Zhetysu - how to get there.
Zhetysu is a historical and geographical region. Zhetysu borders Lake Balkhash in the north, Sasykkol and Alakol lakes in the northeast, Zhetysu (Dzungarian) Alatau mountains in the east, and Northern Tien Shan mountains in the south and southwest. Historical data and research diverge on 7 rivers that are part of Semirechye. A.K. Gaines names the rivers Lepsy, Baskan, Sarkan, Aksu, Buyen, Karatal and Koksu, A. Vlangali instead of Baskan and Sarkan mentions the rivers Ayagoz in the northeast and Ili in the southeast. According to V.V. Bartold, the locals originally called Semirechye the area extending north of the Ili River, which includes the Lepsy, Baskan, Aksu, Buyen, Kyzylagash, Karatal, and Koksu rivers. The idea of a mountainous region extending south of Semirechye and the Ili River spread in the 19th century, as well as to the northwestern and central regions of the Tien Shan. In the historical literature, the concept of Semirechye also includes the delta, which includes the Shu River basin and the upper reaches of the Naryn River.
History of Zhetysu.
Archaeologists, historians and geographers divide Semirechye into North-Eastern Semirechye (from Lake Balkhash in the north to the Ketpen mountain range and the mountains of the Trans-Ili Alatau in the south, from Lake Alakol in the north-east to the Shu-Ili watershed in the south-west) and South-West Semirechye (Shui and Talas valleys). Giving such a historical and geographical definition to Zhetysu, they take into account not only the natural conditions of the region, but also the features of its past economic, political, ethno-cultural development.
Semirechye or Zhetysu - general information.
The vast territory of Semirechye (900 km from north to south and 800 km from west to east) and the different heights of the mountains also contributed to the diversity of its climate and landscape. Agriculture in this region has long been an oasis and required artificial irrigation. Pasture cattle breeding is widespread. In the foothills of the southeastern part of Semirechie (at an altitude of 600 - 1200 m), the weather is humid, brown, cool and changeable, the soils are fertile. There are many mountain rivers used for irrigated agriculture. Fruit and deciduous trees grow above it. The area is rich in green fruit trees and pasture meadows. Such favorable natural and geographical conditions made Semirechye one of the most ancient cultural centers of Turkestan. The tribes inhabiting it play an important role in the historical formation of the Kazakh people, the formation and strengthening of the state, and the development of culture. The emergence of animal husbandry and agriculture in Semirechie dates back to the Neolithic and Eneolithic epochs. During the Bronze Age. The material and spiritual culture of the inhabitants of this region was further developed, copper and bronze tools, cattle breeding, agriculture, hunting and fishing began to appear. BC. By the middle of the 1st millennium, the period of isolation of pastoral communities in Semirechye had ended.
Ancient tribes of Zhetysu.
The economy of the ancient local tribes turned Zhetysu into an independent economic zone. Semirechie was inhabited by Saks. They were engaged in cattle breeding and irrigated agriculture, using bronze and iron tools. Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of the first settlements in the Talas Valley. In the middle of the 6th century, Zhetysu became part of the Turkic Khaganate. And in 581, the Western Turkic Khaganate separated from it. Its central region was Zhetysu, the capital was Suyab. In the 30s of the 7th century, two estates appeared in Semirechye, east of the Shu River, called dulu, and in the west - nushebi. Until the 8th century, they depended on the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. At the beginning of the 8th century, the ruling groups of the Türgesh, who migrated between Shu and Ili, seized power in Semirechye. The Türgesh Khanate (704-766) was weakened by the aggravation of internal social conflicts, constant clashes with the Arabs in the south and the Chinese in the east. Another Turkic tribe, the Karluks, seized power in Zhetysu. During the reign of the Turgesh and Karluk (766 - 940) kaganates, old cities grew, which were centers of crafts and trade along the Shu, Talas and Ili rivers, and new ones arose (Atlakh, Hamukent, Kulan, Merke, etc.). In the 9th-10th centuries, settled agriculture appeared in the north-eastern part of Semirechie, traces of which can be found in Almaty, Talgar, Dungen, Koylyk, Kargaly, etc. have been preserved in the ruins of cities. Handicraft production increased, economic ties with neighboring nomadic tribes developed, trade grew. The use of money and the issue of local money appeared (in Taraz). The Turkic tribes that inhabited Semirechye were largely sedentary. Groups that understood the effectiveness of trade and exchange with Central Asia and East Turkestan tried to increase the number of livestock by occupying good pastures. The nomadic poor, deprived of livestock and pastures, were now forced to engage in agriculture, crafts and join the urban population. After the invasion of a nomadic Turkic tribe from East Turkestan into Semirechie (940), it became part of the state of the Karakhanids. Thus, Semirechye, together with Eastern Turkestan, constituted the eastern part of the Karakhanid state under the rule of Elkhan (Karakhanid state). At the end of the 10th century, the capital of the Karakhanid dynasty was the city of Balasagun on the Shu River. In part of Semirechie, representatives of the Karluk and Shigil tribes seized power.
Ancient history of Zhetysu.
Studies of medieval authors (Makdisi, Ibn Khordadbek, etc.) and archaeologists of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan prove that settled agriculture and urban culture flourished in Zhetysu in the 10th-11th centuries. Newly formed farms and urban settlements now appear not only on trade routes, but also in remote areas of the region (lower reaches of the Ili). In the XI-XII centuries. the main cities and settlements appear (Shelek, Kapal, Arasan, Lepsi, etc.) in the northeast of Semirechye. The mausoleum of Babadzhi Katyn (10th-11th centuries) and the mausoleum of Aisha Bibi (11th-12th centuries) and others are witnesses of the high level of development of architecture. 1129 - 30 The Kidans invaded Zhetysu and soon mixed with the locals. The territory north of the Ili River was still under the jurisdiction of the Karluk Khanate (the capital of Koilyk). The Khitan invasion continued until the beginning of the 13th century. The Turkic-speaking tribes of Naiman and Kere came to Semirechye and East Kazakhstan. The struggle against the commander of the Naimans, Kushluk Khan, weakened the Kidan Gurkhan. 1210 he was defeated by Muhammad-Khorezm Shah on the Talas River. Now Zhetysu is dancing Kushluk. 1211 Genghis Khan's troops invaded the north of the region in 1218. He conquered Zhetysu. As a result, Semirechye was divided into two parts. Most of it (to the south and south-west of Ili) belonged to the Chagatai ulus (the center was near Almalyk), and the lands north of Ili belonged to the Juchi ulus. The northeastern part (Tarbagatai, Emil and Kobik) went to the Ogedei ulus. 1269 At the kurultai in Talas, on the basis of the former Chagatai and Ugedei uluses, a state headed by Khaidu (d. 1301) was created. His hometown is located in the Ili valley. For some time, the internal political and economic life of the country returned to normal. However, the internal strife of the Chagatai dynasty after his death, as well as wars with neighboring khanates, had a significant impact on the population of Semirechye and its economy. In the first half of the 14th century, the conflict between the ruling factions of Semirechye and Mauerannahr intensified. In the middle of the XIV century, the western and eastern parts of the Chagatai ulus began to disintegrate. One of the main reasons for this was that, as a result of the invasion, they were formed from ethnic groups that differed in economic, political and historical development. The rulers of the Dulat tribe in the eastern part of the Chagatai ulus created a new state called Mogulstan and proclaimed Togluk Temir Khan (1348-62/63) from its number. Now the Turkic tribes of Semirechye, which became the central part of Mogulstan, were given the opportunity to ethnically regroup. However, they were still far from their brothers and sisters with similar cultural and historical ties in other regions of Kazakhstan. The union of tribes in Mogulstan included local Turks, such as Dulat, Kangly, Kerey, Barin (all), Bulgashi and the Mongol tribes assimilated into them. Later they became part of the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz (15th and early 16th centuries).
The political situation of Semirechye in the second half of the 14th century in Moghulistan was characterized by mutual conflicts and invasions of Amir Temir. Qamar ad-Din Dulati conquered most of Semirechie in the 70s of the 14th century. In addition to this ulus, in Zhetysu there were uluses of the Mongol ruler Enketore, uluses of the rulers of the Bulgachi tribe and several independent estates. Due to the lack of a centralized government, the people of Semirechye could not resist the invasion of Amir Temir. The invasion prevented the economic and political strengthening of Moghulistan and the White Horde. In the late 80s of the 14th century, Amir Temir began to strike together. The Semirechye rulers Kamar ad-Din Dulati, Enketore, the Mogul Khan Kyzyr-Khoja (1389-99) and Deshti the Kypchak Khan Toktamys united against him. Such an association was important for the interdependence of the Desht-Kypchak and Semirechye tribes. As a result of the bloody campaigns of Amir Temir, the population of Semirechie decreased, agriculture collapsed and the number of livestock decreased. In the first half of the 15th century, unrest in Semirechie did not stop. The temporary lull in the internal political situation in Moghulistan under Kyzyr-Khodja, Muhammad Khan (1408-15), Wais Khan was broken by the invasion of the Semirechye by the troops of Amir Temir (1425 (Ulugbek's campaign)) and the attacks of the Oirats (Kalmyks). According to Mohammad Khaidar Dulati, around 3030, about 30,000 Mongol families were sent to Mauerannahr, and part of the Barin and Hora tribes moved to the Oirats ruled by Amasanji Taisha. This was a sign of popular protest against internal strife.
Only in the late 40s - early 50s of the 15th century, he was able to subjugate the nomads of Semirechye. However, despite these difficulties, the process of unification of the Kazakh tribes that inhabited the Semirechye (Kazakh land as a whole) continued, and now it became clear that they wanted to secede from Mogulstan. This was facilitated by the natural-geographical, economic and historical position in the northern and southern regions of Mongolia (Semirechye and Tien Shan, parts of East Turkestan), as well as the ancient cultural, ethnic and family connection of the Semirechye with tribes in other regions of Kazakhstan. According to "Tarihi-i Rashidi", in 1465 about 200 thousand Kazakhs moved here. They were accompanied by sultans Zhanibek and Kerey, descendants of Barak Khan, who fought with Abulkhair Khan. Thus, Zhetysu became the center of political and ethnic unification of tribes from Desht-Kypchak, as well as local Kazakh tribes. In the mid-60s and early 70s of the 15th century, the Kazakh Khanate was formed in the western part of Semirechye. In the late 15th - early 16th centuries, the borders of the Kazakh Khanate gradually expanded in Semirechye, Deshty-Kypchak and the northern part of the Turkestan region (including the cities of Suzak, Sauran, Syganak). The Kazakh tribes and clans that inhabited these lands united into the Kazakh Khanate, completing the long process of the formation of the Kazakh people. In the course of the historical development of the Kazakh people, three groups of tribes emerged. Although each of them had common economic interests, they differed from each other territorially. In this regard, the formation of three zhuzes in the Kazakh steppes, including the formation of the Great Zhuz in Semirechye, was completed in the late 15th - early 16th centuries. Under Kasym Khan (1511-23), the borders of the Kazakh Khanate reached the Karatal River, and under Tair Khan, it covered the territory up to the rivers Kas and Kunes. Strengthening of the Kazakh Khanate at the beginning of the 16th century. accelerated the liquidation of the Mughal power in Semirechye. Khans Sultan Said (1514-33) and Abd ar-Rashid (1533-65), who ruled the East Turkestan region, tried to regain Semirechye. However, the Kazakh rulers, in alliance with the Kirghiz, did not implement it. This struggle did not stop during the reign of Aknazar Khan. In the 17th century, the dead zhuz, like other Kazakh zhuzes, was considered a separate khanate. The Zhetysu tribes trade with other settled agricultural areas. there were relationships. 1643 The Dzungarian settler Batur conquered most of Semirechye. And in 1681-88. The Dzungar Khanate made several expeditions from Semirechye to South Kazakhstan. In the 18th century, most of Semirechye was under the control of the Dzungar Khanate. After the defeat of the Dzungar state by the Qin empire, Semirechye was under the threat of being conquered by this empire. The southern part of Semirechie up to Ili was conquered by the Kokand Khanate in the 19th century. The Kazakhs of the Great Zhuz fought against the impoverished violence of the Dzungar and Kokand khanates. In the mid-40s of the 19th century, the Kazakhs, who migrated to the Kapal region of Semirechye, were captured by Russia. Part of the Semirechie up to the Ili River became part of the Russian state. 1854 Vernaya fortress was built in Almaly, which was considered a "reliable" stronghold of tsarist Russia during its colonization of Central Asia. 1860. Together with the Kazakh cavalry, the Russian army defeated the army of the Kokand Khanate at the foot of a tree. 1860 In the end, tsarist Russia completely colonized Semirechye. 1867 Zhetysu district was created on the territory of Zhetysu. Zhetysu was one of the largest centers of the national liberation movement of 1916. 1924 - 25 After the national-state demarcation in the republics of Central Asia, Semirechye became part of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. With the acquisition of independence by Kazakhstan (1991), Zhetysu, as the ancient homeland of the Kazakh people, became a region with a developed culture and a strong economy of a single state.
Zhetysu - Semirechye.
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