A. A. Pliev’s monograph “Some aspects of the legal culture of Chechens and Ingush: 1880–1970”: source-study potential and methodological significance (review and analytical study)

Introduction. A. A. Pliev’s monograph Some Aspects of the Legal Culture of Chechens and Ingush: 1880–1970 (Moscow: Nauka, 2016) is examined in the article as a fundamental source-study complex for investigating the evolution of adat law of the peoples of the North Caucasus under changing state-legal regimes.

The purpose of the study is to identify the methodological and empirical potential of A. A. Pliev’s work and to reassess it from the standpoint of modern legal anthropology and historical-legal scholarship.

The methodological framework is based on diachronic, historical-legal, comparative-ethnographic, and statistical-legal methods. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that the author has for the first time carried out a comprehensive quantitative-legal analysis of the statistical block of

A. A. Pliev’s monograph presented in the following tables: Table 1 – “Number of Cases Initiated in Soviet Courts,” Table 2 – “Number of Crimes in 1958–1965,” Table 3 – “Analysis of Cases of the Supreme Court of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, 1958–1965.” In the present study, they are interpreted as a unified statistical-institutional array reflecting the transformation of legal regulation mechanisms. The author succeeded in: – identifying a latent institutional shift in the structure of initiation of criminal cases in the late 1920s; – quantitatively determining the actual share of blood feud within the system of violent crime of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR; – reconstructing a stable model of criminal-law response to acts of blood feud in the practice of the Supreme Court of the autonomy; – demonstrating the transition from a socially resonant model of law enforcement to a centralized prosecutorial-party system of control.

Results and conclusions. The monograph demonstrates an in-depth analysis of adat under the influence of Russian imperial (tsarist), post-revolutionary, and Soviet law, while preserving the continuity of the norms of blood feud, reconciliation, and marriage institutions. A valuable synthesis of archival documents and field observations makes it relevant for contemporary legal anthropology of the Caucasus, especially in the post-Soviet context. The work serves as a benchmark for interdisciplinary studies of ethnolegal traditions. It is proved that the statistical material of A. A. Pliev’s monograph has independent heuristic value and records not a linear displacement of adat by state law, but a complex model of normative dualism and managed legal transformation. It is established that by the mid-1960s the institutional consolidation of the state monopoly on sanctions took place while partially preserving the mediatory functions of traditional law. It is concluded that the in-depth analysis of the three key tables carried out by the author of the article significantly expands the interpretative potential of A. A. Pliev’s monograph and makes it possible to consider it not only as an ethnographic study but also as a quantitatively verifiable source on the history of legal modernization of the North Caucasus. This gives the work new methodological significance and strengthens its importance for modern legal anthropology and historical-legal science.

1. Pliev A.A. Some aspects of the legal culture of Chechens and Ingush: 1880-1970. Moscow: Nauka; 2016. 160 p. ISBN: 978-5-02-039984-6. EDN: YKVMSJ. (In Russ.).

2. Abdurashidov E.D. Chechen-Russian, Russian-Chechen dictionary of legal terms. Grozny; 2010. 223 p. ISBN: 978-5-900231-69-3. EDN: QRXGIT. (In Russ.).

3. Albogachieva M.S.-G., Babich I.L., Pliev A.A. Ethnopolitical aspects of the legal culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus: historical roots and modernity. Ed. by I. L. Babich. Moscow: Direct-Media; 2022. 248 p. ISBN 978-5-4499-3304-1. (In Russ.).

4. Arsanukayeva M.S. The legal culture of Chechens and Ingush (XIX – early XX century). Moscow: Russian Law Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation; 2009. 198 p. ISBN: 978-5-89172-174-6. EDN: QRLOVF. (In Russ.).

5. Akhmadov Sh.B. Chechnya and Ingushetia in the XVIII – early XIX centuries: essays on socio-economic development and socio-political structure. Elista: "Jangar"; 2002. 528 p. ISBN: 5-94587-072-3. EDN: UMUCWX. (In Russ.).

6. Akhriev C.E. Ingush (historical and ethnographic essay). In: Collection of information about the Caucasian highlanders. Tiflis; 1875. Issue 8. P. 1-46. (In Russ.).

7. Gandarova L.B. Customary law of the Ingush: dis. ... Cand. Sci. (Law). Saint Petersburg; 2004. 177 p. EDN: NNJBOT. (In Russ.).

8. Gantemirova F.A. Socio-political system and customary law of Chechens and Ingush (XVIII – the first half of the XIX century): abstract of the dissertation. ... Cand. Sci. (History). Grozny; 1972. 24 p. (In Russ.).

9. Kodzoev N.D. The history of the development of the judicial system of Ingushetia. Moscow: The company "DinaL": TPK "Centroblank"; 2006. 354 p. ISBN: 5-91303-001-X. EDN: PFKXCQ. (In Russ.).

10. Kokurkhaev K.-S.A.-K. Socio-political system and the law of Chechens and Ingush (the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries). Grozny: Chechen-Ingush Book Publishing House; 1989. 112 p. (In Russ.).

11. Makhmudova K.Z. Historical and ethnocultural development of Chechens and Ingush in the XVIII - first half of the XIX century. Moscow; 2012. 256 p. ISBN: 978-5-4326-0034-9. EDN: QPXRCV. (In Russ.).

12. Mamakaev M.M. The Chechen teip (genus) and its legal institutions. Proceedings of the Chechen-Ingush Research Institute of History, Language and Literature. Grozny; 1962. Vol. 6. P. 45–78. (In Russ.).

13. Oshaev H.D. An essay on the beginning of the revolutionary movement in Chechnya. Grozny; 1928. 26 p. (In Russ.).

14. Tesaev Z.A. Mekhk-Dai. The people's rulers of Chechnya. (XVI – the first quarter of the XVIII century.). Grozny; 2019. 432 p. (In Russ.).

15. Kharsiev B.M.-G. Ingush adats as a phenomenon of legal culture: abstract of the dissertation of the Cand. Sci. (Philology). Rostov-on-Don; 2003. 24 p. EDN: NHKHHZ. (In Russ.).

16. Babich I.L. The history of blood feud among the Ingush and Chechens (1870-1960-ies). Legal Studies. 2018;(3):42–57. https://doi.org/10.25136/2409-7136.2018.3.2550. EDN: YVOAMB. (In Russ.).

17. Pliev A.A., Babich I.L. Reconciliation commissions in the North Caucasus: the 1930s – a comparative analysis (1920-1930s). North Caucasus Legal Vestnik. 2019;(2);29–40. EDN: PJTKPO. (In Russ.).

18. Gortikova M. The philosopher in ethnography – Said-Magomed Khasiev. In: Vesti Respubliki. 2012; 134 (1817). Available from: http://vesti095.ru/2012/07/438769/ (Accessed: 12/20/2025). (In Russ.).

19. Saidov I.M. Mekhk-khel – the council of the country among the Nakhs in the past. In: Caucasian ethnographic collection. Tbilisi: Meshchnierba; 1968. Issue II. P. 199–206. (In Russ.).

20. Tkachev G.A. Ingush and Chechens in the family of nationalities of the Tersk region. Vladikavkaz; 1911. 156 p. (In Russ.).

21. Gorban V.S. Analysis of the historiographical problems of philosophical and legal research and the formation of modern legal theory. In: Collection of scientific papers of the Second International Conference "Historiographical problems and approaches in modern legal research" (Moscow, April 15, 2025) in 2 volumes. Vol. 1. Under the general editorship of A. N.. Savenkov, V. S. Gorban’. Moscow: IGP RAS; 2025. 400 p. (In Russ.).

22. Shapsugov D. Yu. Legal culture of nations of the Caucasus as a creative synthesis of the interaction of civilizations. North Caucasus Legal Vestnik. 2022;(3):9–18. EDN: HKRRIN. (In Russ.).