Epic of Köroğlu

The Epic of Koroghlu (; ; ; ) is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples, mainly the Oghuz Turks. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to music and played at sporting events as an inspiration to the competing athletes. Koroghlu is the main hero of epic with the same name in Azerbaijani, Turkmen and Turkish as well as some other Turkic languages. The epic tells about the life and heroic deeds of Koroghlu as a hero of the people who struggled against unjust rulers. The epic combines the occasional romance with Robin Hood-like chivalry. Due to the migration in the Middle Ages of large groups of Oghuz Turks within Central Asia, South Caucasus and Asia Minor, and their subsequent assimilation with other ethnic groups, Epic of Koroghlu spread widely in these geographical regions leading to emergence of its Turkmen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Georgian and Kurdish versions. The story has been told for many generations by the "bagshy" narrators of Turkmenistan, fighter Ashik bards of Azerbaijan and Turkey, and has been written down mostly in the 18th century. Koroghlu Koroghlu is a semi-mystical hero and bard among the Turkic people who is thought to have lived in 16th century. The name of "Koroghlu" means "the son of the blind", "the son of ember" or "the son of the clay" (the clay refers to death) in Turkic languages. His real name was in Azerbaijani, in Turkish or in Turkmen, which was a loanword from Persian رُوشن Rowšan meaning light or bright. Turkmen tradition In Turkmenistan, the epic is called which translates as "the son of a grave" and holds a special place among the Turkmen epics.