Early history: Kingdom of Alania and Middle Ages According to Georgian sources, the
Iberians and the ancestors of the Ossetians established contacts during the
Iberian–Armenian War Alania greatly profited from the
Silk Road which passed through its territory. According to the 10th century historian
Al-Masudi, indicates that the Alan kingdom stretched from
Dagestan to Abkhazia. In the
13th century the Mongols invaded Alania. In 1220,
Genghis Khan sent his military leaders
Subutai and Jebe on a campaign to reach “eleven countries and peoples”, among which were “Kibchayts” (Kipchak Turks), “Orosut” (Kievan Rus), “Serkesut” (Circassia), “Asut” (Alania). In 1239 the capital of Alania,
Maghas, and other cities were destroyed. After these events the Alans were forced to flee to the mountain gorges and leave the flat lands.
Islam was introduced to the region in the 17th century by
Kabardians.
Russian imperial rule (1806–1917) Conflicts between the
Khanate of Crimea and the
Ottoman Empire eventually pushed Ossetia into an alliance with
Imperial Russia in the 18th century. Soon, Russia established a military base in the capital,
Vladikavkaz, making it the first Russian-controlled area in the northern Caucasus. The Georgian Military Road, which is still a crucial transport link across the mountains, was built in 1799 and a railway line was built from Vladikavkaz to Rostov-on-Don in Russia proper. In 1830, a military campaign led by General
Ivane Abkhazi brought North Ossetia under tighter control of the Russian Empire. By 1830, Ossetia was under complete Russian control. The Russians’ rule led to rapid development of industry and railways which overcame its isolation. The first books from the area came during the late 18th century, and became part of the Terskaya Region of Russia in the mid-19th century. An estimated 50,000 Ossetians left the Caucasus during the early 1860s as part of a greater migration of Muslims from the region to the
Ottoman Empire due to Russia's activities in the region.
Soviet period (1917–1990) The
Russian Revolution of 1917 resulted in North Ossetia being merged into the
Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921. It then became the
North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast on 7 July 1924, then merged into the
North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 5 December 1936. In
World War II, it was subject to a number of attacks by
Nazi German invaders unsuccessfully trying to seize
Vladikavkaz in 1942. The North Ossetian ASSR declared itself the autonomous republic of the Soviet Union on 20 June 1990. Its name was changed to the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in 1994.
Russian Federation period (1990–present) The
dissolution of the Soviet Union posed particular problems for the Ossetian people, who were divided between North Ossetia, which was part of the
Russian SFSR, and
South Ossetia, part of the
Georgian SSR. In December 1990, the
Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR abolished the autonomous Ossetian enclave amid the rising
ethnic tensions in the region, which was further fanned by Moscow; a lot of the conflict zone population, faced with the ethnic cleansing, was forced to flee across the border to either North Ossetia or Georgia proper. Due to the large number of weapons in the hands of the
Ossetian and
Ingush population, the Ossetian-Ingush conflict flared up, due to which from 30,000 to 60,000 Ingush were forced to leave
North Ossetia. On 23 March 1995, North Ossetia–Alania signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. However, this agreement was abolished on 2 September 2002. Following the
de facto independence of South Ossetia,
there have been proposals in this state of joining Russia and uniting with North Ossetia. As well as dealing with the effects of the conflict in South Ossetia, North Ossetia has had to deal with refugees and the occasional spillover of fighting from the wars around them. This notably manifested in the form of the
2004 Beslan school siege by Chechen terrorists. == Geography ==