Russian woman through the eyes of a Chechen man. Chechen male character

I can put my story in your piggy bank. I have a “light” option because it was a hell of a lot of years ago (even before the Chechen war) and the guy was a Belarusian by mother, by father - a half-Chechen-half-Tatar, lived in Dushanbe, which at that time was a fairly "white" city , and we were a few years old. That's why I already forgot.
But nevertheless, the scheme is the same. The guy is a handsome man, he courted marvelously beautifully, immediately introduced me to his parents and generally brought him to live with him and represented him almost as a bride (they met on the expedition). I was a little freaked out - shozafignya, but I, as it were, just like that, as part of a holiday romance, and I didn’t give a special reason. But ... the person safely drove off on duty (at the weather station, for a couple of weeks), left me to live at home (???) and previously handed over my plane ticket home - they say, you won’t go anywhere. Maybe you remember how "easy" it was to buy a plane ticket back then. I was confused when his mother approached me (remember, yes, that he lived with his parents?). Grit, what are your plans and what is happening in general. I - ??? She - are you going to get married?
I - ??? And then they say, the father is strict, asks what kind of girl and what she is doing here. I - yes, we actually met on a sports expedition, well, it’s like we had an affair, but nothing serious, and I came to see the city in general, and he offered to stay with him. what kind of bride are you? She: because he has a girlfriend (say, Sveta), lives in the suburbs, they have been dating for a couple of years, and if you don’t know, we have Asia and it’s very strict with this: if a guy meets a girl, but he doesn’t marries - then she is considered disgraced and will be perceived as ... walking.
I got really fucked up - I grumble: yes, I have nothing to do with it, I'm not me and my house is not mine, I want to go home, but he handed over my tickets and left. She sighed - they say, well, you won’t get through to him, but you decide. I vowed to dump him immediately, asked in no case to tell anyone from the neighbors there and so on - although they introduced me to all the neighbors too ... Urgently called his friends. He had excellent friends: former classmates, a real "international youth": one Russian, one Tajik (very intelligent), a Jew, a Tatar ... in general, a motley horde, but the guys are excellent. They gathered a council, decided that the name is a hello and a hell of a lot, he seems to have a girlfriend, but THEY don’t know much about her (nothing like that for a girl she has been dating for a couple of years?), And they will help me get home . One just drove trucks to Tyumen, with them I got to Chelyabinsk (also another adventure!), And from there it was already easier to get home. Well, at least friends got such ... real friends.
But as it turned out, there are national signs.

I read somewhere here a topic about what a girl should know if she wants to marry a Chechen. I want to write my own version, because I am one!)
Let's start with the fact that the Chechens have a woman in great honor and respect, she has a special social status. A woman is healthier - the mistress of the fire / hearth, a man is only the owner of the house. Women are welcomed standing up, especially the elderly. It is the greatest shame for a Chechen not to honor his mother and her relatives. In Chechnya, they do not let a woman go ahead, she must go behind, enter only after a man. The tradition of letting a woman go forward appeared at the time of the food people, the man was a prey, so the weight of his life was heavier, but if there was a predator in the cave, he attacked the woman first. Chechens, on the contrary, the man should be the first to take the danger. I'll tell you about how a woman should dress, not any mini-skirts in Chechnya! no tight-fitting trousers, necklines, transparent blouses, T-shirts. Shoulders should be closed, legs too, at least knee-deep. When you come to your husband's family, you must respect his parents, do not argue with them. Now you wake up in the family, his mother can help you, but is not obliged. Chechens are very clean, there should always be order in the house. You should not show affection for your husband in front of his relatives, no hugs, little people, shooting eyes, behave modestly. It is desirable for you to learn the language, because by this you show that you respect its traditions. his mentality. But this is a plus for you too, you can often get into such situations when everyone speaks Chechen, and you don’t understand anything, at first it seemed to me that everyone was discussing me during conversations .... and besides, personally it would be humiliating for me not to know the language of my children, but who cares. Accept the fact that your children will be Muslims. Chechens are more happy with the birth of a son than a daughter, because the son is the successor of the family. Chechens are also very hospitable people, do not be surprised if there are always guests in your house. If you go to visit, then you should immediately offer your help to the hostess, but do not impose yourself, if you said no, then sit quietly. Also, be prepared for attacks from the female part of your husband’s relatives, they can show you their displeasure openly , or they can quietly plot on you. Chechen women do not like when they marry Russians, and this is not because they are all so evil and nasty, but because the wars that took place in Chechnya claimed many lives. At the moment, there are 20% more women in Chechnya. Well, it turns out that they already have few guys, and we are still here, we are taking away someone's potential groom!) In general, everything suits me. I am a housewife, I work at home, my husband does not let me go to a normal job, but I don’t want to, I’ve done all the housework and do what you want for your pleasure. ) I look at the life of my sisters and understand that I am very lucky. All my sisters have fights and scandals at home, either my husband came drunk, or he didn’t come at all, or he doesn’t give money, or something else!) And I have the complete opposite, we don’t swear, we don’t scandal, my husband doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke .He never raised his hand to me. Every day I only hear that I am the best, the most beautiful, that I am his gift from above. In general, I live like in a fairy tale!) The main thing is to understand their whole mentality, to accept their adats ... I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for anything for the sake of my loved one, especially in this case, to the detriment of myself, I don’t do anything.

Here and now will be the climax...

“Russian girls, they are sometimes VERY AVAILABLE, and, despite the fact that they are beautiful, smart, they often have a low opinion of themselves (!!!). Chechen girls are proud, they know their worth. And pride and high self-esteem in a woman always causes male respect ... "

That's it, the curtain... Silence, no applause... Here come my silent tears...

Lovely girls! Listen to the words of a wise oriental unmarried man - this is a message for you! No one could have been more precise... I foresee a surge of female indignation: "He insulted us, he humiliated us ...". No, my dear compatriots, no one and nothing can offend a woman until she allows it to be done.

How many times have I watched the picture - they are walking (standing, sitting), embracing, a young guy and a girl - he behaves untied, hangs on it - it is used as a prop, while the man is very drunk, or at least treats himself to a bottle in parallel beer, swearing, behaving unworthily ... And a sweet girl miraculously endures all this (more precisely, such male behavior does not bother her) and continues to accept his harassment and kisses ... What can I say - such a female self-esteem will entail many serious problems later ... I'm afraid that not many girls will understand what I am writing about hereL.

Surely, many of you have witnessed the communication of young couples, when a pretty girl, but not fitting into the standards of glossy magazines, accepted boorish courtship of an impudent gentleman who is no match for her ... Again - I want to shout - “Where is mom looking? Why didn't she teach her daughter? - yes, but does mom herself know how to carry herself through life with dignity ... Take a filthy rag, you drive away such a gentleman, but only a girl will also stand up - how, what if she doesn’t meet another on her way anymore? Well, with such self-esteem - you definitely won’t meet, yes-ah-ah ...

Many times I was convinced from my own and other people's experience that “pride and high self-esteem in a woman always causes male respect”, that a man treats a woman the way she allows him to. More than once I heard the revelations of young beauties that a man treated her ugly, unworthy, and when you start to find out the circumstances - it turns out that a woman from the very first day of communication allowed a man too much, forgiving things that are unacceptable for a woman with high self-esteem ...

I recall the phrase of one young lady, who had long lost her feminine appearance, said towards her more successful rival: “What did he see in her! Okay, I’m scary, so this one is even scarier - generally ugly! ”...

Dear ladies - respect yourself! Only a woman with high self-esteem and well-defined personal boundaries will not humiliate herself and will not allow others to be humiliated.

According to Chechen customs, a man should have such qualities, which is reflected in folk proverbs:

laconic- "I don't know, no - one word; I know, I saw - a thousand words."

deliberation- "The fast river did not reach the sea."

Caution in the statements and in the assessments of people - "A wound from a checker will heal, a wound from a tongue will not."

Consistency- "Intemperance is stupidity, patience is education."

Restraint- the main characteristic of a Chechen man in almost everything that concerns his household chores.

According to custom, a man will not even smile at his wife in front of strangers, he will not take a child in his arms in front of strangers. He speaks very sparingly about the virtues of his wife and children. At the same time, he must strictly ensure that no men's affairs and duties fall on his wife - "The hen that began to sing like a rooster burst."

A Chechen reacts to swearing as a particularly serious insult, especially if a woman appears in the swearing. This is due to the fact that the biggest shame is if a woman from the family allowed herself any kind of relationship with an outside man. In the republic, although rarely, there were cases of lynching of women for free behavior, such women were killed and are being killed.

Chechens attach particular importance to heredity through the female line.

A Chechen has the right to take a wife of any nationality, but a Chechen woman is not encouraged to marry a foreigner.

Mutual assistance, mutual assistance

At a meeting, every Chechen will first of all ask: "How are you at home? Is everyone alive and well?" When parting, it is considered good manners to ask: "Do you need my help?"

Greeting a young person to an older person necessarily includes an offer of help. In Chechen villages, it is customary, if an elderly person starts some kind of housework, to take part in this in a neighborly way. And often it is volunteers who start the business.

The tradition of mutual support has developed among the people responsiveness to the misfortune of others. If there is grief in the house, then all the neighbors open the gates wide open, thereby showing that the grief of the neighbor is his grief.

If someone dies in the village, all fellow villagers will come to this house to express condolences, provide moral support, and, if necessary, material assistance. Funeral chores for Chechens are completely taken over by relatives and fellow villagers.

A person who has been absent from the village for some time, upon arrival, receives full information about the events that happened without him, including about misfortunes. And the first thing he does upon arrival is to express his condolences.

“It is better to have a neighbor nearby than relatives far away”, “It is better to die than to live without human love”, “The unity of the people is an indestructible fortress”, says Chechen wisdom.

Hospitality

The Chechens say: "Wherever a guest does not come, grace does not come there", "A guest in the house is joy" ... Many sayings, legends, parables are devoted to the sacred duty of hospitality among Chechens.

For receiving guests in each house there is a "guest room", it is always ready - clean, with fresh bedding. No one uses it, even children are not allowed to play or study in this room.

The owner should always be ready to feed the guest, so at any time in the Chechen family, food was specially set aside for this occasion.

The first three days the guest is not supposed to ask anything. The guest lives in the house as an honorary member of the family. In the old days, as a sign of special respect, the daughter or daughter-in-law of the owner helped the guest take off their shoes and outerwear. The hosts give a hearty and generous welcome to the guest at the table.

One of the basic rules of Chechen hospitality is the protection of the life, honor and property of the guest, even if it is associated with a risk to life.

The guest does not have to offer a reception fee, but he can give gifts to the children.
The Chechens have always followed the custom of hospitality. And they showed it to any kind person, regardless of his nationality.

The Chechen people have the word "nokhchalla", which roughly translated into Russian means "to be a Chechen \ Chechen" or "Chechenness".

This word includes a set of rules of ethics, customs, traditions accepted in Chechen society, is a kind of code of honor.

Nokhchalla is the ability to build one's relationships with people without demonstrating one's superiority in any way, even being in a privileged position. On the contrary, in such a situation one should be especially courteous and friendly, so as not to offend anyone's vanity.

So, the one sitting on horseback should be the first to greet the footman. If the pedestrian is older than the rider, the rider must get off the horse.

Nokhchalla is a friendship for life, in the days of sorrow and in the days of joy. Friendship for a highlander is a sacred concept. Inattention or impoliteness towards a brother is forgiven, but never towards a friend!

Nokhchalla is a special veneration of a woman. Emphasizing respect for his relatives, the man gets off his horse right at the entrance to the village where they live.

Here is a parable about a highlander who once asked to spend the night in a house on the outskirts of the village, not knowing that the hostess was at home alone. She could not refuse the guest, fed him, put him to bed. The next morning, the guest realized that there was no owner in the house, and the woman had been sitting all night in the hall by the lighted lantern.

Washing himself in a hurry, he accidentally touched the mistress's hand with his little finger. Leaving the house, the guest cut off this finger with a dagger. Only a man brought up in the spirit of Nokhchalla can protect the honor of a woman in this way.

Nohchalla is the rejection of any coercion. Since ancient times, a Chechen has been brought up as a defender, a warrior, from a boyish age. The most ancient type of Chechen greeting, which has survived to this day, is "Come free!" The inner feeling of freedom, the readiness to defend it - this is nokhchalla.

At the same time, nokhchalla obliges a Chechen to show respect for any person. Moreover, respect is the greater, the further a person is by kinship, faith or origin.

The people say: the offense that you inflicted on a Muslim can be forgiven, because a meeting is possible on the Day of Judgment. An offense caused to a person of a different faith is not forgiven, for such a meeting will never happen.

“It is they, the Chechens, who revolt the entire Caucasus. Damned tribe!

Their society is not so crowded, but has increased tremendously in the last few years, for it accepts friendly villains of all other peoples who leave their land after committing any crimes. And not only.

Even our soldiers are fleeing to Chechnya. They are attracted there by the perfect equality and equality of the Chechens, who do not recognize any authority in their midst.

These bandits welcome our soldiers with open arms! So Chechnya can be called the nest of all the robbers and the den of our runaway soldiers.

I presented these swindlers with an ultimatum: hand over the fugitive soldiers or the vengeance will be terrible. No, not a single soldier was handed over! I had to exterminate their auls.

This people, of course, is neither more vile nor more insidious under the sun. They don't even have the plague! I will not rest until I see with my own eyes the skeleton of the last Chechen ... "

Ermolov:

“Downstream the Terek live the Chechens, the worst of the robbers who attack the line.

Their society is very sparsely populated, but has greatly increased in the last few years, for the villains of all other peoples who leave their land for some kind of crimes were friendly received.

Here they found accomplices, immediately ready either to avenge them or to participate in robberies, and they served as their faithful guides in lands they themselves did not know. Chechnya can rightly be called the nest of all robbers"

Notes of 1816-1826, when Yermolov was the commander of the Caucasian Corps and the commander-in-chief in Georgia during the Caucasian War.

“I have seen many nations, but such recalcitrant and unyielding people as the Chechens do not exist on earth, and the path to the conquest of the Caucasus lies through the conquest of the Chechens, or rather, through their complete destruction.”

“Sir!.. The mountain peoples, by the example of their independence, in the most subjects of your imperial majesty give rise to a rebellious spirit and love for independence.”

"Chechens are the strongest people and the most dangerous ..."

“It is just as impossible to subdue the Chechens as it is to smooth out the Caucasus. Who but us can boast that he saw the Eternal War?

(General Mikhail Orlov, 1826).

Faced with many Caucasian peoples, N.S. Semenov, at the time of the creation of his collection of articles, clearly singled out the Chechens with his attention:

"a tribe that I have studied more than other tribes, and which, in its integrity and vitality, deserves more interest"

“Chechens, both men and women, are extremely beautiful people.

They are tall, very slender, their physiognomy, especially their eyes, are expressive.

In their movements Chechens are agile, dexterous, by nature they are all very impressionable, cheerful and witty, for which they are called the French of the Caucasus.

But at the same time they are suspicious, quick-tempered, treacherous, insidious, vengeful.

When they strive for a goal, all means are good for them. At the same time, the Chechens are indomitable. unusually hardy, brave in attack, dexterous in defense "

“... Chechens did not burn houses, did not deliberately trample fields, did not break vineyards. "Why destroy the gift of God and the work of man," they said...

And this rule of the mountain "robber" is a valor that the most educated peoples could be proud of if they had it ... "

A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky in "Letter to Dr. Erman"

“We tried to destroy the Chechens, as our enemies, by all means and even turn their advantages into disadvantages.

We considered them to be an extremely fickle, gullible, treacherous and treacherous people because they did not want to fulfill our demands, which were inconsistent with their concepts, customs, customs and way of life.

We defamed them so only because they did not want to dance to our tune, the sounds of which were too harsh and deafening for them ... "

General M. Ya. Olshevsky.

“Someone rightly remarked that in the type of Chechen, in his moral character, there is something reminiscent of a Wolf.

The lion and the eagle depict strength, they go to the weak, and the Wolf goes to a stronger one than himself, replacing everything in the latter case with boundless audacity, courage and dexterity.

And once he gets into hopeless trouble, he dies in silence, without expressing either fear, or pain, or a groan.

(V. Potto, XIX century).

“The maniacal hatred of the Chechens is explained by the subconscious envy of people deprived of the genes of courage, morality, intelligence”

("General newspaper", 04/17-23/1997)

- One nuance. Skinheads beat "blacks" - but they are afraid of Chechens. Why?

- And you read Solzhenitsyn. Chechens in the zones were not touched even by our urks and the administration of the Gulag.

Chechens are people of amazing personal courage.

In the film "My friend Ivan Lapshin" starred a former prisoner, tried for murder.

He played the man who, according to the plot, stabbed the hero Andrei Mironov. Andrei was even out of the frame, he was afraid of him in life. After 11 years in prison, the criminal world released him ...

This prisoner told me a story from the life of the zone.

Once one of the thieves stabbed a Chechen. And around the swamp, you won't leave.

So, the Chechens, who have served time and are already living in the settlement, made a device and jumped into the zone through the barbed wire. And they cut many - and, as you understand, they remained in the zone for a very long time.

With all the love for our people, ours would not have jumped ...

Skinheads know: if you punch a Chechen, they will kill everyone.

And they even incite them to other foreigners, like a dog on a leash ...

If you are a Chechen, you must feed and shelter your enemy, who has knocked on your door as a guest.

You should not hesitate to die for the girl's honor. You must kill the bloodstain by plunging a dagger into his chest, because you can never shoot in the back.

You must give your last piece of bread to a friend. You must get up, get out of the car to greet the old man walking by.

You should never run, even if your enemies are a thousand and you have no chance of victory, you still have to take the fight.

And you can't cry no matter what happens. Let your beloved women leave, let poverty ruin your house, let comrades bleed on your hands, you cannot cry if you are a Chechen, if you are a Man.

Only once, only once in your life can you cry: when Mother dies.”

Chechens - how many in this word! How would the enemies dislike it! But I have nothing against other nationalities!

Salaam Alaikum. First, let me tell you just a story from my life.

I was talking to one guy. He is Kazakh, his name is Arman. He lives in the city of Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan.

There has been a gold mine there since Soviet times, which stopped with the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the locals began to climb there at their own peril and risk (this is far from safe).

It is a whole underground labyrinth. To better imagine, I can say that it has the shape of a Christmas tree turned upside down.

During operation, it was electrified and all power supply systems worked, then after the stop, everything stopped by itself, and it took the form of a dark abyss.

But having no other way of subsistence in the 90s, people climbed there in the hope of catching their luck. Many really found death there, lost in the tunnels and branches of the mine.

Armand also hunted this for a long time. He told how for several days people lived in tunnels, seeing only the light of a flashlight, and looking for gold ore.

He said that over time, people were in a state of depression in eternal darkness, and experienced people said: "So it's time to go up."

In those difficult conditions, all conventions were erased and all decorum was forgotten. Gloom, lack of clean air, fear, put pressure on the human psyche.

But there was an exception.

He said that even in these conditions, the local Chechens, who also descended into the mine, observed all the rules of national behavior and ethics. Even little things.

He watched with great surprise as the younger ones did not sit down to eat in front of the older ones.

As if the earth began to crumble from above (after all, they worked without equipment, by hand), then everyone, driven by the instinct of self-preservation, tried to be the first to jump out of the face into the tunnel.

And only the Vainakhs tried to push each other out first of all (the younger ones were the older ones, and those of them).

What can I say, I was very pleased to hear that my brothers, even in the most extreme and life-threatening conditions, remained CHECHEN, who, according to Yakh, first of all think about a friend and brother, and then only about themselves.

Girl E

It so happened that in the course of my life I encountered many Chechens.

1) Handsome.

3) They know how to force themselves to respect both words and actions.

4) Amazing sense of humor.

5) When you walk with a Chechen along a dark street, you can be calm for yourself, you will not give offense.

Also, in the company where I work, there are a few two Chechens, and if they are not loved, then everyone respects them (a team of more than 100 people).

One of them, by the way, does a lot for the staff and everyone always goes to him for help, and he does everything to help them without asking for anything in return.

In short, I really like them, it's a pity that they create such areolas. It is clear that a weak country needs the image of an enemy.

In short, I hope our country will become stronger, and the Chechens will be able to show the world what they really are.

Major Payne

In my opinion Chechens are the most courageous people in the world! I will quote only the old Chechen song, which the Ichkerists made the anthem of Ichkeria!

We were born on the night the she-wolf was whelping

In the morning, under the roar of a lion, we were given names.

In eagles' nests our mothers nursed us,

On the clouds, our fathers taught us how to tame horses.

Mothers gave birth to us for the people and the fatherland,

And at their call we stood up bravely.

With mountain eagles we have grown freely,

Difficulties and obstacles proudly overcame.

Rather, granite rocks, like lead, will melt,

Than hordes of enemies will make us bow!

Rather, the earth will ignite in flames,

How shall we present ourselves to the grave, having sold our honor!

We will never submit to anyone

Death or Freedom - one of the two we will achieve.

SVETA

I love Chechens for everything!

1. They are honest, freedom-loving, they have self-esteem.

2. Since I communicate very closely with the Chechens, I can say that they are: cheerful, cheerful, temperamental and most importantly - brave!

They believe in their ideals and uphold their traditions!

Elina

You know, I used to know very little about Chechen customs and mores, but I fell in love with a Chechen and now we are going to get married.

I respect the Chechens for the fact that they firmly hold on to their roots and support each other.

This is a very proud people who honor their customs and traditions.

And about the fact that they are all bandits, it's not true. In every nation there are good people and bad people.

Arthur

This people is worthy of respect, firstly because:

1. A Chechen will never leave a countryman in trouble.

2. Chechens are very brave people.

I myself am an Armenian by nationality, and whoever says that Chechens and Armenians cannot be friends is blatantly lying.

LENA

How can one not love the Chechens, they will never pass by when their countryman is in trouble. And we, if we see that ours is being beaten, we will run away from there.

Chechens are the same people as Russians, Ukrainians, Dagestanis, Jews, Americans.

My grandmother often visited Chechnya and told only good things about Chechnya. Grandma cried when the war started.

My uncle worked in Chechnya 20 years ago, he also speaks well of Chechnya and Chechens ..

Gulcha

I love one single Chechen! I respect the rest. For their patience, friendship, responsibility for their people and for their family.

If they love, then for life!

Never confuse the Chechens and the concept of terrorists. These concepts are incompatible.

LILLIAN

Radio operator Kate! I know what you mean!

After all, I also lived in the Caucasus in the Chechen village and fell in love with this part of the planet as I probably did not even love my native Libya, where I was born and spent my earliest childhood!

And even here, in St. Petersburg, I have many friends - Chechens and I love them all very much! They call me "sister" and they respect me a lot.

Often come across and those who are of the same faith with me - the Zoroastrians. We gather with them in the evenings and read the Avesta.

And never in my life have I seen bad things from any Chechen, but from others - as much as you like!

anime

I just love, perhaps one of the few Muslim peoples that I respect!!!

Chechens are the oldest people, they are also Urartians, besides, I have a lot of Chechen friends and girlfriends.

Their girls are unrealistically beautiful, but in general the people are cheerful!!!

The Jews are called the people of the book, they are undoubtedly the most educated people on earth.

But Chechens are people From the book!

Georgian

You have no idea how much my family and I respect Nokhchi.

I will not repeat that this is a very brave, moral, proud, truly believing nation. I have been with them since childhood. And I don't regret it one bit.

And who hates them .... have the courage to approach one Chechen and tell him this to his face ..

Communicating with Chechens, I came to the conclusion that it is difficult to become a friend of a Chechen, but if you become one, then the Chechen will be ready to die for you, but if you betray the Chechen, then you will not be good.

I'll put forward a hypothesis.

I have already read from someone that Chechnya is a bunch of energy, and it is very important where it will be directed.

They noticed, they came close: “A clot of energy.”

But this is probably not enough. Apparently, we are dealing with a clot, a fluctuation of the gene pool. A subject worthy of serious scientific study!

Fluctuation (condensation), let me remind you, is a spontaneous, low probability, anti-entropic process. The fluctuation of matter provided us with the miracle of life.

And the fluctuation of the gene pool must be protected, even if it happened in a foreign nation! In the end, everyone will be better off for it.

As long as peoples like the Chechens exist, humanity has hope.

Alexander Minkin wrote in Novaya Gazeta (19.25.08.)

After a trip with Lebed to Khasavyurt:

“The first thing that catches your eye:

We have a mess, the Chechens have order.

We have window dressing, they have not a single extra movement.

For the feds, the schedule is shifted by hours, for the Chechens, nowhere did they have to wait a single minute ...

The militants are energetic, confident, all absolutely sober.

Terrible detail:

Ours - from a soldier to the prime minister - speak Russian with absolute difficulty, rarely can finish the phrase they have begun, switch to gesticulation and an endless "uh";

Chechens - in a foreign, Russian language - are explained clearly, thoughts are formed without difficulty.

Times - part 2

Chechens: who are they? 13:46 02/12/2005

RIA Novosti columnist Tatyana Sinitsyna.

The Chechens are sure that their deepest roots historically stretch to the Sumerian kingdom (30th century BC).

They also consider themselves descendants of the ancient Urartians (9-6 centuries BC).

In any case, the deciphered cuneiform writing of these two civilizations indicates that many authentic words have been preserved in the Chechen language. (In fact, in modern terms, these were the so-called Chechen Diasporas. Note by the author.)

It so happened that throughout history the Chechens did not have their own state.

Until now, hundreds of ancient fortress towers made of crushed stone are scattered across the Caucasian peaks.

From here they watched the enemy, and, noticing him, they lit fires, the smoke from which was a signal of danger.

The constant expectation of raids, the need to always be in full combat readiness, of course, militarized consciousness, but also brought up courage, contempt for death.

In battles, even one saber played a big role, so every boy from the cradle was brought up harshly and harshly, like a future warrior.

According to the scientist-ethnologist Galina Zaurbekova, mother of four children, to this day Chechen ethics forbids caressing, pampering children, indulging their whims.

And today, ancient songs are traditionally sung at the cradles, praising military prowess, courage, a good horse, good weapons.

The highest peak of the Eastern Caucasus is Mount Tebolus-Mta, which rises to 4512 meters. The ascent of the Chechen people to this mountain, the heroic battles with the pursuing enemy - the theme of many ancient beliefs.

Chechen teips are connected groups of families, each of which is headed by the oldest of the teips.

The most revered and respected are the root, ancient teips, others with a short pedigree, formed as a result of migration processes, are called "younger".

Today there are 63 teips in Chechnya. Chechen proverb says:

“Teip is the fortress of adat”, that is, the traditional rules and regulations of the life of the Chechen society (adat). But the teip protects not only the customs established for centuries, but also each of its members.

Life in the mountains determined the whole range of social relations. The Chechens switched from agriculture to cattle breeding, the principle of lenient management was excluded, when you can hire workers, and this forced everyone to work.

The prerequisites for the development of the feudal state, the need for hierarchy, disappeared.

The so-called mountain democracy flourished, where everyone was equal, but whose laws cannot be questioned.

And if “birds of a different plumage” suddenly appeared - they were simply squeezed out of the communities - leave if you don’t like it! Leaving their clan, the "outcasts" fell into the borders of other peoples, assimilated.

The spirit of mountain freedom and democracy turned a sense of personal dignity into a cult. On this basis, the Chechen mentality was formed.

The words with which Chechens greet each other from time immemorial reflect the spirit of personal independence - "Come free!". Another set expression is "It's hard to be a Chechen."

Probably not easy. If only because the proud, freedom-loving essence of the Chechen personality is literally shackled in the "iron armor" of adat - the norms of law, built into custom. Those who do not observe adat - shame, contempt, death.

There are many customs, but in the center is the code of male honor “Konakhalla”, which unites the rules of conduct for men aimed at encouraging courage, nobility, honor, composure.

According to the code, the Chechen must be compliant - the mountain roads are narrow. He must be able to build relationships with people, in no case demonstrating his superiority.

If a person sitting on horseback meets a footman, he should be the first to say hello. If the oncoming one is an old man, then the rider should get off the horse and only then greet him.

A man is forbidden to “lose” in any life situation, to find himself in an unworthy, ridiculous position.

Chechens are morally afraid of insults. Moreover, not only personal, but also insults to one's family, teip, non-compliance with the rules of adat.

If a member of the teip is seriously disgraced, then there is no life for him, the community will turn away from him.

“I am afraid of shame, and therefore I am always cautious,” says the highlander, a fellow traveler of the poet Alexander Pushkin on his journey to Arzrum.

And in our time, the internal and external guardians of behavior force the Chechen to be extremely collected, restrained, silent, polite in society.

There are wonderful, worthy rules in adat. For example, kunachestvo, (twinning), readiness for mutual assistance - the whole world builds a house for those who do not have it. Or - hospitality: even the enemy who crossed the threshold of the house will receive shelter, bread, protection. And what can we say about friends!

A Chechen will never let a woman in front of him - she must be protected, there are many dangers on a mountain road - a landslide or a wild beast. Besides, Chechens don't shoot from behind.

Women play a special role in mountain etiquette. First of all, they are the guardians of the hearth. In ancient times, this metaphor had a direct meaning:

women were responsible for ensuring that the fire was always burning in the hearth, on which food was cooked. Now, of course, this expression has a figurative, but still very deep, meaning.

Until now, the most terrible curse among the Chechens is the words "So that the fire goes out in your hearth!".

Chechen families are very strong, adat contributes to this. The format, the lifestyle is stable and predetermined. The husband never gets involved in household chores, this is the undivided sphere of a woman.

It is unacceptable, impossible to treat a woman with disrespect, especially to humiliate and beat her. But if the wife nevertheless brought her character, behavior, the husband can divorce very simply, saying three times: "You are no longer my wife."

Divorce is inevitable even if the wife disrespects her husband's relatives.

Adat forbids Chechens from any "beautiful madness", but they still dare, for example, to steal brides.

In the old days, according to Galina Zaurbekova, girls were stolen, most often, because the family refused the groom, thus insulting his personal dignity. Then he himself restored the honor - kidnapped the girl and made her his wife.

In another case, the reason for the thefts of the girls was the lack of money for the bride price (ransom), which is paid to the parents. But it happened, of course, that the passion of the heart simply leaped up.

Be that as it may, the “point” in such a case was put in two ways: either the kidnapper was forgiven and a wedding was played, or he was pursued by blood feud until the end of his life.

Today, the custom of "kidnapping the bride" is more of a romantic connotation. As a rule, it is performed by mutual agreement, being part of the wedding ritual.

A wedding is one of the biggest holidays for Chechens. Her procedure has hardly changed. The festivities last three days and in the evenings always ends with dancing.

Chechen dance is unusually temperamental and graceful. This small people in the 20th century had a happy opportunity to show the beauty of their national dance to the whole world: the great dancer and "Chechen Knight" Mahmud Esambaev was applauded in all countries.

In the plastic, the meaning of the Chechen dance, the motives of the main ethical and aesthetic values ​​are embedded: men are brave and proud, women are modest and beautiful.

Culture and Society: What are the Chechens laughing at?

A simple smile can sometimes do more than guns, grenades, and even diplomacy. If only to see this smile during the burst of shells!

After all, you can’t be enemies when you laugh together! But for this you need to know what people on the other side of the front are laughing at.

Today they are Chechens. What are Chechens laughing at?

An article by the prominent scientist, ethnologist, specialist in the history of the peoples of the Caucasus, Yan Chesnov.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin, in his book about Francois Rabelais, discovered that the beginning of laughter is rooted in folk culture. And thus in the essence of man.

It is believed that children laugh already on the fortieth day after birth. And why? Because they rejoice and are present in the world with this laughter. Peoples are also children in some ways. Their laughter is gentle and reconciles us all.

Such is the laughter of the Chechens.

Having outlined this topic, I suddenly thought about how to write about laughter, when the people are dying, there is a war. And probably half of all Chechens are refugees, without a home, job or livelihood.

Is it laughable? But how to reverse the situation? How to make Chechens look like people, not like bandits?

I chose laughter. Because everyone in Chechnya laughs.

No wonder the stern Shamil spoke about his knowledge of languages ​​a hundred and fifty years ago: In addition to Arabic, I know three languages: Avar, Kumyk and Chechen. I go into battle with Avarsky, speak to women in Kumyk, joke in Chechen?

The joke of the Chechens is understandable to everyone and to no one's detriment. This is, perhaps, a very important, ethnological, if you like, feature of Chechen culture: there is no laughter that degrades the dignity of a person, laughter-mockery.

Laughter among Chechens is rather self-irony.

The proverb warns that laughter should not turn into mockery: A joke is the beginning of a quarrel.

Well, if he himself blundered and fell into the tongue of a scoff, then you can’t be offended in any way, it’s shameful. And again the proverb warns:

Only a slave can be offended?

Nikolai Semyonov, who knew the customs of the people well, wrote very precisely a hundred years ago: Do ​​Chechens generally laugh well and a lot?

Apparently, this trait of their character irritated the conqueror Timur as early as the 15th century. There is a legend among the Chechens that he ordered to take away their musical instruments (pandyra's dechik), because music and laughter often complement each other.

In the old days, companies of buffoons (dzhukhurgs), tightrope walkers and other semi-professional artists walked around the Chechen villages and made people laugh and amuse.

In every village to this day there is a wit, more dangerous than which can only be a tongue-tied jero (widow or divorcee). And there are just more than enough jokers today.

Funny jokes and short stories among Chechens exist on their own or are combined into cycles.

The heroes of these stories then become Molla-Nesart (the same famous Khoja Nasreddin), Tsagen. A certain Chora from the mountain Chaberloevsky village of Daya does not lag behind them.

Probably, this Chora was a really witty and courageous person who infuriated the royal bailiff, and then the people associated other funny stories with his name.

Such, in their own way, outstanding personalities live in our time. Sometimes these are elderly people, connoisseurs of Arabic literature, mullahs.

High knowledge does not isolate them from people, on the contrary, it opens the mind and heart to the paradoxes of life. Mind, smile, colored with kindness, become wisdom.

There used to be a form of customary law that if the defendant makes the judge laugh at the trial, he is considered acquitted.

Incidentally, it is legal humor that is a noticeable feature of the Chechen mentality. Here are examples.

One wise man stated:

It is better to have a rich neighbor.

They ask: Why?

The sage answers:

If he turns out to be kind, then this is a treasure, and if he is not kind, then at least he will not steal.

Sometimes this sage is not called by name, but is more commonly called. This is the great-grandfather of the Makhadzhiev family named Jaad. Here is another story related to Jaad.

It is said that he was resourceful. A man came to ask Jaad for a loan of money. Jaad said look under that rug. The man found, thanked and left.

A long time passed, and this man again came to ask for a loan from Jaad. They say Jaad again told him to look for money under the rug. But the search turned up no results, and the man said there was no money here.

Then they say Jaad said:

Honestly, they would be there if you, as promised, would put them there in time.

Throughout Chechnya, Dosha from Urus-Martan was famous for his wisdom in the 1920s and 1930s.

One day a young man came to him in torn clothes and bruised. He said that in the village of Duba-Yurt he stole a horse. They caught up with him, took away his horse and beat him, and then they asked: Whose son are you?

The young man informs Dosha that he has stated that he is Dosha's son.

Dosha realized that he had to go and remove the stain from his Honor, because it was not his son who stole the horse. He asks the young man to help him harness the horse. He refuses.

Dosha says: I'm in a hurry on your business.

And in response he hears: No, Dosha, this is your business.

Sometimes wise judgments about a stupid question or answer belong to a mullah, and sometimes to an ordinary sinful person.

Here are examples: Wa, mullah, if I burn a tobacco arba, will the mercy of God descend on me? Chora asks.

It will definitely come down, the mullah replies, thinking that Chora decided to fight the potion.

I swear to God, says Chora, I smoked as much tobacco as an arba, but I never got any mercy.

One more case.

The bald man asks the mullah: After death, what will happen to my bald head?

It will be golden! the mullah answers.

The questioner exclaims with a sigh: This will never be normal!

Let's look at the old man's humor. In this category, the humor of the dying, or humor in relation to the dying, occupies an outstanding place among the Chechens.

I happened to hear such a joke among the Melchs in Bamut. His comrades came to the dying old man and said:

What a pity that such a man dies in bed, and not in battle!

There lived two brothers. Gone old. One of them, the eldest, led a virtuous life, was an exemplary citizen of society. And the other continued to commit unseemly acts until old age.

The elder says to the younger: You disgrace me! And when you die, no one will come to your funeral!

And the younger replies: No brother! When I die, more people will come to my funeral than to yours.

Senior asks: Why?

And because, - says the younger, - that they will come to my funeral for you. And no one will come to your funeral for me.

And the anecdote about how one rogue introduced himself to a naive woman going to the other world, got into the collections of Chechen folklore.

It was about how a simple-hearted woman gave money to a sly man so that he would take them to the next world and give it to his father ...

And when her husband returned home, she told him that she had done so and so.

The husband asked what he was wearing and in which direction the man went. She said what he was wearing, and pointed in which direction he went, and he galloped off to look for him.

That man, they say, changed his clothes, and by the time his husband caught up with him, he was sitting at the mosque. The husband is said to have asked him if he had seen a man dressed in such and such. He replied that he had just entered the mosque.

They say the husband asked him to hold the horse and went into the mosque, and the rogue, without hesitation, got on his horse and galloped away. And when the husband returned home without a horse, the wife said to ask him where his horse was.

To which the husband replied that the man told him that her father in the next world walks, and that he gave his horse to that man so that he would pass it on to her father.

The themes of laughter and death in Chechen culture are close, in particular, probably because the words meaning to laugh (vela) and die (vala) are consonant.

Deathbed humor The Chechens value it because it relieves people of a heavy mental load.

It is said about such people who make people laugh that they will certainly go to heaven.

In the culture of laughter there is an important, but not on the surface, circumstance: laughter in its innermost origins is associated with the birth of life.

For example, among the Yakuts, it is believed that a woman who laughs at a holiday will definitely become pregnant.

The holiday, in fact, is in its essence a ritual birth of life.

For the Chechens, even death in its inevitable coming is conquered by life.

We also note another observation.

This people, like everywhere else, have erotic humor. But he is not dirty-sexy. The question of women's honor is the first.

No wonder the Chechens say that we hold our women high above our heads.

But, according to the same Chechens, women are nine times more cunning than any man.

Here is an example. One wife told her husband that she would prove that he was dumber than her. And when he plowed, she put a fish in the furrow.

Husband found a fish. Brought it home and told it to be ready by the time he got back.

The husband comes back, demands cooked fish, and the wife says she doesn't know about any fish. The noise came from the neighbors. The husband explained everything to them in order, how it was.

But the neighbors silently dispersed, somehow pitifully looking at him, they say the peasant has gone crazy: he says that he plowed the fish with a plow.

Be that as it may, the female mind can both help a man out and ruin his life.

In one village they tell such a story. Obviously, it is very old.

In those days, they also celebrated the holiday of women. For this holiday, the men decided to build and give the women a mill.

The most remarkable thing in the story is that they, apparently due to their unreasonableness, placed this mill on a mountain.

But all over the world, including the Chechens, the windmill bears erotic symbols.

The word mill (khair) is one of the taboo words that cannot be pronounced when leaving the house on the road: here the mill means, in contrast to the house, the erotic, undeveloped, wild world.

In the history presented, the archaic moment in the relations of the sexes is clearly expressed.

Here and in the testimonies of the ancient Greeks about the Amazons, it is said that they climbed the mountain to communicate with the Gargareys, the ancestors of the Vainakhs.

After that, the women, having become pregnant, left the men.

There is also a moment of ritual separation of the sexes in this story, the presentation of which we continue.

So, men secretly from women build a mill.

One of them, when he, tired, came home from work, his wife began to question him. And she achieved with her caress that he confessed that they were building on the mountain.

In amazement, she asked him a question: How will you get water there?

The next day, when this man came to the construction site, he worked reluctantly, because he already knew that nothing would work.

His comrades asked him: What is the matter?

He answered with a question: How can we bring water here?

Men say to him they said: You blabbed to your wife. You yourself would never have guessed before.

There is a funny proverb: When you eat yourself, your stomach hurts. When others eat, the soul hurts.

To match her proverb about the ritual meal movlada: What is its dignity? There are many eaters and little food.

There are such jokes about greedy owners. The wife says to her husband: How beautiful is the back of the departing guest.

In another version, the host makes a toast: Let's drink for a guest who does not stay long.

In Chechnya there is a whole cycle about the wisdom of Bola mullah from Elistanji. A man came to him and asked: Is smoking allowed?

Bola replied: I don't know for sure. But let the one who smokes not be left without tobacco!

According to another version, Bola's position turned out to be more definite. When asked about smoking, he replied: If God created a person for smoking, then he would have arranged a pipe on his head.

The mores of the Soviet years have found their rightful place in the humor of the Chechens. The old man asks the robbers of the district scale:

Under the banner of Marxism-Leninism, where do you put the goods that go to the raipo (consumer cooperatives)?

Whether a joke, or the truth Chechens tell how the first secretary of the district committee of the CPSU urged him not to be removed:

I myself am full. And arranged for the children. And the new one will arrive hungry and start stealing even more. The regions are named differently.

Obviously, history repeats itself. Naturally, it is easiest to play a joke on a Lamoro mountaineer, say, who first came to Grozny.

But one highlander reacted so wittily to such attempts: There are people who left the mountains early, and now they are trying to get back rubbish revenge. They do not think that he can fall on them.

The ethnic humor of the Chechens is also mild-mannered. How do Russians look in the mirror of Chechen humor?

One guy asks Bola from Elistanzhi: What will happen if I marry a Russian?

Bola replies: It's hard to say, but three times a day you will eat cabbage soup for sure.

There is an anecdote about the meeting of a Russian with a Georgian.

Gruzin is walking, carrying two large watermelons, and he feels that his fly is undone, and his pants are about to slip down. Then a Russian who meets him asks a Georgian where the railway station is.

The Georgian, who was carrying two watermelons, says: Here, hold them.

Then he frees his hands, zips up his fly, lifts them up and exclaims: Wah! How do I know!?

Chechens love to tell this anecdote, perhaps because they themselves don't gesticulate much.

But ethnic humor directed at themselves.

Chechen, Armenian and Georgian argued who will teach the wolf to speak.

The Georgian and the Armenian, they say, did not succeed.

And the Chechen took a whip, hit the wolf and asked: Nohcho vuy? (Are you Chechen?)

The wolf howled: Woo. (i.e. yes).

I hope that the reader has got an idea of ​​the Chechens' propensity for humor, of his character, where the linguistic background is very palpable. There are no erotic smut here either.

Chechen shimmering humor is often expressed by people with a completely serious face. Laughter is rarely heard.

There is a saying about empty laughter: He who has a golden tooth in his mouth laughs willingly.

But humor pervades all life. It can sparkle even in the most tragic situations.

Yes, and the Almighty is not alien to this, for the proverb says: When the thief was robbed, God laughed.

"Chechens are tall, with sharp features, a quick, determined look. They amaze with their mobility, agility, dexterity.

In a war, they rush into the middle of the column, a terrible massacre begins, because the Chechens are agile and merciless like tigers.

The blood intoxicated them, darkened their minds, their eyes lit up with a phosphorescent brilliance, their movements became even more dexterous and quick; sounds came out of the larynx, more like the growl of a tiger than the voice of a man.

(V.A. Potto, "The Caucasian War in separate essays, episodes, legends and biographies", vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1887)

"Regarding the origin of the Chechens, there is still the deepest darkness. They are considered the most ancient inhabitants of the Caucasian peninsula, who preserved the primitive customs and warlike spirit of the ancients, and even now, as in the time of Aeschylus, they are "wild crowds, terrible in the noise of their rattling swords"

(Moritz Wagner, "The Caucasus and the land of the Cossacks from 1843 to 1846", Leipzig, 1846)

“The Chechens are undoubtedly the bravest people in the Eastern Mountains. Hiking in their land has always cost us bloody sacrifices. But this tribe has never been fully imbued with Muridism.

Of all the eastern highlanders, the Chechens retained their personal and social independence the most and forced Shamil, who ruled despotically in Dagestan, to make them a thousand concessions in the form of government, in national duties, in the ritual rigor of faith.

Ghazavat (war against the infidels) was only a pretext for them to defend their tribal independence"

(R.A. Fadeev, "Sixty Years of the Caucasian War", Tiflis, 1860).

""... The ability of this tribe is beyond doubt. Of the Caucasian intellectuals, there are already many Chechens in schools and gymnasiums. Where they study - they will not be praised.

Those who arrogantly humiliate the incomprehensible highlander must agree that when talking with a simple Chechen, you feel that you are dealing with a person who is sensitive to such phenomena of public life, which are almost inaccessible to our peasant in the middle provinces ""

Nemirovich-Danchenko. Along Chechnya.

"" Chechens, magnificent riders can overcome 120, 130 or even 150 miles in one night. Their horses, never slowing down at a gallop, storm such slopes where it would seem that even footmen cannot pass....

If there is a crevice ahead, which his horse does not dare to overcome at once, the Chechen wraps the head of the horse with a cloak and, trusting himself to the Almighty, makes the pacer jump over the abyss up to 20 feet deep ""

A. Dumas Caucasus (Paris, 1859)

Statements about Chechens in different
Times - part 4

""The Chechen is hospitable, kind, and does not shy away from the Gentiles""

(Military leaflet. Major Vlastov. ""War in Great Chechnya"". 1885, page 9)

K.M. Tumanov in 1913 in his remarkable work "On the prehistoric language of Transcaucasia":

“The ancestors of modern Chechens are the offspring of the Aryan Medes, Matians, who, by the way, lived in the same satrapy with the Urartians. Having survived the latter, they finally disappeared from the borders of Transcaucasia by the beginning of the 8th century AD.

“During their independence, the Chechens lived in separate communities, governed “through the people's assembly. Today they live as a people who do not know class distinction.

It can be seen that they are significantly different from the Circassians, among whom the nobility occupied such a high place. This is the significant difference between the aristocratic form of the Circassian republic and the completely democratic constitution of the Chechens and tribes of Dagestan.

This determined the special nature of their struggle... The inhabitants of the Eastern Caucasus are dominated by minted equality, and everyone has the same rights and the same social status.

The authority that they entrust to the tribal foremen of the elected council was limited in time and scope ... Chechens are cheerful and witty. Russian officers call them the French of the Caucasus.” (author's note - True, the Chechens themselves - if they were called French - would consider it an insult)

(Chantre Ernest. Recherches ant-hropologiques dans le Caucase. Paris, - 1887. 4. 4 . C. 104, no Sanders A. Kaukasien

“On foot up the Chanty-Argun” From Itum-Kale up the Chanty-Argun to the city of sun-worshippers, we walked for almost two days.

76. After 8 km we met the village of Bichigi, almost a family farm. After all, the concept of a collective farm in these mountains is a pure convention. And today the Chechen remains the master of his home, herd, business and, of course, his life... As it was before,

77. centuries and millennia in these mountains, always. The family gala - the tower - is a dwelling and fortification in case of war and revenge, and next to it are barns and buildings for livestock - a little further - vegetable gardens, and behind the estate - pastures for livestock and hunting grounds - this is the material base of the tribal system, Chechen communism.

78. The valley of Chanty-Argun turned into a narrow wooded gorge, and the road became a path winding along the bottom of the gorge, then on top, opening the mountains to the eye, and giving the head time for questions and reflections. There are no longer Russian fortresses here, but only inaccessible mountains and towers.

79. Yes, here's another - the legendary stone of Shamil. In the most difficult moments of his struggle, seemingly full of defeats, Shamil hid here - and again rose like a Phoenix from the ashes.

80. But now we are not interested in Shamil, but in the origins of Chechen fearlessness, personal contempt for death - with such incredible vitality:

for centuries to resist the steppe invasions from Asia,
a quarter of a century to wear down the greatest empire in the world,
in our, already Stalinist time, to undergo a double catastrophe:
men were destroyed at the front by the Germans,
women and children were evicted to barren Asia by us.
- And, nevertheless, grow up four times, defend your mountains and customs ...

81. And maybe here the clue is in a woman? As in Sparta, where the source of the courage of men was the exactingness of mothers and brides, and frequent male deaths were made up for by frequent births, exhausting fruiting, heroic maternal work ....

138. Transition to Ingushetia.
139. The whole next day we walked along the upper road along the snowfields
140. Caucasus to the west, to the main river of the Ingush Assa,
141. meeting in the distance flocks of sheep and grazing cows.

142. Yesterday, getting out of the Argun valley to the pass to Ingushetia, we talked with the shepherd Kostya in the sight of sheep grazing on a sunny slope. He invited us to spend the night in his booth in front of the pass, but we were in a hurry, not to waste time ... But while we were climbing the hot

143. the slope, while stretching, approached the booth in the evening, tired ...
144. Costa was surprised when he returned late in the evening. I got cheese, meat, flour ... well, everything was as it should be. Kosta is not a Chechen, he is from Georgia, he yearns for his family, he is sick.
145. A soft, kind smile, a pretty face - a person we understand ...

146. Chechens are another matter. We saw them only from a distance and did not dare to disturb their proud loneliness with our idle questions.

147. They approached and talked more with the Chechen towers, these collapsing knightly, or rather, ancestral castles, which were defended, or in turn conquered by the most courageous men in the world for the sake of the most heroic women.

148. Yes - let a coward not be born, but as a result many brave men are born.

166. It is clear, of course, that Chechen fearlessness has its downsides, and turns into cruelty. It is not for nothing that self-identification with wolf habits and essence sounds so intrusive in them. Sometimes it becomes scary, and Ancient Rome is also remembered (by a drunken she-wolf)

167. and Spartan wolves, robber Vikings
168. And yet, and yet, ...
And the Greeks, and the Romans, and the Vikings gave the world democracy, law, freedom ... And the future world without them and the Chechen experience is impossible ...

169. If the Lezgins teach the survival of the people, by all means, then the Chechens teach us personal death for the sake of the common, for the sake of preserving honor and rights. Survival is, of course, essential

170. but even without preserving the human quality, the world will fall mortally ill and soon die. And therefore we need to learn from this people too!...""

V. and L. Sokirko. Eastern Caucasus. Part 4. Chechens. 1979

The laws of kunakry and hospitality are observed more strictly among this people than among other highlanders. Kunak will not allow his friend to be insulted during the entire time that he is under his protection, and if he lives with him, he protects him from imminent danger, even at the cost of his own life.

Chechens are good shooters and have good weapons. They fight on foot. Their courage reaches a frenzy.

They never surrender, even if one of them remains against twenty, and the one who is taken by surprise by accident or oversight is covered in disgrace, as well as his family.

No Chechen girl will marry a young man who did not take part in the raids or who showed himself to be a coward in any battle.

The upbringing, lifestyle and internal management of the Chechens are what they should be among desperate people.

But the Caucasian peoples, with all the diversity of their historical destinies and origins, have one more common feature, which is especially pronounced among the Chechens: a deep inner awareness of the momentary nature of what is happening.

Living among the embodiment of eternity - the mountains, they feel time not as fleeting moments, but as the infinity of being. Perhaps this is the secret of the incredible courage of confronting tiny Chechnya.

“We had to wage the most difficult war in Chechnya, covered with centuries-old forests. The Chechens chose Germenchuk as a gathering point, the imam personally brought 6,000 Lezgins to their aid.

The Chechens were asked to surrender.

They answered: "We do not want mercy, we ask the Russians for one favor - let them let our families know that we died, as we lived - without submitting to someone else's power."

Then it was ordered to attack the village from all sides. Frantic firing opened, the outermost huts burst into flames. The first incendiary shells exploded, then they stopped bursting. Later, our people learned that the Chechens, lying on them, extinguished pipes before the fire communicated with gunpowder.

Little by little the fire engulfed all the houses. The Chechens sang a dying song.

Suddenly, a human figure jumped out of the burning sakli and a Chechen with a dagger rushed at our people. The Mozdok Cossack Atarschikov stabbed him in the chest with a bayonet. This pattern was repeated several times.

6 Lezgins crawled out of the burning ruins, miraculously surviving. They were immediately taken for dressing. Not a single Chechen surrendered alive"

(Chichakova, "Shamil in Russia and the Caucasus").

Khankala... This name has been attached to the gorge since ancient times. In the language of the Chechens, it means a guard fortress. There are many pages of history associated with it.

Here was located a large settlement of Chechen-Aul, which gave its name to the largest of the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus.

In the 17th century, at the mouth of the Khankala gorge, the Vainakhs were met by the hordes of the Crimean Khan, who intended to put peaceful mountain villages to fire and sword. They met and utterly defeated the 80,000th army of the predatory Horde.

VB Vinogradov - Through the ridges of centuries.

During the battle on the Sunzha River on July 4, 1785, the Georgian prince P. Bagration, who fought as part of the Russian troops, was wounded and captured.

During the battle, he showed courage and did not give up when all the nearby soldiers dropped their weapons and raised their hands. The transfer of the Russian landing force through the Sunzha bogged down and ended in the defeat of the Russian troops.

The saber was knocked out of the hands of the wounded Bagration, knocked down and tied up. After the battle, an equivalent exchange of prisoners traditionally took place, or a ransom if one of the parties did not have anyone to change.

After the exchange, the Russian command offered a large sum of money for Bagration. A boat with highlanders sailed from the opposite Chechen coast of the Sunzha.

When the boat moored to the shore where the royal battalions were, the Chechens carefully carried Bagration off the boat and laid him on the ground, already bandaged by Chechen doctors. And without uttering a word, without looking at anyone, they climbed back into the boat and began to push off from the shore.

"And money?" - Surprised Russian officers rushed to them, holding out a bag. None of the murids turned around. Only one Chechen looked at them with an impassive look, uttered something in Chechen and turned away.

The highlanders silently crossed the river and hid in the thickets of the forest.

"What did he say" - did the officers turn to the Kumyk interpreter?

The translator replied: "We do not sell brave men, and we do not buy"

"History of war and domination of Russians in the Caucasus" N.F.Dubrovin. 1888

The cute side of the Chechens is reflected in their epics and songs. Poor in terms of the number of words, but extremely figurative language of this tribe, as if created, according to knowledgeable researchers of the Andean Range, for a legend and a fairy tale, naive and instructive at the same time.

Humiliated braggarts, punished envious people and predators, the triumph of the magnanimous, albeit weak, respect for a woman who is an outstanding assistant to her husband and comrades - these are the roots of folk art in Chechnya.

Add to this the highlander's wit, his ability to joke and understand a joke, gaiety, which even the difficult situation of this tribe could not master, and you, of course, with all your respect for uniform moralists, will agree with me that the Chechens are a people as a people, not in than no worse, and perhaps better than any other, who singles out such virtuous and merciless judges from his midst.

Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko

“As for the Chechens, in my opinion, for the most part they have an increased potential for courage, energy and love of freedom.

At the end of the first Chechen war, I wrote in the then Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the Chechens, in terms of their qualities, including intellectual data, represent a certain fluctuation of positive properties.

I am familiar with many Chechens of different status and age, and I am always amazed at their intelligence, wisdom, composure, perseverance.

One of the components of the fluctuation mentioned above seems to me to be the fact that the Chechens, the only peoples among the peoples of the Russian Empire, did not have an aristocracy, never knew serfdom, and have been living without feudal princes for about three hundred years.

(Vadim Belotserkovsky, February 22, 2008)

After the crushing of France in 1812-1814. after defeating the also powerful Ottoman Empire in 1829, Russia set about the Caucasians.

Among them, the Chechens put up the fiercest resistance. They were ready to die, but not to part with freedom. This sacred feeling is the basis of the Chechen ethnic character to this day.

We now know that their ancestors were involved in the formation of human civilization in its primary focus in the Middle East. Hurrians, Mittani and Urartu - that's who is listed in the sources of Chechen culture.

The ancient peoples of the Eurasian steppes apparently also included their ancestors, because there are traces of the relationship of these languages. For example, with the Etruscans, as well as with the Slavs.

The traditional worldview of the Chechens reveals primordial monotheism, the idea of ​​a single God.

The system of united self-governing teips centuries ago developed a single body Council of the country. He performed the functions of a unified military command, formed public relations, and carried out state functions.

The only thing he lacked for the rank of the state was a penitentiary system, including prisons.

So, the Chechen people lived for centuries with their own state. By the time Russia appeared in the Caucasus, the Chechens had completed their anti-feudal movement. But they left the functions of the state as a way of human coexistence and self-defense.

It was this nation that managed in the past to carry out a unique world experiment to achieve a democratic society.

Charles William Rekherton

The official Russian historiography carefully hides the real scale of the losses suffered during the aggressive wars of conquest.

Of course, if the Russian people knew what it costs them, they would not get involved in all sorts of adventures.

For example, what is the campaign of Prince Vorontsov against the Chechens in the 19th century worth. Of the 10 thousand Russians, 7 were destroyed.

On the way back to Russia, the officers were careful to ensure that Vorontsov did not shoot himself. Otherwise, one of them would have to answer to the king.

Vorontsov had nothing to lose, and he wrote to the tsar in his report on the colossal victory of the Russians, and the crushing defeat of the Chechens, for which he was granted a promotion.

Most likely, the king and his officials were not so stupid as to believe the absurd report. But as air, victories and a basis for further expansion into the Caucasus were needed.

After the punishment of Vorontsov, it would be more difficult for the tsar to send new recruits to the slaughterhouse.

They know how to value dearly the dignity in a person, but in the excitement even the greatest person can die with them for nothing.

From the diary of a Russian soldier who was held captive by the Chechens for ten months during the Caucasian War of the 19th century.

When you look at the Chechen and our brother Vakhlak at the same time, ours gives the impression of a clumsy herbivore next to a stately and bold predator.

The Chechen has the variegated attire of some panther or leopard, the grace and flexibility of her movements, her terrible strength, embodied in elegant steel forms ...

This is truly a beast, perfectly equipped with all kinds of military weapons, sharp claws, powerful teeth, jumping like rubber, evasive like rubber, rushing away with lightning speed, overtaking and smashing with lightning speed, instantly igniting such malice and anger that a herbivore can never animate. ox"

(E.M. Markov, "Essays on the Caucasus", St. Petersburg, 1875).

The plane or, more correctly, the sloping northern slopes of the Caucasian ridge, covered with forests and fruitful valleys and inhabited in the eastern part by the Chechen tribe, the most warlike of the mountain tribes, has always been the heart, granary and the most powerful hire of the coalition of mountains hostile to us.

Shamil, knowing well the price of these foothills and choosing his residence initially Dargo, and then Vedeno, apparently tried to stay closer to Chechnya than to all his other possessions.

The significance of these foothills was also understood by the Commander-in-Chief, Prince Baryatinsky, who concentrated all our attacks on the Chechen lands, with the fall of which in April 1859, densely populated Dagestan could not resist even half a year, although it had a rest from our offensive actions, which had been stopped by Dagestan since 1849. .

(E. Selderetsky. Conversations about the Caucasus. Part 1, Berlin, 1870)

Meanwhile, Major General Grekov, taking advantage of a temporary lull, made several expeditions to Chechnya during the winter (1825) to punish the villages that had taken in fugitive Kabardians.

It was impossible to wish for more disastrous weather for the Chechens.

From the day of his departure from Grozny and until his return, the cold continued rather severe. In addition to deep snow in Chechnya, frosts constantly kept from 8 to 12 degrees, finally, sleet, which lasted 4 days, covered trees and all plants with ice, deprived livestock of the last means of food, while hay remained either in the villages or in the steppe.

These two extremes are strong enough to enslave any other nation, but have barely swayed a few Chechens. Their perseverance is incredible. That is, they did not extradite the Kabardians.

(Dubrovin N.F. ""History of war and dominion"", vol. VI, book 1, St. Petersburg, 1888, p. 527) 1919.

The Turkish officer, Huseyn Efendi, who, by the will of fate, found himself among the Chechens, did not hide his amazement and admiration.

"Highlanders, fighting with the Russians, stand incessantly in battles," he wrote. - Not receiving any money, no food, nothing in the literal sense.

I am afraid of Allah not to tell the truth that the highlanders, especially the Shatoevtsy, are worth a lot.

They are not afraid of either the enemy, or frost, or poverty, at my first click they set out on a campaign. If we do not thank them, Allah will thank them.

I am a Turk, but they are Chechens, and they stand for the faith. I'll be honest, I've never seen anything like it. I will never tear myself away from the mountaineers.

According to legend, Shamil was asked who in the imamate fought better than all the peoples? He said "Chechens".

"And who was the worst of all" and he answered "Chechens", and when his interlocutor was amazed, the imam explained, "the best of the Chechens were the best of all the rest, and the worst of them were the worst of all the rest"

1918 The Russians, who had expelled the Chechens from Grozny, were besieged by the highlanders there and fired cannons at the nearby villages.

Soon the Chechens succeeded, having disarmed the Vedeno garrison of the Russians, to take away 19 guns from them. Having transported these weapons to the besiegers of Grozny, the Chechens used them solely to force the Russians not to destroy their villages.

S. M. Kirov writes: "" If the Chechens decide to do away with Grozny, they can do it in a few minutes. They only have to fire a few shells at oil and gasoline tanks, and only ashes will remain of Grozny""

“The social life of the Chechens is distinguished in its structure by that patriarchy and simplicity that we find in primitive societies, which modernity has not yet touched with any of its various aspects of civic life.

The Chechens do not have those class divisions that make up the character of European-organized societies.

Chechens in their vicious circle form a class - free people, and we do not find any feudal privileges between them "

(A.P. Berzhe, "Chechnya and Chechens", Tiflis, 1859).

Statements about Chechens in different
Times - part 5

At the time of agnatic unions, the image of a male warrior, warrior, defender of the union rises to the level of a comprehensive folk ideal that leaves its mark on all life in all its manifestations.

How this image should have been drawn before the mental gaze of the Ancient Caucasian highlander - we can judge this from the views of the Chechens - a people who are very weakly influenced by time and circumstances.

According to these views, a true warrior must first of all possess all the properties and qualities of a warrior of the heroic era of mankind;

he must be very indifferent to life,
love not peace and tranquility, but all kinds of dangers and swearing anxieties,
must be brave
unshakably firm, patient and enduring"

(N. Semenov, "Natives of the North-Eastern Caucasus", St. Petersburg, 1895).

So, in one Chechen song it is sung:

Belt on a thin camp
You replace it with a sash - the royal power tells you.
Finely tailored Circassian cloth
Change to rags - the royal power tells you.

Your papakha from astrakhan
Change to a cap - the royal power tells you.
Ancestral Steel Weapon
Replace with a twig - royal power tells you.

Get off your horse, which grew up with you,
Stand on foot - the royal power tells you.
To the murderers of your brothers who do not recognize God,
Become a slave and be quiet - the royal power tells you.

Go to sleep next to them in a common parking lot,
Eat from a bowl of one - royal power tells you ...

"A Chechen woman is freer than all women and therefore more honest than all."

If there were no reasons for strife among them, the Chechens would become very dangerous neighbors, and it is not without reason to apply to them what Thucydides said about the ancient Scythians:

"There is no people in Europe or in Asia who could resist them if the latter united their forces"

(Johan Blaramberg, "Caucasian Manuscript")

Industries of the Chechens. According to Marggraf (O. V. Marggraf.

Essay on handicrafts Sev. Caucasus, 1882), the Terek Cossacks bought from the Chechens in Mozdok, Grozny, Kizlyar (Bukhna, founded by Sharoytsy) and Khasav-Yurt (Khase Evla, founded by Chechens) about 1700 "Circassians" (Russian name) per year and the same number of caps in total for the amount of 10,000 rubles.

Chechen grain fed not only neighboring regions, but was exported to Turkey and Iran.

"According to official data, the population of Chechnya from 1847 to 1850 decreased by more than two times, and from 1860 to the time of the revolution (i.e. 1917) - almost four times," says the Encyclopedic Dictionary "Granat"

(vol. 58, ed. 7, Moscow, OGIZ, 1940, p. 183).

The fact that the pre-war number of Chechens was one and a half million people, says A. Rogov

(magazine "Revolution and Highlander", No. 6-7, p. 94).

By the end of the war in 1861, only 140 thousand people remained, and by 1867 - 116 thousand.

(Volkova N. G. "The ethnic composition of the population of the North Caucasus in the XIX century." Moscow, 1973, pp. 120 - 121.)

The scale of hostilities is also given by the number of tsarist troops concentrated in the Caucasus: from 250,000 in the mid-40s to 300,000 by the end of the 50s

(Pokrovsky M.N. "Diplomacy and wars of tsarist Russia in the 19th century. M., 1923, pp. 217 - 218).

These troops in the Caucasus, as Field Marshal Baryatinsky noted in his report to Alexander II, were "undoubtedly the best half of the Russian forces"

(Report of Field Marshal A. I. Baryatinsky for 1857 - 1859. Acts collected by the Caucasian archaeological expedition, vol. XII, Tiflis, 1904).

Dmitry Panin, a descendant of an ancient noble family, is a Russian scientist and religious philosopher who spent 16 years in the Stalinist camps.

In the 70s, his book "Lubyanka - Ekibastuz" was published in the West, which literary critics call "a phenomenon of Russian literature, equal to F.M. Dostoevsky's Notes from the House of the Dead."

Here is what he writes in this book about the Chechens:

“The most successful and witty was the escape (from the Special Camp in Kazakhstan - V.M.) of two prisoners during a strong snowstorm.

During the day, rolls of compressed snow piled up, the barbed wire turned out to be covered, and the prisoners passed over it as if over a bridge. The wind blew at their backs: they unbuttoned their pea jackets and pulled them up with their hands like sails.

Wet snow forms a solid road: during the snowstorm they managed to cover more than two hundred kilometers and reach the village. There they were arranging rags with numbers and mingled with the local population.

They were lucky: they were Chechens; they gave them hospitality. Chechens and Ingush are closely related Caucasian peoples of the Muslim religion.

Their representatives in the vast majority are resolute and courageous people.

When the Germans were expelled from the Caucasus, Stalin evicted these and other minorities to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Children, elderly and weak people died, but great tenacity and vitality allowed the Chechens to resist during the barbaric resettlement.

The main strength of the Chechens was loyalty to their religion. They tried to settle in groups, and in each village the most educated of them took on the duty of a mullah.

They tried to resolve disputes and quarrels among themselves, without bringing them to the Soviet court; girls were not allowed to go to school, boys went to it for a year or two to learn only how to write and read, and after that no fines helped.

The simplest business protest helped the Chechens win the battle for their people. Children were brought up in religious ideas, albeit extremely simplified, in respect for their parents, for their people, for their customs, and in hatred for the godless Soviet cauldron, in which they did not want to boil for any bait.

At the same time, skirmishes invariably arose, protests were expressed. Petty Soviet satraps did dirty work, and many Chechens fell behind barbed wire.

We also had reliable, courageous, resolute Chechens with us. There were no informers among them, and if any appeared, they turned out to be short-lived.

I have had the opportunity to verify the loyalty of the Vainakhs - Muslims more than once. When I was a foreman, I chose Idris as an assistant to the Ingush and was always calm, knowing that the rear was reliably protected and every order would be carried out by the brigade.

The party organizer of the state farm, fearing for his life, hired three Chechens as his bodyguards for a lot of money. To all the Chechens there, he was disgusting with his actions, but once they promised, they kept their word, and, thanks to their protection, the party organizer remained safe and sound.

Later, when I was free, I many times set Chechens as an example to my acquaintances and offered to learn from them the art of defending their children, protecting them from the corrupting influence of a godless, unprincipled government.

What was so simple and natural for the illiterate Vainakhs - Muslims, was shattered by the desire of educated and semi-educated Soviet Russians to necessarily give higher education to their, as a rule, only child.

It was impossible for ordinary people, in the face of impugned atheism and a bloodless, defeated, almost everywhere closed Church, to defend their children alone.

The encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, published in 1903, says about the Chechens:

“Chechens are tall and well built. Women are beautiful. ... Indomitability, courage, dexterity, endurance, calmness in the fight are the features of the Chechen, long recognized by everyone, even their enemies.

(Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron. 1903)

Speaking about the Chechens, Brockhaus also says that the Chechens are thinking of stealing:

“The biggest insult a girl can inflict on a guy is to say, ‘You can’t even steal a sheep.

It must be emphasized that Brockhaus did not deign to explain or did not understand the specific root of this theft, and thus simply hangs a label on the Chechens, accusing them of theft.

Meanwhile, the theft that Brockhaus speaks of applies exclusively and only to the enemy at war with them.

The meaning of the insult in question is that the Chechen girl insults the Chechen guy, who cannot do evil against the enemy of the Chechen people, even by stealing a ram, while the Chechen must in any way harm his hated enemies - those who are at war with the Chechens, even robbery.

This is what "theft" is all about. In fact, what he calls theft was the robbery of exclusively military and military fortifications.

Well, if we talk about theft among the Chechens in general, as such, then the Chechens who were convicted of theft from time immemorial were expelled from their midst, and the guilty person could only settle where he was not known, since the shame from this is transferred to his relatives.

In support of what has been said, we cite the words of the captain of the tsarist army of the 19th century, I. I. Nordenstamm, who by no means can be suspected of sympathy for the Chechens:

“Theft from one’s enemy, especially from the unfaithful, is considered daring, among one’s own thefts are almost unheard of and are considered shameful ...”

(I.I. Nordenstamm. "Description of Chechnya with information of an ethnographic and economic nature." Materials on the history of Dagestan and Chechnya. 1940, p. 322.).

Statements about Chechens in different
Times - part 6

The Russian intelligentsia pays great attention to the peoples of the North Caucasus in their work - M.Yu. Lermontov, A.S. Pushkin, L.N. Tolstoy and others.

The best works written by them about the Caucasus are dedicated to the Chechens. They describe the life and customs of the Chechens with deep sympathy and respect. They described the love of freedom, courage, devotion and friendship of the Chechens.

They did not need to invent or embellish anything, they simply stated the facts, and they endowed the heroes of their works with such qualities.

The nobility that distinguishes the Chechens even in difficult moments of their lives is clearly expressed in Pushkin's "Tazit", when Tazit, brought up among the Chechens, leaves, leaving his enemy fratricide alive, due to the fact that he was unarmed and wounded.

"The killer was alone, wounded, unarmed"

(A.S. Pushkin. Complete. collected works. M., 1948. v.5. p.69. "Tazit".)

The custom of hospitality is especially revered by Chechens. A guest (khasha) among the Chechens is considered not only a specially invited guest, but also any acquaintance or complete stranger who asked to come to the house for rest, for the night, with a request for protection or assistance in something.

Chechen hospitality can be enjoyed by a person of any race and religion. The further the relationship with the guest, the more responsibility lies with the host in relation to ensuring the protection of the guest.

And in the Russian-Chechen war of 1994-96, the fighters of the Chechen Resistance themselves contacted the parents of the Russian soldiers captured by them, who came to kill the Chechens, and gave them their sons alive.

The parents of Russian soldiers, who came in search of captured and missing sons, were received by the Chechens at their homes, they were given lodging for the night, food, and no one ever had the thought of taking any payment for this.

The right to own a house, according to the custom of the Chechens, is considered sacred and inviolable. For an insult to the owner in his own house, the offender bears more responsibility than for a similar insult inflicted elsewhere.

Entering someone else's house is supposed to ask the permission of the owner. Permission follows immediately.

For Chechens, it is considered a great shame for the house if a stranger, acquaintance or stranger, leaves the threshold of the house without meeting a warm welcome. Only people who have blood scores with someone are careful about inviting an unfamiliar guest to the house, because they are afraid that he may turn out to be their blood enemy.

A person who has visited, at least once, in the house of a Chechen, according to custom, is considered a friend and well-wisher of this house.

If, according to custom, any visitor or guest is to some extent accepted as a true friend, kunak, one’s own person, and even as a relative, then the custom requires from the visitor his own affection and loyalty to the owner, whom he visited at least once and “bread- salt", which he tasted.

“... touching a guest in the house would be the greatest crime, therefore, the guest, as a sign of his power of attorney to the owner, getting off his horse, always gives up his weapon, which he receives upon his departure”

Writes I.I. Nordenstamm, who in 1832 during a military campaign in the eastern region of Chechnya, collected some ethnographic information about the Chechens.

“Chechens are subtly polite hosts and guests. ... Chechens are distinguished by the most cordial hospitality. Everyone tries to surround the guest with that material allowance, which he himself does not have either on annual holidays, or at solemn moments for his family.

(Dubrovin. "History of the war and domination of Russians in the Caucasus." 1871. vol. 1. book 1. p. 415.)

If someone offends the guest, he thereby offends the host, and such an insult is perceived by the Chechens stronger than a personal insult.

W. Miller, A.P. Berger and other researchers note that violation of the custom of hospitality is considered a great crime among Chechens. The whole society turned away from the violator, he was despised, cursed, and under especially difficult circumstances, they were completely expelled from their environment.

“The feeling of hospitality has been absorbed into the blood and flesh of every Chechen. Everything for the guest, whoever he is. For the last savings, the Chechen buys a pound of sugar and an eighth of tea and does not use them at all, but keeps them especially for the guest.

A Chechen, when he has nothing to treat a guest, feels extremely embarrassed and almost disgraced. During the guest's stay, the host refuses personal comforts and puts him on his personal bed.

He escorts the guest, and if one is killed on the way (from him), then, together with the relatives of the murdered, declares revenge on the killer.

(D. Sheripov. Essay on Chechnya. (Brief ethnographic information). Grozny. 1926. p. 28.)

There are numerous materials that can be found, in particular in the Acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission, proving, for example, how Russian soldiers fled to Chechnya during the long period of the Caucasian War.

The fugitive soldiers, despite the fact that they came to their land with the war, were received by the Chechens with respect, according to the Chechen custom of hospitality, and the fact that they were so received is clearly visible how difficult it was for the tsarist authorities to force the Chechens to extradite the fugitives for reprisal.

They offered a lot of money for them, and otherwise they threatened to destroy the whole Chechen village, which was sometimes carried out.

Details about the Kunaic connections during the Caucasian War can also be found in the reports of contemporaries.

So, for example, N. Semenov gives vivid examples of how Russian serfs, soldiers, Cossacks fled to the mountains. They always "found shelter and hospitality" among the Chechens and lived "quite well" in the villages of Chechnya.

(N. Semenov. "Natives of the North-Eastern Caucasus." St. Petersburg, 1895, p. 120.)

“Each house has a special section for guests, which is called Kunatsky, it consists of one or more rooms, depending on the owner’s condition, which is kept very clean,”

The same Nordenstamm writes (Materials on the history of Dagestan and Chechnya. 1940. p. 317.).

“The glorious Beybulat, the thunderstorm of the Caucasus, came to Arzrum with two foremen of the Circassian villages, who were indignant during the last wars. …

His arrival in Arzrum made me very happy: he was already my guarantee for a safe passage through the mountains to Kabarda.

(A.S. Pushkin. Op. vol. 5. M., 1960. p. 457.).

These words of Pushkin show us that the poet was familiar with the customs of the Chechens. He knew that he, even being a casual companion of the Chechen Taimi-Bibolt (Beibulat Taimiev), was guaranteed safety on such a dangerous path from Arzrum along the Georgian military road, which shows the joy of the poet's meeting with Beibulat.

L.N. Tolstoy, while in Chechnya, became friends with the Chechens Balta Isaev and Sado Misirbiev from Stary-Yurt, later renamed Tolstoy-Yurt. The writer spoke of his friendship with Sado as follows:

“Many times he proved his devotion to me, putting his life in danger because of me, but this means nothing to him, this is custom and pleasure for him”

(Collection. "The Caucasus and Tolstoy" edited by Semenov.L.P.).

As you know, it was the acquaintance with the Chechen way of life that prompted the great writer to accept Islam. And Lev Nikolaevich met his end of life on the way to Chechnya, where he was going, and where he was going to live his last days.

Many Chechens consider them humanists, and some even consider them to be the first Chechen human rights activists. The reason for this is the description by Russian writers in their works of the national qualities of the Chechens - courage, courage, bravery, nobility.

But the fact is that these writers did not invent anything, but simply wrote the truth.

One of the factors determining the features of the national character of the Chechens is the Chechen folk social and everyday lyrics. Social lyrics include traditional songs of the Chechens, which served in the public consciousness to express the inner world of the Chechens.

The Chechen song expresses the richness of the feelings of the people's soul with its sorrows and joys caused by certain historical events, the hard life of the people, the Chechens' love for freedom and hatred for the tsarist colonizers who brought slavery and oppression to the Chechens.

The Chechens do not and did not have a division into classes or any social groups: “The Chechens do not and never had their own princes, beks or any other rulers; everyone is equal…”

(Materials on the history of Dagestan and Chechnya. 1940. p. 323.)

The famous Caucasian scholar A.P. Berger, published in 1859 in his book "Chechnya and Chechens" writes:

“There is almost no difference in the way of life between prosperous and poor Chechens: the advantage of one over the other is expressed partly in clothing, but most of all in weapons and horses .... Chechens in their vicious circle form one class with themselves - free people, and we do not find any feudal privileges between them.

(A.P. Berge. "Chechnya and Chechens". Tiflis. 1859. pp. 98-99.).

Slavery, in any manifestation, and Chechen psychology are incompatible. Unlike others, a Chechen without hesitation will go to certain death than agree to be a slave, no matter how strong and countless the enemy is.

Slaves, as well as cowards, are treated by Chechens as despicable creatures. In the Chechen lexicon, a slave - barking - is the greatest insult.

This is also demonstrated in the works of M.Yu. Lermontov, when in "The Fugitive", the mother abandons her son, who "could not die with glory":

"By thy shame, fugitive of freedom,
I will not darken the old years,
You are a slave and a coward - and not my son! ... "

(M.Yu. Lermontov. collected works in 4 vols. vol. 2. M., "Fiction". 1964. p. 49.).

In his article, Friedrich Bodenstedt (Frankfurt, 1855) wrote:

“From century to century, the powerful Russian state has been subjecting the Chechen people, their historical and cultural heritage to physical destruction - Russia has waged war against the Chechens for many centuries, but has never been able to finally defeat them”

Benckendorff relates an amazing episode:

“Once, on one market day, a quarrel arose between the Chechens and the Apsheronians (soldiers of the Apsheron regiment. - Ya.G.), the Kurins (soldiers of the Kurinsky regiment. - Ya.G.) did not fail to take a serious part in it.

But who did they help? Of course, not to the Absheron people!

"How can we not protect the Chechens," the Kura soldiers said, "they are our brothers, we have been fighting with them for 20 years!"

During the conquest of the North Caucasus, the Chechens were rightly considered the most active and strongest opponents of the tsarist government.

The onslaught of the tsarist troops on the highlanders caused them to unite to fight for their independence, and in this struggle of the highlanders the Chechens played an outstanding role, supplying the main fighting forces and food for the gazavat (holy war) "Chechnya was the granary of the gazavat."

(TSB, Moscow, 1934, p. 531)

The government commission, having studied the issue of recruiting them to serve in the Russian army, in 1875. reported:

"" Chechens, the most warlike and dangerous highlanders of the North. Caucasus, they are ready-made warriors .... Chechens literally from childhood get used to communicating with weapons. Shooting at night offhand, at the sound, at the light, shows the clear advantage of the highlanders in this over trained Cossacks and especially soldiers ""

Abstracts of reports .... Makhachkala, 1989, page 23

“Chechens are very poor, but they never go for alms, they don’t like to ask, and this is their moral superiority over the highlanders. Chechens in relation to their own never give orders, but say

""I would need it, I would like to eat, I will do it, I will go, I will find out if God wills.""

There are almost no swear words in the local language....""

S. Belyaev, diary of a Russian soldier who was a prisoner of the Chechens for ten months.

"" During their independence, the Chechens, in contrast to the Circassians, did not know the feudal system and class divisions. In their independent communities, governed by popular assemblies, everyone was absolutely equal. We are all bridles (i.e. free, equal), the Chechens now say.

(Encyclopedic Dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus, I. A. Efron. Vol. XXXVIII A, St. Petersburg, 1903)

Describing the situation in the field of education, contrary to the imperial myths about the "dark mountaineers", the well-known Caucasian scholar - tsarist general P.K. Uslar wrote:

"If education is judged by the proportionality of the number of schools with the mass of the population, then the Caucasian highlanders in this respect are ahead of many European nations."

The Chechens are undoubtedly the bravest people in the Eastern Mountains. Hiking in their lands has always cost us huge bloody sacrifices.

(N.F. Dubrovin, "History of the war and domination of Russians in the Caucasus")

In his apology for the Russian colonization of the Caucasus, Alexander Kaspari describes the Chechens as follows:

“The upbringing of a Chechen is based on obedience, on the ability to restrain his feelings within the proper limits, on the other hand, he is given complete freedom to develop individual abilities as he pleases.

The consequence of this was that the Chechens are very smart, dexterous and resourceful.

Despite the respect for their titled persons and elders, the Chechens never reach the level of servility and servility, and if some authors accuse them of this, then this shows their little knowledge of the Chechen character.

This is not a repetition of the above statement. The above statement by Berger, and this statement by Caspari, although they are half similar.

"Chechens, both men and women, are an extremely beautiful people in appearance. They are tall, very slender, their physiognomies, especially their eyes, are expressive; Chechens are agile and dexterous in their movements; by nature they are all very impressionable, cheerful and very witty, for which they are called the "French" of the Caucasus, but at the same time suspicious and vindictive. At the same time, the Chechens are indomitable, unusually hardy, brave in attack, defense and pursuit "

(Kaspari A.A. “The Conquered Caucasus”, kn-1, pp. 100-101.120, appendix to the Rodina magazine, M. 1904).

Unfortunately, the questions of the ethnogenesis of the Vainakhs have not been the subject of a special study of historians. Historians, linguists, archaeologists only incidentally touch upon the origin of the Vainakhs as an ethnic group in their writings, and perhaps they were forbidden to write Pravda about the Chechens, as this would instill a love of exploited peoples for freedom and equality.

The original features inherent in the Chechens, their way of life, culture only to a small extent served as the subject of publicity.

It is impossible to get around the piety and courage of Chechen women without mentioning this from a multitude of examples.

In 1944, on February 23, during the eviction of the Chechens, on this tragic day, when everyone from young to old was declared enemies of the motherland, loaded onto Studebakers, they were taken away from their native villages, not even allowing them to take food and clothes.

People were shot not only for the slightest disobedience, but even for an angry look at the ongoing genocide. On this terrible day, it would seem impossible to think of anything else.

A Chechen woman, whose stomach was torn open by a Red Army soldier, trying to restrain her falling out insides with her hands, shouted to her brother-in-law, who wanted to help her: “Do not go into the house, I can see shameful places!”.

This is what it is, the moral image of Chechen women.

The well-known historian linguist Joseph Karst states that the Chechens, sharply separated from other mountain peoples of the Caucasus by their origin and language, are the remnant of some great ancient people, whose traces are caught in many areas of the Middle East, up to the borders of Egypt.

I. Karst in his other work called the Chechen language the northern offspring of the proto-language, considering the language of the Chechens, as well as the Chechens themselves, as a remnant of the most ancient primary people.

The Chechen village of Dadi-Yurt, located on the right bank of the Terek, was wiped off the face of the earth in 1818 by order of the viceroy of the tsar in the Caucasus, General Yermolov.

Before the start of the battle, the parliamentarians appealed to the command of the tsarist troops to release women, children and the elderly from the village. But the tsarist officers said that the proconsul Yermolov ordered the whole village to be punished.

“Then look how Chechens can die in battle,” they received an answer from Chechen parliamentarians.

The whole village fought - women, children and the elderly helped the men. Someone helped in any way they could, someone loaded the guns, someone bandaged the wounds, and someone stood next to the men.

When the Chechens ran out of gunpowder and bullets, and the tsarist troops, having razed the village to the ground with a preliminary bombardment, entered it, the Chechens, who came out from under the shelters, unsheathed their daggers, rushed into a furious hand-to-hand attack.

Russian soldiers - old-timers of the Caucasian war testified that they had never seen such a fierce battle.

After the end of the battle, more than ten Chechen women were captured. When they were being transported to the left bank of the Terek, the Chechen women, having told a friend to a friend "we will not let these giaurs trample on the Honor of our men," and taking one Cossack escort each, rushed into the stormy river.

I heard from the old people that they were witnesses as Cossacks, passing through a wasteland where the village of Dadi-Yurt was once located, dismounted from their horses and took off their hats.

In a house on the outskirts of the settlement near which the incident occurred, all the women and children who were there lay down on the floor, waiting for the end of the shelling.

In a cannonade of grenade explosions from underbarrel grenade launchers, automatic and machine-gun bursts, breaking glass windows and hitting walls of bullets, an elderly Chechen woman said to her niece, lying on the floor with her knees bent: “Lie down straight! If you are killed lying in this position, you will look obscene.

Truly, these qualities are inherent only to the Chechens, therefore it is not surprising that they were called the "French" of the Caucasus, although to be honest, if a Chechen had been told that he was French, he would have taken it as an insult.

It is difficult to find such a phenomenon of national character anywhere except among the Chechens.

This spirit, not submissive and not broken even by Stalin himself, when everyone around resigned to fate, was surprised by the former dissident, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who wrote about it in his Gulag Archipelago.

“But there was one nation that did not succumb to the psychology of humility at all - not loners, not rebels, but the whole nation as a whole. These are the Chechens.

We have already seen how they treated the camp fugitives. As one, they tried to support the Kengir uprising from the entire Dzhezkazgan exile.

I would say that of all the special settlers, the only Chechens proved to be convicts in spirit. After they were once treacherously pulled from their place, they no longer believed in anything.

They built sakli for themselves - low, dark, miserable, such that even with a kick of their feet, it seems, fall apart. And the whole of their exile economy was the same - for this one day, this month, this year, without any osprey, reserve, distant intention.

They ate, drank, the young also dressed. Years passed - and they had nothing as well as in the beginning. No Chechens anywhere tried to please or please the authorities - but they are always proud of him and even openly hostile.

Despising the laws of universal education and those school state sciences, they did not let their girls go to school so as not to spoil them there, and not all boys, either. They did not send their women to the collective farm. And they themselves did not hunchback on the collective farm fields.

Most of all, they tried to get a job as drivers: taking care of the engine is not humiliating, in the constant movement of the car they found saturation of their dzhigit passion, in chauffeuring opportunities - their thieves' passion. However, they also satisfied this last passion directly.

They brought the notion of “stolen”, “cleansed” to peaceful, honest dormant Kazakhstan. They could steal cattle, rob a house, and sometimes simply take it away by force.

Local residents and those exiles who so easily submitted to the authorities, they regarded almost as the same breed. They respected only rebels. And what a miracle - everyone was afraid of them.

No one could stop them from living like this. And the government, which had owned this country for thirty years, could not force them to respect their laws. How did it happen?

Here is a case in which perhaps an explanation has come together.

In the Kok-Terek school, a young Chechen Abdul Khudaev studied with me in the 9th grade. He did not evoke warm feelings and did not try to evoke them, as if he was afraid to stoop to be pleasant, but he was always emphatically dry, very proud and cruel.

But it was impossible not to appreciate his clear, distinct mind. In mathematics, in physics, he never stopped at the same level as his comrades, but always went deep and asked questions coming from the tireless search for the essence.

Like all the children of the settlers, he was inevitably embraced at school by the so-called public, that is, first by the pioneer organization, then by the Komsomol, academic committees, wall newspapers, education, conversations - that spiritual tuition fee that the Chechens paid so reluctantly.

Abdul lived with his old mother. None of their close relatives survived, only the elder brother Abdul still existed, who had been blatant for a long time, not for the first time already in the camp for theft and murder, but every time he quickly left there either by amnesty or by offsets.

One day he appeared in Kok-Terek, drank without waking for two days, quarreled with some local Chechen, grabbed a knife and rushed after him.

A foreign old Chechen woman blocked his way: she spread her arms so that he would stop. If he followed the Chechen law, he should have dropped the knife and stopped the persecution.

But he was no longer so much a Chechen as a thief - and waved a knife and stabbed an innocent old woman.

Then it entered into his drunken head what was waiting for him according to the Chechen law. He rushed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, opened up in the murder, and he was willingly put in jail.

He hid, but his younger brother Abdul, his mother and another old Chechen from their family, Abdul's uncle, remained.

The news of the murder instantly spread around the Chechen region of Kok-Terek - and all three of the remaining Khudaevs gathered in their house, stocked up on food, water, blocked the window, boarded the door, hid as if in a fortress.

Chechens from the family of the murdered woman now had to take revenge on someone from the Khudaev family. Until the blood of the Khudaevs is shed for their blood, they were not worthy of the title of people. And the siege of the Khudaevs' house began.

Abdul did not go to school - the whole Kok-Terek and the whole school knew why.

A senior student of our school, a Komsomol member, an excellent student, was threatened with death from a knife every minute - perhaps now, when they are seated at their desks at the bell, or now, when a literature teacher is talking about socialist humanism.

Everyone knew, everyone remembered about it, they only talked about it during breaks - and everyone lowered their eyes.

Neither the party, nor the Komsomol organization of the school, nor the head teacher, nor the director, nor the District ONO - no one went to save Khudaev, no one even approached his besieged house in the Chechen region, buzzing like a beehive.

Yes, if only they! - but before the breath of blood feud, such formidable parties for us and the district committee, and the district executive committee, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the commandant's office and the police behind their adobe walls still cowardly froze.

The barbarian wild ancient law died - and it immediately turned out that there was no Soviet power in Kok-Terek.

Her hand was not very extended from the regional center of Dzhambul, because for three days a plane with troops did not arrive from there and not a single decisive instruction was received, except for an order to defend the prison with cash forces.

So it turned out for Chechens and for all of us - what is power on earth and what is a mirage.

And only the Chechen old people showed reason! They went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs once - and asked to give them the elder Khudaev for reprisal. The Ministry of Internal Affairs with apprehension refused.

They came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the second time - and asked to arrange a public trial and shoot Khudaev in their presence. Then, they promised, the blood feud with the Khudaevs would be lifted. A more sensible compromise could not have been devised.

But how is this a public court? But how is it - a deliberately promised and public execution? After all, he is not political, he is a thief, he is socially close.

You can trample on the rights of the Fifty-Eighth, but not a multiple killer.

We asked for the area - a refusal came. “Then in an hour they will kill the younger Khudaev!” the old people explained.

The officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs shrugged their shoulders: this could not concern them. A crime not yet committed could not be considered by them.

And yet, some kind of trend of the 20th century touched ... not the Ministry of Internal Affairs, no, - hardened old Chechen hearts! They still did not order the avengers - to take revenge!

They sent a telegram to Alma-Ata. Some other old people, the most respected among all the people, hastily arrived from there. Gathered a council of elders.

The elder Khudaev was cursed and sentenced to death, wherever on earth he met the Chechen knife. The rest of the Khudaevs were summoned and told: “Go. You will not be touched."

And Abdul took the books and went to school. And with hypocritical smiles, the party organizer and the Komsomol organizer met him there. And at the next conversations and lessons, they again sang to him about the communist consciousness, without recalling the unfortunate incident.

Not a muscle twitched on Abdul's darkened face. Once again, he realized that there is a main force on earth: blood feud.

We Europeans in our books and schools read and utter only arrogant words of contempt for this savage law, for this senseless cruel massacre. But this massacre, it seems, is not so senseless: it does not stop the mountain nations, but strengthens them.

Not many victims fall according to the law of blood feud - but what fear blows on everything around!

With this law in mind, what highlander would dare to insult another just like we insult each other out of drunkenness, out of licentiousness, out of a whim?

And all the more so, what non-Chechen would dare to contact Chechen and say that he is a thief? Or is he rude? Or that he climbs out of turn? After all, the answer may not be a word, not a curse, but a knife stab in the side!

And even if you grab a knife (but you don’t have it with you, civilized), you will not retaliate with blow for blow: after all, your whole family will fall under the knife!

The Chechens walk across the Kazakh land with impudent eyes, pushing their shoulders - and the "owners of the country" and non-owners, all step aside respectfully.

Blood feud radiates a field of fear - and thus strengthens its small mountain nation.

And I will finish Sayings about the Chechens
famous lines from "Ismail Bey" Lermontov

And the tribes of those gorges are wild,
Their God is Freedom, their law is war,

They grow among secret robberies,
Cruel deeds and extraordinary deeds;

There in the cradle of mothers' songs
They scare the Russian name of children;

There it is not a crime to strike the enemy;
Friendship is true there, but revenge is more true;

There for good - good, and blood - for blood,
And hate is immeasurable, like love.

I read stories about interethnic love. I want to tell you a little ... My father is a Chechen, my mother is a Gagauz. Although I grew up not in Chechnya, I was brought up in Chechen, I am a Muslim ... while I was an exemplary girl - I studied, studied and studied again, even in my thoughts it was not close to hold the handle with someone. At first, my friends hovered in the clouds, praised their Vainakh guys, but then ... Basically, they abandoned all of them and left to marry Chechens. And the most common excuse was "Sorry, but I'm a Chechen, and I can ONLY take a Chechen as a wife.") This is the first excuse for a Chechen who does not want to marry a Russian girl. A Chechen can freely marry a girl of any nationality, a Chechen woman can also marry not a Chechen, but basically the marriage of a Chechen woman with a foreigner is not welcome, often the family of such a girl even refuses her, sometimes it comes to revenge ... But that's another story. Dear girls if your nohcho k1ant told you that he can only marry a girl of his nationality, then he simply does not love you, or, which happens less often, he is afraid of the reaction of the family. But again, is a loving person afraid to do something for the sake of his beloved? conclusions.

Let's move on ... One of my acquaintances met with a Chechen guy. She left with beatings. Now she fiercely hates all Caucasians. So, girls, you know, a Chechen (who respects the traditions of his people, knows and honors them) never in his life for anything he won’t hit a girl in the world (I’m generally silent about beating). According to Chechen adats, a man has no right to raise his hand to a woman, and indeed to an old man, child, underage teenager, baby. And those who raise their hand to a woman are just people , who do not respect themselves, their people, or religion. However, this rule is not included in the rite of revenge, because if they offended the family, then a person has the right to even kill a woman. A Chechen must protect his woman, and not only his own. Women are welcomed only standing, a man should be the first to greet them, among Chechens a woman is, first of all, someone's mother, sister, wife, daughter, or bride. , but any Chechen who sees this will certainly intervene. Shame on a Chechen who raised his hand to a girl. For an insult inflicted on his wife, the husband can kill the offender. hit? Get your feet up before it's too late.

I often hear that Chechens are often not restrained, quick-tempered. But according to adats (I forgot to say, these are not written rules), a Chechen must be restrained. He has no right to show his emotions, even smile at his wife in front of strangers (especially when elders) is considered indecent (I am silent about screaming and public showdown) A Chechen must be patient, laconic, reasonable, consistent in his actions and decisions, a Chechen who respects himself will not throw words to the wind. If he said something, or swore , then he will definitely fulfill it, no matter what it costs him (even if he has to lay down his life).

Here are some other girls who speak of Chechens, as if they consider all Russians to be sorry for easy virtue. Complete nonsense. In fact, for a Chechen, it doesn’t matter what nationality the girl is, if she behaves inappropriately, then the attitude towards her is appropriate. Chechen girls are very modest , it will seem savagery to some, but earlier, even for the fact that a Chechen would take a girl by the hand (who is not married to him), they killed him. Now, of course, this is not the case, but the girl’s honor is still inviolable. If a Chechen dishonored a girl, then the family of that Chechen woman can punish with blood, but more often they try to marry such girls.

One of my friends married a Chechen. He forced her to wear a headscarf. In fact, the girl must decide for herself whether she wants to wear a headscarf. This is a state of mind. meaning? Chechen women mostly wear a scarf as they wish, as they honor adats. Previously, if two men fought on the street, a woman who passed by to separate them ran up, and, removing the scarf from her head, threw it between them. They were obliged to stop the fight. Nobody can force you to wear a scarf. It all comes from the heart. For example, no one forced me to cover my head, but when I turned 14, I myself came to this decision and tied a scarf. , she walks in a hijab, prays 5 times a day, and she sits and swears on a dating site (by the way, it is unacceptable for a Chechen woman to use obscene language). This is how it happens.

Let's move on ... Bride stealing). Often our guys like to joke "I saw you today when you went to the store, I'll steal you tomorrow!" But this, as a rule, has nothing to do with the truth). I was often told earlier that they would steal, etc., but these are jokes. In fact, they plan the theft in advance. And most often the bride is not warned about this (the bride can tell her brother or father, then she is guaranteed complete safety, since they they won’t leave one, and stealing in the presence of brothers is very difficult, almost unrealistic). Bride kidnapping most often occurs for such reasons 1) the girl’s relatives are against her marriage, but she cannot go against their will, although she loves that young man. 2) the girl does not love him, but he wants to marry her, but he can’t get her consent to marriage in any way. 3) they love each other and the girl herself asks “steal me, otherwise they will give me for another.” and finally 4) just observing a beautiful tradition .Sometimes it happens that the groom dishonors his beloved when he stole, and she has no other choice but to marry him. Most often, stolen girls marry their kidnappers. jokes. If you are nevertheless stolen, then again the decision is yours, you can refuse and return home. But the guarantee that if you return, and your horseman will not steal you again, is small. My cousin is the bride 4 times stole until she agreed)

Girls, if you are going to marry a Chechen, then I hope these couple of tips will help you.

1) respect the traditions of his people.

2) when meeting his parents, in no case do not hug him, do not hold hands, do not kiss, and do not even smile at him, come in modest clothes. It is advisable to wear a skirt below the knees, a spacious sweater. It is better to collect your hair in a pigtail, light make-up is also acceptable, but by no means vulgar, a little bit. it is advisable to come with your parents. insist on your help if you are told that you do not need it. you should behave modestly, if you made a compliment, thank you. You can also say a couple of compliments, but do not fall asleep with them.

3) in marriage, you should be patient, complaisant, laborious. You should be restrained, calm, keep the house clean and naturally you will cook.)

And so, good luck to you, girls! I hope that my note will help you a little and at least destroy the stereotypes that all Chechens are animals.

ZY I'm getting married soon.)