| Total population |
|---|
| 500,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan |
| Languages |
| Religion |
|
Predominantly Sunni Islam |
| Related ethnic groups |
The Ingush (Ingush: ГIалгIай Ghalghai, pronounced [ˈʁalʁaɪ]) are a native ethnic group of the North Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai (галгай). The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language. Despite popular misconceptions, Ingush is not mutually intelligible with Chechen, though they are closely related.[1] The Ingush and Chechen peoples are collectively known as the Vainakh.[2]
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The Ingush are predominantly Shāfi‘ī Madh'hab of Sunni Islam and there is some Sufi minority present.[3]
"The Caucasus populations exhibit, on average, less variability than other populations for the eight Alu insertion poly-morphisms analysed here. The average heterozygosity is less than that for any other region of the world, with the exception of Sahul. Within the Caucasus, Ingushians have much lower levels of variability than any of the other populations. The Ingushians also showed unusual patterns of mtDNA variation when compared with other Caucasus populations (Nasidze and Stoneking, submitted), which indicates that some feature of the Ingushian population history, or of this particular sample of Ingushians, must be responsible for their different patterns of genetic variation at both mtDNA and the Alu insertion loci."[4][5]
According to one test by Nasidze in 2003 (analyzed further in 2004), the Y-chromosome structure of the Ingush greatly resembled that of neighboring Caucasian populations (especially Chechens, their linguistic and cultural brethren)[6][7]
There has been only one notable study on the Ingush Y-chromosome. These following statistics should not be regarded as final, as Nasidze's test had a notably low sample data for the Ingush. However, they do give an idea of the main haplogroups of the Ingush.
In the X-chromosome, or mtDNA, the Ingush formed a more clearly distinct population, with distance from other populations. The closest in an analysis by Nasidze were Chechens, Kabardins and Adyghe (Circassians), but these were all much closer to other populations than they were to the Ingush. [7]
Dzurdzuk is the legendary ancestor of all modern Nakh peoples (although the origin of the Batsbi is still disputed), including the Ingush and Chechens, who are closely related linguistically. The Georgian name is Glivi / Gligvi.. Ancient authors (Strabo) spoke about the Gargars.
The Ingush came under Russian rule in 1810, but during World War II they were falsely accused of collaborating with the Nazis and the entire population was deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia with an estimated loss of a quarter to half of the population. They were rehabilitated in the 1950s, after the death of Joseph Stalin, and allowed to return home in 1957, though by that time western Ingush lands had been ceded to North Ossetia. In 1992 the remaining Ingush were expelled from their capital, Vladikavkaz (formerly the Ingush capital, then called Zaur).
The Ingush possess a varied culture of traditions, legends, epics, tales, songs, proverbs, and sayings. Music, songs and dance are particularly highly regarded. Popular musical instruments include the dachick-panderr (a kind of balalaika), kekhat ponder (accordion, generally played by girls), mirz ponder (a three-stringed violin), zurna (a type of oboe), tambourine, and drums.
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