Manas: The Great Campaign and Death of the Hero
The second major cycle of the Manas epic describes how Manas united the forty Kyrgyz tribes under the Tengrist sky-banner and led them to reclaim the Ala-Too mountains from Chinese and Kalmyk invaders. His magical white stallion Ak-Kula carried him through epic battles, advising him with human speech and prophetic warnings. After the great campaign against Chinese forces led by Konurbai, Manas was mortally wounded by treachery. His wife Kanykey buried him and built a mausoleum (Gumbez Manasa) over his grave in the Talas valley. To protect the tomb from grave-robbers, she inscribed a decoy woma