Structure

1. Introduction - thesis statement

2. Support for thesis statement - what essay is based on
3. Argument with evidence
4. Argument with evidence
5. Argument with evidence
6. Counterargument - interpretation of sources from different perspectives, showing
weaknesses, limitations of sources
7. Conclusion - reiterating thesis statement

Topics
1. Mongol conquests
Juvayni, History of the World Conqueror
● Alertness of mind, absoluteness of power, compilation of his own intellect
● Comparing with Alexander the Great
● “Those are my horsemen; through them shall I avenge me on those that
rebelled against me,” nor is there a shadow of doubt but that these words
are a reference to the horsemen of Chinggis Khan and to his people”
● Great Book of Yasas
● “There are many of these ordinances that are in conformity with the
Shari‘at.”
● No religion, but respectful to all religions
● Seniority principle
● Appanage system
● Unity call
● Wise father/ruler
● Khan
● Kurultai
● Share of power and property
The Secret History of the Mongols
● Mongol armies led by Chinggis Khan were preparing for a military
campaign against the kingdom of the Khorezmshahs (described here as
the Sarta’ul people), who had greatly offended Chinggis Khan earlier by
murdering his envoy Uquna and rejecting his demand for submission.
● Revenge
● Seniority principle - Chinggis Khan asks Jochi first
● Competition - Chaghatai and Jochi
● “In what skill are you better than I?” - merit based
● Respect for women and their birth giving efforts
 ● “Why should you two go so far as to cooperate with each other?” -
appanage system
● Hereditary power transfer
● “But it is Ögödei among us who is steady and reliable: let us, therefore,
agree on Ögödei.”

2. Qazaq khanate
Mahmud ibn Amir Wali: The Shibanids after the Death of Abu’l-Khayr Khan
● Shaykh Haydar Khan(son of Abu’l-Khayr Khan) was assassinated by
Ahmad khan
● Princes under ruler of Astrakhan, Qasim khan
● Ulus
● Shah Budaq Khan(son of Abu’l-Khayr Khan) → Muhammad Shibani Khan
and Mahmud Shah sultan
● Buruj and Shibanids against Qazaqs
● Yunus khan victory
Haydar Dughlat, Tarikh-i Rashidi
● Qazaqs - wandering without equipment
● Jani-Beg Khan and Giray Khan from Abulkhayr Khan →Moghulistan and
Esän Buqa Khan(Moghulistan) welcomed, area around the Chu and Quzï
Bashï, his western frontier with Moghulistan
● Fall of Uzbek confederation, many uzbeks joined Qazaq khanate
● Buruj khan feared them as they attained great strength
● Buruj khan was defeated by Yunus khan
● Giray → Burunduk
● Jani-Beg → Qasim/Adik+Yunus Khan’s daughter, Sultan-Nigar Khanïm
● Qasim → Mamash
● Adil → Tahir
● Sultan Said had respect for Qasim khan who showed hospitality
3. Qazaqs and Junghars/Russia
Ivan Kirilov: The Kirgizes and Orenburg, 1734
● The expansion of the empire and inexhaustible wealth
● Siberian and Kamchatkan expeditions - California and Mexico(metals), the
Kirgiz-Kaisaks and the Karakalpaks
● Kontaisha wants to take Vodokshan(gold and lapis-lazuli)
● Kirgiz-Kaisaks - Muslim, Khan without power, people sellers, bandits,
80,000 warriors
● Through Qazaqs - Aral sea, Vodokshan, Persia, India
Aleksei Ivanovich Tevkelev: Account of Abuʾl-Khayr Khan’s Submission to
Anna Ioannovna (1731)
 ● In 1731, Empress Anna Ioanova sent Tevkelev to negotiate the
submission of the Qazaqs to Russia.
● AbuʾlKhayr, the Khan of the Junior Horde, had previously sent a
communication to the empress regarding the possibility of becoming a
Russian subject.
● AbuʾlKhayr Khan alone wished to be a subject of Her Imperial Majesty, the
all-merciful empress of all of Russia, without the agreement of the other
khans and sultans and prominent elders
● Kontaisha - Tashkent, Turkistan, Sairam and their associated villages and
Kirgiz-Kaisak people
● Volga Kalmyks, Ural Bashkirs - enemies / Bukharans and Khiva - peace
● Abuʾl-Khayr Khan, sent his emissaries to Her Imperial Majesty to ask for
her protection, so that he can be at peace with the Volga Kalmyks and the
Bashkirs, and so that he will be free to carry out his revenge against the
Kontaisha
● First satisfy the notable starshinas with gifts - they wanted to show their
power and authority
● Kirgiz-Kaisak people are a savage folk
● Taking oath and signing document
● Fight after Tevkelev’s speech and danger of death for him
● Bukenbai Batyr, and his son-in-law Esetbatyr, and his cousin
Khudai-Nazar Mirza - 500 rubles in goods, promised to leave Qazaqs
● Russia will take revenge in case of his death
● “Beasts of the steppe”
● Russia is superior
● Tortured Bashkir Taimas Shaimov
4. Qazaqs and Qing/Russia
A Collection of Documents from the Kazakh Sultans to the Qing Dynasty
● Russia and Qazaqs - end of 16th century
Jin Noda about Kazakh khanates
● Fall of Jungars → Qazaq-Qing relations
● 1757, bestowing titles - tribute delegations
● Fluid relations with Qing 1800-1850
● Russia - 1700-1750
● Han, wang(князь или граф), gong(ага султан), taiji - hereditary
titles
● Bestowing was not set firmly in 1st stage
● No military obligations - not outer vassals(слуга)
● Ablai received Qing recognition before Qazaq recognition
● Nurali was not Qing khan
 ● Sultans fought over Qing titles
● Qing ceremony(grand affair) was similar to Kazakh’s to enhance
prestige of Qing title
● Russia observed Qing tributes
● 1822, regulations on Siberian Kirgiz - Russia does not recognize
Middle Zhuz khans, okrug(district), aga sultan(starshii sultan),
● 23 july, 1822 Wali khan died
● Ghubaydulla was invited to Beijing
● Ghubaydulla - aga sultan of Kokshetau okrug,secretly getting Qing
khan title, was captured and still wanted the title, государственная
измена
● Russia wanted friendly relations with Qing
● Russia made him decline the title
● 9 july 1824 - Russia to Qing - escort in Russian territories and
about new regulations
Ghubaydulla(Wali’s son) to the Councillor of Tarbagatai
[Harshang](1824)
● Khan title from Russia and submission
● Give up on Khan title from Qing
● Russian authority did not recognize his khanship over the Middle
Zhuz, he called himself as ‘khan’ to the Qing officials
Dair sultan to Iletu, Military Governor of Yili(1781)
● Alaj
● Further submission after Ablai khan death
● Reply of Iletu to Dair - “Do your Kazakhs have a system by which
whomever you want to elect as han will be elected? I do not know
at all when and how your father, Baraq, became han. Now that
Ablai has passed away, in accordance with the reason, his
son(Wali) should inherit his ‘han’ title”
Ablai to Iletu, the Military Governor of Yili(1779)
● People outside walled-town are also the albatu
Ablai to The Qianlong emperor(1757)
● “I, that is Abulay, have become your son and all the Kazakhs have
become your albatu(master-servant relationship in Mongol nomadic
society”
● Elevating words showing respect
● Chinese translation - Your Subject, become the subjects of the
Central Nation forever
5. Speransky and Kenesary
Kazak resistance to Russian colonization: interpreting the Kenesary
Kasymov revolt, 1837–1847 STEVEN SABOL
● Was it a national-liberation movement or merely the desire of its leader to
reassert the traditional authority of khan that was denied him by Russian
authorities?
● Insurrections in late 18th century - spontaneous reactions to Russian
colonization and weakening socio-political authority among traditional
Kazak rulers
● Kenesary revolt uniqueness - extent to which it spread throughout the
steppe and number of different clans that at one time or another
participated
● Mid 16th century- trade, diplomatic relations
● 1714 - trade routes, forts
● Peter the Great - “Horde, though a nomad and light-thinking people, was
yet the key and the gate of all the lands and countries of Asia”
● Abulkhayr meant assistance rather that incorporation
● Catherine II had given large quantities of land to native leaders who had
entered the empire - First, settlement and agricultural work was regarded
as the more civilized way of life and thus its promotion and expansion
were seen as part of Russia’s civilizing mission in Asia. Second, the
authorities believed that if the natives were producing their own
agricultural products it was a good way to stave off the periodic famines
that swept through the steppe caused by zhut or some other calamity
● Farming was not as profitable as their traditional livestock raising
● Pugachevshchina, 1773-1774, Nurali switched sides
● 1782–1783-1797, Kazaks of the Orta zhuz, led by Srym Batyr, attempted
once again to cross the Ural River
● 1822, okrug→15-20 volost→10-12 auls→50-70 yurts
● Regulations on Siberian Kirgiz(Orta zhuz) obstructed nomadic movement,
cut across historic emblems of identity such as zhuz, which is connected
to genealogy and territory
● Orenburg Kirgiz - Kishi zhuz
● 1824, abolishing of Khan title, yurt tax
● Authority - personal worth, personal qualities, justice, personal integrity,
fairness, success in war/peace
● Zholaman Tlenshin attacked Cossack settlements along the Ilek military
line, 1822
● ‘Brutal pillage’ to prey upon the weaker clans, while using diplomacy to
court the stronger ones - Kenesary
 ● Senior horde wanted to get rid of Khiva and Kokand influence so joined
Kenesary
● June 1841 Qurultai considered if Kenesary could be khan of all kazakhs
but failed
● Russia with Khiva and Qazaqs with Kokand/Bukhara but they were
unreliable
● 1903 Mukhammedzhan Seralin - Kenesary - dishonest dictator
● Ermukhan Bekmakhanov 1948 idealising
● Soviet viewed Kenesary revolt as feudal-patriarchical
● Love of freedom without spirit of union
Documents Related to the Kenesary Revolt
● Kenesary Kasymov’s Revolt (1837-1847)
● Marginalized within this new system, Kasym, son of Abylay Khan and his
sons, first protested to the imperial government and called for the
elimination of the prikaz system, then abandoned their assigned pasture
land as a form of protest, and, finally, retreated deeper into the steppe,
from which point they turned to armed rebellion against the Russian state
and those Qazaqs who supported it
● Decimal system, Muslim zakat, absolute power like Russian tsar
Letter from Kenesary to P. D. Gorchakov, Governor of Western
Siberia (1845)
● “But if you now allow us the mercy of having the territory of Ulu-tau,
Sary-su and from Chekengur (Kara-Kengir) to Elanchi Torga (Uly
Zhylanshyk), then we are ready to take the oath of promise and
keep it, in whatever manner that was suggested, and to never
again take up arms against the people under the Emperor’s
sovereignty.”
Letter from Kenesary to a group of Qazaq leaders, intercepted by the
Russians (1844)
● “If you recognize me as your Khan, then render to us your taxes
and tribute, and declare your loyalty”
Letter from Sultan Ahmad Jan Tura to the Orenburg Frontier
Commission (4 January 1844)
● Everyone is afraid of Kenesary’s raids
Kenesary Kasimov’s Letter to Arslan Sultan (8th day of Ramadan
1844)
● “If you persist in this enmity, we will banish you from our heart
forever. And, God-willing, all civility between us will end” - threat
General Zhemchuzhnikov on the advantages enjoyed by Kenesary
over Russian troops (1844)
 ● Kenesary - 20 000 horses
● Troops of Russia are exhausted
● Early spring is vulnerable time for horses of Kenesary
Kenesary Sultan’s Words to the Biis (1843)
● “If you do not come, we will come after you for thirty years; for thirty
years I will go to war with you, God willing!” - threat
Communication from V. A. Perovskii (1 December 1841)
● Uselessness of the military forces of the Siberian Corps in the
Kirgiz Steppe against the rebel Kenesary
● Apparent ease with which the Kazakhs free from the pursuing
forces
● Difficulty of conducting searches on the steppe
● Promise to permanently cease his own raids and attacks, and a
request for his pardon from His Majesty from Kenesary
● Absolute forgiveness on Kenesary
● Legal retribution in future cases
● Russia should protect Kazakhs from Kokandis
Kenesary’s Letter to V. A. Perovskii, Military Governor of Orenburg
(22 February 1841)
● “We did it no harm and neither did our people.”
● “We have nothing in our hearts, but the desire to serve the
emperor.”
Letter of Sultan Kenesary Kasymov to Emperor Nikolai I with the
particular demands of the rebels (December 1838)
● Abylai khan’s times were better - bilateral trade, no tax, no councils,
no administrative bodies
● Now - yasak, oppression from Russia
Report of the Guberniia secretary Prince Chanyshev to the
Akmolinsk Okrug’ Prikaz concerning the activity of a division of
rebels under the leadership of Kenesary Kasymov (18 September
1837)
● Raids on Masak and Aikymbai
Kasym Abylaikhanov’s Protest to Governor-General Kaptsyvich
(1824)
● “But in the time of the Empress [Catherine II] and my father, Abylai
Khan, things were not this way” - no construction
● 1) Why are your people oppressing ours?
● 2) Why are construction projects being carried out on our territory?
● 3) Why have you put traps in our waterways?
 ● 4) Why have they forbidden Kirgiz from gathering salt from the
lakes where the Russians themselves gather it? And in what
decree has all of this been established?
● “If you do not inform me of the actions of my kinsman, then we will
find occasion to request it and, in that case, do not be angry with
us.” - Ghubaydulla case - “do not get into our system”
● “If the new buildings here are not demolished, and the harm done
to the Kirgiz does not come to an end, in that case, do not be angry
at us” - threat

Proclamation of the Statute on Siberian Kirgizes

● Translation into Kirgiz language
● End to self-governance, revolts, internecine warfare, theft and baranta
● Prosperity and happiness
● Permission to accept this statute of their own free will
● Families of the sultans descended from well-known khanly lines: Ablay,
Barak, Ishim Khan, Khanbaba, Tursun Khan
● Administrative regions called okrugs. Each okurg was placed under the
authority of an administrative authority called a prikaz, which consisted of
a combination of Qazaqs, Cossack and Russian officials
● Ghubaydulla - Kokshetau okrug
● Elder sultan, his substitute, the council members, their substitutes, the
volost sultans and their substitutes, council house, the mullah, elected
sultans, council members, substitutes, starshinas, biis and all of the Kirgiz
● Praying, oath on Quran

6. Islam on Qazaq steppe

Barangavi, A month among the kazakhs
● Russian observers considered nomadism to be incompatible with Muslim
culture
● Tatars understood Qazaqs as ‘uncivilized’
● Among Qazaqs we see emphasis on Sufism, shrine pilgrimage, patron
saints, the use of Sufi litanies in rituals, funerary repasts, the elevation of
khwāja descent groups
● Qazaqs - Islamic actors in their own right
● Mosques, madrasa, ulama, daily prayers, tasadduq prayer, zakat, mulla,
ablutions, maktab, namaz, Persian and Turkish languages, marriage
problems(asked mulla for his opinion), dombra, Hanafite curriculum
● Girls also get education
 ● Qazaq nomadic religious institutions were less influenced by outside
cultural and political forces than has previously been thought, and at the
same time, they did not depart significantly from the broader Ḥanafite
current in which they were firmly located.
Khalidi, Islamic biographical dictionary
● Chala Kazakhs were historically the children of Central Asian, Tatar, or
Bashkir fathers and Kazakh mothers, 19th century
● Early 20th century - Islamic religious institutions, and Islamic scholarship
had attained a high level of development and vitality
● Islamic revival by Russia
● Semipalatinsk - 9 madrasas
● Kazakhs - main consumers of Islamic scholarship and education
● 19th century - mass market publishing
● Oral recitation of Quran was most authoritative
● “His madrasa was prosperous and filled with students; many mullas
graduated and were assigned to cities and to creation.”
● Imam(i.e.funeral prayer), district akhund, hajj, mulla, mosque, ulama
● Praying out loud was new at this time(19th century)