Shali (Chech. Shela - "plane") is a city in the Chechen Republic
of the Russian Federation. The administrative center of the Shali
region. The city is located on both banks of the Bass, in the
central part of the Shalinsky region, at the foot of the Forest
Ridge, on the foothill Chechen plain. It is located 18 km south of
the Argun railway station and 36 km southeast of the city of Grozny.
It is a junction of regional highways. The river Shela-Akhki
(Shalinka) flows through the territory of the city of Shali.
The area of the city's territory is - 27.02 km² (as of 2009).
The climate is moderately continental. The average annual
rainfall is about 450 mm.
According to the stories of our ancestors, the ancestors of the
Ersenoi people, having first descended from the mountains to the
current territory of the village, Idarz, who was our thirteenth
ancestor, founded for the first time. Idarza, with his relatives and
his brother Okzha, went down to the plain in search of living space.
In Nashkhakh, this village high in the mountains, there was a copper
cauldron, on which records were kept of all the teips descending
from the mountains to the lower reaches. Before our eviction in
1944, this cauldron had a patch, a tag, a stencil, or simply a
record that in such and such a year, the clan of the Ersenoy teip,
headed by Idarz, descended from the mountains, having previously
chosen a place for themselves to settle. This was told by my father
Wahad, who heard about it from his ancestors. Mukhadin Nashkhoev, a
resident of Nashkh, who died at a ripe old age not long before the
start of the 1994 war, spoke about the fact that such an inscription
or tag was on the boiler before our eviction. At the beginning,
Shali or the aul of Idarza was located on the eastern outskirts of
present-day Shali, where the houses of the Magomadovs and many
others stand.
Idarza aul was located between two hollows or
between streams, through which melt and rain waters flowed from the
mountains. On the eastern outskirts there was a solid bridge
"Giobanaki tIay", and on the southern outskirts there was a hollow
on the eastern outskirts of Shali. It has become a natural rivulet,
through which rainwater flows almost all year round.
So, between
them was the old Idarza aul, which later grew and turned into Shali.
I don't know the year of foundation of Idarza aul - Shali. But I
know that in Nashkhakh, on a common teip cauldron, this date was
marked.
I have not heard any other versions about the foundation
of Shali. Perhaps there are such versions, but in my 70 years I have
not heard anything about them.
Now about the famous people of our
city.
One of the most famous residents of our city is
Sugaip-Molla. This is one of the most competent evliya of our Shali
and all of Chechnya. We know about many of his statements about
Shamil and all subsequent imams of Chechnya. Sugaip-Molla was the
only historically literate person, he wrote many of his treatises
and philosophical and religious treatises. About them became known
in recent years, and they are in the archives of Leningrad.
There
was a Shaline resident Talkhig from the Kurchaloyites. Talkhig was
the naib of Shamil and for many years was the naib of the naibs,
i.e. Shamil's first and right hand.
Talhig was a military
tactician and his tactics were studied by the generals of Western
Europe and used practically in military operations. It consisted in
a sudden and scattered battle. He was a very smart, brave and
determined person.
There was also Sheikh-Mansur, who moved to
BugIun-Yurt and subsequently lived there. There are many legends
about him, and our history knows that he was a good and noble, brave
military commander.
There were many good people in Shali:
Evliyai Durdi, Vodả, Molla-Ahmad, whose son is still alive;
Shamsabi-Haji - famous for his knowledge;
The son of Sugaip-Molla
Abbaz, very smart and worthy of his father, who without mistakes can
be ranked among the Evliyas.
A good man and the pride of the
Shalins was the son of Vodi - Zaindi, respected, honored by the
Shalins.
I consider Salman-Khadji, who died not long ago, to be
the property of the Shali people. He was honorable, noble, pure as a
mountain spring, a true Alim and a Chechen.
Good and worthy Shali
residents were: Borshiga Mahmu, Soydulkhana Khamid, Dadala Mokhmad,
now alive ShekhIida Mokhmad-Emin.
Good people were the
participants of the Australian battle and the Japanese war
Agishbatoy Yunus, Ersenoy Shaba and many others. others
Back in the 40s of the 19th century, the tsarist authorities began to pursue a policy of forcible eviction of Chechens from their lands on the plane. Tsarism brought cruel oppression to dependent peoples. The best lands were distributed to the royal servants and taken to the treasury. Lands and forests located around Shali were also distributed. The infringement of land rights caused open discontent among the population. The policy of oppression of the national outskirts of Russia caused the growth of the national liberation movement under the leadership of Imam Shamil. Many famous events in Chechnya took place in the Shali forests. The first imam of Chechnya, Sheikh Mansur, stayed in the village of Shali. In the vicinity of Shali there were fierce battles during the Caucasian War under the leadership of Imam Shamil. People remember the places in Shali where the great religious figures of Chechnya - Tashu-Khadzhi Sayasanovsky, Kunta-Khadzhi Iliskhan-Yurtovsky, Bamat-Girey-Khadzhi Avturinsky, Ali Mitaev, Elakh-molla, Doku Shaptukaev and others stayed. Beginning in August 1918, volunteers from Shali, as part of the Chechen Red Army, bravely fought against the White Guard hordes. During the Great Patriotic War, hundreds of soldiers and officers from Shali fought on different fronts against the Nazi hordes. Zayndi Khalidov and Ali Dergiev from Shali were presented to the high rank of Hero of the Soviet Union, but they never received the well-deserved awards. Military action 1994-96 brought irreparable damage to both the republic and the city of Shali. Grief, devastation, devastation changed peaceful life. Hundreds of people were killed, houses were destroyed, industry, transport, communications, and the agro-industrial complex were paralyzed. During the period of chaos and anarchy, military operations, the Shalins did not give their city to the renegades. At the end of 1999, the people of Shali started fighting the mercenaries. A meeting of citizens took place in the mosque, which decided to drive the bandits out of the city, and thanks to the painstaking work of the Qadi of Shali and the masses, the gangs were expelled. After the war, important political events took place in the republic, a referendum was held on the adoption of the Constitution of the Chechen Republic. Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov was elected. The first President of the Chechen Republic. The hopes of the people were justified, under his leadership the process of a peaceful settlement, economic recovery, changes in social life began. The goals and guidelines for the process of the revival of the Chechen Republic were determined.
The Pride of Muslims Mosque, located in the center of the city,
is the largest in Europe and can accommodate up to 30 thousand
people, and the adjacent territory - up to 70 thousand. The building
was built according to a unique project, has a dome 43 meters high
and minarets 63 meters high, covered with white marble. The central
chandelier and fixtures are decorated with Swarovski stones and
gold. On the adjacent territory, there is a park area with
fountains, where about 2000 trees are planted and a real valley of
roses.
The construction of the mosque has been going on since
2012. The grand opening took place on 23 August 2019 and was timed
to coincide with the birthday of the first president of the
republic, Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov. At the opening ceremony, it was
announced that the mosque was named after the Prophet Muhammad.
"Zama" ("Time") - Shali regional newspaper.
TV channel STV-Shali.
There are six city bus routes operated by State Unitary Enterprise Chechavtotrans. Buses to the cities of Grozny, Gudermes, Argun, Urus-Martan, Khasavyurt and Makhachkala regularly depart from the city's bus station.
There is a football club "Vainakh".
The events in Shali during the Second Chechen War are the subject of
German Sadulayev's novel "Shali Raid".
The artist A. I. Titovsky in
1964 created a series of drawings dedicated to the stay of M. Yu.
Lermontov in the Caucasus, one of which is “Chechen-Ingushetia. Village
outskirts. Shawls»