The Great Kurultáj, or simply Kurultáj, is a traditional event of Central Asian nomadic origins, which takes place in the first week of August in Bugac, Hungary. The aim of this event is to strengthen the unity of the Eurasian steppe-nomadic horse culture and traditions between Hungarians and their cultural relatives, eastern Turkic peoples and Uralic peoples. The first Kurultáj was held in the Torgay Region of Kazakhstan in 2007. Kurultáj is an event for professional horsemen and fans of horse riding. Each Kurultáj holds the parade of horsemen, horse races, traditional horsemen wrestling and various tournaments. The first Kurultáj in Hungary was held in 2008.
Hungary is the only European nation to have preserved the traditional kokpar game, a strategic team sport for riders.
The original Kurultáj were held by nomadic people of the Steppes, especially for various chieftains to gather to elect the successor to a recently deceased Khan. The word "kurultáj" and its variations in the Turkic languages translates as "meeting of the tribes". It occurs amongst tribal nations and practically in all the nomadic cultures. Hungarian nomadic tribes also held these meetings, a fact that is mentioned in Byzantine and Arab written sources. At such meetings, important decisions were made, in particular, the leaders of the tribes would meet often to discuss military decisions and strategies.
The Great Kurultáj is based on Turanist pan-nationalism that promtes the idea of unity between the Hungarian and Turkic peoples, based on the Altaic language family which has been rejected by linguists. The Great Kurultáj has been criticized for historical revisionism as a way to embellish Hungarian history, and the event's political association with far-right politics.
A total of 13 nations and 33 states participate.
Participating nations:
Medalists: