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Ancient layers of the Karakalpak culture |
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Karakalpaks, inhabiting mainly in the lowlands of the Amu-Darya river, had a lot of common cultural features with their neighbours-nomads - Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Bashkirs.
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| Married woman. Karakalpaks. Khorezm oasis. Early 20th century |
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| Bridal Costume. Karakalpaks. Syr-Darya region. Late 19th century |
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| Wedding door curtain. Karakalpaks. Khorezm oasis. Early 20th century |
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| Young man in traditional costume. Karakalpaks. 1930s |
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Patterned stripes for decoration of the yurt. Karakalpaks. Khorezm oasis. Early 20th century |
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Ancient layers of the Karakalpak culture
Ancient layers of the Karakalpak culture
Karakalpaks, inhabiting mainly in the lowlands of the Amu-Darya river, had a lot of common cultural features with their neighbours-nomads - Kazakhs, Uzbeks, ............. and Bashkirs.
At the same time even in early 20 c. Karakalpaks kept several unique cultural phenomena going back to the ancient layer of their ethnic origin - number of Sako-Massaget tribes that inhabited in the Aral-Caspien region in second half of 1000 B.C. - first ages of A.D..
Historical documents tell about strong matriarchal traditions in Massaget tribes and about a significant role of the women in the martial art of the Massagets.
Epic poem about the Amazons: myth or reality?
Convincing proof of the statements of the historians about the significant role of the women in the life of the tribe is the epic poem of the Karakalpaks "Kyrk kyz" - "Forty girls" which speaks about the feats of the fighting squads of the women-warriors. The main heroine of the poem is their leader - brave and beautiful 15-year-old Gulaim.
Motif of a girl-hero is common to the eposes of different peoples, but the plot about the squad of the Amazons was found in Central Asia only in the Karakalpak culture. Gulaim and her girlfriends live on the island in an impregnable fotress where they spend the majority of their time practising the martial art. On one unlucky day for their motherland when it was attacked by the enemies, girls fought for the freedom of their people and then celebrated the victory.
Wedding costume as an image of the was armour
It is interesting that the Karakalpaks embodied the image of a girl-warrior not only in the epic poem, but also in the elements of the wedding costume. Its essential part was a long blue dress worn by girls at the age of 15-16 (exactly, the same age as Gulaim was!).
The dress was decorated with the rich embroidery called "pattern of the chain mail". In the middle of the 19c. the dress was made of homespun cotton fabric, and before this time it was made of "torka" fabric that was produced from the wild hemp fibres; this fabric was astonishingly strong and light.
It is remarkable that in the language of the Kirghiz, who have a lot in common with the Karakalpaks, the word "torka" meant "strong material, impenetrable for the arrows" and so quite suitable for the armour.
Bridal headdress "saukele" consisted of two parts and looked like a helmet. The lower part made of felt and quilted cloth was very thick and massive; it covered ears and a nose bridge where there was large sewn-on metal plaque in the shape of a thorn which alongside with the other decorations richly covering the surface of the headdress completed the similarity of the saukele with the helmet.
It is notable that one of the heroines of the epic poem "Forty girls" put on such a helmet before the battle. The upper part of the saukele looke like metal hat with the flat top which "crowned" the newly-wed. Preservation of the features of the royal headdress in the saukele is connected with the assimilation of the married couple to the couple of the prince and princess that was widely spread in the cultures of different peoples.
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