Nazran is a town in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital in 1991–2000, until it was replaced with Magas, which was specially built for this purpose. It is the most populous town in the republic:History18th–20th centuriesNazran was founded in the 18th century. After becoming a military fortress in 1817, Nazran saw large numbers of Ingush population moving into it. It was granted town status in 1967.During the Soviet period, Nazran was the administrative center of Nazranovsky District within the Chechen–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. After the Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic were separated in 1991, the town became the republic's capital. This brought about a sharp increase in population: while counting 18,246 inhabitants according to the 1989 Census, during the 2002 Census Nazran had as many as 125,056 inhabitants.21st century2004 rebel raid on NazranIn 2004, a force of Chechen and ethnic Ingush rebels carried out a large-scale raid on Ingushetia, led by Shamil Basayev. The overnight attacks targeted fifteen official buildings in Nazran, and at least three towns and villages located on the Baku-Rostov highway that crosses the republic from east to west.