Y. A. Kim. Life of kazakhs
Population genetics and historical research confirm the authenticity of the Kazakh genealogy books, or shejire. Radik Temirgaliyev, the well-known Kazakh historian and writer, confirmed this view in the lecture ‘History of Kazakh Clans’, organized in Öskemen by Qalam, a multi-platform scientific and educational project.
According to Temirgaliyev, many researchers, including Soviet and Western scientists, had once believed that the feudal elite in Central Asia created false genealogies and ideologies. To serve their political purposes and to unite collectives, they declared the communities they controlled to be related. ‘We proceeded from these positions, and in the early days, even I, when I read such works, accepted these ideas on faith because they came from such authoritative sources. Why would I bother to think about something new?’ he admitted.
However, in recent years, population genetics has refuted this claim. ‘It is all thanks to Kazakh enthusiasts and activists that many people donated their DNA for testing. These DNA were studied, and the main haplogroups of the Kazakh people were identified,’ continued Temirgaliyev. According to the historian, the presence of Kazakh shejire gave scientists a unique opportunity to compare legends and genetics.
According to Temirgaliyev, who is also a writer and lecturer for Qalam Global, ‘For example, any given Kazakh clan is divided into several branches. Scientists took DNA from representatives of each branch and determined that all of them can be traced back to a single ancestor who lived relatively recently, perhaps in the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries. Moreover, the majority of Kazakh clans and tribes turned out to indeed be formed on the basis of blood relation. The Kazakh shejire do not lie.’
Radik Temirgaliev/ Qalam Global press service
Various studies have refuted the assumptions that many Kazakh clans come from different locations and were ‘merged’ for political reasons. Temirgaliyev explained this further: ‘There are various versions, for example, that claim that the Adais are not related to the Alshyns since they are descendants of the Dais, or that the Berysh are the descendants of the Polovtsian Burcheviches, and the Sherkesh belong to the Caucasian Circassians. But it turned out that each of these Kazakh tribes is related to neighboring branches, and together they are most likely descendants of one ancestor. This is as the Kazakh shejire had maintained; unfortunately, these records were previously not given attention, ignored, and considered ridiculous fairy tales invented by old people.’
However, there are exceptions to every rule. ‘For example, the Naimans or Kipchaks do not have a single dominant haplogroup—they are different. Such tribes were not clans; they were peoples who at one time created their own states. And each such group of people consisted of clans. The Naimans or Kipchaks, who are now part of the Kazakhs, are fragments of those ancient peoples,’ stated Temirgaliyev.
During the Qalam Global lecture, the scientist also discussed the history of the science behind the study of Kazakh clans, the forms of tribal organizations among nomads, and class relations of the Kazakh people, as well as about the clans of the Kyrma (representatives of other ethnic groups that became part of the Kazakh clans).
Radik Temirgaliyev is a well-known Kazakh historian and writer and the executive director of the Kazakh Historical Society Public Association. He is the author of landmark books including Ak-Orda: The History of the Kazakh Khanate, The Era of the Last Batyrs, Kazakhs and Russia, and Kazakhs: The Path of the Ancestors. His recent monograph, Tamga:The History of the Kazakh Tribes, became a bestseller.
His research covers the various stages of the formation of the Kazakh state, the history of individual clans, and their role in the consolidation of Kazakh society. He analyzes the role of outstanding personalities and circumstances that ultimately influenced the decisions that determined the fate of the country for centuries to come.
Qalam Global is a multimedia project dedicated to the history and culture of the world as seen from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. An international team of researchers from different countries, including Kazakhstan, the USA, Canada, the UK, and Russia, is working on the project. Qalam is available in three languages, Kazakh, Russian, and English.