CULTURE:


THE CHECHEN NATION: A PORTRAIT OF ETHNICAL FEATURES (1)
By Lyoma Usmanov Jan, 9, 1999Washington, DC

I. FREEDOM AND THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
The National Anthem of Chechnya by its origin is the literary memorial of the Chechen folklore. It is impossible to determine the precise date of its inception; the text itself can tell us that it probably goes back to ancient times. We certainly can't exclude the fact that its first melodies were sung as early as in the second millennium BC in one of the Hurrian States in the Ancient East Asia.
Anyhow, some of the Chechen mythological topics, came from the ancient history, and in the texts of the Cuneiform characters, we can find the first signs of the writings of the Chechen language. Probably, most parts of the Chechen folklore may have been established in the first millennium BC in the Ancient East Kingdom of Urartu (900-600 BC) or later in the Dzurdzuketia, which was formed in 4th century BC. These facts are referenced in the ancient Chechen manuscripts. Perhaps, it would be more realistic to think that the Chechen National Anthem was born in the middle centuries, when the Chechen people took part in the formation of the Caucasian states, such as the Kingdom of Serir (7th-11th centuries), Alania (8th-10th century), and Simsim (12th-14th century). But it is well known, that with the melody of this Anthem, the Chechen people defended their independence in 13th-14th centuries against the Tartar-Mongol hordes and the army of lame Timur. In the 16th century, they defeated 80,000-man army of Crimea Khan, and in 17th-19th centuries, they restrained the colonial expansion of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus.
The Chechen National Anthem was revived twice from the past history during the 20th century. The first time, it happened in 1917-1919, in the period, when the Chechen people could revive their aspirations for National independence, which had been broken off after the end of the First Russia-Caucasus War. The second revival of the Chechen Anthem began 26 November, 1990, when at the whole-nation congress of the Chechen people once again declared a State sovereignty and took a firm stand in defiance of the State system and the territorial integrity. In the title of the Anthem itself and in its text, one can see the nature of the Chechen people and the sanctity of their national tradition (3), which are united by such words underlined in the text as God, People, Native land, Freedom, Dignity, Honor and Nobility.

Full Text:
THE CHECHEN NATION: A PORTRAIT OF ETHNICAL FEATURES (1)
By Lyoma Usmanov

Source: www.amina.com

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