Grant financing projects for 27 months. (2020-2022)
POLITICAL PORTRAITS OF THE LEADERS OF THE YOUNGER ZHUZ IN THE XVIII – FIRST HALF OF THE XIX CENTURIES IN DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN HISTORIOGRAPHY
Currently, the Institute of History and Ethnology named after Ch.Ch. Valikhanov, under the leadership of Candidate of Historical Sciences, leading scientific researcher G.A. Shotanova, is implementing the project “Political portraits of the leaders of the Younger Zhuz in the XVIII – I half of the XIX centuries in domestic and foreign historiography.” This project is designed for 27 months and has been underway since 2020. The research group consists of G.A. Shotanova, A.K. Akhmet, G.B. Izbasarova, E.M. Uzhkenov, A.K. Zhumadil, K.V. Dzhumagalieva, M.R. Satenova.
The main concept of the project is to study the role of personality in history. In our case, this is a matter of reassessing and rethinking the role and significance of personalities, and in this case, a personality-oriented approach will allow the research group to look at certain events “as if from the inside”, thereby better understanding and assessing the current situation.
In the process of work, a large layer of materials is studied and analyzed, including the works of pre-revolutionary authors (researchers, travelers, officials, and others). These materials cover various aspects of the socio-political history of Western Kazakhstan in the XVIII – first half of the XIX centuries. The information about the life of the political leaders of the Younger Zhuz, who played a certain role in the public life of the region under consideration, was studied. The primary analysis of the works of pre–revolutionary authors suggests the following conclusion: for the most part they were Russian officials – representatives of the regional colonial administration. And in this regard, a distinctive feature of most works of pre-revolutionary Russian historiography is that they reflect the peculiar worldview of those people who, being contemporaries of the historical period described, nevertheless perceived everything that happened in the Kazakh steppe based on the interests of the Russian state. This circumstance imposed a certain context in the assessment and judgments of the authors characterizing the activities of some political leaders of the Junior Zhuz.
In the future, a historiographical analysis of the research of pre-revolutionary authors will allow us to determine how fully and reliably historical information about a particular Kazakh figure of Western Kazakhstan is presented in the period under study. It will make it possible to form a list of the most publicized political leaders whose activities, according to Russian officials, were of sufficient interest in carrying out Russia’s colonial policy in the Kazakh steppe. According to its content and the principle of presentation of the material, the works of pre-revolutionary authors can be divided into several genres. In a separate group, it is worth highlighting military-topographic and economic-geographical surveys of the Kazakh steppe. The next group includes published travel essays and reports of military officers and officials compiled by them during trips and travels across the Kazakh steppe. The third group covers memoirs, diaries, memoirs of representatives of the Orenburg colonial administration. The fourth group of pre-revolutionary works should include materials published in the publications of the Russian Geographical Society and reports of scientific expeditions in the Orenburg Region. These works to varying degrees reflect sufficient factual material about individual political leaders of the Junior Zhuz. However, the disadvantage is some fragmentation of the available data.
The works of Soviet, domestic and foreign authors are also analyzed, mentioning in their studies the activities of steppe leaders (Khans, batyrs, sultans, etc.) in the context of Kazakh-Russian relations. For example, the key role in our case is given to the long-term works of Erofeeva I.V., Zhanaev B.T., Sultangalieva G.S., Izbasarova G.B., Mukhtarov A.H., Akhmetova U.T., Izmurzin A. and others. Foreign colleagues have also made a certain contribution to our historical science. For example, the works of D. Brauer, A. Hallid, G.B. Glai, M.Khodarskovsky, N. are open for broad historical analysis. Knigt, M. Raef, J. Robinson, S. Sabbola, F. Starr.
During the current year, scientific trips were organized to libraries and archives – Moscow (Russia), Ufa (Bashkortostan, Russia), Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
The direct results of the project will have an impact on the objective and correct assessment of historical figures of our history. The recommendations, research methodology and approaches developed during the implementation of this project can be used in further projects and scientific works. Distortion of historical reality is not only the appearance of new myths, but also the formation of a negative image of a historical character in the public (ethnic) consciousness. Thus, the struggle for an objective assessment of the vital activity of a person can serve to strengthen social unity and protect national sovereignty. In addition, the results of this project will be a kind of response to a public inquiry that is on the current agenda.
Some publications on the project
2. Articles in collections of international and (or) republican conferences and round tables: