Zhuz

The zhuzas determine the precise purpose of each son in the family. According to the customs and traditions of the Kazakhs , different people were engaged in bringing up each son.

• The eldest son went to the education of his grandmother and grandfather.
• The younger son stayed with his parents and subsequently pledged to help the whole family.
• The middle son became a warrior. He was trained in fencing, archery, etc.

Knowing your family tree is the responsibility of each member of the zhuz. Any relative who came for help (even the most distant one) will receive it.

Zhuz - the tribal unions of the Kazakh clans. About the time of occurrence of zhuz, the reasons for their appearance, the internal structure of a common opinion among scientists.

C. Valikhanov believed that when the Golden Horde state began to disintegrate, in order to reserve the territory of their nomads, the Kazakhs created such large tribal unions.

According to N. A. Aristov , the union in zhuzy occurred during the raids of the Dzungars .

V. V. Bartold relates the emergence of zhuz with geographical factors. The favorable natural and geographical position allowed the Kazakhs of remote regions to preserve cultural and economic features.

MP Vyatkin agrees with the arguments of Barthold and adds political events to the natural-geographical factors. He believes that isolated hordes in the XVI century were formed as political alliances.

Linguist S. Amanzholov believes that the Kazakhs were divided into zhuzes as early as the 10th - 12th centuries , before the unification of the Turks and the Mongols by Genghis Khan into one Turkic-Mongolian empire.

Orientalist TI Sultanov speaks of the scarcity of reliable facts about the origin of zhuzes and suggests that in the second half of the 16th century the ulus system was transformed into zhuzes.

The concept itself is not fully disclosed. Some scholars associate it with the Arabic word juze - "the main part of something, a branch." In Eastern documents, the first information about zhuzes begins to appear in the middle of the 17th century . In the writings of Mahmud ben Wali, written in 1634 - 1641, it is described that after the death of Khan Shaibani his son Bahadur "begins to lead this country and ulus ... for the wintering and his Dzhaylauov he chose the White Horde , which is also known as Yuz Orda". This word "yuz" some scientists compare with the Kazakh "zhuz". That is, even the Arabic chronicle confirms that Yuz Orda - Horde Zhuz - this is Orta Zhuz, which means Central Commander Juz.

Another opinion is advanced by Bagdat Nayk - according to his theory, zhuz means a ring or a circle. The number of tribes corresponds to the three rings of the defense forces. In ancient times, the Turks divided the army into 12-9-6 units. The number of main tribes in each ring is 12-6-3. Large ring: Alban, Dulat, Zhalair, Kanly, Shaksham, Oshakty, Sary-Uysun, Orgeli, Suan, Shapragty, Shanyshkyly, Ysty. Middle ring: Argyn, Kerey, Konyrat, Kypshak, Naiman, Uak. Small ring: Alimuly, Bayuly, Geryru. Thus, a 3 level defense order was obtained. It was precisely defense tactics that led to the emergence of 3 zhuzes in a difficult historical period, when the Kazakh tribes mostly defended themselves from external enemies: the Dzungars, the Kalmyks, the Kokands, and the Russian Cossacks from the north. Thus, Naykam refutes the hierarchical interpretation of the origin of the zhuzes.

Kazakh zhuzes had the following features:

1. internal regional unity;
2. ethnic unity;
3. cultural and economic community;
4. common political leadership.

Expand these features wider. Each Kazakh zhuz had its own historical space and territory. So, the Senior Zhuz has Semirechye and South Kazakhstan, the Middle Zhuz has Central, Eastern and Northern Kazakhstan, and the Younger Zhuz has Western Kazakhstan. The tribes of the Kazakhs, who were part of one zhuz, are related to each other and were even considered descendants of one ancestor. Since the population of the zhuz lived in a certain geographic area, the tribes that were part of one zhuz were linked by stronger economic and economic ties than with the other zhuzes. In this connection, a special intra-ethnic community developed with its traditions, habits, and customs. The zhuz were distinguished by internal cohesion and in the leadership of power. Each zhuz had his biy. It is known that during the times of the Kazakh Khanate each zhuz had its own khan . Kazakh zhuzes were economic, cultural and political parts of the Kazakh people. In peacetime, most of the internal problems and relations were solved within the zhuzes themselves.

However, this does not mean that there were no political, economic, cultural, ethnic ties between the Kazakh zhuzes. Between the clans and tribes engaged in nomadic cattle breeding, close economic relations were established, trade relations were established, marriages were concluded. General ethnoculture, linguistic, everyday and economic unity played a solid connecting role. If clouds were gathering over the common homeland, the question of its protection arose, then all the Kazakh Zhuzs united into one powerful force. There were no disagreements about what kind of territory this or that territory belongs to: the Kazakh land was under threat. Inner closeness, patriotism manifested during the Dzungarian raids on Kazakh land. All the main issues of domestic and foreign policy were resolved in Kurultai .

• A.T. Toleubaev , Zh.K. Kasymbaev, M.K. Koygeldiniev, E.T. Kaliyeva, T.T. Dalaeva, translated from the Kazakh language S. Bakenova, F. Sugirbaeva. - History of Kazakhstan. “Mektep” publishing house, 2006 - 240 with ISBN 9965-33-628-8
• Bagdat Nike. "Peace enforcement". 2017. Padua. ISBN 979-12-200-3021-2

• Zhuz zhuz origins
• The resettlement of the Kazakh tribes to the beginning of the XX century (map in pdf format)
• Kazakh genealogy Kazakh genealogy