ABSTRACT
The incorporation of the Kazakhs of the Junior Juz (Little Horde) and part of the Middle Juz into the Russian Empire in the 1730s presented the Russian state with the task of finding an optimal way of integrating a population distinguished by its economic and cultural way of life (nomadic pastoralism), its language (belonging to the Kipchak Turkic group), and religion (Sunni Islam) into the imperial organism. The situation was aggravated by the Russian administration’s lack of adequate information about the economy, culture, customs, and language of the Kazakhs, as well as about the natural and geographical conditions in which they lived.1 Therefore, the efforts of the first administrative heads of the region in mastering the new territory and in establishing cooperation with representatives of the Kazakh elite met with distinct difficulties.
