Background The village consists of three smaller settlements—Dak-Bukh, Dalg-Bukh and Chork-Bukh(Guloi and Khaikharoi representatives village). It's predominantly made up of wooden buildings due to its geographical location—the needed wood is available at nearby forests. Meredzhi was one of the centre villages of Meredzhi Society. The
Chechen-
Ingush clan (
teip) of originated from it. Due to good climate and hydrogeological conditions, the population of the village was primarily engaged in arable farming and cattle breeding but also gardening. In the second half of the 18th century (1770s), the German researcher
J. A. Güldenstädt indicated the village of Meredzhi among the total number of
ingush (
Kist) villages which he opposes them with the
Chechens. Meredzhi was mentioned as an Ingush village in 1823 by
S. M. Bronevskiy. In 1858, Naib of Little Chechnya Said-Dulla by order of
Nikolay Yevdokimov made punitive raids on Shagot-Kokh, Dattykh, Azerze, Meredzhi and other villages, where many abreks were hiding. In maps of 1850s Meredzhi is shown in ruins.
Russian rule in 1892. In 1862, the
Ingush okrug was established as part of the Western Department of
Terek Oblast. The village of Meredzhi was part of the
Gorsky uchastok of the Ingush
okrug. In 1866 the Meredzhi was ceded to the due to them belonging to the same nation as the locals (Chechen) and geographically closer to the central governance of the
okrug.
Soviet rule During the
deportation of the Chechens and Ingush, the village's population was deported to
Central Asia and became uninhabited. Only tourists wandered in the village. With the abolishment of
Checheno-Ingush ASSR, Meredzhi became part of of the
Grozny Oblast and was subordinated to the village of Pervomaysky (modern day
Galashki). With the
restoration of Chechen-Ingush autonomy, Meredzhi was included in the
Sunzhensky raion of Checheno-Ingush ASSR.
Modern During the
Insurgency in the North Caucasus,
Chechen militants set up their camp near Meredzhi. On March 28 2011,
Russian Air Forces carried out airstrikes using a
drone on the camp, killing 16 of the militants including a prominent commander—
Supyan Abdullayev during the operation. Although originally assumed that
Doku Umarov was among the militants dead, this was disproven as his supposed body wasn't found. Having taken medical supplies, He left the camp few hours before the operation took place. With the connection to the start of the summer tourist season, the Committee of the Republic of Ingushetia for Tourism, together with local authorities of the
Sunzhensky District, organized tourist trips to Meredzhi on 12 May 2018. == Demographics ==