You are here

Home » Kazakhstan religious leaders of ancient. Traditions of religious leaders of medieval Kazakhstan

Korkyt-Ata.

Special excursion Kazakhstan.

 “No matter how you beautify a donkey – it won’t become a Tulpar, no matter now you dress a slave – he won’t  become a Khan”

Anthology of Kazakh music.

(Khan  is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler). On the Korkyt was Tengry man, which means he was ethnic pagan, that’s why he couldn’t perceive new religion. Among Nomadic people Islam was spread by force arms.
Korkyt’s rebellion against death, was not at the action of self-preservation or saving his own soul, but it was the resistance against the coming of Islam," - says a major researcher, writer Tarakty Akseleu. Korkyt was a thinker who foresaw the future, he was a historical person.
He was not a batyr, nor he was a warrior, but his melodies, kui and songs that he left to the people, which we can still hear today give people a strong sense of patriotism.  Once in his dream Korkyt saw angels who told him to do one important thing: "Wrap a wooden instrument with camel leather and make a string from a horse hair."
After completing all this, Korkyt created a wonderful musical instrument which was called in honor of creator "Kobyz Korkyt."  Korkyt’s birth is also associated with miracles and myths. Just before his birth there was an eclipse of the sun so it became quite dark, the storm started and it rained, thunder and lightning flashed.
People were very scared. But after Korkyt was born, natural disaster storm was over, everything calmed down and Sun was shining in the clean sky. "He came into this world at a time when everyone was scared, he scared all of usl, so let's call him Korkyt" - decided people.
Sh.Valihanov with Potanin explained that the word "Korkyt" characterizes the life of a mankind. Legends and stories about Korkyt are common among Turkic peoples, especially among the Kazakhs. Korkyt believed that the most important thing about a man is moral, the most dangerous thing for a man is to lose one’s moral principles.
"The book Korkyt ata" – is a written monument of an epic genre of a tribe Ogyz which later was  included  in the Turkic people culture. The book tells us about the life of Ogyz tibes,the book is generally written in Ogyz-Kipchak language.
There are two  preserved  copies of a book written in Arabic alphabet (Dresden, the Vatican). Korkyt is known to the world, especcialy to Turkic people. There is no accurate data about his age, some believe that he died at the age of 93, others think it was 193, while some individuals bring his age up to 400.

Authority:
«Monuments of the Central Asia». The author of M. Khahsimov. Publishing house,  Saga, 2001. Samarkand. «Masterpieces of the Central Asia», Tashkent, Publishing house Sanat, 2004. www.farsah.kz.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.