Туған күн

How people lived without a birthday

A yearly birthday in the form we know — a cake with candles, toasts, gifts — did not exist among the nomadic Kazakhs. A person’s age was determined not by a day in the calendar but by the year of birth in the twelve-year animal cycle (more in the “Jubilee” guide). Instead of “how old are you?” people asked “Kai zhylgysyn?” — “of which year are you?”: by the animal of the year they immediately understood the generation and position of the interlocutor. The exact date of birth was often not known at all: people oriented themselves by the animal year, the season and major events — the “zhut”, campaigns, the “Aktaban shubyrynda”.

Milestones instead of birthdays

A person’s life was marked not by a date but by steps, each with its own rite — for each of them the app has a separate guide:

• Shildehana — the celebration in the first days after birth.
• Besikke salu — the first laying in the cradle.
• Kyrkynan shygharu — forty days.
• Tusau kesu — the first steps.
• Sundet — circumcision for boys in odd years.
• Mushel zhas — the return of the year of birth, milestones of maturing.

How ages were named

The Kazakh language is rich in “age” words, and each denotes not a number but a place in life: nereste and shakalak — an infant; bobek — a child of about one to two years; sabi and buldirshin — a little one; zhetkinshek — an adolescent; zhasospirim — about 13–15 years; bozbala — a youth, 16–19; zhas zhigit and zhas kyz — young people; aksakal — “white beard”, a venerable elder, and akburym — a venerable older woman. So a person was named for what he had become, not for how many years he had lived.

Where “our” birthday came from

The modern format — with a cake and candles — came to Kazakhstan with Russian-European influence and took hold in the 20th century, mainly in Soviet times. The personal date became official with the introduction of birth records and passports; for older people it is often conventional in documents. Today the tugan kun is an ordinary family holiday, and the national is readily woven into it: a large dastarkhan, toasts of elders, a bata.

How it is celebrated today

The format is entirely free — from a home tea to a large banquet. What is settled: guests are received with a generous dastarkhan, elders voice wishes and a bata, gifts are given. The first birthday is celebrated widely today and often combined with tusau kesu. Traditionally valued treats were baursak, shelpek, meat, kurt, kumys, today a cake, and gifts a shapan (“shapan zhabu” — draping an honour robe on an elder celebrant), livestock, “syi”. For round dates a host is often invited and a programme with contests arranged.

Wishes

• “Zhasyng uzak bolsyn” — “May your life be long” — the most typical.
• “Zhuz zhasa!” — “Live a hundred years!”.
• “Kosegen kogersin” — “May your hearth (work, descendants) flourish”.
• “Merei ustem bolsyn” — “May your honour grow”.

Interesting facts

Glossary

Туған күн

A birthday; as a yearly holiday, a later borrowing.

Қай жылғысың?

“Of which year are you?” — the traditional question about age by the animal of the year.

Мүшел жас

The age when the year of birth returns in the 12-year cycle.

Нәресте

A newborn, an infant.

Бөбек

A child of about one to two years.

Сәби

A little one, a child.

Жасөспірім

An adolescent, about 13–15 years.

Бозбала

A youth of 16–19.

Ақсақал

“White beard”: a venerable elder.

Ақбұрым

A venerable older woman.

Мерейтой

A jubilee; from “merei” — honour, dignity.