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KIRGHIZ

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 829 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KIRGHIZ , a large and widespread See also:

division of the See also:Turkish See also:family, of which there are two See also:main branches, the Kara-Kirghiz of the uplands and the Kirghiz-Kazaks of the See also:steppe. They jointly number about 3,000,000, and occupy an See also:area of perhaps the same number of square See also:miles, stretching from See also:Kulja See also:west-wards to the See also:lower See also:Volga, and from the headstreams of the Ob southwards to the Pamir and the See also:Turkoman See also:country. They seem closely allied ethnically to the Mongolians and in speech to the See also:Tatars. But both See also:Mongols and Tatars belonged them-selves originally to one racial stock and formed See also:part of the same hordes. or nomadic armies: also the Western See also:Turks have to a large extent lost their See also:original physique and become largely assimilated to the See also:regular " Caucasian " type. But the Kirghiz have either remained nearly altogether unmixed, as in the uplands, or else have intermingled in the steppe mainly with the Volga Kalmucks in the west, and with the Dzungarian nomads in the See also:east, all alike of Mongol stock. Hence they have everywhere to a large extent preserved the See also:common Mongolian features, while retaining their See also:primitive Tatar speech. Physically they are a See also:middle-sized, square-built See also:race, inclined to stoutness, especially in the steppe, mostly with See also:long See also:black See also:hair, scant See also:beard or none, small, black and oblique eyes, though See also:blue or See also:grey also occur in the See also:south, broad Mongoloid features, high cheek-bones, broad, See also:flat See also:nose, small mouth, brachycephalous See also:head, very small hands and feet, dirty See also:brown or swarthy complexion, often yellowish, but also occasionally See also:fair. These characteristics, while affiliating them directly to the Mongol stock, also betray an admixture of See also:foreign elements, probably due to Finnish influences in the See also:north, and See also:Tajik or Iranian See also:blood in the south. Their speech also, while purely Turkic in structure, possesses, not only many Mongolian and a few See also:Persian and even Arabic words, but also some terms unknown to the other branches of the Mongolo-Tatar linguistic family, and which should perhaps be traced to the Kiang-Kuan, Wu-See also:sun, Ting-See also:ling, and other peoples of South See also:Siberia partly absorbed by them. The Kara-Kirghiz.—The Kara or "Black" Kirghiz, so called from the See also:colour of their tents, are known to the Russians either as Chernyie (Black) or Dikokammenyie (See also:Wild See also:Stone or Rocky) Kirghiz, and are the See also:Block Kirghiz of some See also:English writers. They are on the whole the purest and best representatives of the race, and properly speaking to them alone belongs the, distinctive See also:national name Kirghiz or Krghiz. This See also:term is commonly traced to a legendary See also:chief, Kirghiz, sprung of Oghuz-See also:Khan, ninth in descent from See also:Japheth.

It occurs in its See also:

present See also:form for the first See also:time in the See also:account of the See also:embassy sent in 569 by the East See also:Roman See also:emperor See also:Justin II. to the See also:Uighur Khan, Dugla-Ditubulu, where it is stated that this See also:prince presented a slave of the Kirghiz tribe to Zemark, head of the See also:mission. In the See also:Chinese See also:chronicles the word assumes the form Ki-li-ki-tz', and the writers of the Yuan See also:dynasty (1280-1367) See also:place the territory of these See also:people ro,000 li north-west of See also:Pekin, about the head-streams of the See also:Yenisei. In the records of the T'ang dynasty (618-907) they are spoken of under the name of Kha-kia-tz' (pronounced Khaka, and sometimes transliterated Haka), and it is mentioned that these Khakas were of the same speech as the Khoei-khu. From this it follows that they were of Mongolo-Tatar stock, and are wrongly identified by some ethnologists with the Kiang-Kuan, Wu-sun, or Ting-ling, all of whom are described as tall, with red hair, " See also:green " or grey eyes, and fair complexion, and must therefore have been of Finnish stock, akin to the present Soyotes of the upper Yenisei. The Kara-Kirghiz are by the Chinese and Mongolians called Burut, where ut is the Mongolian plural ending, as in Tangut, See also:Yakut, modified to yat in Buryat, the collective name of the Siberian Mongolians of the See also:Baikal See also:district. Thus the term See also:Bur is the common Mongolian designation both of the Baikal Mongols and of the Kara-Kirghiz, who occupied this very region and the upper Yenisei valley generally till comparatively See also:recent times. For the original See also:home of their ancestors, the Khakas, See also:lay in the south of the present governments of See also:Yeniseisk and See also:Tomsk, stretching thence southwards beyond the Sayan range to the Tannuola hills in Chinese territory. Here the Russians first met them in the 17th See also:century, and by the aid of the Kazaks exterminated all those east of the Irtish, See also:driving the See also:rest farther west and south-westwards. Most of them took See also:refuge with their kinsmen, the Kara-Kirghiz See also:nomad highlanders, whose homes, at least since the 1 th century, have been the See also:Ala-tau range, the Issyk-kul See also:basin, the Tekes, Chu and Talass See also:river valleys, the Tian-shan range, the uplands draining both to the See also:Tarim and to the Jaxartes and See also:Oxus, including See also:Khokand, See also:Karateghin and See also:Shignan southwards to the Pamir table-See also:land, visited by them in summer. They thus occupy most of the uplands along the Russo-Chinese frontier, between 35° and 50° N. See also:lat. and between 70° and 85° E. long. The Kara-Kirghiz are all grouped in two main sections—the On or " Right " in the east, with seven branches (Bogu, Sary-Bagishch, Son-Bagishch, Sultu or Solye, Cherik, Sayak, Bassinz), and the Sol or "See also:Left" in the west, with four branches (Kokche or Kilchy, Soru, Mundus, Kitai or Kintai). The Sol See also:section occupies the region between the Talass and Oxus headstreams in See also:Ferghana (Khokand) and Bukhara, where they come in contact with the See also:Galchas or Highland Tajiks.

The On section lies on both sides of the Tian-shan, about See also:

Lake Issyk-kul, and in the Chu, Tekes and Narin (upper Jaxartes) valleys. The See also:total number of Kara-Kirghiz exceeds 800,000. All are essentially nomads, occupied mainly with stock breeding, chiefly horses of a small but See also:hardy breed, See also:sheep of the See also:fat-tailed See also:species, oxen used both for See also:riding and as See also:pack animals, some goats, and camels of both species. See also:Agriculture is limited chiefly to the cultivation of See also:wheat, See also:barley and See also:millet, from the last of which a coarse See also:vodka or See also:brandy is distilled. See also:Trade is carried on chiefly by See also:barter, See also:cattle being taken by the dealers from See also:China, See also:Turkestan and See also:Russia in See also:exchange for manufactured goods. The Kara-Kirghiz are governed by the " manaps," or tribal rulers, who enjoy almost unlimited authority, and may even sell or killtheir subjects. In religious matters they differ little from the Kazaks, whose practices are described below. Although generally recognizing See also:Russian See also:sovereignty since 1864, they pay no taxes. The Kazaks.—Though not unknown to them, the term Kirghiz is never used by the steppe nomads, who always See also:call themselves simply Kazaks, commonly interpreted as riders. The first See also:authentic reference to this name is by the Persian poet and historian Firdousi (loco), who speaks of the Kazak tribes as much dreaded steppe marauders, all mounted and armed with lances. From this circumstance the term Kazak came to be gradually applied to all freebooters similarly equipped. and it thus spread from the Aralo-See also:Caspian basin to South Russia, where it still survives under the form of Cossack, spelt Kazak or Kozak in Russian. Hence though Kazak and Cossack are originally the same word, the former now designates a Mongolo-Tatar nomad race, the latter various members of the Slav family.

Since the 18th century the Russians have used the See also:

compound expression Kirghiz-Kazak, chiefly in See also:order to distinguish them from their own See also:Cossacks, at that time overrunning Siberia. Siegmund Herberstein (1486-1566) is the first See also:European who mentions them by name, and it is noteworthy that he speaks of them as "Tartars," that is, a people rather of See also:Turki than Mongolian stock. In their present homes, the so-called " Kirghiz See also:steppes," they are far more numerous and widespread than their Kara-Kirghiz kinsmen, stretching almost uninterruptedly from Lake See also:Balkash See also:round the See also:Aral and Caspian Seas westwards to the lower Volga, and from the river Irtish southwards to the lower Oxus and Ust-Urt See also:plateau. Their domain, which is nearly 2,000,000 sq. m. in extent, thus lies mainly between 45° and 55° N. lat. and from 45° to 8o° E. long. Here they came under the sway of .Jenghiz Khan, after whose See also:death they See also:fell to the See also:share of his son Juji, head of the See also:Golden See also:Horde, but continued to retain their own khans. When the Uzbegs acquired the ascendancy, many of the former subjects of the Juji and Jagatai hordes fell off and joined the Kazaks. Thus about the See also:year 1500 were formed two powerful states in the Kipchak and Kheta steppes, the See also:Mogul-Ulus and the Kazak, the latter of whom, under their khan Arslane, are said by See also:Sultan See also:Baber to have had as many as 400,000 fighting men. Their See also:numbers continued to be swollen by voluntary or enforced accessions from the fragments of the Golden Horde, such as the Kipchaks, Naimans, Konrats, Jalairs, Kankali, whose names are still preserved in the tribal divisions of the Kazaks. And as some of these peoples were undoubtedly of true Mongolian stock, their names have given a colour to the statement that all the Kazaks were rather of Mongol than of Turki origin. But the universal prevalence of a nearly pure variety of the Turki speech throughout the Kazak steppes is almost alone sufficient to show that the Tatar See also:element must at all times have been in the ascendant. Very various accounts have been given of the relationship of the Kipchak to the Kirghiz, but at present they seem to form a subdivision of the Kirghiz-Kazaks. The Kara-Kalpaks are an allied but apparently See also:separate tribe.

The Kirghiz-Kazaks have long been grouped in three large " hordes " or encampments, further subdivided into a number of so-called " races," which are again grouped in tribes, and these in sections, branches and auls, or communities of from five to fifteen tents. The division into hordes has been traditionally referred to a powerful khan, who divided his states amongst his three sons, the eldest of whom became the founder of the Ulu-Yuz, or See also:

Great Horde, the second of the Urta-Yuz, or Middle Horde, and the third of the Kachi-Yuz, or Little Horde. The last two under their common khan Abulkhair voluntarily submitted in 1730 to the Empress See also:Anne. Most of the Great Horde were subdued by Yunus, khan of Ferghana, in 1798, and all the still See also:independent tribes finally accepted Russian sovereignty in 1819. Since 1801 a See also:fourth division, known as the Inner or Bukeyevskaya Horde, from the name of their first khan, Bukei, has been settled in the See also:Orenburg steppe. But these divisions affect the common people alone, all the higher orders and ruling families being broadly classed as See also:White and Black Kost or Bones. The White Bones comprise only the khans and their descendants, besides the issue of the khojas or Moslem " See also:saints." The Black Bones include all the rest, except the Telengut or servants of the khans, and the Kill or slaves. The Kazaks are an honest and trustworthy people, but heavy, sluggish, sullen and unfriendly. Even the hospitality enjoined by the See also:Koran is displayed only towards the orthodox Sunnite See also:sect. So essentially nomadic are all the tribes that they cannot adopt a settled See also:life without losing the very sentiment of their See also:nationality, and becoming rapidly absorbed in the Slav See also:population. They dwell exclusively in semicircular tents consisting of a See also:light wooden framework, and red See also:cloth or See also:felt covering, with an opening above for light and See also:ventilation. The See also:camp life of the Kazaks seems almost unendurable to Europeans in See also:winter, when they are confined altogether to the See also:tent, and exposed to endless discomforts.

In summer the See also:

day is spent mostly in See also:sleep or drinking See also:koumiss, followed at See also:night by feasting and the See also:recital of tales, varied with songs accompanied by the See also:music of the See also:flute and See also:balalaika. But See also:horsemanship is the great amusement of all true Kazaks, who may almost be said to be See also:born in the See also:saddle. Hence, though excellent riders, they are See also:bad walkers. Though hardy and long-lived, they are uncleanly in their habits and often decimated by small-pox and Siberian See also:plague. They have no fixed meals, and live mainly on mutton and See also:goat and See also:horse flesh, and instead of See also:bread use the so-called balamyk, a See also:mess of See also:flour fried in dripping and diluted in See also:water. The universal drink is koumiss, which is wholesome, nourishing and a specific against all See also:chest diseases. The See also:dress consists of the chapan, a flowing robe of which one or two are worn in summer and several in winter, fastened with a See also:silk or See also:leather See also:girdle, in which are See also:stuck a See also:knife, See also:tobacco pouch, See also:seal and a few other trinkets. Broad silk or cloth pantaloons are often worn over the chapati, which is of See also:velvet, silk, See also:cotton or felt, according to the See also:rank of the wearer. Large black or red leather boots, with round white felt pointed caps, See also:complete the See also:costume, which is much the same for both sexes. Like the Kara-Kirghiz, the Kazaks are nominally See also:Sunnites, but Shamanists at See also:heart, worshipping, besides the Kudai or See also:good divinity, the Shaitan or bad spirit. Their faith is strong in the talchi or soothsayer and other charlatans, who know everything, can do everything, and heal all disorders at See also:pleasure. But they are not fanatics, though holding the abstract See also:doctrine that the " Kafir " may be lawfully oppressed, including in this See also:category not only Buddhists and Christians, but even Mahommedans of the Shiah sect.

There are no fasts or ablutions, mosques or mollahs, or regular prayers. Although Mussulmans since the beginning of the 16th century, they have scarcely yet found their way to See also:

Mecca, their pilgrims visiting instead the more convenient shrines of the "saints" scattered over eastern Turkestan. Unlike the Mongolians, the Kazaks treat their dead with great respect, and the See also:low steppe hills are often entirely covered with monuments raised above their See also:graves. Letters are neglected to such an extent that whoever can merely write is regarded as a savant, while he becomes a See also:prodigy of learning if able to read the Koran in the original. Yet the Kazaks are naturally both musical and poetical, and possess a considerable number of national songs, which are usually repeated with See also:variations from mouth to mouth. The Kazaks still choose their own khans, who, though See also:con-firmed by the Russian See also:government, possess little authority beyond their respective tribes. The real rulers are the elders or umpires and sultans, all appointed by public See also:election. See also:Brigandage and raids arising out of tribal feuds, which were formerly recognized institutions, are now severely punished, sometimes even with death. See also:Capital See also:punishment, usually by See also:hanging or strangling, is inflicted for See also:murder and See also:adultery, while three, nine or twenty-seven times the value of the stolen See also:property is exacted for See also:theft. The domestic animals, daily pursuits and See also:industries of the Kazaks differ but slightly from those of the Kara-Kirghiz. Some of the wealthy steppe nomads own as many as 20,000 of the large fat-tailed sheep. Goats are kept chiefly as guides for these flocks; and the horses, though small, are hardy, See also:swift, light-footed and capable of covering from 50 to 6o miles at a stretch.

Amongst the Kazaks there are a few workers in See also:

silver, See also:copper and See also:iron, the chief arts besides, being skin dressing, See also:wool See also:spinning and See also:dyeing, See also:carpet and felt See also:weaving. Trade is confined mainly to an exchange of live stock for See also:woven and other goods from Russia, China and Turkestan. Since their subjection to Russia the Kazaks have become less lawless, but scarcely less nomadic. A See also:change of See also:habit in this respect is opposed alike to their tastes and to the See also:climatic and other outward conditions.

End of Article: KIRGHIZ

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