THE ORIGIN OF THE KYRGYZ
This happened deep in Central Asia many, many years ago. Fierce foreigners attacked a peaceful tribe. There were many enemies, and in a brutal battle, they destroyed everyone. Only one young man remained from the entire tribe — the son of the chieftain. He fought with all his strength. They cut off his right hand. The young man seized the sword with his left hand.
They cut off that one too. The brave man, losing strength, defended himself with his legs. The enemies severed his legs. And then, wounded and dying, they threw him into a swamp.
The enemies left. The moon rose over the mountains and forests. A she-wolf came to the shore and saw the dying man. But she was not just any she-wolf; she was a great sorceress. She took pity on the young man, healed him, and fed him with her milk. Then she became his wife.
But again the enemies came and killed the young man. The she-wolf sorceress managed to flee to the Tian Shan mountains. There, in a secluded cave, she gave birth to ten sons, whose father was the deceased chieftain's son. One of them, Ashina, became the chief and founded the khan lineage. The other sons became the ancestors of tribes united under the common name "Turk" (which translates to "brave" or "valiant"). Later, the descendants of the she-wolf returned to Altai, where they engaged in mining ore and smelting iron.
This is the ancient Turkic legend. And many centuries later, the Turks still naively believed in their supernatural origin and, in memory of their she-wolf ancestress, went into battle under a banner with a wolf's head.
In another legend, in addition to what is said in the first, it is mentioned that one of the descendants of the mythical she-wolf named Kyrgyz migrated from Altai to the Yenisei. There, his descendants created the Kyrgyz state, which lasted for several centuries.
The Yenisei Kyrgyz themselves were skeptical of the legend about the young man and the she-wolf. They were convinced that their true ancestors were some deity and a female of either a moose or a deer, who mated in a mountain cave. This legend was recorded by Chinese historians in the 8th century but has survived to this day in the memory of the people.
To this day, large clan-tribal divisions of the Kyrgyz trace their legendary origin to the deer (bugu) or to the moose (bagysh, sarybagysh, chonbagysh, karabagysh). The legend of the mother-deer has been brilliantly poetized in the works of Chyngyz Aitmatov. Of course, this is just a legend. But the very first mention of the Kyrgyz was found by scholars in Chinese chronicles. This mention dates back to 201 BC. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the Turks created a vast and powerful state. It stretched from Mongolia to the Black Sea — the so-called Turkic Khaganate. All neighboring peoples and countries, including China, paid tribute to them. The Turkic army consisted mainly of cavalry. Heavily armed horsemen, clad in armor from head to toe, were especially renowned. These shock troops were called "wolves" (boru). No enemy could withstand their blows. The Yenisei Kyrgyz also paid tribute to the Turkic Khaganate.
Archaeologists have studied settlements, graves, and other monuments from that time belonging to the Yenisei Kyrgyz.
They testify that the Kyrgyz engaged in various types of economic activities. Some were involved in livestock breeding, while others practiced irrigated agriculture. In the forests, the Kyrgyz hunted valuable fur-bearing animals. In the mountains, they mined and smelted metal, such as iron. Kyrgyz weapon makers were famous for producing particularly strong and sharp swords. A branch of the Great Silk Road, this "highway" of trade life, led to the lands of the Yenisei Kyrgyz. From there, valuable goods were transported: sable furs, iron products, musk (an aromatic substance secreted by the glands of the musk deer), and even the horn of a mythical animal called hutu, supposedly living in their forests (in reality, these were the tusks of a fossil mammoth).
The Kyrgyz farmers lived in log houses, while the hunters and herders lived in yurts. They usually lived in large families.
The Kyrgyz were governed by the tribal nobility: elders, tribal leaders. And above all stood the ruler — ajo (prince).
History has conveyed to us the name of one of them — Bars-beg. Bars-beg came from an ancient ruling lineage; he was not the eldest in the family but rose to prominence due to his personal qualities: bravery, military skill, and wisdom. (All this was learned by scholars from an inscription made on a stone slab — a stele, in honor of Bars-beg. This slab was found in the Minusinsk Basin on the Yenisei more than a hundred years ago, but the text on it was only recently read and translated).
Under Bars-beg, the Kyrgyz state became so strong that it effectively threw off the yoke of the Turkic Khaganate (early 8th century). By that time, the Kyrgyz had become a numerous people and could field up to 80,000 warriors. This was a formidable force. The ajo Bars-beg himself, in a sign of the Kyrgyz's independence, took the title of khagan.
The Legend of the Origin of the Turks