The territory of the Osh region occupies the southwestern part of Kyrgyzstan. Its area is 75.5 thousand km², of which 46 thousand km² is in its southern part.
Among the sources utilized to address the issue of the ethnogenesis of a particular people, to identify its national traditions and characteristics, ethnographic descriptions of material culture and folk applied arts hold an important place. In turn, a comprehensive description of these aspects of folk life requires a thorough study of domestic crafts and trades as part of material production, which in the past satisfied the everyday needs and aesthetic demands of the population. The task of a
Let us now turn to the ancient myths and legends of the ancient Kyrgyz people regarding cosmology and cosmogony.
Tootaydyn Ogu (stars I and V, located below the Belt of the Three Kings). The ancient Kyrgyz were unable to explain many natural phenomena, deifying celestial bodies and the mysterious processes occurring in the heavens. For example, many shining celestial bodies were transformed into Kudai — God and his apostles. Lunar and solar eclipses, the movement, and "wandering" of planets in the sky — all of this was attributed to the influence of supernatural forces.
The Kyrgyz determined a person's age using the muchel — a 12-year animal cycle. It was also used to predict a person's future. It was believed that in the first year of each cycle, one should not undertake significant endeavors, as the outcome would be negative. In the epic "Manas," there was a warning to the hero Jolo, whose year of birth coincided with the beginning of the animal cycle, that going on a campaign was considered dangerous. The seer emphasized that the month
Astrology was considered a false teaching among us, and the ban on it lasted for 60 years, starting from 1929. Interest in astrology is currently expanding, as many facts of modern science cannot explain certain phenomena. It is known that we are in the field of radiation from the Sun and other celestial bodies, which affect our biorhythms. It has been proven that a person lives in a magnetic web, and in every cell of their body, there exists a small magnetic field that reacts to the vast
In ancient times, when Islam had not yet spread among the Kyrgyz, they worshipped the Sun. However, with the penetration of Islam, the Sun became only a part of what belongs to Allah:
Alongside correct, positive interpretations of natural phenomena, the Kyrgyz also held incorrect, illusory views that often led to misconceptions and superstitious fears.
After the Sun and the Moon, the brightest celestial body is the beautiful Cholpon, whom the Kyrgyz worshipped, loved, and sang about in songs. The mother of a deceased son or the widow of a husband mourned like this:
The first representations of people about nature were formed in deep antiquity. As the founders of Marxism noted, "the production of ideas, representations, consciousness is initially directly woven into the material activity and material communication of people, into the language of real life." Due to the frequent repetition of the process of mastering various objects of the external world, the consciousness of ancient people was imprinted with objects that served to satisfy their
In ancient times, the functions of a compass and a clock were performed by the Sun, the Moon, individual stars, and clusters of stars (constellations). Kyrgyz hunters and herders, especially shepherds, who moved from place to place, needed guiding signs that helped them confidently find their way in vast valleys and mountainous areas.
Kyrgyz Calendar with a 12-Year Cycle Among the Kyrgyz (as well as many other peoples), a 12-year cycle of counting years was practiced, where a specific year was named after an animal: chychkan — mouse, uy — cow, bars — snow leopard (sometimes jolbors — tiger), koyon — hare, zhayaan — catfish (sometimes dragon), zhylaan — snake, zhylyky — horse, koy — sheep, mechin — monkey, took — chicken, it — dog. The acceptance of the 12-year cyclicality contains, on one hand, a certain objective basis,
The Basis of the Ancient Calendar. Even ancient hunters, observing the change of seasons and seasonal changes, learned to correlate them with periodic phenomena in nature. People knew that the river freezes in severe cold, that before the ice forms, trees shed their leaves, grass turns yellow and fades, and the days become shorter. The rhythm of people's lives and the cyclicity of their economy depended on the alternation of the seasons. People understood that after a certain period of
The need for measurement and counting arose among the Kyrgyz in the context of their relatively advanced social production and social differentiation. In Kyrgyz culture, several counting systems coexist, which indicates their diverse origins.
Among the Kyrgyz, as among other peoples of the world, concepts denoting physical quantities were developed in the process of understanding the connections between phenomena, processes, and generalizing their aspects and characteristics important for practice. The formation of concepts reflects the activity and creative nature of thinking, while success in using these concepts entirely depends on how accurately they reflect objective reality. Through concepts obtained by abstraction, reality
Knowledge and understanding of natural processes in which human life takes place is a prerequisite for successful practical activity. Unlike animals, humans, in the process of labor, comprehend reality, purposefully accumulating and passing on acquired knowledge to others. "As long as people do not know the forces of nature, they blindly submit to them; but once they know them, then the forces of nature submit to humans," noted G. V. Plekhanov.
Other lines of connections among the Kyrgyz are significant, especially the ethnic ties with the Kazakh-Nogai circle of tribes. Attention should be drawn to facts such as the presence among the names of Kyrgyz tribes of the left wing of the ethnonym bechine (pichine), which leads us northwest from Tian Shan into the Oghuz environment, as it is not difficult to see the medieval ethnonym "Pecheneg" in it; in some Kyrgyz legends, the country of Bulgar is mentioned, from which some
According to the genealogy (shézhere) preserved from the time of our ancestors, the progenitor of the Kyrgyz Bashkirs (in the sense: Bashkirs of the Kyrgyz clan), living in the village of Tashly in the Alexandrovskaya volost of the Bugulminsky district, was called "Kurkod-ata," (originating) from the Kyrgyz yurt, a descendant of Sayd (from the clan of Muhammad); (he lived) on the Bukhara road, by the Sea of Syr. His (Kurkod-ata's) son was Akhmed bi, from him Mukhammad bi, from
The next territory of interest in terms of historical and genealogical connections with Kyrgyz tribes is the Eastern Tian Shan and Pre-Tian Shan (we primarily mean the territory of Dzungaria and Kashgaria), as well as Priirtyshye. In his time, A. N. Bernsham noted that historical documents (Tibetan documents published by F. Thomas) contain mentions of Kyrgyz tribes in the pre-Tibetan areas and in the territory of Eastern Turkestan, dating back to the 8th to early 9th centuries. S.E. Malov, in
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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
Localization of the tribal groups of Kyrgyz
Distribution area of the Kyrgyz
For a proper understanding of the ethnic processes that led to the formation of the Kyrgyz nationality, the interpretation of the question regarding the ethnonym "Kyrgyz" holds significant importance. Without delving into the history and etymology of this ethnonym and the related ethnonym "Burut," associated with the Kyrgyz, it is necessary to express a few thoughts on its ethnic content. It is hardly acceptable (as some researchers have done in the past and still do) to
History of the Origin of the Kyrgyz People The problem of the origin of the Kyrgyz people is one of the most complex and controversial aspects of the ethnic history of Central Asia. Since the second half of the 18th century, this issue has attracted the close attention of Russian, Western European, and Eastern historians, geographers, and chroniclers. Hypotheses are born one after another, guesses and assumptions are expressed, and various aspects of the ethnic history of the Kyrgyz are
One of the largest Soviet Orientalists, Academician V. V. Bartold, classified the Kyrgyz among the ancient peoples of Central Asia. Indeed, more than two thousand years ago, written sources began to mention ethnonyms and toponyms that are somehow associated with the territory and ethnic communities directly or indirectly related to the distant ancestors of the modern Kyrgyz people.
Broth (shorpo) from hedgehog is considered a medicinal remedy for many ailments among the Kyrgyz population in various regions. For example, in the Aksy district of the Jalal-Abad region, hedgehog shorpo is used to treat brucellosis (especially its recurrence), pneumonia, tuberculosis, and all diseases related to the lungs. In the Alabukinsky district of the same region, it is used for severe inflammatory processes and colds as an effective diaphoretic. The healing broth is also widely popular
The greeting of all Muslims begins with the words "Assalamu Alaikum." The custom of greeting each other with the words “Assalamu Alaikum” and “Wa Alaikum Assalam” has been passed down from our ancestors. Unfortunately, recently, especially among the youth and schoolchildren, it is starting to be forgotten. Greeting and responding to greetings is a sign of respect from a person. At present, when the question of strengthening interethnic friendship in a democratic society arises, this
The formation of the Kyrgyz people is connected with ethnic processes in ancient and medieval times across the territory from Sayan-Altai and Mongolia to Eastern Turkestan and Tian Shan, historically spanning more than one and a half millennia and concluding only in the 16th century.
What science studies the origins of geographical names? Every person can easily list hundreds of geographical objects related to their place of residence: villages, cities, rivers. When studying the past, their names can tell us a lot. Try to find out why this area or river is called one way and not another. You will surely hear interesting stories. Scientists have long established that due to their stability, geographical names serve as ancient monuments that allow us to penetrate the depths
Genealogy is the “tree of life” of a person. The Turks, including the Kyrgyz, who, due to their nomadic lifestyle, had well-developed clan relations, also paid great attention to studying the origins of their ancestry.
The nomadic lifestyle and patriarchal-clan way of life left an indelible mark on the material culture of the Kyrgyz. Overall, the material culture of the Kyrgyz, including housing, clothing, and decorative applied arts, remained largely at the level of the Middle Ages. Under the influence of new conditions, changes in material culture began to occur slowly. In the early 20th century, with the population transitioning to a sedentary lifestyle, new forms began to emerge in both settlements and
The ancient Turkic nomads who inhabited the territory of Kyrgyzstan left behind unique monuments — large stone sculptures that captured the spiritual essence of an entire era. The main themes of these sculptures are the defense of the homeland against foreign invaders, the awareness of one's identity and strength, and the understanding of the role of man in the world and the meaning of life.
The cultures of the ancient peoples of Kyrgyzstan are considered in close connection with one another. For example, since the Saka burial mounds are little different from the common Saka burials, scholars refer to the Saka and Usun burial mounds with a single term — Saka-Usun mounds. Such mounds have been discovered in both the Issyk-Kul region and the Chui Valley. While studying Usun monuments, scholars find similarities with the culture of the Huns. The culture of the Huns, in turn, is close