Kists or Kistins; ce, кистӀий, kisthiy; ka, ქისტები, tr is an old

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...

of all

Nakh peoples The Nakh peoples, also known as ''Vainakh peoples'' (Chechen/Ingush: , apparently derived from Chechen , Ingush "our people"; also Chechen-Ingush), are a group of Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cultu ...

( Ingush,

Chechens The Chechens (; ce, Нохчий, , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kisti'' and '' Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. "E ...

and

Batsbi The Bats people ( ka, ბაცი, tr) or the Batsbi (ბაცბი), are Nakh-speaking Tushetians in the country of Georgia. They are also known as the Ts’ova-Tush (წოვათუშები) after the Ts’ova Gorge in the historic Geo ...

), under which local societies later were designated, and conditionally divided into ''nearby Kistins'' and ''distant Kistins''. In Russian sources of the 19th century, the term ''nearby Kistins'' referred to the inhabitants of the

Kistin Gorge Kistin Gorge ( inh, Кистий чӀож) is a gorge of the Armkhi River in the Dzheyrakhsky District of the Republic of Ingushetia. The name of the gorge comes from the historical name of the river Armkhi — Kistinka, which in turn comes from ...

in the vicinity of river Armkhi, and ''distant Kistins'' referred to the inhabitants of the upper reaches of the

Argun Argun may refer to: *Argun (surname) *Argun, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Argun Urban Okrug, a municipal formation which the town of republic significance of Argun in the Chechen Republic, Russia is incorporated as *Argun, Rus ...

. Today the name is mostly used to refer to the

who compactly live in the

Pankisi Gorge Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge (, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani just south of Georgia’s historic region of Tusheti between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th-cen ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

History

In 1795, when describing the peoples inhabiting

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, the Kists are mentioned as follows: Kistins, or Kisti, who are divided into different tracts of which it is known to exist: Chechens, Ingush and Karabulaks, they live along the

Sunzha River The Sunzha ( rus, Су́нжа, p=ˈsunʐə, inh, Шолжа, Sholʒə, ce, Соьлжа, Sölƶa, p=sɥølʒə) is a river in North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya, Russia, a tributary of the Terek. It flows northeast inside the great nort ...

, and in the middle mountains of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. The historian of the Caucasus S. M. Bronevsky described the borders of the Kist lands as follows:

Fyappiy

The historical area where the Kists lived was called "Kisteti", as well as "Kistia" or "Kistinia". The

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group **Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three script ...

prince, historian and geographer of the 18th century

Vakhushti Bagrationi Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''G ...

quite definitely localizes it along the gorge of the

Armkhi Armkhi ( inh, МохтIе, ''Moxthe''; russian: Армхи) is a village in Dzheyrakhsky District of the Republic of Ingushetia, located on the ''Armkhi'' or ''Kistinka'' river ( inh, Ӏарам-хий, Кисти-хий, ''Aram-khi'', ''Kisti-k ...

river (the historical " Kistinka"), that is, in mountainous

Ingushetia Ingushetia (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe ...

. Kists, in a narrow sense, as one of the

Ingush societies Ingush societies/shahars ( inh, ГIалгIай шахьараш, Ghalghaj šaꜧaraš) were territorial associations of the ingush people, Ingush based on the geographical association of several villages and intended for conditional administrative ...

, are noted in the "Review of the political state of the

in 1840", and in 1851 in the “Military Statistical Review of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, published by the highest command at the 1st branch of the Department of the General headquarters". The Kist society, as part of

, was part of the

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located in ...

district, the Ossetian military district and the Ingush district. They bordered in the west with the

Dzherakhins The Dzherakh, also spelled Jerakh ( inh, ЖӀайрахой, Žyajraxoj), historically also known as Erokhan people, were a historical Ingush ethnoterritorial society, today a tribal organization/clan (''teip''), that was formed in the Dzheyrakhin ...

, in the east with the Galgaevs, in the south with

, in the north the borders reached the

Tarskoye Tarskoye, formerly known as Angusht,; os, Тарскæй; inh, Ангуште/Онгуште. is a rural locality (a selo) in Prigorodny District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. Population: Nomenclature The modern name ''T ...

Valley. The Kist society was also synonymously called "Fyappinsky", after the name of its constituent ethno-territorial group - the Fyappins ( inh, Фаьппий), and later, in the second half of the 19th century, it became known as "Metskhalsky", after the name of the principal village Metskhal.

Kistin districts

Guldenstedt divided the Kistins into the following districts:Gildenstedt, Journey through the Caucasus
/ref> * District (Kachilik) Endre and Yakhsay * Achkingurt County * Ardahl County * Vapi County * Angusht County * Shalkha District * District of Chechen * Atahi District * Kulga District, or Dganti * Galgai County * Dshanti District * Chabrillo County * Shabet County * Chishrikaker District * Karabulak District * Meesti County * Meredji District * Galashka County * Duban County

Notes

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

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(англ.). — Dublin: Graisberry and Campbell, 1804. — Vol. VI. — 480 p. * Johann Gottfried Eichhorn. Geschichte der Litteratur, von ihrem Anfang bis auf die neuesten Zeiten (нем.). — Göttingen: Bey Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 1807. — Bd. 6. — 678 S. * Johann Christoph Adelung. Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde mit dem Vater Unser als Sprachprobe in beynahe fünfhundert Sprachen und Mundarten (нем.). — Berlin: In der Vossischen Buchandlung, 1806. — 686 S. * Sir Richard Phillips
A Geographical View of the World: Embracing the Manners, Customs, and Pursuits, of Every Nation; Founded on the Best Authorities
(англ.). — New York: E. Hopkins and W. Reed, 1826. — 406 p. * Butkov P. G. Opinion about the book: Slavic antiquities // Three ancient treaties of the Russians with the Norwegians and the Swedes. — St. Petersburg: Printing house of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 1837. — 398 p. * Caucasian Territory // Military Statistical Review of the Russian Empire: published by the highest order at the 1st branch of the Department of the General Staff. — St. Petersburg: Printing house of the Department of the General Staff, 1851. — T. 16. Part 1. — 274 p. * Chulkov M.D., Zakharov A., Kolpashnikov A.Ya., Sablin N.Ya. Historical description of Russian commerce at all ports and borders from ancient times to the present and all the predominant legalizations on this sovereign, Emperor Peter the Great and now safely reigning Empress Empress Catherine the Great / M. D. Chulkov. - M .: University printing house at N. Novikov, 1785. - T. II. — 674 p. History of the North Caucasus Peoples of the Caucasus Ingushetia Chechnya Nakh peoples Ethnonyms of the Ingush