The Life and Activity of the Golden Horde Settlement on the Territory of Western Kazakhstan: Stages and Causes of Decline (on the Example of the Aktobe Settlement)

Жизнедеятельность золотоордынского городища на территории Западного Казахстана: этапы и причины упадка (на примере городища Актобе)
Uzhkenov E.M. Shotanova G.A. Moryakova M.T. Korablev A.A.
December 2023 Cherkas Global University Press

Bylye Gody
2023 #18 Issue 4 1596 - 1611 pp.

This article reveals one of the key problems of domestic and foreign medieval studies, namely the role and importance of small settled agricultural centers that developed in the Golden Horde period throughout the territory of the Ulus of Jochi, including in Western Kazakhstan. The purpose and objectives of the research are based on the analysis of written sources and reports of archaeological expeditions, to identify the genesis of settled centers in Western Kazakhstan and reveal their role and significance, reconstructing the life of medieval inhabitants as far as possible. The source base of the studied problem is mainly represented by material, written and phonic sources. The source base of the studied problem is mainly represented by material, written and phonic sources. The archaeological material is presented in the form of monuments of material culture discovered during excavations on the territory of the settlements of Saraychik, Aktobe, Zhaiyk. The discovered rich material, presented in the form of mass remnants of ceramic dishes, indicates their narrow specialization. A unique feature of the monuments of sedentary culture is the fact that these settlements practically did not fall into the field of view of travelers, and therefore, when studying the history of these sedentary centers, it is necessary to rely on a sufficiently rich cartographic material. Some elements of the history of these centers were reflected in the diaries of travelers, such as information about the Shed preserved in the notes of Ibn Battut. In addition, there are testimonies of Italian merchants and missionaries – the Pegolletti brothers, the monk Brother Paschal, etc. In the course of the study, the following methods were used: historical-system, historical-comparative and cartographic methods. In addition, the article analyzes the results of natural science research, where the object of analysis was the natural and climatic conditions and the transgressions of the Caspian Sea that affected them, which often led to catastrophic consequences of various cultures and states in this region. The appearance of oases of settled agricultural culture in a steppe, arid region is a phenomenon, the disclosure of the causes of which will help reconstruct the history of the medieval world. The foundation of the settled centers became possible not only due to objective factors in the form of climatic optimum, but also due to the traditional policy of the nomadic rulers of the patronage of the settled culture, which received the maximum scope precisely during the history of the Golden Horde. In the XIV century there were the most positive conditions for the emergence of centers of settled culture in the steppe zone. Thanks to a well-thought-out supply system and the establishment of monetary trade and in-kind exchange, the settled centers were able to establish their own life support system and create an appropriate infrastructure, which was largely brought from Transoxiana, although with features that develop due to certain local climatic conditions. When writing the article, those settlements were also indicated that could not establish a proper way of life and their development was interrupted.

Aktobe-Laeti , cartography , genesis , Golden Horde , historiography , Middle Ages , nomads , sedentary culture , Western Kazakhstan

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R.В. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Ch.Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Public association «Russian Ethno-cultural Association «Bylina», Assembly of People of Kazakhstan of Atyrau region, Atyrau, Kazakhstan

R.В. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies
Ch.Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology
Public association «Russian Ethno-cultural Association «Bylina»

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