Ancient Kyrgyz — the Earliest West Turkic Tribes

Ancient People — Kyrgyz

The Kyrgyz, whose roots go deep into antiquity, lost in the darkness of millennia, hold many secrets and mysteries. The end of the 3rd century BC is only the first mention of the Kyrgyz, which by no means indicates that they originated at that time.

Who knows what path of historical development the ancient Kyrgyz went through before their first appearance in written sources.
Neither the time nor the place of their origin is known, and who they were at all?

However, it can be reasonably assumed that the ancient Kyrgyz were the oldest Western Turkic tribe, whose original territory could have been the Great Steppe, Eastern Kazakhstan.

At the same time, one cannot exclude the regions of the Mountain Altai.

The ancient Kyrgyz belonged to the purest Turkic tribes (anthropological type, material and spiritual culture, way of life, habitat, language), which they have preserved to this day.

By the period of the Early Middle Ages, there were already two branches of ancient Kyrgyz inhabiting different territories. The "Western" branch lived in the regions of Eastern Pre-Tianshan, while the other — the "Eastern" branch, settled in the interfluve of the Abakan and Yenisei rivers, in the Minusinsk basin, and, having enslaved the local "Dinlin" population, created here the "Kyrgyz" biylik (possession).

In the second half of the 6th century or the beginning of the 7th century AD, the "Western" Kyrgyz moved to Altai, to the west of their "Eastern" tribesmen and, uniting with them, formed the ancient Kyrgyz state, mentioned in Chinese sources of that time as "Hagyas" ("Kyrgyz"),

The first appearance of the tribes of ancient Kyrgyz in Central Asia should be attributed to the 8th century AD, when part of the "Western" nomadic Kyrgyz, together with related Karluk tribes, penetrated into Central Asia and settled in the Talas valley and in the regions of Western Tianshan. Here they left the well-known Talas ancient Turkic runic inscriptions located in the Talas valley. In the second half of the 8th to the first half of the 9th centuries, there existed a biylik (possession) led and governed by the dynasty of Kara-Chor, descendants of the "Talas" Kyrgyz. The "Talas" or "Turkic" biylik, after the well-known events, grew into the "Turkic" kaghanate (state of the Karakhanids).

The mid-9th to early 10th centuries was a time of undisputed dominance over the expanses of Central Asia of the Great kaghanate "Kyrgyz." This period in history is referred to as the "Kyrgyz Great Power." In Mongolia and other regions of Central Asia, at that time, the rulers were the ancient Kyrgyz of the state "Hagyas" ("Kyrgyz"), who crushed the state of the ancient Uyghurs in 840, which had previously dominated in Central Asia. It was then that another part of the "Western" nomadic Kyrgyz penetrated into the regions of Central Tianshan and settled there, becoming part of the Karakhanid Turks.

The "Talas" and "Tianshan" Kyrgyz played an important role in the formation of the Karakhanid kaghanate. The Karakhanid dynasty descended from the descendants of Kara-Chor, who were from the "Talas" Kyrgyz.

In the second half of the 10th century, the borders of the state "Hagyas" ("Kyrgyz") narrowed, gravitating towards the Irtysh, Altai, and Southern Siberia. There were few "Western" nomadic Kyrgyz left in this state, while the "Eastern" Kyrgyz, leading a semi-nomadic and sedentary lifestyle, gravitated towards the native banks of the Yenisei, to the fertile Minusinsk basin, and were not suitable for habitation in the steppes of Central Asia, let alone engage in nomadic animal husbandry.

The opposition of the two communities, the small "Western" — nomadic and the more numerous "Eastern" — sedentary-agricultural, created contradictions and disruptions of unity in the ancient Kyrgyz state, leading to an increase in disputes among the population, and ultimately to the loss of unity and the weakening of the entire state.

Meanwhile, by the first half of the 10th century, the owners of Mongolia and other regions of Central Asia became the nomads of the Kara-Kitai. In the west, numerous Kimak-Kipchak tribes strengthened, who constantly raided the few "Irtysh" nomadic Kyrgyz, as well as the "Eastern" Kyrgyz. As a result, the Kyrgyz were pushed eastward and southward from the Irtysh and Altai. The "Eastern" Kyrgyz were pushed into the areas of the Middle Yenisei, while the "Irtysh" nomadic Kyrgyz moved to the north of Dzhungaria, where they were conquered by the Kimak-Kipchaks. They formed the region of Kyrkar(a) khan, and since then they have also been known as the Kyrkar Kipchaks.

In the early 12th century, the "Irtysh" Kyrgyz, under pressure from the Kimak-Kipchaks and Kara-Kitai, moved southwest towards Tianshan and settled in the basin of the Ili River.

Around 1127, the Karakhanid Kyrgyz (Kara-Kyrgyz) reunited with the "Irtysh" Kyrgyz into one ethnic community, which represented the union of the tribes of the right — "Ong" and left — "Sol" wings.

Around 1128, the Kara-Kitai invaded the territory of the Eastern Karakhanid kaghanate, which was defeated by the Kyrgyz led by the great kaghan Ahmed, the head of the Eastern Karakhanids. After that, the Kara-Kitai retreated. However, they managed to gather a large force. They established their base in Beijing (Beitin-Beshbalik).

Approximately between 1128—1130 or 1130—1133, the Kyrgyz, led by the supreme kaghan of the Eastern Karakhanids, made a long campaign to Beijing (Beitin-Beshbalik) against the Kara-Kitai and inflicted a defeat on them. This event laid the foundation for the "Great Campaign" in the epic "Manas".

The defeated parts of the Kara-Kitai fled to the valley of the Emile River. Here they were joined by their brethren and other tribes that had settled here before, as well as numerous local Turks.

Then followed the strengthening of the Kara-Kitai, their capture of Balasagun (in the Chui valley), Kashgar, and Hotan, which were followed by campaigns against the Kyrgyz, which led to their forced departure from Central Asia, to the northeast, towards the Irtysh and Altai.
There, they faced clashes with the strongest people of Western Mongolia at that time — the Naymans. As a result, the "Central Asian" Kyrgyz moved even further to the northwest of Altai.

During the Mongolian period, the "Central Asian" and "Eastern" Kyrgyz lived side by side, together forming the country or region of "Kyrgyz," which covered the territory from the Ob-Irtysh interfluve in the west to the regions of the Middle Yenisei in the east.

During military clashes with the Mongols, part of the right wing of the "Central Asian" Kyrgyz moved southwest into Pre-Tianshan and was part of the state of Moghulistan. Subsequently, when the "Central Asian" Kyrgyz returned to Central Asia, they entered the right wing of the Kyrgyz people as a tribal division called "monoldor".

In the second half of the 15th century, as a result of military clashes with the Kalmyks, the "Central Asian" Kyrgyz returned to Central Asia once again.

All of this is reflected in a complex and ambiguous form in the epic "Manas," which serves as a unique mirror of the history of the Kyrgyz.