Selected Works of Chokan Valikhanov Selected Works of Chokan Valikhanov
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SELECTED WORKS OF CHOKAN VALIKHANOV CHOKAN OF WORKS SELECTED SELECTED WORKS OF CHOKAN VALIKHANOV Pioneering Ethnographer and Historian of the Great Steppe When Chokan Valikhanov died of tuberculosis in 1865, aged only 29, the Russian academician Nikolai Veselovsky described his short life as ‘a meteor flashing across the field of oriental studies’. Set against his remarkable output of official reports, articles and research into the history, culture and ethnology of Central Asia, and more important, his Kazakh people, it remains an entirely appropriate accolade. Born in 1835 into a wealthy and powerful Kazakh clan, he was one of the first ‘people of the steppe’ to receive a Russian education and military training. Soon after graduating from Siberian Cadet Corps at Omsk, he was taking part in reconnaissance missions deep into regions of Central Asia that had seldom been visited by outsiders. His famous mission to Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan, which began in June 1858 and lasted for more than a year, saw him in disguise as a Tashkent mer- chant, risking his life to gather vital information not just on current events, but also on the ethnic make-up, geography, flora and fauna of this unknown region. Journeys to Kuldzha, to Issyk-Kol and to other remote and unmapped places quickly established his reputation, even though he al- ways remained inorodets – an outsider to the Russian establishment. Nonetheless, he was elected to membership of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and spent time in St Petersburg, where he was given a private audience by the Tsar. Wherever he went he made his mark, striking up strong and lasting friendships with the likes of the great Russian explorer and geographer Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tian-Shansky and the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Despite his remarkable insights, Valikhanov is not well known in the English-speaking world. This is the first collection of his writings translated into English since four essays were published in SELECTED WORKS OF 1865. It includes several of his most important works, including the report on his visit to Kashgar and a number of essays on the history and genealogy of the Kazakh people. These fill an import- ant gap in the literary history of Central Asia and hopefully will stimulate further interest in this CHOKAN VALIKHANOV remarkable man. Pioneering Ethnographer Published by Working in partnership with and Historian of the Great Steppe EDITED BY NICK FIELDING TRANSLATION BY DR ARCH TAIT Embassy of Kazakhstan SELECTED WORKS OF CHOKAN VALIKHANOV SELECTED WORKS OF CHOKAN VALIKHANOV PIONEERING ETHNOGRAPHER AND HISTORIAN OF THE GREAT STEPPE EDITED BY NICK FIELDING TRANSLATION BY DR ARCH TAIT © The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 125 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5EA, London, UK This book is published by The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland working in partnership with Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved. No parts of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. Images: cover background Frans Sellies/Getty Images; cover and full title portrait Historic Collection/Alamy Stock Photo; p.x The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo; p.xiii SPUTNIK/Alamy Stock Photo; p.xix The History Collection/Alamy Stock Photo First published in 2020 Printed in Poland by Opolgraf ISBN: 978-1-5262-0850-7 CONTENTS FOREWORD VII EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION IX EDITOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XIX CHAPTER 1 1 The Genealogical Tree of the Kazakh Khans and Sultans CHAPTER 2 4 The Genealogy of the Kazakhs CHAPTER 3 20 The Bayanauyl District – A Letter From Omsk, 10 March 1857 CHAPTER 4 25 On Kazakh Rule in the Great Zhuz CHAPTER 5 31 The Western Region of the Chinese Empire and the City of Kuldzha: The Diary of an Expedition to Kuldzha in 1856 CHAPTER 6 94 Trade in Kuldzha and Chuguchak CHAPTER 7 102 An Expedition to Kashgar: Conditions in Altyshahr, or Six Eastern Cities of the Chinese Province of Nanlu (Little Bukharia) in 1858–59 CHAPTER 8 124 A Note on the Kokand Khanate CHAPTER 9 135 On the Western Region of the Chinese Empire CHAPTER 10 167 An Outline of Dzhungaria (Abridged) v CONTENTS CHAPTER 11 194 A Geographical Sketch of the Trans-Ili Region CHAPTER 12 201 The Kazakhs’ Nomadic Territory CHAPTER 13 206 The Kazakh Great Horde CHAPTER 14 209 Stories and Legends of the Kazakh Great Horde CHAPTER 15 212 Historical Legends of the Batyrs of the Eighteenth Century CHAPTER 16 220 Shona Batyr – An Eighteenth-Century Adventurist CHAPTER 17 226 Draft Materials on the Kyrgyz CHAPTER 18 230 Articles and Notes – The God Tengri CHAPTER 19 237 A Note on the Judicial Reform (Abridged) CHAPTER 20 258 A Letter to Professor Ilya Nikolaevich Berezin GLOSSARY 268 vi FOREWORD In this volume we have collected, for the first time for international English- speaking readers, a selection of the historical and ethnological writings of Chokan Chingisovich Valikhanov (1835–65), the renowned Kazakh scholar. Valikhanov was a descendant of the great Genghis Khan and received an education that was exceptional for the time. He loyally served his own people, the Kazakhs, but lived and worked at a time when the Russian Empire had embarked on an overt policy of destroying what remained of Kazakh independence and was gradually imposing a military and colonial administration on the steppelands that later became the territory of Kazakhstan. This volume presents Chokan Valikhanov’s most important scholarly works, which are devoted to exploring aspects of the geography, history, ethnology and economics of Central Asia, while also offering his original views on the societies of the region. Valikhanov’s situation obliged him to resolve issues of his own identity and place in society. Spiritually, he was a Kazakh. When he came into contact with the achievements of global civilisation, therefore, he had to define his own place and that of his people among the nations of the world. In 2015, the academic community of Kazakhstan marked the 180th anniversary of the birth of this scholarly historian and ethnographer, who was an outstanding son of his country and champion of his people. It has become clear that today there is a need for a fundamentally new approach to studying his legacy, and also for research visits to countries bordering Kazakstan and further afield, in order to seek out new sources and facts relating to his achievements. Many aspects of Valikhanov’s life and work are in need of specialised study and more detailed analysis. To this day, Kazakhstan’s public has little knowledge of such important and basic topics as his period in Paris, his expedition to Kashgar and the impact of his writings in Europe. We have little knowledge of what was written in the periodical press of Western Europe about his expeditions and discoveries. Chokan Valikhanov has always been an important figure in Kazakh history. In 1985, the 150th anniversary of his birth, a large bibliography of works written about him between 1957 and 1982 was published. At a commemorative conference held that same year, philosophers, economists, geographers, philologists, orientalists, archaeologists and ethnographers from Kazakhstan, Russia and the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia exchanged their views and gave unanimous recognition to his scholarly achievements. vii FOREWORD In this new translation of Valikhanov’s writings, we have taken account of the achievements, but also the shortcomings, of previous publications. They have provided substantial commentaries and a carefully checked scholarly apparatus. Nevertheless, even after the publication of this volume, there remains a need for a modern eye to be cast over dates, descriptions, conceptual categories and so on. Valikhanov the artist, for example, has yet to receive the attention he deserves. There are also significant gaps in his biography, especially during the period of his life and work in St Petersburg. We also need a deeper understanding of his geopolitical and cultural environment and of the activities of other members of the Valikhanov family. We hope that this new English edition of Valikhanov’s selected works will help to overcome some of these deficiencies and offer the English-speaking public an insight into his works, many published here in English for the first time. The compilers of this collection have aimed to provide the reader with insights into the inner workings of Kazakh society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We are confident that the reader will appreciate the work of this gifted Kazakh scholar, who lived at a difficult time for the Kazakh people, as they were losing their sovereignty and independence. Kazakhs have a saying: ‘A good person leaves behind a rich legacy.’ It is a part of such a legacy that we have the pleasure of offering you here. Dr Ziyabek Yermukhanovich Kabuldinov Director, Chokan Chingisovich Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2020 viii EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION Born in November 1835 in the small fortified village of Kusmuryn in the Aman- Karagai district of what is now Kostanay Region of Kazakhstan, Chokan Chingisovich Valikhanov1 was given the Muslim name of Mukhammed- Kanafya at birth – ‘Chokan’ was the name affectionately bestowed on him by his mother, Zeinep Shormanova. His childhood years were spent in the idyllic surroundings of Kusmuryn and Syrymbet. Chokan’s forebears were renowned khans. His great-grandfather, Abylai Khan, was one of the most powerful Kazakh rulers of the eighteenth century. His grandfather, Uali, was the last Kazakh khan of the Middle Zhuz, officially recognised and approved by the government of Tsarist Russia. Chokan’s father, Shyngys, graduated from Omsk Military Academy and was the senior khan of Kokshetau Outer District.