Siberian branch
Khakas
A Siberian Turk people of the Minusinsk Basin, known for a heroic epic tradition performed with throat singing.
Tadarlar / Hakaslar
The Khakas live mainly in the Republic of Khakassia, whose capital is Abakan, in the Minusinsk Basin along the upper Yenisei. The region is rich in ancient archaeological monuments, including standing stones and burial mounds.
Khakas oral tradition includes long heroic epics performed by storytellers using khai — a guttural throat-singing style — accompanied by the chatkhan, a plucked zither.
- Language
- Khakas, a Siberian Turk language
- Branch
- Siberian
- Homeland
- The Republic of Khakassia in the Minusinsk Basin of southern Siberia (Russia)
- Also living in
- Neighbouring regions of Siberia
Key dates
Antiquity
The Minusinsk Basin is a centre of successive Bronze and Iron Age cultures.
17th–18th centuries
The region is incorporated into the Russian state.
1991
Khakassia becomes a republic within Russia.
Heritage
- Heroic epic (alyptyg nymakh) performed with khai throat singing
- The chatkhan zither
- Ancient stelae and burial mounds of the Minusinsk Basin
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Khakass”
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