Tomorrow evening marks the start of Ramadan - probably, it all depends on the sighting of the new moon and whereas some Muslims are happy to calculate the date on the basis of astronomical data, in Muslim circles this is a hotly debated issue.  Anyway, for those who rely on actual sightings it is possible that in some parts of the world the month will start tomorrow.

Also, in the Muslim calendar, the day isn’t reckoned to run from midnight to midnight but runs from sunset  to sunset … so if today is the first day of Ramadan – for practicing Muslims, it actually began at sunset today.

Anyway, I though I would take the opportunity to look at one of the major characters in the development 0f Islam who has connections with Kyrgyzstan: Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri.  

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The religion of Islam is based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed who died in 632 AD. Disputes arose after his death as to the leadership of the faithful – which led to a division between the Sunni and Shiite that is still reflected in the world of Islam today.  In general, the Kyrgyz are adherents to the Sunni branch of Islam.

Another branch of Islam is Sufism –  defined by its adherents as “the inner, mystical dimension of Islam”.   Others say that it is “a perennial philosophy of existence that pre-dates religion”.

The word “Sufi” is derived from the Arab word for wool and was assigned to certain groups because of the woollen robes that they wore.  The Sufi tradition tends to emphasise the compassionate nature of God to be found in the Koran, as to the more austere view presented in some of the other traditions, and Sufi “dervishes” sought a mystical union with the Almighty and eventually Sufi orders began to emerge.

One of the places which played a prominent role in the development of Sufism was the Ferghana Valley with a number of Sufi saints such as Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri and Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki studying here.

The Grand Shaykh Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri was born around the turn of the first millenium, (1000AD or 390 according to the Muslim calender), in Ghazna (in modern day Afghanistan), which was then the capital of the mighty Ghaznavid Empire – into a family that was apparently held in high esteem for piety and learning.

An eleventh century Sufi, he is renowned as the author of the celebrated Persian treatise on Sufism: Kashful Mahjub, (“Unveiling the Veiled” or “Revealing the Mystery”), which was the first book on the subject to be written in Persian.  (At that time Arabic was the dominant language for religious Islamic works and several texts about Sufism apparently existed – and are referred to in the work – some of which no longer exist.) It is considered a one of the most comprehensive treatments of Sufism and includes accounts of the lives of some of the great historical figures of the movement (including quotations of their sayings), a discussion of various features of the doctrine and practices of the movement (including an examination of the differences between different schools within the movement) and accounts of episodes drawn from his own life and experience.  Despite its age, it is considered to still be one of the best descriptions of Sufism and it is said that those who seek a guide in Sufism should do three things:

• pray for guidance;
• visit the tombs of the great shaykhs, and
• read the Kashful-Mahjub.

(There is an abridged English translation by Reynold A. Nicholson, made in 1911. There is also another version, of the complete text with a commentary, by the Chishti Scholar Captain Wahid Bakhsh Siyal, published in Malaysia.)

Few details are known about his life apart from what is contained in this book – roughly a third of which is biographical. According to one source, the image of the great man presented in the book is of a “kind but irascible” person, with a “shrewd yet forgiving judge of character”.

It is not clear if he ever married … there is one passage in the book which some scholars have claimed suggest that he did – but others say that it can be interpreted in different ways. In general, it appears that he has a poor opinion of women.

The book opens with an explanation of why he has placed his name so prominently – claiming authorship – to avoid plagiarism. Apparently, with some earlier manuscripts he lent the manuscripts to some unscrupulous people who erased his name and replaced it with their own.

He traveled extensively and lived in Southern Kyrgyzstan for quite some time. He had some of the most important experiences of the formative period of his life in the region and describes the key spiritual figures of the Ferghana Valley in the second part of the work.

He spent the last years of his life in Lahore (in modern day Pakistan) – where the Kashful-Mahjub was probably written at the request of his close friends and disciples who had come with him from Ghazni and Sarkhs.

He died in about 1072 (465 according to the Muslim calendar) in Lahore and is considered as the “patron saint” of the city, which marks the anniversary of his death (19 Safar, according to the Muslim calendar) every year with an official holiday. He is buried in an busy urban area, outside the Bhati Gate, near to the old city.

In the thirteenth century, a dome was built over the enclosure. Also, the Sufi Saint and scholar Khwaja Muin al-Din Ajmeri visited the tomb and stayed there for 40 days seeking permission and faiz, (spiritual benefit), from him before moving to Ajmerm in the eastern part of India.

The shrine (known as Data Dabar) is apparently the largest Sufi center in South Asia, (it can accommodate about 50,000 worshippers at any one time), and one of the most popular sites of pilgrimages in the sub-continent and attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees on the anniversary of his death. When Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani Prime Minister, returned to the country from exile in 1986, her cavalcade headed directly from the airport to the shrine.  It is currently administered be the ministry of Religious Affairs.

He is also known as: Ali Al-Hijiri Al-Jullabi, Al-Ghazanwi – because he lived in all three places – and as Daata Ganj Baksh (“The giver who bestows treasure”).

Hanzi for Zhang Qian

On Sunday, at the 38th session of the  Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO, held in Doha, it was decided to accept a number of historical and cultural sites from around the world into the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Among the nominations that were approved was one relating to the Silk Road, making special mention of the Tien Shan Corridor, which passed through what is now Kyrgyzstan.  In particular, it included the sites of three Silk Road cities: Nevkat, Suyab and Balasagin. – where the Burana Tower is located.

These days, apart from the Burana Tower, there is not that much to see of the once great cities … they are now, mainly, the domain of archaeologists and people are prepared to use their imagination what once was and might have been.

As it happens, I have already written a postcard about the cities of the Silk Road as it passed though the Chui Valley and also one about the seventh century traveler, Hsuan Tsang – who crossed the Bedel Pass from China and rested on the Southern shores of Lake Issyk Kul before traveling on to Tokmok where he was entertained by the Great Khan of the region and would have visited these cities when they were at the height of their power and importance.  

So to mark this occasion I thought I would look at another of the Silk Road pioneers, Zhang Qian, (or Chang Ch’ien), who is sometimes refered to as the First Silk Road traveler, (although, to be honest, he almost certainly didn’t visit these three cities – probably traveling a more southerly route to the Feghana Valley in his search for the legendary Celestial Horses).  

It was in 138 B.C., that Zhang Qian, the commander of the guards of the imperial palace gates volunteered to lead an expedition of 100 men to form an alliance with the Yuezhi, (an agricultural people who produced strong horses and many unknown crops including alfalfa for animal fodder), against the Xiongnu, (a Turkic speaking nomadic tribe which, at the height of it power, dominated an area that extended all the way from Eastern Mongolia to the Aral Sea).

It wasn’t an easy journey.

After a trip lasting thirteen years, from the 100 men that had originally left with him, Zhang Qian returned with a solitary survivor, (Ganfu – a Xiongnu prisoner of war).

In his journeying he was captured and held captive for ten years; married to a Xiongnu bride and fathered a son before escaping and continuing his journey.

Traveling into the Ferghana valley he encountered the legendary Celestial Horses and then South into Bactria, he discovered that the potential allies he was seeking were more interested in trade than making war – the great Chinese empire was just too far away.

His mission was a failure in that he failed to find allies for the Chinese court, but he brought back with him something which, perhaps, much more valuable – information about the geography, the peoples and culture of the lands to West – information about some 36 separate kingdoms. His mission also led to the formalization of trade, especially the silk trade, between China and Persia. As a result, he is often regarded as the founder of the Silk Road.

Of particular interest to the Imperial court was his description of the short, strong, sturdy horses that sweated blood and which were superior to any in China at that time and could match, and surpass, those of the nomadic Xiongnu and so a return journey was undertaken to arrange for the purchase of a stock of these Celestial Horses. The new emperor Wu-ti sent him back (this time with three hundred warriors), and after a lifetime of travel and danger his health gave out and he died after his return from this second trip. Wu-ti then sent another, far larger, expedition which after a four year campaign returned with some 3000 of the Celestial Horses.

These horses were famous for “sweating blood” – something noted by Silk Road travellers right up until the 19th and 20th centuries. The reason for this phenomenon remained a secret right up until the twentieth century when it was discovered that it was due to parasite infections. The parasite burrowed under the skin in the region of the shoulder and back and produced little swellings which burst and bled. Not only were these horses highly prized by the Chinese army and served in many campaigns, (and later by the nomadic tribes which inhabited the region, they were traded for silk – much of which found its way to Europe – and served as models for sculptures across China.

On his travels he had noticed products from further abroad, but the task remained to find a trade route which was not blocked by the Xiongnu.  Zhang Qian set out on a second mission to forge a route from China to India via Sichuan, but after many attempts this effort proved unsuccessful.

In 119-115 Zhang Qian was sent on a third mission by the emperor, to develop ties with the Wusun people.  On his return he was granted the post of “Grand Messenger” and became on eof the highest ranking ministers in the government.

He was the first official diplomat to bring back reliable information about Central Asia and the world beyond their borders to the Chinese imperial court.  The accounts of his travels were included in many of the ancient chronicles and he played an important role in the Chinese colonization and conquest of the region which we now know as Xinjiang and opened up China to the rest of the world, for which, today, he is considered a national hero.

Ishnaly Arabaev

Some time ago I was invited to an event in one of Bishkek’s many Universities, the one named in honour of Ishenaly Arabaev.

It is one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in the country – based on six sites located in the city center – the main one being adjacent to the main Ala Too Square.  There are about a thousand teaching staff, and caters for something 16,000 students – including 1800 foreign students – across almost sixty disciplines.

Although one source says that it can trace its origins back to 1915, I have been told that it was once basically the pedagogical institute – the Teacher Training Institute – having been established in 1949 as the Women’s Teacher Training College, being transformed into an Institute the following year and obtaining University status in 1994, but still concentrating on Education and known as the Kyrgyz State Pedagogical University.

Nowadays, however,  they have a variety of departments ranging from Educational, (including Continuing and Vocational education; the Humanities – including an institute for History, Sociology and Law ; Linguistics – including a specialized institute for Kyrgyz Language and Culture; Economics and Management; Innovative and Communication Technology, (ICT);  Oriental Studies and International Relations; the Sciences – especially Biology and Chemistry; and not forgetting Ecology and Tourism), and since 2005 has been known simply as the Arabaev Kyrgyz State University.

The name of Arabaev is well respected in the country as an educator, academic, linguist, philosopher, one of the founders of the modern Kyrgyz language … if not of the modern Kyrgyz state.

He was born in the village of Kyb Batyshev in the Kochkor District in 1870.

Between 1899 and 1903 he attended several short courses aimed at teaching children basic literacy, to read and write.  He must have been a good student because just four years later, in 1907, he was in Constantinople as a student, and traveled extensively through the Middle East, visiting cities such as Tehran, Baghdad and Mecca.

In 1910, he was teaching in elementary religious schools and, on his own initiative, began to organize a school for the local population based on European (secular) principles.

Then he left for three years to study in Madrassss in Orenburg and Ufa in Russia where he was engaged in research and published a wide range of articles, becoming an influential mullah in the Ufa madrassah.

It was whilst he was in Orenburg that he published “Alif-bee Jacky tutu okuu“,  a “Kyrgyz-Kazakh ABC” for use by schoolchildren, and also one of the first books in Kyrgyz ever to be published – a number of poems by various Kyrgyz poets including …. .  It’s interesting that this milestone in the history of Kyrgyz literature took place in Kazan – the capital of Tatarstan in Russia.

He also wrote primers for both Children and adults and a standard book on the Fundamentals of Spelling as well as school books on arithmetic, natural history, geography and a wide variety of articles on social and political themes.

He is credited with creating a written form of Kyrgyz – based on the Arabic system of writing – which was, for a short ime adopted as the offical form for Kyrgyz, before the present Cyrillic alphabet was adopted.  He was particularly active in the campaign to prevent transcription in the Latin alphabet.

On his return home to Kyrgyzstan he used the experience he had gathered to lead the development of education in the country.   Between 1913 and 1916 he was involved in a number of projects, most notably the establishment of the Kurmanov school in the village of Tort Kol in the Ton district of Issyk Kul which became a model for other schools around the country and other secular schools thoughout the country; in the Issyk Ata, in the South and in the Naryn district … which were secular schools based on contemporary European methods which was in stark contrast to those methods used in the religious schools of his day.

He was also active in campaigning for better access to educational opportunities for the Kyrgyz population.

This was to come to an abrupt stop with the Urkun events of 1916, when the local population rebelled against the Russian Imperial edict and, as a result of atrocities (probably on both sides) many people were killed.  A large number of Kyrgyz fled across the border to China, and Arabaev was one of them.

He returned to Kyrgyzstan following the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 and was active, holding a number of academic and managerial posts in the Soviet educational system, and taking an active role in politics.

Despite his elevated position, he and his family lived in a simple three roomed house – one room of which was occupied by students; children of relatives and friends who had moved to “the big city” in order to take advantage of the better educational facilities that he was championing.

Until, that is, he was arrested, (on 10th May, 1933), in one of Stalin’s Great Purges, as a result of his active role in the “nationalities question”, where he was an ally of Abdrahmanov and Syddykov in promoting the idea of a separate Mountain Territory for the Kyrgyz … and later the for the creation of a Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Autonomous Region within the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, (RSFSR), which has likened to the “first step in the implementation of the centuries old dream of the Kyrgyz people” – a separate and independent state.  All of which was an anathema to Joseph Stalin and those in power at the time.

Oddly enough, despite his Nationalist credentials, he apparently urged his fellow Kyrgyz to give up the nomadic way of life and to settle down.  This support for the controversial programme of collectivization was not to help him however … He died in prison in Tashkent, apparently committing suicide by poison, just under a month later – on 7th June, 1933.

In 1958, he was rehabilitated along with many other victims of the purges.

Why should he? he ponders, … but then again, Why not? What does he have to lose?  He takes the necessary administrative steps to effect the change – submitting an application to the authorities and then placing an advert in the pres to inform all and sundry.

The advert is picked up by the intelligence services of the other side. What’s This?, they ask. Why would he do this?  So they start to pay more attention to him and his research … and their attention is in turn picked up by the intelligence services of his own country … who then also decide to investigate further.

One thing leads to another, and like the Hawthorne Effect, (which, incidentally, recent research suggests didn’t really exist – it’s all a psychological myth), all of the attention brings about changes to his circumstances. He gets promoted and his research is fast tracked … in the end, potential conflict is averted.

In the final denouement it is revealed that the two strangers were observers from a superior intelligence … who, bored with their “watching brief” over the affairs of humanity decide to undertake a wager. One said that they could effect an “alpha” level change in history with an “omega” change of detail … the other had disagreed.  The wager was on.

As it happens, the former won the wager … but now they had a problem.  Their interference in the affairs of mankind would not go unnoticed and so they had to find a way to reverse what they had done.

I was reminded of this story when looking through some notes to answer a question someone had posed about streets named after famous people  … famous in Kyrgyzstan, that is.

I came across two streets (Orozkakov and Orozbekov) that, at first, glance seemed to be named after one man … I assumed that I had simply made a mistake copying down the name.  The difference between the two was only a single letter.

It was then that I noticed the dates given for each in the notes were different … for Orozbakov they were 1867 to 1930 and for Orozbekov 1889 to 1938.  So I went had a closer look.

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Orozbakov:

Stamp depicting Orozbakov

Sagymbai Orozbakov was a famous Manaschi, and possibly the last of the traditional manaschi – travelling from place to place performing to small audiences all over the country . His bust is one of the famous Manaschi surrounding the Manas monument in front of the Philharmonia building.

He was born in 1867 in a peasant family that lived on the Southern shore of Lake Issk Kul.  His father was a famous musician, a trumpeteer in the employ of Ormon Khan, (a manap and leader of the Kyrgyz tribes in the Chui valley who played an important part in political and miltary developments in Norther Kyrgyzstan in the second half of the nineteenth century – trying to unite the Kyrgyz under a single leadership).

Sagymbai’s poetic tendencies were evident from an early age and he was in constant demand to perform at festivals and feasts.   began reciting the Manas epic at the age of 15, apprenticed to a Chon Manaschi … however, it is likely that he was already well acquainted with the epic, as his elder brother, Alisher, was also talented and respected manaschi.

Like many manaschi, he attributed his inspiration and vocation to a prophetic dream. In his case, he said, Semetei, the son of Manas, appeared to him and and called him to be a performer. Contemporaries considered that his recitals of the Semetie cycle of verses was particularly masterful and was said to feel a special affinity for Semetei, whom he regarded as his “protector”.

As a result of the upheavals of 1916, he emigrated across the border to China along with many other Kyrgyz of the Issyk Kul region, only to return after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

In 1922, when he was already 55, he began a recording of the Manas epic, an “epic” undertaking in itself, taking some four years before illness caused him to stop.  Although he only managed to record all of the first section of the trilogy – that dedicated to the story of the hero himself,  Manas, he never completed the second and third parts dedicated to Semetei and Seitek. Despite that, his version is the most complete of the different versions of the epic.

Although he is as a teller of the national epic, Manas, his repertoire was more much extensive and as well as performing the epic, Orozbakov also composed his own verses and was renowned as an expert on Kyrgyz folk songs and folklore.

In 1992, Kalinin Street, (originally named after the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR), was renamed in his honour.

Orozbekov:

Abdykadyr Orozbekov

Abdykadyr Orozbekovwas one of those active in the establishment, organization and consolidation of Soviet power in what is now Kyrgyzstan.

He was born in 1889 in the village of Ohna, in what was then the Magelanskogo district of the Ferghana region, but is now the Kadamzhinsky rayon of the Batken oblast.

He became involved in revolutionary politics and participated in the Turkestan national-liberation movement and was active in the 1916 revolt against the conscription decree and afterwards a warrant was issued for his arrest by the governor.

In 1918 he joined the Communist Party and served as the chairman of the local Revcom – Revolutionary Committee – and took an active role in the fighting against the Basmachi, rising from the rank of a private soldier to the commander of a detachment

In 1924 he was appointed as the head of the Osh oblast Revcom … and in 1927 as chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, effectively President of the Kyrgyz SSR.

In 1936 and 37, becoming concerned about what he saw as infringements against the principles of democracy (accusing Moscow of adopting a colonialist approach) and the incompetence of the authorities, he began to speak out at various meetings.

He was no stranger to controversy … some ten years earlier, in 1925,  the impassioned speeches and letters signed by him and twenty none other leaders such as Sydykov, were bound to evoke a strong reaction and they prepared themselves for party censure and even arrest.  The expected reaction didn’t take long to come … within days Sydykov was expelled from the party …  Orozbekov faced a grilling at the Obkom - the oblast revolutionary committee.

However, this time in 1937 he was arrested on anti Soviet charges as part of the Great Repression … and died of in May 1938.

As with so many of Stalin’s victims, he was rehabilitated in 1956.

The street that today bears his name was originally called Meshanshchgaya (Petty-bourgoise) and in 1924 was renamed Kyrgyz Street, finally being renamed in his honour in 1974.

Earthquake Memorial, Tashkent – Photo credit: Mark Abel / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Kyrgyzstan lies in a seismically active zone … that is, it experiences a number of earthquakes. The frequency and severity of the earthquakes can vary considerably … as can the consequences. Some are relatively mild and pass almost unnoticed, whereas others can be strong and create serious damage.

When they occur in built up, more densely populated areas, the damage and possible loss of life and injuries are of course greater. Fortunately, many of them occur in remote mountain regions which are less densely populated.

Apparently, the strongest earthquake to have occurred on the territory of the present Kyrgyz Republic happened in 1911 in the Kemin region, when the strength at the epicenter reached point 11 on the Richter scale(!)

One of the most important earthquakes to strike the region was the 1966 Tashkent earthquake which struck in the early hours of the morning, (at 5:22 am), on 26th April, 1966.

At just 5.2 on the Richter scale, (although one source says it measured 7.5), it wasn’t a particularly strong earthquake, but the consequences were far greater because it hit a built up area – the main center of the damage being in the old city. Thousands of the ancient, one-story adobe dwellings were flattened.

Although only 10 people were killed in the earthquake itself, about 1,000 were injured … and something like 28,000 buildings, (one source suggests 78000), were destroyed, (including 200 hospitals and clinics, and 180 schools), leaving about 100,000 people homeless, (although one source says 300,000).

In additional, further damage was sustained from the aftershocks which followed, something like 700 of them.

A massive plan of reconstruction was put into effect – “battalions of fraternal peoples” from the Soviet republics, and some from other countries such as Finland, to help rebuild devastated Tashkent. Urban planners and these fraternal battalions created a city of wide streets planted with shade trees, parks, immense plazas for parades, fountains, monuments, and acres of apartment blocks.

Further development in the following years increased the size of the city with major new developments in the Chilonzor area, north-east and south-east of the city.

The Earthquake Memorial, “Courage”, was erected on the banks of the river which divides the city in two.  It consists huge bronze figures; a woman holding a child and a man with an expressive stance before a zigzag crack in the ground, symbolizing the resistance of city’s inhabitants against the raw power of the terrible underground forces. The crack leads to a cube broken into two pieces with the date “April, 26, 1966″ engraved on it and a dial of clock displaying the time of the event.

Tashkent lies on the site of an oasis on the Chirchik River – but little remains to show for its more than 2000 year old history as a major trading center as a result of the earthquake in 1966 – destroying much of the city.

The town is based on the site of the original city of Chach and has seen the influence of Sogdians, Kazakhs, Chinese, Arabs, Mongols and, (since it’s fall to the Russian General Chernaiev in 1865), the Russian. Under the Russians it was connected to Moscow and the heart of the Russian empire by a modern railway – and the workers were to play an important role in the Socialist revolution. It became the capital of the short-lived Turkestan Soviet Socialist Republic and won the status of capital of the Uzbek SSR from Samarkand.  During the Soviet period, especially following the earthquake, it underwent considerable reconstruction, and by the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth-largest city in the USSR..

Sights in the city include the Residence of the Grand Duke Romanov; Independence Square; the government building (known as the White House); the Presidential Palace; the Alisher Novoi Opera and Ballet Theater, (and the library and literary museum of the same name); The Sheikhantaur Cemetery in Old Tashkent; Chorsu (famous for its bazaar), and Khast Imam Square with several interesting buildings. There is a wide selection of museums including: the State Fine Arts Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts; two Historical Museums; the Amir Timur Museum erected to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Tamerlane; the Natural History Museum; a number of specialist thematic museums such the Geology Museum; Railway Museum; Defence Museum … and others. Memorials of note include the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and to the Victims of the 1966 earthquake. There is even an amusement park – “Tashkentland”

A modern Metro runs under the city – with 3 separate lines connecting the suburbs with the city center. Kosmonautalar station is recommended for a visit as “Uzbekistan’s own Space Mountain”.

In the environs surrounding Tashkent are the Zengi Ata Mausoleum; Chimgan– the winter sports resort frequented by the capital’s citizens and Charvak – a beautiful reservoir. Excursions are possible to Turkestan (in Kazakhstan) and Dzhizak (on the road South to Ferghana commanding the strategic Jilanuti pass – the birthplace of Sharif Rashidov, the former First Secretary of the Uzbek Communist Party, who ruled the Uzbek SSR for some 24 years).

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and lies 600 km to the west of Bishkek. There are several flights a week which take just over an hour to cover the distance.  Travelling by road take a whole day, along the edge of the Kazakh steppes. Vehicles from Kyrgyzstan cannot enter Uzbekistan without special paperwork and so most people travelling by road swap vehicles and guides at the Chernoyevka border crossing – some 30 km out of Tashkent. There is also a railway link. Froeigners travelling by road or rail need a Kazakh transit visa was well as an Uzbek one.

The other way of travelling between Tashkent and the Kyrgyz Republic is to travel South to Osh – which takes about 4-5 hours driving and then crossing – and then driving up the Ferghana valley.  Although there are many border posts in the Southern regions – most of them are designated as local – and not open for travelers from third countries.

This boy is riding Bareback … but the Kyrgyz have a wide variety of horse livery

There is an old adage that you shouldn’t judge a horse by the harness.

The Kyrgyz sage Toulbai wouldn’t have been fooled by harness – he was renowned for his knowledge of horses.  People would bring him their horses and ask for his advice. For example, they might ask if a particular horse was good for Oodarysh, (the traditional Kyrgyz sport of wrestling on horseback), or a good horse for At Chabysh, (long distance racing), and what they needed to do to make the horse into a champion. Tolubai’s answer might include hints about training or feeding.

The history of horse tack is long and varied.

Different nationalities developed their own embellishments – but the whip (kamchi) was probably the first implement to be invented or utilized.

The bridle – providing a link between horse’s head and the rider’s hands first appeared over 5000 years ago.

The bit – although now made of metal – would probably have been originally out of rawhide, wood, horn or bone and would fit naturally into a gap in the horses teeth.  Needless to say, they were brittle and disintegrate quickly so archaeological evidence is scant before the introduction of meta.l

The bit would be held in place by straps, or metal plates linking it to a headband and these features would often have been highly decorated – the decoration providing evidence as to who made it, and when.

One of the most important means of controlling a horse are the rider’s legs. The word “Shenkel” refers to the inner side of the legs from heels to knees. Since ancient times, in order to increase the influence of the rider’s legs on sides of the horse, people have used spurs of different designs, structure and length. A novice rider, however, couldn’t use spurs: he could not only damage the spurs themselves, but even cripple a horse and, on top of that, not learn to how ride a horse properly.

A modern leather saddle

Saddles seem to date back somewhere around the seventh or eighth century BC – although some historians seem to think that some form of saddle may have existed much earlier, soon after the horse was first domesticated.

The development of the saddle was important because it turned the horse from a beast of burden and means of locomotion pulling carts and chariots.

The Kyrgyz have a saying that: “You may not have a horse, but you must have a saddle”. You can ask a neighbour for a horse in time of need – he will give it, it is a commonplace. On the other hand, even if he gives you his saddle, it will be against his will. This is because, for nomads it cost more than a horse. Even nowadays a good saddle costs the equivalent of two horses and can serve for a hundred and fifty years.

Here in Central Asia, some of the earliest evidence of saddles relates to the Saks – the Scythians described by the ancient historian Heroditus.   For years – centuries even – many of the details of his accounts were thought to be unreliable … but discoveries in tombs  as far afield as Russia, Ukraine, Siberia and Xinjiang in China, as well as depictions in art.

This Scythian saddle basically consisted of two quilted and stuffed cushions sewn to a horsecloth with a gap between them, where the rider would sit across his mount – with a felt pad sewn underneath.   These cushions were reinforced and decorated on the front and rear panels, which not only served as decoration – and thus a status symbol, but also helped to create the now familiar saddle shape with the front and rear higher than the middle, providing protection and comfort for the rider whilst maintaining the shape of the saddle.

A strap (“martingale” or “komolduruk”) was used to fix the saddle – attached to the saddle and running along the chest and over the shoulder of the horse.

At this stage, though, they had no tree or stirrups.  Wooden spacers were added and in the course of time, (probably in the early Middle Ages), this “soft saddle” was replaced with a wooden frame, often decorated with silver, leather and special coverings.  This raised the rider above the horse’s back, redistributing the weight of the rider and making it easier for the horse  reducing rubbing and friction on the spine. 

There were four main types of saddle – man’s, woman’s, children’s and pack. Early saddles were large and heavy with a large pommel. Later, lighter saddles with a narrower pommel and wider seat were adopted. The wider seats and smaller pommels are typical of saddles designed for women.

A child’s saddle came equipped with holes for leather traces which could be used to tie the child safely in and enable the child to ride without the fear that it fall off – an essential feature for nomads on the move. The pack saddle was used for transporting luggage and was later adapted for use with cattle.

Stirrups appeared in Central Asia about 1500 years ago, although there is evidence of stirrups in India in the late second century BC. At first they may have been developed to minimize the danger of mounting a horse while carrying weapons, (apparently, Cambyses, King of Persia fatally stabbed himself leaping onto his horse in 522 BC).

Later, full length pairs of riding stirrups were developed. It may be surprising that something as the stirrup should have appeared so many centuries after man domesticated and began to ride horses. There are some early stirrups, (identified as Turkish), dating from the 6th-8th Century to be found in the Historical Museum in Bishkek. They were attached to the front of the saddle.

The Horsecloth was an important component of the harness.  It protected the animal in hot weather from sweat; in bad weather from supercooling and in combat conditions from the opponent’s arrows, lances and axes.   The horsecloths of the Maverannahr’s horses, (a state in Western Turkistan with it’s capital at Samarkand), had a trapezoidal form and covered their croups from the neck of withers to the tail.  They were put directly under the saddle. Sometimes instead of a horsecloth, a blanket was put on surface of saddle, which was fastened with special straps.  Horsecloths were used in both summer and winter.  Those used in Summer horsecloths were produced from carpet, velvet or silk; and for Winter, according to one scholar, from felt – known to the Kyrgyz as a “jeldik”.

A horsecloth consists of two parts: the lower one with embroidered edges, and the upper (tokum), which is smaller, only the middle part hidden under saddle. The sides of the horsecloths are decorated with hanging “teben’ki” (or teminoor), and sometimes additional pendants.  Horsecloths were usually embroidered on black velvet, and sometimes on leather.  Among fancy motives of embroidery it is possible to see often a round rosette with four horn-shaped curls – kochkor muyuz (sheep’s horn), and a motive of wavy sprouts.

A saddle blanket, (kopchuk), was made from black velvet and decorated with wide embroidered bands along the edges. A breast-collar (kemelduruk) was also embroidered.

A sweat-cloth is used as a lower lining of the saddle and made from several pieces of felt. It covers the horse’s back and fits snugly against its body. A sweat-cloth softens the pressure of the saddle and, (as the name implies), absorbs sweat.  It needs constant care and, especially, thorough drying.

A special device (a “baldak”) was adapted to fit onto the saddle to support the rider’s arm when hunting with eagles, or other birds.

Soon after foals were born, they would have been marked on the ears – or in the case of especially valuable horses – the nostrils. The actual cuts used in the marking would have indicated which tribe they belonged to. Both Horses and cattle were also marked with a metal brand – the design was called a “tamga”.

When they arrived on the scene, the Russians taught the Kyrgyz how to shoe their horses. Before this the horses were never shod, and even later on it was not universal.

Although a common sight in the rest of the world these days, helmets are a relatively recent innovation … and are not really found here in Kyrgyzstan, except as a form of armour for use when riding into combat.  So, anyone going on a horse trek is probably best advised to bring one with them.

They are also quite keen on their monuments.  In a way it is another form of celebration … commemorating someone or something in the form of public, monumental art.  Some of these monuments are grand and gigantic, whilst others are modest and subdued.  Some are graphic and realistic whilst others are simple and abstract.

Unfortunately, some of them are some of them are so understated that after the initial unveiling, it is not always obvious to the passer by exactly what or who they are meant to commemorate.  It doesn’t always help even when there is an inscription … it’ll be in Cyrillic, (and / or, these days especially, Kyrgyz), but then even if you can read the names … that doesn’t tell you much … who is depicted and why were they considered worthy of commemoration.

Tucked away in Oak Park , for example, to one side of the Historical Museum and behind Dom Druzhba, there are a number of busts displayed in the Alley of Statesmen – a sort of open air gallery dedicated to effigies of a dozen characters.

The larger than life busts are in carved from granite and mounted on tall plinths – so they are actually higher than eye level and you have to look up to see them – clad in marble tiles.  The busts represent the work of several of Kyrgyzstans most notable sculptors, (Azhiev, Botagaziev, Mederov, Sadykov, Shestopal, Turumbekov and Usukeev), and date from 1995 to 1998; (so the alley was established after Independence … ), and the artists each tried to represent a fair likeness of the characters they depicted.

At least the name of the gallery tells us something about why the individuals were deemed worthy of inclusion … they were statesmen … but … basically, you have to know that already because there is no sign telling you that … and apart the names inscribed under each of the effigies, nothing to say who they are are what they are notable.  To be fair, I ought to point out that the full title of the Alley, Government Statesmen of Kyrgyzstan of the XX century, tells us a bit more …  These characters are all considered to have played an important role in the history and development of modern Kyrgyzstan … during the Soviet period, (remember that the Alley was erected after this period).

All the statesmen depicted are Kyrgyz … and several of them died during the repressions of the 1930’s.

I suppose for the locals who may be, (or may not be), immersed in local history, the names all mean something … but for visitors the name is meaningless … but there is some criticism that even the city’s modern youth do not recognize them or their historical significance.  Even for long term ex-pats like me, the name may not mean much more than a street name – a city center thoroughfare that has also been given the name to honour the individual … looking at the faces tells us nothing.

It’s not easy, even, to consider them as works of art … they are typical of their genre – busts … a head and shoulders, but little more.

Yusuf ( Djusup) Abdrakhmanovich Abdrahmanov, (1901-1938), was the leader of the nation, and is known as the founding father of the Kyrgyz state.  He worked at the Central Committee of  the Communist Party.  He was involved, in 1924, in the determination of the boundaries of what became present-day Kyrgyzstan.  Guided by the idea of self-determination for the people, in the early 1920’s he proposed to establish a special administrative area for them within the Turkestan Republic.  In 1926 he was appointed the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars  but in September, 1933, was removed from this post.  Eventually, in 1937 he was arrested in 1937, at the age of 37, was executed.

Arstanbek Duysheevich Duisheev (16th September, 1932 – 30th June, 2003,) – was President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (between 1979 and 1981), Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR (from 1981 to 1986), a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Kirghiz SSR.

Sultan Ibraimovich Ibramimov, (20th December, 1927 – 4th December, 1980), who served as President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR – basically the Prime Minister of the Republic.  He was also a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.  He was extremely popular and that may been what led to his death – he was killed by two shots to the head in his bed while staying at the Presidential Residence in Issyk Kul.

Bayaly Isakeev, (1897-1938). He joined the Bolshevik (Communist) Party in May 1920 and in 1927-8 worked as the managing editor of the newspaper Kyzyl Kyrgyzstan – Red Kyrgyzstan.  After that, he became the Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Kyrgyzstan and served for several years as Party Chairman, (from 1933 to 1937).  He fell foul of the “repression” conducted under Josef Stalin and was executed in 1938.

Torobaev Kulatov (1908-1984).  In 1938 he was appointed Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic.  During the Second World War, (the Great Patriotic War, as it is known here), more than 30 large factories were evacuated to Kyrgyzstan from areas near the front line, and Kulatov was responsible for operation and with maintaining production capacity – thus he made a significant contribution to the economic development of the country. In 1945 he was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, where he served for 9 terms, (a total of 33 years).  He was awarded five Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner and the Order of the October Revolution.

Bolot Mambetovich Mambetov (April 24 – according to the Julian Calendar, May 5 according to the Gregorian – 1907 – March 2, 1990).  Mambetov joined the Communist Party in 1929 and served as the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic from 1961 to 1968).  He was also a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star and the three Orders of the Red Banner.

Absamat Masalievich Masaliev (April 10, 1933 – July 31, 2004) – who, as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan (1985-91.) led the country in the period up until the disolution of the Soviet Union.  He also served in a number of posts – including as a Deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh in the newly independent Kyrgyz Republic.

Abdykadyr Orozbekov, (1889-1938).  He played a significant riole in establishing Soviet power in the Ferghana region for which he awarded awarded the “Golden Badge” of the Turkestan Republic in 1924.  A year later he attended, as a delegate, the constituent congress of Soviets of Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Okrug, where he was elected chairman of the Executive Committee.  For ten years between 1927 and 1937 he served as Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Kyrgyz SSR.  He was arrested on trumped up charges and sentenced to death, but he died after a long illness in May 1938 before he could be executed.

Iszhak Razzakovich Razzakov (October 25, 1910 – March 19, 1979) .  He joined the Communist Party in 1940 and served on the Central Committee from 1952 until 1961 – serving as the first secretary.  He was also a three-times Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Ahmatbek Suttubaevich Suyumbaev (17th December, 1920 – 1993), who was effectively Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz SSR between 1968 and 1978; a member of the Central Committee if the CPSU, as well as serving four terms as a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 6-9 convocations. Knight of the Order of Lenin two.

Abdy Suerkulovich Suerkulov (12th December – 25th according to the Gregorian Calendar – 1912 – 10th October, 1992) – Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic between 1950 and 1958.   He was also a three-times Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Abdykerim Sydykov, (1889-1938).  He is often credited with spearheading the creation of the Kyrgyz SSR.  In 1918 he joined the Bolshevik Party and, although he was to be expelled from it on three different occassions, was to play an active and important role in its affairs. In 1922, for example, he was chairman of the organizing committee of the independent Kyrgyz Mountains region – which was a part of the then Turkestan Republic. From 1925 until 1932, he was based in Tashkent, working for the Central Election Commission of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.  In 1932 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Kyrgyz SSR. Eventually, he ran foul of the authorities one time too many and on 18th February, 1938, at the age of 49, he was shot as counter-revolutionary.

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For some reason, when we took the photographs, we only got 11 of the 12 busts – I’ll have to go back and get the last one!:

The Day is also intended to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities; to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals; to promote the teaching of poetry; to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theater, dance, music and painting … and to support small scale publishers – creating an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity.

200 Som note

A;though it it totally unconnected with the choice of the date to commemorate World Poetry Day, today also happens to the be the birthday of Alykul Osmonov was a Kyrgyz poet and writer, (March 21, 1915 – December 12, 1915).  His works embody a love of life and his motherland, and he has been called the “Kyrgyz Pushkin”  His portrait appears on the 200 som note.

Osmonov was a talented lyrical poet and is credited with boldly introducing new themes and imagery into Kyrgyz poetry … whilst, at the same time, managing to keep within the requirements of socialist realism, transforming poetry from an oral tradition to a literary one.

He was born in the village of Kaptal Aryk, (near Kara Balta in what was then called the Kalininskoe Rayon of the Chui oblast – which is now called Panfilov Roayon), about 75 kilometers to the East of Bishkek.

He was orphaned at an early age, being brought up in orpahanges in Pishpek (as Bishkek was called at the time) and Tokmok.  He attended the  Pedagogical Technical School in Frunze, (as Bishkek was called at that time), where he learned Russian in addition to his mother tongue, Kyrgyz.  Unfortunately, he had contracted Tuberculosis at one of the orphanages and had to leave before graduating.

He had begun writing poems early in life – his first published poem, (Kyzyl Juk – Red Strings of Wheat), appearing in the newspaper Sabattuu bol when he was only 20 – although one source suggests that it was when he was just 15.

He turned to journalism and began working on the magazine Chabuul, (Attack), and the newspaper Leninchil Jash, (Lenin’s Youth), and Kyzyl Kyrgyzstan, (Red Kyrgyzstan – which is still published under the title Kyzyl Tuusu).

A few years later his first collection of poems was published, and in 1945 the collection which is regarded as his masterpiece, “Mahabat” (“Love”) appeared.  He published about 500 poems throughout his short life.

Her became a member of the Writers Union and served for a short time as its General Secretary.

He was very fond of Lake Issyk Kul and lived in Cholpon Ata – many of his works describe the lake in its different seasons and moods – and are considered to combine his love for his homeland and its natural beauty and an admiration for the ordinary working people of Kyrgyzstan.

Apparentlym several of his poems were inspired by events in his personal life.  For example, his romance with his first love, (a woman named Aida), and his troubled marriage as well as other personal tragedies such as the death of his parents and his daughter.

As well as being a poet, he was also a dramatist and between 1943 and 1948 he wrote several plays, including Kooman the Ranger, (1947), Abulkasym Dzhanbolotov, (1948), and the comedy-drama You Must Go to Merke, (1949).

I understand that he also wrote a novel – A Knight in Tiger’s Fell – but I haven’t been able to find any details about it.

He wrote in both Kyrgyz and Russian and he also translated many poems, stories, legends and fairy tales from Kyrgyz into Russian.  He also translated many classical literary works into Kyrgyz, (including Pushkin’s “Evgeny Onegin”, Shakespeare’s “Othello” – which was used by Moldobasanov and Moldybaev as the libretto for their opera – and “Twelfth Night”), fairy tales like Red Riding Hood and Puss in Boots.

In turn, some of his works have been translated into English – in particular by Walter May who translated the Sagymbay version of the Manas epic, and a collection published in 1995 by the Soros Foundation.  Some of his poems have also been translated into Japanese and also into Hungarian.

He suffered from severe lungs disease and died  of Pulmonary Pneumonia when he was just 35, (on 27th December, 1950), in Frunze.

He received a number of awards, such as the Stalin Prize – otherwise known as the USSR State Prize, and the Lenin Prize (some 17 years after his death).

There is a statue of him outside the National Library in Bishkek erected in 1997, and their are several museums dedicated to him and his work – for example in Kaptal Aryk – his birthplace, 75 km West of Bishkek – Bishkek, Tokmok and Cholpon Ata.  There i even a mountain named in his honour, a 4060m peak).

His portrait appears on the 200 som bank note complete with a short verse about Issyk Kul:

Issyk Kul

Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, wave-lapped lake
Young girls on our shore much merriment make
Coral bracelets, lost long centuries since
Seem to shine in your depths, and brilliance wake.

Here’s a short poem by Osmonov, (translated into English), that I came across the other day, and that seems particularly appropriate for someone working in Tourism:

Be Our Guest

Our house is waiting for the guest with open doors,
The tastiest dishes for guests – that’s understood.
If you are greedy – ask my head – it’s yours
If you are vengeful – kill me – but taste our food.
For guests we have dainties of the best!
Hey, traveler,
Please drop in, and be our guest.

A pony?

I am not sure if there is a recognized collective noun to describe a gathering of Prime Ministers  … in my search I came up with a number of humourous suggestions, but I would would like to suggest one … at least for Kyrgyz Prime Ministers … a Pony of Prime Ministers. 

If you can have a shrewdness of apes, a blush of boys, a flutter of butterflies, a murder of crows, a convocation of eagles … and so on, why not a Pony of Prime Ministers?

It has a nice “ring” – with a pleasing alliteration, (a P of P …), so, once again, why not?

Let me explain … one of my hobbies when I was a Maths teacher back in Britain, was collecting Maths textbooks.

It all started with a desire to find material that I could use in the classroom – both as a search for explanations and exercises.

Every author had a different way of expressing themselves and I found the different approaches useful when considering how to tackle a new topic with a class – every class is also different and what works with one class might not work so well with another.

The exercises were also helpful because all I had to do was copy them up on the board before setting the class loose to try and solve them.  If I tried making the questions up on the spur of the moment, then I often found I made mistakes and could quite easily make up a problem which turned out to be impossible.  At least the questions out of of a published textbook should be tried and tested.  Then for homework, I could set an exercise out of the textbook that had been issued to the class.

As I accumulated more and more textbooks, I discovered that the books were fascinating in many different respects in their own right.  Some of the topics had disappeared from the curriculum to be replaced by more modern topics … Euclid’s deductive geometry giving way to set theory and matrices for example.

One of the biggest differences came about in 1971 – on 15th February Britain dropped the old monetary system of Pounds, Shillings and Pence (where one pound was made up of 20 shillings, each worth 12 pence – so a pound contained 240 pence), and adopted the Decimal system of Pounds and Pence … one pound comprising of just 100 pence. No longer were pupils tortured with questions like:

£25 3s 3½d + £17 16s 11¼d - £11  6s 2¾d

Mind you, it wasn’t just in terms of money … even well after this, we were still using the Imperial system of weights and Measures – inches, feet, yards and miles instead of centimeters, meters and kilometers; ounces, pounds, stone and hundredweights instead of grams, kilograms and tonnes; fluid ounces, pints, quarts and gallons instead of milliliters and liters … and not forgetting the groat and the grain, rod, pole and perch, the chain and the acre … and a host of others which (I have to admit) can still confuse me to this day.

Returning to money … there were other complications like farthings, a tanner, florins, the half crown and crown, the sovereign and the guinea.  Some were official terms, whereas others, (tanner and bob) were common slang.

In somewhat antiquated British slang, a Pony was a term used for twenty five pounds, (£25), and it was often used in gambling circles to describe a bet of £25 on a horse in a race.

So … that explains the Pony … it stands for 25 … but what’s the connection with Prime Ministers?

The CIS “league table”

Well … over the weekend we learned that, according to the National Institute for Strategic Studies, (NISS), Kyrgyzstan has achieved first place in the CIS, (the Commonwealth of Independent States – comprising of most of the constituent  Republics of the former Soviet Union  -with 9 full members, 2 “participating states” and one “former member” … Georgia), when it comes to the number of Prime Ministers in the 23 years since the break up of the USSR … you guessed it … 25!

Pointing out the obvious, that the average term of office is less than a year, they went on to draw comparisons and conclusions about a linkage between the frequency of changes of government and indicators of socio-economic development … suggesting that in countries where there was a stable system of government there is usually a steady economic growth and relative social stability … and that, conversely, where the governments is “sensitive to political agendas”, then those indicators tend be negative.

Some international comparisons

It’s interesting to see that Russia comes in third place in this league table with 14 Prime Ministers … but I presume Vladimir Vladimirovich would point to the last few years since 2008 when they have had only two people in that role, himself and Dmitry Medveded, (that is, if you don’t count Voctor Zubkov’s one day in 2012 as Acting Prime Minister when Putin re assumed the Presidency and before he appointed Medvedev), and they’ve had a more stable record of economic growth than in the early years when the other people held the office.

The NISS then went on to hint that, in fact, it might not just be a record within the CIS – but might even constitute a world record!  To underline their point, they make some comparisons with a selection of other countries over the same period.  It’s not a definitive list – for example it doesn’t mention Italy’s 13 Prime Ministers during this period, or Belgium’s 7.

Now, although there have been 25 Prime Ministers, it’s not quite that simple … it doesn’t mean, for example, that there have been 25 individuals to hold down the job:

• three people have held the post twice, Boris Saliev, (in the capacity as Acting Prime Minister), Kurmanbek Bakiev and Almazbek Atambaev;
• seven people were Acting Prime Minister and were never appointed as Head of the Government in their own right … … hey, you have to have someone in post or else the business of government will grind to a halt.  One of them, Boris Saliev, (on the first occasion he held the job), held the portfolio for just two days – another for 4 days … and the second time that Saliev stepped into the breach, it was for just over a week.  In their short tenure, they would not have had any significant effect on the affairs of state by reorganizing the structure or composition of the government nor have attempted to introduce new policies or innovations;
• following the Revolution in 2010, the post of Prime Minister basically didn’t exist until following the Parliamentary elections in November that year, (Roza Otunbaeva combined the roles of of Head of State along with that of the Head of Government as the Chairman of the Interim Government).

The longest serving Prime Minister in the country’s 23 year history was Apas Djumagulov – who served for 1561 days – that’s just over four years and four months … not as long as Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher … but longer than 23 of Britain’s 53 Prime Ministers and longer than David Cameron has held the post.  When you consider that he had also served for almost five years as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Khirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic, his combined time in office to just short of 9 years – which would put him on a par with both Asquith and Winston Churchill … serving about 100 days longer than both of them.

For the record … here’s a list of the Pony of Kyrgyz Prime Ministers and their 25 terms of office:

The “Pony” of Kyrgyz Prime Ministers

Please don’t misunderstand me – I am not saying that the NISS are wrong or that they don’t have a point when they say that an average term of office of just 340 days implies problems when it comes to the question of stability in the country … just that the situation is a bit more complicated than might appear at first glance from the straight forward, attention grabbing, headline figure.

Yevgeny Dmtrievich Polianov

Some years ago I went on a trip and one of the places where stayed was in a homestay.  On the television that particular evening there happened be a performance by one of the leading manaschi … and our hostess, shamefacedly lowered her voice and almost whispering told me a secret … “I don’t really like Manas”, she said.

That took me aback … most Kyrgyz have a very strong affection for the epic hero.

The epic, and Manas himself, is such an integral part of the Kyrgyz psychology that the epic is often quoted and the “Spirit of Manas” is invoked as a source of inspiration.  To be fair, there are some who see the attempt to evoke the “Spirit of Manas” as a cliché – a gesture to try and replace the ideological gap that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union – perhaps as embodied in President Akae’s adoption of the Seven Principle of Manas: National unity; Inter-ethnic harmony; national honour and dignity; education and knowledge; generosity; respect for the environment, and the strengthening of independent statehood.

Federico Mayor, the then Director General of UNESCO referred in 1995 to the fact that the epic contains much evidence of the traditions and culture of the nomadic Kyrgyz, providing a source of inspiration and embodiment of the spirit of the people … in addition to being a literary masterpiece.

Manas is one of the world’s great epic poems – joining the likes of Epic of Gilgamesh, the Egyptian Hilaliyya, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Indian Mahabharata, the Tibetan epic of King Gesar, Britain’s Beowulf and the Norse Sagas.  It’s main claim to fame outside Kyrgyzstan is its length – at something like half a million lines it is claimed to be the world’s longest epic poem.

Although Kyrgyzstan celebrated a Thousand Years of Manas back in 1995, no-one really knows how old the epic is.  That is not really surprising because until the nineteenth century it existed as part of an oral tradition with manaschi traveling from ail to ail, yurt to yurt performing episodes from the epos. It was only with the arrival of outsiders that extracts began to be written down or recorded … and several versions now exist.

Apparently there are references to Manas in in a Persian manuscript that dates back to the end of the eighteenth century, but details only really reached the Russian and Western world through the expeditions of people like Valikhanov and Radlov in the nineteenth.

Then there was Polivanov … the linguist who translated the epic into Russian in the 1930s.

Yevgeny Dmtrievich Polianov was a Soviet linguist, orientalist and polyglot – producing learned works on Chinese, Dungar, Japanese,  and Uzbek languages.  He was an expert on Japanese, instating the study of dialects and devised a method for representing Japanese in Cyrillic which was adopted by the Soviet Union as a standard – and which is still in use today … as well as translating the Manas epic into Russian.

He was born into an impoverished noble family Smolensk on 28thFebruary, 1891, (O.S. so that was under the Julian Calendar – it was already12th March in much of the rest of the world which operated on the Gregorian calendar.)

In 1908, having graduated from school, he entered university in St. Petersburg here he studied linguistics.  He taught French, Latin, Russian and phonetics for a couple of years whilst he also worked on papers for publication – on Japanese.

Following publication he had a chance to travel to Japan under the auspices of the Russo-Japanese Society and studied several examples of local dialects.  When his funding ran dry, he returned to St. Petersburg, (which by then had changed its name to Petrograd) and began making plans for a subsequent trip the following year, (1915) … which was to be funded by a committee to study Russian Central and East Asia … headed by Radlov, who was also to play a role in bringing Manas to the outside world.  Apparently, he made a third trip in 1916, but little is known about that.

He became interested in politics sometime around 1914.   At the time of the Russian Revolution he was active in the Menshevik party, working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but eventually “crossing the aisle” and joining the Bolshevik Party in 1917.

He worked at the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs under Trotsky (including preparing text for the Brest Peace and a number of secret treaties) and then, for a time, in Comintern – the Communist International organization intended to fight, “by all available means , including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State.”  He was sent to Tashkent to concentrating on Xinjiang and the Dungans and here he resumed teaching as well as stated to study the languages of Central Asia.  Eventually he was recalled to Moscow in order to teach Japanese …

An disagreement over the prevailing linguistic  theories of the day led to him being blackballed from all the major scholarly institutions in Moscow and Leningrad, so he moved back to Central Asia; first to Samarkand, then to Tashkent and finally in 1934 to  Frunze, (Bishkek), and effectively lived in exile, working on local languages until his arrest in 1937 on charges of spying for Japan.  He was tried in a closed session of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, where he pleaded “Not Guilty” – renouncing an earlier signed confession saying it had been signed under torture, but he was convicted and sentenced to death – the sentence being carried out somewhere near Moscow on 25th January the next year.

Like so many other victims of the Stalinist purges, he was eventually rehabilitated, after the death of Stalin, but not until 1963 – along with, amongst others, Yadhukin …but more about him another time.