Ingush towers (Ingush: гӀалгӀай гӀалаш/вӀовнаш, romanized: ghalghai ghālash/vhóvnash)[a] are medieval Ingush stone structures used as residences, signal posts, and fortifications. Most are found in the Sunzhensky and Dzheyrakhsky Districts of Ingushetia, North Caucasia.
Tower-building in the North Caucasus originated as early as the first or second millennium BC. Remains of megalithic cyclopean dwellings are found near ancient Ingush villages, including Targim, Khamkhi, Egikal, Doshkhakle, and Kart.[1]
Tower building was revived during the Middle Ages, especially in the mountains of Ingushetia which became known as the "land of towers", where most of the existing towers date from the 13th to the 17th centuries.[2][3][4][5]
In 2022 the region's tourism committee received a patent from the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property for the slogan "Ingushetia — Homeland of Towers".[6] Public access to some towers is limited due to remoteness, and many towers have suffered significant damage [2] from invasions starting with the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, up to the deportation of the Chechens and Ingush from 1944 to 1957, which destroyed many historical monuments.[7][8]
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- ^ Chakhkiev 2003, p. 103.
- ^ a b Dolgieva et al. 2013, p. 143.
- ^ Basilov & Kobychev 1971, p. 120.
- ^ Dolgieva et al. 2013, p. 153-162.
- ^ Tarakanova 2023, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Targimov 2023.
- ^ Baddeley 1908, pp. 264-265
- ^ Dakhkilgov 2003.