Nur-Sultan – Kazakhstan, the “Land of the Kazakhs,” is true to its name as more than 65% of its people identify as ethnic Kazakhs. Their communities have a long history of living in Central Asia who have shared cultural practices and influences with various ethnicities throughout the years. What can we learn about their people and their way of living?
Language and Affiliations
The Kazakh (Kazak) is a Turkic-speaking group. In fact, Kazakhstan has the second-highest number of Turkic speakers in Central Asia, just after the Uzbeks. Why is this so? Kazakh are said to be descendants of various ancient Turkic tribes, and so the language has been passed on through generations. Throughout history, the region of Central Asia has been a central hub for goods, ethnic groups, and even ideas that brought colors and different cultural practices, histories, and beliefs to the people living there.
According to various observations and studies, the Kazakh people are linguistically affiliated with the Argyns, Kipchaks, and Qarluqs. In addition, the people are also connected to the medieval Turco–Mongol tribes of Dughlats, Jalairs, Keraits, and Naimans. The Kazakh language, however, has gone through some drastic changes throughout the decades.
The writing system of the Kazakh has changed from the traditional use of the Arabic script to the Cyrillic alphabet in the mid-19th century, then back to Arabic scripts in 1917. However, the changes did not end there. The Arabic script for writing changed into the Latin alphabet in 1927, before the Russians turned it back once more to the Cyrillic alphabet in 1940. At present, there are some attempts to bring the writing back to Latin script.
Even with the remarkable resiliency of the Kazakh language in its written script, ethnic Kazakhs have adopted another language in their daily lives. Now, Russian is an official language alongside the Kazakh language. After all, Russian is the most understood language across the country.
Customs and Lifestyle
Traditionally, the Kazakhs are pastoral nomads who lived in gers (dome-shaped yurts). This kind of lifestyle meant the people had to migrate as the seasons change. The nomadic lifestyle brought about a rich oral history. Even with the constant movement from one area to the next, the Kazakhs kept the memories of their founding clans with their distinct storytelling practices. This tradition of passing on their knowledge to the younger generations has kept their peoples’ memories alive, especially with an additional emphasis on each Kazakh knowing their genealogical tree known as şejire.
The people’s way of life also led to the division of the Kazakhs into the Great, Middle, and Little hordes called ordas. Each one lived in the eastern, central, and western parts of the country, respectively. The ordas were further divided into subgroups based on the extended family connections who camped together.
However, now, most of the Kazakhs live in urban areas, with only a small percentage living in rural settings. The majority of the Kazakhs no longer live a nomadic lifestyle. It may remain common for people to ask which horde a person belongs to, but this is more of a social tradition than to denote actual distinctions. Most of the communities settled in certain lands where they live as farmers and raise their livestock and grow their crops. However, there are a few who are still nomads, especially in Xinjiang. With this, the traditional tribal hierarchy and roles have changed.
