Talk with Anara about Kazakhstan (Part I)

July 29, 2009 · Filed under Blogroll · Tagged Abay, China, Kazakhstan, Kozha, Muslim, Semipalatinsk, Uighurs, Valihanov

We had a Kazakh family visit us for several days and the following is what I found out about Kazakhstan culture. I learned there is a fourth grouping of Kazakh in the traditional sense of the Kazakh tribes. There are the first zhus who were the farmers, the hard working types. They are known to be deliberate and rational thinkers. Nazarbayev comes from this category.

Second, are the intellectual Kazakhs from which Abay and Valihanov came from. They are known to be wise and good advisors. They are the dreamers and philosophers, that is the second zhus.

Third are the warriors who were in the western part of Kazakhstan. They are not afraid of taking risks and are the best in business. Of course, it helps that most of the oil being drilled out of Kazakhstan comes from the territory where they once fought hard battles to protect their borders.

The fourth group of Kazakhs don’t mix with the other three groups, they are known as Kozha Kazakhs. They are considered the royalty or “white bones.” They believe their original stock is from an Arab tribe and they are the “blue bloods” among Kazakhs. This, of course, was more true before Soviet times, but if someone even now says, “I’m a Kozha Kazakh,” this is meant to impress the listener.

To sum up, there is a Kazakh proverb that goes with these groupings: The older zhus, give them a staff and put them in charge of the livestock. Give the second group of zhus a quill from a feather and they can prove everything with their writing. Then the third zhus, give them a long javelin and put them in front of the enemy to fight.”

Something else Anara told me was about her family’s background on her dad’s side. Her grandfather, who was from the Semipalatinsk area, escaped to China from the Soviet communists in the 1930s because he was considered a rich man. He had big pieces of gold that he broke off and used as bribes so he could escape with his family. There was other gold and treasures he had buried and is still underground somewhere to this day. Anara’s father was born in China, some of Anara’s aunts are living in China still. In 1963, when the borders opened up between the Soviet Union and China, he went back to the Taras area. Anara’s grandfather, a former prominent Kazakh shepherd, worked with 200 government turkeys in a collective farm under the Soviet regime.

Anara also said that the Uighurs, who live in western China, have a very rich background. They have a deep history with their own alphabet, own capital and they had their own land in China. There was also a famous tribe called, the Nimans, who were the original Christians. When Mohammed came along later in Kazakh history, many Kazakhs converted from paganism over to the Muslim faith. (to be continued)