The abduction of a girl, or about the custom of Kyz Urlau of the Gaina Bashkirs: the results of a folklore expedition

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the ancient custom of bride kidnapping (abduction) – Kyz Urlau (ҡыҙ урлау) – among the Gaina Bashkirs living in the Bardym District of Perm Krai. Without delving into a detailed and extensive analysis of the history and ethnographic peculiarities of this custom among the Bashkirs in general, the author focuses on a few materials recorded during comprehensive expeditions carried out in this region (2019) and, for comparison, in the Orenburg Region (2024). The aim of this article is to demonstrate the persistence of the ancient custom of bride kidnapping (abduction) kyz urlau among the Gaina Bashkirs until the mid-20th century. This idea is supported by examples from the wedding traditions of the Bashkirs of the Orenburg Region. Research methods include analytical, descriptive, and comparative methods. As a result, the author established that the Gaina people abducted brides both with the girl's consent and by force, albeit without dramatic consequences, while such cases did occur among the Orenburg Bashkirs. Consequently, among the Gaina Bashkirs, as well as the Orenburg Bashkirs, the ancient traditional abduction of a girl kyz urlau remained common even in the mid-20th century and was well preserved in the people's memory and traditional culture, as well as materials from various expeditions to the Saratov and Kurgan regions with compact settlements of Bashkirs, which were included in the Unified Register of Intangible Ethnocultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Republic of Bashkortostan.