About the project

For centuries, this country and Central Asia as a whole has been a place of interaction of ideologies, religions and cultures leaving a great mark on the fate of this land and its unique diversity. As a link between East and West, North and South, a meeting place for peoples, ideas and goods, Central Asia has influenced neighbouring regions and cultures from India, Iran and China to the Islamic caliphates, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

Although historiography originated simultaneously in different regions of the world, dominated by concepts and constructs in historical scholarship has been evolved primarily from Western Europe data. "Nations", "ethnic groups", "feudalism", "archaicism", "Middle Ages", "modernity" - how suitable are these terms to tell about the past of Kazakhstan, Japan or China? The colonial discourse in describing the world remains dominant to this day. The historical view from London, Paris or Moscow still dominates in minds of public not only in Europe or the United States, but also often in Asia or Africa.

We are going to change this colonial prism by giving a new perspective on the past in the context of both domestic and global events and processes. The “tunnel vision” of the prevailing approaches are obvious to many scientists in the world.

Science knows no boundaries. Researchers from different countries, including Kazakhstan, USA, Canada, UK, and Russia are already involved in our project. In our project, we adhere to commonly accepted scholarly standards, but also try to write our articles in an engaging way, using a variety of genres, formats, and delivery options. Eventually, history emerged from entertaining stories of the past and has been preserved for ages in epics, ballads, chivalric romances, sagas, bylinas, and kuis. We respect and understand this tradition. History is interesting.

Qalam is available in Kazakh, Russian, and English.