Kara-Kan, the 'Black Khan', is a named figure of the Shor heroic-epic repertoire, appearing as a ruling khan of the epic middle world. In the alyptyg nybak the khan and his household frequently frame the action: the hero is his son or ward, and the tale opens from his settlement before moving outward into quest and combat. He belongs to the stock of named sovereigns preserved in the Shor folklore corpus recorded from native singers in the early twentieth century.