Epic of Manas - Manas Dastany

#Her-Mannus #Er-Manas #Alp-Manash The Epic of Manas is a traditional epic poem dating to the 18th century but claimed by the Kyrgyz people to be much older. The plot of Manas revolves around a series of events that coincide with the history of the region in the 17th century, primarily the interaction of the Turkic-speaking people from the mountains to the south of the Dasht-i Qipchaq and the Oirat Mongols from the bordering area of Jungaria. In the 19th century versions, Manas is the leader of the Nogay people, while in versions dating after 1920, Manas is a Kyrgyz and a leader of the Kyrgyz. Attempts have been made to connect modern Kyrgyz with the Yenisei Kirghiz, today claimed by Kyrgyzstan to be the ancestors of modern Kyrgyz. Kazakh ethnographer and historian Shokan Shinghisuly Walikhanuli was unable to find evidence of folk-memory during his extended research in 19th-century Kyrgyzstan. There are more than 65 written versions of parts of the epic. An English translation of the version of Sagimbai Orozbakov by Walter May was published in 1995, in commemoration of the presumed 1000th anniversary of Manas’ birth, and re-issued in two volumes in 2004. Arthur Thomas Hatto has made English translations of the Manas tales recorded by Shokan Valikhanov and Vasily Radlov in the 19th century.