Feringas and Galgai expansion in the Terek and Argun interfluve in the XV-XVIII centuries.

Albogachiev Magomed Mikhailovich ORCID: 0009-0006-3925-1554 student; Department of History; Ingush State University 386001, Russia, Republic of Ingushetia, Magas, Zyazikova ave., 7, room 302 magomed_albogachiyev77@mail.ru Other publications by this author

In the Middle Ages, the ancestors of the Ingush lived in the mountainous and foothill regions of the Central Caucasus and were in the sphere of influence of the Georgian kingdom. Moreover, judging by the available data, they lived not only on the northern slopes of the Caucasian ridge, but also on the southern ones ^{[1, pp. 33-34]}, they called their country of residence G I alg I ai mokhk – "the country of the Galgai". In our work, we will conditionally call it Galgaya. The political and religious center of this country was located in the Assinovsky Gorge. It is no coincidence that the territory of this gorge among the Ingush was called Galgaiche (ing. G I alg I aiche), which translates as "the center of the Galgai". In history, the region (or district) where the religious center of the country is located often begins to dominate among other regions, since the latter recognize its religious authority. And along with this, political supremacy comes to her. U. B. Dalgata writes: "The Gulgachue Gorge (Assinskoe) as the center of the ancient culture of the Vainakhs is also called by Arab writers – IX-X centuries" ^{[2, p. 40]}. There were such large Galgai settlements as Yovli, Ozdik, Targim, Egikal, Khamkhi. The last three, located at an important transport hub, united in the union of Kekelli (eng. Kha Khaillie – "Troegradye"), which became the capital of this region and the whole country. E. I. Krupnov writes: "The emergence of such ancient Ingush villages located in the upper reaches of the Assinsky gorge and considered the cradle of Ingush culture as Targim, Egikal, Khamkhi, Metskhal, Falkhan and others, legends refer to the period of the reign of the Georgian Queen Tamara (XII century)" ^{[3, pp. 39-57]}. Metskhal, according to N. G. Volkova's research, was located in Transcaucasia ^{[4, p. 149]}.

In its heyday in the IX-XVI centuries. Galgayche, in our opinion, was one of the three main Christian centers in the mountains of the North Caucasus, along with Khunzakh and the upper Kuban. B. K. Dalgat writes: "In this case, let's recall the opinions of N. F. Yakovlev, expressed by the scientist about the cultural center of the Ingush and Chechens in the past, which the author considered "a cultural and religious center that developed in the IX century in the Assinsky gorge (in Mountainous Ingushetia) under the influence of the culture of the Abkhazian-Georgian kingdom" ^{[2, p. 39]}.

A. P. Ippolitov writes that the Galgaevites were Christians in very recent times. As proof, the author points to the ancient temples located in the Galgaevsky and Kistinsky societies ^{[5, p. 5]}.

Some researchers express the opinion that the temples in the mountains of Ingushetia were built by Georgian, Greek or Armenian missionaries. We believe that these temples have names associated with the Vainakh pagan beliefs. For example, Albi-yerdy and Thaba-yerdy were dedicated to the pagan cults of Alba and Tkaa (adyg. Tha).

A. P. Ippolitov translated the name of the temple of Thaba-Yerdy as "The Temple of two thousand Saints" ^{[5, p. 52]}. However, no clear explanation is given for the reason why the temple received such a name. There is no indication of at least one temple in Georgia or Greece that would be dedicated to "two thousand saints." Who are these "two thousand saints"? Where are they mentioned in Christian literature, and what role did they play in Christianity, which gave rise to naming the temple in Galgai after them?

According to A. S. Suleymanov, the name of the temple was based on the name of the ancient Vainakh "'god' of celestial phenomena Tk and + Biarchi – tears" ^{[6, p. 40]}. The author translates the final word as "cross", although in our opinion, this word has the same root as the name of the main Urartian cult center Ardini.

Logically speaking, why did Georgian or Armenian missionaries need to bring builders with them to build temples, when the Galgai themselves were skilled builders and masons and built 25-28-meter towers on rocks and cliffs? And not at a right angle, but with a cone, which is much more difficult. Were these craftsmen really unable to build themselves square one-story temples out of the blue, such as Thaba-yerdy and Albi-yerdy? Of course, we do not deny the enormous influence of Georgian culture on Vainakh culture. But this is not a reason to attribute everything and everything in the history of the Ingush and Chechens to Georgia. If there were direct facts saying that these temples were built by Georgians, then there would be no problem with this.

In the Late Middle Ages, the Vainakhs had another Christian center in Galanchozhe. However, even here it seems to have arisen as a result of the religious expansion of Galgaiche. Here is what U. B. Dalgat writes about this: "In the Akinsky society of mountainous Chechnya, only one place of worship of the inhabitants of this society is still known. This is a sanctuary near the village of Galanchoj, dedicated to ‘Mizr'. According to legend, it was built 400-500 years ago. Ippolitov says that the building served as a church for Chechens, Ingush, Tushins, etc." ^{[7, p. 130]}. A. P. Ippolitov, referring to folk legend, writes that this temple was built by Feringas (i.e. Christians) who came from Galgai ^{[5, p. 48]}. Thus, Galgayche and Galanchozh were the religious and political centers of the Vainakhs. At the same time, Galgaiche, where the main Christian churches were located, played a more important role during this period, and Galanchozh was under its cultural and religious influence.

The main pagan temples of the Vainakhs were also located here ^{[7, p. 132]}.

The former central position of Galgayche among the Vainakh regions is probably evidenced by the fact that most of the neighboring societies spoke the same dialect as in the Assinovsky Gorge. Back in the XIX-XX centuries, researchers noted that almost all mountainous Vainakh societies west of Argun speak dialects similar to the Ingush language ^{[8., pp. 683-684; 9, p. 331]}.

Studying the issue of endoethnonyms and exoethnonyms of the peoples of the Caucasus, we found out that the self-name of the Galgai is known to almost all neighboring and even non-bordering peoples of the Caucasus. For example, in the late Middle Ages, the Avars called them gulgaa, Kumyks and Karachay-Balkars – kjalka // kjolka, Ossetians – khulga // kholkha, Georgians called ghlighva // ghilgho, Nogais – kolgai, etc. Usually, when some people in the region play an important and significant role, neighboring peoples begin to call them by their self-name (even if distorted). In other cases, the people get their name from their place of residence.

The administration in Galgaich was on an elective basis. In the 19th century, Chakh Akhriev also noted that, unlike neighboring tribes, the Galgaevites had a selective system: "Residents always chose from their midst those who distinguished themselves by their intelligence, wealth, and not solely by origin and transferred both the right to judge and carry out reprisals, but at the same time judges and elders did not use the right to decide cases without the consent of the oldest members of the society..." ^{[10, p. 4]}. In peacetime, Mehka(n) was electedyes - the "head of the country", and during the war – Baichcha – the "leader". Their power was limited by the Council of Elders (ing. Mehka(n)khel). Perhaps such a management system brought Assinovsky Galgai to a leading position among other neighboring societies.

In this regard, it is interesting to note that the message of Masudi (who died in 956) says that the kings of the eastern Alans bore the title "Kerkandaj" ^{[11, p. 153]}. Perhaps this is a distortion from the Nakh Mekhka(n)da, given in the form of mn. h. In some mountain dialects of Chechnya, considered the most archaic in the Chechen language, the hc complex in lowland dialects is replaced by rk ^{[12, p. 89]}. In these dialects, the "head of the country" sounds like merkan yes, in the name of P. mn.ch. – merkan dai. According to the researchers, the ending of the mn.ch. named after P.-y //and in the Nakh languages arose as a result of the loss of the consonant -sh in the intervocalic position^{[12, pp. 45-46]}. That is, the word dai (fathers) had the form of dasha. This is also confirmed by the fact that in declensions sh is preserved. For example, they are named after P. mn. ch. dai – fathers," but erg. p. mn. ch. dasha (β dashi) – fathers. In other words, in ancient times the term mehkdai // mehkandai – fathers of the country // heads of the country" sounded like merkandashi // merkandage. In the Ingush language and in some dialects of the Galanchozhsky dialect of the Chechen language, the suffix mn. ch. -sh is pronounced as -zh.

The researchers note that the term Alans was used by ancient and medieval authors to refer not only to nomadic tribes, but also to Caucasian ones. For example, the founder of the theory of Alanism of Ossetians Vs. Miller writes that the Arabs called Alans not only the tribes in the western Caucasus, but also the north-eastern Caucasus, the ancestors of the peoples of Dagestan and Chechnya (including Ingushetia) ^{[13, p. 45]}. After examining the sources about the Alans, the author concludes: "Thus, Arab, as well as Western evidence about the Alans, only partially relate to the Osses, and partly may relate to the tribes of the North Caucasus" ^{[13, p. 47]}. Therefore, it is not surprising if the eastern Alans were Nakhon-speaking and their rulers called themselves Merkandash.

Also noteworthy is Masudi's message about the religion of the Alans: "After the proclamation of Islam during the reign of the Abbasid dynasty, the kings of the Alans adopted Christianity, and before that they were pagans, but after 340 they turned away from Christianity and expelled the former bishops and priests sent to them by the king of Rum" ^{[11, p. 153]}. It resembles the situation in Ingushetia in the late XVIII – early XIX centuries.

The militant and aggressive policy of the Galgai people in the region was reflected in the folklore of neighboring peoples and tribes. For example, in the Khevsuri song about Zelimkhan ^{[14, p. 91]}.

Chakh Akhriev notes: "With regard to alien peoples, the Galgai people behaved completely independently… The belligerence of the Galgaev people was the reason that their neighboring tribes often hired them or paid tribute to them for protection from other hostile neighbors" ^{[10, p. 4]}. B. K. Dalgat writes that "the Galagevites were the strongest of the Ingush societies; all narts (bogatyrs), according to legend, they lived in Galgai, all the major events from the prehistoric life of the Ingush took place there" ^{[15, p. 65]}. S. M. Bronevsky calls the Kist-Galgai "a strong Kist knee" ^{[16, p. 160]}.

In our opinion, initially Galgaiche headed the union of free societies and was in it primus inter pares, ruled Galga and represented it when communicating with the outside world. But over time, considering themselves more privileged and proud, the Galgai people tried to subjugate other Galgai free societies by force of arms and establish Galgai hegemony here. This is a common phenomenon in the history of any nation, when the metropolis is trying to strengthen its power in the provinces, and the Galgaevites are not unique here. N. F. Yakovlev writes that they "extended their power with an armed hand to a number of neighboring tribes: Feppins, Akkins, etc." ^{[17, p. 99; 18, p. 28]}. The author also notes that once a year the Galgaevites gathered "in the largest and most ancient "Temple of the Thousand" and, having celebrated the annual holiday here together, went with arms in their hands to collect tribute to all the surrounding tribes" ^{[18, p. 29]}.

In an attempt to subjugate neighboring tribes, Galgaiche makes alliances with other powerful players in the region. B. K. Dalgat writes: "Even in the memory of old Kazbik, about 100 years ago, Galgaevites from the village of Ozyk, from the surname Barkinkhoy, brought armed detachments of Lezgins from Dagestan and took tribute from Ossetians, Khevsurs, Tushins and Georgians; for refusing to pay tribute, Galagevites did not give rest to these neighbors, robbed them, captured them and they sold them into slavery; and for paying tribute, they protected them from attacks by other Ingush, stood up for them" ^{[15, p. 65]}.

Chechen researchers N. S. Nukhazhiev and Umkhaev H. S., referring to N. F. Yakovlev, they write: "In addition to the Ingush units, the names of three neighboring tribes appear in their legends – eaqqv (Akin), living in the Galanchozhsky gorge in the upper reaches of the Gekhi River, merjoy – in the upper reaches of the Fortanga, melxi – in the upper reaches of one of the left tributaries of the Chanta-Argun, and, of course, the primacy in terms of strength and nobility of origin remains, of course, for the real ones ghalghaj-mi. The true reasons for this preference are explained if we look at the statistical data"^{[19, p. 141]}. Here, the primacy of the Galgaevites is associated with their multiplicity. At the same time, quoting N. F. Chechen authors write that only residents of Kekelli, that is, three villages in the Targim basin in the Assinovsky gorge, were called Galgais ^{[19, p. 76]}. In addition, N. S. Nukhazhiev and H. S. Umkhaev put forward their version of the Galgai leadership, that their alleged military superiority "was based on the comprehensive military and political support of the Galgai people from the Russians, unlike the Akkins, Merzhoi and Mailhi, together with all Chechen societies, who rigidly opposed the military expansion of tsarist Russia in the Caucasus" ^{[19, p. 141]}. At the same time, in the same place, without any reason, the authors call this superiority "imaginary" and "not corresponding to the actual state of affairs" ^{[19, pp. 142, 141]}. Therefore, in the view of these authors, the Galgaevites did not have military "superiority" even with the "comprehensive" support of a huge empire. Apparently, this "comprehensive military and political support of the Galgai people" was the reason for the eviction of the Ingush from their villages in strategically important areas of Ingushetia. It is unclear why the authors decided at all that the legend refers to the time of Russia's conquest of the Caucasus.

Another Chechen researcher, A.D. Yandarov, is also trying to implore the military power of the Galgaevites, but already writing it off entirely to the support of Kabardins and Kumyks. The author, referring to the "grandfather of the informant" in 2011, cites a new version recorded by N. F. Yakovlev at the beginning of the XX century. legends about the battle of Egi with the Akkins:"Egi-khel, Khamkhi and Tergim, in alliance with other neighboring families of the Berkimkhoevs, Yevloevs and the Ferta-Sholy family ..., with the help of Kabardins and Kumyks, tried to extend their power to a number of neighboring societies: fappiy, akkhiy, tskhioroy ..., orstkhoy, melkhiy, etc."^{[20, pp. 77-78]}. We have doubts about the authenticity of the existence of such a tradition, and we fully admit that this is a banal attempt to distort the data from the old tradition recorded by N. F. Yakovlev. Of course, the Galgaevites, like other tribes of that era, concluded alliances with some neighbors, and went to war against others. There is nothing surprising or unusual about this. But to write off all their achievements for the support of Kabardians, Kumyks and even more so Russians is simply biased.

At the same time, the Galgaevites had a reliable rear in the form of their famous citadels and battle towers (eng. in the I century). According to the description of the researchers, the Ingush and Chechens have pyramidal high towers, up to 25-28 meters, built it is not known when on inaccessible elevated places. A kind of fortress inside the settlement (eng. khail) Every strong family had such a tower. As E. I. Krupnov noted: "The Ingush military towers "vove " are in a true sense the pinnacle of the architectural and construction skills of the ancient population of the region. They are striking in their simplicity of form, monumentality and strict elegance...The Ingush towers for their time were a genuine miracle for human genius, as for our century the new steps of man into the sky" ^{[3, p. 71]}. Two- and three–storey residential towers - g I alash - were grouped around the strategic combat tower.

German ethnologist and geographer Bruno Plechke writes that Ingushetia is the center of the tower culture of the Northeastern Caucasus and that neighboring peoples consulted with Ingush craftsmen as builders ^{[21, p. 114]}.

Researcher of the Caucasus A. F. Goldstein writes about the tower culture of the Ingush: "Ingushetia is distinguished by the greatest variety of tombs. This corresponds to other evidence of the leading role of the Ingush school of architecture in the XIV-XVIII centuries in the area covering the territories of present-day Chechen-Ingushetia, North Ossetia and the regions of Georgia located north of the Main Caucasian Ridge. Indeed, the most interesting structures of the sanctuaries are Ingush; the most advanced in architectural, artistic and construction aspects of the battle towers are located in Ingushetia; the prevalence of such architectural solutions as a stepped-comb roof and a pyramidal covering decreases to the east and west of Ingushetia, where they apparently originated" ^{[22, p. 112]}.

The researchers note that most of the combat towers of the Galgaevites are pyramidal, that is, more recent. This was due, in our opinion, to the fact that the construction art in Galgai, as shown above, developed more intensively than in neighboring regions. At the same time, control over strategic trade routes from the North Caucasus to Transcaucasia gave her income and the opportunity to rebuild towers or demolish them in order to build new ones in their place. There was little land in the mountains and it was necessary to save it. V. N. Basilov and V. P. Kabychev, who investigated this issue, write: "The stratification of various technical techniques in Ingush buildings – from primitive to more advanced, moreover genetically related to each other, convinces that local architecture developed mainly on the basis of accumulation of its own experience, and not under the influence of some external influencesnii. The obvious continuity with the monuments of the Bronze Age makes us look for the origins of stone architecture among the Ingush in ancient times" ^{[23, p. 125]}.

The roads leading to Galgaich were guarded by fortifications and combat towers. U. B. Dalgat writes: "A stone wall was made across the gorge, and their guards stood at the only entrance. No one could enter or leave without the permission of the sentries" ^{[2, p. 42]}.

All these data speak about the military and defensive power of the Vainakhs in general, and the Galgaevites in particular.

At the end of the XIV century, the Central Caucasus became the arena of hostilities between the armies of Tamerlane and Toktamysh, as a result of which the latter suffered a crushing defeat. At the beginning of the XV century. Tamerlane left the North Caucasus. After that, the Nakh tribes of the Malki and Argun interfluve began to return to the plane. According to information from the Ingush illi (heroic-epic song), recorded in the 1870s by V. Kozmin, approximately in the XV-XVI centuries, the Galgai "richly" lived on the plane "in the valley of Doksolj" ^{[24, p.2]}. Doksolj from Ingush translates as "big Sunzha" – so this The river was probably called in the middle and lower reaches. Consequently, the Galgai tribes, according to this source, inhabited the territory up to the middle or lower reaches of the Sunzha.

In this regard, the name of the Galyugai tract, on the left bank of the Terek River to the east of Mozdok, attracts attention. The Cossack village of Galyugaevskaya was founded here in the XVIII century, "where previously five hundred Cossack teams seconded from the Don army had a camp" ^{[25, p. 538]}. The name Galyugai also had a variant of Kalugai ^{[26, p. 290]}. It is believed that the name comes from the dialect of the Don Cossacks, where the first gal is "a bare place" and guy is "a separate reed swamp, a floodplain" ^{[27, p. 57; 28, p. 301]}. But this version seems unconvincing to us and we fully assume that the name of this tract comes from the Kist form of the Ingush endoethnonym that existed before the beginning of the XIX century – g I ulg I ai // khulg I ai. Perhaps during this period, the Galgai settled down to the middle reaches of the Terek.

However, already in the second half of the XVI century, as a result of the Kabardino-Nogai expansion into the flat and foothill regions of the Central Caucasus, the Nakh tribes were forced to move back to the mountain gorges. This event was reflected in the Ingush illi, which was mentioned above:

"And that's why, one day,

Sometimes at night

Nogai hordes with a crowd of Kabardians

They attacked our villages,

The inhabitants of which all slept peacefully.

The massacre started everywhere,

And blood stained the valley…

Fires blazed everywhere…

Our great-grandfathers, having jumped up from sleep,

They had no weapons in their hands,

In order to repel the attack,

And they all died in a fierce battle.

Women, virgins and children

They wept bitterly, being captured by the Nogais.

The merciless enemy soon managed

With our unfortunate people…

Those who survived ran straight into the mountains,

Escape in rocky caves…

So, my friends, our people have broken up

Into small piles, settling in the mountains.

There was no strength in him to fight in the plains

With the great army..." ^{[24, 2]}.

According to this information, Nogais and Kabardins captured the flat territories of the Galgai, destroying most of the population. The surviving residents took refuge in small groups in the mountain gorges.

Under the onslaught of Kabardins and Ossetians, the Nakh tribes are being pushed out even from the mountain gorges west of the Terek ^{[29, l. 16-17, 26-28; 30, p.125; 31, p. 27; 4, p. 127; 32, p. 106]}. For the most part, these tribes, in our opinion, move to Nashah and the eastern regions of Galgai. But here they were raided by Nogais, Dagestanis, as well as Kabardians. For example, "in 1619, the Tersk voivode wrote to Moscow that the "Kolkan people", along with "Shibutsky, Merezinsky, Mulkinsky, Tshansky" and "many mountain lands, people are ready to do everything against the Nogai people for one stand." Another message says about the attack of Kabardino-Dagestan feudal lords. "In 1621, the serving Kabardian prince Sunchaley Yanglychevich Cherkassky and his son Prince Sholokh in petitions referred to their participation in the campaign of the Terek military men in the mountains, held in 1618 at the request of "the Uvarian Nutsal Prince and his brother Suleman Murza and the Black Prince son of Turlov Murza", when the "Shibutsky and Kolkan, and Yerekhonsky, and michkisky taverns", after which "the Shtbutsky, and Kolkan, and Yerekhonsky, and michkisky people ... brought their guilt" [33 p. 93; 34, p. 62].

It is noteworthy that the "military men" and Kabardins made a campaign against the Vainakh societies at the request of the "Black Prince, the son of Turlov Murza." Later, by the middle of the XVII century. this branch of the Avar Nutsals tried to establish a settlement on the plane, but was ousted from there by the Grebensky Cossacks who settled here. Then, around 1658, the Turlovs wrote a petition to the Russian tsar, asking him to allow them to settle "on Chachan", in the lower reaches of the Argun River ^{[35, pp. 35-36]}. Moreover, the tsar, according to an archival document, granted their request and even resettled those who lived there in the village of Chervlenaya (Chechnya. The Cossacks on the left bank of the Terek River (where the village of the same name is located today) ^{[35, p. 36]}.

But already in the XVII century. Galgaya and Turlov Chechnya became closer. Russian Russians may have realized, seeing that both the Kabardino-Nogai invasion and the Avar Khans were behind it, that the Russian state was becoming the main political and military player in the region and that without rapprochement with its satellites they would not be able to return to the plain.

We assume that Galgaiche concluded some kind of agreement with Kabardian and Dagestani feudal lords, as evidenced by some reports of joint actions of Galgaevites with Kabardians and Dagestanis (mentioned above), in an attempt to extend its power to neighboring areas and return to the plain. We find confirmation of this in a document entitled "Petition to the Commission established to consider the personal and land rights of the natives of the Tersk region" (hereinafter referred to as the "Petition"), where a representative of the Galgai family of Etagai, a certain Gudant Mudarov, provides the following information about his family and its possessions: "150 years or more ago, my great-great-grandfather Etagai came from Galgai Together with his brothers and family relatives, he occupied, with the consent of the Avar Khans, Little Chechnya, inhabited at that time partly by nomadic Nogais, and partly by Kabardins. After a long and persistent fight with these latter, they, having taken a ransom from this Guy with sheep and cattle, left this land and he, becoming the sole owner of a plot of land from the Argun River to the Kambileevka river, gradually began to withdraw people from the mountains of the Agishpatoevsky tribe, to which he belonged, and populate them with villages on his land in order to to protect oneself in this way from the raids of Ossetians and Kabardians"[36. l. 20-22]. Here we note that the name "Little Chechnya" was given to the Fortanga and Argun interfluve by the Russians in the XIX century, after its active colonization by Chechen tribes began at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

According to the information given in the "Petition", after a stubborn struggle, Etagai, in alliance with the Avarkhans, liberated the territory from the Nogais from Argun in the east and Kambileyevka in the west (this latter flows into the Terek near the modern Ossetian village of Bekan).

After that, the Galgai were able to recover a little from the blow inflicted on them by the Kabardino-Nogai invasion, and a period of short-term prosperity of the Galgai began. The Galgaevites regained control of the flat territories to the east of the Terek.

Further, on the left bank of the Argun, Etagai establishes a settlement called Etagu // Atagi ^{[37, p. 243]}. At the same time, on the right bank of this river, their Avar allies are founding a Chechen village, the name of which was transferred to the Avar-Vainakh ethnopolitical community formed around it.

Thus, at the end of the XVII century, the possessions of the Turlovs, the so-called Chechen Principality, were located on the right bank of the Argun. On the left bank, the possessions of this Guy Agishbatoysky began. It is no coincidence that in the source of the first quarter of the XIX century. Atagi is called the Ingush district: "Atagi is a district of Kists or Ingush in the Caucasus, consisting of several villages on Argun; the inhabitants are called Ataginians (among Russians) and are under the patronage of a certain prince named Arslan bek" ^{[38, letter A]}.

It is possible that the Galgayevites and their allies had to fight for these lands not only with the Nogais and Kabardins, but also with the Grebensky Cossacks, who in the Late Middle Ages lived in the area of Urus-Martan, whose name, among other things, translates as "Russian Fartan". Perhaps the river where the Grebens lived got its name in contrast to the Fortan River (ga) flowing to the west of it, in the upper reaches of which the Karabulaks lived.

It is interesting to note that according to L. L. Shteder, Grebensky Cossacks used to live in the valley of this river, and then the Attaya tribe occupied this territory: "Russian Fortan. This river got its name from Russian refugees and Old Believers who once settled here. I believe that the Grebensky Cossacks, who now live on the Terek, got their name from the mountains on which they originally settled. The evidence includes many Greek crosses that stand on graves in this area. This area has now been abandoned by them and now a Chechen family lives there, who calls themselves Attaya; after 7 versts I reached their home" ^{[26, p. 211]}. I. A. Guldenstedt calls this tribe "Atahuzes" ^{[26, p. 239]}. J. Reineggs gives the number of this tribe at 900 households ^{[39, p. 40]}.

According to the field materials collected by N. G. Volkova by the Agishbatoi in the second half of the XVIII century. The village of Sarachan-yurt was founded on Sunzha, on the territory of modern Grozny ^{[4, p. 186]}. Here, on the territory of the current Kirov Park, there was an Agishbatoy-Yurt. The village was destroyed by General Ermolov, and the surviving residents"moved to the villages of Old Atagi and Goity, founding new farms and villages. A new village "Egiashbatoin GIoitIa" appeared next to "Gelin GIoitIa", which joined together as a result of population growth" ^{[40, pp. 480-496 p.]}. The "Petition" also says that one of the descendants of this guy named Alkhuzur settled on the Goity river. Indeed, in the XVIII century. on the site of the modern village of Goity, there were farms Agishbatoy-Goity, Dishni-Goity, Gelin-Goity, etc. Interestingly, in the "Petition", among those who moved out of the mountains and settled on the plane with the permission of this family name, Dishni is called.

Alkhazurovo village still exists on the Argun River to the south of the Old Atags.

Perhaps all this indicates that the Agishbatoi occupied part of the interfluve of Sunzha and Terek. The picture is complemented by the name of the Galyugai tract // Kalugai on the left bank of the Terek.

Apparently, the Galgai migrated to the plane in several waves during the XVII-XVIII centuries. By the way, the later evictions from the mountains are also mentioned in the "Petition" of Gudant Mudarov. Judging by the fact that representatives of the Galgai teips Egakhoy, Yovla, Leymoy, Tsora, Targimkha, Dzheyrha, etc. live in Chechnya to the west of the Argun River, representatives of other Galgai clans also moved together with the Agishbatoi. The narration about the Vodelov family says: "Our ancestors lived until 1780 in the farms Altemir-Yurt, GIalgIai-Yurt, Umakhan-Yurt, which subsequently entered the village of Valerik when the Ingush auls were enlarged by the tsarist administration" (Vadelov Yu. A few words about the Vadelov family. Nizhny Achaluki village 03.11.2009 // [Electronic resource] https://m.ok.ru/g1alg1ayj2/topic/62350331314299 ). The surname of the Sunturovs is also attributed to the tape by Agishbata ^{[40, p. 490]}.

The Galgai settlements of Galgai and Tsuri (i.e. Tsori) are indicated in the Kingdom of Nashah on the map of Shamil's country ^{[41, pp. 49, 56]}.

On the map "Survey of the land between the rivers Aksai, Sunzheyu, Assayu, to the fortress of Shatili and part of the Caucasian ridge", which was compiled in 1830 by Staff Captain Blum, the settlement of Galga is marked between the rivers Shalazhi and Valerik ^{[42, l. 2]}. It is worth noting that such staff maps in small numbers were compiled for internal useabout the use of the tsarist special services.

In the same area, A. S. Suleymanov indicates the tract G I alg I ai-are: "Galgiain are" (Galgain arie) - "Ingush plain". A tract in the south of the village between Shaami-Yurt and Valerik" ^{[43, p. 47]}. The author calls GIalgIain are a "tract". However, given the above data on the Galgai possession of the territory between the Terek and Argun rivers, we are inclined to believe that this was originally the name of the plane between the Fortanga River and the Argun River. It should also be noted that from the Ingush language, the word are translates as "plain, space", and is usually used to refer to a vast territory. At the same time, the clearing is called vedolg (Doslorg. [Electronic resource] https://doshlorg.ru / (date of request: 10.3.2024)), "lesnaya polyana" – kuh ^{[44, p. 259]}.

On the "Galgaev plain" from Kekelli (the capital of Galgai), there was a military Galgai road - G I alg I ai nik. A. S. Suleymanov writes that this road went through the vicinity of Guli, "through the Assa river – through the villages of Phui, Hirakh, Yevloy, GIula, Pyaling, Nii and NiikIota, and further east to Akkha, Galai and beyond" ^{[6, pp. 57, 67]}.

It is noteworthy that in the Daryal gorge and the Tar Valley, at the mouth of the Kambileevka River (indicated in Gudant Mudarov's "Forgiveness" as the western border of Etagai's possessions), the names "Galgai Plain" and "Galgai Road" are also found in toponymy. The latter, as A. S. Suleymanov writes, is the outdated folk name of the Georgian Military Road^{[6, p. 8]}. It is no coincidence that the author notes that this is an outdated name for this road. Apparently, the other two, which A. S. Suleymanov cites, are a literal translation of the Russian names of this road: B I e nik – "military road", and Gurzhin b I e nik – "Georgian military road". Consequently, these names appeared only in the XIX century.

A. S. Suleymanov writes about the "Galgai plain" in the upper reaches of the Kambileevka river: "GIalgIai are – "Ingush plain" - in the east of Ongusht… An ancient stadium for military and sports games" ^{[6, p. 64]}.

Also, to the west of the Daryal gorge, on the Kazbek-Guimarai mountain range to the east of Mount Guimarai, there is a mountain peak, which in the first half of the XX century was called Kolkhai-Khokh // Kolkai-Khokh. (oset. Kholkhai-khokh) ^{[45, p. 38.]}. The name of this mountain is translated from the Ossetian language as "Galgai mountain".

F. I. Gorepekina writes that along the gorges of the Terek and Assi rivers there were "fortifications of Galgai There were also watchtowers that closed the passages, the remains of which are still visible" ^{[46, 13-56]}.

When the Galgai took possession of the flat lands between the Terek and Argun, they had to deal with representatives of the mountain Vainakh societies who tried to settle on the plain. This is stated in the "Petition" by Gudant Mudarov: "When the families who were evicted from the mountains increased, some of them, namely the Dishni and Pamyatoy tribe, finding the tax too large, refused to pay it; therefore, there were big quarrels and bloody fights, of which the main culprit of Bacha was killed by Etaga – Alkhuzur and then they ended. But in order to avoid any reasons for similar incidents and quarrels in the future, Alkhuzur gathered residents of the whole of Chechnya and announced to them that he was giving the land he occupied into their possession so that they would pay him yasak"^{[36, l. 20-22]}.

In one of the Akkin legends (told in 1977 by a 90-year-old illiterate resident of the village of Valerik, Magomed Elmurzaev and recorded by Z. Mumadov), it is said that when the Akkin people began to move from the mountains to the plain in the area of the modern village of Valerik, the Galgaevites already lived here, who attacked them and did not allow them to settle. But with the increase in population, the Akins managed to push back the Galgaevites: "A little less than a hundred years before the arrival of General Sleptsov, all Galgaevites were expelled from those places to the border, where the village of Shaami-Yurt now lies" [47 pp. 373-374]. A participant in the Caucasian War, Gen. M. N. P. Sleptsov, was in Chechnya in the middle of the XIX century. Consequently, the Galgai controlled the Valerian region until the middle of the XVIII century. The hostility between the Galgai and the Akkin people, which arose at that time, apparently became one of the reasons for the transfer of the Akka society to the Argun district in 1866. In the report on the accession of the Akinsky Society to the Argun district on the formation of the Akinsky naibstvo in 1865-1869, it says: "The Akin people, who have a direct road to their district and District departments to declare their needs and to sort out cases, runs through the Galgaev society, have never traveled along it, due to old, inveterate enmity and many blood affairs between them and the Galgaevites. No measures, no attempts made by the Authorities to reconcile these warring societies have led to the desired results" ^{[48, l. 10-13]}.

Perhaps some of the Galgai settled in the Bragun domain, where, in addition to the Kumyks, Chechens, Ingush, and Kabardins also lived. Now he has sat down. Braguns in the Gudermess district of Chechnya ^{[49, p. 207]}.

In this regard, it is interesting that some Vainakh legends mention mysterious Ferings. It is generally believed that here we are talking about some kind of Christian people. There are versions that they were either Georgians, or Armenians, or Genoese, etc.

A. P. Ippolitov cites a legend about Ferings, which says:"The Akin people claim that four hundred years or more ago, armed people, Europeans (Fireng), came from the Galgaev societies and settled near Galanchozhsky Lake. On the mountain lying on its southern shore, they built a church, surrounded it with a stone fence, with four gates, for the Tushins, the Galgaevites and local tribes. Each gate faced the mountains occupied by the mentioned tribes" ^{[5, p. 48]}. Here a reasonable question arises: why do the Feringas of Galgaev and Tushins also allocate separate gates if they had their own churches in Galgaich and Tushetia? Apparently, the Galgai and Tushin themselves are called Ferings here. And it is very important – the legend says that the Feringas came from the Galgaev societies and settled near Lake Galanchozhsky, that is, they colonized this area.

As mentioned above, Galgayche in the Medieval period was one of the main Christian centers in the mountains of the North Caucasus. The term Fearing, derived from the ethnonym Frank (i.e. Frenchman), has become synonymous with the word "Christian" and "European" in the East ^{[50, p. 102]}. Such a name from the Galanchozhsky pagans for the newcomer Christians – Galgaevites and Tushins, is quite logical. They came to colonize the territory and spread Christianity among its inhabitants. To do this, they built a church and made gates for the locals and for themselves separately.

The legend goes on to say that the locals prevented the construction of the church because they were pagans, but in the end the church was built and the locals were on friendly terms with the Ferings and prayed together "To the God of Christians, and each nation entered separately through the gates made for him in the fence. This order of things continued for several years, and the Europeans were in the most peaceful and friendly relations with the natives" ^{[5, p. 48]}.

After a while, the newcomers began to behave like invaders and little by little to crowd the Galanchozhians, "take away their women and property," and all the mountain families, even those who were at enmity with each other, having concluded an alliance, rebelled against the newcomers. After a short-term, but stubborn and bloody war, the Europeans were defeated and withdrew again by the same road through Galgai" ^{[5, p. 49]}. Again, we do not meet any other newcomers in the legend, except for the Galgaevites and Tushins.

The mention of Tushin together with the Galgaevites is not accidental. As we have already written above, in an effort to extend their power to neighboring regions, the Galgaevites used allies from other tribes and peoples. This time, the Galgaevites also came not alone, but with their Christian allies, the Tushins. Therefore, the allies are named in the legend not by the Galgaevites or Tushins, but by the Ferings – a common Christian name.

In this regard, it is interesting to note that the Agishpatoi, according to legend, descend from the Feringi ^{[5, p. 4]}. B. K. Dalgat, referring to I. Popov, also writes about the origin of the Agishbatoi from the Feringi ^{[15, pp. 58-59]}. It should be noted that the Ferings, like the Agishbatoi, came from the "Galgaev societies". And it is also clear from the legend that the Feringas were conquerors in Galanchozhe, which fits into the general context of the information from the "Forgiveness" about the seizure of territories between the rivers Kambileyevka and Argun by Etagai. Apparently, the Galgai expansion in the eastern direction began no later than the XV century.

The legend recorded by P. I. Golovinsky says that the Agishbatoi joined the Mulkhoi society ^{[37, p. 243]}. Chechen researcher S. Chadiev writes that Eglashbato was one of the brothers Mulk and Tsiyoshi, and that they lived in Mulkoi-mokhka in ancient times. But then, due to a blood feud, they had to cross over to the east beyond the Argun River ^{[51, p. 94]}. In other words, Agishbatoy and Mulka, according to legend, have the same origin. And since the former come from "Galgai society", therefore, Mulkoi also comes from there.

We find confirmation of this in the Mulkoi legend, recorded by the famous kavkazologist and archaeologist V. I. Dolbezhev. It says that the ancestor of the Mulkoi, Itun, comes "from the Galgai east of Assa", and "some of the inhabitants originated from Arabistan" ^{[52, p. 155]}. It should be noted that in the main ancient Chechen, Batsbian and Ingush legends, the Galgai and the Arabs appear as their ancestors.

The connection of Mulka with the Galgaevites is also confirmed by the fact that in the "Petition" Gudant Mudarov "Magasha from the Mulkoi tribe", together with the Ingush Malsagovs and "Baga from Nizhala", mentions as witnesses the belonging of his family to the territory "from the Argun River and to the mountains of the Nazran family" ^{[36, l. 20-22]}. N G. Volkova, based on the analysis of written sources, comes to the conclusion that in the second half of the XVIII century. the lands from Gekhi to Argun were not inhabited and only along the Martan River in 1781 a small tribe Attaja was mentioned ^{[4, p. 169]}. Attaja, this is the Etagaya tribe.

In addition to Itum-Kali, the Galgaev Mulkoi also owned the village of Kharsenoy. Moreover, among the villages of this society there is a settlement called Kalga.

The Mulka region (Chechen Mulkoi-Mokhk) is located in the basin of the Mulkoi-Ahk River (Chechen Mulkoi-Ahk), a left tributary of the Argun. It borders on the west with Peshha, on the east. from Chuo, in the south from Chuo and Terla, and in the north from Khorsan (Shatoy district), which was later inhabited by Mulkoyans.

Mulkoi had their own mountain (Chechen Mulkoi-Lam) and, apparently, were the founders of this area. The society consists of 9 teips with settlements of the same name: Khurka, Keshtra, Bengara, Glezar Khalla, Baskha, Bov Arha, Kotta, Zhainkhoy and Medarha. The residential towers and the sakli here were built of stone. They had nine combat towers, of which only one has been preserved ^{[53, p. 94]}.

According to A. S. Suleymanov, the name Mulk and the ethnonym Mulkoi were based on the word "mulkhoi - paving the road, going ahead, advanced (troops)" ^{[53, p. 94]}. However, we believe that this name comes from the ethnonym mahal // makkhol, which is still preserved in the Ossetian language as the name of the Ingush in the form of maekhal.

The following data also indicate the Galgai expansion to the east. The legend says that a certain Hakko from the Gaga family moved to Chechnya ^{[54, pp. 112, 116]}. In the area of Alkun, there was the village of Khakkikyongiy-Yurt, from where its inhabitants migrated to the Argun gorge, where they founded Hakkoi-Mohk (ing. Khakkoi-Mohk).

Information from folk legends is confirmed by archival documents. For example, in the Tersk Collection for 1910, N. I. Ivanenko writes that the land where the Russians founded the Shatoy fortress in the 1850s, "from time immemorial belonged to the Chechens of S. Tsogunoy, called "Hakkoevites" after their ancestor Hakko, who originated from Ingush villages. Alkun, Nazran district, settled on the site of the Chateau 10-12 generations ago" ^{[55, pp. 80-81]}. About the villages of Tsugani and Gakkoi "against the Shatoev administration", it is said in one of the documents of the AKAK ^{[56, p. 1507]}. Indeed, on the site of the village of Gekka, Lieutenant General Evdokimov on August 9, 1858, the management of Shatoevskoye was laid for the headquarters of the Navagen Infantry Regiment ^{[57, p. 66]}.

The Gagievs are one of the strongest Galgaev families, who historically lived in Gagi-Mohk (ing. Gage-Mohk) in the Assinsky gorge, north of Kekelli. The descendants of this family are the Gagievs, Sapralievs, Mutalievs, Gatagazhevs, Estoevs, Gatagazovs, Hakoevs, Khakievs, Getigezhevs (Kabarda), Myartishvils (Kazbegi), etc.

In the "Petition", Gudant Mudarov reports that Etagai conquered the territories between the rivers Argun and Kambileyevka with the support of the Avar khans. In this regard, it is interesting that the military historian of the Caucasus and memoirist A. L. Zisserman in the middle of the XIX century points to a legend in which P. I. Golovinsky's information about the accession of the Agishbatoevites to the "grassroots Chechens" is confirmed. This legend says that "about two hundred years ago, Prince Turlo, the ruler of the village of Mekhelda in the Dagestan society of Gumbet, went hunting, reached Khan Kala ..., near the shore of Argun on the plane, and built himself a temporary booth made of skins here. The Kalmyks who roamed in the vicinity surrounded him and wanted to take him, but he and his people not only repelled, but even drove them far away and decided to settle in this place. He was joined by several families from the Argun societies of Shubut and Nashakhoy, significant surnames Chermo from Dagestan and Agpshatoy from Galgai (in Ass)" ^{[58, p. 433]}. Apparently, it is not by chance that our names are mentioned here. They lived in Galanchozhe, which was taken over by the Feringas, who, as shown above, are Galgaevites. This is consistent with the information from the "Petition", which says that Etagai occupied the territory of Little Chechnya with the consent of the Avar khans and a stubborn struggle against the Nogais and Kabardins who roamed here, after which people from his tribe joined him, as well as representatives of other surnames" [36. l. 20-22].

P. I. Golovinsky also calls the Agishbatoi (Golovinsky's Akhshipata) the "Galgaev surname", and reports that they subsequently moved "to the grassroots Chechens" ^{[37, p. 243]}, i.e. to the possessions of the Avar princes.

As can be seen from the above data, the Galgai expansion extended not only to the flat and foothill areas of Little Chechnya, but also to Galanchozh, Shatoy, Mulkoi, etc. That is, almost all the territories west of Argun, as stated in the "Petition". After that, Etagai became one of the three most notable and influential Chechen families. A. P. Ippolitov writes: "There are no class castes here at all, although some surnames are considered to be of higher origin than others; for example, the surname Akhshipatoy, which came before others to the plane of Chechnya and once sought to pay for this land, is recognized as aristocratic" ^{[5, p. 5]}.

P. I. Golovinsky writes, confirming the words of A. P. Ippolitov, that it was the surnames Turlo, Mudar and Etagai that were considered "the most noble and long-lasting" ^{[37, p. 243]}. The Turloi here represent the Avar clan, the Mudar, apparently, the Kabardian princely family, or it is the Bragun owner ^{[49, p. 207]}. Based on these data, the territory of modern Ingushetia and Chechnya in the late XVII- early XIX centuries was controlled by three clans, Avar, Kabardian (or Kumyk) and Galgai origin. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the Avars and Kumyks knew the Ingush under their self-designation g I alg I ai.

In the "Petition", Gudant Mudarov reports that the Agishbatoi were "from Galgaev societies", but does not give information from which mountain settlement they came from. In the family tradition of the Agishbatoi, recorded by I. Popov, it is said that their ancestor Agish and his brother Galgash were the sons of Maash and lived in the village of Nashakh. This is consistent with the information given by A. P. Ippolitov about the expansion of the Feringi into Galanchozh, where the village of Nashakh and the historical region of the same name were located. Having matured, the brothers settled in different directions: "The first went to Ichkeria and settled in the place where the village is now located" ^{[59, p. 12]}.Indeed, in Ichkeria, in the interfluve of Gudermes and Hulkhulau, north of Vedeno, today there is a village of Agishbatoy.

A. P. Berger lists Akhshipatoy among 20 indigenous or "pure" Chechen (Ichkerian) tapes ^{[60, p. 135]}. Today, the Agishbatoi (Chechen Egiashbatoi) are preserved among Chechens as one of the Ichkerian teips. In our opinion, their resettlement to Ichkeria took place before the XVIII century.

Further, I. Popov writes: "the second founded his residence between the pp. Assoy and Fortangoy (in the Ingushevsky district)" [59. p. 12]. Here we note that the Egi-chozh tract is located on the Fortanga River, which translates as "Egi Gorge". It is possible that during their expansion into Galanchozh, the Egakhoi laid a fortification here to protect against attacks from the Kabardians.

It is noteworthy that the Galgaevite Maasha is also mentioned in the legend cited by Dolbezhev as the father of the foreman of the Mulka society ^{[52, p. 155]}. It is possible that Maash and his sons Galgash and Egish represent the Galgaev Ferings, who took over Galanchozh, but after the uprising of local tribes against their rule, moved further to Ichkeria ^{[5, pp. 48-49]}. And it is no coincidence, apparently, that these settlers of their ancestor, Nokhcho (the eponym of the Nashakh region), derive from the Galgai ^{[60, pp. 125, 140]}.

In our opinion, the Agishbatoi were natives of Egikal and the founders of this settlement. In this case, they referred to teip Egahoy (ing. Agahoy), who also held a certain privileged position in the "Galgaev societies". In that case, why don't the Egikalians call themselves Agishbata? The fact is that Egahoy is the name of a tape, not a genus. Teip are the inhabitants of a medieval Vainakh mountain settlement. Consequently, this name (Egakhoy) appeared after the foundation of the Egikal.

I. Popov, referring to the legend, writes that at the root of the name of the genus Agishbata is the proper name Agish ^{[59, p. 11]}. However, we tend to believe that Agish is a genus name where the final sound –sh is an affix of mn. ch., which, as we noted above, is considered an older version of another affix of mn. ch. in the Nakh languages y // and ^{[12, p. 45]}. Perhaps representatives of the ancient family of Aghish at the very beginning of the Middle Ages moved to the Assinovo gorge and founded the village of Aghiy-Khaill, whose name translates as "settlement of the genus Egiev." And the names Agish and Galgash are from legend, this is an older form of mn. ch. from Agi and galgai. In other words, the names Agish and Galgash hide the Agishbatoi clan and the Galgai people to whom it belongs.

However, it should be noted here that DNA studies have shown haplogroup Q1a2 in representatives of this type in Ichkeria, while representatives of the Egakhoi type belong to haplogroup J2, the major one for the Nakh peoples. Perhaps this is due to the fact that after resettlement to the territory of modern Chechnya, local clans of Turkic origin joined the teip (the "Petition says that these lands were conquered by Agishbat from the Turkic-speaking Nogais who lived here). As a result, it was their representatives who moved to Ichkeria. In this regard, we point out that representatives of this type have a close relationship with the types Engana, Giordala (a common ancestor lived 600-700 years ago), and part of Shona (a common ancestor lived 800-900 years ago) ^[61].

At the same time, we also assume that representatives of haplogroup Q1a2 were part of the Galgaev colonizers. This may be indicated by information from the legend about the origin of the Barkinha tape ^{[47, pp. 320-321]}. Apparently, the legend is not about the origin of the entire Barkinha tape (we believe that the indigenous representatives of this tape are mainly from Egikal), but some part of it. Perhaps a representative of some Turkic-speaking people was accepted into the teip by Barkinha. Subsequently, his descendants, along with other Galgai clans, colonized the lands between the rivers Fortanga and Argun. This issue requires additional research.

Based on the above, we etymologize the first part of the name Agishbata as Agiish // Agish is an ancient form of mn.ch. from the name of the genus Agii. We associate the second part of the name with the ethnonym of the Bata people, which is preserved in the name of modern Batsbis – "Batsbians". The Bats // mats, in our opinion, are the ancient Hurrian-Urartian people, known in history as the Matiens // the Mannaeans and the founders of the Mitanni state (Hanigal-bat) of the XVII-XIII centuries BC ^{[62, pp. 8-10]}.

As a result of the addition of the terms Agish and batoy, the name Agishbatoy appeared, meaning "Agievs from the Baty tribe // batsbi". Variations of the sounds g and gI are probably dialectal features (compare Gage-nankan, Gia-gie-nankan – "Gagievs"; Gel-Yerda, G I al-Yerda – "cult of Galerd", etc.). Consequently, the Egical was founded by representatives of the Egiev family from the Bat tribe (batsbi). It is no coincidence, apparently, in one of the legends recorded by Prof. I. A. Dakhkilgov, it is said that Egi was a prince who came from Armenia ^{[47, p. 335]}. In the post-Urartian period in the 5th century BC, Herodotus localized the Matienes in the Erzurum area ^{[63, p. 5]}, According to Strabo (XI, 14, 5), at the beginning of the II century BC, the Armenian states seized this territory from the Khalibs and Mossiniks ^{[64, p. 301]}. In other words, at a certain period of history, the Matiens lived on the territory of Armenia.

The legend about the foundation of Egikal says that the founders of this castle settlement were the Zabiev family ^{[15, p. 63]}. We compare the name of this genus with the name of the Zab River in the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands, in the upper reaches of which the state of Manna is localized. Perhaps the name of the Zabiev family, as well as in the name of this river, is based on the root of ts I ova // ts I oba (compare. from Tsova-tushina – the second name of the Batsbians).

As for the name of the modern tape Egakhoy, in our opinion, it is a form modified as a result of syncopation from Agiikkhayllakhoy (Aghaykhallikhavsh). How, for example, Surkho-hit I e transformed into Surkhot I e (Surkhakhi village in the Nazran district of Ingushetia), I arzha-hit I ahoy - into arshtkhoy (self–designation of the Vainakh society of Karabulaks), etc.

Various clans (ing. var) lived in Egikal, the main of which may have been the Egievs from the Bat people (Matiens). Consequently, Etagai of Agishbatoy was a native of Egikal, from the family of Aghi.

After the crushing blow inflicted in the XVI century by the Kabardino-Nogai army, the Vainakh tribes lost most of the territories west of the Terek and were displaced from the flat territories east of this river. However, in the second half of the XVII century. the Galgai, led by Etagai from the Agishbata family (i.e., the Egievs), managed to liberate the flat lands between Argun and Terek, after which they founded their settlements here (Atagi, Galgai-Yurt, Tsuri, etc.), and the plane between Argun and Fortanga gets the name Galgai are – "the plain of Galgai".

But by the middle of the XVIII century. Kabardians, Kumyks and related Vainakh tribes were crowding the Galgai plane, as reported in the "Petition" and in the Akkinsky legend "Valerik" ^{[47, pp. 373-374]}.

During the anti-feudal struggle in Chechnya, the feudal elite of the Agishbatoi was exterminated ^{[65, p. 269]}.

In 1762, part of the former possessions of Etagai were returned to the Ingush (mainly Karabulaks) ^{[66, l. 112, 117]}. At the end of the XVIII century, Chechen tribes also moved here en masse, which at the beginning of the next century advanced to the lower reaches of the Fortanga River, the upper reaches of the Nithoi River. Later, the border between Ingush and Chechen societies was established along this line.

In the course of the study, we managed to find out that the Ingush are the only people of the Caucasus (and the world) who call their kindred Chechens nokhchiy. Among other peoples, the latter are known as chachanav (avar.), michigish (kumyk.), buturlal (Lezgins), chechenebi (Georgian.), shashan (kabar.), sasan // sasainag (oset.). Even those who closely communicated with Chechens - Lezgins, Avars, Dargins, Kumyks did not know them by their self-designation. In our opinion, this is due to the fact that in the Middle Ages Nashakh did not play such an important and significant role in the region as Galgayche, and was in the shadow of the latter.

However, as the Vainakh tribes convert to the Muslim religion, Galgayche begins to lose its position as the central district among the Vainakh tribes. And their religious and political center is gradually moving to Ichkeria (founded by natives of Nashakh), which began to play a dominant role in the Nakh ethnic group. There is a lot of supporting data on this role of the latter due to the fact that since the end of the XVIII century. (just by the time of the rise of Chechnya and the decline of Galgaiche), the Vainakh tribes came to the attention of European and Russian researchers.

The authoritative Islamic alims mainly came from Chechens and Kumyks. Every Ingush society that converted to Islam was influenced by Chechen culture. It is no coincidence that the Ingush Nazmash (Nashids) all are performed in the Chechen language. All Ustases, except Batal-hadji Belkhoroev, were Chechens among the Ingush. Along with religious supremacy, Ichkeria (and later Chechnya) also gained political dominance. For example, B. Teimiev was an authority for Ingush Muslims in the 1820s, so the latter recognized him as their leader and grouped around him. In their view, he was a representative of one of the peoples (along with the Kumyks) from where Islam came to them.

At the same time, when at the end of the XVIII century the leading role of the Galgaevites among the Vainakh tribes came to naught, they were already called by the name of their place of residence: Ingush, Galashevites, Nazranites, etc.

Thus, based on the above data, we come to the conclusion that the Galgaevites and their Christian allies from Transcaucasia were hiding under the "Ferings". At the initial stage, through the spread of Christianity and colonization of the upper reaches of the Gekhi River (otherwise they would not have needed separate gates to the temple for the Galgaevites and Tushins), they tried to subjugate this territory. It is possible that Maash and his sons Egish and Galgash (who are reported in the article by I. Popov) were part of the Ferings from Galgayche. Later, the Galgaevites managed to seize the territory between the Terek and Argun rivers and establish their settlements in its eastern part.