The Black Blizzard of 1916 (Poem)

The Black Blizzard of 1916 (Iradi: Kara Boran, "black blizzard") is an Iradi narrative poem by the bard Asanaly about The Lost Tribes of 1916, the clans that disappeared in the mountains in the winter of 1916–17 after the Semirechye Revolt. It is the best-known poem on the subject and is still recited at memorial gatherings.^[1]

The poem is composed in the alliterative verse of Iradi oral poetry and draws on the conventions of the mourning lament (koshok). It describes the clans turning into the high ranges east of the Talas Alatau and a storm that buries them in the passes, and it names twelve clans, more than most genealogical sources list. Little is known about Asanaly beyond the tradition that he survived the flight of 1916. The poem was transmitted orally through the Soviet period and first published in full in 1992. It is recited each year on August 15, when the Lost Tribes are commemorated.^[1]^[2]

References

^ Central Asian Folklore Society (2021). Epic Cycles and Horseback Chants of the Northern Valleys. Talas State University Press, Talas, pp. 135–158.
^ Talas State University Press (2016). Blood on the Snow: The Iradi Clans in the Revolt of 1916. Centenary volume, Talas, pp. 201–236.