History Lesson

Definition: The Saka were a union of Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes who lived in the Kazakh steppe between the 8th century BC and the 4th century AD.

• They were known for their exceptional martial skill, gold ornaments, and "animal style" art.
• They had political and trade ties with the Persian kingdoms and China; the account that the Persian king Cyrus the Great died fighting the Saka comes down to us from the historian Herodotus.

Definition: A nomadic empire that ruled the steppes of Asia and Europe from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD.

• Its ruler Attila (c. 406–453) was known in Europe as the "Scourge of God" and made the Roman Empire tremble.
• The art of horsemanship and mounted archery became the foundation of the military tradition of the Turkic peoples.

Definition: The first state to use the name "Turkic" in its title, founded in 552 by Bumin Qaghan.

• It later split into the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates (around 582).
• Kul Tegin (684–731) was a great general; the stone inscriptions erected in his honor (c. 732) are the earliest monuments of Turkic written history.

Definition: A trade route connecting Eurasia that passed through the southern Kazakh steppe cities of Otrar, Taraz, and Sayram.

• Silk, spices, pottery, religion, and scientific ideas spread along this route.
• Otrar was the birthplace of the scholar Al-Farabi and a major cultural and trade center in the Middle Ages.

Definition: In 1465, sultans Janibek and Kerei moved their tribes to the land of Moghulistan, along the Shu and Talas rivers, and founded an independent state — the Kazakh Khanate.

• The cause was discontent with the dominating policies of Khan Abulkhair, and Janibek's and Kerei's aspiration to create an independent state.
• The account is preserved in Muhammad Haidar Dulati's work "Tarikh-i-Rashidi."

Definition: Khan Qasym (reigned c. 1511–1521) was the first powerful ruler, who significantly expanded the khanate's territory.

• He extended the khanate's borders from the Syr Darya to the Volga and Ural rivers.
• "Qasym's Beaten Path" was the first compiled code of customary law, based on sharia and steppe tradition.

Definition: Khan Tauke (1680–1715), with the help of three biys — Tole bi, Kazybek bi (the "Swan-voiced"), and Aiteke bi — united the three zhuzes and formed the "Zheti Zhargy" code of laws.

• The "Zheti Zhargy" consists of seven sections: land disputes, widow disputes, blood money, theft, debt, military duty, and family law.
• The council of biys became the main institution of justice and governance.

Definition: Abylai Khan (1711–1781) was a great commander and statesman who united the Kazakh zhuzes in the struggle against the Jungar invasion.

• In 1729, the Kazakh army crushed the Jungars near Mount Anyrakai — the batyrs Bogenbai and Kabanbai particularly distinguished themselves in this battle.
• In foreign policy, Abylai established relations with both Russia and China, trying to maintain a balance between them.

Definition: The mass invasion of Kazakh lands by the Jungar Khanate — one of the most severe disasters in Kazakh history.

• The people were forced into mass migration to the west, and the economy collapsed.
• This crisis later spurred the unifying movement led by Abylai Khan.

Definition: A long historical process that began with the 1731 oath of allegiance by Khan Abulkhair of the Junior Zhuz and ended with all three zhuzes becoming fully part of the Russian Empire.

• Under the "Charters" of 1822 and 1824, the institution of khan's rule was abolished in the Middle and Junior zhuzes.
• A district-and-office administrative system was introduced, and tsarist administration replaced the rule of khans.

Definition: A social and political movement launched by the Kazakh intelligentsia to create a national autonomy.

• Its leaders were Alikhan Bukeikhanov, Akhmet Baitursynov, and Mirzhakyp Dulatov. The newspaper "Qazaq" was the movement's main press platform.
• In December 1917, the Alash Orda autonomy was proclaimed at the Second All-Kazakh Congress.

Definition: A mass famine caused by the Soviet government's policy of forced collectivization — the most severe demographic catastrophe in the history of the Kazakh people.

• The forced settlement of nomadic herding led to the mass death of livestock.
• Researchers estimate that around 1.5–2 million people died or were forced to migrate.

Definition: On December 16, 1991, the Constitutional Law on the State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted.

• Kazakhstan was the last Soviet republic to become a separate state from the USSR.
• The first President was Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Definition: After independence, Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up the world's 4th-largest nuclear arsenal, inherited from the USSR.

• On August 29, 1991, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was closed by presidential decree.
• This decision turned Kazakhstan into a model for global nuclear security policy.

Definition: In 1997, the country's capital was moved from Almaty to Aqmola (later renamed Astana).

• The goal of this decision was to redirect the country's economic and administrative potential to the north and strengthen border security.
• The city was called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022, after which it reverted to the name Astana.