KARAKALPAK NATIONAL CUSTOMS

begins, it always features its own tradition and grandeur. This is evident in the poetic or musical introduction to the wedding.

Funeral repast

The commemoration of the deceased is one of the ancient customs that expresses memory of the departed, as well as respect and attention from relatives and fellow villagers. However, among the Karakalpaks, this seemingly harmless custom, on the surface, was so saturated with religious Muslim and archaic preIslamic rituals, dating back to the primitive communal system, that for centuries it caused ideological harm and material damage to the population. It cannot be justified or cultivated in modern life, especially by considering it part of the "rational traditions" of the Karakalpak people.

Although the funeral ritual has undergone significant changes over time, and many of its features have disappeared or survived only as remnants, certain aspects of Karakalpak funerals, as our research suggests, should be categorized among those customs that hinder communist construction and must be relentlessly combated.

To clearly understand the paths of transforming these rites, we will consider both traditional and new aspects of the Karakalpak funeral ritual.

One of the remnants of archaic beliefs among the Karakalpaks, as well as other peoples of Central Asia, is the practice of holding five stages of funerals for the deceased. In the past, the following memorials were traditionally observed: 1) "qara asi" (black meal), which was held before or after the removal of the body but before the burial; 2) "jetisi," the seven-day memorial held seven days after the funeral; 3) "qirqi," the fortieth-day memorial, held on the 37th or 40th day after the funeral; 4) "ju'zi," held on the 97th or 100th day; and 5) "jili," the one-year memorial, held a few days before the anniversary of the funeral.

According to Karakalpak traditional beliefs, the need for these memorials was explained in two ways: they were both a tribute to the deceased and connected to

the belief in the immortality of the soul. These rituals and beliefs are welldocumented in scholarly works on the Karakalpaks and neighboring peoples. According to Karakalpak beliefs, it was thought that on the first Thursday after the funeral, the spirit of the deceased (ruh, jan) would return to the house where they had lived. Therefore, the Karakalpaks performed a ritual called "nas shig'ariw" (literally "release of the scent") to feed the spirit of the deceased, believed to be hungry.

Many Karakalpak epics provide accounts of the belief in the existence of the soul and the consequences of neglecting the ritual, such as disasters befalling those who refused to perform it. For the "нас шығарыў" ritual, a mullah was invited to recite a prayer for the deceased, and "baursak" (fried dough) was prepared. Neighbors, aware of the day of the ritual, would come to participate, try the baursak, and say "tiyebersin" (literally "let it reach"), meaning that the scent of the oil should reach the spirit of the deceased. Throughout the year, traditional memorials continued to honor and "feed" the spirit of the deceased.

According to Karakalpak beliefs, the spirit of the deceased could appear in the dreams of close relatives, which meant the spirit was supposedly hungry. After seeing the deceased in a dream, people would make a particular effort to hold memorials on time.

Of the five memorials, the largest and most costly were the "qara asi" (the meal held on the day of the funeral) and "jili" (the one-year memorial). If the deceased were children (boys up to 12 years old, girls up to 9), only the "qara asi" memorial was held.

For the "qara asi" memorial, the organizers would inform all relatives and kin, as well as the village elders, about their intention to hold the memorial for the deceased relative. A traditional "council" was convened in the house of the deceased, known as "ken'es sadaqa" (council for charity).

Tusaw kesiw Idrisova Habiba

Tusaw kesiw - One of the traditions that is practiced when a child is learning to walk. Everything should be prepared before the ceremony. 1.5 meters of rope and scissors to cut it. Child’s parents decide who will cut tusaw. A person who cuts a tusaw must be agile, intelligent, skilled, and able to walk straight and without stumbling. People believed that whoever cuts a child's tusaw would grow up to be just like that person. Cutting tusaw can be devided into 2 types:

1.Adult person can cut the tusaw 2.Teenagers can cut the tusaw

When adults cut the tusaw, they tie the child's leg with a rope and cut it off at once and wish the child good wishes “May your feet be light!” which means “be agile”.

And the person who cuts tusaw gives the child presents. The person who cuts the tusaw shold sing a song:

Take a step, baby, take a step my baby,

Strech your body my baby,

Let’s cut your tusaw,

Take a step, baby, take a step my baby,

Strech your body my baby,

Show us your steps,

May protect you from evil eye,

Take a step, baby, take a step my baby,

Do not be lazy!

While the person who cuts the tusaw sings the songs related to cutting tusaw, with its rhythm and rhyme, the child gets happy, tries to walk more and smiles more. Child is brought up from the early ages with national folklore songs. Songs of cutting tusaw is one of the examples of folklore. Child’s parents give sarpay to the person who cut the tusaw. Sarpay is a type of gift. It can be new clothes and a scarf.

Take a step, baby, take a step my baby,

Strech your body my baby,

Show us your steps,

Let’s give your sister-in-law sarpay

Who cut your tusaw.

the circumcision ceremony itself - sunnet, etc. the territorial community played the main rolein the event. The role of the boy's parents was quite limited and consisted only of informing the community leaders (el) about their intentions to organize a sunnet toy and informing about the number of things, products, etc. prepared for the event. A few days before the sunnet toy the boy's parents informed the territorial community leaders, neighbors, and relatives about their intention to perform the sunnet rite. On a certain day the notified people gathered for a council (kenes toy). Usually a lot of people were invited to such a council earlier. In honor of those gathered, a small feast "kenes toy" was arranged. The guests took with them gifts in the form of cattle, the women brought "dasturkhan" with pieces of fabric and bread, baked cookies and baursaks.

The guests, having come to the house, congratulated the boy's parents on his coming of age (erzhetken). The participants of the "kenes toy" celebration were placed by clans in separate yurts. One or two people (the elders) from each clan or from each community were invited to the meeting - council (kenes toy). It is interesting to note that at the council, the hosts of the meeting were considered to be the closest neighbors of the boy's parents. They served those gathered, they presented their houses to the guests for rest, cooked meals and treated the guests in both houses, etc.

After the meal, the council itself began, at which the leaders of the community were the leaders. At the council, they began the day of circumcision, decided on issues related to inviting guests and receiving them. They appointed messengers to notify close relatives living in other places, who, according to the old tradition, were supposed to be invited. The council also decided who was to perform the circumcision rite (sunnet). Usually there were not so many people and, as a rule, they were mullahs and hodjas. It should be noted that the circumcision itself sometimes took place before the feast of "sunnet toy", and sometimes after it; such uncertainty in time was considered necessary, since they were afraid that among the numerous participants in the celebration there might be people who possessed evil spells that could jinx the child during the rite.

After all the organizational issues at the kenes were resolved, they began preparing for the holiday "sunnet toy", i.e. a group of young men were sent for firewood, a group of women were given wheat, which they ground in hand-mills (digirman) and made bread. For those serving the celebration of "sunnet toy", a separate treat "toy baslar" (literally - at the beginning of the celebration) was arranged, during which the young men were placed separately from the women. "Toy baslar" began with baking "baursaq" so that the smell of oil would reach the ancestors, and they would bless the beginning of the holiday and so that the operation would go well. In honor of the ancestors, they read prayers, for which they invited a mullah.

The next day, the celebration itself "sunnet toy" began, to which the invited people arrived. Of the guests, special attention was paid to out-of-town relatives and in-laws, usually relatives on the mother's side of the boy on whom the ceremony was performed. They brought with them sheep, money and other items. It should be noted that at the sunnet-toy, as at the wedding, there were specially appointed people who carefully noted who brought what from those who came, in order to keep this in mind when distributing gifts to the guests after the celebration.

The guests were placed in yurts prepared for them in advance. Sometimes during the celebration of the boy's circumcision, various types of traditional spectacles were arranged, which we reported when describing the wedding.

It should be said that the sunnet-toy in most cases was very burdensome in terms of expenses. Sometimes the celebration on this occasion lasted for several days and for the entertainment of the numerous people who had gathered, enormous material costs were required, which were beyond the means of the population of average prosperity and the poor, who were therefore forced to become debtors to the rich. Sunnet toy celebrations were held on such a grand scale until the 1920s. Since the 1920s, circumcision was celebrated more modestly, although in some places, even before the Great Patriotic War, there were crowded, long celebrations on this occasion. It should be especially noted that during that period, communists, Komsomol members, and the intelligence waged a fierce

struggle against this old, burdensome custom. For example, back in the 1930s, this issue was discussed at a special Plenum of the regional party committee, where the heads of institutions, communists who contributed to and did not wage an appropriate struggle against such ruinous religious rites as sunnet, were sharply criticized. According to archival materials, in 1935, in some cases, many cows and horses were slaughtered to celebrate sunnet toy, and a huge amount of food was spent.

Several hundred people participated in some sunnet toys. Circumcision was usually performed at the age of 5-7-9 years. Autumn was considered the most favorable time for it, and Wednesday was considered the most successful day. The operation was performed by a mullah or hodja; his instruments were a razor (paki) and two reed sticks. Before the operation, only men remained in the house, and only the closest ones. Before the operation, the boy's peers, on whom a similar operation had already been performed, were invited to the house. They reassured the boy, saying that the operation was painless and that soon he would also move into the category of circumcised, i.e. into the category of matured. Together with the child on whom the operation was performed, other boys who had already been circumcised also lay on their backs. Before the operation, the child was bathed and dressed in new clothes - a shirt and a skullcap(takhiya), then he was placed on a slin, reassuring him that everything would go well and quickly. Having been reassured by the support of his peers, the boy lay quietly, easily yielded, and the mullah quickly removed the foreskin. The wound was poured with heated butter and covered with ashes from a burnt felt mat; then covered with a skullcap (takhiya). Healing sometimes dragged on, lasting quite a long time. Only those children whose foreskin had been missing since birth were exempted from the operation earlier. In such cases, the operation was only simulated, and in most cases it was simply not performed, explaining that the boy had already been circumcised by “angels” in the womb of the mother.

The cut off piece of flesh was usually kept, but sometimes it was given to infertile female relatives who ate it with the hope of having children after that. The Mullah was given a reward for his efforts in the form of a piece of cloth, a robe, etc.

After the circumcision ceremony, the child was already in the category of people who could learn literacy. craft, he could even be married (atastiriw), i.e. he was included in the category of grooms. From this point on, the child could participate in the parties of young men "ziyapat". It should be noted that if before the sunnet ceremony, the child was raised mainly by the mother, then after that the whole life of the boy was connected with his father and the male collective.

As is known, the custom of circumcising boys is also found among many peoples of the world that do not profess Islam. This suggests that the circumcision rite is not only Muslim - it is a broader phenomenon and goes back to the primitive period. In modern science, the opinion has been established that the origins of the rite are associated with the age-related initiation tests that existed in ancient times, carried out on boys who were moving into the age class of young men. To confirm

this, scientists paid attention to those people of the world who, in the relatively recent past, were at the stages of the primitive communal system and its disintegration and found many similar features of ancient rites in the circumcision rite. However, in Islam, this rite received a new meaning - it was legalized and began to be forcibly considered as a symbol of the introduction of a new person into the religious Muslim community - similar to the Christian rite of baptism. At present, this rite has lost its former meaning. First of all, if this rite is performed, it began to be done secretly. The number of invitees has decreased, the tradition of giving it a festive and former pomp is disappearing. However, the very existence of this custom also causes considerable ideological harm - it is one of the main reasons for the tenacity of religious custom, on the other hand, families observing this rite are forced to bear large expenses. It should be noted that the existence of a relic of this rite with the preservation of custom of the neighboring community in villages and cities. For example, even now in the cities we are studying there are cases when the leadership of family holidays, including sunnet-toy, is taken over by the leaders of neighboring communities - and these, as a rule, are representatives of the older generation.

They are the guardians of the old traditions of conservative public opinion and observers of the preservation and performance of old obsolete customs and rites. It goes without saying that the sunnet ritual is less frequently observed in families with mixed marriages, especially in mixed Karakalpak-Russian families. The influence and control of the community over the observance of old customs is significantly less in residential areas with a diverse ethnic environment. Usually, territorial communities as such do not exist in such areas. An example is the "Microregion" and "Cheremushki" in the city of Nukus. From the above, it is clear that sunnet-toy as a whole is a relic of the past and is incompatible with socialist reality. And although the supporters of this ancient custom still try to preserve it under the guise of "folk tradition" or connect it with a birthday, as well as justify its meaning with an argument about hygiene, etc., this ritual is doomed to disappear and any attempts to support it are futile and unnecessary.