Tukkhum

Tukkhum is a term and system introduced in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably by Soviet Chechen writer Magomed Mamakaev in 1934. This system does not properly apply to the Chechen nation and the social structure of Chechen clans.[1]

Mamakaev proposed that the Chechen tukkhum was a type of military-economic union between certain groups of teips, not through consanguinity but established for specific purposes, such as military alliances and for economic trade; that the tukkhum occupied a specific territory, which was inhabited by the members of the tukkhum. He also stated that each tukkhum spoke a different dialect of the same Vainakh language.[2]

Etymology

The term is of foreign origin and some suggest it comes from the old Persian word "tauhma" which meant kin or tribe.[3]: 165–169  Tukkhum is a term often used by North Caucasians for a tribe or family, and is found among the Dagestani peoples such as Avars, Tabasarans, Kumyks and Lezghins.[4] The term is used to describe different clan structures for different ethnicities, and does not mean the same thing from one ethnicity to the other.

To the Chechens it was introduced by Mamakaev in 1934 and it has been used in Chechen historical studies ever since. It is noted by the Caucasiologist Kharadze in 1968, that Mamakaev is the basis for the Chechen use of tukkhum in order to make the social structure of the Chechens more complex and interesting, despite the meaning of tukkhum not being clear in the Chechen language.[3]: 176  The famous 19th century historian Bashir Dalgat who studied extensively the Chechen and Ingush peoples, noted that the term "tukkhum" was completely foreign to most Chechens as it was only used by some societies in the lowlands. According to him, most Chechens only referred to their teip (especially in the highlands) and never knew of or used the term "tukkhum".[5]

Several Chechen historians and Linguists such as A. Tesaev and N. N. Albakov have criticized the term "tukkhum" and its implementation by Mamakaev. Albakov especially considers the term destructive to the Chechen nation:[6]

Numerous studies carried out by us in the field of ethnology, history, folklore, systemology, leave no doubt that the term "tukkhum" not only was and is not part of the Chechen ethnos, but also directly contradicts the systemic structure of the Chechen people. The concept of "tukkhum" introduces a destructive chaos in the orderliness of the Chechen ethnic systems, removing dozens of Chechen teips (clans) from structural organization of the Chechen people.

— N. N. Albakov, "Antisocial nature of the term "Tukkhum" in the ethnic system of Nohchi (Chechens)"

Proposed tukkhum system
The Coat of Arms of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria had nine stars on it to represent each tukkhum.

According to Mamakaev there were 9 tukkhums:

  1. Mälkhiy
  2. Nokhchmakhkakhoy
  3. Ovkhoy[7]
  4. Orstkhoy
  5. Terloy
  6. Chantiy
  7. Cheberloy
  8. Sharoy
  9. Shotoy

However, this has been heavily criticized as some of the tukkhums mentioned were in fact nothing more than large teips, with several "gar" (sub-clans). Teips such as Mälkhi and Terloy for example are traditionally 2 teips, consisting of several "gar". These teips have all the characteristics of a Chechen teip.[8] Mamakaev incorrectly wrote down these large teips as "tukkhum" and their gars as teips under this tukkhum, even though they were never teips, but merely branches of that specific teip.

See also

References
  1. Nataev, Shapudi (2015). To the question about "Tuhum/Tohum/Tukhum/Tukham". pp. 267–269. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. Mamakaev, Magomed (1934). Чеченский тайп (род) в период его разложения (1973 ed.). Grozny. p. 16.
  3. Kharadze, R.L. (1968). "Некоторые стороны сельскообщинного быта горных ингушей". Кавказский этнографический сборник. Tbilisi: 165–169, 176.
  4. Khalilov, Madzhid (1984). Отраслевая лексика дагестанских языков. Makhachkala.
  5. Dalgat, Bashir (2008). Ancestral life and common law of the Chechens and Ingush / Preparation of the publication and foreword by U. B. Dalgat ,. Institute of World Literature named after A. M. Gorky. ISBN 978-5-9208-0307-8.
  6. Albakov, N.N (2021). "Antisocial nature of the term Tukkhum in the ethnic system of Nohchi (Chechens)". Vestnik. 2: 82–86.
  7. Тесаев З.А. Институт “Мехк-Дай” в истории Чечни (Х\ I — 1-и треть XIX в.). — Грозный: Академия наук Чеченской Республики ; ФГУП Издательско-полиграфический комплекс «Грозненский рабочий», 2019. — 688 с. — 1000 экз. — ISBN 978-5-4314-0386-6.
  8. Ilyasov, Lecha (2004). Тени вечности. Чеченцы: архитектура, история, духовные традиции. p. 332.
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