The Chechen raid on Nazran was an armed conflict between the Ingush societies and Chechen peoples supported by Kabardian nobles. The clash arose from territorial disputes and a struggle for influence in the Nazran region, that had been uninhabited ever since the Kabardians left it around 1730.
History
Prelude Attacks by Kabardians, Chechens, Nogais, and Kumyks were frequent in these areas, plundering the settlers, taking livestock and produce. For defense, Kartskhal built a tall wooden two-story tower on four pillars, which could hold more than a hundred people. A guard was always stationed in the tower. The settlement was surrounded by a trench, with only one gate and a secret entrance to the trench. Secret trenches were dug 50 steps away from the trench and along the banks of the Nazranka and Sunzha rivers.
Battle
Two Kabardian nobles, Albast and Yelzheruqo, were unwilling to release the Ingush settlers from tribute and organized an attack on the village of Kartskhal to seize livestock and agricultural produce. the episodes of this conflict ended with the Ingush, led by Kartskhal, calling upon more than 100 armed horsemen from nearby mountain villages, achieving a victory over the princely forces and thereby defending their authority to the land. The Chechens, having learned that Kartskhal had taken possession of a place which they considered to be in dispute between them and the Kabardians, went to war against the Ingush. Having lost this battle, Chechens started retreating. The Ingush set out in pursuit of them with naked sabers in their hands, as a result of which the Chechens were driven back by the Ingush as far as the Nitty-khoy-khi River.
The Chechen–Kabardian raids on Nazran were described in the Acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeological Commission as follows:
On 5 June 1810, a Chechen detachment of about 600 men, supported by Kabardians, set out to raid Vladikavkaz. On their way back from the raid, the Chechens killed an Ingush shepherd and attempted to seize his sheep. A dispute arose between the Ingush and the Chechen party, as the Ingush were angered by the Chechens’ actions. Gathering a detachment, the Ingush caught up with the Chechens and engaged them in battle. The fighting ended with an Ingush victory; the Kabardian princes Yelzheruqo Abay and Albast Qanchoqo were killed in the battle.
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