Social and Professional Structure.
The Kyrgyz did not have closed caste associations, typical of the settled population of Turkestan, except for the so-called chosen ones of the spirits - carriers of special knowledge and skills of a religious-mystical nature, although sometimes such people were also newcomers from outside.
It was not necessary to have wealthy and noble ancestors to gain authority among one's tribesmen; the main thing was to show energy and skill, courage, and bravery. People endowed with the best qualities quickly became popular among the people, legends and tales were created about them, and their glory was passed on to their tribesmen. The openness of the social system to young energetic people and the possibility of their rapid rise allowed for the recruitment of new leaders from the people. At the same time, this led to the emergence in the 18th-19th centuries of the social group of manaps, who, according to popular legends, took advantage of the trust of their tribesmen and distorted customs.
The main criteria for dividing into various social strata were economic status, nobility, influence, and authority. Wealthy, well-off people were called bai, while the poor were referred to as zhardy or kedy.
S.M. Abramzon believed that at the beginning of the 20th century, "The main mass of the Kyrgyz population consisted of owners of relatively small herds (bukara, charba). At the head of any given group of the population stood the feudal-clan nobility in the form of biys and manaps" (Abramzon, 1990, p. 167). Sources from the 19th century distinguished two main groups by origin: ak soёk - white bone and kara soёk - black bone. White bone referred to those belonging to well-known and large clans, while black bone referred to small clans with unclear origins (Kyrgyz, 1991, p. 529).
The status of the former was higher. The white bone was not homogeneous in social terms; it was characterized by stratification into rich and poor, which in turn consisted of several unequal groups.
Pre-revolutionary researcher B. Soltonoev distinguished the following social layers: bai, manap, khan, biy, dyikan, charba, bukara, kul, and sot. He cited a proverb that indicates the ratio of different strata in the clan subdivision: “Baatur altoo, bai tортов, kedey segiz, biy jalgyz, kul toguz” (literally, heroes - six, baies - four, poor - eight, biy - one, slaves - nine. -A.K). This means that the most numerous were the poor, followed by slaves, then baatyrs, and finally baies and biy." Such a structure was characteristic of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. In the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries, the poor did not constitute the majority; the ratio was approximately 2:8 in favor of wealthy families. The sharp increase in the share of poor families in the second half of the 19th century was due to the oppression of the Kokand Khanate, and later - the policies of Tsarist Russia, which resulted in a partial transformation of social institutions. Negative changes were reflected in the works of a number of folk singers - akyns, who pointed to the onset of a new era in the life of the people.
Karluks, Katagans, Kauchins, Kereyits
