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

Etymology

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

Krgyz is a derived from "forty", with -Iz being an old plural suffix, referring to a collection of forty tribes.

Kyrgyz also means "imperishable", "inextinguishable" or "immortal". 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.Kir-kis means "leader of the people with boars totem". kis,kas[-er],khiz,khuz, khi, khion (hunn) means boar.

Origins

Early color image of a Kyrgyz family, c.1905-1915
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 identical with the tamga of present day Kyrgyz tribes Azyk, Bugu, Cherik, Sary Bagysh and few others. According to recent historical findings, Kyrgyz history dates back to 201 BC. The Yenisei Kyrgyz lived in the upper Yenisey Rivermarker valley, central Siberiamarker. 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 Shanmarker mountains and Eastern Turkestan, bringing them immediately to the borders of Chinamarker and Tibet. By the 16th century the carriers of the ethnonym "Kirgiz" lived in South Siberiamarker, Eastern Turkestan, Tian Shan, Pamir Alay, Middle Asia, Uralsmarker (among Bashkorts), in Kazakhstanmarker. 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. Though it is obviously impossible to directly identify the Yeniseimarker and Tien Shanmarker Kyrgyzes, a trace of their ethnogenetical connections is apparent in archaeology, history, language and ethnography. Majority of modern researchers came to a 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. 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. These features were totally different from those of modern Kyrgyz, which made Ibn al-Muqaffa suggest in the 8th century AD that the Kyrgyz were related to the Slavs.

The descent of the Kyrgyz from the autochthonous Siberianmarker population is confirmed by recent genetic studies. Remarkably, 63% of modern Kyrgyz men share Haplogroup R1a1 with Tajiks (64%), Ukrainians (54%), Poles and Hungarians (~60%), and even Icelanders (25%). Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) is often believed to be a marker of the Proto-Indo-European language 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.[15115]

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 Shanmarker range and maintained their dominance over this territory for about 200 years. In the 12th century, however, the Kyrgyz domination had shrunk to the Altaimarker Range and the Sayan Mountainsmarker 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 Kalmyks (Oirats, Dzungars).

Religion



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

In the 8th century, orthodox Islam reached the Fergana valleymarker 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. She emphasized that many mosques have been built and that the Kyrgyz are increasingly devoting themselves to Islam, which she noted was "not a bad thing in itself. It keeps our society more moral, cleaner."

The Kyrgyz in China

The Kyrgyz form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of Chinamarker. There are more than 145,000 Kyrgyz in Chinamarker. They are known in China as Kēěrkèzī zú ( ).

They are found mainly in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecturemarker in the southwestern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with a smaller remainder found in the neighboring Wushi , Aksumarker, Shachemarker (Yarkandmarker), Yingisar, Taxkorganmarker and Pishan (Guma), and in Tekesmarker, Zhaosumarker (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, Heilongjiangmarker Province.

Certain segments of the Kyrgyz in China are followers of Tibetan Buddhism.

Notable Kyrgyz people

150 px


See also



Notes

  1. Pulleyblank 1990, p.108.
  2. Zuev, Yu.A., Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuyao" of 8-10th centuries), Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, 1960, p. 103 (In Russian)
  3. Abramzon S.M. The Kirgiz and their ethnogenetical historical and cultural connections, Moscow, 1971, p. 45
  4. Abramzon S.M., p. 31
  5. Abramzon S.M., pp. 80-81
  6. Abramzon S.M., p. 30
  7. V.V. Bartold, The Kyrgyz: A Historical Essay, Frunze, 1927. Reprinted in V.V. Bartold, Collected Works, Volume II, Part 1, Izd. Vostochnoi Literatury, Moscow, 1963, p. 480
  8. Mirfatyh Zakiev, Origins of the Turks and Tatars, Part Two, Third Chapter, sections 109-100, 2002. Retrieved on 15 May 2009
  9. The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity
  10. Wells 2001, Karafet 2001, Zerjal 2002, Underhill 2000, and others
  11. EurasiaNet Civil Society - Kyrgyzstan: Time to Ponder a Federal System - Ex-President's Daughter


References and further reading




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