Simsim , or Simsir , is a historical region, or a state entity that existed on the territory of eastern Chechnya (Ichkeria region) [1] . Mentioned in two sources - the chronicle of Nizam ad-Din Shami (" Zafar-name ", beginning of the XV century) and the chronicle of Sharaf ad-Din Yazdi (" Zafar-name ", ser. XV century). The mention is associated with the campaign of Tamerlane to the Golden Horde at the end of the XIV century. A number of modern Chechen scholars consider Simsim (Simsir) to be an early feudal Chechen state [2] , and draws an analogy of the name of the state (principality) with the settlement of Chechnya with the same name - Simsir [3] .
Mentioned at source
At the end of the XIV century, Tamerlan’s troops made the last campaign against the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh . In addition to many lands and peoples, in this campaign, the Central Asian commander set off on the territory of the North Caucasus. According to Zafar-name, after another victory in this region, Tamerlan (originally Sahibkiran ) “stood in Beshtag for several days [~ 1] , indulging in pleasures” [4] . After that, he headed towards Simsim with an accelerated march. Among the rulers of Simsim are called Gayur Khan ( Gayur Khan ) and his son Muhammad . The latter, during the invasion of Tamerlane, "obeyed and came to serve with his people, showed slavish submission." However, some who did not wish to submit to the conqueror of the highlanders retreated and settled in remote mountains. The author of "Zafar-name" reports that the height of the local mountains is "incomprehensible", but Tamerlane pursued the retreats, destroying fortresses and castles along the way.
After capturing the plain part of Simsim, not everyone wanted to become Muhammad and waged a guerrilla war.
This war took on a wide scope, as eloquently testified by the fact that the court historians of Timur did not consider it necessary to describe the fate of the ruler Gayurkhan, but focused all their attention on the actions of Timur in the mountains. The fact that historiographers found it necessary to emphasize that "Timur personally went against them ..." also speaks of the resistance power of mountain Vainakhs.
The actions of the troops of Timur in the mountains. Timur’s army dispersed in separate units along the gorges and moved from west to east along the mountains, capturing and destroying along the way fortresses and castles, located mainly in the mountainous part of the modern Nazran, Sunzhen, Achkhoy-Martan and Shatoi regions. Then, after the hostilities in the Argun Gorge, they turned to the northeast, plunged into the forest zone of the current Vedeno and Nozhai-Yurt districts, up to the Andean ridge. The following fact speaks of the conqueror’s bitterness in response to the resistance of the highlanders: "The inhabitants of the land, by order of Timur, were tied up and thrown down from the mountain."
After that, the conqueror went to Mount Avahar [~ 2] , “upset the local ulus, took a lot of property” [5] . Further, the route of Tamerlane’s troops was not established, in the text of the chronicle: “from there [from Mount Avahar ] he returned and went to Beshkent [~ 3] ”.
Commenting on his translation of “Zafar-name”, Doctor of Historical Sciences A. Akhmedov calls Simsim simply as “a place in the Caucasus” [6] . It should also be understood that the geographical names relating to the Caucasus in literary works of the Middle Ages often could not mean a geographical object, but some kind of unstable political entity named after the person who ruled there at the moment [7] .
And yet, there can be no talk of subjugation, since the conqueror did not secure the North Caucasus, but limited himself to ruin, after which he left its borders.
During the campaign to the Caucasus, the Golden Horde suffered three severe defeats in a relatively short period of time (1380, 1391, 1395), after which this state was no longer able to restore its power. As a result of the liberation struggle of the conquered peoples, the Horde at the beginning of the 15th century disintegrates into small uluses (principalities).
Nakh hypothesis
According to the hypothesis of some modern Caucasian scholars , by the end of the 15th century, after the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols, the population of Chechnya formed the state of Simsim [8] . The state, as a rule, is associated with the region of Ichkeria, located in the eastern part of Chechnya [1] . The hypothesis suggests that in the XIV century, recovering from the Mongol invasion, the Nakh tribes formed a state on the plains of the North Caucasus. According to a number of supporters of the hypothesis, Simsim’s borders extended to the territory of modern Chechnya and Ingushetia , and possibly further to part of other lands that are now part of the modern North Caucasian republics adjacent to the Nakh region. Simsim was destroyed by the forces of Tamerlane. Probably, the formation of a taip structure in the Nakh environment can be attributed to this period. Displaced from the flat lands, Nakhs lived up to the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in the mountains, dividing into territorial groups-societies [~ 4]
Notes
- Comments
- ↑ Beshtag - the ancient name of the Pyatigorsk , probably associated with Mount Beshtau ( Zafar-name, 2008 , p. 420 (comm. 889)).
- ↑ Not established by an oronim , proponents of the “Nakh theory” associate it with the Auch community.
- ↑ An unidentified toponym ( Zafar-name, 2008 , p. 420).
- ↑ Representatives of many North Caucasian peoples used a complex and not always unambiguous naming system for the forms of social and military associations that existed in their midst. For example, the Nakh peoples had a whole hierarchical system of such associations, consisting of groups of different status and size - Tukhums / Shahars , Taipa , Gars, Neks, Tsa, Dozals and others. Large forms of such unions do not have a single North Caucasian name and the term free societies or just societies is used to simplify Caucasian studies .
- Sources
- ↑ 1 2 Gadlo A.V. Ethnic history of the North Caucasus of the 10th-13th centuries - SPb. : Publishing House St. Petersburg. University, 1994 .-- p. 236 - ISBN 5-288-01010-2
- ↑ Aydaev Yu. A. Chechens: history and modernity. - M .: Peace to Your House, 1996 .-- 351 p. - ISBN 5875530057
- ↑ Sigauri I. M. Essays on the history and state structure of Chechens since ancient times. - M.: Publishing House "Russian Life", 1997 - p. 365
- ↑ Zafar-name, 2008 , p. 203 (sheet 173b) ..
- ↑ Zafar-name, 2008 , p. 203 (sheet 174a) ..
- ↑ Zafar-name, 2008 , p. 468.
- ↑ Zafar-name, 2008 , p. 421.
- ↑ Peoples of the world. Encyclopedia / under the scientific. ed. Mints L. M .; Scientific and editorial council: Chubaryan A.O. , Fursenko A.A. et al .; av. number: Anchabadze Yu. D., Arutyunov, S.A., Vetyukov, V.A., Vlasova, I.V. et al. - col.il., photo col. - M .: OLMA Media Group , 2007 .-- 640 p. - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-373-01057-3 ; BBK 63.5ya2.
Literature
- Sharaf al-Din Yazdi . Mention of the happy campaign of Sahibkiran to Simsim and the infidels who were there // Zafar-nama ( Book of Victories by Amir Temur (middle of the 15th century), translated from Persian to Old Uzbek Muhammad Ali ibn Darves Ali Bukhari (16th century) ) / Per. with olduzbek., foreword., commentary, signs and map of A. Akhmedov. - Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan . Institute of Oriental Studies named after Abu Rayhan Beruni. - Tashkent : “SAN'AT”, 2008. - 486 p. - 600 copies.