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- 31 Privratksy, Bruce G. Muslim Turkistan. Kazakh Religion and Collective Memory. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2001, pp. 97- 98.
- Chapter II: The Town of Kizi1-Jar: The Main Research Site Ethnic and Tribal Composition
- Short History of the Town
- 321 took this information in 2003 from the large information billboard hanging at the entrance o f the town’s main park. But the information shows earlier numbers.
- KAZAKHSTAN
- *Kara- TokmokfTokmak) c ^ ^ a ta k o l
- 35 Jengijok. Irlar. (Jengijok. Poems) Frunze: “Kirgizstan”, 1982, pp. 38-52.
- 36 Oto was Jengijok’s real first name, but he became famous with the nickname name Jengijok which
- 37 It is a long, but very beautiful poem, in which Jengijok cannot not finish describing the beauty, mainly
- Kyrgyz in order to feel the beauty o f the region as well as the Kyrgyz poetic language.
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51 because I feel like crying when I listen to good Kyrgyz traditional music and songs such as Jengijok’s “Balam Jok.” In conclusion, I want to cite a very strong but valid statement made by the well- known senior Kazakh scholar, Mi'rzatay Joldasbekov. I will never forget this statement, which I heard through another Kazakh scholar, Ashirbek Muminov, because his words touched my heart deeply, and also confirmed to me my personal identity as Kyrgyz. According to Mi’rzatay Joldasbekov: “A Kazakh who does not cry when hearing a [traditional] Kazakh music/song is not a true Kazakh.” If I measure my identity based on Joldasbekov’s statement, then I am a “true Kyrgyz,” because I feel like crying when I listen to good Kyrgyz traditional music and songs such as Jengijok’s “Balam Jok.” Thus, my Kyrgyz identity, which is deeply engrained in nomadic culture, affects what I write and how I write about the Kyrgyz culture. Like many other Kyrgyz who grew up in the mountains, I feel strongly about the legacy of this centuries old nomadic life because I learned many valuable life lessons such as respect for nature and animals and respect for the elderly and one’s parents. Most importantly, the ecological, economic, and social demands of nomadic life prevented the strict gender division like in traditional sedentary cultures. Even though the Kyrgyz nomadic life was based on tribal or patriarchal society, women always played an important role in making family decisions and running the household. As the Kyrgyz say “Katin jakshi er jakshi,” “Behind a good husband stands a wise wife.” Kyrgyz believe that everything, such as hospitality, children’s upbringing, and husband’s status among his and his wife’s kinsmen depends on the character of the wife. Therefore, when a Kyrgyz man searches for a good wife, he should also consider her tribal background. They say, “Our daughter in-law is ‘tektiiu Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 52 jerdin kiz'f,’” i.e., “from a good tribal background” or “Tektiiu jerden klz al,” “Marry a girl from a good tribal background.” This gives a great honor for the woman because she represents not just herself, but her entire kinsmen/clan, with whom she had a long and very close interaction. No one wants to hear a curse “Urugung soolgur!” “May your entire clan/tribe dry up/perish!” The wisdom of nomadic culture is not just reflected in epic songs and poetry, but in everyday life relationships. Like many young Kyrgyz, I grew up hearing many alki'sh or bata, blessings of the elderly and my grandparents. Western scholars like Privratsky are mistaken to assert “Kazakh has no other vocabulary for hello and thank you.”31 In Central Asian culture, the word “Thank you” is expressed in the form of a blessing by the elders. The term Rahmat (Ar. “mercy”) which is widely used in Central Asia is a loan word from Arabic. I rarely heard elderly Kyrgyz saying Rahmat. Every time when a young boy or girl pours water onto the hands of the elderly or guests before the meal, he or she receives wonderful blessings such as Kuday jalgas'm! “May God bless you!”
be wide!” Kem bolbo! “Don’t ever lack anything!” Baktiluu bol! “May you be happy [in marriage]!” Chong jigit bol! “May you grow up to be a big and strong man!” Tilegen
states Bata [or alki'sh] menen er/el kogorot, jamgi'r menen jer kogorot, ““Blessings make a man grow, rain makes the earth grow (become green).”
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 53 Chapter II: The Town of Kizi'1-Jar: The Main Research Site Ethnic and Tribal Composition The town of Ki'zi'l-Jar was my main research site where I gathered most of my ethnographic material for my work. Therefore, it is necessary to provide background information about the ethnic and tribal compositions, geography, and the socio-economic history of the town. Kizil-Jar’s dominant ethnic group is Kyrgyz. Of a population of 16,000, approximately 90% are ethnic Kyrgyz, the rest are ethnic Uzbeks and Uighurs. After the Soviet collapse, by mid 1990’s most of the “minority groups” (they were not considered minorities during Soviet period) such as Russians, Koreans, and Tatars left Ki'zi'l-Jar. Almost all the Kyrgyz people living in the town belong to the main uruu, tribe, called Saruu, which is divided into many uruks, clans. The major clans within Saruu in Kizil-Jar are Ogotur (Hunter), Besh Kaman (Five Boars), Ki'rkuul (Forty Sons), Bark'i, Machak/Keldey, Bagi'sh (Moose), Chargana, Kiirkuroo, etc. Although most of the Kyrgyz of Ki'zi'l-Jar knew about their clan and tribal name during the Soviet period, their interest in their tribal genealogy grew stronger after Kyrgyzstan became independent. Writing the genealogy and history of all Kyrgyz tribes became a national task. In the countryside,
about their tribal genealogy and history and publishing small booklets about them. In 1995, when I was returning to the University of Washington in Seattle, my father gave me a manuscript of our own clan genealogy, which he had recorded from my great grandfather and other elders from our uruk. My father asked me to type the manuscript on Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 54 the computer and to make many copies in a small booklet form. I brought back with me over two hundred copies of the genealogy booklet which, my father then distributed to most of the members of our uruk. Our relatives were all eager to receive a copy and happy to see the names of their ancestors, their own and their children. I should mention the fact that the genealogy includes only males’ names, because the nomadic Kyrgyz were a patriarchal society. Knowing the names of one’s seven forefathers was the tradition among the nomadic Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. Since they did not have a well-established written history, their oral history was their sanjira, which comes from a Persian word for tree. Sanjira was usually told by elderly men and oral poets and epic singers who were able to store hundreds of personal, tribal and clan names as well as historical events in their minds. In the past, when two Kyrgyz met, they immediately inquired about their father’s name and the name of their tribe or clan. Those who did not know their ancestors were called teksiz or kul, rootless or slave. One of the reasons for knowing one’s tribal genealogy was to avoid marriage within one’s own clan or cousin marriage. Kyrgyz and Kazakhs still follow the tradition of not marrying someone of the same tribe/clan after seven generations pass. In Kizil-Jar, these various uruks of the Saruu tribe live side by side with each other. Although, originally, when they were brought down from mountainous regions by the Soviets, they became settled in the same street or neighborhood. Most of my Ogotur relatives, for example, live in the small village Jilkool, which used to be their winter place. The majority of the Besh Kaman uruk live on the Mailuu-Say Street. People from different uruks intermarry, helping at and participating in each other’s feasts, funerals, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
55 and other special gatherings. However, when one of the members of a particular clan is in “trouble”, e.g., in big financial debt or cannot afford to kill a horse for his diseased parents, it is people of the same clan who offer help. (These issues will be discussed more in detail in Chapter 4). Table 1: Statistical Information about Kizi'l-Jar32 Number of households 3016
Town hospital 1 Number of people 14703 Feldsher
2 Women
7481 Middle schools 5(6) Men
7222 Kindergartens 1 Retired people 1312 Public bathhouses and saunas 3 Welfare receivers 590 Private bathhouses 55 Pre-School Children 1859 Water pipelines 26 km School aged children 4190 Culture House 1 Eligible workers 7205 Libraries 1 WWII veterans 7 Communication Service 1 Participants of the Afghan War 19 Drugstores 3 Victims of the Chernobyl Tragedy 3 Bazaar
1 Complete Orphans 12 Milestones 9 Disabled people 218 Household service shops 2 Old people with no relatives 15
Ki'zi'l-Jar was and still is one of the well known agriculturally developed former sovkhozes, state farms in Kyrgyzstan.33 The town lies in the western edge of the Ferghana Valley, which is considered to be “the heart of Central Asia.”34 Due to the Soviet ethno-territorial division of the Central Asian region in the 1920’s, the Valley still remains artificially divided between the three Central Asian republics, 321 took this information in 2003 from the large information billboard hanging at the entrance o f the town’s main park. But the information shows earlier numbers. 33 I gathered material on the history o f my hometown from the town’s (formerly sovkhoz’s) former and current directors and as well as from local elderly and teachers. 34 Rashid, Ahmed. Jihad. The Rise o f Militant Islam in Central Asia. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2002, p. 18. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 56 Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Ferghana Valley is the most densely populated and fertile region of Central Asia with ten million inhabitants, the main ethnic groups being the Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kyrgyz. The Ferghana Valley, especially its bazaars, was also the place for centuries old nomad-sedentary interaction between various Kyrgyz nomadic tribal groups, who lived and raised livestock in the Tian-Shan Mountains, and Uzbek-Tajik sedentary townsmen and farmers who made the best use of the Valley’s fertile land by growing agricultural products. Three out of the seven provinces of Kyrgyzstan are located in the Ferghana Valley. They are Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Batken, all sharing quite complex Soviet-drawn boundaries with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The town of Kizil-Jar (also known as Uch- Korgon) is part of the AksI rayon of the province of Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan. To the east, Kizil-Jar borders with the Namangan Province of Uzbekistan. The major river Narin, which originates in the northwestern part of Kyrgyzstan, flows by the east side of the town serving as a natural as well as an official boundary between the Kyrgyz town and Uzbekistan. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
57 Topography and hydrography of the Ferghana Valley
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op Figure 12: Map of Kyrgyzstan; Source: Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
59 Before I start talking about my hometown KMl-Jar, it is important to discuss the significance of this southern region of AksT and its inhabitants. Unlike the Kyrgyz living in the other southern provinces of Osh and Batken, which have large Uzbek populations, the people of Aks'i speak “standard” or “literary” Kyrgyz with a slight accent similar to the Talas dialect in northern Kyrgyzstan. One of the major tribes of Kyrgyz called Saruu inhabits the region. The Aksi' region is blessed with many beautiful mountain pastures such as Kashka-Suu, Cheer, Chatkal, Bozpu, Ispi, Kichak-Jol, and lakes and rivers like Sari-Chelek, Kashka-Suu and Itagar. It has been a home for many talented Kyrgyz oral poets and komuchus, komuz players such as Jengijok and Niyazaali. Aksi partly owes its fame to the famous oral poet Jengijok (1860-1918) who composed the oral poems titled “The Sooru (the best part) of the Earth is Aksi Indeed!” and “Let Me Tell About My Land, Aksi” in which he praises the Saruu and Kitay tribes and the beauty of the mountain pastures they inhabit. He uses a very poetic and rhythmic language, following the strict initial and internal alliteration, characteristic of Kyrgyz oral poetry. The following excerpts from his first poem help us to picture Aksi and also tell us why this region is special: Aksi is aBlessed Land, indeed!35 I have my Saruu and Kitay people [in Aksi], I have precious words like yellow gold Which make me sing when I desire. I have reason for concern, Who can sing with such passion The song left from my heart Let me tell you a bit about My Aksi, the Polar Star, 35 Jengijok. Irlar. (Jengijok. Poems) Frunze: “Kirgi'zstan”, 1982, pp. 38-52. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. If I haven’t forgotten. What a wonderful place Baldi'rkan is! So, Oto, describe it all from head to toe. Its baytereks swing in the wind, Its birds chirp and sing, Its upper reaches are all cool pastures. Springs flow from the mountains Pure and tasty like honey. Its rivers flow swiftly in ravines Turning to a silvery color It tastes like honey to drink, Your heart gains strength. The cuckoo birds fly around anxiously Unable to find their loved ones. Brown bears lumber across the hillsides As if searching for something. As soon as the sun gets hot The cubs swim in the water, They threaten with their strength The animals less strong than they. (He describes the trees and grass) A traveler can scarcely find His way out of its forests. He can’t find his way home; Walnut trees block his path. If a horse comes too weak to walk It’ll grow its mane in just seven days. Grapes, apples, and pears These fruits are found by the hundred. The best part of the Earth is Aksi, Whoever lives here feels content. Alma-Konush and Kiz-Korgon Have always been destined For my Kyrgyz with the white kalpak. Glaciers remain all year around, Winters get very cold. Its cliffs reflect the sun, And are covered all over with ice. As if a beautiful girl has embroidered, As if a master had specially built them, 36 Oto was Jengijok’s real first name, but he became famous with the nickname name Jengijok which means “one without sleeves,” i.e., the poet used to roll up his sleeves before playing his komuz. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 61 You might say he made them perfectly. Its slopes are covered with birch and pine, If you look closely, You’ll see red apples and black cherries. Snow leopards play chasing one another, While eaglets preen in their aeries. The caves resound Echoing the human voice. Ashuu-Tor and Ak-Taylak Are the pearls of the Earth, People disperse at the height of summer, They make ayran and koumiss flow, Sunny side is filled with blackberries They pitch six hundred yurts For ash at which I sing, They drive the mares to be milked On the hills and valleys of feather grass. A person’s heart will open When the perfumed breeze Kisses your face. The place called Oy-Alma is our pasture, Where many people settle in summer time. Come with the people who live there See it for yourself and be satisfied. (Then he talks about how young women play all kinds of traditional games such as ak cholmok, which is played under the moon light and play in the swing) Twin baby deer play on the cliff By butting each other with their antlers, Its spring flowing down the hill Imitates the laughter of girls, This is the land where All kinds of animals live These are the famous Saruu people Who’ve inhabited this place for a long time 37
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 62 As we learn from this poem, the mountains and valleys of Aksi were the traditional summer and winter camps of the nomadic Saruu tribe, who are believed to have come to the region from northern Kyrgyzstan during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries’ Kalmyk invasion. Even though the contemporary members of this tribe have become settled between 1930s and 1950s, people still remember their ancestors’ traditional homeland which they refer to it as “ata konush,” i.e., ancestral camp. During '3 0
summer time, some uruks, who live in their permanent houses in towns and villages, get together and go to their ata konush where they organize a traditional feast/party called sherine. They spend their time remembering their ancestors, singing, and enjoying the traditional foods made from sheep and the koumiss. This mountainous region of Aksi is also a home for many mazars, Muslim saints’ tombs such as Safed-Bulan, Padisha-Ata, Iman-Ata, and other sacred places like Baybulak-Ata, Shudiigbr-Ata etc., which bear historical and contemporary significance. The poet Jengijok also mentions these places in his poem. The existence of these mazars tells us a lot about the religious and cultural identity of the Aksi people as well as the long history of Islamization and Sufi influence in the region. (This topic will be discussed in more details in Chapter 4). The history of the establishment of the town of Kizil-Jar (formerly a sovkhoz) is directly connected with the Soviet policy of sedentarization and collectivization of Central Asian nomads like the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Turkmens in the early 1930’s. According to local elders, including my grandparents, about fifty years ago, Kizil-Jar used to be a desert-like place where only wild thorny bushes grew and lizards and reptiles Download 2.95 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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