Zhuz

A zhuz (Kazakh: жүз jüz [ʒʉz], also translated as "horde" or "hundred") is one of the three main territorial and tribal divisions in the Kypchak Plain area that covers much of the contemporary Kazakhstan, and represents the main tribal division within the ethnic group of the Kazakhs.

History

The earliest mention of the Kazakh jüz or hordes dates to the 17th century. Velyaminov-Zernov (1919) believed that the division arose as a result of the capture of the important cities of Tashkent, Yasi, and Sayram in 1598.

Some researchers argued that the jüz in origin corresponded to tribal, military alliances of steppe nomads that emerged around mid-16th century after the disintegration of the Kazakh Khanate. Yuri Zuev argued their territorial division comprises three ecological or topographic zones, the Greater zhuz of the southern and southeastern steppe being set apart from the two other zones by Lake Balkhash.