The Orstkhoy, historically commonly known under their exonyms: Karabulaks, Balsu, Baloy, are a historical ethnoterritorial society among the Chechen and Ingush peoples. Their homeland is in the upper reaches of the Assa and Fortanga rivers in the historical region of Orstkhoy-Mokhk (the Sernovodsky District and the border part of the	Achkhoy-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, as well as most of the Sunzhensky District of Ingushetia). In the tradition of the Chechen ethno-hierarchy, it is considered one of the nine historical Chechen tukkhums, in the Ingush tradition as one of the seven historical Ingush shahars.

Name 
The name Orstkhoy in their native language (Chechen or Ingush) is "Орстхой", written as "Orstxoj" in the old Latin writing system. Different theories exist around the origin of the word:
 1. The theory of it coming from the word "Are" (Аре), which means plains or steppes, and respectively translating the word as the "inhabitants of the plains".
 2. The theory of it coming from the river Arshtynka, proposed by Ya. Z. Ahmadov. According to this theory, the etymology of the river Arshtynka itself goes back to the Proto-Iranian word , which according to Ya. Z. Akhmadov translates as "tasty/clean water".
 3. The theory of the word Ershtkhoy coming from the three components – härashachu, khithepa and khoi. This theory proposed by A. S. Suleymanov, is explained by him as translating as "Black (from) the river of patrol (guard)". According to the researcher, the evolution of the change in this ethnonym could proceed approximately in the following way: Härzhachu khi thera khoi → Härsh hithera khoi → Harshtkhoy → Ershtkhoy.
 4. The theory of it coming from the word ors (орс; other variants: арс, урс, ерс), whose root means "wooded mountain", less commonly "forest". This theory proposed by , was almost in the same way explained by another Chechen scientist A. D. Vagapov, however, the morpheme was in the form of arts (Chechen), oarts (Ingush) and ars (dialect). A. D. Vagapov translated the word as "wooded mountain" or "foothills". The pre-revolutionary publicist  erected ars/artsto the prehistoric period and found in Armenian and Georgian toponyms. In addition to the root, in the ethnonym Orstkhoy, Ya. S. Vagapov singled out suffixes -t- (toponymic), -x- (persons), -o- (nominal), as well as the plural ending -y. The researcher associated this ethnonym, for example, with the , raising these names close to the meaning of "forest-mountain people" or "forest people".

There's some other variants of the name such as Arshte, Arshtkhoy, Arstkhoy, Oarshtkhoy, Oarstkhoy, Ärshtkhoy or Ershtkhoy:

General information

Ethnicity

Ingush origins 

The first descriptions of the Orstkhoys by European authors in the second half of the 18th century identified them with the Ingush. The first author was J. A. Güldenstädt, who mentions the majority of Orstkhoy villages among other Ingush proper and opposes all of them together to the Chechens. Ten years later, L. L. Shteder, making notes about Karabulaks, gives an almost textbook description of the unique details of typical Ingush vestments, cited by travelers and authors of the late 18th-19th centuries, often replicated on the images of that era. The German scientist Professor Johann Gottlieb Georgi, in his fundamental encyclopedic Description of all the peoples living in the Russian state wrote about Karabulaks stating that, "Before anything they were called Yugush (Ingush), but they call themselves Arshtas", while another German scientist, P. S. Pallas, also states that the Karabulaks specifically come from the Ingush (Ghalghaï).

The German geographer and statistician Georg Hassel, in his geographical description of the Russian Empire and Dshagatai mentioned Orstkhoy as an Ingush tribe and also some of Orstkhoy ancestral villages as Ingush when enlisting the territorial division of the Ingush. Subsequently, S.M. Bronevsky confirmed the identity of the Orstkhoy with the Ingush. Just like Güldenstädt, S. M. Bronevsky also mentioned many Orstkhoy ancestral villages as Ingush in 1823. General Staff I.I. Nordenstamm in his "Brief Military
statistical description" compiled from information collected during the expedition in
1832 stated that "the Kara-Bulakh language is similar to the Galash dialect, and the latter is similar to the Galgai and Kist dialects." Platon Zubov and Nikolay Danilevsky stated that the Kists, Ingush and Karabulaks all speak the same language. Nikolay Danilevsky also noted that the Chechen dialect differed from the root language.

In 1842, Nazranians and part of Karabulaks made an appeal to the Russian administration where they called themselves "Ingush people".

In the Russian Empire, on the basis of scientific, statistical and ethnographic data, the Orstkhoy were officially classified as Ingush alongside Galashians, Nazranians and other Ingush societies. In "Overview of the political state of the Caucasus" in 1840 as well as in the "Military Statistical Review of the Russian Empire" in 1851, the Orstkhoy are indicated as Ingush. The Orstkhoy were perceived as Ingush by Imperial Russia, as well as in the Imamate of Imam Shamil.

I. Ivanov, in his article "Chechnya" published in the Moskvityanin magazine, wrote that Chechnya borders on the west with the Ingush tribes Tsori, Galgai, Galash and Karabulak. The Czech-German biologist and botanist Friedrich Kolenati in his work about the Caucasians, wrote about the Orstkhoy as an Ingush tribe alongside Galashians, Kists and others. Adolf Berge in his work "Chechnya and Chechens" gave the following nomenclature of the Ingush: Nazranians, Karabulaks, Galashians, Dzherakh, Kists Galgai, Tsorins and Akkins. V. A. Volkonsky stated that the Ingush people consist of societies to which he added Orstkhoy and one of the subgroups of Orstkhoy – . A. Rzhevusky in his work "Tertsy" wrote about Karabulaks and Galashians as the restless and militant Ingush societies. According to V. Chudinov, the Karabulaks, Galashians and Alkhons are Ingush who belong to the Arshtkhoy tribe. According to Vasily Potto, Nazranians and Orstkhoy are Ingush societies who once formed one rather
a significant and powerful tribe. Russian Count and Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin wrote in his memorials that the Orstkhoy are Ingush who made up part of the Ingush population of the Vladikavkazsky okrug.

Later in the 20th-21th centuries, the Orstkhoy as one of the Ingush societies were indicated by I. Pantyukhov, John F. Baddeley, G. K. Martirosian, E. I. Krupnov, N. A. Sotavov, M. S. Meyer and O. S. Pavlova.

In Soviet times, Orstkhoy were also officially included in the Ingush, as reflected on their passports. In Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Orstkhoy are indicated as Ingush. In the scientific community in the second half of the 20th to the early 21st century, the ethnicity of the Orstkhoy is defined as one of the Ingush societies. The Soviet historian and ethnographer E.I Krupnov in 1971 wrote in his book "Medieval Ingushetia" that the remaining Karabulaks (Orstkhoy) who don't consider themselves Chechens live in Ingushetia in villages such as Arshty, Dattykh, Bamut, Sagopshi.

In the censuses conducted before the Deportation, the vast majority of population of the tribal villages Sagopshi, Dattykh, Alkun, Sarali Opiev, Bamut, Gandalbos was Ingush.

Chechen origins

18th century 
The first descriptions of the Orstkhoys by European authors in the second half of the 18th century identified them with the Chechens. The first author was the German cartographer and printmaker  who in his work "Geographical menology for 1772" included the Karabulaks (Orstkhoy), Chechens, Atakhizs and also Tavlins in the territory of "Kumytskaya or Sandy land", also referred by him as the "Chechen land". J. A. Güldenstädt mentions that Karabulaks speak in a Chechen or Midzheg dialect of the Kistin language and that Chechens are often understood as the whole Kistin nation (in this case Nakh Peoples). In 1781, L.L. Städer, while making notes about the Karabulaks, mentions that the Chechens share with them one origin and language. Johann Gottlieb Georgi also mentions that the Karabulak language consists of Kistin and Chechen dialects."

19th century 
Many Russian and European authors noted during the early and late 19th century that the Orstkhoy tribe was part of the Chechen nation, among them Baron R. F. Rozen who in 1830 believed that the Chechens are divided … into societies under the name of Chechens themselves or Mechigiz, Kachkalyks, Mechikovites, Aukhites and Karabulaks (Orstkhoy) …" Nordenstam also remarked in 1834 that "Karabulaki (Orstkhoy), Aukhites and Kachkalyk people speak dialects of the Chechen language". Also of note is Nikolay Danilevsky who in 1846 noted that the Karabulaks are a subgroup of the Chechen nation. Ivanov connected a part of Karabulaks with the "Peaceful Chechens" and Kolenati referred to the land Karabulaks inhabit on as Chechnya. Russian colonels such as Baron Stahl mentioned the Orstkhoy by the Chechen self name "Nakhche" in 1849. The Russian-German general A.P. Berger in 1859 also connected the Chechen self name "Nakhche" to the Orstkhoy:

In 1858, Orstkhoy, together with the Nazranians, the Galashians and the inhabitants of the Tarskaya Valley, took part in one of the episodes of the Great Caucasian War, the Nazran uprising, which was suppressed by Russia and its leaders executed or exiled.

As part of the Russian Empire 

After the end of Caucasian War, Orstkhoy were part of the Ingushskiy Okrug as part of the Karabulakskiy Uchastok. In 1865, several thousand Orstkhoys were evicted/resettled in Turkey, in particular 1366 families, in fact, the majority of them. The Karabulakskiy Uchastok itself was abolished due to the mass eviction of its inhabitants. In the  it was even reported that the Orstkhoy are a tribe that "completely moved to Turkey". John F. Baddeley noted in his work The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus:

Notes

See also 
 Ingush people
 Ingush societies
 Galashians
 History of Chechnya
 Chechens
 Nakh Peoples

References

Bibliography 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dubrovin N. F. Chechens (Nakhche) // Book 1 "Caucasus". History of the war and domination of Russians in the Caucasus. - St. Petersburg: in the printing house of the Department of Goods, 1871. - T. I. - 640 p.
 Nadezhdin P.P. Caucasian mountains and highlanders // Nature and people in the Caucasus and beyond the Caucasus. - St. Petersburg: Printing house of V. Demakov, 1869. - p. 109. - 413 p.
 Berzhe A.P. The eviction of the highlanders from the Caucasus // Russian antiquity. - St. Petersburg, 1882. - T. 36. - No. 10−12.
 Yu. M. Elmurzaev. Pages of the history of the Chechen people. - Grozny: Book, 1993. - S. 7 - 8. - 112 p. — ISBN 5-09-002630-0.
 Encyclopedia of military and marine sciences / edited by G.A. Leer. - St. Petersburg: Type. V. Bezobrazov and Comp., 1889. - T. IV. — 659 s
 Encyclopedic Dictionary, Man - Chuguevsky regiment. - St. Petersburg: F. A. Brockhaus (Leipzig), I. A. Efron (St. Petersburg), 1903. - T. XXXVIII.
 Berger A. P. Chechnya and Chechens. - Tiflis: printed from the Highest H.I.V. permission in the printing house of the Main Directorate of the Viceroy of the Caucasus, 1859. - S. I-VII, 1–140. — 140 p. : from ill. and maps.
 Encyclopedic Dictionary / edited by: prof. Yu. S. Gambarov, prof. V. Ya Zheleznov, prof. M. M. Kovalevsky, prof. S. A. Muromtsev, prof. K. A. Timirzyaev. - Moscow: Russian Bibliographic Institute Granat, 1930. - T. 48.
 Tsalikov A. T. The Caucasus and the Volga region. - Moscow: M. Mukhtarov, 1913. - p. 35. - 184 p. - History, Ethnology of individual territories.
 Rittikh A. F. IX // Tribal composition of the contingents of the Russian army and the male population of European Russia. - St. Petersburg: Type. Cartographic institution A. A. Ilyin, 1875. - p. 331. - 352 p.
 Tkachev G. A. Ingush and Chechens in the family of nationalities of the Terek region. - Vladikavkaz: Terek region. board, 1911. - p. 150. - 152 p.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nakh peoples
Ingushetia
Ingush societies
Chechnya