THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

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THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND
heroes of Kazakh national history. 16
Expanding his candidate dissertation, Bekmakhanov later prepared
his doctoral dissertation titled “Kazakhstan in the Years of 1820s and
1840s”. He successfully defended his dissertation at the History Institute
of the USSR Academy Sciences on 14 October 1946 in Moscow in
front of Russian scientists and prominent Kazakh writers and scholars
such as Bavyrzhan Momushuly, Kanysh Satpayev, Kerim Mynbayev,
Malik Gabdullin, and Erden Azirbayev. 17 Thus, Bekmakhanov became the
first Kazakh historian to complete doctoral education in the history
of Kazakh science. However, his diploma was not approved for two
years by the High Attestation Commission of the USSR because of
complaints from his jealous colleagues. He would even be sent into
exile in Siberia because of unjust accusations and campaigns organized
by them. Nevertheless, Bekmakhanov published his dissertation in
October 1947. The book became popular as soon as it was published. 18
Afterwards, complaints to Moscow about Bekmakhanov had increased.
Meetings about the book were held in history institutes in
Moscow and in Almaty in 1948.
Critics alleged that the movement of Kenesary was not a national
struggle movement, as Bekmakhanov claimed, but a feudal and monarchist
movement of a warrior that held his personal interests in
the forefront. In particular, some historians such as T. Shoinbayev M.
Jiznevskiy, Kh. Aidarov, and S. Tolybekov argued that the work was
politically harmful. However, some Russian scientists strongly supported
Bekmakhanov’s opinion and confirmed that the book was not
a political work but scientific. Thus, the High Attestation Commission
of the USSR approved the doctoral degree of Bekmakhanov. 19
Meanwhile, Bekmakhanov had been appointed as the deputy director
of the History Institute of Academy of Sciences of Kazakh SSR.
However, his narrow-minded colleagues bothered him by writing letters
of complaint to Moscow. Therefore, he resigned from that job in 1947
and began to work at Kazakhstan State University as a lecturer. Here
he established for the first time the Department of History of the
Kazakh SSR and became its director. He launched the postgraduate
education in the Department of Kazakh History in 1949. He became a
16 Bekmukhamedova, p. 6; Ağayev, p. 95.
17 Bekmukhamedova, p. 8; Takenov, p. 377.
18 Bekmukhamedova, p. 8; Takenov, p. 377; Sarseke, p. 195; Omarbekov (2003), pp. 386-387.
19 Omarbekov T. - Omarbekov, S., Qazaqstan Tariyhına Jäne Tariyhnamasına Ulttıq Közqaras,
Almaty Kazakh University Publications, 2004, p. 357; Bekmukhamedova, p. 8.