Khakas people. Life and traditions What do Khakases look like?

The traditional occupation of the Khakass was semi-nomadic cattle breeding. Mainly bred horses, cattle, sheep. Sheep were preferred with a dense skin and coarse wool, usually black (hara hoi). They kept poultry, but only because of the eggs. Poultry meat was not consumed.
A significant place in the economy of the Khakass was occupied by hunting (Kyzyl and Koibals were considered the best hunters). Only men were engaged in hunting. Women were forbidden to touch any weapons, as well as to slaughter livestock or skin animals. They hunted fur-bearing animals, deer, elk, deer, roe deer, bears, birds, beavers, otters. Musk deer was especially valued (because of the gland in males, which produces an expensive substance - musk, used to make medicines). Not all Khakases were engaged in fishing, but mainly Kyzyl and Sagay people.
Ever since the time of the Kyrgyz Khaganate (IX century), the ancestors of the Khakass knew plow farming, for the needs of which quite complex irrigation facilities and irrigation systems were built. The main crop was barley. In the 19th century they also sowed wheat, oats, winter rye, buckwheat and millet. Industrial crops include hemp and flax. Khakass women and children were engaged in gathering (kadyk, sarana, wild garlic). Men participated in the collection of pine nuts.
The main occupations and way of life of pastoralists dictated the development of certain types of domestic crafts, such as dressing hides and skins, rolling felts, twisting lassoes, weaving (from nettles, hemp, flax and wool). The Khakass knew how to make birch bark boats, dugout boats from poplar, made ceramic dishes. The blacksmith and jewelers were held in high esteem.
From the point of view of the social structure of the population, it was divided into two main groups: chaizans - princes and harachis - mob. The chaizans maintained a large apparatus of officials (tuzumer): the yarguchi carried out the court in accordance with the norms of customary law, and also collected taxes and taxes. The main executors of princely orders were chazools. The head of the principality (beg) also contained squads (hozon). At the end of the XIX century. - early XX century. Khakassian society was dominated by a small family that lived in one yurt and consisted, as a rule, of parents and their children. The head of the family was a man who disposed of property, the course of household work (the exclusive right of the head of the family did not concern women's activities and duties).
Upon reaching marriageable age (usually 17-22 years old), only in exceptional cases did someone not marry. A man could marry at any age, but before his marriage, he was treated by adults as a child, and by children as a peer. He did not make independent decisions if his father, grandfather or older brothers were still alive. Marriages within one seok (genus, in literal translation "bone") were forbidden up to the seventh generation.
There were several forms of marriage. The most common was the abduction of a girl (tutkhyn), often with her prior consent, with the obligatory payment of bride price. With a lullaby form, or conspiracy (sablyg toi - "marriage of honor"), parents wooed children from 3-5 years old. In this case, the bride price was not paid, but since the engagement, 2-3 times a year, the boy's parents sent valuable gifts to the girl's parents. In addition, the boy spent several weeks in the house of his future wife, took part in all household chores. among the poor part of the population, a common form of marriage was working-off marriage (kizoge kirgen) - the parents of the bride, who had no sons, took into the house a poor son-in-law who worked for his father-in-law for several years. After working off, he had the right to put himself a separate yurt and start a farm.
Marriage ransom - kalym (khalyn. khalyg) - was a prerequisite for marriage. Equally important was the dowry, which in value could not be less than the kalym. The dowry was considered the property of the wife. In the event of her death, property and livestock were returned to her parents' family. But all the offspring from livestock, as well as the children, remained with the husband. The same thing happens when a husband gives his wife a divorce.
When his son married, his father gave him a share of the property ("ulus" translated from the Khakassian "share, part"; it is interesting to note that the word "ulus" began to mean "settlement, village"). Relatives on the father's side also endowed him with cattle. The youngest son, having married, always remained to live with his parents. He was considered the guardian of the family hearth (eyes) and received two shares of the inheritance - his own and his father's. Married sons lived with their father for some time after the wedding. Traditional rules dictated that each family should have its own dwelling. The yurt for the family was set up by the father, often near his own. Usually it was set when the young had children and the parents were convinced of the strength of the relationship of the young. In the house of the newlyweds, the first fire was made from coals taken from the hearth of the husband's parents. The separated sons and father carried out grazing and maintenance of livestock together, which made it possible to support all types of work without unnecessary losses.
The woman (ipche) was responsible for all household work, as well as the upbringing of children. A woman has been subordinate to a man all her life. First it was the father, then the husband. She was considered an "unclean" creature, therefore she was not supposed to climb sacred mountains, swim in revered lakes, sit on a sacred horse, pick up sharp objects, sit on a man's clothes, rise above a man, etc. She was considered a paying soul and did not own mowing and arable land. The wife could not inherit any property, had nothing but her dowry, and was economically dependent on her husband.
The man was the heir to family and tribal values. Relationships were counted only along the male line. In the event that the wife could not give birth to a son for several years, the husband had the right to take another wife, and if the second did not give birth, then he took a third. Children from all three wives were considered legitimate. A separate yurt was set up for each of the wives and their own household was allocated. Usually polygamy was practiced only among the bais.

Khakasses(self-name tadar, pl. h. tadarlar; obsolete - Minusinsk Tatars, Abakan (Yenisei) Tatars, Achinsk Tatars listen)) - the Turkic people of Russia, living in southern Siberia on the left bank of the Khakass-Minusinsk basin. The traditional religion is shamanism, in the 19th century many were baptized into Orthodoxy (often by force).

Sub-ethnic groups

The Telengits, Teleuts, Chulyms, Shors are close to the Khakass in culture and language.

Tribal division

The number of Khakass in Khakassia in 1926-2010

The total number of Khakass in the Russian Federation, compared with the data of the census of the year (75.6 thousand people), decreased and amounted to 72,959 people according to the results of the census of the year.

Language

According to another classification, it belongs to the independent Khakass (Kyrgyz-Yenisei) group of Eastern Turkic languages, which, in addition to Khakass also include Shors (Mrasskoe Shor dialect), Chulyms (Middle Chulym dialect), Yugu (yellow Uighurs) (Saryg-Yugur language). They go back to the ancient Kyrgyz or Yenisei-Kyrgyz language. In addition to this, to Khakassian the language is close (although they belong to the Western Turkic North Altai group) Kumandins, Chelkans, Tubalars (both the Kondom Shor dialect, and the Lower Chulym dialect), and also (although they belong to the Western Turkic Kyrgyz-Kypchak group) - Kirghiz, Altaians, Teleuts, Telengits.

Anthroponymy of the Khakas

material culture

spiritual culture

Folk games and competitions

Some Khakass folk games and competitions:

Physical anthropology

The Khakass are subdivided into two anthropological types of mixed origin, but generally belonging to the great Mongoloid race:

• Uralic (Biryusa, Kyzyl, Beltyr, part of the Sagais)
• South Siberian (Kachins, the steppe part of the Sagais, Koibals).

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Notes

Literature

• Bakhrushin S.V. Yenisei Kirghiz in the 17th century. // Scientific works III. Selected works on the history of Siberia in the 16th-17th centuries. Part 2. The history of the peoples of Siberia in the XVI-XVII centuries. M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1955.
• Kozmin N. N. Khakasses: historical, ethnographic and economic essay of the Minusinsk Territory. - Irkutsk: Ed. Irkut.section scientific. workers of Rabpros, 1925. - X, 185 p. - (Local history series No. 4 / edited by M. A. Azadovsky; issue V). - Bibliography. in note. at the end of each chapter.
• Baskakov N. A. Turkic languages, M., 1960, 2006
• Tekin T. The problem of classification of Turkic languages ​​// Problems of modern Turkology: materials of the II All-Union Turkological Conference. - Alma-Ata: Science, 1980 - S. 387-390
• Languages ​​of the world. Turkic languages, Bishkek, 1997

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An excerpt characterizing the Khakass

Semi-nomadic cattle breeding is a traditional occupation of the Khakass. They kept horses, cattle and sheep. A significant place was occupied by hunting in the taiga, in the Sayan Mountains. Agriculture (barley, to a lesser extent - millet and wheat) was known even before the arrival of the Russians. And since the beginning of the XX century. it becomes the dominant branch of the economy. In autumn, the subtaiga population of Khakassia was engaged in the collection of pine nuts. Of the crafts, blacksmithing, leather dressing, felt making, and weaving were developed.

In the XX century. In Khakassia, industry developed rapidly, many Khakasses mastered non-traditional occupations, workers and intelligentsia appeared.

A round yurt (ib), covered with birch bark in summer and felt in winter, is a traditional dwelling for pastoralists. Starting from the middle of the 19th century, with the transition to a sedentary and semi-sedentary way of life, a stationary polygonal wooden yurt with a pyramidal roof spread. From the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. the Russian log hut began to be used.

The traditional settlement of the Khakasses (aal) consisted of 10-15 yurts and several outbuildings, set up without a special system. Currently, the settlements have a street system and do not differ from Russian villages and villages.

Among the Khakas, the most common was the costume of the Kachins. By the beginning of the XX century. they made extensive use of purchased fabrics. Men wore loose shirts, belted with a sash, women - the same cut, but long, to the toe, dresses (everyday - from cotton fabrics, festive - from silk). The back hem of the dress was longer than the front. We used a bright color scheme with the exception of yellow. Details of the dress were decorated with floral ornaments. Only widows girded their dresses.

Swing robes (men's and women's) were made of cloth (everyday), plush or silk (holiday). Winter sheepskin coats were decorated with embroidered floral ornaments on the back. Married women wore a sleeveless jacket (sigedek) over a festive costume. Girls braided their hair in many braids, married women - in two braids.

Women wore a scarf on their heads, tied in a special way - with a fold on their foreheads. There were fur (male and female) hats of several types. Of the decorations, pogo is especially famous - a breast decoration in the shape of a crescent with rounded edges and an ornament embroidered with beads and mother-of-pearl buttons, as well as braided coral pendants.

At the beginning of the XX century. Following Russian fabrics, individual elements of Russian peasant and urban clothing began to penetrate into the Khakas costume, and in areas of close proximity to Russians, the prosperous population began to completely adopt the Russian peasant costume.

The main food of the Khakasses was meat in winter and dairy dishes in summer. Soups (cereals, barley) and various broths with meat were prepared. One of my favorite dishes was and still is black pudding. The most common drink is ayran, which is made from specially acidified cow's milk. Milk vodka (airan aragazy) was also made from ayran. It was used on holidays, to treat guests and when performing religious rites. Bulbs of saran, kandyka, pine nuts, wild onions, berries, etc. were consumed from wild plants. Large dumplings with nut filling were considered a delicacy.

Khakasses (self-name Tadar) - people in the Russian Federation, the main population of Khakassia (63.6 thousand). In total, there are 72.9 thousand Khakass in the Russian Federation (2010). In pre-revolutionary literature, they were known under the general name of the Minusinsk, Abakan, Achinsk Tatars or Turks, which were divided into five tribal groups (Kachintsy, Sagay, Beltir, Koibal and Kyzyl), within which the division into genera was preserved. These groups became part of the Russian state in the 17th - early 18th centuries. Anthropologically, the Khakass belong to a transitional form from the Ural type to the South Siberian: in the northern groups (Kyzylians, part of the Sagais) the features of the Urals of the race predominate, in the southern (Kachintsy) - of the South Siberian type.

The Khakas language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altaic language family. It is subdivided into four dialects: Sagay, Kachinsky, Kyzyl and Shor, on the basis of Kachinsky and Sagay a literary language was formed and written language was created (in 1928 in Latin, since 1939 in Cyrillic). The Khakass language is considered native by 75% of the Khakass. In 1876, the transfer of the Khakass to the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church was announced, but most of the believers adhere to traditional shamanistic beliefs.

The ethnic composition was formed in the 17th-18th century on the basis of a mixture of the Yenisei Kirghiz with the Turkic, Samoyed and Ket groups. Although the main part of the Kirghiz was withdrawn to the Dzungar Khanate in 1703, the Kirghiz who remained and returned in the second half of the 18th century became the basis for the formation of the nationality. According to the 1897 census, there were 12 thousand Kachins, 13.9 thousand Sagays, 8 thousand Kyzyl (the basis of which were groups of Siberian Tatars and Argyn Kazakhs who settled in the Altysar ulus in the 16th - early 17th century), 4.8 thousand Beltirs (descendants of immigrants from Tuva who settled at the mouth of the Abakan, hence their name "Ustyintsy"). The consolidation process, which began in the 18th century, ended in the 20th century, when the Khakass received national autonomy and a common name.

The traditional occupation of the Khakasses is semi-nomadic cattle breeding. The Khakass kept horses, cattle and sheep. A significant place in the economy was occupied by hunting (mainly among the Kyzyl people) in the Sayan taiga (for musk deer). Agriculture (the main crop is barley) becomes the predominant branch of the economy by the end of the 19th century. In autumn, the taiga population of Khakassia was engaged in the collection of pine nuts. In some places, the Khakass began to breed pigs and poultry.

The main type of Khakass settlements were aals - semi-nomadic associations of several households (10-15 yurts), as a rule, related to each other. The main type of dwelling is a non-lattice yurt. The traditional clothing of the Kachins has become widespread among all Khakass. From the beginning of the 20th century, purchased fabrics began to be widely used. Following Russian fabrics, elements of Russian peasant and urban clothing began to penetrate into the Khakas costume, and in areas of close proximity to Russians, the prosperous population completely adopted Russian peasant clothing.

Meat dishes served as the main food in winter, and dairy dishes in summer. The Khakass prepared soups and broths with boiled meat. The most popular was cereal and barley soup. As a festive dish, black pudding is popular. The most common drink was ayran made from sour cow's milk. Ayran was distilled into milk vodka. It was used on holidays, to treat guests and when performing religious rites.

The Khakass attached great importance to public prayers. They prayed to the sky, mountains, water, the sacred tree - birch. Kachintsy prayed to the sky on Mount Saksar in the Abakan steppe. During prayers, an odd number of white lambs with black heads were sacrificed. Women and children were not allowed to the ceremony. The Khakass had a cult of "Tesei" - family and tribal patrons. Most ritual actions were performed with the participation of a shaman.

The Khakass are one of the most ancient peoples of Russia. The first settlements of the ancestors of the Khakass in the valleys of the Yenisei and Abakan rivers appeared before our era. And even then, the civilizational level of the inhabitants of these places was quite high: in the excavations of ancient burial mounds, objects made of gold and bronze were found, many of which can be called real monuments of ancient art.

Siberian centaurs

Khakasses are a Turkic-speaking people. Ethnographers distinguish four of its sub-ethnic groups: Kachins (Khaash, Khaas), Koibals (Khoybal), Sagays (Sagay) and Kyzylians (Khyzyl). True, in terms of numbers, there is no question of any parity between the sub-ethnic groups: the Kachins predominate, having absorbed almost all other groups. The Khakas language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altaic language family. It has four dialects: Kachinsky, Sagay, Kyzyl and Shor. Approximately a quarter of Khakass consider Russian as their native language.

The first mentions in Russian chronicles of the "Yenisei Kyrgyz", that is how the Khakass were called then, date back to the 16-17th centuries - a time when the territory of Siberia was increasingly studied and settled by representatives of the Russian state.

It is rather difficult to call the Yenisei Kyrgyz a peaceful people. The first experiences of communication between representatives of this ethnic group with Russians occurred through conflicts: the "Kyrgyz" made devastating raids on Russian settlements and prisons located in neighboring regions. True, quite quickly those who would later be called Khakass realized that it was unprofitable to quarrel with the Russians, since the ruin of the prisons of "foreigners" led to the unprotection of the Yenisei Kyrgyz themselves from the Mongol khans and Dzungarian rulers. The territory of the Russian Empire, the lands inhabited by the Khakass became in 1707, when, by decree of Peter I, the Abakan prison was built.

By the way, not all Khakasses recognize themselves as "Khakass"! The fact is that this term was adopted into use and official ethnography only in the first years of Soviet power, moreover, it was borrowed from Chinese sources: the entire medieval population of the Middle Yenisei valley was once called Khakass. The people's representatives themselves call themselves tadars.

All in the same Chinese sources, the Khakasses are described as "blue-eyed, fair-haired people, fused with their horses."

Fire, water and ancient beliefs

Having practiced shamanism since ancient times, the Khakass were baptized into Orthodoxy in the 19th century. But the echoes of old beliefs have survived to this day: even now, in difficult life situations, the Khakass turn to shamans more often than to Christian priests.

The main "occupations" of the Khakass shamans (kams) are treatment and common prayers. In ancient times, they prayed at ancestral places, of which there are currently about two hundred in Khakassia. You can recognize them by "special signs": stone stelae, altars, mounds. The main national shrine is Borus, a five-domed peak in the Western Sayan Mountains.

The Khakass treat natural elements and mountains with special reverence. One of the main spirits is Sug-eezi - the Master (or Mistress) of water. It is believed that he or she most often appears to people in human form, preferring the image of a blue-eyed blonde. Crossing or swimming across the river, the Khakass always paid tribute to Sug-eezi. After all, the spirit could drown the irreverent, and take the soul for itself.

To appease the Owner, Sug tayy were arranged for him - common sacrifices. The "very season" for this action is spring, when rivers can overflow their banks and create many problems for residents.

The sacrifice (the deity prefers lamb, but also accepts bulls) is held on the bank of the river, in front of a birch. During the rite, the spirit is asked for a good ford.

Another spirit - fire - is also sacrificed a lamb. True, they slaughter him in a different way and choose exclusively white animals.

Cattle breeders and gatherers

Cattle breeding is a traditional occupation of the Khakass. Favorite species of animals of this people are sheep, horses, cattle. Hence the accepted designation - "three-fold people."

From time immemorial, the Tadars led a semi-nomadic lifestyle: during the calendar year they moved between several villages - aals. The composition of the aal usually included 10-15 yurts (ib). Quite often, their owners were close and distant relatives to each other. There were summer, autumn, winter and spring settlements. But over time, rational Khakasses began to roam less often: from the winter road to the summer road and back.

Once yurts were frame, round and mobile. In summer they were covered with birch bark, and in winter with felt. By the middle of the 19th century, the architectural preferences of the Khakass had changed: in imitation of the Russians, polygonal yurts-log cabins appeared on winter roads. The richer the Khakas, the more corners in his dwellings: if simple nomads preferred hexagonal and octagonal yurts, then wealthy and well-born - twelve- and fourteen-angled ones.

The entrance to the yurt was always directed to the east. In the center of the dwelling is a stone hearth with a tripod for a cauldron.

In addition to cattle breeding, the Tadars were engaged in gathering: the local taiga is rich in mushrooms, berries and medicinal plants. Close interaction with the Russians prompted the Khakass to take up agriculture. By the middle of the eighteenth century, local residents were actively growing crops characteristic of the European part of Russia: rye, oats, barley, wheat, peas, carrots, cabbage, turnips, garlic and cucumbers.

However, not only the ability to adopt all the best from the neighbors distinguishes the Khakass, but also a great diligence. On this account, the Tadars have many proverbs and sayings:

- The cattle that has grown up have a full stomach, the one that has raised children has a full soul.

- A person who lies can steal.

- The lazy person sleeps sitting, works lying down.

- If you have a head on your shoulders, do not step apart from the people.