TULPAR

TULPAR is a winged horse in Bashkir mythology. It is the character from fairytales (“Alpamysha-batyr”, “Almabatyr and Almabike”, “Taz-batyr” etc.) and epics (“Aldar and Zukhra”, “Kuziykurpyas and Mayankhylu”, “Koblan-batyr” etc.). Akbuzat is the ancestor of T. According to legend, “The first destriers-tulpars” came from underwater; batyrs from some fairytales gain the horse of the defeated diyu (“Kyran-batyr”) or gain it in the underground (“Tan-batyr”). The color of T. can be different: gray-white, black, gray, bay etc. T. is first to respond to the bridle clanging when a hero is choosing a horse. First it seems plain and frail but as soon as batyr saddles it, the horse becomes a destrier. When the characters have to separate, T. advises his owner to pluck several hairs out of his mane or tail so that when the hero needs his horse, he can burn the hairs and the horse appears. T. helps the main character to undergo ordeals, such as huge distances, etc. According to Bashkir belief, if a stranger sees T. wings (they are on the back or, acc. to other beliefs – on the legs), the horse will die, that is why a hero keeps his T. far from other people (the story called “Kieu-tash – the groom's stone”). The veneration of T. can be proved by certain Bashkir toponyms: Tulparbaskantash (from Bashkir literally – “a stone on which tulpar stepped”), Turat sagyly (“the slope of a bay tulpar”), etc. The character is common for mythology of many Turkic peoples.

G.R. Khusainova