THE KAZAKHS IN THE ZONE OF THE IRTYSH FRONTIER: TRANSFORMATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF KAZAKHS-CATTLE BREEDERS IN THE MODERN TIMES

Abstract

The article examines the processes of transformation of the economic activity of the 18th–19th centuries Kazakhs, who were in the zone of influence of the Irtysh frontier. The ‘Irtysh frontier’ is understood as a territorial zone where in modern period a chain of Russian military fortifications was located in the lands bordering with the Kazakhs. The article provides the prerequisites for the formation and a brief history of the fortified military line on the Irtysh, which became a springboard for the spread of Russian influence in the Steppe Territory and Central Asia. It also reveals the reasons for conflict situations between Kazakhs-cattle breeders and border authorities. A particular attention is paid to the consequences of the colonial administration restrictions on the migration of Kazakh herders in the lands adjacent to the Irtysh line. The authors consider the facts of “climbs” of the Kazakhs on the right bank of the river, which in the first place was due to the needs of horse breeding farms of the Irtysh Kazakhs. The need for pastures located in the Kulundinsky and Barabinsky steppes became one of the main reasons for the transition to permanent residence on the right bank of the Irtysh of a part of the Kazakhs and their adoption of Russian citizenship. The features of the change in the economy of the Kazakhs, expressed in the transition to semi-sedentary cattle breeding in the development of haymaking and agriculture, are traced. The authors give examples of cultural interaction and mutual influence between the Kazakh and Russian ethnic groups.