Alpamys
Karakalpak · mortal · Karakalpak traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Alpamys is the hero of the heroic epic Alpamıs, one of the core dastans of the Karakalpak jıraw repertoire and shared across the Turkic peoples of Central Asia; the earliest recorded version was taken down by A. A. Divaev in 1896 from a Karakalpak singer. The narrative falls into two movements: a bride-winning expedition, in which Alpamys claims Barchin (Gulbarchin) to whom he was betrothed from birth, and a return story, in which he is imprisoned by the Kalmyk khan, escapes after long captivity, and comes home in disguise to overthrow the usurper Ultan and reclaim his wife. The recognition of the hero by the bow only he can bend has invited long comparison with the return of Odysseus.
Domains
- war
- fidelity
Powers
- wins his bride and returns from captivity
Epithets
- Alpamıs batır — Alpamys the championKarakalpak epic Alpamıs. (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: BarshynKarakalpak epic Alpamıs. (secondary)
- sibling: UltanUltan is his half-brother, born of a slave-woman.Karakalpak epic Alpamıs. (secondary)
- enemy: UltanUltan usurps his household during his captivity.Karakalpak epic Alpamıs. (secondary)
Sources
- Alpamys is the hero of the eponymous Karakalpak (and wider Central Asian) heroic epic, betrothed from birth to Barchin/Gulbarchin, imprisoned by the Kalmyks, and returning to reclaim wife and household from the usurper Ultan.: H. B. Paksoy, Alpamysh: Central Asian Identity under Russian Rule (1989). (secondary); Karl Reichl, Turkic Oral Epic Poetry (1992); earliest Karakalpak version collected by A. A. Divaev, 1896. (secondary)