Short-bladed weapons in Kazakh heroic epics of the Noġayli era, the Kazakh-Dzhungar wars, and the ethnographic period

The study of the weaponry of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe during the Late Middle Ages, the Early Modern Period, and the ethnographic period constitutes an important scholarly problem. In this regard, particular significance is attached to the comprehensive examination of information on weapons preserved in oral folk traditions, primarily in heroic epics, in comparison with data from other types of sources. The aim of the present study was to identify and attribute short-bladed thrusting and cutting weapons mentioned in Kazakh heroic epics, as well as to correlate and compare them with analogous types of weapons used by Turkic nomadic warriors of the Great Steppe on the basis of written and material sources. Materials and Methods. The study was based on materials from Kazakh heroic epics that have not previously been introduced into scholarly discourse. Their interpretation was undertaken through the analysis of written, material and other sources. An integrated approach to source analysis was employed, incorporating comparative and descriptive methods as well as methods of verification, correlation, analysis, and translation of folkloric texts. Results. The analysis of the sources made it possible to identify and attribute the principal terms and expressions used in Kazakh heroic epics to designate short-bladed thrusting and cutting weapons. The study examines the history of this type of weapon, the specific features of its use in combat, its metaphorical characteristics, its role in gift-exchange practices, as well as linguistic parallels with other Turkic languages, particularly Yakut, and other related aspects. A dagger from the collections of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which have not previously been introduced into scholarly circulation, is described. An attempt was also made to correlate episodes depicting friendly relations between Kazakh and Kalmyk batīrs with the findings of Japanese scholars concerning the existence of allied ties between the military and political elites of the Kazakhs and the Oirats. Conclusions. The study demonstrates that the short-bladed thrusting and cutting weapons correspond to daggers and knives known from written and material sources. It was also established that the elements of military material culture and the information on political, military, and other forms of interaction reflected in the examined epics correspond to the historical realities of Kazakhstan and adjacent territories during the Early Modern and ethnographic periods.

Funding: The research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the research program BR28713777 “New sources on the history and geography of Kazakhstan: analysis, translation and introduction into scientific circulation”.

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