The Caucasus region has been repeatedly invaded throughout its history. This region is a strategically important route, so it has been destroyed for centuries by the armies of the Persians, the Ottomans and, especially, the Russians.
Chechens living outside Chechnya are often descendants of those who fled the 19th century Caucasus War, when Russia annexed their homeland, and in the 1940s, when Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin expelled them to Kazakhstan. Others fled their homeland in the 1990s and 2000s when there was fighting between Russian troops and Chechen militias. There is a large Chechen diaspora covering at least 17 countries, including Kazakhstan.
Chechens in Kazakhstan are engaged in a wide range of activities and income levels. Most grow grain, vegetables and fruit; others work in oil refineries or herd cattle, especially fine-cropped sheep. Chechen women work outside the home every day. People are afraid of them because there are notorious Chechen organised crime syndicates.
The core of Chechen society is the taip, a clan organisation whose members are descended from a common ancestor. Each taip is governed by an assembly of elders with its own court. The network of taipas strengthens their sense of belonging to the nation.
Chechens usually marry outside their taipa. They forbid marriages between blood relatives within three generations. The groom's family pays a kalym to the bride or her family as a guarantee against divorce. Traditionally, a Chechen wife is forbidden to eat with her husband or talk to his relatives; her role is submission.
This is ironic, since Chechen society adheres to the principle of equal rights. Their ideal is freedom and equality of the people, like wolves. The wolf is a symbol for them. A common Chechen greeting is "Enter freedom." Some Chechens were probably Christians by the 8th century, but Islam replaced them by the 17th century. Islamisation was complete by the 19th century and became part of their identity and a driving force for independence.
Chechens can be zealous Muslims, often for nationalistic reasons.
