BILIG, sa.111, ss.29-53, 2024 (SSCI)
Abstract
This study examines the multifaceted impacts of Russian colonization on
the Kazakh Steppes during the 19th and 20th centuries. The colonization
process caused significant destruction in various fields in the region, including
migration routes, livestock herds, socioeconomic life, trade networks, housing
and dietary patterns of nomadic communities. Russian expansionism,
aimed at establishing control over the steppe, led to the blockage of ancient
migration routes and the restriction of nomadic economic resources.
The blockage of migration routes, forced transition to capitalism, forced
sedentarization and interaction with sedentary life transformed the livestock
herds of the nomads. Socio-economic life and trade were restructured by the
Tsardom for reasons such as integration into the Russian Empire market,
change of commercial centers and concentration of wealth. The changing
structure of pastoral nomadism also led to transformations in housing and
diet. Comprehending the complex dynamics of Russian colonialism on the
Kazakh Steppe will reveal the destruction of nomadic life by scrutinizing the
historical and contemporary sociocultural landscape of the region.