Alpamysh

Alpamysh, also spelled as Alp-amish or Alpamish (Uzbek language: Alpomish/Алпомиш, Turkish: "Alpamis", Kazakh Cyrillic script: "Алпамыс", Bashkir: "Алпамыша ", Russian: "Алпамыш", Azerbaijani: "Alpamıs", Kazan Tatar: "Алпамша"), is an ancient Turkic epic or dastan — ornate oral history, generally set in verse — and one of the most important examples of the Turkic oral literature of Central Asia. [Prof. Paksoy H.B. "Alpamysh. Central Asian Identity under Russian Rule". Association for the Advancement of Central Asian Research Monograph Series, Hartford, Connecticut, First AACAR Edition, 1989, ISBN 0-9621379-9-5, ISBN 0-9621379-0-1 (pbk.), p. 1] Among the Uzbeks the epic is known as "Alpamish", Kazakhs and Karakalpaks as "Alpamis", Altay mountaineers as "Alip-Manash", Bashkirs as "Alpamisha and Barsin khiluu", and Kazan Tatars as the tale of "Alpamşa". It is also known among other Turkic people, as well as Tajiks and Central Asian Arabs. [ [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/021/110.htm "Alpamysh". Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in 30 volumes), in Russian, Third edition, Moscow, 1970] ] According to scholars Borovkov, Hadi Zarif and Zhirmunskiy, as well as earlier writings by academician Bartold, all specialists in Oriental and Turkic studies, the dastan Alpamysh "existed probably in the foothills of the Altai as early as the sixth-eighth centuries at the time of the Turk Kaghanate." [Prof. Paksoy H.B. "Alpamysh. Central Asian Identity under Russian Rule". Association for the Advancement of Central Asian Research Monograph Series, Hartford, Connecticut, First AACAR Edition, 1989, ISBN 0-9621379-9-5, ISBN 0-9621379-0-1 (pbk.), p. 53] The tale of Alpamish was supplanted in ninth-tenth centuries from Altay mountains to Syr-darya river by the Oghuz Turks, where the story line continued on independently and became part of the Salor-Kazan tale, one of the main characters in the Book of Dede Korkut. [E.M.Meletinskiy [http://feb-web.ru/feb/ivl/vl3/vl3-5842.htm Central Asian epic of Alpamish // History of world literature: 9 volumes / USSR Academy of Sciences, Institute of world literature named after A.M.Gorkiy, Moscow: Nauka, 1983 and on (Vol. 3, 1985, p. 585] ] The epic acquired its final form between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. [ [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/021/110.htm "Alpamysh". Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in 30 volumes), in Russian, Third edition, Moscow, 1970] ] Alpamish is one of the best known Turkic epics from among a total of well over 1,000 recorded epics among the Mongolian and Turkic language families by international scholars. [ [http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/16ii/Rinchindorji.pdf Rinchindorji. "Mongolian-Turkic Epics: Typological Formation and Development" / Institute of Ethnic Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Trans. by Naran Bilik, Oral Tradition, 16/2, 2001, p. 381] ]

According to Turkish historian Hasan Paksoy, the dastan Alpamysh, like other dastans (e.g., Book of Dede Korkut) were suppressed and otherwise discouraged from studying in the Soviet Union, culminating in the 1950s in what has come to be known as the "Trial of Alpamysh". [ [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/53/136.html Prof. H.B. Paksoy, "An open letter to the editorial board of Hurriyat (Mustakil Gazeta)", Tashkent, Ozbek Republic, 2 February 2000] ] Despite all the repressions, Alpamysh was printed no less than 55 times between 1899 and 1984. [ [http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-6/cae05.html H.B. Paksoy, DASTAN GENRE IN CENTRAL ASIA, Modern Encyclopedia of Religions in Russia and the Soviet Union (Academic International Press, 1995) Vol. V] ] For example, it was published in the Soviet Union in 1939, 1941, and 1949 ["Alpamysh" entry in "Bol'shaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya" (the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, second edition)] , 1957, 1958 and 1961 ["Alpamysh" entry in "Bol'shaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya" (the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, third edition) [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/021/110.htm] ] . The entry in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, second edition (1952), praises the epic as "a national saga of valour, courage and detestation of the enemies", "one of the best examples of Uzbek heroic epos", "rich in aphorisms, expressive metaphors and proof of the wealth of the Uzbek popular poetic language". [Original text: "А.-народное сказание о мужестве, отваге и ненамисти к врагам. ... Вариант, записанный в 1928 со слов знаменитого узбекского сказителя Фазил Юлдаш-оглы (р.1872), - один из лучших образцов узбекского героич. эпоса. Поэма насыщена афоризмами, яркими метафорами и свидетельствует о богатстве узбекского народного поэтического языка."]

In 1999, at the request of Uzbekistan delegation to the UNESCO, the "Thousandth anniversary of the popular epic Alpamysh" was held. [ [http://erc.unesco.org/cp/cp.asp?country=UZ&language=E UNESCO, webpage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, accessed April 3, 2007] ] [ [http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18568&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO, Celebration of anniversaries with which UNESCO was associated since 1996, accessed April 3, 2007] ]

Brief synopsis of the story

The Alpamysh dastan, in its Uzbek variant of ashiq Fazil Yuldashogli, which is the largest recorded version with 14 thousand verses, consists of two parts [ [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/021/110.htm "Alpamysh". Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in 30 volumes), in Russian, Third edition, Moscow, 1970] ] (other scholars have divided the epic into four parts [ [http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/16ii/Rinchindorji.pdf Rinchindorji. "Mongolian-Turkic Epics: Typological Formation and Development" / Institute of Ethnic Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Trans. by Naran Bilik, Oral Tradition, 16/2, 2001, p. 387] ] ). There are variations of content depending on the manuscript and geographic region in which the centuries-old epic tale was written down. The first deals with the hero's wooing, the second (much longer) with the vicissitudes which he undergoes as a result of attempting to assist his father-in-law and his return home after seven years just as his wife is about to be forced to marry a usurper. [ [http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/mailing_lists/BMCR-L/2001/0315.php Karl Reichl, Das usbekische Heldenepos Alpomish: Einfuhrung, Text, Ubersetzung, (Turcologica 48.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001. Pp. 311. ISBN 3-447-04423-3. DM 98. Reviewed by Stephanie West, Hertford College, Oxford University] ]

In the first part tells about Alpamysh and his bride Barchin (sometimes known as Gulibairsen [ [http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/16ii/Rinchindorji.pdf Rinchindorji. "Mongolian-Turkic Epics: Typological Formation and Development" / Institute of Ethnic Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Trans. by Naran Bilik, Oral Tradition, 16/2, 2001, p. 387] ] in the Siberian and Mongolian variants), with whom he is engaged since childhood. Their fathers, Bayburi and Baysari, were from the Kongrat Turkic tribe, and were childless for a very long time, until their pleas were heard by God, and Baysari had one daughter, whilst Bayburi had a daughter and a son. After an argument, Baysari and his family left to the Kalmyk country. There Barchin, by then a very pretty young lady, has the pehlivan's (strongmen) of Kalmyk shah, Taycha-khan. In order to avoid an involuntary marriage to any of the hated by her pehlivan, Barchin declares that she will marry anyone, who wins all four championships.

The championships are the following: horse race ("bayga"), archery skills, target shooting from a bow, and wrestling. Baychin is secretly hoping that the winner will be her beloved Alpamysh, after whom she sends several people (ambassadors). One of the main assistants to Alpamysh in this complex marriage qualification is one of the Kalmyk pehlivan's, Karajan, who turns from an opponent and enemy to a friend of the hero. Karajan outruns all the competitors on Alpamysh's horse, Baychibare, despite all the tricks by Kalmyks, who initially tie him in ropes and maim his horse by inserting nails into the horseshoes. Karajan enters the wrestling competition with Kalmyk pehlivan's, after which Alpamysh finishes to victory by winning the strongest of pehlivan's, Kokaldash.

Together with Barchin, who is now his wife, they return back to Kongrat. The only person to stay in Kalmyk country is Baysari, who is still angry at Bayburi.

In the second part, Alpamysh, finding out about the hardships caused to Baysari by the Taycha-khan, once again travels to the Kalmyk country, and falls captive to his tricky enemies.

He then spends seven years in zindan (underground prison) of the Kalmyk khan. He is being fed by a choban (shepherd) Kaykubat, who accidentally discovered his location. The daughter of the Kalmyk khan visits Alpamysh in his cell, falls in love with him and helps to free him from captivity. The freed Alpamysh then confronts Taycha-khan, kills him, and puts shepherd Kaykubat on the throne.

During his seven year absence, the leader of the Kongrat tribe becomes his youngest brother Ultantaz. The new ruler is persecuting his people, dishonors the old father of Alpamysh, and harasses the young son Yadgar, whilst forcing Barchin to marry him. Alpamysh, by switching clothes with his old shepherd servant Kultay, undetected, comes to the marriage celebration of Ultantaz, frees his wife Barchin and kills Ultantaz. The epic ends with the return from voluntary exile of Baysari (the father of Barchin), and re-unification of the previously divided Kongrat tribe under the leadership of heroic Alpamysh.

The Siberian Turkic nations' version of the epic can be summarized as follows:

"Alpamis, recounts the story of its hero’s life and the events before his birth with rich description and intriguing stories. Its basic plot, however, can be classified into four parts. First, Alpamis’ parents pray for a son, make a pilgrimage, and experience the miraculous pregnancy of Alpamis’ mother. Alpamis is eventually born and grows up. Second,Alpamis marries the beauty Gulibairsen after a heroic battle. Third, after returning home with his wife, Alpamis fights his enemy Taishik Khan, who has ransacked his herds and property; Alpamis kills him and recovers everything that was lost. Fourth, after returning home again, Alpamis conquers Urtan—a very destructive demon and son of the charwoman ofAlpamis’ family—who attempted to possess his wife Gulibairsen." [ [http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/16ii/Rinchindorji.pdf Rinchindorji. ibid., p. 387] ]

There is also a lesser-known sequel to Alpamish, about the heroic adventures of Yadgar (Yadigar), the son of Alpamish and Barchin (Gulibairsen). [ [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/021/110.htm "Alpamysh". Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in 30 volumes), in Russian, Third edition, Moscow, 1970] ]

References

External links

* [http://aton.ttu.edu/turkishlist.asp "Alpamysh", Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative, Texas Tech University, 2000-2007]
* [http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-1/ Central Asian Identity Under Russian Rule]

ee also

*Alıp
*Alpawıt
*Book of Dede Korkut
*Koroglu