Mongol invasions of Durdzuketi

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols launched two long, massive invasions of the territory of modern Chechnya and Ingushetia, which included the lands of Alania in the west, Simsir in the northeast, and the Georgian-allied polity of Durdzuketia in the south.

[5] Kypchak Turkic peoples – some of which became future affiliates of Genghis Khan – had been invading and settling areas further and further south and west (a process that had continued since the fall of the Khazars), including the fertile river valleys of the Terek and the Kuban.

[5] Durdzuketia and Simsir were also attacked from the south and east, by the Mongol troops which had recently conquered Derbent, capital of the Lezghins, in modern Dagestan.

[9] One particular tale recounts how the former inhabitants of Argun, during the first invasion and the surrounding area held a successful defense (waged by men, women and children) of the slopes of Mount Tebulosmta, before returning after that to reconquer their home region.

Amjad Jaimoukha notes that many of the tales are, in fact, coincident with historical accounts by Western travelers such as Pian de Carpine who reported that in 1250 a part of Alans had defended a mountain for 12 years.

Tired of the long years of hard struggle, the Chechen, believing the assurances of mercy by the enemy, descended from the mountain, but the Mongol-Tatars treacherously killed the majority.

They managed to escape and leave Mount Dakuoh after 12 years of siege.However, fierce resistance did not prevent the utter destruction of the state apparatus of Dzurdzuketia.

The contribution of men, women, and children of all classes, paired with the destruction of the feudal system during the war, rich and poor, also helped the Vainakh develop a strong sense of egalitarianism, which was one of the major causes of the revolt against their new lords after the end of the Mongol invasions.

Under the conditions of the invasion, Christianity was unable to sustain itself in Ingushetia, and as its sanctuaries and priests fell, those who had converted reverted to paganism for spiritual needs.

[13] The utter destruction of the Durdzuks' statehood, their lifestyle (and in the south, their religion), and much of their knowledge of history caused them to rebuild their culture in many ways.

The overcrowding and lack of arable land caused the Chechens to devise new agricultural methods for the highlands including terracing plots and introducing soil.

[16] The concept of mythical beast known as the "almaz" or "hun-sag", an evil forest creature with enchanted hair, also dates to Mongol influence (the same is true for the Circassian almesti)[17] with the word almaz being a loan from Mongolian where it originally meant "forest-man"; Jaimoukha also proposes that the Mongol name may have become used in the place of a native name during the sojourn of the Golden Horde over Simsir.

Conflicts between Nakh and Turkic peoples originated from the Mongol invasions when Dzurdzuks were driven out of the Terek and Sunzha rivers by Turco-Mongolian invaders (the Nogais) and continued as late as the 1750s and 1770s.

This underlines the causes for the later conversion of the Chechens to Islam in the 16th to 19th centuries, in order to secure the sympathy of the Ottoman Empire and the rest of the Muslim world in their conflict with the Christian state of Russia.