For Qazaqs, any normal person should know the names of their seven direct ancestors. The terms for these ancestors are: ÁKE, ATA, BABA, ARǴY ATA, BABA, TÚP ATA, TEK ATA [father, grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather, etc.].
There are sayings, JETI ATASYN BILMEGEN — JETESIZDIK [not knowing one’s seven ancestors is foolishness]; TÚBIN BILMEGEN TÚGIN BILMEIDI [one who does not know their origin knows nothing].
Qazaqs, being the natural geneticists and breeders that they were, believed that people’s good and bad qualities are in big part due to their roots — NÁSIL, NEGIZ, TÚBI, TUQYM. Qazaqs believe that ASYL ASYLYNA — NÁSIL NÁSILINE [a noble person does as a noble one, and everyone does according to their origin]. The proverb “A leopard can’t change its spots” has several versions in Qazaq:
- QASQYRDY QANSHA ASYRASAŃ DA, TAÝǴA QARAP ULIDY
[No matter how much you take care of a wolf, it will howl toward the mountain]
- BÓRI BALASYN ASYRAǴANMEN IT BOLMAS
[Even if you take in a wolf cub to raise, it will not grow up into a dog]
- IT ITTIGIN QYLMAI QOIMAS
[A dog will always do as a dog]
- ADAM NEGIZINE TARTADY
[A person always becomes what their essence is]
- JAMANNAN JAQSY TÝSA, JAQSYDAN JAMAN TÝSA, TARTPAI QOIMAS TEGINE
[A good one may be born from an evil one, and an evil one from a good one, but both will show their essence]
The latter part, TARTPAI QOIMAS TEGINE, is often stated as condemnation of someone who’s committed an unseemly deed, which, you have to agree, is twice as harsh since it touches not only on the perpetrator but their parents and ancestors as well.
For a Qazaq, the wisdom TAMYRYNA QARAI BUTAǴY, TEGINE QARAI URPAǴY [branches take after their roots, and descendants take after their ancestors] is proved by such examples as Álıhan Bókeıhan, head of a free pre-Soviet Qazaq state, the Alash Autonomy, who was from the TÓRE clan and descended from Genghis Khan’s eldest son Joshy through his sixth ancestor, Qazaq warrior KÓKJAL BARAQ. Another such example is the great writer Oljas Súleımenov, whose ancestry goes back to famous musician JAYAÝ MÝSA and warrior OLJABAI BATYR.
Legendary ASAN QAIǴY, who was a poet, philosopher and statesman, is known to have condemned khan ÁZ JANIBEK because he QARADAN QATYN ALǴAN [took a commoner as a wife], which would lead to TEKTI TUQYM JOIYLÝYNA [the dying out of noble blood], and because he QYLADYNǴA QÝ ILGIZGEN [hunted a swan with a buzzard], or in other words, TEKTINI TEKSIZGE JYǴYP BERGEN [allowed a commoner to attack a noble one], which would, in his belief, bring about the fall of community morale.
When fighting, a Qazaq will remember the opponent’s JETPIS JETI ATA [seventy-seven ancestors] and might shout TEGIŃDI URAIYN! [screw your lineage]. And in the face of adversity they might exclaim, ÝA, ATA-BABANYŃ ÁRÝAǴY QOLDASYN! [may the spirit of the ancestors help us].
Knowing the names of one’s seven ancestors was meant to be an oral record of one’s lineage during the time of no written language, as well as a way to avoid marriage between relatives. Together with knowing one’s clan affiliation — ATA TEGI — they continue to play a role in modern Qazaq society.
