The epic Manas is a valuable expression of the Kyrgyz national heritage. It has been composed orally and in rhyme, and has retained its importance as the Kyrgyz epic tradition’s magnum opus for many centuries. Despite its relative obscurity, Manas holds a position as significant as the Homeric epics. Furthermore, the Epic of Manas is not yet fully documented and Turkologists from around the globe are engaged in a ambitious project to record and translate it.
Despite being over 500,000 lines long, Manas remains largely inaccessible to international scholars and our understanding of it is quite limited. However, even the limited knowledge we have is enough to showcase the importance of Manas not just for the Turkic peoples, but also for the epic tradition as a whole. Its value to the Kyrgyz people is so great that esteemed Kyrgyz writer Cengiz Aytmatov referred to Manas as “the embodiment” of their worldview, pride, dignity, battles, and hopes for the future. Before comparing Manas to other Western epics, it is crucial to comprehend what it represents. As previously mentioned, Manas consists of approximately half a million lines, making it almost twenty times longer than the Homeric epics and ranking it as the second-longest epic after the Indian Mahabbarata. Its immense size sets it apart from other epics, particularly in comparison to the Homeric ones. However, it would be unjust to solely attribute Manas’s significance to its tremendous length. Alongside its size, Manas also boasts rich content and showcases an exceptional achievement in its eloquent poetry.
Renowned German Turkologist Wilhelm Radloff referred to Manas as “the highest level of traditional poetry” due to its technical and literary success. The epic, similar to Homeric epics but surpassing them, incorporates all aspects of the Kyrgyz’s life. It offers invaluable information to contemporary scholars on the ethnic makeup, economy, traditions and customs, morals and values, aesthetics, codes of conduct, their connection with their environment and nature, their religious beliefs, their knowledge of astronomy and geography, and the artistic oral poetry and language of the Kyrgyz and other early nomadic Turkic peoples in general.
Manas, unlike Homeric epics, is a collective composition that has been sung by bards throughout the ages. It is not written in prose like the Homeric epics. A key difference between the two is their structure. While Manas has been described as an extremely long epic, many Turkic scholars argue that it achieved this length by incorporating other epics within its narrative. The Manas stands as the sole epic of the Kyrgyz people, and its trilogical structure supports the notion that it evolved by assimilating other epics into its storyline.
The Kyrgyz epic, Manas, is distinct from Homeric epics because it is still actively performed. In Kyrgyzstan, there are individuals called Manaschis who sing the Epic of Manas. This epic tells the story of the fictional characters Manas, Semetei (his son), and Seitek (his grandson). Although there are variations in structure and content between the Homeric tradition and Manas, these differences will be further explored later in this paper.
The text recounts the epic narrative of Manas, which chronicles his birth, development, renown, nuptials, and military prowess. Nevertheless, destiny intervenes leading to Manas’s demise, prompting his wife and sons to flee. Reflecting a recurrent motif found in numerous Turkic epics, one of Manas’s progeny follows in his father’s footsteps and reclaims authority only to meet the same fate and perpetuate the cycle with Manas’s grandson. Nomadic Turks have a longstanding history of engaging in battles against various adversaries including the Kalmuks, Manchi, and the Kithays (Chinese).
Since the Kyrgyz were a nomadic people without land, they had to exile to distant lands whenever they were defeated. Their social history was characterized by a repetitive cycle of exiles and returns, much like the epic of Manas. Unlike the Homeric epics, which primarily focus on specific battles, Manas emphasizes the military and social history of the Kyrgyz clan. Similar to the heroes in Homer’s epics such as Odysseus, Manas and his sons possess exceptional abilities, military strength, and are favored by the gods.
Just like Genghis Khan, Manas is said to have been born with a clot of blood in his hand. This folklore seems to have used Manas as a prototype for Genghis Khan, as stated: “In his right hand, khan Manas / Came out holding a clot of black blood…” Unconventional births are commonly found in Turkic epics and can also be found to some extent in Homeric epics, such as the story of Achilles. In a way, these legends seem to share the motif of being chosen and favored by the divine.
Manas, like Achilles and Odysseus, is also remarkable in his birth and life. Just as the epic recounts how Manas’s father was told in a dream about his son’s future heroism and conquest of the world, the descriptions of Manas in the epic also highlight his traditionally “epic” and “mythic” qualities. According to the epic, he is said to be created from various supernatural elements such as the beam between the Sky and the Earth, the waves of a river under the moon, and a blend of gold and silver. These physical descriptions portray Manas as an ancient hero with extraordinary abilities, similar to the Homeric heroes. However, what sets Manas apart from other epics is the inclusion of Islam. Although its origins may have had pantheistic or pagan elements, over time, Islam has become an integral part of Manas. In recent versions of the epic, Manas is depicted as a devout Muslim who fights against infidels. It is said that his ancestors were blessed by Allah, The Prophet Muhammad, and Sufi saints.
The opening lines of the epic depict a typical expression of Islamic glorification. It describes how Manas’ forefathers were khans and blessed by Kidir from the beginning. They built sacred shrines in places where they stayed overnight, as God had blessed them. In the places they passed by, cities with bazaars were established due to God’s blessings. They also had interactions with Sufi masters and learned writing from a caliph, earning them the title of great “sahibs” (18). Originally pantheistic, it is likely that Islam played an increasingly significant role in Manas after the Turks converted following the Battle of Talas. The bards “Islamized” the story. Homeric epics are popular in today’s Western world and extensively studied in colleges over time. Indian epics like Mahabbarata and Ramayana, along with Chinese epics, have gained some popularity in Western colleges as well.
Although lesser known compared to epics like the Iliad and Odyssey, the Manas holds great importance in the Turkic world. Nevertheless, there are reasons for its lack of widespread recognition. A major factor is that the Manas remains a living epic, which presents difficulties in establishing a definitive version due to regional variations. Moreover, the peripheral geography of the Turkic world and oppressive Soviet rule have suppressed Turkic identity for more than a century, leading to limited scholarly research on Manas until recent times.
During the Soviet era, Turkic studies were inactive due to the suppressing regime, resulting in a delay in the research on Manas. However, in recent years, scholars have begun to recognize the importance of Manas in global academia. It is comparable to Homeric epics in terms of structure and literary quality. With more research, the value of Manas will become clearer and it will rightfully claim its place in the annals of human civilization.
