Sagymbai Orozbak uulu

The lengthy variant contains notable innovations. Orozbakov appears to have been the first to replace the previous category of qissa (story) with the term tarikh (history),^[4] incorporated new learning,^[5] and presented mythical locations as if they were actual locations.^[6] It was the first to explicitly define Manas as Kyrgyz. Orozbakov includes elements of pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism. These innovative features, possibly introduced to appease his patron Kayum Miftakov. Ironically this led Orozbakov and Manas to be regarded in the Soviet era as representative of pre-Revolution Kyrgyz society.^[7]

Manuscripts of this version are held at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.^[8]

Sections such as the birth of Manas^[9] were published in Abdurakmanov's Manas Series. Soviet methods of translation allowed Semyon Lipkin to publish recast adaptations of sections^[10] (and provide material for his novella).^[11] The Russian translation was used by Maurice Bowra in his comparative studies of Homer^[12] and epic poetry.^[13]

Post-war ideological criticism of Manas, and its defence by scholars such as Mukhtar Auezov, led to the demand of a 'harmonized' politically acceptable version incorporating Orozbakov's variant.^[14] A revised version was published in 1958–1962. Later, due to Soviet-era scholars desiring a critical edition, and despite continued ideological debates, a new version (containing prose summaries owing to financial constraints) was created. A seemingly complete edition was published in 2010.^[15] An English-language translation was published by Penguin in 2022.^[16]

Though the complete trilogy—Manas, Semetey, and Seitek—totalling over half a million lines by Sayakbay Karalaev is often mentioned, Orozbakov's version is more accessible and more known.^[17] His variant is considered an imitative model and reference point, and a passage from his published version was reused in a modern performance by a contemporary manaschi, Talantaaly Bakchiev.^[18]

Manuscripts of the 1922-1926 version by Orozbakov were placed on UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register.^[19]