One of the most important features of the ethnic composition of the Kyrgyz is its complexity, diversity, and mixture. This cannot be seen as anything other than the result of relatively recent ethnic processes.
This complexity of the ethnic composition led prominent researchers such as V. V. Radlov and N. A. Aristov to erroneous conclusions about the existence of a special link in the clan-tribal structure of the Kyrgyz, analogous to the Altai "sёёk," understood as a blood-related union. In reality, among the Kyrgyz, such a link is absent. The wide settlement in the past over a significant territory of some similarly named tribal and clan groups is a consequence of social-political events, movements, convergences, and divergences of various groups, etc. For example, within the kydyk—one of the main subdivisions of the bughu tribe—there are small groups of various origins: kipchak, kutchu, tynym seyt, katagan, and others. The presence of small inclusions of foreign origin within several tribes, for example, from the monoldor, cherik, kutchu, etc., does not indicate the existence of so-called "bones" (sёёk) of monoldor, cherik, etc., but merely confirms the fact of the great mobility of ethnic groups. In the 19th-20th centuries, sёёk was considered only as kinship through marriage: it refers to the relationships between two groups (sёёkchylük), equivalent to the relationships between matchmakers (kudalaş).
For the Pre-Issyk-Kul region, for example, it is necessary to note the undeniable and significant ethnic ties with southern Kyrgyz tribal groups and with groups living in the valley of the Talas River. Thus, among some large subdivisions of the bughu tribe, one could find small inclusions from such southern Kyrgyz tribes as teyt, joru, kara bagysh, and others. Several small groups of Pre-Issyk-Kul munduz have a direct genetic connection with the relatively large southern Kyrgyz tribe muiduz. The same applies to the groups of kutchu and kytay living on the shores of Issyk-Kul and in the Kochkor Valley—descendants from Talas.
A whole series of other small groups, embedded in the main mass of the local population of Pre-Issyk-Kul, broke away at one time for various reasons from groups of their tribesmen living in other territories. These include, besides those mentioned, dyölös, baarin, kereyit. In the Tian Shan, there are small groups of keldike (who associate themselves with the large tribe bagysh), jetigen, töböy, and others. The history of some of these groups contains many valuable details important for understanding complex ethnogenetic processes. Under the dominance of patriarchal-feudal relations, such small groups often found themselves in the position of "commoners" (bukar), brutally exploited by the feudal elite of the dominant clan-tribal subdivisions.
