Chechens
Chechens (; '; Old Chechen: Нахчой "Naxçoy") are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples originating in the North Caucasus region of Eastern Europe. They refer to themselves as Vainakhs (which means "our people" in Chechen) or Nokhchiy (pronounced ; singular Nokhchi, Nakhchuo or Nakhtche). Chechen and Ingush peoples are collectively known as the Vainakh. The majority of Chechens today live in the Chechen Republic, a subdivision of the Russian Federation.
History of Chechnya
The main body of various Nakh tribes were surrounded by Georgians to the South, Alans to the North and West with Khazars beyond them, and various Dagestani peoples to the East. Those Nakh peoples who were in Georgia assimilated into Georgian society. The Nakh on the Northern side of the Greater Caucasus mountains, ancestors of the Chechens and Ingush, saw some southern tribes adopt Christianity due to Georgian influence in the fifth and sixth centuries, but they remained separate from Georgia. Instead, the areas that now make up Ingushetia and Chechnya were either ruled by Khazars, by Alans, by Dagestani peoples such as Avars or (later) Kumyks, or ruled by independent Nakh states such as Durdzuketia and Simsir.