Inside a Kazakh sultan's tent
Editorial contextAt the Ilek River the embassy met its first Kazakh camp: about 50 tents of white or brown felt. Meyendorff then visited the sultan's large round tent, which mixed luxury and plain nomad gear: carpets, tiger skins, a woman's tall gold headdress set with turquoise and rubies, raw meat on hooks and leather bags of mare's milk.
the floor was covered with a carpet, wearing apparel hung on a cord, and skins of tigers were stretched against the sides; a rich diadem of gold, very high, and ornamented with turquoise and rubies, the head dress of Kirghiz women ; by their side might also be seen raw meat hanging on hooks, large leather bags of mare's milk, and some wooden vessels of different kinds
About Kazakhs under Sultan Haroun-ghazi
Mud ruins the Kazakhs credited to the Nogais
Editorial contextAlong a dried-up river channel Meyendorff saw long earth mounds with canals and broken pottery, the remains of buildings of sun-dried brick. The Kazakhs could not say when or why they were built but guessed they were the work of the Nogais, who had held the steppe before them. The best-known ruin, Djankend, was of fired brick and said to be the seat of an Oghuz chief.
It is clear these buildings, whatever they may have been, were built with sun-burnt bricks; near these ruins are small canals about 1 toise or 6 feet broad and two deep; a great quantity of broken pottery is also to be met with. … The Kirghiz could give us no account of their use or date, but supposing they must have been erected by the Nogais
About Kazakhs; earlier Nogais and Oghuz
Keep in mind
The attribution to the Nogais is the Kazakhs' guess, as Meyendorff says.
'Houses mean slavery'
Editorial contextMeyendorff explains why well-off Kazakhs refused to farm: they feared becoming serfs tied to the soil and liked to say they were as free as the birds. An old saying warned that they would lose their freedom once they began living in houses and farming, and the fate of the Bashkirs under Russia seemed to prove it.
It is therefore easy to imagine why Kirghiz in easy circumstances never cultivate the ground … they have an ancient tradition which says "The Kirghiz shall lose their liberty whenever they begin to live in houses
About Kazakhs (Kirghiz)
Keep in mind
The OCR garbles the end of the saying on this page; the quote stops at 'houses' (the saying continues 'and to follow agricultural pursuits').
A horse thief's punishment
Editorial contextA Kazakh horse thief was sentenced to death, but the elders asked for mercy as a good omen for the journey with the Russians. Instead he was blackened with soot, tied to a horse's tail and whipped by a laughing crowd, while his own horse was slaughtered and shared out among the onlookers.
The robber, half naked, having about his neck some stripes of black felt, was forced by two men on horseback who carried large whips, to run to the nearest tent, where his face was blackened with soot and marched through a group of Kirghiz; they then tied him to the tail of a horse, and forced him to hold a cord between his teeth.
About Kazakhs under Sultan Haroun-ghazi
Songs to the moon by the Syr Darya
Editorial contextWintering among the reeds of the Syr Darya was the Kazakhs' great wish. Meyendorff describes men sitting half the night on a stone, gazing at the moon and singing sad improvised songs, and regrets never hearing the heroic songs that only professional bards performed.
The Kirghiz often pass half the night seated on a stone, gazing at the moon, and singing melancholy impromptu words to airs not less so. They also have historical songs, which celebrate the great actions of their heroes, but these are chaunted only by professional singers, and I greatly regret not having heard them.
About Kazakhs (Kirghiz)
A khan who rules by consent
Editorial contextA Kazakh khan held power of life and death, Meyendorff says, but his only real check was public opinion: unhappy followers simply rode off and chose another leader. A khan kept power through courage, gifts and a friendly mullah to interpret the law.
The khan has in fact the power of life and death among the Kirghiz, who have no security against his tyranny, except public opinion, and no where is it so powerful as among the pastoral tribes. The discontented party quickly desert an unjust judge, and choose another for themselves.
About Kazakhs (Kirghiz)
How Tatars and Mongols merged
Editorial contextMeyendorff offers his theory of the name: Genghis Khan's Mongols conquered the Tatars, who were more numerous, and took up their Turkic language. From that mixture, he says, came all the peoples called 'Mongol Tartars', and he sees no real difference in looks between a Kazakh, an Uzbek, a Turkmen and a Tatar of Kazan or Crimea.
The Asiatic people to whom the Russians give the name of Tartars, have the nose slightly flattened, the cheek bones prominent, little beard on the chin, and small eyes … Gengis Khan, at the head of the Mongols, subjugated the Tartars, who became incorporated with his army, and those of his successors. As they were the most numerous, the conquerors adopted the Turkish language, barbarous as it was
About Tatars and Mongols; Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Kazan and Crimean Tatars
Keep in mind
Meyendorff's own theory, mixed with racial typing of the period.
Call it 'Central Asia', not 'Tartary'
Editorial contextMeyendorff objects that the usual map label 'Tartary' covers lands never settled by Tartars while leaving out places where Tartar (Turkic) was actually spoken. A country, he argues, should only be named after a people who live there, so he proposes 'Central Asia' instead.
If in geography we give to a country the name of a people, it should be conditional on such people inhabiting that country. It appears to me then, that Central Asia would be a more appropriate name to introduce in lieu of Tartary, since I have found it more correct, and more geographical.
About Peoples of Central Asia
Keep in mind
The translator notes that this chapter was obscure even in French.
'We are Kazakhs, not Kirghiz'
Editorial contextMeyendorff noticed that the steppe people the Russians called Kirghiz never used that name themselves. They called themselves Kazakh, which some said meant 'horseman' and others 'warrior', and they believed the Bashkirs had given them the name Kirghiz.
they never make use of this name among themselves ; they invariably style themselves Kasak ; which, according to some, signifies horseman, and to others warrior. They say the Bachkirs call them Kirghiz, but are ignorant from whence the name is derived
About Kazakhs (called Kirghiz by Russians)
Solomon's rock at Osh
Editorial contextFrom informants Meyendorff heard of Takht-i-Suleiman, the rock above Osh, where tradition said Solomon had sacrificed a camel and a stone still showed the blood. Sick people lay on a flat stone there hoping to be cured. He treats the story as superstition and notes that reports of ruins there were disputed.
Tradition states that Solomon sacrificed a camel on this spot; where the blood is shewn on a stone still perfectly red. It is, however, particularly frequented by people suffering rheumatic or other pain ; who are said to be cured by extending themselves on a flat stone near the building.
About Pilgrims of the Ferghana valley
Keep in mind
A local legend reported at second hand.