For the first time the plot of the epic was published by Russian academician I. I. Lepyokhin (1740–1802) in the work «Prodolzhenie dnevnykh zapisok puteshestviya akademika i meditsiny doktora Ivana Lepyokhina po raznym provintsiyam Rossiyskogo gosudarstva v 1770 godu» («Continuation of the daily notes of the journey of academician and Doctor of Medicine Ivan Lepyokhin in different provinces of the Russian state in 1770»).

In 1770, while traveling in Russia, he stayed in Bashkir villages and left a description of the life of the Bashkir people.

In 1894 the short story, the melody of «Kara-yurga» song were recorded by musicologist S. G. Rybakov (1867–1921) in Baimaksky district from kurai player Birgali, in the settlement at the Kananikolsky plant – from Ivan Lukmanov, then these materials were published in his monograph «Muzyka i pesni ural'skikh musul'man s ocherkom ikh byta» («Music and songs of the Ural Muslims with an essay of their life»).

S. G. Rybakov primarily was interested in the musical material related to the plot of «Kara-yurga». But he also widely presented the legends accompanying the song in his collection.

In 1907 M. A. Burangulov in the village of Verkhne-Ilyasovo of the Buzuluksky uyezd of the Samara governorate recorded a version of the epic from sesen (singer-storyteller) Khasan Burangulov.

It was included in the collection «Drevnie bashkirskie pesni i kubairy» («Ancient Bashkir songs and kubairs») compiled in 1939–1940 by M. A. Burangulov. It was first published in Bashkir in 1972 in the collection «Bashkirskoe narodnoe tvorchestvo» («Bashkir folk art»), in translation into Russian it was published in 1977 in the book «Bashkirskiy narodnyi epos» («Bashkir folk epics»).

In 1928 composer I. V. Saltykov recorded one of the versions of the epic and included it in his manuscript «Istoriya i analiz bashkirskikh pesen» («History and analysis of Bashkir songs») written in Russian language.

It was published in 1974 in the collection «Materialy i issledovaniya po fol'kloru Bashkirii i Urala» («Materials and research on the folklore

of Bashkiria and the Urals»).

In 1960 a version of the epic was recorded by A. N. Kireyev (Kirey Mergen) in the village of Kayapkulovo in Alexandrovsky district of the Orenburg oblast from sesen Usman Saitov (born in 1898). It was first published in Bashkir language in 1972 in the collection «Bashkirskoe narodnoe tvorchestvo» («Bashkir folk art»).

In 1960 another version of the epic was recorded by A. N. Kireyev in the village of Kutuchevo in Alexandrovsky district of the Orenburg oblast from Rakhilya Telyakayeva (born in 1897). It was first published in Bashkir language in 1998 in the collection «Bashkirskoe narodnoe tvorchestvo» («Bashkir folk art»).

The main storyline of the epic is the abduction of a girl (Maktymkhylu, in most variants the girl's name is not called) at the request of the epic hero (Baiuly, the son of Kushlak; Ablai) by his horse – Kara-yurga. In almost all versions of the epic it is the horse that kidnaps the girl. In S. G. Rybakov's version the girl herself escapes from the house riding on Kara-yurga. In some variants the horse goes after the girl to another nomads' camp, waiting for her there, then kidnaps her and brings to Baiuly (Ablai).

A long time ago, the legend says, in the valleys of the Sakmar River there lived a hunter Kusyarbai with his son Ablai. Their only mare foaled. Ablai took care of the foal from the first days. Years passed by. Ablai became famous for his handsomeness, accuracy in archery, and the foal became a tulpar (a winged (or flying) horse in Turkic mythology) – ambler Kara-yurga. One day Ablai got on Kara-yurga, went out to inspect the lands and waters and found himself in the nomads' camp of Masim-khan. When he saw the beautiful Maktymkhylu, the daughter of Masim-khan, he fell in love, but knowing that he had nothing to pay kalym (bride price), he did not tell the girl about his feelings.

In each version of the epic the horse appears as an active acting force, as an assistant to the hero. It is Kara-yurga who brings Maktymkhylu to Ablai. Despite the slight differences this detail of the plot is steadily repeated in all versions of the legend. Ablai glorifies his horse*:

«Oh, my Kara-yurga,

My Kara-yurga!

I'll interweave silver

Into your shaggy mane, my ambler,

I'll shoe your clattering hooves, my ambler.

Put down the beauty that sits astride you

On the ground, my ambler,

Put her down on the ground, my ambler!».

In the epic there are different versions of the song of the dzhigit («skillful and brave equestrian», «young guy» in translation from the Turkic languages): he turns to his horse when he asks to kidnap a girl or glorifies the ambler so that the horse puts his beloved on the ground.

*Source: Galin S. A. (2007). Narodnoi mudrosti istochnik: tolkovyi slovar' bashkirskogo fol'klora [Source of folk wisdom: explanatory dictionary of Bashkir folklore]. Ufa: Kitap, p. 148.

M. M. Sagitov in the monograph «Borongo bashkort kobayirzary» («Ancient Bashkir kubairs») notes that in the description of the episodes of the conflict between the hero and the horse one can see the evolution of the attitude of the Bashkir people to domestic cattle.

«The conflict is based on contradictions between the ancient beliefs of deification of animals and relations that took shape in a later period (when cattle begin to be considered as a source of wealth). People, who deified animals, could not immediately accept a new attitude to animals in modern economic conditions, resisted them. This resistance is reflected in the work».