Scientists discuss Kadyrov's statement about history of Chechnya's statehood

Most of North-Caucasian nations had no statehood until the Soviet power. Shamil's Imamat cannot be considered a full-fledged state, while the activities of Sheikh Mansur were too ideological, historians have noted in their comments to Ramzan Kadyrov's statement about Chechnya's statehood and people's heroes.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the head of Chechnya stated that the republic had never been independent, while national heroes had tried to bring it to its present form. Instagram users were surprised at this treatment of folk heroes' aspirations.

North-Caucasian nations had no separate states until the Soviet power, said the historian, Larisa Tsvizhba. However, in her opinion, Shamil's Imamate was a state entity with its own apparatus and army in order to resist the Russian Empire. But it was in a local territory, covering not the entire today's Chechnya and Dagestan.

According to Ms Tsvizhba, Sheikh Mansur's movement was the earliest attempt to create a structure on the way to the conquest of the Caucasus by the Russian Empire.

Patimat Takhnaeva, a historian, also believes that it is impossible to talk about the historical statehood of Chechnya, moreover, about its independence.

"Attempts to present the teip (family clannish) structure of Chechens or of historical and geographical regions as units of the territorial division of the 'Chechen state' are untenable," she has stated.

Earlier, Kadyrov's statements on history have bewildered historians. Thus, in August 2019, residents of Dagestan protested against his accusation of Imam Shamil of repressions against Chechens for unwillingness to resist the Russian Empire. Later, Kadyrov emphasized that he respected Shamil and Dagestanis, but social media users exposed his inconsistency.