On the Question of Evaluating the Uprising of Kenesary Kasymov (1837-1847) in Russian and Kazakh Historiography (2004-2024)

The new political reality in the post-Soviet space, brought about by the former union republics gaining sovereignty, created an urgent need for the formation of their own national histories. The rejection of the unified approaches that had dominated Soviet historiography— both in evaluating historical events and in interpreting their causes, course, consequences, and key figures — gave rise to new debates. The process of the Kazakh zhuzes’ (tribal confederations) incorporation into the Russian Empire has also undergone a fundamental reassessment, which often focuses only on certain aspects of this complex phenomenon. Among these aspects were national uprisings led by segments of the Kazakh elite who resisted profound changes to their traditional political, social, and economic order. One of the most debated episodes in Russian-Kazakh relations of the first half of the nineteenth century is the uprising led by the last Kazakh khan, Kenesary Kasymov, whose title was not recognized by the Tsarist administration. An investigation of the uprising’s nature and its significance in the history of Russian-Kazakh relations requires a detailed analysis within the framework of a civilizational approach — one that makes it possible to offer new interpretations of this historical phenomenon.