At Bashi

The story of At-Bashi traces back to a Kyrgyz herder who traveled to the Andijan region, now part of Uzbekistan, to sell his cattle. After a long and tiring day at the market, he returned to a summer pasture, or jailoo, to rest and let his horse roam free. The next morning, when he tried to catch the horse, it bolted and ran away. Determined to reclaim his horse, the herder gave chase for miles.

When he finally caught up to the runaway horse, in a fit of frustration and exhaustion, he killed it and cooked its meat. He left the horse’s head behind, and thus the place became known as At-Bashi, meaning “Horse’s Head.” Along the way, the herder consumed the meat during his journey, and when he reached the spot where he finished his last meal from the carcass, he named it Naryn, after the traditional Kyrgyz soup made from finely cut meat.

Interestingly, if you look at a map today, you’ll notice that Andijan and Naryn are quite far apart, illustrating the vast distance the herder traveled to sell his cattle—and the even greater distance he covered in pursuit of his runaway horse!