Significance of Ulus of Jochi for Kazakhstan: A Link between the Past and the Future
This year, Kazakhstan is celebrating a significant event - the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Ulus of Jochi. By the middle of the 15 century Ulus of Jochi ceased to exist, but it was of great importance in the history not only of Kazakhstan, but also of the Eurasian region. Kazinform News Agency offers a look at the historical influence of the Ulus of Jochi.
The Fall of Ulus
From the second half of the 14th century, the Ulus of Jochi began to be weakened by centrifugal forces. The campaigns of Timur, the ruler of the Timurid dynasty, in different years greatly weakened the state. Ulus finally disintegrated in the middle of 15 century.
The reasons for the disintegration can also be called the lack of economic unity and the struggle for power between the descendants of Genghis Khan. In addition, the aggravation of the contradiction between the nomadic nobility and the settled trading upper classes of cities and agricultural regions also affected the weakening of the Ulus.
Emergence of new states
In the 15th century, stable territorial formations with clear dynastic branches of rulers actually began to appear. It was during this period that all post-ulus khanates emerged, some of which retained their independence until the 18th and even 19th centuries.
As a result of the Ulus' collapse, such large khanates as the Khanate of Sibir (1420-1421), the Uzbek Khanate (1428), Khanate of Kazan (1438) were formed, the Nogai Horde and the Crimean Khanate (1440, 1441) appeared next, and the Kazakh Khanate (1465) became the last.
The Ulus of Jochi had a great influence on the entire ethno-political history of the Central Eurasian region. The political structure, administrative practices, cultural aspects inherited from the Ulus played an important role in the formation of the new states.
Ulus of Jochi and Kazakh Khanate
Ulus of Jochi plays the role of a link between the history of the Kazakh Khanate and more ancient periods of our history.
Thus, during the period of the Ulus of Jochi, the ethnogenesis of the Kazakh people was mainly formed. By the time of the Ulus' collapse, the only thing missing was the modern name "kazakh", which appeared later.
The Kazakh Khanate as a historical successor appeared on the cultural and historical basis of Ulus of Jochi. Zhanibek and Kerey, the founders of the Kazakh Khanate established near Zhetysu, as well as all its subsequent rulers, up to the last khan Kenesary, were descended from Urus-khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan.
Their ancestor, Urus Khan, one of the rulers of the Ulus of Jochi in the 14th century, is identified by some Kazakh historians, such as R. Temirgaliev, with the legendary Alasha Khan, who, according to legend, was a great ruler who united Turkic and Mongolian peoples.
By 1500, the Kazakh Khanate had noticeably expanded, and then the history of another state began, with new borders and new challenges.
