Kazakh societies but also throughout the world. Until the twentieth century, those in what is now Western Kazakhstan had taken very little notice of what those traditionally referred to as ‘the Senior Zhuz’ and ‘the Middle Zhuz’ were doing. They were still setting their eyes on the west, where their ancestors had once lived. For instance, M

the tsarist administration announced the relevant decision and established Yesim, a son of Nuraly and grandson of Abulkhair, as Khan. In response, Syrym Datov effectively declared war on Russia, the result of which was the murder of its protege Yesim, which was committed with the participation of the tribal biis (leaders) of all three hordes of the

headed by his son Nuraly, to persuade Ilbars, the then Khivan Khan, to swear allegiance to the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. Behind this mission, the influence of Tevkelev and the ones who were standing over him can again be discerned. But that venture was not successful. Abulkhair didn’t stop at that, and in 1740, when Ilbars was defeated by t

That is, it was an individual initiative undertaken by the Junior Zhuz ruler beyond the will of the tribal leaders in his horde. Judging by what is written in Tevkelev’s report about this mission, it turns out that Abulkhair deceived the Russian Empress, assuring her through his envoys that all his people were willing to become Russian subjects,

beginning of the 19th century. In the first third of the 18th century, they might have been less in number, but hardly much. Another question is how was it that so many people accumulated in this part of modern Kazakhstan in that period. It is the topic for a separate talk. What is the key to understanding what happened next is that the people in t