Development of Cattle Breeding in Kazakhstan in the 18th – early 20th centuries
Традиционное казахское кочевое животноводство в трудах Х.А. Аргынбаева
Abdulina A.T. Kabuldinov Z.E. Moryakova M.T.
1 June 2025Cherkas Global University Press
Bylye Gody
2025#20Issue 2654 - 666 pp.
One of the founders of Kazakh ethnography, Kh.A. Argynbayev (1924–1998), made a significant contribution to the examination of the problem of traditional animal husbandry as the main type of economy and life support system of the Kazakhs. The most systematically the results of his scientific research, he set out in his fundamental work “Ethnographic essay on the animal husbandry of the Kazakhs”. The authors of the article also used archival documents and the works of pre-revolutionary authors as sources. Kh.A. Argynbayev came to the well-founded conclusion that the Kazakhs had animal husbandry, which had fully developed by the 18th century, conditionally divided into three types: nomadic, semi-nomadic, and sedentary. Semi-nomadic animal husbandry prevailed over most of Kazakhstan, while nomadic animal husbandry was dominant in Western and Central Kazakhstan. The smallest distribution was in sedentary cattle breeding, mainly among the Kazakhs of the southern and southeastern regions of Kazakhstan. In the steppe zone, the meridional method of nomadicities was mainly practiced, and in mountainous areas, that is, in the east and southeast of the Kazakhstani nomadic area-vertical distillation of livestock. The work of Kh.A. Argynbayev reflected the issue of the traditional system of land ownership and land use. Autumn, spring and summer pastures were in the common ownership of a certain tribe, and winter pastures were mainly in the use of influential bais and biis, transforming into private ownership. The main types of animals were four main species, called by the Kazakhs “tort tulik mal”, these are horses, sheep, camels and cattle, in the herd mainly sheep predominated. Among wealthy cattle breeders, the number of cattle in the herd reached 20,000 or more. Depending on the seasons of the year, the pastures received their names: kystau (wintering), kokteu (spring pasture), zhailau (summer pasture), kuzdeu (autumn pasture). Based on the study of sources and collected field materials on the problem of watering cattle, Kh.A. Argynbayev identified the existence of 2 types of wells depending on the depth: shallow (sayaz kudyk) and bottomless (shynyrau kudyk). At the end of the 19th century, a stable trend of mass transition from nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding to agriculture emerged in the central, northern and northeastern regions. Copyright
cattle breeding , folk veterinary medicine , herd composition , jute , livestock , nomadic livestock , pastures
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Ch.Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Ch.Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology
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