Today I would like to share with you a beautiful Bashkir legend «Seven girls».
Based on the legend’s details, we can assume that this happened in the late 17th – early 18th century, when the Kazakh and Bashkir clans raided each other.
The main scene is a lake in the Bashkir Trans-Urals, in the Baymaksky district, ten kilometres from the city of Sibay.
Seven sisters (in some versions of the legend – seven girlfriends) lived in a village near a pond. Everyone loved them for their beauty, hard work, and dances.
One day the Bashkir horsemen gathered to show their prowess and stole a herd of horses from the Kazakhs’ nearest camp. The Kazakhs cherished their horses very much. They became furious and they did not leave this act unpunished – they killed the Bashkir men, captured the most beautiful girls, including seven sisters, and took them away. To prevent the captured girls from escaping cruel Kazakh warriors incised their feet and put fine horsehair in their wounds. The cuts healed, but it was impossible for the girls to walk, much less run away, because of the intense pain. For a whole year seven girls lived in captivity, and one day they managed to deceive the Kazakhs. They waited until they fell asleep and escaped. The warriors, having discovered the loss of the captives, set off in pursuit. The girls reached the lake, and there the Bashkir horsemen were already galloping to the rescue. But the pursuers overtook the sisters, and the desperate girls, holding hands, jumped into the lake.
Today this lake is called Kultuban («kul» – lake, «taban» – sole, deep). However, in some interpretations the name Kyltaban is found, which means «horsehair». The lake also has another name – Yaugul.
There is another interesting detail in the legend. One of the sisters allegedly survived. The girl was taken to her parents; her wounded legs were healed. After that the Bashkir beauty came to the lake and recalled a dance that she used to dance with her dead sisters. The memory of them was passed down by the surviving sister from generation to generation in dance. This is how the legend of seven girls has survived through the ages.
There is also an older legend that reflects the cosmogonic views of the Bashkir people. It explains the origin of the Ursa Major constellation. Seven beautiful sisters at the sight of the king of daevas («god» or «deity» in Sanskrit) jumped from the top of the mountain in fright and ascended into the sky. Since then they are called «Etegen yondoz», which means «seven stars». This interpretation is given in the book by Fanuza Nadrshina «Bashkir stories and legends».
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More inspiration you can find on my Instagram @atlas_of_inspiration
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All posts:
Sharing Inspiration. Introduction
Sharing Inspiration. The World of Fabergé. Part 1
Sharing Inspiration. The World of Fabergé. Part 2
Sharing Inspiration. The World of Fabergé. Part 3
Sharing Inspiration. The World of Fabergé. Part 4
Sharing Inspiration. The World of Fabergé. Part 5
Sharing Inspiration. The World of Fabergé. Part 6
Sharing Inspiration. Russian Ballet. Part 1
Sharing Inspiration. Russian Ballet. Part 2
Sharing Inspiration. Russian Ballet. Part 3
Sharing Inspiration. Russian Ballet. Part 4
Sharing Inspiration. Russian Ballet. Part 5
Sharing Inspiration. Cultural Diversity. Part 1
Sharing Inspiration. Cultural Diversity. Part 3
Sharing Inspiration. Cultural Diversity. Part 4
Sharing Inspiration. Cultural Diversity. Part 5
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Sources: kitaplong.ru
