On the genesis of the epos «Alpamys Batyr»

Abstract

Opinions about the origin and creation of the epos «Alpamys Batyr», as well as about the specifics of its distribution are not clear. Today, the views of A.K.
Borovkov, H.T. Zaripov and V.M. Zhirmunsky on this issue are widely known. It is known that V.M. Zhirmunsky’s opinion has prevailed among scholars that the work appeared in the VI-VIII centuries, on the southern slopes of the Altai Mountains, and at the beginning of the XVI century stories about the exploits of Alpamys on the Baisyn land reached by the nomadic Uzbeks of Shaybani Khan, the epos orginated in the south of Uzbekistan, and then spread among Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, and Kazakhs.
This concept of the scientist did not develop immediately. In 1943, V.M. Zhirmunsky put forward the opinion that the epos «Alpamys» belongs to the Konyrats. Hence it can be understood that the reason for changing in the position of V.M. Zhirmunsky was the heroic saga «Alyp-Manash», recorded from the mouth of the Altai kaichi N. Ulagashev and published in 1941. If «Alyp-Manash» had appeared in the VI-VIII centuries, as V.M. Zhirmunsky says, it would not have been possible to preserve such a slight similarity between the versions over the next twelve centuries. On the contrary, there are many signs indicating that the Altaic version, sung by N. Ulagashev was based on the version of the Konurats. Taking these and other data into account, we can be sure that both versions of the epos «Alpamys», in the form of a heroic saga and an epos, originated near the Syr Darya river about 1200 years ago.