Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz

A traditional Kyrgyz Manaschi performing part of the Manas epic poem at a yurt camp in Karakol
Total population
approx. 4.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Kyrgyzstan 3,804,800 [1]  Uzbekistan 250,000 [2]  China 143,500 [1]  Tajikistan 81,000  Afghanistan 30,000 [2]  Russia 32,000 [3]  Kazakhstan 11,000 [4]  Ukraine 3,000 [5]  Turkey 4,000 [6]
Languages
Kyrgyz
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam.
Related ethnic groups
other Turkic peoples

The Kyrgyz (also spelled Kirgiz, Kirghiz) are a Turkic ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan.

Etymology

There are several etymological theories on the ethnonym "Kyrgyz."

The word "Kyrgyz" is derived from the Turkic word "forty", with -Iz being an old plural suffix, referring to a collection of forty tribes.^[3]

Kyrgyz also means "imperishable", "inextinguishable", "immortal", "unconquerable" or "undefeatable", presumably referring to the epic hero Manas who, as legend has it, unified undefeated forty tribes against the Khitans. This version has an obvious popular appreciation. Historical evidence for many conflicts with other peoples also supports this theory. The Chinese transcription "Tse-gu" (Gekun, Jiankun) allows to restore the pronunciation of the ethnonym as Kirkut (Kirgut) and Kirkur (Kirgur). Both forms go back to the earliest variation Kirkün (Chinese Tszyan-kun) of the term "Kyrgyz" meaning "Field People", "Field Huns". The term Kirkün went through a notable evolution: Kirkün (Kirgün) = Kirkut (Kirgut) = Kirkur (Kirkor, Kirgur) = Kyrkyz (Kyrgyz). The evolution is traced well chronologically. The semantic connection between kün (gün) and gür is a chronologically consecutive development of the concept kün = "female progenitor" = her offsprings = "tribe" = "a people" at the last stage coincides with the gür = "people", like in the Khitan title Gurkhan. Application of affixes of plurality "t" - "r" - "z" in the ethnonym Kirkun shaded the initial sound, and then also the meaning, making its roots enigmatic. By the Mongol epoch, the initial meaning of the word Kirkun was already lost, evidenced by differing readings of the earlier reductions of the Uanshi. The change of ethnonym produced a new version of an origin, and the memory about their steppe motherland, recorded in Uanshi, survived only as a recollection of the initial birthplace of forty women. Subsequently, however, that recollection was also lost.^[4] Kir-kis means "leader of the people with boars totem". kis,kas[-er],khiz,khuz, khi, khion (hunn) means boar.

In the 18th and 19th century European writers used the word "Kirghiz" (the early Anglicized form of the contemporary Russian "киргизы") to refer not only to the people we now know as Kyrgyz, but also to their more numerous northern relatives, the Kazakhs. When distinction had to be made, more specific terms were used: Burut (буруты), Kara-Kirghiz (кара-киргизы) or "Dikokamenni Kirghiz" (дикокаменные киргизы) for the Kyrgyz proper, and Koisaks for the Kazakhs.^[5][6]

Origins

The early Kyrgyz people, known as Yenisei Kyrgyz or Xiajiasi (黠戛斯), first appear in written records in the Chinese annals of the Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (compiled 109 BC to 91 BC), as Gekun or Jiankun (鬲昆 or 隔昆). The Middle Age Chinese composition "Tanghuiyao" of the 8-10th century transcribed the name "Kyrgyz" Tsze-gu (Kirgut), and their tamga was depicted as identical to the tamga of present day Kyrgyz tribes Azyk, Bugu, Cherik, Sary Bagysh and few others.^[7] According to recent historical findings, Kyrgyz history dates back to 201 BC. The Yenisei Kyrgyz lived in the upper Yenisey River valley, central Siberia. Yenisei Kyrgyzes in the Late Antique times were a part of the Tiele tribes. Later, in the Early Middle Age, Yenisei Kyrgyzes were under the rule of Göktürk Kaganate and Uigur Kaganate. In 840 a revolt led by Yenisei Kyrgyzes brought down the Uigur Kaganate, and brought the Yenisei Kyrgyzes to a dominating position in the former Turkic Kaganate. With the rise to power, the center of the Kyrgyz Kaganate moved to Jeti-su, and brought about a spread south of the Kyrgyz people, to reach Tian Shan mountains and Eastern Turkestan, bringing them immediately to the borders of China and Tibet. By the 16th century the carriers of the ethnonym "Kirgiz" lived in South Siberia, Eastern Turkestan, Tian Shan, Pamir-Alay, Middle Asia, Urals (among Bashkorts), in Kazakhstan.^[8] In the Tian Shan and Eastern Turkestan area, the term "Kyrgyz" retained its unifying political designation, and became a general ethnonym for the Yenisei Kirgizes and aboriginal Turkic tribes that presently constitute the Kyrgyz population.^[9] Though it is obviously impossible to directly identify the Yenisei and Tien Shan Kyrgyzes, a trace of their ethnogenetical connections is apparent in archaeology, history, language and ethnography. A majority of modern researchers came to the conclusion that the ancestors of the southern Kyrgyz tribes had their origin in the most ancient tribal unions of Sakas and Usuns, Dinlins and Huns.^[10] Approximately 300,000 Yenisei Kyrgyzes survived in the Tuva depression until present.

A Kyrgyz family

V.V. Bartold cites Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD that describe the Kyrgyz as having red, sometimes blond hair, blue or green eyes, and white skin.^[11] Ibn al-Muqaffa suggested, in the 8th century AD, that the Kyrgyz were related to the Slavs.^[11][12] These features were markedly different from those of modern Kyrgyz.

The descent of the Kyrgyz from the autochthonous Siberian population is confirmed by genetic studies.^[13] Remarkably, 63% of modern Kyrgyz men share Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) with Tajiks (64%), Ukrainians (54%), Poles (~60%), Hungarians (30%) and even Icelanders (25%). Low diversity of Kyrgyz R1a1 indicates a founder effect within the historical period.^[14] Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) is often believed to be a marker of the Proto-Indo-European language ^[15] speakers.

Because of the processes of migration, conquest, intermarriage, and assimilation, many of the Kyrgyz peoples that now inhabit Central and Southwest Asia are of mixed origins, often stemming from fragments of many different tribes, though they speak closely related languages.[7]

Political development

The Kyrgyz state reached its greatest expansion after defeating the Uyghur Khaganate in 840 AD. Then Kyrgyz quickly moved as far as the Tian Shan range and maintained their dominance over this territory for about 200 years. In the 12th century, however, the Kyrgyz domination had shrunk to the Altai Range and the Sayan Mountains as a result of the rising Mongol expansion. With the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the Kyrgyz migrated south. In 1207, after the establishment of Yekhe Mongol Ulus (Mongol empire), Genghis Khan's oldest son Jochi occupied Kyrgyzstan without resistance. They remained a Mongol vassal until the late 14th century.

Various Turkic peoples ruled them until 1685, when they came under the control of the Oirats (Dzungars, Kalmyks).

Religion

A mosque in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz are predominantly Muslims. Islam was first introduced by Arab traders who travelled along the Silk Road in the seventh and eighth century.

In the 8th century, orthodox Islam reached the Fergana valley with the Uzbeks. Atheism, on the other hand, took some following in the northern regions under Russian communist influence. As of today, few cultural rituals of Shamanism are still practiced alongside with Islam particularly in Central Kyrgyzstan. During a July 2007 interview, Bermet Akayeva, the daughter of Askar Akayev, the former President of Kyrgyzstan, stated that Islam is increasingly taking root even in the northern portion which came under communist influence.^[16] She emphasized that many mosques have been built and that the Kyrgyz are increasingly devoting themselves to Islam."^[16]

The Kyrgyz in China

China's Kyrgyz people (柯尔克孜族) portrayed on a poster near the Niujie Mosque in Beijing. (Fourth from the left, between the Dongxiang and the Dong)

The Kyrgyz form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There are more than 145,000 Kyrgyz in China. They are known in China as Kēěrkèzī zú (simplified Chinese: 柯尔克孜族; traditional Chinese: 柯爾克孜族).

The Kirghiz of Xinjiang revolted in the 1932 Kirghiz rebellion, and also particapted in the Battle of Kashgar (1933), and the Battle of Kashgar (1934).

They are found mainly in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in the southwestern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with a smaller remainder found in the neighboring Wushi (Uqturpan), Aksu, Shache (Yarkand), Yingisar, Taxkorgan and Pishan (Guma), and in Tekes, Zhaosu (Monggolkure), Emin (Dorbiljin), Bole (Bortala), Jinghev (Jing) and Gonliu in northern Xinjiang. Several hundred Kyrgyz whose forefathers emigrated to Northeast China more than 200 years ago now live in Wujiazi Village in Fuyu County, Heilongjiang Province.

Certain segments of the Kyrgyz in China are followers of Tibetan Buddhism.^[17]

Notable Kyrgyz people

Chinghiz Aitmatov

• Chinghiz Aitmatov - author
• Askar Akayev - politician, scientist, first President of Kyrgyzstan
• Kurmanbek Bakiyev - politician, second President of Kyrgyzstan
• Kurmanjan Datka - politician, former stateswoman
• Felix Kulov - politician, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan
• Abdylas Maldybaev - actor/musician
• Zamira Sydykova - journalist/ambassador
• Omurbek Tekebayev - politician, speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament
• Kasym Tynystanov - a prominent Kyrgyz scientist, politician and poet, first minister of education
• Nasirdin Isanov - politician, first Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan
• Orzubek Nazarov - former World Boxing Association lightweight boxing champion
• Bibisara Beishenalieva - ballet dancer
• Roza Otunbayeva - politician
• Talant Duishebaev - handball player, second in the IHF World Player of the Century
• Altynai Ismankulova - Kyrgyz model, competed in Miss International 2009

See also

• Kyrgyz language
• History of Kyrgyzstan
• History of Kazakhstan
• Turkic languages
• 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots

Notes

References and further reading

• Abramzon, S.M. The Kirgiz and their ethnogenetical historical and cultural connections, Moscow, 1971, (Russian), ISBN 5-655-00518-2 (in Russian).
• Kyzlasov, L.R. "Mutual relationship of terms Khakas and Kyrgyz in written sources of 6-12th centuries". Peoples of Asia and Africa, 1968, (in Russian).
• Zuev, Yu.A. "Kirgiz - Buruts". Soviet Ethnography, 1970, No 4, (Russian).
• Shahrani, M. Nazif. (1979) The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War. University of Washington Press. 1st paperback edition with new preface and epilogue (2002). ISBN 0-295-98262-4.
• Kyrgyz Republic, by Rowan Stewart and Susie Steldon, by Odyssey publications.
• Books by Chokan Valikhanov
• Aado Lintrop, "Hereditary Transmission in Siberian Shamanism and the Concept of the Reality of Legends"
• 2002 Smithsonian folklife festival
• Kyrgyz Healing Practices: Some Field Notes
• Politics of Language in the Ex-Soviet Muslim States: Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan by Jacob M. Landau and Barbara Kellner-Heinkele. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-472-11226-5
• Culture of Kyrgyz Republic.Well made JAPANESE pages.
• Kyrgyz Textile Art
• Pulleyblank, E.G. (1990). "The Name of the Kirghiz". Central Asiatic Journal (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz) 34 (1-2): pp. 98–108. 

External links

• Kirghiz tribal tree, Center for Culture and Conflict Studies, US Naval Postgraduate School

Demographics of Kyrgyzstan Ethnic groups Census-delimited groups Kyrgyz (64.9%) · Uzbeks (13.8%) · Russians (12.5%) · Dungans (1.1%) · Ukrainians (1.0%) · Uyghurs (1.0%) · Tatars (0.9%) · Kazakhs (0.9%) · Tajiks (0.9%) · Turks (0.7%) · Germans (0.4%) · Koreans (0.4%) Others Armenians · Chinese · Greeks · Pakistanis Religion Islam · Christianity (Roman Catholicism) Ethnic group figures according to the 1999 census [8]