International Journal Of Literature And Languages
165
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue05 2025
PAGE NO.
165-167
10.37547/ijll/Volume05Issue05-38
The Emergence of Karakalpak Ritual Poetry and Its
Developmental Paths
Kazakbayev Sarsen Seilbekovich
Nukus State Pedagogical Institute, Ajiniyaz Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, Uzbekistan
Received:
31 March 2025;
Accepted:
29 April 2025;
Published:
31 May 2025
Abstract:
The article examines the practical significance of ritual folklore and its designation with a particular
name related to the specifics of each national ritual folklore and the peculiarities of their composition. All types
of Karakalpak ritual folklore mainly consist of poetic forms and, apparently, are classified as lyrical genres.
Keywords:
Culture, customs, folklore, spiritual, literature, ritual, poetry.
Introduction:
Every nation has its own cultural heritage
and unique characteristics only to him are customs and
traditions. These customs were formed as a result of
humanity's many years of life experience. It is known
that Karakalpak folklore is a spiritual heritage of the
Karakalpak people, a treasury of folk talent, part of
which is ritual poetry.
Acquisition of state independence of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan provided a wide
opportunity for a deep study of the origins of folk
wisdom and awareness of the national spiritual
heritage. Many national customs and traditions have
been revived, for example, the celebration of the
ancient national holiday of Navruz. In addition, national
holidays such as Ramadan, Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, and
others were returned to the people.
The growth of national consciousness means that every
person is obliged to know the history of one's people,
to be proud of it, to cherish it and pass it on to the next
generation. And culture and literature, especially oral
folk art, have preserved and reflect all stages of the
development of society, the people, their traditions
and customs. It is known that the oral folk art of every
nation, including the Karakalpak people, has been
studied to this day, but it is precisely the modern era,
as a time of revival of spiritual values preserved in the
people's memory, but previously inaccessible to the
general public, as a time of fostering national self-
awareness, pride, that requires and allows for a deeper
disclosure of the national origins of spiritual culture and
literature. The Karakalpak people, like many other
Turkic peoples, have created and created works in
which the entire history of the people, its views on all
moments of human life, norms of morality, ethics and
behavior, as well as upbringing, have been preserved
since ancient times.
All genres of Karakalpak oral folk art, including its
component part, ritual poetry, are a mirror of folk
wisdom. In the customs, rituals, and ceremonies
created by the people, the basic norms of upbringing
have been preserved. Therefore, studying and
revealing the specifics of national ritual poetry is a
crucial task of the current stage of our society's
development. Ritual poetry as an independent type of
folk folklore has been studied in the folkloristics of
many peoples.
The collection of samples of Karakalpak folklore has
been carried out by famous Russian travelers and
researchers since the mid-18th century. The names of
Muravin, Gladyshev, P. Rychkov, A. I. Belyayev, and
others, who made a certain contribution to the
collection of materials of folk art, should be noted.
Professor N. A. Baskakov's contribution to the
collection and publication of samples of Karakalpak
poetry deserves special mention. The materials of his
linguistic and folklore expedition were published in the
1st volume of his work "The Karakalpak Language."
Studying certain aspects of folklore studies, researchers
of Karakalpak folklore partially covered issues of ritual
poetry. This is written in the works of Doctor of
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
166
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
Philological Sciences N. Davkaraev "Essays on the
History of Pre-Revolutionary Karakalpak Literature"
(Tashkent, 1959), Professor K. Ayimbetov "People's
Wisdom" (1988), Doctor of Philological Sciences N.
Zhapakov "Ritual Songs," in the book "Essays on the
History of Karakalpak Folklore" (Tashkent, 1977),
Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor K. Maksetov
"Karakalpak Folklore" (1979), "Karakalpak Khalkının
Korkem Auizeki Dөretpeleri" (1996), Doctor of
Philological Sciences, Professor Yu. Pakhratdinov
"Adam, Jamiyet, Satire" (1991), Doctor of Philological
Sciences, Professor K. Allambergenov "Aitys in
Karakalpak Literature" (1989).
The methodological basis of the research was the
scientific and theoretical works of scientists V. Ya.
Propp, V. E. Gusev, V. K. Sokolova, B. I. Sarimsakov, M.
Alaviya, Kh. Ismailov, S. Kh. Davlatov, N. R.
Kuranbayeva, M. A. Auezov, A. Konyratbayev, B.
Uahatov. Also, in the research process, the dissertation
author relies on the scientific works of Karakalpak
folklorists N. Davkarayev, K. Ayimbetov, and the
comparative-typological research method was used in
the work.
"The Origins of Karakalpak Ritual Poetry and its
Development Paths" explores the genetic origins of
Karakalpak ritual folklore samples and their typological
roots. The customs and traditions, rituals and
ceremonies of each nation are formed over many
historical periods. Due to the fact that many Turkic
peoples have traveled the same historical path of
development, they have territorial proximity and
language kinship, accordingly, individual national
traditions, customs, and rituals are similar and close.
Consequently, it should be noted that the customs and
traditions of the Karakalpak people are closely related
to the Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Turkmen peoples. If
the word "custom" denotes order, custom, then the
word "custom" means generally accepted order,
traditionally established rules, and the word
"tradition," borrowed from the Arabic language, means
a set of actions established by custom, in which some
religious concepts or everyday traditions are
embodied.
To determine the paths of emergence and formation of
customs and rituals, it is necessary to pay attention to
the history of the emergence of its people.
In Karakalpak folklore studies, the question of the time
of emergence of individual types of ritual folklore has
been addressed in general terms.
Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor K.
Allambergenov, in his aforementioned monograph,
analyzing the history of the formation of competitions,
points to the ancient origins of the "bedik" and
"gulapsan" incantations, the "aruak шақырыу" spells.
The scholar attributes the origin of wedding songs "toy
baslar" and "betashar" to the period of feudalism.
The researcher of Kazakh folklore, A. Konyratbayev,
also believes that the "bedik" song, whose origin is
connected with totemism, is a phenomenon that dates
back to very early times, and the "jar-jar" songs
appeared after the emergence of the family. The
various rituals and customs specific to each nation
develop in its social life, living conditions, filling with
meaning and improving.
Customs and rituals do not arise by themselves, but as
a result of the development of social, family relations,
as a person learns all aspects of life, experiences both
joy and sorrow.
The emergence of the first families contributed to the
formation of concepts about family relations between
spouses, between parents and children, contributed to
the establishment of feelings of mutual respect, honor,
loyalty, etc. It can be assumed that the historically
common roots of all household rituals go back to the
era of the emergence of family relations, as well as to
the time of the first burials.
It is known that the initial elements of upbringing and
education, as well as the emergence of customs and
rituals among the peoples of Central Asia, date back to
the Zoroastrian era. The historical roots of the
traditions, rituals, and customs of the Karakalpak
people are connected with the ancient Saks,
Massagetae, and their cult of sun and fire.
Students of the Faculty of History and Law of the
Ajiniyaz NSPI in May 1997, during an archaeological
field practice in Kuyukkala, found materials testifying to
the historical heritage of our people of the early and
middle centuries. As a result of these archaeological
excavations, ancient monuments, ceramic products of
Kerder were found. On the assuary chests, as well as on
the found black ceramic plate, the image of a warrior
girl was depicted. According to archaeologists and
historians, the inhabitants of ancient Kerder swore an
oath to the mother goddess. According to ancient
custom, women would sit by the deceased with their
hair disheveled and mourn him.
If in the poetic lines of the epic "Forty Girls" it is
described that Gulaim and her warrior maidens
avenged the enemy who destroyed the city of Sarkop,
as well as their parents and relatives who perished as
saints, then in the works of the artist Kerder, a tragic
event is conveyed in different colors. It should also be
noted that there was a ritual of worshipping the spirits
of ancestors in Kerder.
The dissertation examines the history of the
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
167
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
emergence of customs and rituals, as well as the
creation of songs, couplets, rhymes, and lamentations
related to the life of the people.
It is known that the ancient national holiday of Navruz
has a long history of origin. Many customs and rituals
of the peoples of the East are connected with this
national holiday, and numerous poems and songs have
been created.
The mention of Navröz is found in the ancient
monument of antiquity, the book "Avesta." According
to some sources, Nauryz was introduced as a ritual
among ancient Iranians during the Achaemenid era
(558-330 BC). The most complete information about
Navruz is found in the great scholar of the East, Abu
Rayhan Beruni (973-1048). There are also descriptions
of the Nauryz holiday in the written heritage of the
peoples of the East, such as "Qonuni Mas'udiy"
("Mas'ud Nizami"), "At-
tafhim" ("On Pәöletiö"), in the
treatise (Nauryz nama) by Omar Khayyam.
Navruz is a holiday symbolizing the renewal of nature,
the beginning of a new year, which is celebrated with
the arrival of spring.
Since ancient times, the change of seasons has been
marked in various ways by peculiar rituals and
ceremonies among the peoples of the world. For
example, Christmas, Maslenitsa, etc. In its significance
as a change of seasons, the Christian Christmas holiday
also signifies the arrival of a new era. And the
Maslenitsa holiday belonging to the Russian people,
with its characteristic Maslenitsa rituals, traditional
ritual customs of lighting fires from straw, riding
mountains and horses, preparing ritual food -
pancakes, dressing, personifies the approach of spring.
The Navröz holiday is common to all Turkic peoples. It
is characterized by a peculiar feature, manifested in its
rituals
׃
the swinging of young people, folk festivities,
the first sowing in the fields, the preparation of ritual
sumalak, and the preparation of Nauryz gozhe from
seven types of grain crops (rice, mung bean, etc.).
When preparing sumalak, verses dedicated to this
ritual were necessarily performed.
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