EXILE OF THE KYRGYZ FROM ALA-TOO
The old and the young were saddened, as if they had drunk blood themselves. Infuriated by the Kalmyks and the Chinese, the ten sons of Orozdu gathered the people, mourned for a long time, then united with Ulaq-khan and Jakyp and said:
– Better to die than to live like this. If we are destined to perish, let us give our lives in the struggle against our enemies. We have heads on our shoulders, hearts beating in our chests, and as long as we are alive and healthy, how can we endure such humiliations? We were the sons of Orozdu. We were born and raised by our father and mother. We were an ancient people, we were an ancient state. Our people have never seen so much sorrow. What can we expect from life if we continue to live like this? Can we let the filthy enemy go unpunished? Let us line up towards the Great Mountains and fight the Chinese, who consider themselves all-powerful.
Ashamed, the warriors took up arms and chose the best steeds; enraged like lions, Akbalta and Jakyp led the army, taking with them sixty heroes blessed by the people.
The resting heroes, at dawn, saw dust rising in the distance. After a while, they heard the voices of those driving carts. The Kyrgyz heroes approached closer and saw eighty heroes of Alooke transporting gold and jewels, resting during the day and traveling at night.
Sixty heroes led by Akbalta and Jakyp attacked them and seized ninety-five camels loaded with gold, proving their bravery once again. The surviving foot soldiers fled from them and barely reached the camp of Khan Alooke.
Upon learning of the incident from his warriors, Alooke immediately ordered an advance. That same night, fires blazed on the towers, drums thundered, and the outraged Chinese, gathering all their brave heroes, took up arms, mounted their steeds, and rushed to the village of Orozdu, where a numerous horde of Kara-Kalmyks and Manchurians committed robbery. All the best Kyrgyz warriors, led by Akbalta and Jakyp, were tied up and brought to Khan Alooke. The eloquent Akbalta looked around, assessed the circumstances, and realizing there was no other way out, began in a friendly tone:
– Hero Alooke, I cannot compete with you, I cannot fight you. If you want to take, here is my livestock; if you want to shed blood, here is my blood; if you want to subjugate, here is my people.
Alooke, far from being appeased by Akbalta's words, became even angrier, his eyes flashed, and he spoke angrily:
– Hey, fool, what are you babbling about? You need to save your skin. I need a numerous people to receive more tribute, to fill my own treasury. You filthy fools, so you have grown proud of your many livestock grazing in the pastures, to take from me ninety-five camels loaded with gold. You cannot defeat me, fool; I will level your fortresses to the ground, I will destroy your entire people to the root.
Tekechi could not endure such humiliations and spoke out:
– What are you saying, Alooke? You will not be able to destroy the entire people who have lived here since time immemorial.
– What did you say? – Alooke jumped up and lifted Tekechi's chin with a whip. – Worthless fool, you dare to raise your head and contradict me? If I destroy people like you, the rest of the Kyrgyz will come running and grovel before me.
– You may destroy me, bloodsucker, but you will not destroy the entire people.
– Just look at him. Hey, heroes, first cut off this nightingale's tongue, and then torture him so that it serves as a lesson to all the others. After all that, cut off his head. Deal with everyone who dares to stick their head out in the same way.
The people who unquestioningly carried out the orders immediately dragged Tekechi away.
– Hero Alooke, calm your anger. Young Tekechi seems to have gotten a bit too hot-headed. We are ready to ask for forgiveness; forgive us. Do not execute our children, do not deprive us of the pastures left to us by our fathers.
Alooke, unwilling to listen to Akbalta, became even angrier:
– Hey, fool, I will not return you a single piece of land. I will drive you to the Ural, to Iran, to Kangai, to Altai, or even further away. Hey, heroes, drive them away. Drive them away so that they never see their Ala-Too again and disappear from the face of the earth.
Enraged, Alooke stood his ground and, unafraid of the consequences for the exiled and killed people, shed a great deal of blood. He expelled Akbalta and Jakyp along with the entire village to Altai. Those who resisted were bound, mercilessly beaten, and tortured. Most of the suffering people fled to Iran; those who could not escape went deeper into foreign lands.
Once again, the people were engulfed in sorrow, fleeing in fear in different directions, shackled by their hands, driven like sheep, filled with anxiety, the robbed, unhappy Kyrgyz shed burning tears and wept. The bravest were captured and killed. The orphaned poor children were seized and taken into slavery. Terrified of the elders among the ten sons of Baya and Usen, they drove Usen to Orkhan. Binding Baya hand and foot, they forcibly sent him to the west. Among the few Kyrgyz, there was no one left who could fight.
One part of the Kyrgyz, along with Akbalta and Jakyp, was led surrounded by sixty Chinese and many Kalmyk warriors, burdened with some belongings on six oxen and four mules, while their bedding they had to carry themselves; for many people, the milk of only six goats and three cows was issued.
From the camp of forty houses of the Kyrgyz, nothing remained at all. They did not stop anywhere for more than a day, and there was no food; days passed in succession, no day of rest was given; months passed in succession, no month of rest was given. How many high mountains they overcame, how many swift rivers they crossed by fording, how many hills and passes they traversed, how many endless deserts they marched through; they passed through the Ili's Uch-Aral, Oghuz-Ashuu, Tai-Ashuu; after many, many days and nights, all who remained alive reached the steppes of Ak-Talaa and stopped there.
When morning dawned, and the earth became light, the exiles awoke and looked more closely at the hilly places of Ak-Talaa.
It was just the time when apples and nuts ripened, and the fruits lay on the ground everywhere; poppies bloomed all around, and the rhubarb, horseradish, and other herbs were just ripe.
The lands there were untouched, the brush was from the plane trees, the plane trees were towering; if you listened, the birds sang there like mountain turkeys; lizards there were like snakes, snakes with ropes nine fathoms long; there were many beasts and birds that people had never heard of and had never seen.
The edge of the steppes of Ak-Talaa was called Altai, and there lived the Kara-Kalmyks, Manchurians, and many other peoples.
Exiled from their native lands, the people experienced all the hardships of life in a foreign land, cried and wept from longing for their homeland, and survived as best they could. Gradually, they adapted to the conditions: some milked cows and drank milk, others grazed horses and ate meat. Thus, a year passed, and the Kyrgyz learned to communicate somewhat with the Kalmyks.
One day, the wise Akbalta gathered the people and slaughtered a blue ox brought with him from their former places, and addressed his compatriots, who had gradually begun to forget all their sorrows and were loudly cackling like goslings, shaking their white beards:
– O my people, let us drive away our sorrow. Even if we keep mourning and crying, we will never regain our former Kyrgyz people. The earth always returns threefold what is earned by human labor. Let us cultivate the land. Let us live in this world with dignity and plenty.
– Uncle Akbalta, we say: "Better to be a doormat at home than a sultan in a foreign land." Are we destined to remain on foreign soil forever, wandering from generation to generation? – said a young man, rising from his seat.
– O, my children, to strengthen ourselves, we have no fortresses, to lean on anyone, we have no Kyrgyz people. We are homeless wanderers, prisoners among the Kara-Kalmyks and Manchurians. We have no own gardens, and we have no peaceful dreams. If we engage in agriculture and manage to feed ourselves, in about seven or eight years, we might be lucky. This famous Altai land, where the Kara-Kalmyks and Manchurians live, they apparently do not know about grain crops. If we take off our belts, roll up our sleeves, and get serious, the earth will return threefold, it will restore your labor. The weak will regain strength, the hungry will be satisfied. For one plate of grain, one can acquire a whole stallion.
Like a saint, the people were glad to see Akbalta, many agreed with his words. And seemingly confirming them, Jakyp continued:
– The emaciated and starving people, let us agree with Akbalta. Let us shed sweat on the ground and sow plenty of bread.
Let us stop grieving and cultivate all the land this year with a hoe. Rather than lying around, let us work for glory and feed ourselves for now. Let us listen to Akbalta: living people need livestock, so let us accumulate livestock this year. With all our efforts, let us gather livestock and equal ourselves with the Kara-Kalmyks and Manchurians. May the words of Akbalta be blessed, and whoever does not listen to them – they will be unfaithful to the seventh generation.
In early spring, everyone began to plow the land. They threw handfuls of seeds, and by autumn, they ate white bread and became full. The remainder of the harvest was exchanged for livestock, a handful for a sheep, a plate for a stallion, and within a year, they all had livestock.
At that time, the brother of Nogoi, Chiyir, died, and Jakyp took his widow, named Shakan, as his wife. She forgot her former name and became known in memory of Chiyir as Chiyirdy. Jakyp also married Bakdyevlet, the daughter of Chayan, son of Beena – from the Mongolian clan.
Years passed, and Jakyp's labor was rewarded threefold: the livestock increased, the chest was full of golden items, there were six camels, the valley was full of horses; everything was sufficient, the soul was calm, the body was content, the mood was excellent, and thus Jakyp began to live well and prosperously.
The Tale of Manas. The Attack on the Kyrgyz by the Chinese Khan Alooke