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RR 2013/039 Historical Dictionary of Kazakhstan Didar Kassymova, Zhanat Kundakbayeva and Ustina Markus Scarecrow Press Lanham, MD and Plymouth 2012 xxxvii + 323 pp. ISBN 978 0 8108 7682 6 (print); ISBN 978 0 8108 7983 6 (e-book) Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania and the Middle East £59.95 $95
Keywords Dictionaries, History, Kazakhstan
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121311290660
From very early in the prehistoric human record, the Central Asian steppes have been the home of nomadic tribes. Periodic overpopulation led to waves of marauders pouring out into the surrounding territories: much of the history of China, of Persia, of the Roman Empire and of Hindu India consists of descriptions of them coping with these invaders. Various groupings are known, if only by name, from accounts given by Roman and Chinese historians. The first figure in post-Roman times to unite all the Turkic tribes was Genghis Khan (1162-1227). After his death his empire fell apart. His second son Chagatai kept the core of Central Asia together for a while, then a new empire was created by his descendant Timur in the late fourteenth century. This again fragmented, and the first Kazakh khanate came into the historical record in 1458. The name "Kazakh" probably comes from a Turkic root meaning "free" - indicating, in their case, people that were free from Uzbek overlordship, just as the "Cossacks" were wild horsemen of mainly Russian origin who achieved freedom from serfhood by escaping across the borders. Most of Central Asia was conquered by Russia from the eighteenth century on, except the easternmost region, Xinxiang, which was incorporated into China. Since the collapse of the Russian colonial empire in 1991 the different states in the area have become independent countries: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and, the largest, Kazakhstan. This historical process can be conveniently followed in the excellent Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Central Asia (Abazov, 2008). As I pointed out when reviewing that,...