Teip

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File:Зумсой. 1906 год 01.jpg

Elders from the Template:Ill teip, Template:C. 1906.

A teip (also taip, tayp, teyp; Chechen and Ingush: тайпа, romanized: taypa {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, Template:Lit. family, kin, clan, tribe<ref>Нохчийн-Оьрсийн словарь (Chechen-Russian Dictionary, A.G. Matsiyev, Moscow, 1961), also available online: Чеченско-Русский словарь: “схьаIенадала-такхадала” Template:Webarchive; and Ингушско-Русский словарь (online Ingush-Russian dictionary) Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref>) is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor or geographic location. It is a sub-unit of the tukkhum and shahar. There are about 150 Chechen and 120 Ingush teips. Teips played an important role in the socioeconomic life of the Chechen and Ingush peoples before and during the Middle Ages, and continue to be an important cultural part to this day.

Traditional rules and featuresEdit

Common teip rules and some features include:<ref name=latautonomy>Traditional Social Organisation of Chechen people Template:Webarchive</ref>

The right of communal land tenure.
Common revenge practices for the murder of a teip member or insulting of the members of a teip.
Unconditional exogamy.
Election of a teip representative.
Election of a headman.
Election of a military leader in case of war.
Open sessions of the Council of Elders.
The right of the teip to depose its representatives.
Representation of women is done by male relatives.
The right of adoption of outside people.
The transfer of property of departed members to members of the teip.
The teip has a defined territory.
The teip constructed a teip tower or another building or natural monument convenient as a shelter, e.g. a fortress.
The teip had its own teip cemetery.
The teip tradition of hospitality.

Identity, land and descentEdit

Teips, as sub-units of tukkhums, are traditionally thought to have members who descend from a common ancestor and are thus considered distant blood relatives. Teip names were often derived from an ancestral founder.<ref name=Jaimoukha90>Template:Cite book</ref> As is true for many other North Caucasian peoples, Chechen and Ingush men were traditionally expected to know the names and places of origin of their ancestors on their father's side, tracing back many generations, with seven generations being the most commonly recognized.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/> Many women also memorized this information, and more dedicated individuals could often recite their maternal ancestral line as well.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/> The memorization of this information serves as a way to instill clan loyalty in younger generations.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/> Among the peoples of the Caucasus, large-scale land disputes were traditionally sometimes resolved through mutual knowledge of where and when ancestors had resided.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/>

A teip's ancestral land was held sacred because of its close connection to teip identity. It was typically marked by clan symbols, including the clan cemetery, tower, and sanctuary.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/> Due to the scarcity of land in mountainous Ingushetia and Chechnya, after the feudal system was overthrown, each teip claimed a specific area of land.<ref name=Jaimoukha94>Template:Cite book</ref> Land boundaries were marked by stones with specific markings pointing to a local place of worship.<ref name=Jaimoukha94/> Initially, land was owned collectively, but individual cultivation ultimately became the norm.<ref name=Jaimoukha94/> In old Chechen and Ingush tradition, women were allowed to own land.<ref name=Jaimoukha94/> The vehement Ingush and Chechen opposition to Soviet collectivization has been explained by the threat it posed to the traditional customs of land allotment.<ref name=Jaimoukha94/>

Political functionEdit

Each teip had an elected council of elders, a court of justice, and its own set of customs. The civilian chief, referred to as the thamda or kh'alkhancha, chaired the council of elders. The baechcha, meanwhile, was the military leader.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/>

SubdivisionsEdit

The teip has its own subdivisions, in order of their progressive nesting, the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. The {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} consists of households sharing the same family name, while the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is a number of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} units that together form a common lineage, however that is not always the case.<ref name=Jaimoukha91>Template:Cite book</ref> The basic social unit, meanwhile, was the household, consisting of the extended family spanning three or four generations, referred to as the ts'a or the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, with married daughters usually living with in the household of their spouse. Brothers would share the same land and livestock.<ref name=Jaimoukha91/>

Formation of new teipsEdit

The number of teips has been unstable in recent history. While there were 59 Chechen and Ingush teips in the early 19th century, this swelled to a hundred by the mid-19th century, and today there are about 170.<ref name=Jaimoukha90/> New teips could be founded when a large {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} broke off and claimed the title of a full-fledged teip.<ref name=Jaimoukha91/>