Tsori

Tsori (Цори, Цхьори) a rural locality (a selo) in Dzheyrakhsky District of Ingushetia. It is part of the Guli rural settlement.

Tsori is the ancestral settlement of Ingush clan (teip) of Tsoroy (Цхьо́рой) and the historical center of Tsorin society.



Name
The toponym is of ancient origin. It splits into two parts: Tsḥor-e, the "-e/-ye" part being a suffix of Ingush language. The "Tshor-" part is associated by Akhmad Suleymanov with the Ingush word tsḥar (цхьар) which means mail mesh helmet that covers the face and neck of a warrior. Ethnonym Tsoroy (a teip) takes its name from Tsori.

History
Historically, Tsori was the center of Tsorin society. In the second half of the 18th century (1770s), the German researcher J.A. Güldenstädt indicated Tsori among the total number of Ingush villages and districts.

On 13 June 1785, a large Chechen force consisting of 500 men approached Tsori, in order to sack it. Learning of the plot, Tsorins attacked the Chechens during the night and defeated them.

In 1832, due to the collaboration of Ingush with Kazi-Mulla and the murder of a bailiff, Baron Rozen led a punitive expedition on Ingush and went through Dzheyrakh and Metskhal around Khamkhi and Tsori.

Baron F.F. Tornau, in his memoirs of the Ghalghai expedition at the end of June 1832, when approaching Tsori, reported that the main forces of the Ghalghaï entrenched themselves near Mount Gai (Khai), and arranged a powerful rockfall against the equestrian avant-garde, stopping any progress forward. In their description of the siege of Tsori, both generals Blaramberg and Tornau recall the difficulty of conquering one of the Tsori towers in which two Ghalghaï men barricaded themselves whilst fighting off a convoy of 3000 soldiers for 3 straight days. After several unsuccessful attempts the tower was mined with explosives and destroyed.

In 1842, Naib Muhammad Akhberdil made a raid on Tsori, from which he received serious injuries and would later die from them.

Demographics
In 1883, Tsori had population of 260 completely consisting of Ghalghaï (Ingush)

The 1926 census showed that the majority of the village was ethnic Chechen (25 people) while the Ingush were a large minority (23 people).

Russian sources