Orstkhoy-Mokhk
Orstkhoy-Mokhk[lower-alpha 1] historically known by exonyms: Balsu, Karabulak[1] is a historical region on the territories of Ingushetia and Chechnya. Orstkhoy-Mokhk is the territory of historical settlement of Orstkhoy, a sub-ethnic group of the Ingush and Chechens.
Orstkhoy Mokhk
Аьрштхой-Мохк | |
|---|---|
Historical region | |
 Historical Orstkhoy-Mokhk |
Name
The name Orstkhoy-Mokhk is not recorded in any historical documents or scientific works. Often, researchers-Caucasiologists and local historians (Sh. B. Akhmadov, A. S. Suleimanov, etc.), to designate the historical area of the original settlement of the Arshtin people, simply use the name of the military-political and territorial union - Orstkhoy, or the term - free society Orstkhoy. In Russian-language sources, the society-nationality-region can be called as Arshtkhoy/Arshtkhoy, Orstkhoy/Orshtkhoy, Erstkhoy/Ershtkhoy. Among the Orstkhois proper and among the Ingushes, the region was called Arskhte/Arshte, among the Chechens - Arstkha/Arshtkha.[2] The 18th-century researcher J. A. Güldenstädt calls this territory Karabulak District (from the Turkic, possibly Kumyk,[3] the name of the Orstkhoy, which has become a widely used exonym - Karabulaks) and reports a few more toponyms that were used to designate it: among the Chechens - Ariskh Toyai/Arish Toyay , among the Circassians - Balsu, from the ancient name of the Fortanga River - Balsu[4] (in Turkic: "Honey water").[1]
Censuses from 1891-1926
Censuses done by the Russian Empire and Soviet Union from 1891-1926 showed that the inhabitants of highland Orstkhoy villages such as Tsech-Ahk, Meredzhi, Yalkharoy and many others identified themselves as ethnic Chechens. [6][7]
References
- Гюльденштедт 2002, p. 243.
- Ахмадов, Ш. Б. (2002). Чечня и Ингушетия в XVIII — начале XIX века. (Очерки социально-экономического развития и общественно-политического устройства Чечни и Ингушетии в XVIII — начале XIX века) (PDF). Элиста: АПП «Джангар». p. 230. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23.
- Сулейманов 1978, p. 115.
- Ахмадов, Ш. Б. Ук. соч. p. 231.
- Сулейманов 1978, p. 78.
- "Statistical tables of populated areas of the Terek region / ed. Tersk. stat. com. ed. Evg. Maksimov. — Vladikavkaz, 1890—1891. — 7 t. p. 60". Archived from the original on 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
- "Settled results of the 1926 census in the North Caucasus region — Don State Public". Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
Bibliography
- Гюльденштедт, Иоганн Антон (2002). "VI. Провинция Кистия, или Кистетия" [VI. Province of Kistia, or Kistetia]. In Карпов, Ю. Ю. (ed.). Путешествие по Кавказу в 1770-1773 гг. [Journey through the Caucasus in 1770-1773.] (in Russian). Translated by Шафроновской, Т. К. Санкт-Петербург: Петербургское Востоковедение. pp. 238–243. ISBN 5-85803-213-3.
- Сулейманов, А. С. (1978). Шайхиев, А. Х. (ed.). Топонимия Чечено-Ингушетии. Горная Ингушетия (юго-запад) и Чечня (центр и юго-восток) [Toponymy of Checheno-Ingushetia. Mountainous Ingushetia (southwest) and Chechnya (center and southeast)] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Грозный: Чечено-Ингушское Книжное Издательство. pp. 1–233.