UIB 2010 History of Kazakhstan Mukan S. M.

Author: Mukan S. M., UIB Senior Lecturer

History of Kazakhstan. – Methodical recommendation, Almaty: UIB printing, 2010. – 130 pages

Aim of the course

The course designed for the students, keeping in view the growing demand for interdisciplinary approach to the study of social disciplines, in order to provide students with the good knowledge of Kazakhstan’s history problems in the past and contemporary time. This course is intended to familiarize students with major issues and approaches in the study of the course «History of Kazakhstan».

Course outline

Course «History of Kazakhstan» is an obligatory course for all students, who study at first year at higher educational institutions in accordance with curriculum of the majors.

This course investigates theories and conceptions of the Kazakhstan’s history problems, used in the development of contemporary world system.

For teaching this course necessary to reach following aims:

- To teach the main problems of this course;

- To give recommendations for preparations to seminars;

- To offer themes for individual projects;

- To prepare tests and list of used literature;

- To give short consultation on each theme;

- To recommend a list of literature for preparation to seminars, midterms and final exams.

Course description: This course is offered for bachelor students and investigates the role of history of Kazakhstan in the world policy in the past and nowadays. The problems of economic and military integrations in the Central Asia. Interests of the USA, European states, Russia, and China in the Central Asia. The role of the Islamic factor in the formation of relationships between Central Asian states in the contemporary world. Foundation of new relations between Central Asian states after collapse of the USSR.

© International Information Technologies University

Mukan S. M., 2010

Lecture 1: Primitive society

The objective of the lecture: to show common and peculiarities of the primitive society development on the territory of Kazakhstan. The main stages of the primitive society, evolution of labor instrument, origination of people and formation social institutes.

Outline of the lecture

1. Characteristic of the primitive society.

2. Stages of the primitive society.

3. Historical monuments of the primitive society.

The brief content of the lecture: The problem of the origin of the modern human being and the most ancient stages of his development in the Stone Age according to the scientists terminology in one of the complex problem of the science.

The modern genetics came to conclusion, that labor played the decisive role in the evolution of man. The other factors – biological and social, participated in the process of anthropogenesis. Man is differed from the animal by his knowing how to work and how to make the labor instruments. The first instruments made from stone by man gave the name to the Stone Age, the early and longest period of the history.

By the beginning of the XX century the following division of the Stone Age into periods was established:

1. Paleolithic

Ancient Paleolithic:

Doshell – 2,5 mln.- 800 th. B.C.

Shell, Ashell - 800-140 th. B.C.

2. Middle Paleolithic

Upper Ashell and Mousterian period – 140-40 th. B.C.

3. Upper Paleolithic

40-10 th. B.C.

II. Mesolithic XII-V th. B.C.

III. Neolithic V-II th. B.C.

The first man on the territory of Kazakhstan appeared about 700-500 th. years ago during the Paleolithic Age. The earliest man lived near rivers Isym, Chu, Betpak-Dala. On the banks of the Arystandy River the most ancient stone instruments were discovered. The more numerous sites of the late times were Shabakty, Temirkazgan, and Borykazgan etc. The hand bifaces (hand axes), points more than 5 th. various flint instruments were collected there.

During the Mousterian epoch the method of production of stone instruments developed. Among the Mousterian sites discovered in the Karatau, one was situated in Karasai, on the right bank of the Arystandy River. The enormous concentration of the flint and chalcedony hand-mades were revealed and wild animals bones and charcoal were found. The finds of the Mousterian instruments are known in the middle flow of the Sarysu River in Central Kazakhstan and Priirtyshie.

Neolithic. The Neolithic hunters, fishermen and collectors lived in Pri-Ural and Irtysh. The natural environment of that time was almost the same as in our days. The technology of working up of stone in the epoch of Neolithic achieved the highest level; people learned how to saw and polish the stone and make the mini stone-blades (micro-lit). The durable crockery ceramics were made with help of baking by Neolithic people.

In the epoch of Upper Neolithic and Eneolithic one more important event was happened in the life of people. The animals have been domesticated and became domestic animals. People began to be occupied with farming.

The appearance of the beginnings of mining, mastery of metals, soft-ones – copper, gold, lead took place.

During the Neolithic Age the family communes with Matriarchy appeared. At the Neolithic the earliest men began to use fire and make work tools from metal – at first it was copper, then bronze.

Lecture 2: Bronze and Iron Ages

The objective of the lecture: Characteristic of the bronze and iron ages. The main stages of the Bronze and Iron ages. Historical monuments of these stages. To show the economical and political development and features of culture.

Outline of the lecture:

1. Bronze Age. The main stages of Bronze Age. The cultures of Bronze Age.

2. Iron Age. Saks. Political and economy development of the Saks.

3. Culture of the Saks.

The brief content of the lecture: The changing in the economy and mode of the life of the people of Kazakhstan, which were outlined at the end of Neolithic, resulted in the building of the producing economy. In the II th. B.C. people learned to get bronze by the way of addition of tin, lead and zinc to copper. The bronze is the hard, but at the same time very plastic metal, from which the instruments of labour and weapons were made. The epoch, when this metal was the main one in the life people, named the “Bronze age”. It was lasting from the end of the III till I th. B. C.

The tribes, dwelt on the territory of Kazakhstan during the Bronze epoch, left the archaeological monument, dated back to the Andronov archaeological culture. Now the time of existing of this culture is divided by the majority of the researches into three periods:

The Early Bronze – XVIII-XVI c. B.C.

The Middle - XV – XII c. B.C.

The Late - XII – VIII c. B.C.

The Late Bronze period in Central Kazakhstan was marked by formation of the new culture, which was named Bengazy-Dandybai.

During the Bronze age Kazakhstan became the center of metallurgy. Copper, tin, iron were mined in Eastern Kazakhstan and Jezkazgan.

The role of a man in family increased – it was the time of Patriarchy. The Andron people’s main occupations were cattle-breeding, farming and fishing. They grew millet near the rivers, lived in houses and when the climate became dry they began to move from place to place. The Andron people invented houses that could put on carriages and moved with people. They began to nomadize.

The question of the tribe’s language investigated by archaeologists, of the race type of these tribes, and their roots and descendants was the most difficult one in the ancient history. Andronovists were considered as European physical type and Indo-Iranian language.

Saks tribes. In the I millennium B.C. a huge territory, including Northern India, Afghanistan, Middle Asia and South Kazakhstan was populated by numerous tribes, called “Saks”. Saks tribes were contemporaries of skiffs, which lived in Northern Black Sea and Savromates – in South Ural.

In Akhemenids sources; there are a lot of facts and information about saks. They inform that they were three groups: Saks-Haumovarga (Saks that made drink Haom), Saks-paradaraya (Saks that lived across the sea, Saks-tigrahauda (Saks that were pointed caps).

Saks took part in many historical events of that time. So, Kir concluded a peace treating with Saks against the king Krez. Kir’s campaign against Saks was not successful. His army was defeated and he died. Kir’s campaign to the Middle Asia was continued by Dari I (521-486 B.C.) but he was also defeated. At the end of VI beg. of V c. B.C. in ancient East were taking place Greek-Persian wars. Some Saks tribes took part in those wars being on the side of Persians. Greek-Persian wars (500-449 B.C.) ended with the defeat of Persians. In 30-s B.C., Greek-Makedonians under the control of Alexander Makedonsky defeated the army of the last Ahemenid of Dari III and entered the Middle Asia. Massagets and other tribes, living in the Southern Kazakhstan participated in wars against Alexander Makedonsky. Saks tribes which lived in the area of Syrdaria kept their independence. After the death of Alexander Makedonsky his huge empire was disunited because it was just a union of tribes and nations who didn’t have strong economic and political relations.

Lecture 3: Early class societies (III B.C.-III A.D.).

The objective of the lecture: To show the economic and political history of Uisuns, Kangles and Hunnu.

Outline of the lecture:

1. Uisuns.

2. Kangls.

3. Hunnu.

    Uisuns. The tribes of Uisuns, which inherited lands of Saks-Tigrahauda in the Zhetisu, came from the depth of Central Asia.

     The population of Uisuns was about 630 thousand people and 188 thousand from them were warriors. The head of which was leader, whose title was “Gunmo”.

     The main territory of Uisuns situated in the valley of Ili, frontier on the west was on rivers Shu and Talas, where they bordered with Kangyo.

    The capital of Uisuns was Chegu-Chen (the town of red valley) was situated on the coast of Issyk-kol.

    Ethnic group of Uisuns still isn’t clear. One investigator thinks that Uisuns had Turkic ancestors and spoke in Turkic; another, that Uisuns were from West-Iranian tribes.

    Uisuns were nomads.

    Hunnu.

Creation date	IV-III cc. B.C.
Geography	From Zabaikalye to Tibet, from Eastern Turkestan to the middle flow of Huanhe river.
Main cities	Near the Kyrgyz Nur lake (Chjichji residence)
Main activity	Nomadic cattle-breeding. Main animals: horses, oxen, camels, sheep and goats.
Other names	Syunnu, Gunnu
Type of state	Nomadic type of life. Hunnu can be called as a military state too.
Religion	Hunnu was paganists.
People, nations	Turkic-typed tribes with mongoloid faces. The population is 1,5 mln. of people.
Language	One of the Altai languages family branches.
Society structure	There were four supreme origins; the most noble is “Luandi” only from which the Shanyuis could be elected. Hunnu had slavery.
Military successes	Hunnu fought together with Kangui against Uisuns but couldn’t succeed completely. Hunnu successfully fought against China, which them tribute, conquered Dunhu, part of Uisuns and Sayan-Altai tribes.
State army	Whole army was 300-400 th. men, “Tma” – 10 th. horsemen. There were 24 heads of Tmas called “temniks”. The army consisted of center and two wings.
Historical Literature	“Historical writings” by Chinese historian Sym Tsyan about Hunnu’s invasions and conquered lands.
Famous events, political history	In 206 B.C. Mode made reforms for state enforcement. In 47 the state was divided into South and Northern parts. Chjichji tried to return the state unity, but China pressed on Hunnu and forced them to move through Tian-Shan to Kazakhstan. There they first contacted with Kangui tribe close. This was the first wave of great people’s migration. The second one started in I c. AD., when Hunnu again moved west from China’s pressure. Under Hunnu’s pressure there was started the tribes’ movement in Central Kazakhstan, on the north of Syrdarya and also in Aral and Caspian sea regions. The “Great People’s Migration” took its period since II till V centuries AD. And under Attila’s supervision, the migrating people made the great collapsing hit to the Roman Empire. Hunnu increased the quantity of Turkic roots among the people in the Kazakhstan region.