Kyrgyz people

The Kyrgyz, Turkic people of the Tien Shan, descend in part from the Yenisei Kyrgyz of the Siberian river valley, first emerging in western Mongolia around 201 BCE. Later founding a khanate in the 15th century, today's Kyrgyz people Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with diaspora to Russia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, speaking Kyrgyz, the republic's official tongue. Forty-tribe Manas epic, sung for nights by manaschis, remembers the hero who gathered the clans; felt shyrdak carpets, eagle hunting and jailoo summer pastures order highland life. Russian forts, Soviet borders and Pamir smugglers tested the mountain nation; Bishkek bazaars, Osh traders and the World Nomad Games keep the forty tribes wrestling. Kyrgyzstan's schools teach Kyrgyz to every child. Uzbek, Chinese and Afghan kin keep the dialects. Russian, Tajik and Kazakh diasporas keep the festivals. Yenisei descendants still sing the river's name. Fifteen-century khanate laws still echo in custom. Mongolian archives still record the 201 BC emergence.