Traditional Spirituality among the Karakalpak of Central Asia
In the rural areas of Central Asia among the nomadic peoples (Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Karakalpak and Turkmen) and sedentary groups (Uzbek and Uigur) traditional spirituality was influenced by popular Ṣūfī tradition. In this traditional spirituality we find various spirit mediators that are called bakšı in K...
| Published in: | Shaman |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Molnar & Kelemen Oriental Publ.
2020
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| In: |
Shaman
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| Summary: | In the rural areas of Central Asia among the nomadic peoples (Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Karakalpak and Turkmen) and sedentary groups (Uzbek and Uigur) traditional spirituality was influenced by popular Ṣūfī tradition. In this traditional spirituality we find various spirit mediators that are called bakšı in Kyrgyz and baksı in Kazakh; south of the Syr Darya River they are called porkan. Very few data have been published on the Turkmen or Karakalpak porkans of Western Turkestan. In 2018, the two authors, Seidin Amirlan from Karakalpakstan and Dávid Somfai Kara from Hungary, had the chance to conduct fieldwork among the Karakalpak. They met an old spiritual leader, Berdimurat, and interviewed him about the Karakalpak porkans. Unfortunately, the last active porkans had died in the 1970s. Berdimurat was one of the last elderly people who had witnessed rituals performed by a porkan in his childhood. The present article is based on data collected by the authors in the field that were later supplemented by Seidin Amirlan with further pieces of information he found in the Karakalpak-language literature as well as from his own experiences. |
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| ISSN: | 1216-7827 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Shaman
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