The ''Book of Dede Korkut'' or ''Book of Korkut Ata'' ( az, Kitabi-Dədə Qorqud, ; tk, Kitaby Dädem Gorkut; tr, Dede Korkut Kitabı) is the most famous among the epic stories of the
Oghuz Turks. The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging t ...
and their
pre-Islamic beliefs. The book's mythic narrative is part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of
Oghuz Turkic
The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family, spoken by approximately 108 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which, combined, account for more t ...
origin, mainly of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. Only two manuscripts of the text, one in the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
and one in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, were known until 2018, when the
Gonbad
In traditional Persian architecture, a dome is referred to as a gonbad ( fa, گنبد).
A gonbad is often double layered, and can have many shapes, such as semi-spherical, partial spherical, onion shaped, paraboloid, polygonal conical, and c ...
manuscript was discovered.
The epic tales of ''Dede Korkut'' are some of the best-known Turkic
dastan
Dastan ( fa, داستان ''dâstân'', meaning "story" or "tale") is an ornate form of oral history from Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
A dastan is generally centered on one individual who protects his tribe or his people from ...
s from among a total of well over 1,000 recorded epics among the
Mongolian and
Turkic language families.
Origin and synopsis of the epic
''Dede Korkut'' is a heroic dastan (legend), also known as ''Oghuz-nameh'' among the
Oghuz Turkic people, which starts out in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, continues in Anatolia and centers most of its action in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
. According to Barthold, "it is not possible to surmise that this dastan could have been written anywhere but in the Caucasus".
For the Turkic peoples, especially people who identify themselves as Oghuz, it is the principal repository of ethnic identity, history, customs and the value systems of the Turkic peoples throughout history. It commemorates struggles for freedom at a time when the Oghuz Turks were a herding people, although "it is clear that the stories were put into their present form at a time when the Turks of Oghuz descent no longer thought of themselves as Oghuz." From the mid-10th century on, the term ''Oghuz'' was gradually supplanted among the Turks themselves by
''Turcoman'' (Turkmen); this process was completed by the beginning of the 13th century. The Turcomans were those Turks, mostly but not exclusively Oghuz, who had embraced Islam and begun to lead a more sedentary life than their forefathers. In the 14th century, a federation of Oghuz, or, as they were by this time termed, Turcoman tribesmen, who called themselves
Ak-koyunlu established a dynasty that ruled eastern Turkey, Azerbaijan,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and western Iran.
Contents
The twelve stories that comprise the bulk of the work were written down after the Turks converted to Islam, and the heroes are often portrayed as good Muslims while the villains are referred to as
infidels, but there are also many references to the Turks' pre-Islamic magic. The character Dede Korkut, i.e. "Grandfather Korkut", is a widely renowned soothsayer and bard, and serves to link the stories together, and the thirteenth chapter of the book compiles sayings attributed to him. "In the dastans, Dede Korkut appears as the ''aksakal''
iterally 'white-beard,' the respected elder the advisor or sage, solving the difficulties faced by tribal members. ... Among the population, respected aksakals are wise and know how to solve problems; among ''ashiks''
eciters of dastansthey are generally called ''dede''
randfather In the past, this term designated respected tribal elders, and now is used within families; in many localities of Azerbaijan, it replaces ''ata''
ncestor or father"
[Prof. H.B.Paksoy (ed.), "Introduction to Dede Korkut"](_blank)
(As Co-Editor), ''Soviet Anthropology and Archeology'', Vol. 29, No. 1. Summer 1990; and, "M. Dadashzade on the Ethnographic Information Concerning Azerbaijan Contained in the Dede Korkut dastan", ''Soviet Anthropology and Archeology'', Vol. 29, No. 1. Summer 1990. Reprinted in H. B. Paksoy (Ed.), ''Central Asia Reader: The Rediscovery of History'' (New York/London: M. E. Sharpe, 1994), (Hardcover); (pbk.) The historian
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani
Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb ( fa, رشیدالدین طبیب; 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, fa, links=no, رشیدالدین فضلالله همدانی) was a statesman, historian and physician in Ilk ...
(d. 1318) says that Dede Korkut was a real person and lived for 295 years; that he appeared in the time of the Oghuz ruler Inal Syr Yavkuy Khan, by whom he was sent as ambassador to the Prophet; that he became Muslim; that he gave advice to the Great Khan of the Oghuz, attended the election of the Great Khan, and gave names to children.
The tales tell of warriors and battles and are likely grounded in the conflicts between the Oghuz and the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
and
Kipchaks. Many story elements are familiar to those versed in the Western literary tradition. For example, the story of a monster named "Goggle-eye"
Tepegoz bears enough resemblance to the encounter with the
Cyclops in
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'' that it is believed to have been influenced by the Greek epic or to have one common ancient Anatolian root. The book also describes in great detail the various sports activities of the ancient Turkic peoples: "Dede Korkut (1000–1300) clearly referred to certain physical activities and games. In Dede Korkut's description, the athletic skills of Turks, both men and women, were described to be "first-rate," especially in horse-riding, archery,
cirit
Jereed (also jerreed, jerid, or jerrid; tr, Cirit) is a traditional Turkish equestrian team sport played outdoors on horseback in which the objective is to score points by throwing a blunt wooden javelin at opposing team's horsemen. Played by Tur ...
(javelin throw), wrestling and polo, which are considered Turkish national sports."
Synopses
![DQKBirinciboy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/DQKBirinciboy.jpg)
(Titles given by translator Geoffrey Lewis.)
# Boghach Khan Son of Dirse Khan: tells the story of the miraculous birth of Boghach Khan, how he grew up to become a mighty warrior and earned a princedom, how his father Dirse Khan was tricked by his own warriors into trying to kill him, how his mother (unnamed) saved his life, and how he rescued his father from the treacherous warriors; Korkut arrives at the celebration and creates the story;
# How Salur Kazan's House was Pillaged: tells how the infidel (i.e., non-Muslim) Georgian King Shökli raided 's encampment while Kazan and his nobles were hunting, how Kazan and the heroic shepherd Karajuk teamed up to track down Shökli, how Kazan's wife Lady Burla and son Uruz showed quick-thinking and heroism in captivity, and how Kazan's men arrived to help Kazan defeat Shökli;
# Bamsi Beyrek of the Grey Horse: tells how the young son of Prince Bay Büre proved his worth and earned the name
Bamsi Beyrek, how he won the hand of
Lady Chichek against the resistance of her brother Crazy Karchar, how he was kidnapped by King Shökli's men and help captive for 16 years, and how he escaped upon hearing that Lady Chichek was being given to another man and how he won her back; Korkut appears as an actor in the story, giving Beyrek his name and later helping him outwit Crazy Karchar;
# How Prince Uruz Son of Prince Kazan was Taken Prisoner: tells how Salur Kazan realized that his son Uruz was sixteen but had never seen battle, how Kazan and Uruz were attacked by the infidels while on a hunt, how Uruz entered the fray and was taken captive, how Lady Burla reacted on realizing her son was in danger, how Kazan tracked down the infidels and how Uruz begged him to flee, and how Lady Burla and Kazan's men arrived and helped Kazan rescue Uruz; this story mentions three infidel kings: Shökli, Kara Tüken, and Bughachuk, who is beheaded;
# Wild Dumrul Son of Dukha Koja: tells how Wild Dumrul offended God by challenging
Azrael
Azrael (; , 'God has helped'; ) is the angel of death in some Abrahamic religions, namely Islam, Christian popular culture and some traditions of Judaism. He is also referenced in Sikhism.
Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael ...
, how Dumrul realized his mistake and found favor with Allah on condition that someone agrees to die in his place, how Dumrul's parents refused to die in place but his wife agreed, how Dumrul asked Allah to spare his wife and how Allah granted them 140 years; Korkut commands that this story be kept alive by the bards;
# Kan Turali Son of Kanli Koja: tells how Kan Turali won the heart and hand of infidel
Princess Saljan of
Trebizond by bare-handedly defeating a bull, a lion, and a camel, how the Princess's father changed his mind and sent 600 warriors to kill him, and how the Princess helped Kan Turali defeat her father's men; Korkut also appears in the story as the storyteller at the wedding;
# Yigenek Son of Kazilik Koja: tells how Kazilik Koja is captured by the infidel King Direk of Arshuvan while trying to raid Düzmürd Castle on the Black Sea, how he was held 16 years, how his son Yigenek grew up not knowing his father was a captive, how Yigenek found out his father was alive and asked permission from Bayindir Khan to rescue him, and how Yigenek defeated King Direk after Bayindir's other men failed; Korkut shows up at the celebration;
# How Basat Killed Goggle-eye: tells how Basat was raised by a lioness and how
Goggle-Eye was born of a human father and a
peri mother, how the two boys were raised as brothers, how Goggle-Eye terrorized the Oghuz by demanding they continually provide young men and sheep for him to eat, how Basat was convinced by one of the Oghuz mothers to fight Goggle-Eye, and how Basat defeated Goggle-Eye in a fight that borrows heavily from the
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and leg ...
story in the ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
''; Korkut plays a role in this story of the mediator between Goggle-Eye and the Oghuz;
# Emren Son of Begil: tells how Begil becomes warden of Georgia for Bayindir Khan, but is tempted to rebel after feeling slighted by the Khan; how he breaks his leg after being thrown from a horse while hunting; how Shökli learns of his injury and attempts to attack him; how Begil's son Emren takes his armor and leads Begil's men to defend him; how God answers Emren's prayer for strength and how Emren gets Shökli to convert to Islam; how Begil and Bayindir Khan are reconciled;
# Segrek Son of Ushun Koja: tells how Ushun Koja's elder son, Egrek, was captured by the Black King near
Julfa and thrown into the dungeon of
Alinja Tower; how Ushon Koja's younger son, Segrek, grew up not knowing about his brother's captivity until he is taunted about it by some boys; how Ushon Koja and his wife tried to prevent Segrek from going to find Egrek by marrying him; how Segrek refused to lay with his wife until he found out his brother's fate; how Segrek finds his way to the Black King's castle and fends off several attacks by the Black King's men, but is eventually overtaken by sleep; how the Black King promises to release Egrek if he will take care of this mysterious assailant; how Egrek and Segrek recognize each other, defeat the Black King's men and return home;
# How Salur Kazan was Taken Prisoner and How His Son Uruz Freed Him: tells how Salur Kazan was captured at
Tomanin Castle in Trebizond; how he taunted the infidels and refused to praise them; how his son Uruz grew up not knowing about his father, and how he found out about his father's imprisonment; how Uruz led an army of nobles to rescue Salur Kazan; how they attacked the
Ayasofia in Trebizond; how Salur was sent to protect the castle from the assailants but learned who they were and did not kill them; how he and his son were reunited, how they attacked the infidels, and how they returned home;
# How the Outer Oghuz Rebelled against the Inner Oghuz and How Beyrek Died: How the Outer Oghuz rebel against Kazan Khan after feeling he had slighted them in favor of the Inner Oghuz; how Kazan's uncle Uruz, leading the rebels, tries to get his son-in-law Beyrek to join the rebellion, and how he kills Beyrek for refusing; how Beyrek is taken home, where he calls on Kazan to avenge him; how Kazan and his forces defeat Uruz, after which the surviving rebels surrender and reconcile with Kazan;
# The Wisdom of Dede Korkut
Language
![Gorkut Ata Statue at Independence Monument (27506806397)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Gorkut_Ata_Statue_at_Independence_Monument_%2827506806397%29.jpg)
The language of the Gonbad manuscript is of a mixed character and depicts vivid characteristics of the period of transition from later Old Oghuz Turkic to Early Modern Turkic of
Iranian Azerbaijan. However, there are also
orthographical
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
,
lexical
Lexical may refer to:
Linguistics
* Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language
* Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification
* Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
* Lex ...
and
grammatical structure
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
s peculiar to
Eastern Turki, which shows that the original work was written in the area between Syrdarya and Anatolia, and later rewritten in
Safavid Iran in the second half of the 16th century. It was later copied again in the same area in the second half of the 18th century during the
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
period.
The following sentences are few of many sayings that appear in the Gonbad manuscript (one of the earliest manuscripts that survive to this day) of the Book of Dede Korkut:
:Text in original Oghuz Turkic language:
:Allāhına güveneŋ yumruḳ ursa ḳara daġlar yıḫar.
:Üstin ala bedirli ay gelende sıçramaḳa ḥamlelenür.
:Tekebbürlik eyleyeni Taŋrı sevmez.
:Kara saçuŋ dolaşmışını daraġ yazar.
:Eger erdür eger ḫatun bu dünyāda nāmūslı ġayretli ḳoççaḳ gerek.
:Yapa yapa ḳarlar yaġsa yaza ḳalmaz.
:Ecel vaʿde ėrmeyince kimse ölmez.
:Aġlamaġıla nesne mi olur?
:English translation:
:Those who trust in God destroy even the black mountains if they punch them.
:When the light of the full moon appears atop,
he pied violent tigermakes a move to leap.
:God does not like arrogant people.
:The comb is able to detangle entangled black hair.
:If it is a man or woman, it is necessary to have an honest and zealous heart in this world.
:If the flaky snow falls, it will not stay in the summer.
:If one's dying day doesn't come, that person will not die.
:What can be done by crying?
Manuscript tradition
![Oghusenbuchmuseum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Oghusenbuchmuseum.jpeg)
Since the early 18th century, the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' has been translated into French, English, Russian and Hungarian. However, it was not until it caught the attention of H.F. Von Diez, who published a partial German translation of Dede Korkut in 1815, based on a manuscript found in the Royal Library of Dresden, that ''Dede Korkut'' became widely known to the West. The only other manuscript of ''Dede Korkut'' was discovered in 1950 by Ettore Rossi in the
Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
. Until ''Dede Korkut'' was transcribed on paper, the events depicted therein survived in the oral tradition, at least from the 9th and 10th centuries. The "Bamsi Beyrek" chapter of ''Dede Korkut'' preserves almost verbatim the immensely popular Central Asian dastan
Alpamysh
Alpamysh, also spelled as Alpamish or Alpamis ( uz, Alpamış, kk, Alpamıs, tr, Alpamış, ba, Алпамыша, russian: Алпамыш, az, Alpamış, Kazan Tatar: ''Аlpamşa'', Altay: ''Аlıp Мanaş''), is an ancient Turkic epic o ...
, dating from an even earlier time. The stories were written in prose, but peppered with poetic passages. Recent research by Turkish and Turkmen scholars revealed, that the Turkmen variant of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' contains sixteen stories, which have been transcribed and published in 1998.
In 2018 the
Gonbad
In traditional Persian architecture, a dome is referred to as a gonbad ( fa, گنبد).
A gonbad is often double layered, and can have many shapes, such as semi-spherical, partial spherical, onion shaped, paraboloid, polygonal conical, and c ...
manuscript was discovered. The language of the Gonbad manuscript is of a mixed character and depicts vivid characteristics of the period of transition from later Old Oghuz Turkic to Early Modern Turkic of
Iranian Azerbaijan. However, there are also
orthographical
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
,
lexical
Lexical may refer to:
Linguistics
* Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language
* Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification
* Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
* Lex ...
and
grammatical structure
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
s peculiar to
Eastern Turki, which shows that the original work was written in the area between Syrdarya and Anatolia, and later rewritten in
Safavid Iran in the second half of the 16th century. It was later copied again in the same area in the second half of the 18th century during the
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
period. The first leaf of the Gonbad manuscript is missing. For this reason, it is not known how the name of the manuscript was recorded in writing.
Dating the composition
![TM-2006-1000manat-Gorkut Ata2-b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/TM-2006-1000manat-Gorkut_Ata2-b.png)
The work originated as a series of epics orally told and transferred over the generations before being published in book form. There are numerous versions collected of the stories. It is thought that the first versions were in natural verse, since Turkish is an agglutinative language, but that they gradually transformed into combinations of verse and prose as the Islamic elements affected the narrative over time.
Various dates have been proposed for the first written copies.
Geoffrey Lewis Geoffrey Lewis may refer to:
* Geoffrey Lewis (actor) (1935–2015), American character actor
* Geoffrey Lewis (scholar) (1920–2008), British professor of Turkish
* Geoffrey Lewis (philatelist), Australian philatelist
* Geoffrey W. Lewis (died ...
dates it fairly early in the 15th century,
with two layers of text: a substratum of older oral traditions related to conflicts between the Oghuz and the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
and
Kipchaks and an outer covering of references to the 14th-century campaigns of the
Aq Qoyunlu.
[Michael E. Meeker, "The Dede Korkut Ethic", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 24, No. 3 (Aug., 1992), 395–417. "According to Lewis (1974), an older substratum of these oral traditions dates to conflicts between the ancient Oghuz and their Turkish rivals in Central Asia (the Pecheneks and the Kipchaks), but this substratum has been clothed in references to the 14th-century campaigns of the Akkoyunlu Confederation of Turkic tribes against the Georgians, the Abkhaz, and the Greeks in Trebizond."] Cemal Kafadar agrees that it was no earlier than the 15th century since "the author is buttering up both the
Akkoyunlu and the
Ottoman rulers". However, in his history of the Ottoman Empire,
Stanford J. Shaw (1977) dates it in the 14th century. Professor Michael E. Meeker argues for two dates, saying that the versions of the stories we have today originated as folk stories and songs no earlier than the 13th century and were written down no later than the early the 15th century.
At least one of the stories (Chapter 8) existed in writing at the beginning of the 14th century, from an unpublished
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
history,
ibn al-Dawadari's ''Durar al-Tijan'', written in the
Mamluk Sultanate
The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...
some time between 1309 and 1340.
A precise determination is impossible to come by due to the nomadic lifestyle of the early Turkic peoples, in which epics such as that of Dede Korkut passed from generation to generation in an oral form. This is especially true of an epic book such as this, which is a product of a long series of narrators, any of whom could have made alterations and additions, right down to the two 16th-century scribes who authored the oldest extant manuscripts. The majority of scholars of ancient Turkic epics and folk tales, such as Russian-Soviet academician
Vasily Bartold
Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold (russian: Васи́лий Влади́мирович Барто́льд.; 1869–1930), who published in the West under his German baptism name, Wilhelm Barthold, was a Russian orientalist who specialized in the his ...
and British scholar Geoffrey Lewis, believed that the ''Dede Korkut'' text "exhibits a number of features characteristic of
Azeri
Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...
, the Turkish dialect of Azerbaijan".
Soviet treatment
![1999, December, 29](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/1999%2C_December%2C_29._The_1300th_Anniversary_of_Kitabi_Dede_Gorgud.jpg)
The majority of the Turkic peoples and lands described in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' were part of the Soviet Union from 1920 until 1991, and thus most of the research and interest originated there. The attitude towards the Book of Dede Korkut and other dastans related to the Turkic peoples was initially neutral.
Turkish historian Hasan Bülent Paksoy argues that after
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
solidified his grip on power in the USSR, and especially in the early 1950s, a taboo on
Turkology
Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative cont ...
was firmly established. He observed that the first full-text Russian edition of the Book of Dede Korkut, by Azerbaijani academicians
Hamid Arasly
Hamid Mammadtaghi oglu Arasly ( az, Həmid Hacı Məmmədtağı oğlu Araslı; 23 February 1902–20 November 1983) was an Azerbaijani literary critic, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, and an academic at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Scienc ...
and M.G.Tahmasib and based on the Barthold translation of the 1920s, was published on a limited basis only in 1939 and again in 1950.
He asserts, "Turkic scholars and literati (who raised the same issues) were lost to the Stalinist 'liquidations' or to the 'ideological assault' waged on all dastans in 1950–52."
According to Paksoy, this taboo of the early 1950s was also expressed in the "Trial of Alpamysh" (1952–1957), when "all dastans of Central Asia were officially condemned by the Soviet state apparatus".
Soviet authorities criticized ''Dede Korkut'' for promoting
bourgeois nationalism
In Marxism, bourgeois nationalism is the practice by the ruling classes of deliberately dividing people by nationality, race, ethnicity, or religion, so as to distract them from engaging in class struggle. It is seen as a divide-and-conquer stra ...
. In a 1951 speech delivered at the 18th Congress of the
Azerbaijani Communist Party
The Azerbaijan Communist Party ( az, Azərbaycan Kommunist Partiyası; russian: Коммунистическая партия Азербайджана) was the ruling political party in the Azerbaijan SSR, making it effectively a branch of th ...
, Azerbaijani communist leader
Mir Jafar Baghirov
Mir Jafar Abbas oghlu Baghirov ( az, Мирҹәфәр Аббас оғлу Бағыров, italic=no, Mircəfər Abbas oğlu Bağırov, russian: Мир Джафар Аббасович Багиров; 17 September 1896 – 7 May 1956) was the comm ...
advocated expunging the epic from
Azerbaijani literature, calling it a "harmful" and "antipopular book" that "is shot through with the poison of nationalism, chiefly against the Georgian and Armenian brother-peoples."
Nevertheless, the publication of dastans did not wholly cease during that period, as editions of ''Alpamysh'' were published in 1957, 1958 and 1961, as they had been in 1939, 1941, and 1949; the entry on dastans in the second edition of the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (volume 13, 1952) does not contain any "condemnation" either. Despite the liberalization of the political climate after the
denunciation of Stalinism by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
in February 1956, the same "Barthold" edition of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' was re-published only in 1962 and in 1977. Problems persisted all the way to
perestroika, when the last full edition in Azerbaijani language was sent for publication on July 11, 1985, but received permission for printing only on February 2, 1988.
Cultural legacy
A 1975 Azeri film, ''
Dada Gorgud'', is based on the epic.
In 1998, the Republic of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
and
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
nominated, and in 2000 celebrated, the "One thousand three hundredth anniversary of the epic poem Kitab-i Dede Qorqud".
In 1999 the
National Bank of Azerbaijan
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA, az, Azərbaycan Mərkəzi Bankı) is the central bank of Azerbaijan Republic. The headquarters of the bank is located in the capital city Baku.
The National Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan was establis ...
minted gold and silver
commemorative coin
Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...
s for the 1,300th anniversary of the epic. The epic culture, folk tales and music of Dede Qorqud has been included in the
of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in November 2018.
See also
*
Alpamysh
Alpamysh, also spelled as Alpamish or Alpamis ( uz, Alpamış, kk, Alpamıs, tr, Alpamış, ba, Алпамыша, russian: Алпамыш, az, Alpamış, Kazan Tatar: ''Аlpamşa'', Altay: ''Аlıp Мanaş''), is an ancient Turkic epic o ...
*
Epic of Köroğlu
The ''Epic of Koroghlu'' ( az, , tr, ; tk, , uz, ) is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples, mainly the Oghuz Turks. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to ...
*
Edigu
Edigu (or Edigey) (also İdegäy or Edege Mangit) (1352–1419) was a Mongol Muslim emir of the White Horde who founded a new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde.
Edigu was from the Crimean Manghud tribe, the son of B ...
*
Jangar
The epic of Jangar or Jangar epic ( xal-RU, Җаңһр, translit=Cañhr, ; mn, , Жангар, translit=Jangar, ) is a traditional oral epic poem (''tuuli'') of the Mongols. The original name of the Kalmyk is Oirats. It was long thought to be pa ...
*
Ergenekon legend
*
Epic of King Gesar
The Epic of King Gesar ( Tibetan, Bhutanese: གླིང་གེ་སར །), also spelled Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts) or Kesar (), is a work of epic literature of Tibet and greater Central Asia. The epic originally develop ...
*
Epic of Manas
The Epic of Manas ( ky, Манас дастаны, Manas dastanı, ماناس دستانی), is a traditional epic poem dating to the 18th century but claimed by Kyrgyz tradition to be much older. Manas is said to be based on Bars Bek who was ...
*
Turkic mythology
Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrist and Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and warrior way of life of Turkic and Mongo ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Azmun, Y. (2020). "The New Dädä Qorqut Tales from the Recently-Found Third Manuscript of the Book of Dädä Qorqut". In: ''Journal of Old Turkic Studies'', 4 (1), 16-27. DOI: 10.35236/jots.677980
* Haznedaroğlu, A. (2020). "Salur Kazan ve Yuvarlanan Taş Anlatısı Hakkında". In: ''Journal of Old Turkic Studies'', 4 (2), 437-468. DOI: 10.35236/jots.736370 (In Turkish)
* Rentzsch, Julian. “Modality in the ‘Dede Qorqud Oguznameleri'.” In: ''Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae'' 64, no. 1 (2011): 49–70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43282396.
External links
Epics, four editions of the ''Dede Korkut'' book at the
Uysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative, Texas Tech University, 2000–2007
"Mother-of-All-Books" Dada Gorgudarticle in ''Azerbaijan International'' magazine
''Book of Dede Korkut'' at Dresden Library
{{Authority control
Azerbaijani literature
Azerbaijani mythology
Turkic epic poems
Mythology books
Oghuz Turks
Medieval books
Turkish short story collections
Turkic mythology
Works published anonymously
Books of the Aq Qoyunlu
Bayandur tribe