Here is a well-informed, concise introduction to the culture and history of the vast territory of Kazakhstan, equivalent to the size of Western Europe, located at the centre of geographical Eurasia. Written by two brothers – one a distinguished scholar and the other well known in Kazakhstan’s media – the book focuses on the Kazakh people who today make up over half the population of some 15 million. Topics covered include Kazakhstan’s historical heritage including the Soviet legacy, its geography and the national psychology, religion and culture and how to do business. Kazakhstan first appeared on the world stage in 2001 with the opening of its oil pipeline linking its vast Tengiz oil field with the Russian Black Sea port of of Novorossiysk.

The Kazakhs

This lavishly illustrated book reveals the full history of the heart of Central Asia across the ages, focusing on the region that is modern-day Kazakhstan. Using essays from renowned archaeologists, historians and scholars as the core of each chapter, this book explains Kazakhstan s long and complex history. This flowing narrative is complemented ......

An Illustrated History of Kazakhstan

The first volume of the History of Kazakhstan for the students of non-historical specialties has provided with extensive materials on the history of the present-day territory of Kazakhstan from the earliest period to 1991. Here found their reflection both recent developments on Kazakhstan history studies, primary sources evidences, teaching materials, control questions that help students understand better the course. Many of the disputable issues of the times are given in the historiographical view.The textbook is designed for students, teachers, undergraduates, and everybody, who is interested in the history of Kazakhstan.

The History of Kazakhstan from the Earliest Period to the Present time. Volume I

The book opens with an outline of the history of Almaty, from its nineteenth-century origins as a remote outpost of the Russian empire, up to its present status as the thriving second city of modern-day Kazakhstan. The story then goes back to the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages, and the sensational discovery of the famous Golden Man of the Scythian empire. A succession of armies and empires, tribes and khanates, appeared and disappeared, before the siege and destruction in 1219 of the ancient Silk Road city of Otrar under the Mongol leader Genghis Khan. The emergence of the first identifiable Kazakh state in the sixteenth century was followed by early contacts with Russia, the country which came to be the dominant influence in Kazakhstan and Central Asia for three hundred years. The book shows how Kazakhstan has been inextricably caught up in the vast historical processes - of revolution, civil war, and the rise and fall of communism - which have extended out from Russia over the last century. In the process the country has changed dramatically, from a simple nomadic society of khans and clans, to a modern and outward-looking nation. The transition has been difficult and tumultuous for millions of people, but Vanished Khans and Empty Steppes illustrates how Kazakhstan has emerged as one of the world's most successful post-communist countries.

Vanished Khans and Empty Steppes a History of Kazakhstan from Pre-History to Post-Independence

This book is devoted to the problem of the decolonization of Kazakhstan, which is considered in the framework of postcolonial studies. The author raises issues of identity, historical and socio-cultural heritage of nomads. In addition, the book examines and destroys colonial and Soviet myths and stereotypes concerning the history, lifestyle and traditions of the Kazakhs. Considering that imperial sentiments are increasing in Russia (as a former metropolis), the process of decolonization seems to be urgently necessary for Kazakhstan. And this process is beginning to develop actively. This fascinating polemic will interest historians, scholars trying to understand the former Soviet space, and scholars of Eurasia.

Decolonization of Kazakhstan

Stalinism in Kazakhstan: History, Memory, and Representation is a multi-disciplinary collection of essays from Central Asian authors. The volume is devoted to violence and socio-economic transformation during the Stalinist repressions in Kazakhstan and explores collective trauma, selective memory, and representations in contemporary art and literature.

Stalinism in Kazakhstan

This monograph utilizes three theoretical models to explain Kazakhstan’s emergence as an independent state and its changing relationships with the broader world, particularly Russia, since the beginning of the twentieth century. The book first explores the construction of Kazakh national identity and the ways in which intellectuals appealed to history to substantiate their claims about Kazakhstan’s future. Secondly, the narrative demonstrates that not all segments of totalitarian machinery work in unison. While terror reached its peak in the 1930s, cultural and ideological control was not as rigid as it would become in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Most importantly, the work is grounded in the study of the social universe. The book introduces the notion of “cosmos,” the peculiar connections between social, economic, and political forces. While not necessarily directly dependent on each other, they nevertheless created a unique interplay among the segments of societal structures and the state’s relationship with the wider universe. Taking this framework as the point of departure, this research analyzes Kazakhstan’s “multi-vectorism” as uniquely fit to contemporary global arrangements, when no global power dominates, and the lines between friend and foe are blurred. This compelling approach to Kazakhstan’s history will appeal to postgraduate students and scholars in Russian history and world history.

The Creation of Kazakh National Identity

The only thing most people know about Kazakhstan is that it is homeland to Borat - and he isn't even real. Actually this vast place - the last unknown inhabited country in the world - is far more surprising and entertaining. For one thing, it is as varied as Europe, combining stupendous wealth, grinding poverty, exotic traditions and a mad dash for modernity. Crisscrossing a vanished land, Christopher Robbins finds Eminem by a shrinking Aral Sea, goes eagle-hunting, visits the scene of Dostoyevsky's doomed first love, takes up residence beside one-time neighbour Leon Trotsky and visits some of the most beautiful, unspoilt places on earth.

In Search of Kazakhstan

Orientalism – the idea that the standpoint of Western writers on the East greatly affected what they wrote about the East, the "Other" – applied also in Russia and the Soviet Union, where the study of the many exotic peoples incorporated into the Russian Empire, often in quite late imperial times, became a major academic industry, where, as in the West, the standpoint of writers greatly affected what they wrote. Russian/Soviet orientalism had a particularly important impact in Central Asia, where in early Soviet times new republics, later states, were created, often based on the distorted perceptions of scholars in St Petersburg and Moscow, and often cutting across previously existing political and cultural boundaries. The book explores how the Soviet orientalism academic industry influenced the creation of Central Asian nations. It discusses the content of oriental sources and discourses, considers the differences between scholars working in St Petersburg and Moscow and those working more locally in Central Asia, providing a rich picture of academic politics, and shows how academic cultural classification cemented political boundaries, often in unhelpful ways.

Soviet Orientalism and the Creation of Central Asian Nations

Kazakhstan is in some ways a very old nation dating back to the Kazakh Khanate of 1458, but it dramatically transformed within the Russian Empire and even more so during the period when it was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Since 1991 it has been independent and has had to forge its own policy in all fields. Kazakhstan is in an enviable position in terms of exportable natural resources, but at the same time it is faced with many domestic problems, such as an inadequate infrastructure. Along with solving a multitude of social problems, Kazakhstan has had to simultaneously create a normal functioning state, which added to its political difficulties. The situation at present is a state run by a strong ruler, which solves some problems but creates others. The Historical Dictionary of Kazakhstan covers the history of Kazakhstan through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and a bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Kazakhstan.

Historical Dictionary of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's history spans thousands of years, marked by the rise and fall of nomadic empires and the Silk Road's influence. In ancient times, it was inhabited by Scythian and Turkic tribes before becoming part of powerful empires like the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The region later fell under Kazakh Khanates in the 15th century, which were fragmented by internal conflicts and external pressures. By the 19th century, Kazakhstan was gradually annexed by the Russian Empire, and after the 1917 Russian Revolution, it became part of the Soviet Union as the Kazakh SSR in 1936. During Soviet rule, the country underwent forced collectivization, industrialization, and nuclear testing, leading to significant social and environmental challenges. Kazakhstan declared independence in 1991 after the Soviet Union's collapse, emerging as the world's largest landlocked country and a key economic and geopolitical player in Central Asia.

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