My last visit to Daghestan was in 1995, after which the neighbouring Chechen situation became more of a threat to Daghestan and I was told by my local friends that the authorities genuinely felt that ‘they were unable to guarantee my security’.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan – Horsemeat and Two Veg
by Robert Chenciner •
A Kazakh Nomads’ expression of equine affinity states, “Kazakhs are born in horses”. Perhaps that’s going a little too far, if taken literally, but there’s undeniably a very close alliance between man and beast in this vast tract of Central Asia. The present Republic of Kazakhstan was created in 1991 on the dissolution of the…
The Places
Russia’s Splitting Headache – A Brief History Of Chechnya
by Robert Chenciner •
Strabo at the time of Jesus mentions 26, already ancient, Albani tribes in the Caucasus that, by linguistic argument, included the Chechens (and Ingush). Most of the 55 ethnic groups in the Caucasus mountainous region between the Black and Caspian seas speak unique Caucasian languages. Chechen is a Northeast Caucasian language called Veinakh, meaning ‘our…