Chechnya and Dagestan: The History of the North Caucasus Republics and Their Conflicts with Russia

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
Today, Chechnya is a republic with some degree of autonomy in the contemporary Russian Federation. Its population is just over a million people, and it stretches over an area of 17,000 square kilometers. The majority of Chechnya’s population is comprised of Sunni Muslims, meaning religion has played a key role in the territory’s development. In southwestern Russia, landlocked within 100 kilometers of the Caspian Sea, Chechnya is north of the Caucasian mountains, bordering other North Caucasus provinces such as North Ossetia, and Dagestan, and Georgia.
Russia itself is a well-established Slavic, Orthodox Christian country, though its majority Muslim provinces were not obvious to outsiders until the post-Soviet conflicts of the 1990s. The history of the Chechen people in the region is, nevertheless, long-established, and Chechnya has become synonymous with conflict, civil war, and discontent. While many people are aware of that, few understand how things reached that point. The area is complex and fascinating, representing one of the world’s true fault lines in terms of religion, empire, and geography.
Wedged in the North Caucasus mountain range and bordering the Caspian Sea, Dagestan is a true meeting point of cultures, religions and geopolitical rivalries. A crossroad between east and west, Dagestan has been vitally important at different times for various powers in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and even between different religious and ethnic groups. In spite of all that, and in large measure because of it, Dagestan’s society is a composite of these rivalries over the centuries.
Today, Dagestan is part of the Russian Federation, but its history happens to be both indicative and idiosyncratic of the region’s fascinating and complex development. Dagestan shares many similarities with its smaller neighbor to the west, Chechnya, without receiving as much attention from outside historians and journalists. This is despite the fact Dagestan is home to around three million inhabitants with a range of languages, ethnicities and religions. Islam is the dominant religion at over 80% of the population, with the majority being Sunni Muslims, but the majority ethnic group, the Ayars, only make up about 30% of the population. Dagestan’s capital city is little-known Makhachkala, and the rest of the country contains spectacular mountain ranges of over 12,000 feet in height, as well as lakes and major rivers like the Terek, Sulak and Samur.
This geography has made Dagestan particularly difficult for outsiders to dominate, but the relationships with outside powers nevertheless provided the tensions that runs through the history of Dagestan. Having come into contact with the Persians, Ottomans, Russians, and even Western European states, Dagestan has both been a melting point and at times almost hermetically sealed to intruders for centuries, making it one of the world’s true fault lines in terms of religion, empire, and geography. As a result, Dagestan has never truly been conquered despite its modern position within Russia. It has always retained some degree of autonomy while outsiders, not least the Russians, have treated the country with a certain level of wariness.
Chechnya and The History of the North Caucasus Republics and Their Conflicts with Russia examines the history of one of the most controversial regions in the world. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Chechnya and Dagestan like never before.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Russia

71 pages, Paperback

Published December 3, 2019

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary and broad-strokes overview of the North Caucasus, from BC times to Putin era. Fairly mainstream factual, not deeply insightful, but not something broadly covered elsewhere, so a good introduction.

[Wesley Giesbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but excellent introduction to the histories of Dagestan and Chechnya.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chechnya and Dagestan share some factors and are different in some ways.  This is an interesting explanation of both region's history, culture, and religions. Because of their shared religion (in spite of the fact that they believe in differing sects of Islam), they are both anti-authoritarianism and both have tried to stay out of Russia's orbit for generations. Much of this book is about the extended and frustrating wars and conflicts between the Chechens and Dagestani and powers that sought to control them, such as the Persians, Ottomans, and Russians.

Both regions have sought autonomy, with varying success.  Russians interfered in these regions, originally under the guise of saving the Orthodox Christians there (Russians are tacitly Orthodox Christians).

CHECHNYA --
It is difficult to get to this country because it is mostly mountainous with steep valleys.  It is remote and difficult to navigate.  Recent finds indicate that people have been in Chechnya since 8000 BCE.  Since about the 16th-century, Chechens have been Sunni Muslims.  However, a growing group of Chechens are Sufis; Sufism emphasizes secrecy and mysticism, which is well-suited to their need to observe their religion in secret, under the Russians. 

The Russians have been a thorn in the sides of Chechens since the 16th-century.  In the late 1800s, Chechens and Ingush left the Caucasus region for the lands of the Ottomans because of the pressure by the Russians. It is estimated that about 80% of Chechens and Ingush left the Caucasus during that time, which lowered the Chechens' resistance to Russian rule.  To further Chechnya's hatred of Russia, the entire Chechen population was deported to Siberia and northern parts of Kazakhstan by the USSR government. This was partly payback for the Chechens' collaboration with the Nazis during the war.

DAGESTAN --
Bordering water, Dagestan is easier to get to and has had a more turbulent history (because of the ease of traveling there).  They converted to Islam long before the Chechens and are mostly Sunni. After the Russo-Persian War (1804 - 1813), Persia ceded vast territories to the Russians, including Dagestan.

When necessary, Dagestan and Chechnya have overcome their religious rivalries (Dagestani's think the Chechen's Sufism is strange) to fight together. As turmoil spilled over from Chechnya (and their conflict with Russia) in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, Dagestan got caught up in the violence and became a dangerous place to visit. Because of the increased violence from the Russians, Dagestan has become more radicalized (seeking a jihad).  Dagestan maintains a small, radical, secret fighting force that continues to plague the Russians in their country.  Today, Dagestan is one of the poorest regions of the Russian Federation.

The Boston Marathon bombing was done by two brothers from Dagestan and Chechnya, who were radicalized in Dagestan immediately before the assault in America.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be a more contemporary history of the region, but they decided to start from the beginning - the 4th century BC to be exact. If you are looking for a generalized history of how the North Caucasus was strategically important and the numerous times it changed hands between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire complete with a laundry list of important leaders and main battle dates and wars, this is for you. If you want an in depth understanding of the North Caucasus' culture and it's relationship with Russia for the past century, look elsewhere.

[Jim Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bear unchanged

I wanted to find out more about Chechnya (and Dagestan ) since
they have dropped from the news. Why they had trouble with Russia .
I learned what I wished to know . If you are interested in learning about
Russia and her neighbors central Asia , this would be a good place to start.

[Sean-Paul Kosina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview of the Chechnya and Dagestan countries but I wish the book provided more detail on what’s been going on there in the past 30 years. Regardless it’s a nice introduction!

[GreyAtlas · Rating 1 out of 5]

For christ's sake use an editor and don't repeat paragraphs and identical pictures.

[KAGDA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an effective read audiobook-wise. As you’d probably need to read this while studying a map. Still gives you a general in-depth history of the territories.