Ingush

*Population estimates for 1994

Close to the Chechen by language and culture, the Ingush are the natives of Chechen-Ingushetia (the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic). The oldest Ingush settlements were found high in the mountains where people lived in separate tribal families. The scientists believe that the word “ingush” originated from the name of the settlement of Angusht that existed on the territory of the present town of Tarskyi. Angusht is considered to be the first Ingush settlement on the plains. The Kabardins were the first people to use the word “ingush” in the eighteenth century. Later, it was borrowed by Russians. The Ingush call themselves “Galtai.”

Up to the sixteenth century the Ingush lived in the mountains, and only in the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries did they start to penetrate into plains. This process was especially intensive in the 1820s-1830s. They moved mainly to the Sundzhi and Kobyleyevka rivers. There are very few Ingush living in the mountains now. In the years of 1943-1944 under the alleged pretext of “Socialist Law Violations” many of the Ingush were deported to different districts of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Most of them have returned to their native places.

The main occupations of the people were gardening on the plains and cattle-breeding in the mountains. By their appearance, the Ingush cannot be distinguished from other Caucasian peoples. They also have akin traditions and customs with them.

The Ingush national language is close to Chechen. The literary language was formed on the basis of the dialect of the Ingush living on plains.

The Ingush believers are Islam-Sunnites.