Travel & Tours in Kazakhstan - History of Kazakhstan

BRIEFLY STATED HISTORY OF KAZAKHSTAN

Humans have inhabited the territory of present-day Kazakhstan since the earliest Stone Age.
The early history of Kazakhstan is a shadowy procession of nomad empires, mostly moving in from the east and hedging around with much uncertainty, since they had left few written records or other traces.

Around 500 BC the territory of present-day southern Kazakhstan was inhabited by the Saka, nomadic people considered as a part of the vast network of Scythian cultures. One southern Saka tribe, the Massagetes, succeeded in repelling Alexander the Great in the 4^th century BC.
Around 200 BC eastern Kazakhstan was briefly under the control of the Hsiung-nu, probably the ancestors of the Huns who later conquered large parts of the Mediterraneans, Persia and India.

Turkic peoples from the region of Mongolia and northern China began moving into Kazakhstan as the Huns were leaving.
The movements, conflicts, and alliances of Turkic and Mongol tribes determined the history of Kazakhstan.
The earliest well-documented state in the region was the Turkic Kaganate, which came into existence in the 6^th century AD. In 766 the Qarluqs, a confederation of Turkic tribes, established a state on the territory that is now eastern Kazakhstan. In the 8^th and 9^th centuries, the Arabs, who introduced Islam, conquered portions of southern Kazakhstan. The Oghuz Turks controlled western Kazakhstan from the 9^th through the 11^th centuries; the Kimak and Kipchak peoples, also of Turkic origin, controlled the east at roughly the same time. The large central desert of Kazakhstan is still called Dashti-Kipchak, or the Kipchak Steppe.
In late 9^th century, the Qarluq State was destroyed by invaders who established the large Karakhanid State. It occupied a region known as Transoxania (the territory of present-day Uzbekistan), the area to the north and to the east of the Oxus River (the Syr Darya), extending up to what is now China. Since the early 11^th century, the Karakhanids had been fighting constantly among themselves and with the Seljuk Turks in the south. The Karakhanids, who accepted Islam, were conquered in the 1130s by the Karakitais, a Turkic confederation from northern China. In the mid-12^th century, an independent state of Khorazm along the Oxus River broke away from the weakening Karakitais, but the bulk of the Karakitais State lasted until the invasion of Genghis Khan in 1219-21.

After the Mongol captured the Karakitay State, Kazakhstan fell under the control of a succession of rulers of the Mongolian Golden Horde, the western branch of the Mongol Empire. By the early 15^th century, the ruling structure had split into several large groups known as khanates, including the Nogai Horde and the Uzbek Khanate.

The present-day Kazakhs became a recognisable group in the mid-15^th century. The word kazakh means a "free warrior" or a "steppe roamer". In the 16^th century Kazakhs divided into three divisions or zhuzes corresponding to the historical the Great Horde, which controlled Semirech'ye and southern Kazakhstan; the Middle Horde, which occupied north-central Kazakhstan; and the Lesser Horde, which occupied western Kazakhstan.

Russian traders and soldiers began to appear on the northwestern edge of the Kazakh territory in the 17^th century. Russians were able to seize Kazakh territory because the khanates were preoccupied by Kalmyk invaders of Mongol origin, who in the late 16^th century undertook raids into Kazakh territory from the east. Forced westward in what they call their Great Retreat, the Kazakhs were finally caught between the Kalmyks and the Russians. In 1730 Abul Khayr, one of the khans of the Lesser Horde, sought Russian assistance. Although Abul Khayr's intention was to form a temporary alliance against the stronger Kalmyks, the Russians gained permanent control of the Lesser Horde as a result of his decision. The Russians conquered the Middle Horde by 1798, but the Great Horde managed to remain independent until the 1820s, when the expanding Kokand Khanate in the south forced the Great Horde khans to choose Russian protection, which seemed to them the lesser of the two evils.

In 1863 Russia elaborated a new imperial policy, announced in the so-called Gorchakov Circular, which asserted the right to annex any "troublesome" areas on the empire's borders. That policy led immediately to the Russia's conquest of the rest of Central Asia and the creation of two administrative districts, the Guberniya (Governorate General) of Turkestan and the Steppe District. Most of present-day Kazakhstan was in the Steppe District, and the parts of present-day southern Kazakhstan were in the Governorate General.

After the Bolshevik revolution in Russia the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1920 and it was renamed as the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1925 when the Kazakhs were differentiated officially from the Kyrgyzs. Being one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union it was governed by the Communist Party.
Kazakhstan was the last Soviet republic to declare its independence from the USSR on 16^th December 1991.

CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN KAZAKHSTAN
Period	Description
500 BC	The territory of present-day southern Kazakhstan was inhabited by the Saka, nomadic people considered as a part of the vast network of Scythian cultures.
200 BC	Eastern Kazakhstan was briefly under the control of the Hsiung-nu, probably an ancestor of the Huns.
6th century AD	The Turkic Kaganate was established.
766 AD	Turkic Qarluq confederation founded a state on the territory of present-day eastern Kazakhstan.
8-9th century	Parts of southern Kazakhstan were conquered by the Arabs.
Late 8-9th centuries	Turkic Oghuz tribes migrated into Central Asia from Mongolia and southern Siberia.
9-11th centuries	Oghuz Turks controlled western Kazakhstan.
Late 9th century	Qarluq state was destroyed by the Karakhanids.
1130s	Turkic Karakitais conquered the Karakhanids; dominating the region for about 100 years.
mid 12th century	The state of Khorazm broke away from the Karakitais.
1219-21	The invasion of Genghis Khan.
13-15th centuries	Kazakhstan fell under the reign of the succession of rulers of the Mongolian Golden Horde.
Early 15th century	The ruling structure split into several large groups known as khanates, including the Nogai Horde and the Uzbek Khanate.
1511	Khan Kasym united the Kazakh tribes.
mid 15th century	The present-day Kazakhs became a recognisable group, when clan leaders broke away from Abul Khayr, the leader of the Uzbeks.
16th century	The Nogai Horde and Siberian Khanates broke up, clans from each jurisdiction joined the Kazakhs. The Kazakhs subsequently separated into three new hordes: Great, Middle, and Lesser Horde.
Late 16th century	Kalmyk invaders of Mongol origin began to move into Kazakh territory from the east.
17th century	Russian traders and soldiers began to appear on the territory of Kazakhstan.
16-18th centuries	Kazakh nomads and Mongols raided and weakened the Uzbek khanates.
1726	Kazakh Khan Abul Khayr sought Russian protection from Kalmyk invaders; the beginning of permanent Russian presence in Kazakhstan.
1798	The Russians conquered the Middle Horde.
1820s	Kazakh Great Horde came under Russian control.
1836-47	Under Khan Kene (Kenisary Kasimov) and his followers Kazakhs rose up against Russian occupation.
1861	Abolition of serfdom in Russian Empire initiated the migration of Russian peasants to Kazakhstan.
1867	Guberniya (Governorate General) of Turkestan was established as a central Russian administration, eventually including (1899) present-day Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan; the remainder of Kazakhstan became the Steppe District.
1890s	Large-scale Russian settlement formed in northern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, diminishing Kazakh and Kyrgyz nomadism.
1916	Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbeks rebelled against land confiscation and conscription by Russia; many of Kazakhs, Kyrgyz fled to China.
May 1917	The Russian provisional government abolished the Guberniya of Turkestan; the power was divided among various groups, including Tashkent Soviet.
November 1917	The Bolshevik Revolution set up the Soviet state.
1918	The Bolsheviks declared the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, including most of present-day Central Asia in Russia. A group of secular nationalists called Alash Orda proclaimed an independent Kazakh state.
1920	The Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established, including Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
1925	The Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Kazakh ASSR) separated from Kyrgyz ASSR, when the Kazakhs were differentiated officially from the Kyrgyz; Almaty became the capital of Kazakhstan.
1936	The Kazakh ASSR was made a full right Soviet republic.
1941-43	Many Soviet plants were transferred to Central Asia to avoid their capture by invading Nazis.
1953-65	Many non-Kazakhs arrived during the so-called Virgin Lands campaign initiated by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.
June 1989	Nursultan Nazarbayev was nominated a communist party head in Kazakhstan.
Late 1989	An independent religious administration for Kazakhstan was created, severing the relations with the Muslim Board of Central Asia, the Soviet-approved oversight body in Tashkent.
December 1991	Nazarbayev elected president of Kazakhstan. He declared independence from the Soviet Union; 5 Central Asian states joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS);
1992	Five Central Asian states joined Economic Co-operation Organisation.
January 1993	New Kazakhstan constitution was adopted, the Kazakh language became the official state language; Kazakhstan government formed National Council for Economic Reform.
November 1993	Tenge become the official currency of Kazakhstan.
December 1993	Kazakhstan approved Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty as non-nuclear signatory; Kazakhstan's parliament dissolved itself.
March 1994	First multiparty elections in Kazakhstan (for parliament) were held, dominated by Nazarbayev's supporters.
February 1995	Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed ten-year partnership and co-operation agreement with European Union (EU).
March 1995	Kazakhstan parliament resigned, President Nazarbayev began the rule by decree.
April 1995	The referendum extended Nazarbayev's term to 2000.
August 1995	Kazakhstan's new constitution approved by people's referendum.
December 1995	Parliamentary elections were held in Kazakhstan accompanied by the protest from the opposition parties.
February 1996	Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed the extended customs union agreement with Belarus and Russia;
April 1996	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan signed the Shanghai border security treaty with China and Russia, pledging aid to China against separatists from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
August 1996	Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan signed the accord for creation of single economic market by 1998;

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