| Timurid invasion of Simsim | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Tokhtamysh–Timur war | |||||||
 Medieval map of Simsim | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Simsim |  Timurid Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gayur Khan | Timur Muhammad [lower-alpha 2] | ||||||
The Timurid invasion of Simsim happened in the 14th century when the Timurid Empire invaded Simsim, an ally of the Golden Horde. As a result, Simsim was devastated which led to the collapse of the state; a large part of the population was killed and many shrines and temples were destroyed.
In 14 April 1395, the forces of the Golden Horde under Tokhtamysh and the Timurid Empire under Timur met on the opposite sides of the Terek River in the Battle of the Terek River. Both armies counted around 300,000 men. The native North Caucasians participated on the side of Tokhtamysh. The Timurids won over the Golden Horde and Tokhtamysh's army was dispersed. [1] Pursuing Tokhtamysh, Timur annihilated and robbed as he passed through Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' and Crimea. Having returned to North Caucasus, he carried out a massacre of the local people. [2]
After the destruction of the Kapchigai Fortress, Timur returned to the Pyatigorye , his headquarters. There he let his army rest and planned another invasion of the North Caucasus, this time, of Simsim. [3] According to Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi, Timur declared to the population of Simsim that "anyone who obeyed would be pardoned, and anyone who resisted would be executed". However, this threat was ignored by the population of Simsim, after which Timur invaded. [4]
When Timur arrived in Simsim, the son of Gayur Khan, Muhammad, defected to Timur together with his ilem ('region and subjects') and became Timur's vassal. The lowland Muslim Turkic inhabitants of Simsim gave little to no resistance to the Timurids and submitted easily. [5]
The invasion took on a large scale as attested by the fact that Timur's court historians did not consider it necessary to describe the fate of Gayur Khan, but focused all their attention on Timur's actions in the mountainous part of Simsim. [1]
The Timurids invaded mountainous Simsim not only because the inhabitants retreated to there, but also because of the pagan beliefs of the inhabitants. [5] The Timurids divided into separate units and moved through the area from west to east, capturing and destroying fortresses and castles along the way, located mainly in the modern day Dzheyrakhsky and Galashkinsky Districts of Ingushetia and Galanchozhsky, Shatoysky and the Itum-Kalinsky Districts of Chechnya. After fighting in the Argun Gorge, the Timurids turned to the northeast, delving into the forest zone of the current Sharoysky, Vedensky and Nozhay-Yurtovsky Districts up to the Andian Ridge. By order of Timur, the inhabitants of mountainous Simsim were tied and thrown off cliffs while their places of worship were ruined and destroyed. [1]
During the fighting in Simsim, the Timurids took control of many parts of Simsim. Timur desired so much to deal with the rebellious mountain people that he even ordered his army to climb into places from which there was no descent either on horseback or on foot. Focusing on the strength of resistance of the inhabitants of Simsim and the ferocity of military operations in the most difficult mountain conditions, Timur's court historians noted that Timur himself "was subjected to these horrors and dangers". [1]
As a result of the Timurid invasion, the Simsim state dissolved. [6]
Ingush, historically known as Durdzuks, Gligvi and Kists, are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group mainly inhabiting Ingushetia in central Caucasus, but also inhabitanting Prigorodny District and town of Vladikavkaz of modern day North-Ossetia. The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language.
When the Soviet Union existed, different governments had ruled the southern Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Within the Mountain Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, later annexed into the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, they were known as the Chechen Autonomous Oblast and the Ingush Autonomous Oblast, which were unified on January 15, 1934, to form the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Oblast. It was elevated to an autonomous republic as the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1936 to 1944 and again from 1957 to 1993. Its capital was Grozny.
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.
The Durdzuks, also known as Dzurdzuks, was a medieval exonym of the 9th-18th centuries used mainly in Georgian, Arabic, but also Armenian sources in reference to the Vainakh peoples.
Simsim was either a historical region or kingdom in the North Caucasus during the Middle Ages, existing in the 14th century. 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-Khel. In its later years it allied itself with the Golden Horde before being destroyed in 1395 by Timurlane, which was recorded in Zafarnama by Nizam al-Din Shami and the Zafarnama by Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi.
The Feappii were an Ingush subgroup (society) that mostly inhabited the mountainous Fappi region of Ingushetia in the Caucasus. Historically, they bordered on the west with Dzherakh, on the east with Khamkhins, on the north with Nazranians, and in the south with Gudomakarians. The center of the society was the fortified village (aul) of Erzi or Metskhal.
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.
My Checheno-Ingushetia was the regional anthem of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.
The 255th Separate Chechen-Ingush Cavalry Regiment was a military unit of the Red Army during World War II which was active from 1942 to 1943.
Ghalghai is the self-name (endonym) of the Ingush people.
Tsori a rural locality in Dzheyrakhsky District of Ingushetia. It is part of the Guli rural settlement.
Meredzhi is a non-residential rural locality in Galanchozhsky District of the Republic of Chechnya, Russia.
Falkhan is a rural locality in the Dzheyrakhsky District of Ingushetia, Russia. It is part of the Lyazhgi rural settlement.
Alkun is a rural locality in Sunzhensky District of the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia, located on both banks of the Assa River. It forms the municipality of the rural settlement of Alkun as the only settlement in its composition.
During the Main Timurid campaign against Simsim in 1395, the main Simsim army, led by Khour II as well as other Chechen nobles clashed with the Timurids led by Timur. The battle resulted in the defeat of the former.
Maksharip Bagaudinovich Muzhukhoev was a Soviet and Russian historian, archaeologist.
Serdalo is a weekly newspaper based in Nazran, Ingushetia.
Umalat Laudaev was the first Chechen ethnographer and a Russian officer known for his only work The Chechen Tribe, published in the Collection of information about the Caucasian highlanders in 1872.
Ingush towers are medieval Ingush stone structures used as residences, signal posts, and fortifications. Most are found in the Sunzhensky and Dzheyrakhsky Districts of Ingushetia, North Caucasia.
Egi-Chozh is a medieval castle complex.
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