Abstract:

In the past, hunting with predatory hunting birds was common among many peoples of the world. It is known that Turkic and European monarchs, Russian princes and kings were fond of falconry. Among the Turkic peoples, hunting with hunting birds has been popular from ancient times. The article deals with ethnographic material about domestication and hunting with the aid of hunting birds, published in 1928 by the famous Bashkir scholar and folklorist Gabdelakhat Vildanov. The analysis is given in comparison with the data of the monograph Falconry among the Bashkirs written by Mirza Mullagulov, a prominent expert in the field, and other sources. Many aspect of this description coincide with the information of Russian scholars and local historians of the XVIII-XIX centuries, as well as with the materials of the monographic study of M. Mullagulov. Historical materials published by G. Vildanov were recorded near the north-eastern Bashkirs, and information about hunting was obtained from informants who were representatives of the Quvakan clan. It is noteworthy that the recording of G. Vildanov gives a way to catch the hawk bledgeling at the moment when the hawk herself brought them down to the gramd for training to flight. This method of catching the chick differs from other recorded facts in which hunters descended from above the top of a rock or a mountain with the help of a lasso. Thus, in the article new material containing data on the taming, training and use of predatory birds by Bashkirs is introduced into scientific circulation.

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