Tales from the Steppe: Boktu-Kirish, A Tuvan Tale

In this side episode, part of the Tales from the Steppe bonus episodes, we dive into the tale of Boktu-Kirish, a story that derives from the Tuvan people. Come listen as we hear about the exploits of a young woman on a quest to bring her dead brother back to life. 

Transcript

And welcome to this special edition of the Nomads and Empires podcast! This will be part of a series I’ll do to break here and there as we move between regular episodes. Think of it as a nice intermission. But also, I want to have these bonus episodes focus on one primary aspect: the folklores, myths, and legends of the Eurasian steppe, as well as some of the places adjacent to it. The region has a plethora of amazing stories to tell us. After all, storytellers were often major figures who acted as cultural conduits for various tribes and clans. Now, I emphasize that I also want to focus on areas beyond the steppe, as we should remember, groups living in the taiga and such have a deep relationship with their steppe counterparts, and their tales and legends can also inform us about cultural dynamics and relations. 

So yeah, each of these episodes will focus on a single or a set of stories that come directly from the region. Some might be relatively famous stories; I’d like to do a reading of Dede Korkut and parts from the Epic of Manas, for instance. Others are going to be more obscure, more localized. 

We’ll see how these stories fit contextually into history, what their ideas and motifs might represent, and what lessons and stories these tales might be trying to convey. I think this is going to be a very interesting break from our usual episodes, and by reading these stories, we’ll shine a better light into the very peoples we’re discussing. Although history is always important, analyzing these stories can help us illustrate a key point: these aren’t just figures and dates, but also people with lives and cultures, with beliefs and values, and through these retellings, we’ll try to illuminate on such points. 

So on today’s episode, we’re going to start with a story that derives from the Tuvans. The Tuvans are a modern ethnic group that can be found in northern Mongolia and in the Tuvan Republic of the Russian Federation. You can kind of think of them as residing along the areas near Lake Baikal and to Baikal’s west. The area is quite mountainous, marked by the presence of the Altai and Sayan mountains, and if you remember, this is near the area we were talking about back in episode 7, when we discussed the Arzhan kurgans. 

As such, the general elevation is high, and it keeps the region relatively isolated. In this way, the lands of Tuva were the periphery of the steppe, the land that shielded the grasslands from the terrors that may have come from the taiga. Some scholars have argued that this geographical dimension meant that cultural diffusion from say China was limited to second-hand influence; that is, influence from such great polities came from interactions with intermediaries like the Mongols. Concepts like Buddhism were, therefore, transmitted from a Mongolian lens first.

The Tuvans are a Turkic people, speaking a language connected to Uighur, Kazakh, and so forth. The Tuvans themselves are quite connected to the Eastern steppe, having perhaps been around in some form during the eras of the Xianbei and the Uighur Khanate. In such times, the Tuvans may have been called Uriankhai. Of course, I’m hesitant to make this claim fully, as group identity has always changed throughout history, but what we can say is that some sort of Turkic presence in this part of the steppe persisted throughout the Mongol Empire and into the modern day. 

The Tuvans themselves had a distinct variety in lifestyles. Historically, many lived as steppe nomads, moving routinely with their herds between various pastures. Some probably engaged in semi-nomadic lifestyles, with families migrating between grasslands that had traditionally been theirs. In the Tuvan novel, The Blue Sky by Galsan Tsachinag, that sort of semi-nomadic life appears to have been the case during the 20th century. While animals like cattle and sheep probably played a key role for many Tuvans, other groups had slightly different lifestyles. The Dukhan people, a Tuvan group based in the taiga that saddles northern Mongolia and Lake Baikal, are known to be reindeer herders. After mounting urbanization during the Soviet and Communist eras, many Tuvans now live sedentary lifestyles. 

Tuvan folklore reflected these traditional elements. Nature featured prominently in many Tuvan stories, with natural phenomena often personified and given human-like characteristics. The steppe, the mountains, and the sky featured prominently in Tuvan tales, as were the deeds of ancestors. As hinted at earlier, connections with the neighboring Mongols would also impact Tuvan folklore. This included the introduction of Buddhist elements, the framed narrative structure, and the names of many epic figures like Geser.

Storytelling was an important aspect of historic Tuvan life. Professional storytellers, tooldzu, would wait until nightfall to begin their narrations. Those in the camps would boil tea to consume while listening. When all were ready, the storyteller would begin with the words shijaan am, or “once upon a time.” The narration would be accompanied by the sounds of horse fiddles and could last well into the night.

And so on today’s episode, we will be doing a reading of an epic tale called Boktu Kirish, which embodies many of the elements we mentioned earlier. The epic includes descriptions of the great steppe, includes motifs such as martial games and wrestling, and has a talking horse. However, the tale is also interesting as it includes what I perceive to be a relatively strong female lead, who shows herself to be shrewd and decisive. 

Our story begins with tragedy, but our heroine Boka Seelei is unwilling to give in to despair.

And so, shijaan am, or once upon a time:

• The translation comes from "A Tuvan Hero Tale, With Commentary, Morphemic Analysis, and Translation" by K. David Harrison. 

And that’s the story. I hope you found this interesting or enlightening, and I hope you found yourself rooting for Boka Seelei, who despite all odds, managed to get her brother back. 

But now, that’s it for today. Please let me know what you thought about this side episode. I’m planning for more episodes discussing these types of stories, including those from peoples not necessarily of the Eurasian steppe, but who are closely connected. If you have any suggestions, please let me know or send them to me on Twitter or my email! 

Otherwise, that’s it! I’m working on the next few episodes, where we’ll be talking about the Scythians, so do keep an on that.

Farewell, thank you again, and see you all next time on the windy plains of the endless steppe.

Music: Mongolian Welcome Song, Freesound