In the article viewed the problem of typologisation of state formations of highlanders of the North-Eastern Caucasus. The authors proposes his concept of definitions for the designation of state institutions of pre-capitalist and non-European societies on the example of the ownerships of the quasi-feudal type and the unions of rural communities of the Chechens at the turn of the XVIII-th -XIX-th centuries Generalizations and conclusions were made by the authors on the basis of a wide historical material and a number sources, including data on folklore, language and toponymy of Chechnya, that causes the originality of the approach.