Edige: as performed by Jumabay Bazarov. 1990s.

Emir Edige embodies the ideal of a just, wise, honest and brave man who cares about the honour of the family and the welfare of the people. In 'Edige', he has a second name Kubugul, acting as a keeper of law and the judge. He is known for practising grand justice in his childhood when he was a boy and an older man. There exist folklore tales that in the Golden Horde, he was a Supreme Judge. Many Arabic, Persian, Armenian, European, Russian, and Lithuanian historians wrote about Edige. He is the executor of law in many reports – 'Tore and Yasaq' (Edige, 2014: 436). An unusual phenomenon in the history of the peoples of the Great steppe is that the epic image of Edige and his descendants still inspires the minds of nomads. Edige, during his lifetime, was a powerful politician. He was aware that the Golden Horde was declining; therefore, he maintained the independence of the Nogai Horde. Edige kept an independent tax system – his subjects did not pay tribute to anyone. After the death of Edige, as in his life, his descendants occupied leading positions in the Nogai Horde. 'Edige's dynasty in the Nogai Horde continued for about two centuries until his last descendants moved to Moscow, where they took baptism and became known as the Princes Urusovs and Yusupovs.
'Edige is considered a traditional hero, whose deeds people celebrated in the epic and oral tale' and the epic image of Edige eclipses the image of the conqueror of the Universe, the most august Lord Genghis Khan (Reichl, 2007: 20). Therefore, it might require a new look into understanding the history. In one of the variants of Edige, Edige states that he is equal to Genghis Khan:


I shall boast: Yes, I am equal to Genghis Khan.