The Epoch, which is known as the “Middle Ages”, covers the period between the ancient and modern history of people and nations. Historical science considers the Middle Ages as a bright and rich period, full of diverse events that promoted new forms of economic, social and political development of society. In this historical epoch, humanity has advanced considerably in the development of economic and spiritual culture in comparison with the previous periods of history.
Based on this periodization, the Kazakh tribes merged with the Turkic tribes, who had settled in the Semirechye [Seven Rivers] since the first centuries of our era, and especially, since the time of the Turkic Khanate in the VI-VII centuries, as well as merged with the Turkicized Mongol tribes of Moghulistan that formed the Kazakh identity.
The recently discovered new monuments and artefacts indicate that in the Middle Ages the Kazakh Khanate had equal diplomatic, economic and trade relations with neighbouring countries. The Khanate developed a written language and built cities where coins were minted.
The historical studies of the medieval Kazakh society imply the need to rely on a true story and the ability to determine a “living picture” of key events in the process of historical development that changed its course. In the study of the main stages of the history of the Kazakh society, one should systemize historical phenomena and should not try to tie them with the well-established traditional schemes. The determination of the main stages of the history of the Kazakh statehood, which is based on an actual historical process, is an objective matter. The statehoods of Abulkhair, Kerey and Dzhanibek and the Khanate of Kasym unconditionally serve as such a “living tissue” in the historical process. For the second half of the 16th century it includes the rule of Haqq Nazar Khan; the 16th and 17th centuries is a period when the vast territory came under the control of the Kazakh Khanate, and finally in XVIII-XIX centuries – Abylay Khan.
The history of the Kazakh statehood is inextricably linked with the history of the Turkic Khanate, the Golden Horde and state entities that emerged after its collapse. The study of the origin of the Kazakh khans’ dynasty and the ancestral relationships among them are based on a vast number of sources about its history, which provide genealogy of the descendants of Dzhuchi – the forerunner of the Kazakh khans. For example, in the second half of the 15th century, the Kazakh khans, Kerey and Dzhanibek brought together many Dzhuchids from dependent on them tribal groups and led them to Moghulistan.
The history of Kazakhstan of the XV-XVII centuries is characterized by the fact that the process of the Kazakh nation formation was completed by this period. The Kazakh people accepted their current self-designation and under this self-designation came into contact with neighbouring countries and confirmed their role in the history. Another peculiarity in the history of Kazakhstan is the fact that by this time the Kazakh state with a defined territory and certain ethnic composition has been formalized.
Valikhan Amirhanuly Turekhanov
Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Uzbekistan,
PhD student at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
