Kazakhs

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The Kazakhs (also spelled Kazaks, Qazaqs; Kazakh: Қазақтар [qɑzɑqtɑr]; Russian: Казахи; the English name is transliterated from Russian) are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia (largely Kazakhstan, but also found in parts of Uzbekistan, China, Russia, and Mongolia). They have been famous in the past for the fierce love of freedom, skillful horse riding, hunting with semi-domesticated eagles, and currently (2006), the rapid economic growth of the independent state of Kazakhstan.

Contents 1 Etymology of Kazakh 2 Culture 3 Language 4 Kazakh tribalism 5 Ethnic Kazakh minorities 5.1 In China 5.2 In Russia 5.3 In Mongolia 5.4 In Uzbekistan 6 Notable Kazakhs 7 See also 8 Notes and references 9 External links

[edit] Etymology of Kazakh

There are many theories on the origin of the word "Kazakh". One of them is that "Kazakh" (originally "Qazaq") comes from the ancient Turkic word "qazğaq", first mentioned on the 8th century Turkic monument of Uyuk-Turan. "Qazaq" was included in a 13th century Turkic-Arabian dictionary, where its meaning was given as "independent" or "free".^{[citation needed]}. Both Kazakhs and later Cossacks adopted the Turkic social term "qazaq" as their name.

According to the notable Turkic linguist Vasily Radlov and the orientalist Veniamin Yudin, the noun "qazğaq" derives from the same root as the verb "qazğan" ("to obtain", "to gain"). Therefore, "qazğaq" defines a type of person that seeks profit and gain.^[1]

[edit] Culture

Main article: Culture of Kazakhstan

Persian, Mongol, Russian and to a lesser degree Arab cultures influenced the current Kazakh traditions.

Kazakhstan's area has been a place of interaction of many ethnic layers over long periods. Indo-Iranic tribes, Turkic tribes from Siberia and Altai, and Mongolic tribes took part in the formation of Kazakhs. Modern Kazakhs are descendants of Western Eurasian Turkic tribes (Kipchaks or Cumans), Mongol groups (Kereis, Naimans, etc.) and ancient Indo-Iranian tribes (Wusun, Sarmatians, Scythians, etc.) which populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea and remained in Central Asia when the Turkic and Mongol groups started to invade and conquer the area between the fifth and thirteenth centuries AD [4].

As shown on PBS' "Secrets of the Dead" in the episode entitled "Amazon Warrior Women," there is strong evidence that some of the Kazakh population are decedents of the culture which spawned the Amazon Warrior myth within Ancient Greek literature.

Due to their complex history, Kazakhs display phenotypical diversity. Kazakhs exhibit predominantly Mongoloid features. Fair to light-brown skin tends to be the norm. Among physical traits are aquiline noses, epicanthic folds and high cheekbones. Hair colour varies from prevalent among Kazakhs jet black to red and sandy brown. Hazel, green and blue eyes are not uncommon.

One of the most commonly used traditional musical instruments of the Kazakhs is the dombra, a plucked lute with two strings. It is often used to accompany solo or group singing.

[edit] Language

Main article: Kazakh language

The Kazakh language is a member of the Turkic language family, as are Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Uighur, Turkish, Azeri, Turkmen, and many other living and historical languages spoken in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Xinjiang, and Siberia.

Kazakh belongs to Kipchak (Northwestern) group of the Turkic language family. Kazakh is characterized, in distinction to other Turkic languages, by the presence of /s/ in place of reconstructed proto-Turkic */ʃ/ and /ʃ/ in place of */tʃ/; furthermore, Kazakh has /dʒ/ (alveodental affricate) where other Turkic languages have /j/ (glide). These are just some of the many phonological differences between Kazakh and other Turkic languages.

Kazakh, like most of the Turkic family languages lacks phonemic vowel length, and as such there is no distinction between long and short vowels.

Kazakh [5] was first written with the Arabic script during the ninth century, when a number of poets, educated in Islamic schools, incited revolt against Russia. Russia's response was to set up secular schools and devise a way of writing Kazakh with the Cyrillic alphabet, which was not widely accepted. By 1917, the Arabic script was reintroduced, even in schools and local government.

In 1927, Kazakh nationalist movement sprang up but was soon suppressed. At the same time the Arabic script was banned and the Latin alphabet was imposed for writing Kazakh. The Latin alphabet was in turn replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet in 1940.

Kazakh is one of the principal languages spoken in Kazakhstan, along with Russian. It is also spoken in the Ili region of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China, where the Arabic script is still used, and parts of Mongolia.

[edit] Kazakh tribalism

Due to their nomadic pastoral lifestyle, Kazakhs kept an epic tradition of oral history. They had to develop phenomenal memories in order to keep an account of their history. The nation, which amalgamated nomadic tribes of various origin Kazakhs, managed to preserve the distant memory of the original founding clans. It was important for a Kazakh to know his or her genealogical tree for no less than seven generations back.

Kazakh's marriage system was exogamous, with marriage between individuals with a common ancestor within seven generations considered taboo. Traditionally everybody knew there ancestor's that far back. In intertribal marriage, paternal descent is decisive.

In modern Kazakhstan, tribalism is officially prohibited, practically almost negligible, and definitely fading away in business and government life. Still it is common for Kazakhs to ask which tribe they belong to when they meet each other. Nowadays, it is more of a tradition than necessity. There is no hostility between tribes. Kazakhs, regardless of their tribal origin, consider themselves one nation. Kazakhstan has though lost most of traditional Kazakh culture, and perhaps this is stronger in other Kazakh areas.

All Kazakh's belong to one of the three jüzes (жүз, roughly translatable as "horde"): the "Great jüz" (Ulı jüz), "Middle jüz" (Orta jüz), and "Junior jüz" (Kişi jüz). Every jüz consists of tribes (taypa) and clans (ruw). Also claiming to be Kazakh, but outside of the jüz system: töre (direct descendants of Genghis Khan), qoja (descendants of Arabian missionaries and warriors), and töleñgit (descendants of Oirat captives).

[edit] Ethnic Kazakh minorities

[edit] In China

See also: Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang

Kazakhs, called Hāsàkè Zú in Chinese (哈萨克族; literally "Kazakh people" or "Kazakh nationality") are among 56 minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China (PRC). In the PRC there are two Kazakh autonomous prefectures, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, three Kazakh autonomous counties, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County in Gansu, Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County and Mori Kazakh Autonomous County in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Many Kazakhs in China are not fluent in Standard Mandarin, China's official language, instead speaking the Kazakh language. Many are also skilled in the performance of Kazakh traditional songs. A popular accompanying instrument is the dombra a two-string plucked lute.

The Kazakhs in China and Mongolian have in general been less influenced by outside cultures. In Kazakhstan very little true Kazak culture remains.

[edit] In Russia

In Russia, the Kazakh population lives in the regions bordering Kazakhstan. The 2002 Russian census recorded 655,000 Kazakhs living in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Samara, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk and Altai Krai regions. Since they, their ancestors and other Turkic peoples populated these areas long before Russian colonisation, Russian Kazakhs are irredenta. During the 1920s, however, significant numbers of Kazakh families were left outside the designated Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic; after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, they acquired Russian citizenship.

[edit] In Mongolia

Many Kazakhs live in Bayan-Ölgiy Province.

[edit] In Uzbekistan

Significant Kazakh population in Tashkent Oblast and Karakalpakstan

[edit] Notable Kazakhs

[edit] See also

• List of Kazakh historical figures
• Demographics of Kazakhstan

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Kazakhs in France - AKFT
• World Association of the Kazakhs
• http://sana.gov.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=342
• Suhbat (Atameken Toby)
• Welcome to Kazakstan (1)
• Welcome to Kazakstan (2)
• Secrets of the Dead: Amazon Warrior Women (PBS)
• Turkic monument of Uyuk-Turan mentioning the word "qazğaq"