Kazakh diaspora

Kazakh diaspora in the world

Kazakh diaspora (Kazakh: Қазақтар диаспорасы, romanized: Qazaqtar diasporasy) is a term used to collectively to describe the ethnic or people of Kazakh descent who reside in outside of Kazakhstan across the world in various countries as a result of annexed territories and diasporic migration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is estimated that more than four million Kazakhs live abroad.[1] Although the Kazakh diaspora is usually a sparse one, particularly in Western Europe and United States, it retains ethnic enclaves within the countries of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan.[1]

The Kazakh diaspora originates from forced migrations which originally began since the foundation of the Kazakh Khanate and its national identity of Kazakhs beginning in the 15th century. During that time, a series of Kazakh exodus took place in result of conflicts and wars that took place in the territory of Kazakhstan to neighbouring territories. However, it wasn't until in the beginning of the 20th century where a modern Kazakh diaspora began forming as by that time, Kazakhstan was under control of the Russian Empire and later eventually the Soviet Union where larger waves of migration, with most notably being China, occurred in result of Central Asian revolt of 1916 and the Kazakh famine of 1930–1933. Since 1960s, the Kazakh migration has been viewed to be more voluntary with Turkey, Western Europe, and the United States being primary spots of emigration and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a new massive departure occurred from Kazakhstan, although most of the emigrees being overwhelmingly Russians, Germans, and Ukrainians when taking to account of Kazakhstan's large multiethnic population in which the latter groups have been interchangeably classified as Kazakh emigrants.[2]

Classification and causes

In general, there are three possible causes for the emergence of the Kazakh diaspora in which are highlighted:[3]

The Kazakh diaspora was formed on the basis of infection in several countries: first from Kazakhstan to China, then, including to the countries of Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan, and eventually the rest of the world following the second half of the 20th century. The conservative minded older generation of the Kazakh diaspora is considered to be less welcome towards interethnic marriages, with the exception for marriages only being with other Turkic peoples.[3]

History

The instances of Kazakh migration dates back to 1723, when during the Kazakh–Dzungar Wars, various Kazakh villages were pillaged and attacked by the Dzungars, resulting in many civilian deaths. As a result, the remaining surviving Kazakh tribes were forced to flee their homes and settle in the Khanate of Bukhara, Khanate of Khiva and Badakhshan, an event that become known as the Aqtaban Shubirindi (Great Retreat).[4][5] In the 18–19th centuries, as the Kazakh Khanate was in the process of being absorbed by the Russian Empire, several failed uprisings took places by the Kazakhs against the Tsarist government's policies in auctioning fertile land to the ethnic Russians which led to another migration to China, Bukhara, Khiva, Afghanistan, and Persia.[6][7]

It wasn't until in the beginning of the 20th century when the Kazakh diaspora began developing with the Central Asian revolt of 1916 over the Tsarist government's policies in conscripting Kazakhs along with other Central Asian peoples for labour battalions in World War I. The armed revolt eventually led to the massacre of several hundred thousand Kazakhs and caused a mass exodus through Tian Shan of 300,000 Kazakhs and Kyrgyz to neighbouring China.[8][9] After the Bolsheviks established control of Kazakhstan following the Russian Civil War, many Kazakhs had also emigrated towards South and East with the countries being Afghanistan, Iran, China, as well as abroad in Turkey and France.[6]

Under Joseph Stalin's enactment of the first five-year plan in 1928, a policy which formed collectivization in Kazakhstan, resulted in nomadic Kazakhs to be forcefully settled in collective farms that led to the decline of livestock populations due to a lack of adequate grazing, mandatory confiscations, and slaughtering to fulfill required grain quotas.[6][10][11] As a result of the consequences, it eventually led to the Kazakh famine of 1930–1933, a catastrophic event which caused massive deaths of approximately 1.5 million people from starvation with the majority victims being ethnic Kazakhs.[10] An estimated 665,000 to 1.1 million Kazakhs, risking punishment, fled to China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Russia in search for food and work.[12]

Following German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II in 1941, various Kazakhs serving in the ranks of Red Army subsequently became captured POWs where they were transferred to internment camps within German occupied territories served within Turkestan Legion or joined the French Resistance.[6][13] After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1941, majority of Kazakhs captured by the Allies were sent back to the Soviet Union while others who refused to return eventually settled in the Western Bloc nations such as Turkey and the United States.[6]

In Xinjiang Province under the Republic of China where an estimated half million Kazakhs lived since beginning with the defeat and collapse of the Dzungar Khanate in the 18th century, experienced an exodus of Kazakhs beginning in the 1930s due to provincial governor Sheng Shicai's anti-Turkist purges which sought to populate the region with ethnic Han Chinese people.[14] A second wave of Kazakh migration from Xinjiang occurred following the incorporation of the Second East Turkestan Republic to the People's Republic of China in 1949 with desired place for settlement being Pakistan and India.[6][14]

A notable member of the Kazakh diaspora to move from Xinjiang to Turkey and later Germany was Hasan Oraltay.[15]

Central Asia

Uzbekistan

As of the beginning of 2021, more than 821,000 ethnic Kazakhs lived in Uzbekistan.[16] They live mostly in Karakalpakstan and northern Uzbekistan.

East Asia

China

Kazakhs in Xinjiang, China, 1987

Kazakhs migrated into Dzungaria in the 18th century after the Dzungar genocide resulted in the native Buddhist Dzungar Oirat population being massacred.

Kazakhs, called "哈萨克族" in Chinese (pinyin: Hāsàkè Zú; lit. 'Kazakh nationality') are among 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. According to the census data of 2020, Kazakhs had a population of 1,562,518, ranking 18th among all ethnic groups in China. Thousands of Kazakhs fled to China during the 1932–1933 famine in Kazakhstan.

In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 30,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui led by General Ma Bufang massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.[17][18][19]

From Northern Xinjiang, over 7,000 Kazakhs fled to the Tibetan-Qinghai plateau region via Gansu and were wreaking massive havoc so Ma Bufang solved the problem by relegating Kazakhs to designated pastureland in Qinghai, but Hui, Tibetans, and Kazakhs in the region continued to clash against each other.[20] Tibetans attacked and fought against the Kazakhs as they entered Tibet via Gansu and Qinghai. In northern Tibet, Kazakhs clashed with Tibetan soldiers, and the Kazakhs were sent to Ladakh.[21] Tibetan troops robbed and killed Kazakhs 640 kilometres (400 miles) east of Lhasa at Chamdo when the Kazakhs were entering Tibet.[22][23]

In 1934, 1935, and from 1936 to 1938, Qumil Elisqan led approximately 18,000 Kerey Kazakhs to migrate to Gansu, entering Gansu and Qinghai.[24]

In China there is one Kazakh autonomous prefecture, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and three Kazakh autonomous counties: Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County in Gansu, Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County and Mori Kazakh Autonomous County in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

At least one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims in Xinjiang have been detained in mass detention camps, termed "reeducation camps", aimed at changing the political thinking of detainees, their identities, and their religious beliefs.[25][26][27] But authorities in China have defended that the detention centers were in fact vocational education & training centers set up to deradicalize radicalized residents against the "3 evil forces" of religious extremism, terrorism and separatism.[28]

Mongolia

Mounted hunters in traditional dress
Kazakh hunters with eagles in Bayan-Ölgii Province, Mongolia

In the 19th century, the advance of the Russian Empire troops pushed Kazakhs to neighboring countries. In around 1860, part of the Middle Jüz Kazakhs came to Mongolia and were allowed to settle down in Bayan-Ölgii, Western Mongolia; for most of the 20th century they remained an isolated, tightly knit community. Ethnic Kazakhs (so-called Altaic Kazakhs or Altai-Kazakhs) live predominantly in Western Mongolia in Bayan-Ölgii Province (88.7% of the total population) and Khovd Province (11.5% of the total population, mostly in Khovd city, Khovd and Buyant sums). Additionally, a number of Kazakh communities can be found in various cities and towns spread throughout the country. Some of the major population centers with a significant Kazakh presence include Ulaanbaatar (90% in khoroo #4 of Nalaikh düüreg),[29] Töv and Selenge provinces, Erdenet, Darkhan, Bulgan, Sharyngol (17.1% of population total)[30] and Berkh cities.

Kazakhs face prejudice and discrimination in Mongolia. For example, Mongolian president Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat made remarks near the end of his term in 1997 about his intention to sterilise all Kazakhs in Mongolia if they refused to leave the country within 24 hours.[31] His remarks were received negatively by the press and human rights organisations.[32] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has set frameworks to put an end to online discrimination of minorities as part of their programs in Mongolia, and in 2017 the OHCHR reported a temporary cessation of ethnic tensions. Fears over the reemergence of tensions have been raised due to funding cuts to the OHCHR's programs.[31]

Ethnic Kazakhs of Mongolia[33]
national censuses data
1956%1963%1969%1979%1989%2000%2010[34]%2020[35]%
36,7294.3447,7354.6962,8125.2984,3055.48120,5066.06102,9834.35101,5263.69120,9993.81

Russia

Muhammad Salyk Babazhanov – Kazakh anthropologist, a member of Russian Geographical Society.

According to the 2010 census, there were 647,000 Kazakhs living in the Russian Federation. However, according to the first deputy chairman of the World Association of Kazakhs, Kaldarbek Naimanbayev, who spoke in 2003, there were over 1 million ethnic Kazakhs living in Russia.[36]

Most Russian Kazakhs live along the Russian-Kazakh border. The largest communities live in Astrakhan (149,415), Orenburg (120,262), Omsk (78,303), and Saratov Oblast (76,007). In a number of regions, there are several dozen schools where the Kazakh language is taught as a separate subject,[37][38] however, secondary education in the Kazakh language is not available in Russia.

In Russia, the Kazakh population lives primarily in the regions bordering Kazakhstan. According to latest census (2002) there are 654,000 Kazakhs in Russia, most of whom are in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Samara, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Altai Krai and Altai Republic regions. Though ethnically Kazakh, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, those people acquired Russian citizenship.

Ethnic Kazakhs of Russia[39]
national censuses data
1939%1959%1970%1979%1989%2002%2010% 2020 %1
356 6460.33382 4310.33477 8200.37518 0600.38635 8650.43653 9620.45647 7320.45 591 970 0.45
1:of those who responded

West Asia

Iran

During the Qajar period, Iran bought Kazakh slaves who were falsely masqueraded as Kalmyks by Khivan and Turkmen slave traders.[40][41]

Kazakhs of the Aday tribe inhabited the border regions of the Russian Empire with Iran since the 18th century. The Kazakhs made up 20% of the population of the Trans-Caspian region according to the 1897 census. As a result of the Kazakhs' rebellion against the Russian Empire in 1870, a significant number of Kazakhs became refugees in Iran.

Iranian Kazakhs live mainly in Golestan Province in northern Iran.[42] According to ethnologue.org, in 1982 there were 3000 Kazakhs living in the city of Gorgan.[43][44] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the number of Kazakhs in Iran decreased because of emigration to their historical motherland.[45]

Afghanistan

Kazakhs fled to Afghanistan in the 1930s escaping Bolshevik persecution. Kazakh historian Gulnar Mendikulova cites that there were between 20,000 and 24,000 Kazakhs in Afghanistan as of 1978. Some assimilated locally and cannot speak the Kazakh language.[46]

According to official figures, 13,000 ethnic Kazakhs from Afghanistan have immigrated to Kazakhstan since the early 1990s.[47]

As of 2021, there are about 200 Kazakhs remaining in Afghanistan according to Kazakhstan's foreign ministry. Locals claim that many live in Kunduz and others in Takhar Province, Baghlan Province, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul.[46]

Afghan Kypchaks are a group of Taymani Aimaqs who are of Kazakh origin. They mainly reside in Obe district to the east of the western Afghanistan's province of Herat, between the rivers Farāh Rud and Hari Rud.

Turkey

Turkey received refugees from among the Pakistan-based Kazakhs, Turkmen, Kirghiz, and Uzbeks numbering 3,800 originally from Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War.[48] Kayseri, Van, Amasya, Çiçekdağ, Gaziantep, Tokat, Urfa, and Serinyol received via Adana the Pakistan-based Kazakh, Turkmen, Kirghiz, and Uzbek refugees numbering 3,800 with UNHCR assistance.[49]

In 1954 and 1969, Kazakhs migrated into Anatolia's Salihli, Develi and Altay regions.[50] Turkey became home to refugee Kazakhs.[51]

The Kazakh Turks Foundation (Kazak Türkleri Vakfı) is an organization of Kazakhs in Turkey.[52]

References

  1. 1 2 Wood, Colleen (2019-02-28). "Meeting the Kazakh Diaspora". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  2. ↑ "One-Way Ticket, or the New Trends of Emigration From Kazakhstan". CABAR.asia. 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  3. 1 2 Казахстан. Национальная энциклопедия [Kazakh Encyclopediasy Limited Liability], vol. 3, 2005, ISBN 9965-9746-4-0, retrieved 2022-07-28
  4. ↑ Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Masson, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich; Unesco (2003). History of civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast, from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Vol. 5. p. 98. ISBN 978-92-3-103876-1.
  5. ↑ Olcott, Martha Brill (1987). Written at Stanford, California. The Kazakhs (2nd ed.). Stanford University: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. p. 26. ISBN 0-8179-9351-7.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kaliyeva, А (2015). "The Kazakh diaspora abroad and oralmans in Kazakhstan: historiographical analysis". articlekz.com. Almaty. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  7. ↑ Dawisha, Karen; Barrott, Bruce, eds. (1997). Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 203–204. ISBN 0-521-59246-1.
  8. ↑ Pannier, Bruce (2006-08-02). "Victims Of 1916 'Urkun' Commemorated". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  9. ↑ Auezova, Zifa. ""The Time of Ordeal": a story of the 1916 revolt in Central Asia". www.iias.asia. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  10. 1 2 Cameron, Sarah (2012-03-26). "The Kazakh Famine of 1930-33 and the Politics of History in the Post-Soviet Space". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  11. ↑ Cameron, Sarah (2018). The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan. Cornell University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-5017-3044-3.
  12. ↑ Cameron, Sarah (2018). The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan. Cornell University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-5017-3044-3.
  13. ↑ Times, Astana (2016-06-24). "Kazakhs Were Involved in European WWII Resistance Movements, New Project Reveals". The Astana Times. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  14. 1 2 Noda, Jin; Ono, Ryosuke, eds. (2019). Emigrants/Muhacir from Xinjiang to Middle East during 1940–60s (PDF). Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa. pp. 25–42. ISBN 978-4-86337-296-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  15. ↑ "В Турции отпраздновали 80-летие видного деятеля казахской диаспоры за рубежом Хасана Оралтая". online.zakon.kz (in Russian). 18 April 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  16. ↑ "Численность казахов в Узбекистане за последние 32 года практически не изменилась". Радио Азаттык (in Russian). 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  17. ↑ American Academy of Political and Social Science (1951). The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 277. American Academy of Political and Social Science. p. 152. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  18. ↑ American Academy of Political and Social Science (1951). Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 276–278. American Academy of Political and Social Science. p. 152. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  19. ↑ American Academy of Political and Social Science (1951). The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 277. American Academy of Political and Social Science. p. 152. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2012. A group of Kazakhs, originally numbering over 20000 people when expelled from Sinkiang by Sheng Shih-ts'ai in 1936, was reduced, after repeated massacres by their Chinese coreligionists under Ma Pu-fang, to a scattered 135 people.
  20. ↑ Hsaio-ting Lin (2011). Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928–49. UBC Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7748-5988-2.
  21. ↑ Hsaio-ting Lin (2011). Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928–49. UBC Press. pp. 231–. ISBN 978-0-7748-5988-2. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  22. ↑ Blackwood's Magazine. William Blackwood. 1948. p. 407. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  23. ↑ Devlet, Nadir. Studies in the Politics, History and Culture of Turkic Peoples. p. 192. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  24. ↑ Linda Benson (1988). The Kazaks of China: Essays on an Ethnic Minority. Ubsaliensis S. Academiae. p. 195. ISBN 978-91-554-2255-4. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "Central Asians Organize to Draw Attention to Xinjiang Camps". The Diplomat. 4 December 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  26. ↑ "Majlis Podcast: The Repercussions Of Beijing's Policies In Xinjiang". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 9 December 2018. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  27. ↑ "Families Of The Disappeared: A Search For Loved Ones Held In China's Xinjiang Region". NPR. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  28. ↑ "Xinjiang official defends 'education centres' for Uighur Muslims". 16 October 2018.
  29. ↑ "Education of Kazakh children: A situation analysis" (PDF). Save the Children UK. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  30. ↑ Sharyngol city review
  31. 1 2 "Mongolia - Civil Society Report on the Implementation of the ICCPR". ohchr.org.
  32. ↑ Chimeddamba, Oyun; Dagvadorj, Bayan-Undur; Batsuuri, Batsaikhan; Erdene, Sarnai (2023-04-27). "Assessment of sterilization services in Mongolia from public health perspective". Population Medicine. 5 (Supplement). doi:10.18332/popmed/165088. ISSN 2654-1459.
  33. ↑ "Монгол улсын ястангуудын тоо, байршилд гарч буй өөрчлөлтуудийн асуудалд" М.Баянтөр, Г.Нямдаваа, З.Баярмаа pp. 57–70 Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  34. ↑ Mongolia National Census 2010 Provision Results. National Statistical Office of Mongolia Archived 15 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Mongolian.)
  35. ↑ "2020 Population and Housing Census of Mongolia /summary/". Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  36. ↑ "«Неизвестное казахское зарубежье». Интервью с первым заместителем председателя Всемирной ассоциации казахов Калдарбеком Найманбаевым. Казинформ. 25.11.2003". Archived from the original on 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  37. ↑ "Астраханская область остается субъектом Российской Федерации, наиболее активно сотрудничающим с Казахстаном — Новости бизнеса в Казахстане BIZmedia.kz" (in Russian). Bizmedia.kz. 2008-05-25. Archived from the original on 2022-08-23. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  38. ↑ "Оренбургский ИПК". Archived from the original on 2012-01-14. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
  39. ↑ "Ethnic composition of Russia (national censuses)". Demoscope.ru. 27 May 2007. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  40. ↑ electricpulp.com. "BARDA and BARDA-DĀRI iv. From the Mongols – Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  41. ↑ Keith Edward Abbott; Abbas Amanat (1983). Cities & trade: Consul Abbott on the economy and society of Iran, 1847–1866. Published by Ithaca Press for the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford University. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-86372-006-2. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  42. ↑ "گلستان". Anobanini.ir. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  43. ↑ "Ethnologue report for Iran". Ethnologue.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  44. ↑ "پایگاه اطلاع رسانی استانداری گلستان". www.golestanstate.ir. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009.
  45. ↑ "قزاق". Jolay.blogfa.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  46. 1 2 Лаханұлы, Нұртай (10 September 2021). "Ауғанстанда қанша қазақ тұрады?". Азаттық Радиосы. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  47. ↑ Kazakhstan, U. S. Mission (3 June 2022). "2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Kazakhstan". U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Kazakhstan. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  48. ↑ News Review on South Asia and Indian Ocean. Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses. July 1982. p. 861.
  49. ↑ Problèmes politiques et sociaux. Documentation française. 1982. p. 15. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  50. ↑ Espace populations sociétés. Université des sciences et techniques de Lille, U.E.R. de géographie. 2006. p. 174. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  51. ↑ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949. CUP Archive. pp. 156–. ISBN 978-0-521-25514-1.Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949. CUP Archive. pp. 236–. ISBN 978-0-521-25514-1. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  52. ↑ "Kazakh Turks Foundation Official Website". Kazak Türkleri Vakfı Resmi Web Sayfası. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016.
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