Nakh peoples: Difference between revisions
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A characteristic feature of Vainakh architecture in the Middle Ages, rarely seen outside Chechnya and Ingushetia, was multi-floor [[Vainakh medieval towers|Vainakh tower]], a kind of structure that was used for dwelling or defense (or both). Residential towers had two or three floors, supported by a central pillar of stone blocks, and were topped with a flat shale roofing. These towers have been compared to the prehistoric mountain settlements dating back to 8000 BC. Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.<ref name="ilyasov">Lecha Ilyasov. ''The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present.'' ISBN 5-264-00693-0</ref> |
A characteristic feature of Vainakh architecture in the Middle Ages, rarely seen outside Chechnya and Ingushetia, was multi-floor [[Vainakh medieval towers|Vainakh tower]], a kind of structure that was used for dwelling or defense (or both). Residential towers had two or three floors, supported by a central pillar of stone blocks, and were topped with a flat shale roofing. These towers have been compared to the prehistoric mountain settlements dating back to 8000 BC. Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.<ref name="ilyasov">Lecha Ilyasov. ''The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present.'' ISBN 5-264-00693-0</ref> |
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Revision as of 05:20, 12 November 2009
The Nakh or Vainakh peoples are a group of peoples of the North Caucasus region, speaking Nakh languages, including the Chechen, Ingush, Bats and Kist peoples of the Caucasus region.
In some linguistic publications, the term vainakh ("our people") has been restricted to the Chechen and Ingush languages. Although Chechen and Ingush may be considered divergent dialects of the same language, the peoples are not close genetically, indicating an episode of language shift.[citation needed]
History
Prehistory
The early history of the Nakh peoples has been tentatively reconstruced from linguistic analysis and archaeological evidence.
- 10,000-8,000 BC
- People speaking a language ancestral to the Northeast Caucasian languages migrated from the Fertile Crescent to the slopes of the Caucasus bringing domesticated animals, crops, and irrigation.[1]
- 6000-4000 BC
- Pottery was introduced to the region. Neolithic settlements near Ali-Yurt and Magas yielded clay dishes polished and drilled stones, and stone tools (such as axes and knives). Remains of settlements made out of clay bricks were found in the plains. Settlements with "cyclopean" stone walls and buildings were found in the mountains (at Doshkhakle, Kart, Tsecha-Akh, Orsoi, and other places), some of them dating to 8000 BC.[2]
Vainakh architecture
Towers
A characteristic feature of Vainakh architecture in the Middle Ages, rarely seen outside Chechnya and Ingushetia, was multi-floor Vainakh tower, a kind of structure that was used for dwelling or defense (or both). Residential towers had two or three floors, supported by a central pillar of stone blocks, and were topped with a flat shale roofing. These towers have been compared to the prehistoric mountain settlements dating back to 8000 BC. Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.[3]
Defensive towers were 25 meter high or more, [3] with four of five floors and a square base approximately six meters wide. Access to the second floor was through a ladder. The defenders fired at the enemy through loopholes and the top of the tower had mashikul – overhanging small balconies without a floor. Defensive towers were usually crowned with pyramid-shaped roofing built in steps and topping with a sharpened capstone. This type of tower construction flourished in the period from 14th and to the 17th century.[citation needed]
Structures combining the functions of a living and defensive towers were smaller in size than the living quarters, but a bit wider than defensive ones, and had loop-holes and mashikiuls.
The towers used to be sparingly decorated with religious or good-wishing petrographs, such as solar signs or depictions of the author’s hands, animals, etc.. Defensive towers often bore a Golgopha cross.
Sanctuaries, temples and mosques
The Vainakh pagan pantheon included a supreme god Dela and a goddess of fertility Tusholi. There were also phallic cults.
A whole number of peculiar monuments, natural and artificial, served as shrines for ritual services. Vainakhs[clarification needed] chose mountains (such as the Tsei-Lam Range), lakes (Galanchozh-Ami) and some species of plants, pear-trees in particular, for exercising rituals. These shrines were places for prayers and for the sacrifice of domestic animals.
The most primitive shrines (sielingi) were low rectangular pillar-shaped stone structures with a niche for candles. These shrines were raised on the village outskirts and at the graveyards to protect both the living and the dead. Better known are shrines in the form of small houses topped with ridged step roofing, like Myatsil Sanctuary on Mat-Lam Mountain near the town of Vladikavkaz. Such a large range of shrines belonging to
Beginning from the 11th – 12th century, Georgian Christian influence on the Nakh tribes are attested, for example, by the Tkhaba-Yerdy Church consecrated to St. Thomas in Assa Valley, and extant churches in Ingushetia.
Islamic influence intensified in 18th and 19th centuries. Examples of Islamic architecture from that period are the tower-shaped mosques in the villages of Makazhoi and Khimoi.
Necropoles
Burial vaults or crypts remained from the pagan period in the history of Vainakhs.[clarification needed] They were built either a bit deepening into the ground or half underground and on the surface. The latter formed whole “towns of the dead” on the outskirts of the villages and reminded sanctuaries from the outside, with a dummy vaults constructed of overlapping stones. The deceased were placed on the special shelves in the crypts, in clothes and decorations and arms.
The general Islamic rituals established in burials with the further penetration of Islam inside the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Stone steles, churts, inscribed with prayers and epitaphs, began to be erected at the graves and more prosperous mountaineers were honoured with mausoleums after death. The Borgha-Kash Mausoleum dating to the very beginning of 15th century and built for a Noghai prince is a good example of these.
References
- ^
Bernice Wuethrich (2000). "Peering Into the Past, With Words". Science. 288 (5469): 1158. doi:10.1126/science.288.5469.1158.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ N.D. Kodzoev. History of Ingush nation.
- ^ a b Lecha Ilyasov. The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present. ISBN 5-264-00693-0
- Jaimoukha, A., The Chechens: A Handbook, London and New York: Routledge, 2005.