North Kazakhstan Region: A Cult of Saints and Ethnic Identity Processes among Kazakhs

Introduction. The formation and maintenance of Kazakh identity in the northern regions of Kazakhstan was largely associated with the specificity of historical, cultural, linguistic resources, and the religious factor played an important role therein. The shaping of ‘Kazakhness’ in the pre-Soviet period was based not only on the self-image as free nomads and language community but also on belonging to the world of Islam. Such local resources of the Kazakh ethnic identity comprise the cult of holy warriors and seers — batyr, auwliye and zhyrau, i.e. true historical heroes from the period of fierce struggle for the region throughout the seventeenth–eighteenth centuries. Goals. The study attempts an insight into the specifics of the saints’ cult among Kazakhs of Northern Kazakhstan. Real supporters of Khan Abylai and active participants of steppe wars — batyrs Kozhabergen, Kulsary and Kuleke — were included in the pantheon of saints across the designated region. Materials and methods. The work examines a wide range of sources, both published archival documents and pre-revolutionary statistical collections, as well as ethnographic material collected by the authors in the form of family trees (shezhire) and ethno-genealogical legends about the deeds of cultural heroes. The documents introduced into scientific turnover have made it possible to verify the relevance of data articulated by oral shezhire narratives and legends, which together constitute a valuable layer of sources yielding insights into the mentality and spiritual world of nomads. Results. The ethnic history of the northern Kazakh clans and tribes and the emergence of the local cult of holy warriors show a close connection between lifestyle and religious factor for the reproduction of ethnic identity. Under the conditions of constant hostilities and distrust toward alien neighbors across northern steppes, those were Genghisids — famous warlords/batyrs and charismatic leaders of mighty tribes — that became objects of veneration, rather than Muslim righteous men or descendants of the Kozha clan. The informal alliance of Genghisids and batyrhood did facilitate the preservation of “Kazakhness’ during the period of heavy defeats and severe trials in the sixteenth–eighteenth centuries. The lives of heroes served as examples to all Kazakhs regardless of tribal affiliation and as models of ideal behavior. Later, descendants would endow their ancestors with the traits of Muslim saints and pass on narratives claiming their gifts of soothsaying and healing from generation to generation. Being a local Muslim variant of saints’ worship practices which incorporated elements of pre-Islamic beliefs, the cult of the northern batyr-auwliye performed an important integrative function and contributed to the deep ethnicization of clan/tribal roots among local Kazakhs.

1. Informant 1: Huandag Bazhay, b. 1970 (Petropavlovsk). (In Kaz.)

2. Informant 2: Beket Alpysbay-ully, b. 1945 (Petropavlovsk). (In Kaz.)

3. Informant 3: Oirat K., b. 1960 (Petropavlovsk). (In Kaz.)

4. Informant 4: Zhumga Kusainov, b. 1960 (Petropavlovsk). (In Kaz.)

5. Informant 5: Aiman Molzhigitova, b. 1971 (Petropavlovsk). (In Kaz.)

6. Informant 6: Mohammed Siddik, b. 1950 (Ankara). (In Turk.)

7. Alimgazinova K. Sh. (comp.) History of Kazakhstan from Russian Sources: Sixteenth to Twentiryj Centuries. In 10 vols. Vol. 7. Almaty: Daik-Press, 2006. 600 p. (In Russ.)

8. Alpysbes M. A. The Kazakh Shezhire: Sources and Traditions. Astana: BG-Print, 2013. 240 p. (In Russ.)

9. Artykbayev Zh. O. Nomads of Eurasia: The Kaleidoscope of Centuries and Millennia. St. Petersburg: Mazhor, 2005. 320 p. (In Russ.)

10. Basilov V. N. Cult of Saints in Islam. Moscow: Mysl, 1970. 144 p. (In Russ.)

11. Basin V. Ya. Russia and Kazakh Khanates: Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1971. 274 p. (In Russ.)

12. Esfahani F. R. Notes of a Guest in Bukhara. R. Dzhalilova (transl., foreword, etc.). Moscow: Nauka, 1976. 527 p. (In Russ. and Arab.)

13. Geertz C. Islam Observed: Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1968. 136 p. (In Eng.)

14. Keyes Ch. Muslim ‘others’ in Buddhist Thailand. Thammasat Review. 2008–2009. No. 13. Pp. 19–42. (In Eng.)

15. Keyes Ch. The Study of Ethnicity in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Ubon Ratchathani: Ubon Ratchathani University, 2012. 44 p. (In Eng.)

16. Khafizova K. Sh. (comp.) Qing Empire and Kazakh Khanates, 1750s–1830s. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1989. 216 p. (In Russ.)

17. Khafizova K. Sh. Steppe Rulers and Their Diplomacies: Eighteenth–Nineteenth Centuries. Nur-Sultan: Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2019. 480 p. (In Russ.)

18. Kireev F. N. et al. (comps.) Kazakh-Russian Relations, Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries: Collected Documents and Materials. Alma-Ata: Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, 1961. 743 p. (In Russ.)

19. Kozybayev M. K. Dauylpaz Baba — Kozhabergen. In: Tasbolatov A., Suleymenov Zh. (comps.) The Holy Ancestor Қozhabergen Zhyrau. Astana: Foliant, 2014. Pp. 10–22. (In Kaz.)

20. Kuanbay O. B. Kulsary Batyr – diplomat, state and public actor (1715 – 1776). Electronic Scientific Journal «Edu.e-history.kz». 2022. No. 3(31). Pp. 172–184. Available at: https://edu.e-history.kz/index.php/history/article/view/47 (accessed: 15 May 2023). (In Russ.)

21. Larina E. I. Peoples of Central Asia: Religious factor in the shaping of national identity. In: Nikishenkov A. A. (ed.) Past and Present of Ethnological Studies. Moscow: Moscow State University, 2011. Pp. 230–243. (In Russ.)

22. Larina E. I. National self-consciousness and traditional social institutions in Central Asia. Moscow University Bulletin. Series 8: History. 2012. No. 4. Pp. 66–90. (In Russ.)

23. Larina E. I. Materials for the study of the cult of saints among the Kazakhs (Evidence from West Kazakhstan Region). Oriental Studies. 2016. Vol. 9. No. 5. Pp. 109–118. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.22162/2075-7794-2016-27-5-109-118

24. Larina E. I., Naumova O. B. Contemporary religious consciousness of Russian Kazakhs and the Islam of imams. Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie. 2008. No. 1. Pp. 83–97. (In Russ.)

25. Magauin M. M. The Kobyz and the Spear: A Narrative of Kazakh Akyns and Zhyraus, Fifteenth–Eighteenth Centuries. Alma-Ata: Zhazushy, 1970. 160 p. (In Russ.)

26. Materials on Kirghiz Land-Use Practices Collected and Compiled by the Expedition for the Study of Steppe Oblasts. Akmolinsk Oblast. Petropavlovsk Uyezd. Vol. 12. Chernigov: G. Veselaya, 1908. 746 p. (In Russ.)

27. Privratsky B. G. Muslim Turkistan: Kazak Religion and Collective Memory. Richmond, UK: Curzon Press, 2001. 321 p. (In Eng.)

28. Sirik V. A. (comp.) Sultans and Batyrs of the Middle Jüz, Late-to-Mid Eighteenth Century: Collected Documents. Almaty: Litera-M, 2018. 560 p. (In Russ.)

29. Snesarev G. P. Uzbeks of Khwarazm: Vestiges of Pre-Islamic Beliefs and Rituals. Moscow: Nauka, 1969. 336 p. (In Russ.)

30. Sultanov T. I. Nomads around the Aral Sea, Fifteenth–Seventeenth Centuries: Issues of Ethnic and Social History. Moscow: Nauka, 1982. 134 p. (In Russ.)

31. Toleubayev A. T. Vestiges of Pre-Islamic Beliefs in Kazakh Family Rites. Alma-Ata: Gylym, 1991. 214 p. (In Russ.)

32. Tolybekov S. E. Kazakh Nomadic Society, Seventeenth to Early Twentieth Centuries: A Political and Economic Analysis. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1971. 635 p. (In Russ.)

33. Utemish Hajji. Chingiz-Nameh. V. Yudin (facsimile, transl., etc.), M. Abuseitova (comment., indices). Alma-Ata: Gylym, 1992. 296 p. (In Russ. and Chag. Turk.)

34. Vostrov V. V., Mukanov M. S. Kazakhs: Clan-Tribal Structures and Inhabited Areas. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1968. 256 p. (In Russ.)

35. Vuillemenot A.-M. Muslim shamans in Kazakhstan. In: Zarcone Th., Hobart A. (eds.) Shamanism and Islam: Sufism, Healing Rituals and Spirits in the Muslim World. London, New York: I. B. Tauris, 2013. Pp. 59–78. (In Eng.)

36. Yerofeeva I. V. (comp.) History of Kazakhstan from Russian Sources: Sixteenth to Twentiryj Centuries. In 10 vols. Vol. 3. Almaty: Daik-Press, 2005. 484 p. (In Russ.)

37. Yerofeeva I. V. Khan Abulkhair: Warlord, Ruler, Politician. Almaty: Daik-Press, 2007. 456 p. (In Russ.)

38. Yerofeeva I. V. Symbols Kazakh Nationhood: Late Middle Ages and Modern Era. Almaty: Arkaim, 2001. 157 p. (In Russ.)

39. Zhumabayev S., Kudaibergenov K., Galeev A. (comps.) The Atygai Shezhire. Petropavlovsk: Asyl Mura, 2010. 510 p. (In Kaz.)