The History of Kazakhstan from the Earliest Period to the Present time. Volume I. Zhanat Kundakbayeva

from father to son and he and his court nobles resided in a capital situated in the valley of the Irtysh The Kimek principality, formed at the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth, was divided into a number of domains like the later ulus. The rulers of these appanages, who were the descendants of hereditary tribal rulers, received their lands from the Khagan in return for military service. Some Kimek groups moved for the winter to the steppes between the Ural and the Emba and spent the summer as nomads in the area of the Irtysh, especially when there were severe winters in what is now eastern and central Kazakhstan. Some of the Oghuz also moved to pastures in the Kimek country near Lake Mankur, probably in the foothills of the Alatau. Like the Kipchak and the Oghuz, the Kimek bred horses, sheep, goats, oxen, cows and camels. Sheep, in particular, played an important part in their economy. al-Idrisi, describing the life of the nomads, writes that they ‘used fat instead of vegetable oil and tallow for lighting’. The horses of the steppe-dwellers were noted for their hardiness and their ability to adapt to the harsh conditions of the arid zone. Gardızı refers to the huge herds of horses raised by the Kimek, and al-Idrisi notes that the nomads preferred horsemeat to beef or mutton and made koumiss (a drink of fermented mares’ milk). The Kimek also possessed cattle, i.e. cows and oxen; these tended to be owned by semisedentary elements, although oxen were also used as draught animals. The steppe-dwellers usually harnessed them to carts on which they placed their yurts (wooden-framed tents covered with felt). Like the Oghuz and the Kipchak, the Kimek hunted furry animals such as the fox, marten and beaver, and further took the pelts of sable, ermine and predators like tigers and snow leopards. The fur and hides of wild animals and the meat and skins of domestic livestock were sold or exchanged at points adjacent to the settled lands in the south. In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Kimek state was one of the strongest nomadic powers in Central Asia, but it gradually began to decline when the system of semi- independent domains sapped the authority of the Khagans, so that the Kimek tribal entity collapsed, unable to withstand the pressure of neighboring nomadic peoples6.

      Control questions:

      1. Prove that in the first quarter of the VII century the Western Turk khaganate was at the height of its military-political might.

      2. What was a foreign-political activity of Tong Yabghu khagan (618-630)?

      3. How did Tong Yabghu khagan institute stronger political control over the Central Asian possessions of the Turks?

      4. Depict the political history of the Turgesh state, the end of the 7th –the middle of the 8th centuries)?

      5. Define the historical significance of the Battle of Talas in 751.

      2.3 Cultural heritage of the Turks

      2.3.1. Religions and beliefs of ancient Turks

      This chapter was written on the base of the article "Ancient Turkic Religious Beliefs (before islam)7". The religious beliefs in the early Turkish states on the plateaus of Central Asia coalesced around three main points. The first of these was a belief in animistic forces. These early Turks attributed conscious life and a discrete in-dwelling spirit to every material form of nature (such as plants and stones), to celestial bodies (sun, moon, stars), and to natural phenomena (storms, earthquakes, etc.). The Uighurs, for example, practiced a form of astrology in which the movements of the moon and stars were consulted before setting out a campaign.

      The second was an ancestral cult in which the memories of departed ancestors and leaders were kept alive through reverence and animal sacrifice. Upon a death, a period of mourning was observed. The dead were buried, cremated or mummified. A kurgan (earthen barrow), mound or cairn of stones was erected so that the departed spirit would have a place to call its own. Sometimes stone statues (called balbal) were set up.

      The third element was the worship of the sky god (Gok Tangri). While animism and ancestral cults are common among early tribal cultures, this particular form of sky god worship appears only among the Turks. In this system of belief, the sky god is the Supreme Being. The Blue Turks (who called themselves KokTürk) believed that their empire's formation was a consequence of the sky god's wishes and that their khagan (leader) had been sent to them by their god. Tangri took a personal interest in the independent existence of the Turks, and victory in battle was a result of Tangri's will. Tangri commanded and punished the disobedient, and life and death alike were dependent upon his will. Tangri granted life and could take it back whenever he wished. According to these early Turkish beliefs, Tangri was eternal and the creator of all that existed. He was also singular and could not be reduced to any material form. This is why one never finds idols to Tangri or temples to put them in. Tangri was a great, solitary, spiritual power. The sun, moon, stars, fire and rivers were his hallowed assistants who occupied positions much like the angels, prophets and scriptures of the Semitic deities.

      During the Uighur period (these were one of Turkic peoples who dominated Mongolia and eastern Turkestan from the eighth to the 12th centuries, now inhabiting northwestern China), the sky god cult was still practiced but had begun to encounter competition from Manichaeanism and Buddishm, which were spreading among the Turks. Both faiths became particularly entrenched during the Uighur control of Turkistan.

      The original writing system of the Blue Turks was supplanted by that of the Uighurs, which was based on the Sogdian. Under the Uighurs, Buddhist and Manichaean scriptures were translated, and a rich liturgical literature developed. Some time before the 10th century, the Uighurs invented a system of printing that involved making impressions of single-letter molds on paper. This was the forerunner of the printing press and modern printing technology.

      The communities of the early steppe lander (steppe-dwellers) Turks tended to be political associations rather than religious ones, and for that reason religious leaders did not play as great a role among them as they did among desert and forest-dwellers. The religious beliefs of these people were centered around three fundamental tenets.

      The first of these was a worship of the forces of nature. Early Turks attributed conscious life and a discrete in-dwelling spirit to mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, streams, springs, caves, trees, volcanic lakes, iron and sword handles. Celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, and stars and natural phenomena such as lightning and thunder were thought to be spirits or deities. There were both good spirits and evil ones. In some inscriptions there are also references to a goddess whose name is given as Umay (Umai). Such animistic beliefs are common among all early tribal cultures. For instance among the Asian Huns, horses and sheep were sacrificed to the sky god, to ancestors, and to the forces of nature during the first month of the year at the palace of their ruler, and in late spring (June) in the vicinity of the Ongkin river. The Blue Turks and Uighurs made similar sacrifices during the same month at the source of the Temir river. The Huns also conducted a similar ritual in the fall at Tai-lin. Among the Blue Turks, there were three sacred rituals held during the year in which sacrifices were offered to Tangri (the sky god) and to ancestors. Both the Blue Turks and Uighurs practiced astrology, determining the advisability of courses of action upon the positions and movement of the planets and stars. The Tabgatch planted beech trees by their graves and regarded them as sacred. Forces of nature called yer-sub (in modern Kazakh, "jer-su," meaning "earth-and-water") were genies or sprits dwelling in hills and springs that were considered to be sacred (iduk) places. Tamik-iduk-bas and Iduk-otuken are two such sites. In the Uighurs' Kutlu-Dag Efsanesi ("Legend of Happy-Mountain"), a rock is held to be sacred because its houses a spirit that gives people strength and fortitude. To cause rain or hail to fall or to make the wind blow, the ancient Turks had recourse to a natural magic involving a stone that they believed to be sacred.

      The second pillar of this religion was an ancestral cult. The worship of departed leaders and the veneration of ancestors are thought to be a manifestation of a patriarchal social order in religion. The Asian Huns, Tabgatch and Blue Turks frequently offered sacrifices to their ancestors at the mouths of sacred caverns. The deep respect that was held for ancestors is one reason why grave robbery and the despoliation of Turkic tombs was punished so severely. A kurgan, mound or cairn of stones was erected so that the departed spirit would have a place to call its own. Sometimes stone statues (called balbal) were also set up. Only animals, however, were sacrificed to Tangri and ancestors. Human sacrifice was never practiced