Chechen along a dark street, you can be calm for yourself, you won’t give offense.

Also, in the company where I work there are several Chechens and if they are not loved, they are respected by everyone (the team is more than 100 people).
One of them, by the way, does a lot for the staff and everyone always comes to him for help, and he does everything to help them without asking for anything in return.
In short, I really like them, it’s a pity that such an areola is created for them. It is clear that a weak country needs the image of an enemy.
In short, I hope our country will become stronger, and the Chechens will be able to show the world what they really are.

12/26/01, Major Payne

In my opinion, Chechens are the bravest people in the world! I will only quote an old Chechen song, which the Ichkerians made the anthem of Ichkeria!
We were born on the night the she-wolf whelped,
In the morning, amid the roar of the lion, we were given names.
Mothers fed us in eagle nests,
Our fathers taught us to tame horses on clouds.
Our mothers gave birth to us for the people and the fatherland,
And at their call we bravely stood up.
With the mountain eagles we grew up freely,
Difficulties and obstacles were proudly overcome.
Rather, granite rocks, like lead, will melt,
Than the hordes of enemies will make us bow down!
Rather, the earth will burst into flames,
How will we appear to the grave, having sold our honor!
We will never submit to anyone
Death or Freedom - we will achieve one of the two.

05/23/02, SVETA

I love Chechens for everything!
1. They are honest, freedom-loving, they have self-esteem.
2. Since I communicate very closely with Chechens, I can say that they are: cheerful, cheerful, temperamental and most importantly - brave!
They believe in their ideals and maintain their traditions!

01/27/03, Elina 2002

You know, I used to know very little about Chechen customs and morals, but I fell in love with a Chechen and now we are going to get married.
I respect Chechens for holding tightly to their roots and supporting each other.
They are a very proud people who honor their customs and traditions.
As for the fact that they are all bandits, this is not true. Every nation has good people and bad.

01/28/03, Arthur

This people is worthy of respect firstly because:
1. A Chechen will never leave his fellow countryman in trouble.
2. Chechens are very brave people.
I myself am an Armenian by nationality, and anyone who says that Chechens and Armenians cannot be friends is blatantly lying.

06/05/03, LENA

How can you not love Chechens; they will never pass by when their fellow countryman is in trouble. And if we see that ours is being beaten, we will run away from there.
05/21/03, UKY

Chechens are the same people as Russians, Ukrainians, Dagestanis, Jews, Americans.
My grandmother often visited Chechnya and spoke only good things about Chechnya. Grandmother cried when the war began.
My uncle worked in Chechnya about 20 years ago, he also speaks well of Chechnya and Chechens..

05/31/0, Gulcha

I love one and only Chechen! I respect the rest. For their patience, friendship, responsibility for their people and for their family.
If they love, then for life!!!
Never confuse Chechens with the concept of terrorists. These concepts are incompatible.

17/07/03, LILIANA

Radio operator Kat! I know what you mean!
I, too, lived in the Caucasus in a Chechen village and fell in love with this part of the planet as much as I probably didn’t even love my native Libya, where I was born and spent my earliest childhood years!
And even here, in St. Petersburg, I have many friends - Chechens and I love them all very much! They call me "sister" and respect me very much.
I often come across those who are of the same faith as me - Zoroastrians. We get together with them in the evenings and read the Avesta.
And never in my life have I seen anything bad from any Chechen, but from others - as much as you like!

03/06/04, Anime

I simply adore it, perhaps one of the few Muslim nations that I respect!!!
The Chechens are an ancient people, they are also Urartians, and besides, I have a lot of Chechen friends and girlfriends.
Their girls are incredibly beautiful, and in general the people are cheerful!!!
The Jews are called the people of the book; they are undoubtedly the most educated people on earth.
But Chechens are people from the book!
Valeria Novodvorskaya.
Georgian
You have no idea how much my family and I respect Nokhchi.
I will not repeat that this is a very brave, moral, proud, truly believing nation. I have been communicating with them since childhood. And I don’t regret it one bit.
And who hates them....have the courage to approach one Chechen and say it to his face..
Communicating with Chechens, I came to the conclusion that it is difficult to become a friend of a Chechen, but if you become one, then the Chechen will be ready to die for you, but if you betray the Chechen, then you will not be happy.
I'll put forward a hypothesis.

I already read from someone that Chechnya is a bundle of energy, and it is very important what it will be directed towards.
They noticed and came close: “A clot of energy.”
But that's probably not enough. Apparently, we are dealing with a clot, a fluctuation of the gene pool. A subject worthy of serious scientific study!
Let me remind you that fluctuation (condensation) is a spontaneous, low-probability, anti-entropic process. The fluctuation of matter has provided us with the miracle of life.
And the fluctuation of the gene pool must be protected, even if it happened in a foreign people! In the long run, everyone will be better off.
As long as peoples like the Chechens exist, humanity has hope.

Alexander Minkin wrote in Novaya Gazeta (19.25.08.)

After a trip with Lebed to Khasavyurt:
“The first thing that catches your eye:
We have a mess, the Chechens have order.
We are showing off, they are not making a single unnecessary movement.
The feds’ schedule shifts by hours, the Chechens didn’t have to wait a minute anywhere...
The militants are energetic, confident, and all absolutely sober.
Horrible detail:
Ours - from the soldier to the prime minister - have absolute difficulty communicating in Russian, can rarely finish a sentence they have started, and resort to gesticulation and endless “uh”;
Chechens, in a foreign language, Russian, explain themselves clearly and form thoughts without difficulty.”

Statements about Chechens at different times - part 3

Chechens: who are they? 13:46 02/12/2005

RIA Novosti columnist Tatyana Sinitsyna.

Chechens are confident that their deepest roots historically stretch back to the Sumerian kingdom (30th century BC).

They also consider themselves descendants of the ancient Urartians (9-6 centuries BC).

In any case, the deciphered cuneiform of these two civilizations indicates that many authentic words have been preserved in the Chechen language. (actually speaking modern language, these were the so-called Chechen Diasporas. approx. author.)

“The Chechens are undoubtedly the bravest people in the Eastern Mountains. Campaigns into their land always cost us bloody sacrifices. But this tribe was never completely imbued with muridism.

Of all the eastern highlanders, the Chechens retained personal and social independence the most and forced Shamil, who ruled despotically in Dagestan, to make a thousand concessions to them in the form of government, in national duties, in the ritual strictness of the faith.

Ghazavat (war against infidels) was only an excuse for them to defend their tribal independence."

(R.A. Fadeev, “Sixty Years of the Caucasian War”, Tiflis, 1860).

""... The abilities of this tribe are beyond doubt. Of the Caucasian intellectuals, there are already many Chechens in schools and gymnasiums. Where they study, they are not praised enough.

Those who arrogantly humiliate an incomprehensible mountaineer must agree that when talking with a simple Chechen, you feel that you are dealing with a person sensitive to such phenomena public life, which are almost inaccessible to our peasants of the middle provinces""

Nemirovich-Danchenko. Along Chechnya.

""The Chechens, excellent horsemen, can overcome 120, 130 or even 150 versts in one night. Their horses, without slowing down, always gallop, storm such slopes where it would seem impossible to pass even on foot...

If there is a crevice ahead that his horse does not dare to overcome right away, the Chechen wraps the horse’s head in a cloak and, trusting himself to the Almighty, forces the pacer to jump over a chasm up to 20 feet deep.

A. Dumas Caucasus (Paris, 1859)

Appeal of the Political Directorate of the Don Front to the soldiers Soviet army, released on the eve of the Battle of Stalingrad (1943)

Based on materials from the book by Kh. D. Oshaev “The Tale of the Chechen-Ingush Regiment.” Nalchik. "Elfa" 2004.

According to the testimonies of the surviving participants in the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress, according to the scarce documentary data of the headquarters archives, according to the materials of the Museum of the Defense of the Hero Fortress, it is known that during all the days of fighting in the citadel and the three fortified areas adjacent to it, over two thousand Soviet soldiers and officers died.

And among them are more than 300 soldiers of Checheno-Ingushetia

From the book of the secretary of the Chechen-Ingush regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks during the war, V.I. Filkin, “The Party Organization of Checheno-Ingushetia during the Great Patriotic War Soviet Union".

“In March 1942, at the insistence of Beria, the conscription of Chechens and Ingush liable for military service into the Red Army was stopped.

This was a serious mistake, because the deserters and their accomplices did not at all reflect the real mood of the Chechen-Ingush people.

In August 1942, when fascist German troops invaded the North Caucasus, the regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic turned to the Government of the USSR Union and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks with a request for permission to carry out the voluntary mobilization of Chechens and Ingush into the Red Army.

The request was granted."

Voluntary mobilizations were carried out three times after that and they produced thousands of volunteers.

In the spring of 1942, mobilized voluntarily, fully equipped with cavalry, well equipped, staffed with experienced combat command and political personnel, and already given the army number 114th Chechen-Ingush Cavalry Division, at the insistence of Beria, was disbanded.

At the persistent request of the Chechen-Ingush Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, only minor units were retained from the division - the 255th Separate Checheno-Ingush Regiment and the Checheno-Ingush Separate Division.

Until the end of 1942, the 255th Regiment fought well on the southern approaches to Stalingrad. In the battles of Kotelnikovo, Chilekovo, Sadovaya, Lake Tsatsa and in a number of other places he suffered heavy losses.

In May 1943, the regional committee of the CPSU (b) summed up the results of the voluntary mobilization. The decision states the following: “Conducted with the permission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in the period February - March 1943, the third conscription of Chechen and Ingush volunteers into the Red Army is accompanied by a manifestation of genuine Soviet patriotism.

“According to incomplete data, during the war more than 18,500 of the best sons of the Chechen-Ingush people were drafted and mobilized into the active army.” (Filkin V.I.).

Two thirds of them were volunteers.

According to the latest data from researchers (in particular, those who worked on the creation of the “Book of Memory”), the number of Chechen and Ingush Red Army soldiers who fought against the Nazis on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War was more than 40 thousand people.

Through the machinations of Beria, in February 1944, the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was abolished, and the people were resettled in Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

Motive: for weak participation in the war against the Nazis...

This was blatantly untrue. The deportation of Chechens and Ingush (and, possibly, other peoples), apparently, was prepared long before it began.

In line with these plans, one should also consider the secret order of the beginning of 1942 on the retention of awards for the Chechens and Ingush (possibly other, subsequently “punished” peoples), especially the highest and military awards, and on the failure to nominate Chechens and Ingush for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Vainakh had to do something out of the ordinary to be nominated for the title of Hero.

In a battle near the village of Zakharovka, X. Nuradilov alone stopped the advance of the German chains, destroyed 120 Nazis and captured seven more. And he didn't receive any reward.

And only after Nuradilov was mortally wounded in his last battle, bringing by this time the Nazi losses to 932 people (920 killed, 12 captured and another 7 captured enemy machine guns), he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero

Today, the media and printed works mention many dozens of Chechens and Ingush who were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and were not approved for this title.

In 1996, from among the Chechens nominated for this title, Russian President B. Yeltsin approved four participants in the Patriotic War to the title of Heroes of Russia.

The fate of Mavlid Visaitov The first Soviet officer to shake hands with the commander of the advanced American units, General Bolling, during the historic meeting on the Elbe was Lieutenant Colonel Mavlid Visaitov, a Chechen by nationality.

He talks about his fate in the next issue " Parliamentary newspaper". This fate is like a fairy tale.

As the commander of a cavalry regiment, in the first months of the war he did not retreat, but advanced.

With dashing attacks, under the fire of machine guns and tanks, he knocked down patrols and crushed the advanced units of the enemy on the march.

For this, already in July 1941 he was nominated for the Order of the Red Banner.

In those days and in that environment, such a high award was not just rare - it was a unique case.

Then M. Visaitov received a horse as a gift.

The best horse that could then be found in Russia. Mikhail Sholokhov purchased it at his own expense and sent it to the front with parting instructions - to give it to the best cavalryman of the Soviet Army. It turned out to be Chechen M. Visaitov.

Then came the deportation of February 1944. The command was given to slowly “remove” all Chechen officers from combat units, bring them to Moscow, and already here they were informed that they, along with all the people, were subject to deportation to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Then one hundred military order-bearing officers came to the snow-covered Red Square early in the morning and stood in formation in the hope that someone from the top leadership would be interested in this unusual parade and would listen to them.

They stood all day, were surrounded by a company of the NKVD and, already being taken away, came across Marshal K. Rokossovsky coming out of the Kremlin.

Thanks to his intervention, these Chechens were returned to their units with all awards and titles retained. And then there was Elba.

In honor of the meeting, M. Visaitov gave General Bolling the most precious thing he had - his horse. The general gave away the jeep.

On the same days, US President Truman signed a presentation for the Order of the Legion of Honor for M. Visaitov - an extremely rare award.

Suffice it to say that in the USA, if a holder of this order enters the room, all men stand up, including the president of the country.

1944 Chechens were awarded only in words - their award documents were shelved and never received.

Elba's hero did not live to see his Day of Restoration of Justice for only a few months.

Based on materials from www.chechen.org, from research by Kh.D. Oshaeva The remains of 850 people are buried in the Brest Fortress, of which the names of 222 heroes are known and are listed on the memorial slabs.

Among them are three natives of Checheno-Ingushetia

Lalaev A.A.,
Uzuev M.Ya.,
Abdrakhmanov S.I.

Scientific and methodological council of the memorial complex " Brest Hero Fortress"recognizes and approves soldiers as participants in the defense and battles in the Brest area only if they have certain documents: information from military registration and enlistment offices or a military ID (Red Army book) of the serviceman himself or two witness statements of participants in the defense of the fortress, etc.

From the name of the Chechen writer involved in the search for the defenders of the fortress, Kh.D. Oshaev, the number of people in the museum contains material on the following comrades who are recognized as participants in the defense of the Brest Fortress and battles in the Brest area:

Abdrakhmanov S.I. Baibekov A.S. Beytemirov S.A.M. Betrizov Kh.G.
Gaitukaev A.D. Lalaev A.A. Malaev A. Masaev (Zaindi Askhabov)
Tikhomirov N.I. Uzuev M.Ya. Khasiev A. Khutsuruev A. Tsechoev Kh.D.
Shabuev A.K. Edelkhanov D. Edisultanov A.E. Elmurzaev A.A.
Elmurzaev E.A. Esbulatov M. Yusaev M.

Many wartime archives have disappeared, and the personal documents of the few surviving Red Army soldiers of Chechen nationality, expelled from their homeland, have not been preserved, because in new places they were replaced with “certificates of special settlers.”

List of participants in the defense of the Brest Fortress and the surrounding area, called up from Checheno-Ingushetia

Abaev Saipuddi, a Chechen from the village of Novye Atagi, Shalinsky district. Worked as a teacher. He was drafted into the army in October 1939. He served in the Brest fortress.

Abdulkadyrov Ali, a Chechen from the village of Starye Atagi, Grozny region. He was a participant in the Finnish campaign. Then he served in Brest.

Abdulmusliev Ayub, a Chechen from the village of Beno-Yurt in the Nadterechny region. He was drafted into the army in February 1940. He served in the 125th Infantry Regiment as a private.

Abdurakhmanov Kosum, a Chechen from the village of Znamenskoye, Nadterechny district. He was drafted into the army in February 1939. The regiment is unknown.

Abdurakhmanov Shamsu, a Chechen from the village of Alleroy, Nozhai-Yurtovsky district. He was drafted into the army in 1939. He served in the 125th Infantry Regiment as a private.

Abdulkhadzhiev Dzhunaig, a Chechen from the village of Dachu-Barzoy, Grozny district. He was drafted into the army in the fall of 1940. He served in the 44th Infantry Regiment as a private.

Ablushev Khumand, Chechen from the village of Nadterechnoye, Nadterechny district. Served in the Brest fortress. The regiment is unknown.

Aduev Eldarkhan, a Chechen from the village of Gukhoy, Sovetsky district. He was drafted into the army in February 1940. He served in the 333rd Infantry Regiment as a private.

Azamov Khalid, Chechen from the village of Nadterechnoye, Nadterechny district. Drafted into the army in February 1940.

Aleroev Salman Timaevich, Chechen from the village of Psedakh, Malgobek region. Drafted into the army in February 1940.

Alibulatov Shakhabutdin, a Chechen from the village of Kenkhi, Sovetsky district. He served as a private in the 333rd Infantry Regiment.

Aliev Makhmud, a Chechen from the village of Chishki, Grozny region.

Alisultanov Salambek, a Chechen from the village of Starye Atagi, Grozny district. He served in the 125th Infantry Regiment as a private.

Ampukaev Akhmad, a Chechen from the village of Duba-Yurt, Shalinsky district. He served in the 125th Infantry Regiment as a private.

Anzorov Zaina, a Chechen from the village of Starye Atagi, Grozny district. He served in the 125th Infantry Regiment as a private.

Arbiev Israil, a Chechen from the village of Znamenskoye in the Nadterechny district. He was drafted into the army in October 1940. First he served in the 222nd Infantry Regiment, stationed at the Cheremkha station in the Brest region. According to some reports, he served in the 125th Infantry Regiment.

Arsagireev Khozhakhmet, a Chechen from the village of Novye Atagi, Shalinsky district. Served in the 131st Artillery Regiment.

Arsemikov (Ibragimov) Abdul-Mutalib, a Chechen from the village of Starye Atagi, Grozny region. Served in the 131st Artillery Regiment.

It spins and spins, hits the machine gun,
Spins and turns, sings a song.
Nuradilov lay down with his “maxim”,
The Germans are mercilessly mowed down by the Maxim.

How much courage and how much fire
Chechnya breathed into the heart of the hero!
We are fighting for the Terek on the blue Don,
We will defend our dear country!

Shahin Bey, 1877-1920 Real name is Muhammad Sa1id.
Sahin Bey, folk hero of Turkey.

He was born in 1877 in the city of Antep, into a Chechen family.
Today the city is called Gazi Antep. This means: City hero.

The city was given this honorary title in honor of Muhammad Salid, a Chechen.

Everyone in Turkey knows Muhammad Said as the man who defended Antep to the last drop of blood.

Today in Turkish schools, students are told about the heroic exploits of the Chechen Muhammad Sa1id as the defender of the city of Antep.

He was nicknamed Shahin, which means “falcon” in Turkish.

Muhammad first enlisted in the army in 1899, he served in Yemen. Because of his exemplary behavior and heroic deeds in Yemen, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant major.

Muhammad Sa'id took part in military operations in Trablus. Because of his courage in this war, he was decorated and promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

Muhammad Sa'id also took part in the war in the Balkans. He was sent to the Galich war of the 15th Ottoman Army, and in 1917 took command of the Sina front.

In 1918, after fierce battles, Muhammad Sa'id was left without rear and ammunition. Muhammad Sa'id was captured by the British. Until December 1919 he remained a prisoner of the British.

After the truce he was released and returned to Turkey.

On December 13, 1919, Muhammad Salid, freed from captivity, returned to Istanbul and immediately assumed a new position as military commandant in the city of Urfa.

Mukhmmad Sa1id sees the occupation of the city of Antep and demands from the command that he be sent to this city. Then he is assigned to control the strategic road between the cities of Kilis and Antep.

Having served for decades in the Ottoman army and having been captured by the British, Muhammad Sa'id finally returns to his native, but already occupied by the enemy, city of Antep.

But Muhammad Sa1id, who has not seen his relatives and his family for so many years, remains at home for only one day and immediately returns to work.

In 1920, Muhammad Sa1id visited many villages close to the city of Antep and made tablig1, i.e. explains that we need to go out for jihad.

He explains to people what jihad is and its significance in Islam, and gathers 200 volunteers who are ready to give their souls for the sake of the Almighty, defending their city from the French occupiers.

Muhammad Sa'id is thinking about how to liberate the city from the occupiers. He himself draws up a plan for the liberation of the city. Residents of the city believe Muhammad Sa1id and obey his every word.

The French, who took control of the city, do not believe that the Muslims will be able to do anything again.

Muhammad Said prepares the people for the fight, realizing that if the French do not receive reinforcements from the city of Kilis, they will not be able to defend the city from them. And the fight begins.

The French, as Muhammad Sa'id expected, are defeated and ask for help from Kilis, but our hero, who himself chose the bravest Mujahideen, stood in the way of the French army.

Not a single Frenchman was able to come to the aid of the besieged in the city.
Muhammad Sa'id fought like a lion on the strategic road.

Muhammad Sa'id sent a messenger with a message to the city of Antep, this message said: “Be calm, my brothers, as long as my heart beats, not a single Frenchman will cross the bridge.”

The French were unable to take control of the city. And they didn’t receive the long-awaited help either.
Muhammad Sa'id and a handful of Mujahideen did not allow the French to break through the only bridge leading to the city.

On February 18, 1920, Muhammad Salid and his fighters repulsed an army of thousands of French. In this battle they destroyed about a thousand French.

When the city of Antep was taken by the Muslims, Muhammad Sa'id sent an appeal to the French: “Every inch of this land that you trample with your dirty feet is sprinkled with the blood of martyrs. It is sweeter for us to die for religion, for honor, for our homeland, for freedom than to drink cold water from a stream on hot August days. Leave our lands. Or we will destroy you."

The French did not want to admit defeat and prepared a new plan and new troops to take Antep. They were shocked by Muhammad Sa'id, who defended the city with several Mujahideen.

The French deployed 8,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, 4 tanks, 16 guns to capture Antep. Muhammad Sa'id sent 100 Mujahideen against the French, who were ready to give their souls along the way.

On March 25, early in the morning, the French begin their attack. Until late, Muhammad Sa'id prevents the enemy from crossing the bridge. The soldiers of Allah1a destroy the French by thousands.

On March 28, after 3 days of continuous fighting, Muhammad Sa'id's forces are running out and some suggest he retreat.

Muhammad Sa'id answers them: “If the enemy crosses the bridge, with what face will I return to Antep? The enemy can only cross the bridge over my corpse.”

The battle continued for the fourth day and only 18 people remained with Muhammad Sa1id, the rest all became martyrs.

In the afternoon, Mukhamad Sa'id was left alone against the French.

He fought until the last bullet. When the bullets ran out, he stood up and rushed with a dagger at the French. Muhammad Sa'id became a martyr, his whole body was riddled with bullets.

Then the French waited for a long time, afraid to approach his body. When enough time had passed, they approached and shredded the body of the dead hero with bayonets.

Turks still remember Shahin today. Poets write poems about him. Mothers name their children after him.

The Chechen who gave his life in jihad and for freedom will always be remembered by the Turkish people. The poet in his poems spoke about him like this:

Ask Shahin, he was alone
On the bridge they tore him to pieces with bayonets,
The bandits gathered at that place.
Wake up, Shahin, look...

Antep was filled with Frenchmen,
They are waiting for you, Shahin, come again...

Muhammad Sa'id, with his heroism, instilled a love of freedom in the hearts of the Turks, filled them with courage, and soon the liberation struggle began throughout Turkey.

His 11-year-old son also enlisted in the army and participated in all the battles in the liberation struggle of the Turkish people.

""The Chechens have always been a formidable enemy. They fought us tooth and nail."

V.A. Potto.

K.M. Tumanov in 1913 in his remarkable work “On the prehistoric language of Transcaucasia”:
“The ancestors of modern Chechens are the offspring of the Aryan Medes, the Matians, who, by the way, lived in the same satrapy with the Urartians. Having outlived the latter, they finally disappeared from the Transcaucasus by the beginning of the 8th century AD.”

"During their independence, the Chechens lived in separate communities, governed" through the people's assembly. Today they live as a people who do not know class distinctions.

It is clear that they differ significantly from the Circassians, among whom the nobility occupied such a high place. This is the significant difference between the aristocratic form of the Circassian republic and the completely democratic constitution of the Chechens and tribes of Dagestan.

This determined the special nature of their struggle... The inhabitants of the Eastern Caucasus are dominated by formal equality, and everyone has the same rights and the same social status.

The authority they entrusted to the tribal elders of the elected council was limited in time and scope... Chechens are cheerful and witty. Russian officers call them the French of the Caucasus." (author's note - True, the Chechens themselves - if they were called French - would consider it an insult)

(Chantre Ernest. Recherches ant-hropologiques dans le Caucase. Paris, - 1887. 4. 4. P. 104, no Sanders A. Kaukasien

Kunachism and hospitality among this people are observed more strictly than among other mountaineers. Kunak will not allow his friend to be insulted throughout the entire time that he is under his protection, and if he lives with him, he protects him from impending danger even at the cost of his own life.

Chechens are good shooters and have good weapon. They fight on foot. Their courage reaches the point of frenzy.

They never surrender, even if one of them remains against twenty, and the one who is captured by surprise by accident or oversight is covered in shame, as is his family.

No Chechen girl will marry a young man who did not take part in the raids or who showed himself to be a coward in any battle.

The upbringing, lifestyle and internal management of the Chechens are what they should be for desperate people.

But the Caucasian peoples, with all the diversity of their historical destinies and origins, have one more common feature, especially pronounced among the Chechens: a deep inner awareness of the immediacy of what is happening.

Living among the embodiment of eternity - the mountains, they experience time not as fleeting moments, but as the infinity of existence. Perhaps this is the secret of the incredible courage to confront tiny Chechnya.

“We had to fight the most difficult war in Chechnya, covered with centuries-old forests. The Chechens chose Germenchuk as their rallying point, the imam personally brought 6 thousand Lezgins to their aid.

The Chechens were asked to surrender.

They answered: “We don’t want mercy, we ask for one favor from the Russians - let them let our families know that we died as we lived - without submitting to someone else’s power.”

Then it was ordered to attack the village from all sides. Frantic gunfire opened up, and the outermost saklyas burst into flames. The first incendiary shells exploded, then they stopped exploding. Later, our people learned that the Chechens, lying on them, extinguished the pipes before the fire communicated with gunpowder.
Little by little the fire engulfed all the houses. The Chechens sang a death song.
Suddenly a human figure jumped out of the burning saklya and a Chechen with a dagger rushed at our people. The Mozdok Cossack Atarshchikov thrust a bayonet into his chest. This pattern was repeated several times.

6 Lezgins crawled out of the burning ruins, miraculously surviving. They were immediately taken to be bandaged. Not a single Chechen surrendered alive"

(Chichakova, “Shamil in Russia and the Caucasus”).

Khankala... This name has been attached to the gorge since ancient times. In the Chechen language it means guard fortress. Quite a few pages of history are connected with it.
Here was the large village of Chechen-Aul, which gave its name to the largest of the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus.
At the mouth of the Khankala Gorge, the Vainakhs met the hordes of the Crimean Khan in the 17th century, intent on putting peaceful mountain villages to fire and sword. They met and utterly defeated 80,000 troops across the ridges of centuries.

During the battle on the Sunzha River on July 4, 1785, the Georgian prince P. Bagration, who fought as part of the Russian troops, was wounded and captured.

During the battle, he showed courage and did not give up when all the nearby soldiers threw down their weapons and raised their hands. The transfer of Russian troops across the Sunzha failed and ended in the defeat of the Russian troops.

The wounded Bagration had his saber knocked out of his hands, knocked down and tied up. After the battle, there was traditionally an equivalent exchange of prisoners, or a ransom if one of the sides did not have anyone to exchange.

After the exchange, the Russian command offered a large sum of money for Bagration. A boat with mountaineers sailed from the opposite Chechen shore of the Sunzha.

When the boat moored to the shore where the royal battalions were located, the Chechens carefully carried Bagration out of the boat and laid him on the ground, already bandaged by the Chechen doctors. And without uttering a word, without looking at anyone, they climbed back into the boat and began to push away from the shore.

"And money?" - surprised Russian officers rushed towards them, holding out the bag. None of the murids turned around. Only one Chechen looked at them with an impassive gaze, said something in Chechen and turned away.

The mountaineers silently crossed the river and disappeared into the thickets of the forest.

“What did he say,” the officers asked the Kumyk translator?

The translator replied: “We neither sell nor buy brave men.”

"The history of war and Russian rule in the Caucasus" N.F. Dubrovin. 1888

The nice sides of the Chechens are reflected in their epics and songs. Poor in the number of words, but extremely figurative, the language of this tribe seems to have been created, according to knowledgeable researchers of the Andean ridge, for a legend and a fairy tale - naive and instructive at the same time.

Humiliated braggarts, punished envious people and predators, the triumph of the generous, albeit weak, respect for a woman who is an outstanding helper to her husband and comrades - these are the roots folk art in Chechnya.

Add to this the wit of the mountaineer, his ability to joke and understand a joke, gaiety, which even the difficult situation of this tribe could not overcome, and you, of course, with all your respect for uniform moralists, will agree with me that the Chechens are a people as a people, no worse, and perhaps even better, than any other who singles out such virtuous and merciless judges from among them.

Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko

“As for the Chechens, in my opinion, for the most part they have an increased potential for courage, energy and love of freedom.

At the end of the first Chechen war I wrote in the then Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the Chechens represent, in their qualities, including intellectual data, a certain fluctuation of positive properties.

I know many Chechens of different positions and ages, and I am always amazed at their intelligence, wisdom, concentration, and perseverance.

One of the components of the fluctuation mentioned above seems to me to be the fact that the Chechens, alone among the peoples Russian Empire, had no aristocracy, never knew serfdom, and have been living without feudal princes for about three hundred years.”

(Vadim Belotserkovsky, 02/22/08)

After the crushing of France in 1812-1814. defeating also the mighty Ottoman Empire in 1829, Russia took on the Caucasians.

Among them, the Chechens put up the most fierce resistance. They were ready to die, but not to part with freedom. This sacred feeling is the basis of the Chechen ethnic character to this day.

We now know that their ancestors were involved in the formation of human civilization in its primary center in the Middle East. Hurrians, Mittani and Urartu - that's who are listed in the sources of Chechen culture.

The ancient peoples of the Eurasian steppes apparently also included their ancestors, because traces of the relationship of these languages ​​remained. For example, with the Etruscans, as well as with the Slavs.

The traditional worldview of the Chechens reveals primordial monotheism, the idea of ​​one God.

The system of united self-governing teips centuries ago developed a single body, the Council of the Country. He performed the functions of a unified military command, formed public relations, and carried out state functions.

The only thing it lacked for the rank of state was a penal system, including prisons.

So, the Chechen people lived for centuries with their own state. By the time Russia appeared in the Caucasus, the Chechens completed their anti-feudal movement. But they abandoned the functions of the state as a way of human coexistence and self-defense.

It was this nation that in the past managed to carry out a unique world experiment to achieve a democratic society." (author's note The Vainakh Society did not achieve a democratic society - from time immemorial they lived in a democratic society)

Charles William Recherton

Official Russian historiography carefully conceals the real scale of losses incurred during aggressive wars of conquest.

Of course, if the Russian people knew what it cost them, they would not get involved in all sorts of adventures.

For example, look at Prince Vorontsov’s campaign against the Chechens in the 19th century. Out of 10 thousand Russians, 7 were destroyed.

On way back to Russia, the officers carefully ensured that Vorontsov did not shoot himself. Otherwise, one of them would have to answer to the king.

Vorontsov had nothing to lose, and he wrote to the Tsar in his report about the colossal victory of the Russians, and the crushing defeat of the Chechens, for which he was awarded a promotion.

Most likely, the king and his officials were not so stupid as to believe the absurd report. But victories and the basis for further expansion into the Caucasus were needed like air.

After Vorontsov's punishment, it would be more difficult for the tsar to send new recruits to the slaughter.

They know how to value the virtues in a person dearly, but in the excitement, even the greatest person can die for nothing.

From the diary of a Russian soldier who was held captive by the Chechens for ten months during the Caucasian War of the 19th century.

When you look at the Chechen and our brother Vakhlak at the same time, ours gives the impression of a clumsy herbivore next to a stately and brave predator.

The Chechen has the colorful outfit of some panther or leopard, the grace and flexibility of her movements, her terrible strength, embodied in graceful steel forms...

This is truly a beast, perfectly equipped with all kinds of military weapons, sharp claws, powerful teeth, jumping like rubber, agile like rubber, rushing away with the speed of lightning, overtaking and striking with the speed of lightning, instantly igniting with such malice and anger that a herbivore is never able to animate ox"

(E.M. Markov, "Essays on the Caucasus", St. Petersburg, 1875).

The flatness, or, more correctly, the sloping northern slopes of the Caucasian ridge, covered with forests and fruitful valleys and inhabited in the eastern part by the Chechen tribe, the most warlike of the mountain tribes, has always constituted the heart, granary and most powerful hire of the coalition of mountains hostile to us.

Shamil, knowing well the value of these foothills and choosing his residence first Dargo, and then Vedeno, apparently tried to stay closer to Chechnya than to all his other possessions.

The significance of these foothills was also understood by the Commander-in-Chief, Prince Baryatinsky, who concentrated all our attacks on the Chechen lands, with the fall of which in April 1859, densely populated Dagestan could not withstand even six months, although it had rested from our offensive actions, which had been stopped on the part of Dagestan since 1849 .

(E. Selderetsky. Conversations about the Caucasus. Part 1, Berlin, 1870)

Meanwhile, Major General Grekov, taking advantage of the temporary lull, made several expeditions to Chechnya during the winter (1825) to punish the villages that had received fugitive Kabardians.

It was impossible to wish for more disastrous weather for the Chechens.
From the day he left Grozny until his return, the cold continued to be quite severe. In addition to the deep snow in Chechnya, frosts constantly remained from 8 to 12 degrees, and finally, glaze, which lasted 4 days, covered trees and all plants with ice, depriving livestock of their last means of food, while hay remained either in the villages or in the steppe.

These two extremes are strong enough to enslave any other people, but they barely swayed a few Chechens. Their tenacity is incredible. That is, they did not extradite the Kabardians.""

(Dubrovin N.F. “History of War and Dominion”, vol. VI, book 1, St. Petersburg, 1888, p. 527) 1919.

The Turkish officer, Huseyn Efendi, who by the will of fate found himself among the Chechens, did not hide his amazement and admiration.

““The Highlanders, fighting with the Russians, are constantly in battle,” he wrote. - Without receiving any money, no food, literally nothing.

I am afraid of Allah not to tell the truth that the mountaineers, especially the Shatoevites, are worth a lot.

They are not afraid of the enemy, nor the frost, nor poverty; at my first click they set out on a campaign. If we don’t thank them, Allah will thank them.

I am a Turk, but they are Chechens, and they stand for their faith. I can boldly say that I have never seen anything like it. I will never tear myself away from the mountaineers."

According to legend, Shamil was asked who fought the best among the peoples in the Imamate? He said "Chechens".

“And who was the worst of all,” and he answered “Chechens,” and when his interlocutor was amazed, the imam explained, “the best of the Chechens were the best of all the rest, and the worst of them were the worst of all the rest.”

1918 The Russians, who expelled the Chechens from Grozny, were besieged there by highlanders and fired cannons at nearby villages.

Soon the Chechens managed to disarm the Vedeno garrison of the Russians and take away 19 guns from them. Having transported these guns to the besiegers of Grozny, the Chechens used them solely to force the Russians not to destroy their villages.

S. M. Kirov writes: "" If the Chechens decide to end Grozny, they will be able to do it in a few minutes. They only have to fire a few shells at oil and gasoline tanks and all that will be left of Grozny is ashes."

“The social life of the Chechens is distinguished in its structure by the patriarchalism and simplicity that we find in primitive societies, which modernity has not yet touched on any of its various aspects of civil life.

The Chechens do not have those class divisions that constitute the character of European-organized societies.

Chechens in their closed circle form a class - free people, and we do not find any feudal privileges among them."

(A.P. Berger, “Chechnya and Chechens”, Tiflis, 1859).

At the time of agnatic unions, the image of a male warrior, warrior, defender of the union, rises to the level of a comprehensive folk ideal, leaving its mark on life in all its manifestations.
How this image should have been drawn before the mental gaze of the Ancient Caucasian highlander - we can judge this from the views of the Chechens - a people very weakly susceptible to the influence of time and circumstances.

A true warrior, according to these views, must first of all possess all the properties and qualities of a warrior of the heroic era of humanity;

He must be very indifferent to life,
to love not peace and quiet, but all kinds of dangers and abusive worries,
must be brave
unshakably firm, patient and enduring"

(N. Semenov, “Natives of the North-Eastern Caucasus”, St. Petersburg, 1895).

Thus, in one Chechen song it is sung:

Belt on a thin waist
Replace it with a sash - the royal authority commands you.
Well-tailored cloth Circassian
Change to rags - the royal power tells you.

Your hat from astrakhan fur
Change it to a cap - the royal power tells you.
Ancestral Steel Weapons
Replace it with a twig - the royal authority tells you.

Get off your horse, who grew up with you,
Be on foot - the royal authority commands you.
To the killers of your brothers, who do not recognize God,
Become a slave and be quiet - the royal power commands you.

Go to bed next to them in a common parking lot,
Eat from one bowl - the royal power commands you...

"The Chechen woman is freer than all women and therefore more honest than all."

If there were no reasons for discord among them, the Chechens would become very dangerous neighbors, and it is not without reason to apply to them what Thucydides said about the ancient Scythians:

“There is no people in Europe or Asia that could resist them if the latter united their forces.”

(Johan Blaramberg, "Caucasian Manuscript")

Chechen crafts. According to Marggraf (O.V. Marggraf.

Essay on handicrafts of the North. Caucasus, 1882), Terek Cossacks bought from the Chechens in Mozdok, Grozny, Kizlyar (Bukhne, founded by the Sharoyts) and Khasav-Yurt (Khase Evla, founded by the Chechens) about 1,700 “Circassians” (Russian name) per year and the same number of bashlyks only for the amount of 10,000 rubles.

Chechen grain fed not only neighboring regions, but was exported to Turkey and Iran.

“According to official data, the population of Chechnya from 1847 to 1850 decreased by more than half, and from 1860 to the time of the revolution (i.e. 1917) - almost quadrupled,” states the Encyclopedic Dictionary “Granat”

(vol. 58, ed. 7, Moscow, OGIZ, 1940, p. 183).

A. Rogov also says that the pre-war number of Chechens was one and a half million people

(magazine "Revolution and Highlander", No. 6-7, p. 94).

By the end of the war in 1861, only 140 thousand people remained, and by 1867 - 116 thousand.

(Volkova N.G. “Ethnic composition of the population of the North Caucasus in the 19th century.” Moscow, 1973, pp. 120 - 121.)

The scale of military operations is also illustrated by the number of tsarist troops concentrated in the Caucasus: from 250,000 in the mid-40s to 300,000 by the end of the 50s

(Pokrovsky M.N. “Diplomacy and wars of Tsarist Russia in the 19th century.” M., 1923, pp. 217 - 218).

These troops in the Caucasus, as Field Marshal Baryatinsky noted in his report to Alexander II, constituted “undoubtedly the best half of the Russian forces.”

(report of Field Marshal A.I. Baryatinsky for 1857 - 1859. Acts collected by the Caucasian archaeological expedition, vol. XII, Tiflis, 1904).

Dmitry Panin, a descendant of an ancient noble family, a Russian scientist and religious philosopher who spent 16 years in Stalin's camps.

In the 70s, his book “Lubyanka - Ekibastuz” was published in the West, which literary critics called “a phenomenon of Russian literature equal to F. M. Dostoevsky’s Notes from the House of the Dead.”

This is what he writes in this book about the Chechens:

“The most successful and witty escape was the escape (from the Special Camp in Kazakhstan - V.M.) of two prisoners during a strong snowstorm.
During the day, piles of compacted snow had piled up, the barbed wire was covered, and the prisoners walked across it like a bridge. The wind blew at their backs: they unbuttoned their peacoats and pulled them with their hands like sails.

Wet snow forms a solid road: during the snowstorm they managed to travel more than two hundred kilometers and reach the village. There they ripped off rags with numbers and mixed with the local population.

They were lucky: they were Chechens; they showed them hospitality. Chechens and Ingush are closely related Caucasian peoples of the Muslim religion.

The vast majority of their representatives are determined and courageous people.

When the Germans were driven out of the Caucasus, Stalin expelled these and other minorities to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Children, elderly and weak people died, but great tenacity and vitality allowed the Chechens to resist during the barbaric resettlement.

The strength of the Chechens was loyalty to their religion. They tried to settle in groups, and in each village the most educated of them took on the responsibility of mullah.
They tried to resolve disputes and quarrels among themselves, without bringing them to the Soviet court; Girls were not allowed to go to school, boys went to school for a year or two to learn only to write and read, and after that no fines helped.

The simplest business protest helped the Chechens win the battle for their people. Children were brought up in religious ideas, albeit extremely simplified, in respect for their parents, for their people, for their customs, and in hatred for the godless Soviet cauldron, in which they did not want to boil for any reason.

At the same time, clashes invariably arose and protests were expressed. Small Soviet satraps did a dirty job, and many Chechens ended up behind barbed wire.
We also had reliable, brave, determined Chechens with us. There were no informers among them, and if any appeared, they turned out to be short-lived.

I have had the opportunity to verify more than once the loyalty of the Vainakh Muslims. When I was a brigadier, I chose the Ingush Idris as my assistant and was always calm, knowing that the rear was reliably protected and every order would be carried out by the brigade.
I was in exile in Kazakhstan at the height of the development of virgin lands, when, having received five hundred rubles in allowance, representatives of the criminal world poured there.

The party organizer of the state farm, fearing for his life, hired three Chechens as his bodyguards for a lot of money. His actions were disgusting to all the Chechens there, but once they promised, they kept their word, and, thanks to their protection, the party organizer remained safe and sound.

Later, when I was free, I many times set the Chechens as an example to my acquaintances and offered to learn from them the art of defending their children, protecting them from the corrupting influence of a godless, unprincipled government.

What happened so simply and naturally for the illiterate Vainakhs - Muslims - was shattered by the desire of educated and semi-educated Soviet Russians to necessarily give a higher education to their, as a rule, only child.
It was impossible for ordinary people, with the inculcated atheism and the bloodless, crushed, closed Church almost everywhere, to defend their children alone.”

In the encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron published in 1903 about the Chechens it is said:

“Chechens are tall and well built. Women are beautiful. ... Indomitability, courage, agility, endurance, calmness in the fight - these are the traits of the Chechen, long recognized by everyone, even their enemies.”

(Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron. 1903)

Speaking about the Chechens, Brockhaus also says that the Chechens think about theft:

"The biggest insult a girl can give a guy is to say, 'You can't even steal a ram.'

It must be emphasized that Brockhaus did not deign to explain, or did not understand, the specific root of this theft, and thereby simply labels the Chechens, accusing them of theft.

Meanwhile, the theft that Brockhaus speaks of applies exclusively and only to the enemy at war with them.

The meaning of the insult in question is that the Chechen girl insults the Chechen guy, who cannot do evil against the enemy of the Chechen people, even by stealing a ram, while the Chechen must in any way harm his hated enemies - those who are fighting with the Chechens, even robbery.

This is what “theft” is all about. In fact, what he calls theft was the robbery of exclusively military and military fortifications.

Well, if we talk about theft among the Chechens in general as such, then from time immemorial the Chechens expelled anyone caught in theft from their midst, and the culprit could only settle where they did not know him, since the shame from this was passed on to his relatives.

In confirmation of what has been said, we cite the words of the captain of the tsarist army of the 19th century, I. I. Nordenstam, who certainly cannot be suspected of sympathizing with the Chechens:

“Theft from one’s enemy, especially from an infidel, is considered daring; theft among one’s own is almost unheard of and is considered shameful...”

(I.I. Nordenstamm. “Description of Chechnya with ethnographic and economic information.” Materials on the history of Dagestan and Chechnya. 1940, p. 322.).

The Russian intelligentsia pays great attention to the peoples of the North Caucasus in their work - M.Yu. Lermontov, A.S. Pushkin, L.N. Tolstoy and others.

The best works they wrote about the Caucasus are dedicated to the Chechens. They describe the life and customs of the Chechens with deep sympathy and respect. They described the love of freedom, courage, devotion and friendship of the Chechens.

They didn’t need to invent or embellish anything, they simply stated the facts, and they endowed the heroes of their works with such qualities.
The nobility that Chechens are distinguished by even in difficult moments of their lives is clearly expressed in Pushkin’s “Tazit”, when Tazit, raised among the Chechens, leaves, leaving his enemy, the fratricide, alive, due to the fact that he was unarmed and wounded.

“The killer was alone, wounded, unarmed”

(A.S. Pushkin. Complete collection of works. M., 1948. vol. 5. p. 69. “Tazit.”)

The custom of hospitality is especially revered by the Chechens. A guest (khasha) among the Chechens is considered not only a specially invited person, but also any acquaintance or complete stranger who has asked to come to the house for rest, for an overnight stay, with a request for protection or assistance in something.

People of any race and religion can take advantage of the hospitality of the Chechens. The further the relationship with the guest, the more responsibility lies with the host regarding the security of the guest.
And in the Russian-Chechen War of 1994-96, the fighters of the Chechen Resistance themselves contacted the parents of the Russian soldiers they captured, who came to kill the Chechens, and gave them their sons alive.

The Chechens welcomed the parents of Russian soldiers who came in search of prisoners and missing sons at home, gave them lodging for the night, food, and no one ever had the thought of taking any payment for this.

According to Chechen custom, the right to one’s home is considered sacred and inviolable. For an insult to an owner in his own home, the offender bears more responsibility than for a similar insult inflicted elsewhere.

Anyone entering someone else's house must ask the owner's permission to do so. Permission follows immediately.

Among the Chechens, it is considered a great disgrace for the home if a stranger, familiar or unfamiliar, leaves the threshold of the house without meeting with a warm welcome. Only people who have blood scores with someone are careful about inviting an unfamiliar guest into the house, because they are afraid that he may turn out to be their blood enemy.

A person who has visited the house of a Chechen, even just once, is considered by custom to be a friend and well-wisher of this house.

If, according to custom, any visitor or guest is, to some extent, accepted as a faithful friend, kunak, one of his own, and even as a relative, then custom requires from the visitor his affection and loyalty to the owner, to whom he visited at least once and “bread” salt,” which he tasted.

“...to touch a guest in the house would be the greatest crime; therefore, as a sign of his trust in the owner, the guest, getting off his horse, always gives away his weapon, which he received upon his departure.”

Writes I.I. Nordenstamm, who in 1832, during a military campaign in the eastern region of Chechnya, collected some ethnographic information about the Chechens.

“Chechens are exquisitely polite hosts and guests. ...the Chechens are distinguished by the most cordial hospitality. Everyone tries to surround the guest with that material contentment that he himself does not have either on annual holidays or at solemn moments for his family.”

(Dubrovin. “The History of War and Russian Dominion in the Caucasus.” 1871. t.

If someone offends a guest, he will thereby offend the host, and such an insult is perceived by Chechens as stronger than a personal insult.

V. Miller, A.P. Berger and other researchers note that violation of the custom of hospitality is considered a great crime among the Chechens. The whole society turned away from the offender, he was despised, cursed, and under particularly difficult circumstances, he was completely kicked out of his midst.

“The feeling of hospitality has been absorbed into the blood and flesh of every Chechen. Everything for the guest, no matter who he is. With his last savings, the Chechen buys a pound of sugar and an ounce of tea and does not use them at all, but keeps them especially for the guest.

A Chechen, when he has nothing to treat a guest, feels extremely embarrassed and almost disgraced. During the guest's stay, the host renounces personal comfort and places him in his own personal bed.

He sees off the guest, and if he is killed on the way (from him), then, together with the relatives of the murdered person, he declares revenge on the killer.”

(D. Sheripov. Essay on Chechnya. (Brief ethnographic information). Grozny. 1926, p. 28.)

There are numerous materials that can be found, in particular in the Acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission, proving, for example, how Russian soldiers fled to Chechnya during the long period of the Caucasian War.

The fugitive soldiers, despite the fact that they came to their land with war, were received by the Chechens with respect, according to the Chechen custom of hospitality, and the fact that they were received this way clearly shows how it was very difficult for the tsarist authorities to force the Chechens to hand over the fugitives for reprisals.

They offered a lot of money for them, and otherwise they threatened to destroy an entire Chechen village, which was sometimes carried out.

Details about kunak connections during the Caucasian War can also be found in the reports of contemporaries.

So, for example, N. Semenov gives vivid examples of how Russian serfs, soldiers, and Cossacks fled to the mountains. They always “found shelter and hospitality” among the Chechens and lived “pretty well” in the villages of Chechnya.

(N. Semenov. “Natives of the North-Eastern Caucasus.” St. Petersburg, 1895, p. 120.)

“Every house has a special compartment for guests, which is called a kunatsky, it consists of one or several rooms, depending on the condition of the owner, which is kept very clean,”

The same Nordenstamm writes (Materials on the history of Dagestan and Chechnya. 1940, p. 317.).

“The glorious Beybulat, the thunderstorm of the Caucasus, came to Arzrum with two elders of the Circassian villages, who were indignant during the last wars. ...

His arrival in Arzrum made me very happy: he was already my guarantee of a safe passage through the mountains to Kabarda.”

(A.S. Pushkin. op. vol. 5. M., 1960, p. 457.).

These words of Pushkin show us that the poet was familiar with the customs of the Chechens. He knew that even if he happened to be a casual companion of the Chechen Taimi-Bibolt (Beibulat Taimiev), he was guaranteed safety on such a dangerous path from Arzrum along the Georgian military road, which shows the joy of the poet’s meeting with Beibulat.

L.N. Tolstoy, while in Chechnya, became friends with the Chechens Balta Isaev and Sado Misirbiev from Stary-Yurt, later renamed Tolstoy-Yurt. The writer spoke about his friendship with Sado:

“Many times he has proven his devotion to me by putting his life in danger because of me, but this does not mean anything to him, this is a custom and pleasure for him.”

(Collection. “The Caucasus and Tolstoy”, edited by Semenov. L.P.).

As you know, it was his acquaintance with the Chechen way of life that pushed the great writer to embrace Islam. And Lev Nikolaevich met his end of life on the way to Chechnya, where he was going and where he was going to live his last days.

Many Chechens consider them humanists, and some even consider them the first human rights activists of the Chechens. The reason for this is the description by Russian writers in their works of the national qualities of the Chechens - courage, bravery, bravery, nobility.

But the fact is that these writers did not invent anything, but simply wrote the truth.

One of the factors determining the characteristics of the national character of the Chechens is Chechen folk social and everyday lyrics. Social and everyday lyrics include traditional songs of the Chechens, which served in the popular consciousness to express the inner world of the Chechens.

The Chechen song expresses the richness of feelings of the people's soul with its sorrows and joys caused by certain historical events, the hard life of the people, the Chechens’ love for freedom and hatred of the tsarist colonialists, who brought slavery and oppression to the Chechens.

The Chechens do not and never have been divided into classes or any social groups: “The Chechens do not and never have had their own princes, beks or any other rulers; everything is equal..."

(Materials on the history of Dagestan and Chechnya. 1940, p. 323.)

Famous Caucasus expert A.P. Berger, published in 1859 in his book “Chechnya and Chechens” writes:

“There is almost no difference in the way of life between wealthy and poor Chechens: the advantage of one over the other is expressed partly in clothing, but most of all in weapons and horses... Chechens in their closed circle form one class with themselves - free people, and we do not find any feudal privileges between them."

(A.P. Berger. “Chechnya and the Chechens.” Tiflis. 1859. pp. 98-99.).

Slavery, in any manifestation, and Chechen psychology are not compatible. Unlike others, the Chechen, without hesitation, will go to certain death rather than agree to be a slave, no matter how strong and countless the enemy is.

Chechens treat slaves, as well as cowards, as despicable creatures. In the Chechen lexicon, slave barking is the greatest insult.

This is also demonstrated in the works of M.Yu. Lermontov, when in “The Fugitive”, the mother abandons her son, who “could not die with glory”:

"By your shame, fugitive of freedom,
I will not darken my old years,
You are a slave and a coward - and not my son!..."

(M.Yu. Lermontov. collected works in 4 volumes. vol. 2. M., “Fiction”. 1964, p. 49.).

In his article Friedrich Bodenstedt (Frankfurt, 1855) wrote:

"From century to century powerful Russian state exposes to physical destruction the Chechen people, their historical and cultural heritage, “Russia waged war against the Chechens for many centuries, but was never able to completely defeat them.”

Benckendorff recounts an amazing episode:
“Once, on one market day, a quarrel arose between the Chechens and the Absheronians (soldiers of the Absheronsky regiment - Ya.G.), the Kurins (soldiers of the Kurinsky regiment - Ya.G.) did not fail to take a serious part in it.

But who did they come to help? Of course, not the Absheronians!

“How can we not protect the Chechens,” said the Kura soldiers, “they are our brothers, we’ve been fighting with them for 20 years now!”

The Chechens were rightly considered the most active and powerful opponents of the tsarist government during the conquest of the North Caucasus.

The onslaught of the tsarist troops on the highlanders caused their unification to fight for their independence, and in this struggle of the highlanders, the Chechens played an outstanding role, supplying the main fighting forces and food for gazavat (holy war) "Chechnya was the breadbasket of gazavat."

(TSB, Moscow, 1934, p. 531)

The government commission, having studied the issue of recruiting them to serve in the Russian army, in 1875. reported:

""Chechens, the most warlike and dangerous mountaineers of the North. Caucasus, they are ready-made warriors.... Chechens are literally childhood get used to communicating with weapons. Shooting at night, offhand, by sound, by light, shows the clear advantage of the highlanders in this over trained Cossacks and especially soldiers."

Abstracts of reports.... Makhachkala, 1989 page 23

""The Chechens are very poor, but they never go for alms, they don’t like to beg, and this is their moral superiority over the mountaineers. Chechens never give orders to their own people, but say

""I would need this, I would like to eat, I will do it, I will go, I will find out, if God willing.""

There are almost no swear words in the local language....""

S. Belyaev, diary of a Russian soldier who was held captive by the Chechens for ten months.

""During their independence, the Chechens, in contrast to the Circassians, did not know the feudal structure and class divisions. In their independent communities, governed by popular assemblies, everyone was absolutely equal. We are all uzdeni (i.e. free, equal), the Chechens now say.""

(Encyclopedic Dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus, I. A. Efron. vol. XXXVIII A, St. Petersburg, 1903)

Characterizing the situation in the field of education, contrary to the imperial myths about the “dark mountaineers,” the famous Caucasus expert, Tsarist General P.K. Uslar wrote:

“If education is judged by the proportionality of the number of schools with the mass of the population, then the Caucasian highlanders in this regard are ahead of many European nations.”

The Chechens are undoubtedly the bravest people in the Eastern Mountains. Campaigns into their lands always cost us enormous bloody sacrifices.

(N.F. Dubrovin, “History of war and Russian rule in the Caucasus”)

In his apology for the Russian colonization of the Caucasus, Alexander Kaspari gives the following description of the Chechens:

“The upbringing of a Chechen is based on obedience, on the ability to restrain his feelings within proper boundaries, on the other hand, he is given complete freedom to develop individual abilities as he pleases.

The consequence of this was that the Chechens are very smart, dexterous and resourceful.

Despite the respect for their titled persons and elders, Chechens never reach the point of servility and sycophancy, and if some authors accuse them of this, then this shows their little knowledge of the Chechen character.

This is not a repetition of the above statement. The above statement is from Berger, and this is from Caspary, although they are half similar.

“The Chechens, both men and women, are extremely beautiful people in appearance. They are tall, very slender, their physiognomies, especially their eyes, are expressive; in their movements, the Chechens are agile, dexterous; in character they are all very impressionable, cheerful and very witty, for which they are called the "French" of the Caucasus, but at the same time they are suspicious and vindictive. At the same time, the Chechens are indomitable, unusually resilient, brave in attack, defense and pursuit"

(Kaspari A.A. “The Conquered Caucasus.” book-1. p. 100-101.120. supplement to the magazine “Motherland” M. 1904).

Unfortunately, questions of the ethnogenesis of the Vainakhs have not been the subject of special research by historians. Historians, linguists, and archaeologists only incidentally touch upon in their works the questions of the origin of the Vainakhs as an ethnic group, and perhaps they were forbidden to write Pravda about the Chechens, since this would instill a love of exploited peoples for freedom and equality.

The original features inherent in the Chechens, their way of life, and culture were only to a small extent the subject of publicity.

It is impossible to ignore the piety and courage of Chechen women without mentioning this from many examples.

In 1944, on February 23, during the eviction of the Chechens, on this tragic day, when everyone, young and old, was declared enemies of the homeland, loaded onto Studebakers, and taken away from their native villages, not even allowed to take food and clothing.

People were shot not only for the slightest disobedience, but even for an angry look at the genocide being committed. On this terrible day, it would seem impossible to think about anything else.

A Chechen woman, whose stomach was ripped open by a Red Army soldier with a bayonet, trying to hold back her spilling insides with her hands, shouted to her brother-in-law, who wanted to help her: “Don’t go into the house, my private parts are visible!”

This is what it is, the moral character of Chechen women.

The famous historian and linguist Joseph Karst states that the Chechens, sharply separated from other mountain peoples of the Caucasus by their origin and language, are the remnant of a certain great ancient people, whose traces are detected in many areas of the Middle East, right up to the borders of Egypt.

I. Karst in his other work called the Chechen language the northern offspring of the proto-language, considering the language of the Chechens, like the Chechens themselves, to be a remnant of the most ancient primitive people.

The Chechen village of Dadi-Yurt, located on the right bank of the Terek, was wiped off the face of the earth in 1818 by order of the Tsar’s governor in the Caucasus, General Ermolov.

Before the start of the battle, the parliamentarians appealed to the command of the tsarist troops to release women, children and old people from the village. But the royal officers said that the proconsul Ermolov ordered the entire village to be punished.

“Then look how Chechens can die in battle,” they received an answer from Chechen parliamentarians.

The whole village fought - the men were helped by women, children and old people. Some helped in any way they could, some loaded the guns, some bandaged the wounds, and some stood next to the men.

When the Chechens ran out of gunpowder and bullets, and the tsarist troops, having previously razed the village to the ground by bombardment, entered it, the Chechens emerged from under cover, drawing daggers, and rushed into a furious hand-to-hand attack.

Russian soldiers, veterans of the Caucasian War, testified that they had never seen such a fierce battle.

After the battle ended, more than ten Chechen women were captured. When they were transported to the left bank of the Terek, the Chechen women, telling each other “we won’t let these infidels trample the Honor of our men,” and taking one Cossack guard each, rushed into the stormy river.

I heard from the old people that they witnessed how the Cossacks, passing the wasteland where the village of Dadi-Yurt was once located, got off their horses and took off their hats.

“But there was one nation that did not succumb to the psychology of submission at all - not loners, not rebels, but the whole nation as a whole. These are the Chechens.

A. Solzhenitsyn.

(http://cis-development.ru/knigi/chast1.html)