Oaths among the Kyrgyz
Oaths were an important element of relationships at the intertribal level, primarily concerning military and political issues, and they remained in effect until the agreed goal was achieved. The agreement, which had an intertribal character, was sealed with blood; for this purpose, a horse of a specific color, usually a light gray ak boz am, was slaughtered, and the sabers were sprinkled with the blood of the slain horse while the formula was pronounced: “Kimde kim ushul antты buzsa kёk kirip kyzyl chykсын” (“Let the saber enter and exit red for whoever breaks the oath”).
This form of oath was recorded as early as the Middle Ages, with mentions found in M. Kashgari's work "Dictionary of Turkic Dialects." Later, instead of the saber, the right hand was inserted into the sacrificial animal with the words: “Kimde kim antты buzsa ushul malday muuzdaly kalaly” (“Whoever breaks the oath will be slaughtered like this animal”). Oath-breaking, antтан таюу, was considered an extraordinary event, worse than a crime; those clans or tribes whose leaders violated it were pursued for generations. Oaths were sworn by the blue sky kок тенир, the earth and water жер-суу, the names of ancestors ата-баба, spirits арбак, distinguished individuals, parents, children, and maternal milk эне сушу, etc.; later, oaths were upheld on the Quran. Oath formulas were brief, concise, and profound, with clear formulations of sanctions in case of violation by either party.
An agreement between two people was sealed by drawing a saber, cutting a stick in half, bloodletting from the little finger, and other rituals that concluded with appeasing sacrifices.
Judicial decisions based on customary legal norms were called кесим. In the 1920s, the ritual чыбык кыркуу (cutting the stick) was recorded as a sign of the conclusion of a judicial matter regarding revenge for murder: “They take a stick at the command of the elders, two hold it by the ends. Along with the stick, they hold a two- or three-year-old bull. They throw away the sticks and a piece of the tail, and the bull is taken by the one who cut the stick. The people participating in this are witnesses to the final decision of the dispute, which cannot be raised again afterward. This is an ancient custom” (Fielstrup, 2002, p. 242). In cases where a person was accused of a crime they did not commit, the ritual жан беруу (literally, “to give the soul”; figuratively, “to take an oath”) was conducted, for which, by the court's decision, he would ascend a height and loudly pronounce the oath formula of his innocence. A person specially appointed by the court had to approach him unnoticed and hear his oath to ensure its sincerity. Then the accused performed the ritual уй (торпок) кескилейт - cutting a cow or bull into pieces and distributing the meat to the people. Sometimes society continued to suspect him even after this ritual; then he was treated with disdain and considered an unwelcome guest (Fielstrup, 2002, pp. 243, 244).
Alongside the verbal form of formalizing decisions, written forms of treaties, agreements, and obligations were practiced in international relations. This tradition has a deep history, with roots tracing back to the ancient Kyrgyz and ancient Turkic periods. Chinese historical annals have preserved letters from Chinese emperors to Kyrgyz khans from the era of the Central Asian Kyrgyz state in the 9th-10th centuries. Twelve such letters have become part of modern historical science (Kyrgyz, 1998, pp. 99-108;
Problems of Political Genesis... 2003, pp. 386-390). During the establishment of diplomatic contacts with the Russian Empire, major northern Kyrgyz tribes addressed the Russian tsars in writing with requests for acceptance into their subjects and took on very specific obligations. These requests were called “шерт,” composed in Arabic script in the Kyrgyz language, and were certified by the signatures of the heads of the tribes with thumbprints and the seal “мёор” (Saparaliev, 1995).
Councils - Important Institutions for Managing the Tribe and Clan of the Kyrgyz