Chechen culture
Theatre
The Chechen National Drama Theatre
The first drama studios appeared in Chechnya in the 1920s, when the Chechen written language was formed. An element of drama, which was present in Chechen folklore and dance from the very beginning, finally got an opportunity to express itself on the stage.
More people than village schools could seat came to see the performances. Such thirst for theatre and culture is something unheard-of,- wrote the Groznensky Rabochi newspaper about productions of the studio of the Chechen National Theatre. The studio, opened in 1931, comprised 45 people, of them 9 women a revolutionary change in those days.
For two years the future actors were trained in a special program part of which were general subjects. Graduates of the studio became Chechnyas first professional actors. And the day of their graduation performance June 15th, 1933 became the birthday of the Chechen National Drama Theatre.
The theatres first production was the play Red Fortress about the developments in Chechnya during the Civil War. As he wrote the play writer Said Baduev worked in close cooperation with the young theatre taking into account the potential of every actor. Hence the debut was successful indeed.
In the subsequent years Said Baduev continued his cooperation with the theatre and wrote 15 more plays in different genres. One of them Petimat was on until recently. The repertoire of the Chechen Drama Theatre included plays by such famous Chechen authors as K.Oshaev, A.Khamidov and U.Akhmatov.
Assistance to the young theatre was rendered by theatrical figures from Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi and by Russian writers and translators. That contributed to the fact that in the 30s the theatre staged plays after Lope de Vega, Moliere, Goldoni, Schiller, Gogol and Soviet playwrights in Chechen.
In 1937 the theatre got its first Chechen professional producer Garun Batukaev, a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Performing Art. The next year the Institute opened the Chechen-Ingush theatrical studio.
Three teams of actors from the theatre worked both on the fronts and deep behind the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War performing in hospitals and at army units. In the 1950s in appreciation of wartime heroism the theatre was given the name of Khanpasha Nuradilov, the Hero of the Great Patriotic War and a Chechen by origin.
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Famous Chechens
Military men
Alexander Chechensky
His birth name is unknown. A small child, he was picked up by Russian soldiers in the mountain village of Aldy, devastated and deserted as a result of a raid. The foster-father to the child was Second Lieutenant Nikholai Raevsky, a young 17-year-old Russian officer and future hero of the 1812 War with Napoleon. Raevsky gave the boy the name of Alexander and the surname Chechensky in memory of his homeland. He did all he could to give the boy good home education and that helped Alexander enter and successfully graduate from the Moscow University.
Next were years of military service. At first Alexander Nikholaevich Chechensky fought in the Caucasus and at his 24 was made Second Lieutenant for taking part in expeditions against Persians and Turks. Then Alexander asked to be transferred to the West. He commanded a hussar regiment and in 1805-1807 took part in battles with Napoleonic troops. For his courage he was awarded with the St.Georges Order with ribbon together with Bagration. And for the battle under Gutstadt received a golden saber bearing the inscription For Courage.
During the 1812 Napoleonic War Chechenskys detachment participated in the famous Battle of Borodino as part of the cavalry corps of Cossack commander Platov. Alexander was then waging a guerrilla war together with the wartime hero Denis Davydov. And invariably reports by higher command pointed out the dauntless courage of Alexander Chechensky and the skillful operations carried out by his detachment.
With his soldiers Alexander Chechensky fought his way from Smolensk to Poland. He was made Major for the capture of Grodno. Next was the siege of Dresden. In his report to higher command Denis Davydov wrote: Cavalry Captain Chechensky, the Commander of the 1st Bug regiment, excelled as he habitually does. In battle near Reinchenbaum Chechenskys regiment routed a superior French force seizing their banner and taking a prisoner colonel and many other officers and soldiers. The new Commander of the Russian Army, Barclay de Tolly, who succeeded the late Kutuzov, promoted Alexander Chechensky Lieutenant-Colonel. Chechensky' regiment distinguished itself in the historic Battle of peoples near Leipzig and in the Netherlands, storming the Breda and Willemstad Fortresses. For the battle of Leone, France, Alexander Chechensky was awarded St.Annas Order with diamonds and got a promotion.
After the fall of Paris Colonel Chechensky was among the tsars retinue next to Generals N.N.Raevsky and D.Davydov taking part in a victorious military parade on Champs dElysees.
After the foreign campaign General Alexander Chechensky retired. He married a Privy Councillors daughter Yekaterina Bychkova and had six children Sofia, Alexander, Yekaterina, Nikholai, Vera and Nadezhda.
In December 1825 General Alexander Chechensky took part in the enthronization of Emperor Nicholas I.
The life of Alexander Chechensky is a prime example of the historical unity of the peoples of Russia.
(more about famous chechens...)
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Chechen cuisine
Sweetmeats
A nut halva (per 1000g.)
Nuts 650g, honey 420 g.
Fry slightly peeled nuts (walnuts, peanuts), put into boiling honey and mix. Put on a tray and leave it to cool. Serve in portions 75-100 grams each.
Other kinds of halva:
1. Fry a mixture of corn and wheat flour in hot butter with sugar until thick. Put the paste on a tray, leave it to cool and cut into pieces.
2. To prepare noodle-halva fry ball-shaped noodles in hot butter, put onto a tray, top with honey or thick grape juice and leave to cool.
3. To cook nut-halva take young green nuts, boil them in grape or sugar syrup and leave to cool.
(more about cuisine...)
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Issue 6
08.07.02
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Chechen diary
08 July 2002
Chechen Transport Minister speaks about public transport
120 of the past 240 bus routes are operating now in Chechnya. There were 20 routes in Grozny in early 90s. Presently, 15 routes have been put back on track and five more will be launched in the near future.
Republican bus park consists of nearly 350 vehicles now, according to the Chechen Minister of Transport Said-Ali Ediev. 220 buses were supplied last year and 100 more PAZ and LiAz vehicles are expected this year. Besides, 35 minivans are to be supplied this year for express routes. Nearly 1500 public and private vehicles are involved in passenger transport in Chechnya now.
Average monthly salary of a bus driver varies from 2000 to 3000 rubles. Public transport is unprofitable since 70 % of passengers are guaranteed cost-free fare. Nearly 24 million rubles are subsidized to Chechnya each year to cover the outlay of transport agencies.
(more from Chechen diary)
07 July 2002
The Grozny Art Gallery to get support from a new national museum foundation
On its 'Golden Map of Russia - Treasures of the Motherland' project, Moscow's Tretyakov Picture Gallery runs regular displays of art from galleries in outlying Russian regions. The 15th such display - from June 28 to August 18, organized by the federal Culture Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, the Government of the City of Moscow, the Government of the Chechen Republic, the Tretyakov Gallery and the I.E.Grabar National Art Restoration Centre - features 42 paintings from the main art gallery of the Chechen capital Grozny.
Director of the Grabar Centre Prof Alexei Vladimirov told an opening news conference that 40 of them had arrived in Moscow in 1995 after being rescued from under a heap of rubble on the gallery's site by advancing Russian troops. All forty, he said, go in display after undergoing careful restoration at his Moscow-based Centre. They include nighttime landscape views by A.I.Kuindzhi (19th c.), genre scenes by V.E.Makovski (19th c.), portraits by K.A.Korovin (turn of the 20th c.) and, notably, two works by the first Chechen professional painter P.Z.Zakharov-Chechenets - portrait of I.F.Ladyzhenski and a self-portrait (19th c.). There is also a big panoramic painting by F.A.Rubo, 'The Capture of Gunib Village and Imam Shamil by Russian Troops on August 25 1859.' The picture is largely back to the original, but with minute cuts, burns and peel-offs still visible in places. Prof Vladimirov said
it could take several more years to have it fully restored.
Curator of protection and conservation at the federal Culture Ministry A.I.Vilkov unveiled two pictures - portraits of Count N.I.Zubov and Countess N.A.Zubov by an unknown 18th-century painter - which return to this country after being stolen from the Grozny Gallery and smuggled to auctioneers in London, who finally turned them over to the legitimate owner.
Later this year, the whole collection goes back to the Grozny Art Gallery as this re-emerges from ruin.
Director of the Tretyakov Picture Gallery Prof V.A.Rodionov announced the launch of a national foundation in support of the museums in the 'Golden Map of Russia - Treasures of the Motherland' project. He appealed to art-minded well-wishers in business, science, culture and ethnic diasporas to donate funds to the foundation. He pointed out that the Grozny Art Gallery would be among the first to benefit.
Details of the Museum Support Foundation:
tel/fax +7 (095) 230 9791
special account (rbl) No 40703810000000002150
in AB Gazprombank Ltd
INN/KPP 7706265523/770601001
BIK 044525823
corr. account No 30101810200000000823
beneficiary: Museum Support Foundation for Museums in the Treasures of the Motherland Project
(more from Chechen diary)
06 July 2002
Oil and gas branch of industry strengthening the Chechen economy
The oil and gas industrial branch has the leading role in strengthening the Chechen economy. Explored oil reserves total 40 million tones. According to the Chechen Oil and Energy Ministry, 548 thousand tones of oil and 82 million of cubic meters of gas were extracted this year in the republic. More 1.5 million tones of oil are expected to be extracted by the end of 2002.
Ten large oil and gas fields, 40 oil wells are functioning at the moment in Chechnya, three other wells are to be set in operation shortly. The average daily output is rated at 4 thousand tones of oil and 560 thousand of cubic meters of gas. Oil is transited along the railway from the stations of Isherskaya and Chervlenaja-Uzlovaja where bulk-oil installations are functioning. Each of them produces 3 thousand tones of oil a day.
About three thousand people with 3.5- 4 thousand-ruble salary are working at the joint-stock company Grozneftegas. This is one of few enterprises in the republic that have no shortage of specialists. Speaking at a news conference in Grozny on the 17th of June, the companys head Baudi Khamidov noted that last year oil industry workers earned two billion rubles, enlarging the local budget with 640 million rubles as taxes. More 400 million rubles were channeled to the federal budget as custom duties. 150 million rubles were allotted to fight thefts at such enterprises. There are specially appointed people to be on duty round the clock there.
(more from Chechen diary)
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Religion in Chechnya
Paganism and Christianity in Chechnya
At different times forefathers, forebears and ancestors of Chechens and Ingushes (Veinakhs, Nakhs) had different religious beliefs. Apparently, male and female names Khalad, Anu, Ashura, Alalu, Ashtati, Nanna, Diki, Kibela, Nuba-dit, Aruba and Kuzhukh date back to early paganism, the times of Hurri-Urartu states. Between 3000 and 1000 B.C. the names were used to call various gods. As a rule, every natural phenomenon or heavenly body had ts own god. Depending on the nature of the wish offerings were made to this or that god, be it the god of sun, rain, war, love or fertility.
Religious traditions are the most lasting ones in the culture of an ethnic group. They stay on even after conversion to another faith. In the Chechen community you can still hear vows such as Tsu dashochu malkhor (Swear by golden sun), Tsu lyattor (Swear by earth), Tsu byapkor (Swear by bread). People pronouncing vows of this kind will be deeply hurt if they are told that by doing so they depart from Islam and commit a grave sin.
The pagan and Christian past of ancestors and forefathers of Chechens and Ingushes is reflected in legends, folklore, ancient and medieval cultural monuments and archaeological discoveries. The Assinovsky gorge is known to have three Christian temples (Tkhaba-Yerda, Albi-Yerda and Targimsky). Similar temples and churches, according to legends, were also in other parts of the mountain chain but Tkhaba-Yerda was the biggest, occupying more than 100 square meters. Rich Christian burial places were discovered under the churchs floor and by its walls. The temple, experts say, was built no later than the 10th century A.D. by Georgian architects, who wanted it to be the biggest church in Central Caucasus. According to researchers (M.B.Muzhukhoev. The Spread of Christianity among Veinakhs), Tkhaba-Yerda Temple was erected on the site of a heathen temple devoted to Tkhaba deity. Today the name is
etymologized on the basis of Nakh languages and is compared to the ancient pagan deity Tkhya.The process of christianizing Chechens and Ingushes got further development during the reign of the Georgian Tsarina Tamara. Indications of that were the appearance of two new churches around Tkhaba-Yerda.
Evidence of the Christian past of Chechens and Ingushes is seen not only in churches, burial places and folk legends. In many areas Christian crosses have been discovered. The Chechen name for the cross Zhaar is similar to the Georgian Dzhavari, which testifies to Christianity penetrating the North Caucasus through Georgia. There are a lot of written monuments of the Christian period, such as handwritten psalm-books, where the Georgian alphabet was used. In addition, Chechens still use notions borrowed from the Georgian Christian calendar to denote some days of the week. All that is evidence of the time (10th-13th centuries), when Georgia actively spread the new religion among mountaineers of the Caucasus.
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Chechen history
The history of Russian-Chechen relations
The current conflict in Chechnya is largely rooted in the history of Russian-Chechen relations, which include six stages.
The first stage
The first stage, which started in the middle of the 16th century and lasted until the end of the 17th century, was marked by a peaceful colonization of the region. That period is characterized by vassal-allied forms of relations between Moscow tsars and elders of Chechen communities. Moscow was trying to expand its influence in the region by political and economic means mainly. The policy was a success and Chechen communities voluntarily (by signing agreements) announced recognition of the supreme power of the Moscow state.
The second stage
The second stage, which lasted almost throughout the 18th century, marks the beginning of Russia's open military expansion to the North Caucasus. Under Peter I and then Catherine II the doctrine of colonizing the mountain areas prevalent.
Though in 1781 oaths of allegiance were officially registered the voluntary submission of Chechen communities bordering on Russian fortresses, the year 1785 marked the beginning of a powerful movement in Chechnya under the leadership of Sheikh Mansur. That was when Chechen people launched an armed struggle for freedom and independence. Sheikh Mansur was the first to make an attempt (still popular nowadays) to unite peoples of the North Caucasus into a single Islamic state. But he failed to do so.
The anti-colonial movement started in Chechnya by highlanders spread to other regions of the North Caucasus. Taking part in the resistance were mainly the lower strata . As for the rich, at first they tried to use the peasants movement to consolidate their power in the mountain communities and restore freedom of choice in relations with Moscow. Soon afterwards, they got scared of the growing anti-feudal movement of Sheikh Mansur and in a number of cases even joined Russian troops to suppress the mutinous peasants. The first imam of North Caucasian highlanders fought tsarist troops for about six years, but suffered defeat. Sheikh Mansur was captured in 1791 and died in the Schlusselburg Fortress.
The third stage
The third stage of Russian-Chechen relations falls on the first half of the 19th century. During General A.P.Yermolov's term as Commander of the Russian army in the Caucasus (1816-1827) military pressure intensifies as Russian troops continue to advance deep into Chechnya. Chechnya responds by stepping up its resistance movement, which, for more than 30 years, was headed by Beibulat Teimiev. Teimiev for the first time managed to unite most of Chechen communities. And he made an attempt to unite mountain people too by concluding an alliance between free Chechnya and feudal principalities of the North Caucasus. Beibulat Taimiev called for a peaceful solution to the conflict and wanted to avoid a big war with Russia. His treacherous murder led to the escalation of military operations.
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