Tribes and Clans

The name “Kyrgyz” is one of the oldest recorded ethnic names in Asia – dating to back to Chinese official records in the second century B.C., when the ancestors of the current Kyrgyz people lived on the banks of the Yenesi river in Siberia. They migrated to their current mountainous homeland sometime between the tenth and fifteenth centuries (A.D.), either to escape warring enemies, or as part of the invading Mongol hordes. Early Russians confused the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz calling them Kyrgyz and Kara Kyrgyz, to distinguish between the nomads of the steppes (the Kazakhs) and those of the mountains (the present day Kyrgyz).

The basic unit of Kyrgyz society was the family (tutun = "smoke").  Next came the uluu -(= "sons") who could trace their lineage back to a common ancestor.  A collection of several such groups formed the uruk - a clan of blood relatives, and a tribe - uruu - would contain several such clans. 

Membership of a clan carried with it a number of responsibilities.  Revenge for a wrong committed against one member of the clan by the member of another clan could be demanded from the perpetrators clan - any member of the clan, although usually the manap, or bai, would be responsible for allocating responsibility and collecting from all members of the clan their contribution towards any "fine" or compensation that was demanded. 

In the museum in Osh, there is an interesting exhibit - a map dating from 1953 that shows the different Kyrgyz tribes and clans. Although in modern society there is much more mobility than in the past, there are distinct geographical distribution between the various clans. In the North are the Tagai, (which includes the Bugu – the largest clan; the Sary Bagysh clan from which President Akaev hails and the Solto from around Bishkek) and in the South the Ich Kilik (which includes the Adigine from the Osh region). The Central and Naryn regions contain other clans (such as the Sayak – some claim that these are amongst the most ethnically pure Kyrgyz as they hail from a remote region) and today the term Kara Kyrgyz (“Black Kyrgyz”) is sometimes used to refer to the various clans from the border areas with China and Tajikistan.

Also, in Orgochor – a small village on the road leading from Karakol round the Southern side of Lake Issyk Kul, there is a small museum with a collection relating to clan ties and local family trees.

The Northern clans are basically more Russified, whilst those in the South are more observant Muslims.  There are distinct dialects and other cultural differences – a trained eye can tell from the patterning of a Shyrdak, or a bridle, if it was made in Issyk Kul, At Bashi or Osh. Horses were branded with clan marks – for example: a crescent for the Solto or an adze for the Sayak.

The Kyrgyz in Afghanistan still practice an ancient form of local government, (recognized by the former Afghan government before the days of the Taliban), in which the Khan exerts influence and rules his people as if in a private feudal kingdom.