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Writer's pictureKyrgyz American Foundation

Gardizi. “Zayn al-Akhbar” (“The Ornament of Chronicles”). Translated from Persian by V. V. Bartold


“The reason for the unification of the Kyrgyz under the leadership of their chief was as follows. He descended from the Slavs and was one of their noblemen. While living in the land of the Slavs, a messenger arrived from Rum (Byzantium); this man killed the envoy.


The reason for the murder was the belief that the Byzantines were descended from Shem, the son of Noah, while the Slavs were descended from Japheth. Their name is said to be associated with the word sag (dog) because they were allegedly raised on dog’s milk.


The story goes like this: when ant eggs were collected for Japheth, the ant prayed to the Almighty that Japheth would not enjoy his offspring. When Japheth’s son was born, he was named Emke, and both his eyes were blind.


At that time, dogs supposedly had four eyes. Japheth had a dog that gave birth to puppies. Japheth killed one of the puppies, and his son nursed on the dog’s milk until the age of four, holding on to its ear and walking as blind people do. When the dog gave birth to a second puppy, it abandoned Japheth’s son and thanked God for being rid of him.


The next day, it was discovered that two of the dog’s eyes had transferred to the child, while the dog retained two. Traces of this remain on the dog’s muzzle. For this reason, the Slavs are called Saqaliba.


Thus, the chief killed the envoy during a dispute and was forced to flee the land of the Slavs. He departed and went to the Khazars. The Khazar khagan treated him well until his death. When another khagan took the throne, he displayed hostility toward the newcomer, forcing him to leave. The Slav then went to Bashdjurt.


This Bashdjurt was one of the Khazar noblemen and lived between the territories of the Khazars and the Kimaks with 2,000 horsemen. The Khazar khan sent a man to Bashdjurt, demanding he expel the Slav. Bashdjurt discussed the matter with the Slav, who then left for the lands of his relatives.


On the way, he arrived at a place between the lands of the Kimaks and the Toguzgu Turks. The Toguzgu khan quarreled with his tribe, and many were killed, while others scattered and began to seek refuge with the Slav, either alone or in small groups.


He welcomed them all and treated them well until their numbers grew significantly. He sent a man to Bashdjurt, made an alliance with him, and gained strength. After this, he attacked the Ghuzz Turks, killing many, capturing others, and amassing wealth through raids and by selling captives into slavery.


The tribe that gathered around him was given the name Kyrgyz. When news of him reached the Slavs, many of them came to him with their families and belongings, joined the others, and intermarried, forming a unified people. The Slavic origins are still visible in the Kyrgyz, especially in their red hair and fair skin.


The route to the Kyrgyz passes through the land of the Toguzgu, specifically from Chinanjiket (ruins of Kocho in the Turfan oasis) to Hasan, and from Hasan to Nuhbek, taking one or two months across meadows and five days through the desert. From Kemiz to Manbek Lu is a two-day journey through mountains, then forests, reaching a steppe with streams, hunting grounds, and a mountain called Manbek Lu. The mountain is high, rich in sable, squirrels, musk-producing antelopes, and trees, with abundant game; it is well-inhabited.


From Manbek Lu, one comes to Kögmen, traveling four days through pastures, springs, and game-rich areas to the Kögmen Mountains. The mountains are high, forested, and the road narrow.


From Kögmen to the Kyrgyz camp is a seven-day journey through steppe and meadows, with pleasant springs and interwoven trees, making it impenetrable to enemies. The entire route resembles a garden leading to the Kyrgyz encampment.


The Kyrgyz khagan’s military camp is the main and best place in the land. It is accessible by three roads, all surrounded by high mountains and interwoven trees. One road leads south to the Toguzgu, another west to the Kimaks and Khallukhs, and a third to the steppe, requiring three months to reach the large Furi tribe.


There are two additional roads: one through the steppe, a three-month journey, and another to the left, a two-month journey, but it is arduous. Travelers must go through forests on narrow paths, constantly encountering rivers and rain. Those who take this road need a way to keep their belongings off the ground, as the entire area is waterlogged. They must walk behind their horses through marshes.


In these marshes live wild people who have no contact with others. They cannot speak other languages, and their language is incomprehensible. They are the wildest of people, using animal skins as clothing. When removed from the swamps, they are as disoriented as fish out of water.


Their religion forbids them from touching others’ belongings. When they fight, they do so with their families and property, burning everything they conquer, taking only weapons and iron.


Their bride price consists of game or a valley rich in game and trees. If one of them is captured by the Kyrgyz, they refuse food and flee at the first sight of a friend.


They hang their dead in trees until the bodies decompose. The Kyrgyz export musk, furs, and a type of horn (possibly from a musk deer). The Kyrgyz cremate their dead like the Hindus, believing fire purifies everything, including the deceased.


Some Kyrgyz worship cows, others the wind, hedgehogs, magpies, falcons, or beautiful trees. Among them are people called faghinuns, who annually gather with musicians for a festive feast. During the music, the faghinun falls into a trance and predicts the year’s events, often accurately.” - Gardizi


Comments and Notes

1. Khazars: A nomadic people who inhabited the Volga steppes.

2. Bashkirs: Also nomads who lived in the Volga steppe region.

3. Physical Traits of the Kyrgyz: According to Chinese records, the Kyrgyz were described as tall, with red hair, rosy cheeks, and blue eyes (N. Bichurin, Collection of Information, Vol. I, p. 443). This suggests that the Kyrgyz were not originally a Turkic people (V. V. Bartold). These features likely result from the assimilation of the Dingling people from the Minusinsk Basin, who belonged to the Caucasoid race.

4. Chinanjiket: The ruins of the city of Kocho, located in the Turfan oasis.

5. Kyrgyz Khaganate’s Capital: Most likely situated in the Minusinsk Valley, near the banks of the Yenisei River.

6. Furi: The eastern neighbors of the Yenisei Kyrgyz. Although they spoke an incomprehensible language, they were considered part of the Kyrgyz population.

7. Animal Horns: Likely refers to musk deer antlers or similar items, which were traded by Arabs with Central Asian peoples.

8. Faghinuns: A term for bakshi (shamans) among the Kyrgyz.


The author, Gardizi, was a native of Gardiz, near Ghazna (modern-day Afghanistan/Iran). He wrote The Ornament of Chronicles during the reign of the Ghaznavid Sultan Abd al-Rashid (1050–1053 CE). This work includes a chapter on the Turks, which contains new geographical information and captivating legends about the origins of various tribes.


In the pictures: The reconstructed faces of two Scythians from the Arzhan burial mound—the oldest known Scythian burial site, located in the Republic of Tuva, Russia—are particularly noteworthy. According to Kazakh DNA researcher Zhaxylyk Sabitov, the kurgan is the resting place of ancestors of nearly half of the Kyrgyz people, who are carriers of the haplogroup R1a-Z93.


Sabitov states: “The burial sites in the Minusinsk Basin, from which the Kyrgyz Khaganate later emerged, include a man closely related to 45% of modern Kyrgyz. This lineage belongs to the R1a Kyrgyz subclade Z2125.


The royal burials in the Arzhan Valley and Arzhan-2 (near Tuva, close to the Minusinsk Basin) also contain ancestors of the Kyrgyz. Tribes such as Adygine, Tagay, Saruu, Sarybagysh, Bugu, and Solto have close relatives buried there.”


Scythians of Arzhan-2: The remains from Arzhan-2 exhibit a blend of Caucasoid and Mongoloid morphological traits. This reflects the historical intermingling of populations in the region.


🧬 DNA Science Data:


“Haplogroup R1a1, more specifically, its subclade R1a1a1b2 (defined by mutation Z93), is the genetic marker of the Indo-European pastoralists, who migrated from modern-day Ukraine to modern-day Iran, India, the Kazakh steppes, the Tarim Basin, the Altai Mountains region, the Yenisei River region, and western Mongolia during the Bronze Age.


Naturally, R1a1, more specifically, its subclade R1a1a1b2 (R1a-Z93), occurs at high frequency among the Turkic peoples now residing in the Yenisei River and the Altai Mountains regions in Russia.


Compared to the Tuvinians, the Khakass (whose name was created by the Soviets from Xiajiasi (黠戛斯), a Chinese name for Kyrgyz, since they were regarded as descending from the Kyrgyz have noticeably higher percentages of R1a1 (35.2%) and much lower percentages of haplogroups C (1.1%) and Q (4%). However, N is also the most prevalent haplogroup (50%) of the Khakass (Gubina et al. 2013: 339; Shi et al. 2013)


As for the Altaians, the Altai-Kizhi (southern Altaians) are characterised by a high percentage of R1a1 (50%) and low to moderate percentages of C2 (20%), Q (16.7%) and N (4.2%) (Dulik et al. 2012: 234).


 The major differences between the Khakass and the southern Altaians are the lower frequency of haplogroup N (in another study, haplogroup N is found at high frequency (32%) among the Altaians in general: see Gubina et al. 2013: 329, 339) and the higher frequencies of haplogroups C2 and Q among the latter.


The descent of the Kyrgyz (Kyrgyz) of the Tien Shan Mountains region (Kyrgyzstan) from the Yenisei Kyrgyz is debated among historians.


However, among the modern Turkic peoples, the former have the highest percentage of R1a1 (over 60%). Since the West Eurasian physiognomy of the Yenisei Kyrgyz recorded in the Xin Tangshu was in all likelihood a reflection of their Eurasian Indo-European marker R1a1a1b2 (R1a-Z93), one may conjecture that the Tien Shan Kyrgyz received their R1a1 marker from the Yenisei Kyrgyz. That is, the former are descended from the latter.


The other Y-chromosome haplogroups found among the Kyrgyz (Kyrgyz) are C2 (12~20%), O (0~15%) and N (0~4.5%).50 The lack of haplogroup Q among the Qirghiz (Kyrgyz) mostly distinguishes them from the Altaians.


During the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, the Yenisei River region was inhabited by Indo-Europeans. The dna study of 26 ancient human specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area dated from the middle of the second millennium bc to the fourth century ad shows that the Yenisei pastoralists mostly belonged to haplogroup R1a1 (Keyser et al. 2009: 401)


The high frequency of R1a1 among the modern-day Kyrgyz and Altaians may thus prove that they are descended from the Yenisei Kyrgyz. In addition, this may explain the reason why medieval Chinese histories depict the Kyrgyz as possessing West Eurasian physiognomy.


The Y-chromosomes of the Kök Türks have not been studied. After the collapse of the Second Türk Khaganate in 745 ce, the Kök Türks became dispersed and it is difficult to identify their modern descendants.


If they were indeed descended from the Eastern Scythians aka Saka (Suo) or related to the Kyrgyz, as the Zhoushu states (Zhoushu 50.908), the Ashina (royal Türkic dynasty, possibly related to the Turko-Jewish Khazar Khaganate, according to Peter B. Golden of Rutgers University) may have belonged to the R1a1 lineage.” - Joo-Yup Lee and Shuntu Kuang, University of Toronto, Canada


Source: “A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples’

Authors: Joo-Yup Lee and Shuntu Kuang from, the University of Toronto of Canada


“Kyrgyz are an admixed population between the East and the West. Different patterns have been observed in the patrilineal gene pool of the Kyrgyz. Historically, ancient Kyrgyz were considered to be the Yenisei Kyrgyz that may perhaps be concerned with the Tashtyk culture.


Extremely low Y-diversity and the presence of a high-frequency 68.9% Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1-M17 (a diagnostic Indo-Iranian marker are striking features of Kyrgyz populations in central Asia. It is believed that this lineage is associated with Indo-Europeans who migrated to the Altai region during the Bronze Age and mixed with various Turkic groups.


Among the Asian R1a1a1b2-Z93 lineages, R1a1a1b2a2-Z2125 is quite common in Kyrgyzstan (68%) and Afghan Pashtuns (40%), and less frequent in other Afghan ethnic groups and some Caucasus and Iran populations (10%). Notably, the basal lineage R1a1a1b2-Z93* is commonly distributed in the South Siberian Altai region of Russia.


According to the published ancient DNA data, we found that, in Middle Bronze Age, Haplogroup R1a1a1b2a2a- Z2125 was mainly found in Sintashta culture population from Kamennyi Ambar 5 cemetery, western Siberia, in Fedorovo type of the Andronovo culture or Karasuk culture population from Minusinsk Basin, southern Siberia, and in Andronovo culture populations from Maitan, Ak-Moustafa, Aktogai, Kazakh Mys, Satan, Oy-Dzhaylau III, Karagash 2, Dali, and Zevakinskiy stone fence, Kazakhstan.” (Wen, Shao-qing; Du, Pan-xin; Sun, Chang; Cui, Wei; Xu, Yi-ran; Meng, Hai-liang; Shi, Mei-sen; Zhu, Bo-feng; Li, Hui (March 2022)


Source: "Dual origins of the Northwest Chinese Kyrgyz: the admixture of Bronze age Siberian and Medieval Niru'un Mongolian Y chromosomes", Nature


Authors: Wen, Shao-qing; Du, Pan-xin; Sun, Chang; Cui, Wei; Xu, Yi-ran; Meng, Hai-liang; Shi, Mei-sen; Zhu, Bo-feng; Li, Hui (March 2022)


“The modern-day descendants of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, the Kyrgyz people, have one of the highest frequencies of haplogroup R1a-Z93. This lineage believed to be associated with Indo-Iranians who migrated to the Altai region in the Bronze Age, and is carried by various Türkic groups. The Zhoushu [the book of the Zhou Dynasty] (Linghu Defen 2003, Chapter 50, p. 908) informs us that the Ashina, the royal clan of the Kök Türks, were related to the Kyrgyz.


If so, the Ashina may have belonged to the R1a1 lineage like the modern-day Tienshan Kyrgyz, who are characterised by the high frequency of R1a1 (over 65%). Haplogroup R1a1, more specifically, its sub- clade R1a1a1b2 defined by mutation Z93, was carried by the Indo-European pastoralists, who reached the Kazakh steppes, the Tarim Basin, the Altai Mountains region, the Yenisei River region, and western Mongolia from the Black Sea steppes during the Bronze Age (Semino et al. 2000, p. 1156, Lee, Joo-Yup (2018)


Source: Lee, Joo-Yup (2018). "Some remarks on the Turkicisation of the Mongols in post-Mongol Central Asia and the Kipchak Steppe ''. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 71 (2): 121–124. doi:10.1556/062.2018.71.2.1. ISSN 0001-6446. S2CID 133847698.


Kazakh DNA researcher Zhaxylyk Sabitov states: “Until the 9th century, the Kyrgyz lived along the Yenisei River in the Minusinsk Basin. In the 9th century, the Yenisei Kyrgyz migrated to the Altai and Irtysh regions.


“From 1326 to 1329, some Altai Kyrgyz moved to Semirechye and the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan.” He also published DNA sample data from the Sintashta culture, which he claims “is related to the Altai and modern Kyrgyz, while the Arban-1 samples from the Karasuk culture are ancestral to modern Kyrgyz. Genetic data from Arzhan complex (8th century BCE) also show parental genes of the Kyrgyz.”


It is known that the structure of Arzhan has similarities with the Sintashta-Andronovo kurgans (M.P. Gryaznov). It is known that Saka tribes lived in the territory of Kyrgyzstan, and later the Wusun tribe arrived from the east. The high percentage of R1a1 among the Kyrgyz appeared through three routes: from the Saka tribes, from the Wusun Sakas, and from the Dingling tribes. There is also a theory about the migration of part of the Yenisei Kyrgyz to the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan.” (Zhaxylyk Sabitov)


Source: “Historical-Genetic Approach in the Study of the Ethnogenesis and Material Culture of the Ancient Kyrgyz” - International Journal of Experimental Education


“The land of Modern Kyrgyzstan, populated at the turn of the eras by the Saka and Wusun tribes, was overrun by the Yenisei Kyrgyzes (Khakasses) in the 8th c. AD.


Since Kyrgyzstan is a natural mountain fortress of the Tian Shan mountains, it is an island similar to the Lithuanian Tatars, with high genetic inertia and limited influences. Essentially, all four are Scythians, the Saka Scythians, Wusun Scythians, Yenisei Kyrgyz Scythians, and the Lithuanian Tatar Scythians.”


Source: “The Lithuanian Tatars: DNA Ancestry Traced To The Eurasian Steppes”, Academy of DNA-Genealogy, Tsukuba, Japan, Igor Rozhanski


"Samples from the burials of the Andronovo, Tagar, and Tashtyk cultures were identified using Y-STR analysis, which allows for the comparison of these samples with each other and with samples from representatives of different populations, both ancient and modern.


The Andronovo haplotypes S10 and S16 have the following structure:


ANDRON S10, S16:

13-25-16-11-11-14-10-14-11-18-15-14-11-16-20-12-23


The greatest number of matches is observed with the Tian Shan Kyrgyz and the Southern Altaians. Complete matches of haplotypes in populations that are geographically close and share a common history are possible only in cases of genetic relationship; random matches are unlikely.


Thus, the Southern Altaians and the Tien Shan Kyrgyz are likely descendants of close relatives of the Yenisei Andronovites, most likely the descendants of the Altai Andronovites. It is well established by linguists and ethnographers that there is close linguistic and ethnic kinship between the Kyrgyz and the Southern Altaians (Baskakov, 1966: 15-16).


These peoples share the same names for their clan divisions (Mundus, Telos-Doolos, Kipchak, Naiman, Merkit, etc.). Kyrgyz legends refer to Altai as the ancestral home of their people. Several historians believe that the Kyrgyz and Southern Altaians once formed a single community and that the migration of the Kyrgyz from Altai to Tien Shan occurred relatively recently (Abramzon, 1959: 34; Abdumanapov, 2007: 95, 114).


Source: Volkov V.G., Kharkov V.N., Stepanov V.A. Andronovo and Tagar cultures in light of genetic data."

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