Basic characteristics of traditional Chechen society: economic, political and legal aspects

This article defines the basic characteristics of traditional Chechen society. It reviews the concept of historical and cultural area as a tool to analyze an ethnic community in conjunction with other ethnic communities with a common geo-landscaped environment. The paper describes the basic division of the Chechens according to their main labour activity such as agriculture and animal husbandry. Special attention is paid to the lack of social inequality and classes in traditional Chechen society; wealth differentiation was not cultivated among the Chechens. The author analyzes the economic relations of the Chechen ethnic community, identifies the features of legal regulation of public relations of this ethnic group, and describes the coexistence of religious and customary laws. The study presents the classification of adats as a set of rules of customary law in traditional Chechen society. The article discusses the features of establishing the rules of religious law among plains and mountain Chechens as well as the government system in traditional Chechen society.