Kists (ethnonym)
One of the ethnonyms of the Ingush and Chechens / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kists or Kistins[lower-alpha 1] is an old exonym of all Nakh peoples (Ingush, Chechens and Batsbi), under which local ingush societies later were designated, and conditionally divided into nearby Kistins (Fyappiy) and distant Kistins (Malkhistin).[1][2][3][4][5] In Russian sources of the XVIII century the ethnonym «Kists» often referred exclusively to the Ingush people, and extended to all Nakh societies. In the of the 19th century, the term nearby Kistins referred to the inhabitants of the Kistin Gorge in the vicinity of river Armkhi, and distant Kistins referred to the inhabitants of the upper reaches of the Argun. Today the name is mostly used to refer to the Chechens who compactly live in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia.[6][7][8]