Siberian branch
Altaians
A Turk people of the Altai Mountains, known for a heroic epic tradition sung in the guttural kai style.
Altai-Kizhi / Altaylar
The Altaians live mainly in the Altai Republic, whose capital is Gorno-Altaysk, in the mountains where the borders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China meet. They include southern groups such as the Altai-Kizhi and Telengits, traditionally mountain herders of horses, cattle and sheep, and northern groups such as the Tubalars, Chelkans and Kumandins of the forest zone.
In 1904 a religious movement known as Burkhanism, or Ak Jang (“the white faith”), arose among the southern Altaians, centred on the shepherd Chet Chelpan and on the expected return of the legendary hero Oirot. After the revolution, Altaian intellectuals — among them the painter Grigory Choros-Gurkin (1870–1937), the first professional artist of Altai origin — sought regional autonomy, and in 1922 the Oirot Autonomous Oblast was created.
Altai oral tradition is rich in long heroic epics performed by storytellers (kaichy) in kai, a guttural throat-singing style, to the accompaniment of the two-stringed topshuur. One of the best known, Maadai-Kara, was recorded from the master storyteller Aleksei Kalkin in the 1960s.
- Language
- Altai, a Siberian Turk language with northern and southern dialect groups
- Branch
- Siberian
- Homeland
- The Altai Republic in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia (Russia)
- Also living in
- Neighbouring regions of Siberia, including Altai Krai and Kemerovo Oblast
Key dates
Mid-18th century
With the fall of the Dzungar state, the southern Altai groups are incorporated into the Russian Empire.
1904
The Burkhanist (Ak Jang) religious movement emerges in the Altai Mountains.
1922
The Oirot Autonomous Oblast is created within the Russian Soviet republic.
1948
The oblast is renamed the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast; its centre, Oirot-Tura, becomes Gorno-Altaysk.
1990s
The region becomes a republic within Russia, today’s Altai Republic.
Heritage
- Heroic epics such as Maadai-Kara, performed in kai throat singing with the topshuur
- The landscape paintings of Grigory Choros-Gurkin
- The mountain landscapes of the Altai, including Lake Teletskoye, Mount Belukha and the Ukok plateau, inscribed by UNESCO as the World Heritage site “Golden Mountains of Altai” (1998)
Sources
- A. Znamenski, “Power of Myth: Popular Ethnonationalism and Nationality Building in Mountain Altai, 1904–1922”, Acta Slavica Iaponica 22 (2005), pp. 25–52
- L. Harvilahti, “Altai Oral Epic”, Oral Tradition 15/2 (2000), pp. 215–229
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, “Golden Mountains of Altai”, whc.unesco.org