The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 5 04.07.02 Chechen culture Architecture Medieval stone towers in Chechnya The mountainous part of the Chechen Republic boasts stone buildings that tower over the terraced villages. These towers are seen as the highest achievement of Chechen architecture and may also be seen as a stone chronicle of Chechen history. Most of the towers were built in the period between the 14th and 18th centuries. Although each century left an imprint on their architecture, the towers share some characteristic features. The towers are cone-shaped and have no groundworks. Slabs of rock were placed in the square-shaped foundation, special cornerstones projected inside the tower and held up the tiers. Ladders were used for communication between the tiers. They were raised at night. There were three kinds of towers: residential, watch and fortification. Two or three storey residential towers had a flat roof and archways. Watch towers were built at the entrance to a canyon. Towers that served as fortifications had embrasures and were crowned with a terraced pyramidal roof. Their lower part was used as dwelling quarters. The stone towers and adjoining buildings were fenced off from the rest of the world, which turned them into fortresses. Scholars describe them as castle complexes. A glance at a castle complex reveals whether the man who lived in it was wealthy, what his trade was, and, sometimes, what his social status was. A slave set free by his owner was allowed to build a house and a stone tower on the condition that his tower remain unfurbished. The stone towers are centuries-old monuments to those who made them. Tall as they were, they stood firm, which proves that the Chechen masons were highly experienced engineers. Some of their stones are decorated with petroglyphs. Architects were highly respected people and highly paid professionals. They worked both at home and in the neighboring provinces of the Northern Caucasus because the residents of those provinces also appreciated their talents. (more about Chechen culture... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=cultureeng) Famous Chechens Cultural figures Pyotr Zakharov-Chechenets (1816-1846) It is the early 19th century. Russian soldiers found a three-year-old baby in what remained, after a combat engagement, of the Chechen village of Dady-Yurt. The baby boy was placed in the custody of Cossak Zakhar Nedonosov who attended to the daily needs of the commander of Russia's Caucasian Corps. As a result, the boy became known as Pyotr Zakharov (Zakhar's Pyotr.) Cossak Nedonosov took care of him till 1823 when a hero of the war against Napoleon, General Pyotr Yermolov, adopted his young namesake. Although he had seven children of his own, Yermolov took very good care of the boy and did his best in an effort to give him a good schooling and education. Even at his tender age, the boy showed a talent for drawing. When Yermolov's health condition deteriorated and he left the Caucasus for Moscow, Pyotr Zakharov started taking classes from portrait-painter Lev Volkov and, in the year 1833, entered with flying colors the St Petersburg Academy of the Arts. The Academy Charter said that gifted serfs and representatives of ethnic minorities could only be admitted as "out-of-class" students. But "out-of-class" student Zakharov excelled in studies and won, even as a freshman, a grant of the Society For The Encouragement Of Artists. The young artist attended classes and did much more work on his own. He joined many art exhibits. A number of his paintings won awards and medals. They were praised by art critics. The Academy was about to give Zakharov a grant for travel to Italy. Highly-gifted but TB-afflicted Zakharov needed it to build up his creative potential and to improve his health condition. But Czar Nicholas I crossed the Chechen's name off the Academy grant-winners' list. Zakharov's first teacher of painting, Lev Volkov, dealt him another blow: he rejected Zakharov's request for the hand of his daughter. Although the young people loved each other, the girl's father packed her off to some Caucasian-based relatives suggesting that they marry her off as soon as possible. Pyotr Zakharov graduated cum laudae from the Art Academy in 1836. He was now known as a freelance painter. A Chechen artist, as he described himself, Zakharov started, even in his school years, to paint portraits. He produced a whole gallery of portraits of celebrities: historian Granovsky, surgeon Inozemtsev, and fiction writer Muraviyov, to name but a few of these. Contemporaries felt that his portrait of poet Mikhail Lermontov revealed, with great accuracy, Lermontov's character. Every new picture by Zakharov was better than the previous ones. He won renown in Moscow and St Petersburg. Many outstanding men asked him to paint their portraits. (in detail... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=fculteng&row=1) Chechen cuisine Delicacies Korta-kogish (mutton head and legs) Thoroughly wash and treat with fire (best with blowlamp) mutton head and legs until all hair is burnt away. Then boil the head and legs in a big pan. Take out the boiled head and legs and put them in an oven to dry and stay warm. Use the broth to boil dumplings made from wheat or corn flour. Serve the dumplings, head and legs on one big dish. Garlic sauce is prepared depending on the number of portions. A guest is offered the head and he is the first to cut off the piece he fancies. (more about cuisine... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=kitcheneng&row=1) Chechen diary 04 July 2002 Chechnyas Interior Ministry will take the control of the situation in the republic The department of internal affairs in Chechnya will be upgraded to an Interior Ministry in July. Speaking at a news conference in ITAR-TASS Chechen Prime Minister Stanislav Ilyasov said the Ministry would consist of up to 11 000 people and the Russian President had supported the move. The staff of law enforcement agencies will be brought up to full strength by the end of the year and 90 percent of the staff will be consisted of local residents. Temporary police departments will become permanent and local people will be recruited to serve there. Public order maintaining stations will be set up in all settlements and 1 500 policemen will serve in these points. Policemen and officers for Chechnyas law enforcement agencies are being trained in and outside the republic. 2 000 policemen have followed special training courses since January. Just recently 200 policemen completed a course at the Russian Interior Ministrys training centre in Kalinovsky. Another 2 000 will complete by the end of the year. For this purpose new training centres have been set up in Schelkovsky, Naur and Nozhai-Yurt districts. Another centre will be opened shortly in Urus-Martan. (more from Chechen diary http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 3 July 2002 School Education in Chechnya in Facts and figures 454 schools, 5 boarding schools, 14 professional technical colleges and 7 technical colleges have ended their academic year. 25 thousand school children will get certificates of secondary education. Among them 165 claim for gold medals and 181 silver medals. The Argun city administration has decided to give presents to pupils who got only excellent marks to encourage them. Though the sum is not so big, it decided to do so in the future. An official of the administration Asvad Delimkhanov said that it would support the young generation. Meanwhile, the Chechen administration took measures in advance to guarantee children a good rest. When the Chechen Prime Minister Stanislav Ilyasov recently visited Moscow the Russian government gave assurances concerning the financing of rest. Supposedly, more than 60 000 Chechen children will spend their vacation in health resorts outside the republic. Meanwhile, the local administrations take steps to prepare schools for the next academic year. The Chechen Education Ministry has bought 930 computers for the schools in Grozny and rural districts. 46 schools will be repaired in Grozny alone. Among them is the school No. 7, one of the best in the republic, where one thousand pupils study. The head of the construction section of the Grozny administrations education department Isa Yusupov assured that all schools will be ready by September to receive pupils. All districts are rebuilding schools. 4 out of 9 schools commissioned in Nozha-Yurt district are new ones. Local builders, private companies and international humanitarian agencies are involved in repairing schools. Administrations plan to attract teachers committees for this purpose. (more from Chechen diary http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 01 July 2002 Residents of the Chechen village of Mairtup are providing order and security themselves Hostilities have ended in Chechnya and the life of the Chechen people is gradually normalizing. Yet, a real peace will come only after militants stop carrying out attacks and people become sure in their future. Meanwhile, many people have come to understanding that efforts by military and federal authorities are not enough, there must be cooperation between federal officials and local residents. This is seen possible in the Kurchalaevsky region after Colonel Nikolay Barsukov became the regions military governor local residents are trying to provide law and order themselves in the area in cooperation with his administration. Such way of organization is yielding good results. The village of Mairtup of the Kurchalaevsky region is one of the Chechen oldest villages. Its inhabitants are providing order and security themselves coordinated by the public council Soglasie (Accord) which includes the villages most respectful figures elders, teachers, former officials of law enforcement bodies. The council is closely cooperating with the regions administration. They both are ready to put an end to tense relations between militants and civilians and restore law and order in all fields. As a result, no special operation have been carried out in the village over the last nine months. The council elected by the village population and really protecting its interests could organize the people together with the head of the administration likewise the residents provide order themselves. The village is divided into several sectors, each of which is governed by a member of the council and patrolled at nights by local police and residents. (more from Chechen diary http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Religion in Chechnya Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev the Chechen Mahatma Gandhi The nature of Kunta-Khadzhis teachings is best reflected in his sermons and instructions that were collected from accounts by murids of the Kunta-Khadzhi fraternity. The most serious of works about the life of Kunta-Khadzhi is a book by philosopher Vakhit Akaev, which is called Sheikh Kunta-Khadzhi. Life and Teaching and which came out in Grozny in 1994. The author writes: Islam that got established in Daghestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia is of specific nature, which formed under the influence of Sufism. The Sufi Order facilitated dissemination and strengthening of Islam in the North Caucasus. It got stronger in Daghestan in the 19th century, when many representatives of official Islam stopped following the Koran and Sharia and began to encroach on the rights of the poor in favour of the ruling classes. That prompted Imam Gazi-Muhammad to declare gazavat or holy war on the ruling clique of mountaineers and expansionist policy of tsarism in the North Caucasus. The Kadiri tarikat, a social movement and religious concept, known in the North Caucasus as Zikrism, emerged at the end of the Caucasian war and at the initial stage its ideology differed radically from the concept of holy war. The founder of Zikrism Sheikh Kunta-Khadzhi, a native of the Chechen village of Ilskhan-Yurt, appeared on Chechnyas political scene at a time when people, weary of continuous war with the tsarist regime, needed peace. Kunta-Khadzhis sermons calling for peace, brotherhood and support for the poor and orphans found a response among the people, driven to the point of physical extermination. Central in his sermons were the ideas of non-resistance to evil with violence, renunciation of military actions against the tsarist regime, which outnumbered mountaineers in military might, and appeals for submission. Kunta-Khadzhi was fully aware of the fact that irreconcilable resistance to the tzarist regime might result in a complete of annihilation of Chechens. It was that very circumstance that made Kunta-Khadzhi appeal to the idea of ending the bloodshed and returning to peaceful life. Zikrism ideology ran counter to the concept of holy war, or gazavat, which called for continuing the struggle till final victory. Shamil pursued Kunta-Khadzhi for his anti-gazavat ideas. The historical dispute between Shamil and Kunta-Khadzhi ended in a crush of the mountaineers centuries-old resistance to the immeasurably strong conqueror. Shamil, who had brought about the concept of gazavat or holy war, became a guest of honour of the Russian tsar and spent the rest of his life in Mecca. Kunta-Khadzhi, an advocate of submission, peace, good will and justice, was arrested with the consent of Tsar Alexander II in winter in 1864 and experienced in full what it was like to be an ordinary criminal in the jails of Novocherkassk and Ustyuzhino. St.Kunta-Khadzhi was tortured by loneliness, hunger and cold. The sheikhs letters, which never reached his family, testify to severe trials all of which he stood humbly and with dignity. In the above work Vakhid Akaev writes: Born into a poor Chechen family, on a territory conquered by the Russian Empire, he did all he could to establish spiritual brotherhood and social justice and put his whole heart into the cause. Success in combating social evil, as he saw it, could come not from the use of force, but from moral purification, elevation and mutual support among the mountaineers, the eternal search for God. The sheikhs ascetic lifestyle, his profound piety and desire to alleviate peoples sufferings drew Chechens that had suffered most in the war to his side. As for the attitude of tsarist dignitaries and the tsar himself, it was different from that to Shamil Unlike Shamil Kunta-Khadzhi was not a warrior and did not perform any feats of arms. He is a peace-maker, a saint and his deeds lie in the spiritual sphere. He recognizes one power the power of God. Hence there could be no leniency towards Kunta-Khadzhi on the part of rich and mighty. (in detail... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=religioneng&row=3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chechen history Chechens one the worlds most ancient people Chechens (self-assumed name nokhchi) are the worlds most ancient people with unique anthropological type and culture. They are the largest ethnic group in the North Caucasus (more than 1 million people). The neighbouring Ingush people are very similar in genotype, culture and religion. Together they form the Vainakh people related by blood, common history, territorial, economic and cultural links and language. Vainakhs (Chechens, Ingushes) are aborigines of the Caucasus and speak Nakh, a language that belongs to the Iberian-Caucasian language family. The Vainakh (Chechen) ethnic and cultural complex was formed on the basis of various aboriginal people. Historically the Chechen community was formed as multi-ethnic and it kept absorbing ethnic elements of nomadic people and neighbouring high-landers, the evidence of which being the non-Vainakh origin of many Chechen clans. The history of Chechnya can be described as a continuing struggle for freedom and independence against outside enemies, in which periods of prosperity alternated with defeats and new attempts to revive the statehood. In the early Middle Ages (4th-12th centuries) Chechens had to take up arms to defend themselves against invaders from Rome, Sasanid Iran, Arab Caliphate and Khazar Kaganate. The centuries-long struggle forged a military union of highlanders and laid the foundation for their statehood. (in detail... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=historyeng&row=1) Copyright CHECHNYA FREE.RU http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=news.media.chechnyafree http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com