Editing Chechnya (section)

===Origin of Chechnya's population===
{{Main|Vainakh origin hypotheses}}

According to [[Leonti Mroveli]], the 11th-century [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] chronicler, the word "[[Caucasus]]" is derived from the [[Nakh peoples|Nakh]] ancestor [[Caucas|Kavkas]].<ref>The work of Leonti Mroveli: "The history of the Georgian Kings" dealing with the history of Georgia and the Caucasus since ancient times to the 5th century AD, is included in medieval code of Georgian annals "Kartlis Tskhovreba".</ref>
According to George Anchabadze of [[Ilia State University]]:

{{blockquote|The Vainakhs are the ancient natives of the [[Caucasus]]. It is noteworthy, that according to the genealogical table drawn up by Leonti Mroveli, the legendary forefather of the Vainakhs was "Kavkas", hence the name Kavkasians, one of the ethnicons met in the ancient Georgian written sources, signifying the ancestors of the [[Chechens]] and [[Ingush people|Ingush]]. As appears from the above, the Vainakhs, at least by name, are presented as the most "Caucasian" people of all the Caucasians (Caucasus – Kavkas – Kavkasians) in the Georgian historical tradition.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/1887/ |work=Caucasian Knot |title=An Essay on the History of the Vainakh People. On the origin of the Vainakhs |date=14 January 2004 |access-date=25 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410072747/https://eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/1887/ |archive-date=2023-04-10 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/The_Vainakhs_George_Anchabadze.pdf |first=George |last=Anchabadze |title=The Vainakhs (the Chechen and Ingush) |publisher=Caucasian House |location=Tbilisi |orig-year=first edition 2001 |year=2009 |access-date=3 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225132940/https://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/The_Vainakhs_George_Anchabadze.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2012 }}</ref>}}

American linguist [[Johanna Nichols]] "has used language to connect the modern people of the Caucasus region to the ancient farmers of the [[Fertile Crescent]]" and her research suggests that "farmers of the region were proto-Nakh-Daghestanians". Nichols stated: "The [[Northeast Caucasian languages|Nakh–Dagestanian languages]] are the closest thing we have to a direct continuation of the cultural and linguistic community that gave rise to [[Western culture|Western civilisation]]."<ref name="science">{{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.288.5469.1158?sid=b73d602d-8965-4c4a-90ba-26a04c20dab7 |title=Peering into the Past, With Words|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=19 May 2000|volume=288|issue=5469|pages=1158|last1=Wuethrich|first1=Bernice|doi=10.1126/science.288.5469.1158|s2cid=82205296}}</ref>