Concerning the number of Chechen taipas

The article discusses the quantitative aspect of the Chechen taipa as the main form of social organization in the traditional Chechen society. Basing upon the analysis of various opinions about the number of Chechen taipas at different stages of Chechen history, the author advances his interpretation of the issue. The author presents an original version of the list of 366 taipas compounding the Chechen society by the end of the nineteenth century. The author believes that the process of taipa forming in Chechnya had finished in the middle of the XIX century, when the migration and integration of foreign groups in the Chechen society had been stopped with the elimination of the Imamah of Shamil.