PRINCE KOTYAN AND EPIC MEMORY ABOUT HIM

Аңдатпа

Abstract: the article is dedicated to the biography of the Polovtsian Prince Kotyan . His memory is preserved in the oral tradition of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe, in particular, information about him was described in the epic "Edigey". The identification of historical information from the monuments of oral tradition requires special attention and a comprehensive approach. A comparative analysis of the evidence of written sources and the epic work allows, first, to correlate the historical Prince Kotyan with the epic Koten. Secondly, this identification allows us to identify the features of memory preservation in the oral tradition of nomadic peoples. Third, it illustrates the depth of memory of the oral tradition, which can be traced in the history of the steppe from the Kipchak Polovtsians of the XI- XIII centuries through the Mongol conquest and the Horde time (XIII-XV centuries) to the post-Horde peoples and ethnos of the XV-XVI centuries.