THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

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THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND
According to the act implemented in 1809, the people apart from
royal class were allowed to buy Kazakh children. In the beginning
of 19 th century just in Guriyev city 100 Kazakh children were sold in
exchange for 4-5 sacks rye flour. 200
Meanwhile the situation in Great Jüz was a little bit different because
most of the land was under the occupation of Kokand Khanate.
In addition, the Kokand Khanate longed to possess Middle Jüz lands.
The lands of the Kazakh people who became nomads in Üstürt and
Mangışlak Peninsula were under the domination of Khivan Khanate. The
war of independence that some of the sultans (for instance: Arıngazı
Sultan) started against Khiva with the hope of the support of Czarist
Russia ended up with defeat. Although the sultan of Little Jüz Şergazı
tried to strengthen his Khanate by giving his daughter to Khivan Khan
Allakul, except for Şekti and Tabın tribes, none of the Kazakh tribes
recognized him as Khan. Central Asia Khanates were taking taxes like
“uşur” and tribute from the tribes under their domination; they often
looted them and occupied their lands and this caused them to clash
among themselves. Therefore, the risk of losing political independence
for Kazakh people was apparent on both sides: in the south, were
Khiva and Kokand and in the north-west lay the Russian Empire.
E. Bekmakhanov’s evaluation of Kenesary Uprising
In 1830s-1840s, the Kazakh people had to fight on two fronts to
protect their political independence. According to E. Bekmakhanov,
the war of independence under the leadership of Kenesary Kasımov
is the first mass uprising of the society against colonization and it
has an important place in Kazakhstan history because it delayed
Czarist Russia’s occupation of the Central Asia Khanates. In 1943 E.
Bekmakhanov undertook the authorship of the section about the
Kenesary Uprising in ‘Kazakh SSR History,’ under the editorship of A.
Pankratova. In this study, which has caused controversy ever after
among Soviet historians, the researcher has questioned the national
struggle of the Kazakh tribes started against Kenesary Khan and the
relationships between Kenesary and Russian government and Central
Asia Khanates; besides he has examined the reforms that were implemented
under Kenesary’s governance. The researcher shows Kenesary
Khan as a commander, politician, and a diplomat that aimed to bring
all the tribes of the three Jüz of Kazakhs.
Even the president of Orenburg border commission Ladyjenskiy had
said, “Kenesary is much more than an ordinary bandit who works for
200 Levşin, A. Opisaniye Kirgiz-Kaysakskoy Ord i Stepey, III, 1832, p. 90.