Kazakh Khanate: Map & History

History

The Kazakh Khanate was formed as a result of the disintegration of the Golden Horde, or Ulus of Jochi, which had originally been a ulus of the Mongol Empire.

In 1206, Genghis Khan was proclaimed the ruler of all the Mongols. The following year, at his command, his eldest son Jochi subjugated the tribes of Tuva, Khakassia, and the Altai Mountains. These newly conquered lands and peoples were assigned to Jochi as an ulus in 1207 (or 1208). The core of Jochi's ulus consisted of the Mongol tribes of Sijiut, Kinggit, and Khushin. Between 1207 and 1211, the Oirats, Yenisei Kyrgyz, Uriankhai, and later other Turkic-Kipchak and Mongol tribes that acknowledged the authority of the empire were incorporated into the ulus.

Economy

Located at the middle of the Silk Road its main source of income was trading horses, cattle, pottery, fur etc.

By the mid 18th century, the Russian Empire had expanded into Siberia, and Russian settlements started to appear along the Volga and Yaik rivers. The Kazakh–Russian relationship at the border regions was tense, which often resulted in mutual raids by Russian Cossacks on Kazakh lands and Kazakhs on Russian settlements.

During the 18th century, raids by Kazakhs on Russia's territory of Orenburg were common; the Kazakhs captured many Russians and sold them as slaves in the Central Asian market. The Volga Germans were also victims of Kazakh raids; they were ethnic Germans living along the River Volga in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov.