Buhan Khan

Overview

Curtin attributes this account to two unnamed elderly men at Usturdi. Buhan Khan lives near Haugin Dalai and is a bull during the day but turns into a man at night. He falls in love with the daughter of Khunshai Khan, and a son is born. When the child is placed in a cradle, Buhan takes it away, binds it tightly and uses his hooves to dig a burial place beside the sea. The narrative gives no explicit explanation for his attempt to conceal or destroy his own child.

Usihun and Asihan see the burial, recover the cradle and find that its bonds cannot be opened. Usihun seeks help through a shamanic appeal, and Buga Noyon Babai supplies instructions for a cradle ceremony. When the instructions are followed, the restraints release. The couple raise the rescued boy as Bulugat. The source connects this rescue with the childbirth observances it describes immediately before the story.

The continuation pairs Bulugat with Uhurut, a child captured after emerging from the sea, and gives them roles in an account of Buryat descent. This is an ancestral narrative recorded through Curtin’s English presentation, not a biological classification of living people or proof that a historical community descends from an animal. Buhan’s day–night transformation is specific to this witness. The published volume appeared in1909 after Curtin’s death; no original-language transcription or named individual teller for this particular account has been independently collated.

Origins & earliest records

Source-specific Buryat sacred and ancestral narrative; collector-mediated English account.

Records & interpretation

Complete chapter VIII and adjacent collection-provenance chapter VII read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   A Journey in Southern Siberia

   Jeremiah Curtin (collector and English author) · 1909

   VIII, Origin of the Buriats, pp.97–98; complete chapter and narrative ending read. Transcription pagination; original-language text not collated.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical collector-mediated primary narrative witnessCurtin1909, ChapterVIII complete accountResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.