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FOLK TALES AS AN ETHNOGRAPHIC SOURCE IN THE SCIENCE OF
ETHNOLOGY
Norbutayev Parda Panjiyevich
Professor of Karshi State Technical University
,
doctor of history
Abstract
This article describes the history of the formation and formation of the epic "Yazi and Zebo", the
distribution of variants of the epic by region, the specific features of the ethnographic aspects
expressed in them, ethnographic information related to the economic traditions of the population.
Keywords:
ethnology, ethnography, folklore, epic, folklore fact, myth, patron, folk way of life,
folklore, tradition, customs, ritual, Islam, religion, cave, image, motive, belief, animal husbandry,
agriculture, craftsmanship.
INTRODUCTION
The epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" holds an important place in the epic traditions of the southern
regions. It has been analyzed that the Maimanak region, reflected in the variants of the epic poem
"Yozi bilan Zebo", has been a place adapted to farming and animal husbandry since ancient
times. The village of Maimanak in the Kasbi district of Kashkadarya consists of vast pastures
suitable for farming and animal husbandry. Also, in the epic, there is a large cave in the village,
which is called Goyib Eram[1]. According to the elders of the village, since the village of Maimanak
was located on the Great Silk Road, this cave is very ancient, and in the past, merchants traveling
on trade stopped their caravans here, rested in the cave, and visited it[2]. It is clear from the nature
of the ethnographic plots interpreted in the epic that this folk epic and its variants, unlike other epic
poems, also reflect customs related to types of economy. It can be seen that aspects related to
economic cultural types played a special role in the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the Kashkadarya
and Surkhandarya oases, where the epic arose and spread.
LITERATURE ANALYSIS AND METHODS
The system of mythological ideas formed in ancient times as the beginning of the tradition of artistic
perception of reality was the basis for the emergence of the plot sequence and composition of images
of epic genres in folklore[3]. However, according to V.Ya. Propp, “the epic arose not by evolution
from myth, but by negating myth and its entire idea” [4]. The epic uses the system of mythological
ideas as an assistant. The participation of the epic patron in epic works indicates its antiquity and a
certain connection with mythology. The image of the grandfather Khizr, traditionalized as a patron
in the folklore of the peoples of Central Asia, is associated with the Zoroastrian religion. Because
even in the pre-Islamic era, our ancestors lived asking for help from Khizr. According to the
mythological imagination of Uzbek peasants, “Khizr is a white- bearded, green-haired old man.
Every year, during the spring sowing season or when the wheat is harvested and the threshing floor
is threshed, Khizr appears in the form of an old man, a horseman, or a dervish. It is said that the
field where Khizr looks will have a bountiful harvest” [5].
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this regard, in “Yozi bilan Zebo”, Yazi’s journey to Tashbulak and his engagement in
farming, and the help of the elder who helped him in the flourishing of
farming and the abundant harvest, is extremely important. Because the elder who supported Yazi
was Khizr. Khizr’s appearance in the Surkhandarya-Kashkadarya versions[6] is explained by his
white beard, white turban, white toe, and the absence of a bone on his thumb. The image of Khizr
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is widely covered in most versions of the epic, mainly in episodes related to farming. For example,
in the Razzaq bakhshi Qazaqboy ugli version (inv. No. 1601), Yazi comes to a rocky place and, not
knowing what to do, goes to sleep. When he wakes up from sleep, he sees a bearded rocky person
leading him to the ground, pouring soil and leveling the ground. Yazi gets up and greets him.
Moysafid greeted him and gave Yazi a melon seed. He put the seed in a stone like a bowl, spat on
it 3 times, then ordered it to be soaked in water for 3 days, and then planted. He himself disappeared
from sight. The episode related to Khizr is vividly reflected in the process of grinding flour at the
mill: In order to get rid of Mullah Otbay Yazi, he sends 2 sacks of stinking wheat to Karcha in the
1st variant performed by Razzaq Bakhshi, 2 sacks of spoiled wheat to be ground in the 2nd variant,
to Balkh in the M. Khoshimov variant, and to the city of Baghdad in the Rakhimov variant. This
task is completed in a short time with the help of the epic patron Khizr halfway through. Khizr
appears in the deserts and deserts as a symbol of goodness[7] that helps people in difficult situations,
appearing before Yazi in any difficult task and supporting him.
It is necessary to say that the fact that “Yazi bilan Zebo” is widely sung in the epic form among the
Uzbeks living in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan is related to Khizr. Because in all versions,
Yazi and Zebo enter a cave, their pursuers see a white- bearded, white-robed old man and an angel
talking with them in the cave, and when the pursuers open their mouths to speak, they disappear
together. According to this mythological image, Khizr took Yazi and Zebo with him. At the place
where Khizr stepped into the peasant field, the angel reveals the love and work of Yazi and Zebo to
a peasant in a supernatural way and orders him to sing. As a result, "yaziguy" emerged, leading to
the assumption that "Yazi bilan Zebo" was sung in the form of a poem, among the peasants and in
the same place names where Khizr set foot, and later became part of
the repertoire of bakhshis and spread to the wider public.
It is worth noting that there are also versions of the epic poem “Yozi bilan Zebo” that are popular
in the Fergana Valley, including the Namangan and Andijan regions. For example, the epic poem
“Yozi bilan Zebo” was first recorded in February 1926 by Rafiq Mumin, a poet and journalist from
Namangan city, from the grandfather Yormat, who lived in the village of Poituk, Izboskan district,
Andijan region, under the name “Zevak” (“Zebikhan”)[8]. It is currently stored in the archives of
the folklore sector of the Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of
Uzbekistan[9]. Among Uzbek folklorists, O. Sabirov has recently begun to collect and record
versions of the epic poem “Yozi bilan Zebo”. He recorded and collected many versions of the epic
poem “Yozi bilan Zebo” while traveling in the Bukhara and Surkhandarya regions. He prepared the
collected text of the epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" for publication in 1957 based on some of the
versions of the epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" in his possession and had it published in the magazine
"Shark Yulduzi" [10]. In 1962, O. Sobirov studied the versions of the
epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" written in later periods and preserved in the folklore sector, prepared
the collected text of the epic poem for publication and published this text in a
shortened form as a separate book [11].
O. Sobirov established that the epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" was widely distributed, especially in
the villages of Khojashorkent and Bekabad, Yorkurgan and Faizabad, and Onkhayat (Yangikurgan
district), as well as in the villages of Khanabad and Toshbulak (Namangan district), and he recorded
several Namangan versions of the epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" [12].
The poem "Yozi bilan Zebo", in general, is a folk work performed after work, when summer field
work is over, often at winter evenings, at weddings, and at various gatherings and ceremonies. In
the districts of the Fergana Valley where this poem is widespread, the poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" was
performed during work, mostly during the rice harvest, and later during the construction of folk
structures such as the Great Fergana Canal and the Northern Fergana Canal, directly during the
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labor process in order to facilitate labor.
According to O. Sobirov, the poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" was performed in the
Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions, during the plowing of the fields or during the grain harvest.
According to the testimonies of the performers of this work, a man rides a horse, goes down to the
reapers who are reaping wheat, and sings loudly in a certain tune without any musical
instruments[13]. This performance of the epic poem "Beautiful in Summer" shows that works of
folk art are closely connected with the life of the working people and their labor process.
CONCLUSION
In short, the epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" began to take shape in the 18th-19th centuries in the form
of songs related to farming, animal husbandry, and handicrafts.
-
The epic poem was essentially sung in the process of easing the hard labor of farmers and
expressed an attitude towards labor. Since the work during plowing, sowing, harvesting, and
threshing was mainly done by young men and men, and each season lasted several days, songs
related to farming gained attention by expressing strong feelings for the women who sang them.
In this way, the images of Yozi and Zebo were formed.
-
Singing songs reflected in the versions of the epic poem "Yozi bilan Zebo" gradually
spread throughout Central Asia. Considering that in most versions the epic place Maimanak, the
epic mountain Marmar, the epic Shurdarya, the epic cave Goyib Eram are described, and the
images of Poyondaboy and Abdullakhan are taken into account, it can be concluded that the
formation of the epic is connected with the south of our republic. Because in the current Kasbi
district there is the village of Maimanak, where one and a half thousand households live. Near the
village there is the Marmar mountain and the cave where Yozi bil Zebo entered the mountain.
-
Although “Yozi bil Zebo” is called an epic, it is more a collection of songs related to the
folk way of life. Because there was neither the need nor the possibility to sing a full epic in the
presence of a working peasant, but only songs that would lift his spirits and give him spiritual
strength were needed.
- “Yozi bil Zebo” was not only performed by poets, but also tried to be sung by bakhshis.
However, since it also included the labor process (cattle breeding, farming, and handicrafts), was
relatively rarely performed by master bakhshis, and was not taught to the student in a holistic
manner, the ethnographic materials related to agriculture in the versions recorded in the 1920s-
1970s are quite shallow.
- the Rakhimovs' version, which has a complete plot motif of the epic (ethnographic information
related to farming traditions),[14] emerged through mastery from such masters as the poet Turdi,
the poet Umir Safarov, and the poet Rajab bakhshi, generalizing and collecting several oral and
collected versions within the framework of epic traditions, and reworking them in their own creative
work.
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Ёзиб олувчи А. Эргашев. Қарши ДУ архиви инв. № 16. 1-саҳифа
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Мамашариф Эшмуродов ва Худойқул шоир Яхшиевлардан ёзиб олинган вариантлари
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қишлоғидан, ёзиб олувчи Ёқуббоев Икромжон), 1962 йил д) “Ёзи билан Зебо” (айтувчи Адаш
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қишлоғидан), 1962-63 йиллар; и) “Ёзибува” (айтувчи Маманазар Исроилов, Наманган
туманидаги Катта Тошбулоқ қишлоғидан, 1963 йил июль) ва бошқалар (Қаранг: XX ўзбек
фольклоршунослиги. Антология. (Масъул муҳаррир Ўзбекистон Республикасида хизмат
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Ёзиб олувчи А. Эргашев. Қарши ДУ архиви инв. № 16. 1-саҳифа
