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Before Timurs invasion, Ichkeria was populated by Vainakhs and Turks, descendants of Kichak-Polovtzi, who fled from the Mongols into the mountains. After the march of the Central Asia emir it was devastated and its inhabitants were largely annihilated. Small pockets of inhabitants were sparse.
A large part of the names of northern Ichkeria and the Jalka river valley is traced to Turk origins. This is evident from the names of Chechen villages: Agyashta (in the woods), Egyashbatoi (woods endge), Geldigen (aliens), Germchiga (small castle), Tevzana (mountainous river, gorge), the mountain of Pyut-Kort ( pasture), the river Base (estuary), Jalkh (lazy one), Guyms (lukeward), Akhsai (white river), Yaman-Su (bad water), Iskayark ( internal) and others. The very origin of Ichkeria (Turk Ichkiri) is
traced to the Turk language and before the 20th century, the name had no currency among Chechens. It is translated as internal space of something.
The Chechen language itself bears consequences of contacts with the Turk ethnos and includes many words Turk origin (atagya, guym, gyullakh, gyundalgi, itu, yovlakh, yish, kyuzga, okhlu, yurgya and many others).The fact that descendants of Polovtzi made up the Turk component of Chechnya is evident from the areas origins, which is actually a Kypchak branch of Turk languages.
Reconqista (Re-conquest )
This name is not accidental. This term was used in Spanish history to denote recapture of Spanish lands previously conquered by Arabs. In our case the population of Ichkeria could be viewed as return by Vainakhs of their original territories, which belonged to them from the bronze ages. For a little more than a century and a half these lands were largely inhabited by Turk tribes, whose traces remained in the names of the region. The Vainakhs, of course, did not wipe out the former masters of these lands. The
mountaineers never waged such ruthless wars. Familial lineages of some Ichkeri are traceable to the progenitors of Turk origin. There are even names of Avari origin and they are traceable for 2-3 generations. Naturally the process of assimilation of the remnants of the previous population was limited to just one or two decades. The vast majority of original names has Vainakh roots.
At the end of the XIV and the beginning of the XV centuries with the departure of Tamerlans army, Vainakhs from the mountainous communities of Chaberloi , Nashkhoi and other places, moved into semi-devastated Ichkeria. The Chechen lore relate the whole process of the regions population in great detail and with accuracy.
Before moving into Ichkeria, the Chechen people number 59 tribes (teips), located to the east and west of Argun ( The Chechen Tribe by U. Laudayev, 1872, p.11). The Chechens called these territories Dain-Yartash paternal villages.
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Issue 348
10.02.06
10 February 2006
The WFP started functioning in North Caucasus in 2000 when 300 thousand refugees from Chechnya swamped Ingushetia. When the situation improved slightly and displaced people began to go back to Chechnya WFP continued its humanitarian activities but now inside Chechnya. This New Year will not be different but in view of the overall improvement in Chechnya only the very needy among the population will get food Aid. Those to be affected are people who for one reason or another cannot be part of the WFP strategy of food for work, designed to upgrade the infrastructure in Chechnya, involving repairing of roads, schools and hospitals. Thus volunteers under the programme will be using the food Aid scheme to make meaningful contribution to the development of Chechnya. The WFP has since it started work in North Caucasus helped 300 thousand people with food and currently it is helping 120 thousand displaced people. Within 3 years the international humanitarian body has been carrying out in Chechnya school meal scheme known as hot lunches in which about 120 thousand Chechen school children have benefited. In this regard WFP and the Chechen education ministry have signed a memorandum under which the programme of school hot meals will last for 5 years Officials of WFP are also helping three tuberculosis hospitals in Shali, Gudermes and Nadterechny village with food and good feeding has helped to bring an improvement in the health of patients. In the future when the situation in Chechnya will be fully normalized the WFPs programme will be transferred to the republican government. On the one hand Russia receives assistance from WFP but on the other hand the country has become a donor to that international humanitarian organization to help it to carry out its food Aid programmes in Tajikistan, North Korea and Angola. (more)
Vegetables imported from other regions now grace the tables of many Chechen families and tomatoes for example, come from Dagestan and even from Turkey. It is believed that tens of thousand tons of vegetable worth about a billion rubles are imported into the republic yearly. It is hard to believe that we are talking about a region, which in times past not only met internal needs in vegetables but also supplied same in abundant quantity to industrialized centers in Russia. In the past Chechnya used to harvest 250 thousand tons of various vegetables. Among the priorities of the Chechen agro-industrial complex is restoring the old hey days of Chechen vegetable growers and farmers have been given a leading role in the quest. How can the private farmers be wooed? Was a question raised at the conference of the Chechen government committee for support of small business and the development of entrepreneurship devoted to the issue of vegetable growing. Participants in the conference agreed that Chechnya can still become a major vegetable producer as it has large parcels of fertile free land backed with the necessary vegetable growing experience. But most importantly, it has sufficient labour force to match the intensive work in vegetable growing. Experts say that a revival of that sector will give jobs to 30 thousand seasonal labourers. Farmers need not be goaded into vegetable farming since it is more lucrative than the growing of wheat. Vegetable produce more yields and are more expensive than seeds. But vegetable growing requires a huge initial capital outlay and hence farmers require state support. Privileged loan is one of the state support systems and this year the Chechen government allocated 120 million rubles in credit to small business and 500 thousand rubles is the maximum that a single farmer can get as loan at an interest rate of 8 to 8.5 per cent per year. State loan is better than private or bank credit where interest rate is double that of the state and whats more, processing of government credit is easier and faster. The investment programme of Chechnya under the heading Reviving vegetable growing in Chechnya prepared by the Committee for support of small business contains these and other measures as support by the state. Farmers are hoping that the Chechen government will be able to fork out the 70.75 million rubles required to finance the revival of vegetable growing tradition in the republic. (more)
You can listen to Free Chechnya Radio station from 6 AM to 12 PM Moscow time on a frequency of 594 kHz on the medium wave band and on a frequency of 171 kHz on the long wave band. The programme is created with the involvement of the Ministry for culture and mass communication of the Russian Federation.
( Free Chechnya Radio station ...)
"The Chechens, like the rest of the highlanders, avoid extremes in their eating and drinking habits. What they usually eat is chureks or corn bread with mutton lard spread on it, and wheat stew with lard in it; water is their basic refreshment." "...Unleavend wheat or barley bread baked on charcoal, milk and cheese constitute their daily menu; meat is eaten, very rarely, by the richest of the Chechens." That was written about the Chechen eating habits in the 19th century.
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The book Vainakh Ethics by Edi Isaev is an utmost important work at a time when the life in Chechnya is returning to normal. Edi Isaev is a historian, Professor at the Chechen State University, writer and publicist directs his book to youth. In introduction he emphasizes: The norm of Vainakh ethics is the code of wise truths of people that reflects their ideals.
The book is educational. It contains the ideas on ethics by thinkers of various people and various times from Epicurus and Confucius A.S. Makarenko and L.N.Toltoi. The second chapter is devoted to ethic norms of Chechens. The third chapter considers in detail traditional family ethic code. The final chapter is devoted to Islamic ethic norms.
Materials from the book Vainakh Ethics by Edi Isaev is devoted to customs and traditions of Chechens.
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