Kyrgyz and Oghuz
“The Kyrgyz Tribe Named Itself Oghuz-Khan”
The clan-tribal structure of the Kyrgyz of the right and left wings reveals many similarities with a similar division among the Oghuz. Rashid ad-Din provides the military division of all Oghuz into a right and left wing (which were also called Buzuk and Uchuk), with 12 tribes in each. Researchers evidently interpret the name — Uchuk, as deriving from the Turkic — uch — three, and — ok (uk) — arrow (another meaning — generation, subdivision, kin, tribe). Buzuk is interpreted as originating from the Turkic — Buzuk — broken (i.e., from a (broken) bow). However, it is also possible that Buzuk or Bozuk is nothing more than derived from the Turkic — boz (buz) and the word — ok (uk). The word boz (buz) among the Turks denoted a color — pale, various shades of white (perhaps, in some cases, even white).
Meanwhile, the right wing of the Kyrgyz is called — Ak-uul. With the word — ak, the Kyrgyz denoted — white color (or perhaps some of its shades). The left wing of the Kyrgyz was named — Kuu-uul. With the word — kuu (kuba), the Kyrgyz denoted the color — pale (perhaps, some shades of white). Also, the right wing of the Kyrgyz (and in some cases the left wing) was named — Otuzy-uul, i.e., thirty sons (tribes). A certain comparison can be made: Buz (Boz) — uk (ok) — Ak-uul; Uch — ok (uk) — Otuzy-uul. Together, among the Oghuz, there are four oka (tribes). Meanwhile, according to some genealogical traditions, the Kyrgyz united into two “wings”: On-uul (ten tribes) and Otuzy-uul (thirty tribes). Together, the Kyrgyz amount to forty uul (tribes). The term — ogul (uul) did not always denote — son, but had the meaning of “offspring” in general and, evidently, derived from the word — ok (uk).
According to legends, Oghuz originally had six sons, from whom twenty-four branches descended. Moreover, Rashid ad-Din reports that “of the twenty-four branches of the sons of Oghuz, one half belongs to the right wing of the army, and one half — to the left.” It further states: “And he said (Oghuz — E. u. K.):... and let each know from which wing of the army he comes.” The formation of a two-winged organization among the Kyrgyz was also related to military events, i.e., the division of the army into right and left wings.
According to “Majmu at-tawarikh,” Otuzy-Oghul had four sons — Adigine, Mungush, Kara-Bagysh, and Tagai Bahadur. Tagai Bahadur had six sons. “Sayyid (Mir Jalil Maulana Azam — E. u. K.) showed mercy — prayed; for the sons of Tagai Bahadur — Kulana, Gyljura, Bogostona, Kara-Choro, Sayaka (and) Deelesa — prayed — six tribes became: ...”
Kuu-Oghul, according to the same work, also had six sons — “Basyz, Kushchi, Munduz, Chots-Bagysh, Saru (u) n Sundjek... Mir Jalil prayed for the six sons of Ku-Oghul — six tribes became.” Incidentally, Bul(a)gachi also had six sons: Mir Jalil prayed, and “six tribes became — Bostan, Teit, Joo Kasek, Devles, Kydyrshah, Kangdy.” As we can see, both among the Oghuz and the Kyrgyz, everything was built on the principles of — four, six, and division into two parts. The division of the Oghuz into Buzuk and Uchuk existed in the pre-Mongol period and is mentioned by Ibn al-Asir.
Gardizi (“Zayn al-Akbar”) (beginning of the 11th century) pointed to the Oghuz origin of the Kyrgyz. As already noted, Abul-Ghazi (“Genealogy of the Turks”) also indicates that the Kyrgyz are a people from the Oghuz and mentions the Kyrgyz khan. They supposedly descended from a grandson of Oghuz named Kyrgyz. The Oghuz origin of the Kyrgyz is also reported by Sayf ad-Din Akhsikendi (“Majmu at-tawarikh”). In “Majma al-Garaib” by Sultan Muhammad, “the Kyrgyz tribe named itself Oghuz-Khan.”
As for the “Eastern” Kyrgyz, they continued to inhabit the territory of the Kyrgyz in Southern Siberia until the 18th century. They were dependent on the state of the Golden Khans and the Dzungars. In the early 18th century, the majority of the Kyrgyz were taken to Dzungaria, while the remaining ones joined the tribes known under the general name “Khorai,” and later, into the modern Khakas ethnicity.
The Dzungar Kyrgyz shared the fate of the Oirat. Some of them ended up in the Volga region and became part of the Kalmyks, Nogais, Astrakhan Tatars, and Bashkirs.
