DOI: 10.1556/062.2020.00012
Abstract
This paper argues that until 1680s, the Oirat political culture in the upper Irtysh area was based on the lead- ership of Khoshut clan rather than Jungars, as it is believed nowadays. Ablai Taiji of the Khoshut nobility, the founder of the Buddhist monastery Ablai-kit, inherited and pursued a policy of cooperation with Muscovy in an attempt to profit from its trade with China. Over the course of 1670s, under pressure from his brother, Ablai lost his domains and was defeated by his enemies. To construct this narrative, this paper engages in critical analysis of diverse archival sources and existing historiography.
Keywords
Ablai-kit, Oirats, Khoshuts, Jungars, Buddhism, Ablai Taiji, monastery
DOI: 10.2478/jef-2019-0019
Abstract
In the case of Aqkol, the close connection between religion and a national Kazakh identity is visible in the process of museumifcation of the shrine complex. Aqkol has itsown small museum, located in the wing of the village’s administrative building. In the museum, pictures of Zhandarbek or Isabek, or Zhandarbek’s personal belongings are exposed and practically blended with an official vision of the Kazakhstani history, thus creating a sense of belonging to Aqkol within an official discourse on the Kazakhstani past and present. The state-run mass media slowly built up public interest in the Aqkol’s renovated shrines, leading to the construction of a nationalistic narrative around Aqkol. From being local Kazakh tribal saints, Isabek and Zhandarbek slowly joined the pantheon of all-Kazakh saints.
Keywords
Islam, religion, Aqkol, Sufism, shrines, national identity
DOI: 10.1163/22142290-00503003
Abstract
Pilgrimage to saints’ shrines is an important Islamic practice in Kazakhstan. Kazakhs go on pilgrimages seeking cures for disease, blessings for the future, and a connection to the past. Pilgrimage sites and those who control them are not, however, apolitical. The control of shrines and the business of pilgrimage are both connected to governmental nation-building policies. This paper shows that traditional shrine keepers from sacred lineages (qozha) in northern Kazakhstan seek patronage from political and economic elites in order to build, maintain, and expand shrine complexes. These patrons are often state officials who expect returns in cultural capital for investments of economic capital. The different goals of patrons and shrine-keepers occasionally lead to conflict. This paper examines one such conflict and explores what it reveals about the interplay between religion and local politics in Kazakhstan.
Keywords
pilgrimage, sacred lineage, qozha, Kazakhstan, state-nation-building
Abstract
The multi-component site of Koken in eastern Kazakhstan, reveals a locally adapted occupation sequence stretching back to the Neolithic, combined with features indicating connections to Bronze Age interaction spheres. Our ongoing work aims to clarify ritual, production, and socioeconomic histories at a resolution rare for this region and time period.
Keywords
Kazakhstan, Eurasian steppe, Inner Asian Mountains, settlement, cemetery, Bronze Age
Abstract
The article focuses on the project “Sacred Geography of Kazakhstan” launched in 2017 in Kazakhstan as part of the nationwide program “Rukhani zhangyru” (“Modernization of Spirituality”). The officially stated goal of the project is to cultivate a sense of patriotism of the country's residents to places and geographic sites that are important for the historical memory of independent Kazakhstan. The authors assume that the real goal of the project may be fundamental reterritorialization, or recoding of the semantics of space by selecting, codifying and articulating some symbols and practices and leveling and “forgetting” others. The analysis which is based on a few expert interviews and official documents shows that this post-colonial process fits into the tendency toward ethnonationalization of Kazakhstan, in which discourse on the civil nation continues to be reproduced at the official level while real activity is more focused on reinforcing the idea of Kazakhstan as the state of the Kazakh nation. The institutionalization of organizing and recoding the sacred landscape involves a wide variety of groups and actors. These factors may explain the success of the project in comparison to other projects being implemented under the “Rukhani
Zhangyru” program.
Keywords
sacred geography, Kazakhstan, Nationalism, territory, reterritorialization
Тезисы
Строительство храма в честь иконы Божией Матери «Живоносный источник» было завершено в 2008 году. Церковь была построена на месте небольшого водного источника, который почитался местным населением в XIX веке. В его русле было обнаружено большое количество монет, относящихся к XIX и XX вв. Это свидетельствует о том, что источник был местом поклонения местных жителей в имперский и советский периоды. В XIX веке официальная Церковь считала необходимым осуществлять духовный контроль над народными православными традициями. Но в начале XX века Туркестанский Епархиальный Комитет решил признать традицию почитания святого источника. Хотя лишь единичные документы об этом месте пережили советский период, свидетельства могут указывать на то, что практики народного православия в тот период были распространены гораздо шире, чем об этом принято думать сегодня.
Ключевые слова
православие, церковь, народная религия, святой источник, Российская империя, история Казахстана
Тезисы
Аккульская мечеть, расположенная примерно в 30 километрах от города Семей на северо-востоке Казахстана, была построена между 1905 и 1907 гг. С установлением Советской власти здание мечети было передано под нужды школы и дома культуры, и перестало функционировать как мечеть. В 1970-е годы, наряду с процессом вымирания деревни, здание мечети начало ветшать, и на данный момент находится в критической ситуации. Несмотря на процесс обветшания, люди продолжают поклоняться мечети как сакральному объекту. Это позволяет нам переосмыслить роль мечети как места духовного поклонения, проанализировать необычную форму исламской религиозности постсоветского периода и влияние советской власти на ислам в Казахстане.
Ключевые слова
ислам в Казахстане, аккульская мечеть, религиозность в советский и постсоветский период, священное пространство, коллективная память, женский религиозный авторитет
Материалы международной конференции «Сакральная география: мультидисциплинарные подходы к пространству и времени» (Нур-Султан, 24-26 сентября 2020 г.). Нур-Султан: «Фоллиант», 2020.
