Evolution of the Bashkir-Turkmen Ethnocultural Interaction from the Middle Ages to the Present Day

УДК 39:94 ББК 63.5+63.3(2)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the close historical and ethnocultural relations between the indigenous inhabitants of the Ural-Volga region and Turkmenistan, existing since the Middle Ages. According to Eastern authors, at that time part of the Bashkirs lived on the Syrdarya and in the Aral Sea region, along with the ancestors of the Turkmens, from where, due to political upheavals, some moved to the interfluve of the Urals and the Volga, while others moved to the Amudarya and further to the Transcaspian. Of particular interest for the development of our theme are similar subjects in Bashkir and Turkmen folklore. For comparison, several Bashkir traditions recorded by P. Nazarov, N. Maliev, R. Kuzeev and others are given in the work. The mention of Oguz-Khan, Turkmenistan, Turkmen khans, the wolf is common for folklore, especially the south-eastern Bashkirs. Other sources often mention Gorkut-Ata — the hero of the Oguz epic. A large number of ethnonymic parallels with the Turkmens also speak about the Oguz origin of some Bashkir clans. In the names of the settlements of Bashkortostan, the ethnonym “Turkmen” is also recorded. There are other similarities: both nations profess Islam, and the Turkmen language, in a number of phonetic features, draws close to Bashkir. Since 1993, the Turkmen Cultural Center has been actively operating in Bashkortostan. Republic representatives take part in many international forums, often held recently in Ashgabat.