Koki (village)

Koki (Коки, Коки) is a medieval village (aul) in the Dzheyrakhsky District of Ingushetia. It is part of the rural settlement (administrative center) of Guli. Koki is the ancestral village of Ingush clan (teip) Kokurkhoy (Кокурхой).

Geography
The village is located on a forest clearing 1580 m above sea level on the slope of Mount Cherekhkort, on the left bank of the Guloykhi River, not far from the border with Georgia. The nearest settlements are: in the northeast — Vovnushki, in the south — Nelkh, in the northwest — Puy, in the valley of the Assa River.

History
According to the family tree of the Kokurkhoy, they were also known as the sons of Ferta Shouli, who were among the defenders of the "Ghalghai outposts" (Ingush: Ghalghai Koashke), historically also known as the "Durdzuk Gates" in the valley of the Assa River. The tower complex of Koki was estimated to be built no later than the 17th century. It now consists of the ruins of a battle tower and six residential tower buildings, which in the past were united by means of a stone defensive wall into a single fortified complex. On the neighboring slope, across a mountain stream, there are the ruins of more structures, usually called "Upper Koki", which are easily visible from the Guloy-khi gorge. Within the village there are 3 dilapidated above-ground collective crypt tombs of the late Middle Ages, situated on a mountain slope.

In the autumn of 1910, the towers of the village of Koki were blown up by tsarist troops, for harboring abrek Zelimkhan. In 1911, the inhabitants of Koki (Kek) and the neighboring village of Nelkh (Nilkh) were deported to the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces in Siberia. In 1913, the repressed were rehabilitated and allowed to return to their homeland, but it was not possible to restore the towers.

Hydronymy
According to historian Makka Albogachieva, near the village Keï of the Tsorin society exists a mountain pack trail located by a small river called Kukurkhoy-khi.