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Cheberloy

The Cheberloy people, also known by the exonym Tadbutri (Тадбутри), are a Chechen society or clan that is sometimes classified as a Tukkhum. The Cheberloy are historically from south-east Chechnya in modern-day Cheberloyevsky District near the northern border of Dagestan in what is historically known as Chebarla.

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Jul 11, 2026
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Cheberloy
Чӏабарлой
Cheberloy people in 1905
Regions with significant populations
Chebarla and Cheberloyevsky District
Languages
Cheberloevsky dialect of Chechen
Religion
Vainakh religion, Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Chechens, Nakh peoples, Ingush people, Bats people, Avar people, Andi people

The Cheberloy people (Chechen: Чӏабарлой, romanized: Cheberloy), also known by the exonym Tadbutri (Тадбутри), are a Chechen society or clan that is sometimes classified as a Tukkhum (tribal union).1 The Cheberloy are historically from south-east Chechnya in modern-day Cheberloyevsky District near the northern border of Dagestan in what is historically known as Chebarla (Chechen: ЧӀебарла).

General information

Etymology

According to Chechen Soviet researcher Akhmad Suleimanov, the term "chlaba/ chleba" (чӀаба/ чӀеба) in the Cheberloevsky dialect roughly translates to plateau.2 Geographically, the Cheberloy were primarily located on a plateau formed by the southeastern spurs of the Andian ridge in the Caucasus which is likley the origin of the ethnic name.2

Clans

The Cheberloy make up 24 different clans (Teip) including the:23

  • Achaloy
  • Baskhoy
  • Bagacharay
  • Bossoi
  • Bunikhoy (Buni)
  • Chubakhkinaroy
  • Dai
  • Gumkhoy
  • Ihoroy (Ikharoy)
  • Kiriy
  • Kezenoy
  • Kharkaroy
  • Khindoy
  • Khoy
  • Kuloy
  • Makazhoy
  • Nizhaloy
  • Nokhch-Keloy
  • Orsoy
  • Rigakhoy
  • Sadoy
  • Tsikaroy
  • Tundukoy
  • Zheloshkhoy

History

According to Lecha M. Ilyasov, the settlement of Cheberloy and the Cheberloy people are first mentioned in sources from the 16th and 17th centuries under the name Chabril (Russian: Шабриль).4 A.E. Rossikova, a Russian ethnographer and traveler describes the Cheberloy people as being "high, with [a] well-developed figure, somewhat lean, with open and attractive faces, their type maybe similar to Russian, but with the stern and penetrating look of dark eyes".5 One of the earliest recorded people of the Cherebloy is Aldaman Gheza, a Chechen feudual lord of the Makazho/ Makazhoy clan of the Cheberloy who fought in the Battle of Khachara against the Avar Khanate.67

Settlements

A Chechen tower in Achaloy, an abandoned Aul following Operation Lentil source ↗

The settlement of Makazhoy in Cheberloyevsky District is considered the heart of Cheberloy society.8 Other settlements within Cheberloyevsky District which contain or used to contain significant amounts of Cheberloy people include the settlements (Aul) of Achaloy, Bogacheroy, Bosoi (Bosoy), Buni, Dai, Ikharoy, Kiri, Kezenoy, Kuloy, Nizhaloy, Nokhchi-Keloy, Arsoy, Rigakhoy, Sadoy, Kharkaroy, Khindoy, Khoy, Tsikaroi, and Chubakh-Keneroy among others.3 Many settlements which used to host large populations of the Cheberloy are now ghost towns or no longer exist due to the deportation of Chechens during Operation Lentil in the spring of 1944.910

Religion

A Muslim cemetery in the ruins of Makazhoy source ↗

The Cheberloy were some of the first people of the Caucasus to convert from Circassian paganism, such as the Vainakh religion, to Islam.8 The Cheberloy are particular adherents to Sunni Islam similar to many other Muslim ethnic groups living in the Caucasus.

Notable people

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Anchabadze, George (2009). THE VAINAKHS (THE CHECHEN AND INGUSH) (PDF). Tbilisi: Caucasian House. p. 29.
  2. Ахмадов, Я. З. (2009). "Очерк исторической географии и этнополитического развития Чечни в XVI—XVIII веках. Благотворительный фонд поддержки чеченской литературы" [An essay on the historical geography and ethnopolitical development of Chechnya in the 16th–18th centuries. Charitable Foundation for the Support of Chechen Literature] (PDF). do1917.info (in Russian). p. 135. Retrieved June 29, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Murzabekov, Viskhan (2023). "Чеберлой и Чеберлоевцы" [Cheberloy and Cheberloevtsy]. proza.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  4. Ильясов, Леча М. (2004). Тени вечности чеченцы: архитектура, история, духовные традиции [Shadows of Eternity Chechens: Architecture, History, Spiritual Traditions] (in Russian). Moscow: Pantori. p. 341.
  5. Chesnov, Yan V. (1994). The Chechen People: Ethnopolitical Review of the People. Moscow. p. 17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Tesaev, Z. A. (Zelimkhan Adamovich) (2019). Institut "Mekhk-Daĭ" : v istorii Chechni (XVI - 1 -i︠a︡ tretʹ XIX v.). Groznyĭ. p. 319. ISBN 978-5-4314-0386-6. OCLC 1141866514.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. Тесаев, Амин (December 30, 2019). "Предводитель Гази Алдамов, или Алдаман ГIеза" [Leader Gazi Aldamov, or Aldaman Gieza]. proza.ru (in Russian). Retrieved June 29, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "Заповедные места Чечни: историческая область Чеберлой" [Protected areas of Chechnya: the historical region of Cheberloy]. grozny-inform.ru (in Russian). July 12, 2012. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  9. "Выходцы из общества Чеберлой почтили память жертв войн и репрессий" [Members of the Cheberloy society honored the memory of the victims of wars and repressions]. grozny-inform.ru (in Russian). May 15, 2015. Archived from the original on March 8, 2026. Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  10. "Чеберлой. Как депортация вайнахов изменила Горную Чечню?" [Cheberloy. How did the deportation of the Vainakhs change Mountainous Chechnya?]. dzen.ru (in Russian). August 22, 2021. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  11. Derkach, Anvar (May 12, 2017). "Муслим Чеберлоевский: Украина – союзник чеченцев" [Muslim Cheberloevsky: Ukraine is an ally of the Chechens]. svoboda.org (in Russian). Retrieved June 29, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)