Kazak Khanate

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kazakh khanate and territory
  • of the Little Horde
  • of the Middle Horde
  • of the Great Horde

    • Kazakh Khanate ( Kasach. Қазақ хандығы / Qazaq xandığı , Russian ханство Казахское, Turkish Kazak Hanglığı) was the name of a nomadic dominated tribal federation of Kazakhs in western Siberia and Central Asia , which since the mid- 15th century was and in the 19th century by the Russian tsar was gradually dissolved. Between 1917 and 1920 the area of ​​the Kazak Khanate represented the base of the Kazakh Alash Orda state .

    Scope and tribal structure

    The Kazakh Khanate then already comprised essentially what is now Kazakhstan . The Kazak Khanate has its roots mainly in the former domains of the Whites and the Orda Horde and part of its northern area was briefly under the Siberian Khanate .

    However, since the Kazakhs were predominantly nomads at that time, the Kazak khanate, like all Central Asian nomadic empires of the past, had no fixed and clearly defined borders. The khan of this area belonged to the Genghisids . In addition, the Kazakh settlement areas in today's Xinjiang and Mongolia belonged to the territory of the Kazak Khanate. The khanate also exercised a loose supremacy over the Kazakh territories, which are today in Russia ( Altai region and Altai republic ) and in Uzbekistan (mainly Karakalpakistan ).

    However, since the Kazakh khanate was carried by nomads and was shaped by their warlike tribal traditions, the rule of the khan was considered extremely fragile. As early as 1518 the khanate was divided into three apanages ( partial rule ). Members of the royal family were installed in them, who also referred to themselves as khans due to their origins. From these appanages the small , medium and large horde emerged in the 18th century , some of which were enemies with one another and acted autonomously .

    In the 18th century through the mediation of the Volga Tatars , Bashkirs and Nogay of Islam introduced to the Kazakhs. This brought about a change within the tribal structures of the three hordes: Only a ruler who could derive his family from Genghis Khan and his successors could call himself a Khan . His territory was called Khanate . The previous Begs now carried the title of Emir and were allowed to designate their territory as an emirate . But the Islamization of the Kazakhs was only superficial, as old shamanic traditions were cultivated and maintained, which the Kazakhs continued to share with the Mongols at that time .

    history

    prehistory

    The history of the Kazakh people begins around 1400. At this time , a certain Koirigaq Oglun (ruled approx. 1394-1422) ruled among the Central Asian steppe nomads, the so-called " Kazak Tatars ". He was considered a Gengiskhanide and the (alleged) son of Urus Khan and came from the West Siberian Orda horde . Koirigaq's family derived their lineage from the Mongol prince Orda Khan . Alternatively, a descent of Koirigaq from the Toqa Timur line is assumed.

    According to Timurid sources, Koirigaq Oglun is said to have been installed as Khan by Timur Lenk († 1405) in Siberia , from there to put the stubborn khan of the Golden Horde on the Volga in their place.

    Resistance to Abu'l-Chair

    Already Koirigaq's son Boraq Khan (ruled 1422-28) was killed in 1428 by Abu'l-Chair , the ancestral lord of the later Uzbek Khanate , with the help of the Nogaiers Waqqas Bej. Abu'l-Chair wanted to establish a tightly run Islamic empire and this empire should also include the northern steppe nomads.

    Some groups separated from Abu'l-Chair around 1456 when he suffered a defeat against the Western Mongolian Oirats . These renegade tribes rejected Islam and wanted to continue to remain autonomous in accordance with the old traditions of the steppe nomads. So the sons of Boraq, Kerei (also: Girai) and Janibek (also: Janibeg) moved with their clans and the rest of the entourage to neighboring Moghulistan . There the two princes submitted to the protection of the then reigning Chagatai Khan Yunus (r. 1462–1487). Historians name the years 1464/65 as the beginning of the "special ulus of the Qazaq-Uzbek". As vassals of the Chagatai dynasty, they organized the resistance against the Uzbek khanate . As early as 1468, both Kerei and Janibek returned to the old tribal areas. Together defeated and killed the Usbekenherrscher Abu'l-Chair in a battle north of the Syr Darya .

    It was not until Abu'l-Chair's grandson Mohammed Scheibani († 1510) was able to quickly regain the breakaway territories for his dynasty around 1500. But de facto his power was limited to only a small part of the tribes and the rule of Koirigaq's successor over the northern steppe areas was retained.

    Establishment of the Kazak Khanate

    As Muhammad Shaybani in the early 16th century, the Syr Darya , crossed to the south of it to establish his own dynasty, remained much of the steppe nomads among the descendants Koirigaqs in the northern steppes.

    In 1509 a son of Janibek, Qasym, founded his own domain with the Kazak khanate and made himself finally independent from the southern ruling Scheibanid dynasty. The Scheibanids were the first to adopt the name Uzbeks and thus established the Uzbeks Khanate . The steppe nomads united under Qasym hardly knew any state order and so its rule was extremely unstable. The real power lay with the clans under the leadership of their Beks and Batyrs that either Khan supported or acted against him.

    After Qasym Khan died in 1518, three apanages ( partial rule ) were built on the soil of the Kazak khanate . The brief unit of the Kazakhs disintegrated after only nine years, as the Apanages were enemies with one another and fought for supremacy in the steppe. The rulers of the three rulers, like Koirigaq's descendants Boraq, Kerei and Janibek, Qasym, etc., either actually descended from the Gengiskhanids or they claimed to be descended from them. Finally, Qasym's son Haqq Nazar (r. 1538–80) prevailed and he reunited the three partial rulers into a total khanate.

    Under the khan Tawakkul (ruled 1586–98), Ishim (ruled 1598–1628) and Jangir (ruled 1628–52) the halfway united khanate posed a threat to the neighboring Uzbeks. So the Kazakhs conquered Tashkent and the Khan Tawakkul even penetrated as far as Bukhara and Samarkand in 1598 . At the end of the 16th century, the Kazakhs had become a serious power factor in Central Asia .

    Fight against the Oirats

    At the beginning of the 17th century the Oirats formed in western Mongolia . The strain of the part Dzungars erected under Kara-Khula (reg. 1619-34) and Erdeni Batur (reg. 1634-53) at Imil -flow and Altai the Dzungarian Khanat whose founder from the Dschingisiden were derived.

    This new steppe kingdom was under the strong influence of Buddhism . The Kazakhs under Tawakkul and their neighbors had already suffered occasional defeats against this warlike people, but now the Oiraten tribes like the Kalmyks under Khu Urluk († 1643) pushed westward with all their might and the situation deteriorated noticeably. So in 1635 Ischim (Yesim) and in 1643 his son Jangir fought unsuccessfully against the Djungars and as a result their dominance over most of the clans of the Great Horde is recorded .

    The Kazakhs become Russian vassals in the fight against the Djungars

    Only Khan Tauke, also known as Tyawka, (r. 1680–1715) restored the unity of the small , medium and large horde . Instead of the nomadic customary law, he introduced a written law, the Sheti Sharghy . Tauke had representatives in all three hordes and he controlled their affairs. So he received ambassadors from the Russian Empire (1694) and had to deal with the Dzungars on Syr Darja several times between 1681, 1695 and again in 1710 . In 1698, Tauke executed the ambassador of the Dzungar Khan Tsewangrabtan (ruled 1697–1727) and suffered a military defeat in the ensuing conflict. Nevertheless, he was regionally regarded as a powerful prince who was able to hold back the Djungars.

    After Tauke's loss of control or his death, his successor Kaip Khan was only reluctantly elected by the representatives of the tribes. The time of the “great misfortune” began, that is, constant attacks by the Djungars. In 1716, for example, a jungle army zigzagged from the Ili River to Lake Balkhash , where it defeated the united Kazakh tribes on the Ajagus River in the spring of 1718 . Tauke's son Bolat was no longer able to hold the Kazak khanate together in 1718: despite great external threats, it dissolved again into the three hordes . These hordes - also known as "Schüs" (Kazakh department) - were incorrectly referred to by the Russians as the "Small Kyrgyz Horde", "Middle Kyrgyz Horde" and the "Big Kyrgyz Horde", as they are called " Kyrgyz people " also applied to the Kazakhs to distinguish them from the Slavic Cossacks , whose name sounded similar.

    The constant raids, murders and deportations of the jungles across the whole country to the Syr Darya almost led to the downfall of the Kazakh people around 1723–1725. In order to escape the pressure of the Djungars, the Kazakh princes made two important decisions: In 1728, under a Khan named Abu'l-Hayr (1717/28 – VIII.1748, murdered), the Kazakh nomads were temporarily reunified and the Khanates. Second, the rulers of the three hordes (following the example of Abu'l-Hayr in 1731) voluntarily submitted to the Russian Empire in 1731–1742 . In this way, Russia was able to expand its sphere of influence comparatively peacefully and secure it with forts. On the other hand, it helped the Kazakhs until the Dzungarian Khanate was overthrown by the Chinese Qing Dynasty between 1754 and 1759 and Central Asia was pacified. But between 1740 and 1742, internal rivalries led to another successful attack by the Djungars. They defeated Abylai Khan , devastated the Syr Darya area again and came as far as the Russian border.

    After the jungle rule

    Abylai Khan was since his defeat against the 1740/2 Dzungars a vassal of the Mongols . After their empire was defeated by troops of the Qing Dynasty in 1758/59 , he had to reject claims by China before he could at least apparently restore the unity of the Kazakhs. He tried to maneuver in various, mostly diplomatic, affairs between the Russian Empire and China. In fact , Abylai was a vassal to both of them. So he had the title " Khan ", adopted in 1771 (after the death of Abu'l Muhammed and the success against the returning Kalmyks ) confirmed by Tsarina Catherine seven years later .

    Foundation of the Bökey horde as the fourth territorial division

    The Kazak khanate was Islamized through Tatar , Bashkir and Nogai mediation . But this Islamization was only very superficial and many old pagan traditions remained alive with the Kazakhs . The 18th and 19th centuries are generally considered to be the age of total disintegration of the Kazakhs. So the Little Horde was split in two several times. The various clan leaders did not hesitate to request foreign aid against the Khan . A grandson of Abu'l-Hayr, the Muslim Bökey Khan (r. 1812–1815), founded his own horde at the beginning of the 19th century . The reason was that Bökey failed in the election to Khan of the Little Horde and instead Abylai's son, Vali Khan (r. 1781-1818 / 9) was elected. However, as early as 1795, Tsarina Katharina received numerous complaints from various clan leaders who complained to her about Vali Khan. So in 1806 a tribunal was convened that finally Tsar Alexander the First made the proposal to use Bökey as the second Khan of the Little Horde alongside Vali.

    Dissolution of the Khanate, colonial rule and nation building

    The previously loose Russian protectorate was replaced between 1822 and 1848 in all four hordes - that is, in the three traditional and in the Bökey horde - by a direct administration and especially occupied by Kazan Tatars . Thus, the traditional power of the Kazakh khans was gradually broken.

    Nevertheless, the Kazakhs were initially exempt from military service, they retained their customary law and their local councils of elders. But the advancing colonization with heavy immigration of Russians and Ukrainians hindered the traditional way of life. The Church was forbidden to do missionary work with the Kazakhs. Nevertheless, the Russian administration began to settle the Kazakhs , who traditionally lived as nomads , under state coercion. The pastureland, which was no longer needed by them, was given to Slavic settlers. Anti-Russian uprisings broke out very quickly. Between 1783 and 1870 there were eight in total. Two of these ultimately unsuccessful uprisings took place under Abylai Khan's grandsons: Sarschan Kasymow (from 1825, 1831/34) and Kenisari (ruled 1837-46 / 47).

    With the fall of the Kazakh feudal nobility, the national ideas spread by the intellectual Kazan Tatars in the general government of Turkestan and the Steppes began to prevail. The Kazakhs no longer belonged to individual tribes or princes, but were now linked to a modern nation, which was primarily derived from the language and traditional culture. Nevertheless, the tribal and clan thinking remained among the Kazakhs to this day. However, these no longer determine personal life, but are considered traditional properties.

    Prince list

    • Koirijaq Oglun (approx. 1394–1422)
    • Boraq Khan (1422-1428)
    • Kerei Khan (approx. 1428-1459p.)
    • Janibek Khan (approx. 1440-1480; co-ruler)
    • Muryndyq Khan (1480 / 88–1509 / 11)
    • Qasym Khan (1480 / 1511-1518)
    • Mimash Khan (1518-1523)
    • Tahir Khan (1523-1530 / 33)
    • [1526 disintegration:]
    • Togim Khan (1526/38; southern area)
    • Boydas Khan (1526/38; Eastern area)
    • Uziaq Ahmad Khan (1526/35; northern area)
    • Aq Nazar Khan (1538-1575 / 80)
    • Shigai Khan (1575 / 80–1582)
    • Tawekel Khan (1575 / 86–1598; since 1586 Khan of all Kazakhs)
    • Yesim Khan (1598-1628 / 35)
    • Jahangir Khan (1628-1652)
    • Ablaigirim (1628–36; † approx. 1650)
    • Bolat Khan (1698 / 1718-1731)
    • Abu'l-Hayr (1717 / 28–1748)
    • Shah Muhammed (1719-1734)
    • Abu'l Muhammed (1729 / 31-71)
    • Abylai (1731 / 71–81)
    • Sirim Batyr and Nurali (1748 ff.)

    See also

    literature

    • Michael Fergus, Janar Jandosova: Kazakhstan: Coming of Age , 2003
    • Jürgen Paul : Central Asia . Frankfurt am Main 2012 ( New Fischer World History , Volume 10).
    • Henry Hoyle Howorth: History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century: Part 2 - The So-Called Tartars of Russia and Central Asia , London 1880

    References and comments

    1. ↑ Marie-Carin von Cumppenberg, Udo Steinbach (ed.): Central Asia , p 147ff.
    2. ^ Jürgen Paul: Central Asia. 2012, p. 280
    3. ↑ a b Erhard Stölting: A world power breaks apart , p. 165.
    4. ↑ In the negotiations between the Kazakhs and Siberia's governor Matwei Gagarin in 1717/18, Kaip and Abu'l-Hayr are mentioned as khans in addition to Tauke. It was about Russian aid against the Djungars, but the negotiations were ineffective in the face of violent disagreements among the Kazakhs and were broken off with Tauke's death. See Howorth: History of the Mongols, p. 642 and Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, January-June 1841.
    5. ↑ The name comes from the regent table at Paul Georg Geiss, Pre-Tsarist and Tsarist Central Asia: Communal Commitment and Political Order in Change. - London, New York: Routledge Shorton Press, 2003, p. 114. In Howorth: History of the Mongols, p. 640, however, Jahangir is followed by his son Tawke.