The article analyzes the section "Slavery and the slave trade" from a valuable monograph by the famous historian F.V. Totoev "The social structure of Chechnya (second half of the 18th -40s of the 19th century). Nalchik, 2009. 375 p.", which has a difficult fate. Being published many years after its writing, this work, even today, by coincidence, was "unnoticed" by experts. Meanwhile, this section contains interesting arguments of a specialist, who have not lost their scientific significance so

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... ar and demonstrate the real level of development of slavery (possession of prisoners) in Chechnya during this period. According to the scientist, this phenomenon developed in Chechnya in line with the genesis of the local society, which followed the path of feudalization. Slaveholding relations could not reach the systemic "formational" level in Chechnya due to the lack of social, economic and political prerequisites for this. At the same time, the functioning of slavery played a major role in the process of strengthening the position of the Chechen teip elite, which increased its power by raiding actions in order to capture prisoners and booty. The final integration of Chechnya into the Russian state following the "Caucasian War" and the subsequent peasant reform in 1861 stopped the development of local slave-owning (captive) relations, which had progressive historical consequences for this region.