Kazakhstan is celebrating its ancient roots with around 100 events across the country marking the @550th anniversary of the Kazakh khanate”:http://e-history.kz/en/project/index/3.
Founded by Genghis Khan’s descendants in the 15th century, the Khanate was the first separate state of the Kazakhs – a Turkic-speaking, formerly nomadic people inhabiting the vast Eurasian steppe plains. The Kazakh khanate existed until the 18th century, when it broke into three parts that were subsequently incorporated into the Russian Empire.
Steppe nation
A special exhibition at the National Museum presents archeological artefacts, ancient texts and folklore that shape the roots of Kazakh national identity, eclipsed by the Soviet ideology in the 20th century.
These ideas were discussed by an international forum of historians and other experts in Astana.
“The disintegration of the Soviet empire propelled every ethnic group that had been part of it towards self-determination – including the Kazakh