Caucasian sworn enemies

Kirill Popov exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

Blood revenge is an ancient phenomenon, which served to prevent conflicts between clans in societies which knew no statehood or didn’t recognize its laws. In recent decades the phenomenon has been associated by residents of Russia with the North Caucasus, even though previously it was perceived as an image from romantic and adventure literature or Scandinavian myths. Alas, the return of blood revenge to objective reality confirms that this custom was not deeply forgotten. Studying various cases, one understands that this social phenomenon has its rules, and if the rules are followed, it works as effectively as state punishment agencies.

The following story took place in the Pankinski Gorge near the Russian-Georgian border. It is populated by Chechen-Kists, Georgians, Ossetians, and refugees from times of the second Chechen campaign. Even in Soviet times people lived here according to the traditions of ancient times – the elders maintained their power, and the rules and customs of the community, which came from the Middle Ages, were maintained, including blood revenge. Only in the last 20-25 years have young people begun to listen to their elders to a lesser extent, but not because of the influence of modern culture, but due to Wahabism, which puts religious community above family. However, when the stories began, the USSR was firm and nobody knew about Wahabism.

One cause for the series of deaths was seduction of a girl. A man who had sex with her broke his promise to marry her and chose another girl. The dishonoured girl couldn’t bear the insult, went to the house of the young man and shot him dead within sight of his wife. As the murder was committed openly, the girl was arrested and sent to prison. She was released after the collapse of the USSR. She was respected in her village for showing firmness, will, and a wild spirit which enabled her to commit revenge and survive in prison. However, her return stirred up the relatives of the seducer. It is thought to be a shame on the whole family to have revenge for the honour killing which was committed by the girl. However, the man’s relatives didn’t want to accept the situation. A big role was probably played by the fact that they were Wahabists, who often ignore long-standing traditions. As it is thought to be shameful to take revenge out on a woman, it was decided that responsibility for her would be borne by a male relative. The elder and blind brother of the woman was killed. To take revenge on unarmed and sick people was considered as shameful as taking revenge on a woman, and the local population paid, despite the seducer’s family who violated all possible honour principles.

Such incidents regularly took place during the period of the USSR’s collapse. However, when revenge was committed according to customs and for significant reasons, there were no senseless sacrifices. However, traditional mechanisms of stopping revenge were not always so efficient. When the vertical power was completely restored in Russia and Georgia, the state had to interfere in relations between clans and make peace. Remember the working of the commission on peacemaking in Chechnya and Ingushetia and the personal contribution of the leaders of the republics, Ramzan Kadyrov and Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, to restore relations between hostile clans. However, it is important to remember that blood revenge will never disappear forever. It will always be a reliable instrument of regulating social relations, which are built on the basis of big families and clan communities. If the power vertical is broken, archaic orders will appear in territories.