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Abstract

This research project deals with the issue of housing construction of the Kazakh people in the ХІХ century. It is based on the political, economic and social factors that caused the Kazakh people to build permanent housing and move to a sedentary lifestyle. The winter cottages of the Kazakh people are considered as a form of residential construction. Historical evidence is provided that refutes the one-sided view of Russian colonizers and Soviet historians that "Kazakhs are accustomed only to a nomadic way of life". The research work is intended for a comprehensive study based on archaeological data about residential buildings built in the steppe region in the ХІХ century. In addition, to the issues of considering the types of housing construction, local building materials used in building houses, taking into account the natural climatic conditions in housing construction, the succession of generations is revealed by the discovery of sakh stands under the ruined barns of Kazakhs.

The research work is dedicated to the currently relevant issue of using the effective aspects of housing construction, which the communities that lived in the society in the past, left as a legacy to today's generations. As a result of the research, a sketch of a residential house, a barn, a model of a shed that can be built in villages, winter camps where herdsmen live, and fences are proposed.

The purpose of the study: By studying the historical data and archeological researches about the construction of houses in the Kazakh steppe in the ХІХ century, it is proven that the Kazakhs formed their own house-building culture, taking into account the natural-climate, daily lifestyle and household conditions in building winter houses.

Research objectives and methods:

1. conducting a bibliographic review of works related to the research topic

2. determination of the features of the residential houses in winter in the region and comparison of the constructions of the residential houses in the settlements of Zhidebay, Sarkyrama

3. meet scientists and architects, take an interview about Kazakh and modern houses and get their advice;

4. conduct a survey in order to identify and analyze the opinions in the society about the Kazakh architectural culture

5. using the tinkerCAD program, taking into account the advice of architect specialists, a sketch of a barn and housing construction located inside or outside the created winter quarters and a model of a shed that can be used today

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Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of Kazakh nomadic society at the turn of the 20th century amidst a systemic crisis of the traditional way of life. The relevance of the study stems from the need to verify the scale of the ethnic group's socio-economic adaptation to colonial modernization and market integration. The primary source base comprises the "Materials on Kyrgyz Land Use...", which encompass a dataset covering 25 uyezds (districts) across six regions of Kazakhstan.

The present article is an expanded and supplemented version of the paper "The nomadic Kazakh population of Kazakhstan..." (2022), broadening its geographical and analytical scope. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the introduction into scholarly discourse of previously unpublished calculated data regarding the Akmolinsk and Chimkent uyezds. Furthermore, a comprehensive revision of statistical indicators was conducted for several administrative units to eliminate identified methodological discrepancies.

The research methodology is based on statistical-economic analysis and a comparative approach. A key stage of the work involved converting various livestock species into a single equivalent (the conventional unit of a sheep) and calculating provision indicators per individual and per household.

During the study, statistical indicators were compared with normative criteria for household viability established in historiography (N.E. Masanov, Yu.N. Kanyashin, S.E. Tolybekov, B.S. Suleimenov). It was established that the critical self-sufficiency threshold (100–150 sheep per household) served as a defining factor in social differentiation. The results of the analysis revealed profound regional heterogeneity: 64% of the investigated uyezds were in a zone of economic risk, barely reaching the level of physiological survival.

A direct correlation was identified between a region's geographical location and the level of livestock concentration. The highest indicators (over 200 head) were recorded in the northern uyezds (Kustanay, Atbasar, Pavlodar, Omsk), which is attributed to favorable ecological conditions for extensive animal husbandry. Conversely, in regions with low livestock provision (southern and eastern uyezds), forced economic diversification was observed, manifesting in a transition to agriculture and various trades. The author concludes that the deficit of livestock resources acted as a catalyst for the formation of a multi-structural economic model in the studied uyezds.

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Abstract

The mass agrarian migrations of the second half of the 19th century, which reached their peak during the Stolypin reforms, were characterized by increased contacts between different groups of Russian settlers. The economic and sociocultural relations between Late Settlers and Old-Time Russian Siberians have been well-documented in the academic literature. However, beyond this dichotomy, processes within the settler community itself, in which non-Slavic ethnic groups (Chuvash, Mordvins, and representatives of other peoples of the European part of the country) played a significant role, deserve close attention. Based on materials from peasant handwritten memoirs, the author’s interviews with rural residents on issues of ethnic (self)identification, as well as local periodicals and archival documents from the State Archives of the Novosibirsk Region on the national policy of the Soviet state in 1920s and 1930s, this paper analyzes ethnocultural interactions within the community of late (Slavic and non-Slavic) settlers in Siberia. The theoretical framework for the study is the concept of «state-directed development» by F. Hirsch (2005), which explains the contradictory nature of numerous national projects of those years. The paper reveals the history of a typical resettler village, the ways of representing ethnicity in such areas of village life as shared leisure, joint education, and collective labor. Particular attention is paid to the specifics of the settlement’s first collective farms, which, as documents indicate, were formed along ethnic lines. It is shown that the subsequent exclusion of ethnicity from the rural communicative space led to transformations in the villagers’ ethnic identity and certain distortions of local historical memory.

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Abstract

In the early twentieth century, tsarist settler colonialism produced severe socioeconomic decline among non-Russian populations. For Kazakh nomads, resettlement policies led to devastating land and resource losses, creating unjustifiable material disparities between indigenous populations and dominant ruling groups comprised of both settlers and collaborating local elites. While historians often view this transitional period through the lens of anticolonial nationalism or top-down state-building, the relationship between national identity and economic justice remains underexplored. The purpose of this study is to examine how Kazakh intellectuals and indigenous communities articulated social justice in response to this economic dispossession, focusing specifically on their reactions to socioeconomic inequalities produced by both imperial-colonial forces and traditional nomadic structures. To investigate this, I qualitatively analyzed primary sources—including political writings, memoirs, and legal documents—to explore everyday struggles and debates from the perspective of indigenous actors. The analysis reveals that confronting both the inegalitarian structures of colonial rule and the internal hierarchies of nomadism was central to Kazakh intellectual discourse. Furthermore, results demonstrate that economic disparity functioned not merely as a social grievance, but as a core ideological critique that generated demands for egalitarian principles during the nation-building process. Ultimately, by centering the material dimensions of social justice, this paper provides a broader understanding of Kazakh national identity that transcends purely state-centered or identitarian interpretations.

Keywords: national identity, social justice, economic oppression, tsarist colonialism, nomadic social structure, Kazakh intellectuals.