After Deportation: Chechen and Ingush Sufi Groups and their <i>Zikr</i> Rituals in Soviet Kazakhstan
Journal: Asiatische Studien – Études Asiatiques
Year: 2024

Abstract The present paper investigates the history of the Kunta-Hajji (Qadiriyya) Sufi groups ( vird s) of Chechen and Ingush deportees during their enforced exile in Soviet Kazakhstan (1944–1957/1963). On the basis of anthropological fieldwork among survivors, returnees, and their offspring, the authors argue that the Ingush and Chechen deportees perceived the vird s as an important moral support network and a pillar of their identity in a foreign and inimical environment. In the absence of do