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The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, lit. 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the disintegration of the Mongol Empire after 1259, it became a functionally separate khanate. It is also known as the Kipchak Khanate or as the Ulus of Jochi, and it replaced the earlier, less organized Cuman–Kipchak confederation.
The Nart sagas are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form much of the basic mythology of the ethnic groups in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay-Balkar, and to some extent Chechen-Ingush folklore.
The history of Chechnya may refer to the history of the Chechens, of their land Chechnya, or of the land of Ichkeria.
Circassia, also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in the North Caucasus along the northeast shore of the Black Sea. It was conquered and occupied by Russia during the Russian-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which 90% of the Circassian people were either exiled from the region or massacred in the Circassian genocide.
The Chechens, historically also known as Kisti and Durdzuks, are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus. They are the largest ethnic group of the North Caucasus and refer to themselves as Nokhchiy. The vast majority of Chechens today are Muslims and live in Chechnya, a republic of Russia.
The music of Adygea has a long history. Adygea is a republic in Russia. The Republic's national anthem was written by Iskhak Shumafovich Mashbash; music—by Umar Khatsitsovich Tkhabisimov.
A burka is a coat made from felt or karakul.
The Nakh peoples are a group of North Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cultural similarities. These are chiefly the ethnic Chechen, Ingush and Bats peoples of the North Caucasus, including closely related minor or historical groups.
Umar Dimayev was a Chechen accordionist and folk musician. His sons, Ali, Valid, and Said are also professional Chechen musicians.
The Vainakh peoples of the North Caucasus were Islamised comparatively late, during the early modern period, and Amjad Jaimoukha (2005) proposes to reconstruct some of the elements of their pre-Islamic religion and mythology, including traces of ancestor worship and funerary cults. The Nakh peoples, like many other peoples of the North Caucasus such as Circassians and Ossetians, practised tree worship, and believed that trees were the abodes of spirits. Vainakh peoples developed many rituals to serve particular kinds of trees. The pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.
Amjad Jaimoukha was a Circassian writer, publicist and historian, who wrote a number of books on North Caucasian – specifically Circassian and Chechen – culture and folklore. According to the Circassian Encyclopaedia, "Jaimoukha was perhaps the most important writer on Circassian issues." In particular, he was active in promoting and assisting a new crop of Circassian and non-Circassian writers working on raising the profile of Caucasian issues at the global level.
Circassian music refers to the traditional songs and instruments of the Circassians.
Throughout the 13th and 14th century, the ancestors of the Vainakh people, the Durdzuks, among different states and factions, waged a brutal and fierce war against the Mongol Empire, who sought to occupy the lands of the Vainakh. Despite the inferiority in numbers and weapons, the Durdzuks managed to mostly keep their independence, although this also came at a heavy cost, as their resistance resulted in mass amounts of death among the Durdzuks and the destruction of their states, but also greatly shaped the people they would later become. The access to the lowlands was also lost, thus forcing the Durdzuks to adapt to their new situation, such as terracing plots of land and covering them in soil.
Chechnya was first incorporated as a whole into the Russian Empire in 1859 after the decades-long Caucasian War. Tsarist rule was marked by a transition into modern times, including the formation of a Chechen bourgeoisie, the emergence of social movements, reorientation of the Chechen economy towards oil, heavy ethnic discrimination at the expense of Chechens and others in favor of Russians and Kuban Cossacks, and a religious transition among the Chechens towards the Qadiri sect of Sufism.
Simsim, also known as Simsir, was either a historical region or kingdom in North Caucasus during the Middle Ages, existing in the fourteenth century. It's predominantly localized roughly in Eastern Chechnya (Ichkeria), with some also connecting part of Kumyk Plain. Simsim is also localized in both Chechnya and Ingushetia. Its name may have been derived from the Chechen village of Simsir. However, according to folklore the King Gayur Khan was chosen as the leader of all Chechens by the Mehk-Kel. In its later years it allied itself with the Golden Horde before it was destroyed in 1395 by Timurlane, with that conquest of Timurlane being written about in the Zafarnama by Nizam al-Din Shami and the Zafarnama by Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi.
Gayur Khan or Kyr Bek was the king of Simsir in the 14th century. He was involved in the Timurid invasion of the Caucasus and was recorded in the two Persian chronicles: Zafarnama by Nizam al-Din Shami and the Zafarnama by Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi.
Mongol invasion of Circassia refers to the invasion of Circassia by the Mongolian Empire. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols launched massive invasions of the territory of Circassia. William of Rubruck, who travelled to the Caucasus in 1253, wrote that the Circassians had never "bowed to Mongol rule", despite the fact that whole fifth of the Mongol armies were at that time devoted to the task of crushing the Circassian resistance. Circassians made use of both the forests and the mountains, and waged a successful guerrilla war, maintaining their freedom to some extent.
The Timurid invasions of Simsim were a series of military conflicts between the Timurid Empire and the Princedom of Simsim as well as their allies between the years 1386–1437. Due to Simsim's relations with the Golden Horde as well as their support for the Horde during the Tokhtamysh-Timur war, Timur invaded the Princedom and nearly destroyed it, taking away its vassals as well as occupying the lowlands of modern-day Chechnya and Ingushetia. Despite the numerical and technological inferiority, however, resistance continued in the mountains of Simsim, where, after a series of successful counter-campaigns conducted by Surakat and George V of Georgia, the Timurids were driven out of the land. The Avakhar Chechens, separate from Simsim, also took part in this conflict, first on the side of the Timurid Empire, but then went on to show support for their neighbor, thus resulting in Timur's campaign in Avakhar and the devastation of modern-day Dagestan. Timur's invasions of Simsim was a significant event in the history of the Vainakh people and greatly shaped the people they became. Today, many famous Chechen legends such as the Sword of reconciliation date back to the wars against Timur. The physical, material and cultural losses of the Vainakh people were so great that the historical link of times and cultures was once again broken. Overcrowding and lack of arable land caused the Chechens to devise methods to adapt to their new situation, including terracing plots of land and covering them with soil.
Surakat Sado-Orsoy was the ruler of the Avar Khanate from the early 1360s to 1396 and the prince ("Ela") of the Princedom of Simsim from 1396 to the early 1430s. He was the brother of Khour II and also his tributary. In 1396, following his defeat during Timur's campaign in mountainous Dagestan, he was forced to flee Avaria along with his entire family for Simsir, where he rebuilt his power, and, after allying with the Kingdom of Georgia, carried out several successful attacks on Timur's army in the mountains of today's Chechnya.
The Siege of Maghas was the largest battle during the Mongol invasions of the North Caucasus, which was fought between the Mongol Empire and its allies and the Durdzuketi and the Kingdom of Alania. The historic capital of the Alans and Durdzuks, whose location is strongly debated, was besieged for 3 months, until it eventually fell to the Mongols, who destroyed it afterwards. This resulted in the capitulation and eventual destruction of the Kingdom of Alania and the Principality of Durdzuketi as well as the mass migration of Durdzuks and Alans into the mountains.
