A brief history of my part of Kaz.

Kazakhstan or rather the first Kazakh people or at least people who identified with being officially Kazakh came around in the 15th century. Prior to that people inhabited this area for centuries, with the occasional conqueror making it his own personal playground. (Alexander going east and Gengiz going west. Each and their armies leaving their natural physical characteristics going each direction.)

But the key distinguishing feature of ancient Kazakh's is that they believed in a combination of Islam and folk spiritual religion. The kind of Islam cultural anthropologists call folk Islam, also they speak the common language of Kazakh. The religious aspect of the Kazakh's is best understood when compared to that of the people of its southernly neighbor, the Uzbek's.

The Uzbek's and Uzbekistan lie in fairly fertile grounds and were the inhabitants of a couple ancient cities primarily Tashkent. Cities which lie on the silk road. So when Islam was in its infancy and spreading I think in the 12th century, Islam found its way along this trade path and took root in the areas which were very urbanized Therefore now Uzbekistan and its people are one of the most dedicated to the Islamic faith. Containing many religious schools dedicated to Islam and even an official government head of the islamic faith.

While Kazakhstan which was not urbanized and its people much more spread out took many more centuries to concrete its Islamic faith than the Uzbeks finally culminating in the mid 15th century. Even now many semi Islamic semi something else customs remain in the lives of the most traditional houses in the traditional villages. The traditions can only be called Kazakh after understanding their origins.

Anyway in the 15th century a definitive difference in identity and language began to exude from their Krgys neighbors who lived a very similar lifestyle in the south. Who prior to this point were called the same thing "Krgys." Mainly due to the different folk customs and Kazakhstan laying off the silk road path. At this point historian began to call people of the Kazakhstan region Kazakhs.

Groups (Zhuus)-Clans (RUUS)
OK so now this next part comes from a Kazakh national after we had a good time in a Cafe if anyone knows this information better please tell me. Because I've never read about it before in any book on Kaz I've seen or found.

So in the beginning of the Kazakh people asked for land in the region from what I guess would be the last vestiges of power of the golden horde. The prior ruling party of its day in the area remnants of the Mongols. The Kazakh people wanted to be free of a sole foreign ruler this is evidenced by the very meaning of Kazakh which means "FREE people"

After land was given this eventually became the first of the 3 groups of people that make up the entire Kazakh people. Eventually though a schism developed over leadership of the group and again some leaders went to the Khanate and asked for land these people were given more land and this group became the middle group. Eventually another schism developed and the lower group came into being with more land be given to the Kazakh's. Again I'm pretty sure this is a theory but I think its credible.

The left overs of these three groups still hold great sway in the hearts of the Kazakh people or at least most Kazakh people. Each Kazakh for the most part is separated into these three groups with a sub grouping based upon clan. Clan being decided by a person father 7 generations elder. A way to distinguish if you can marry someone since it is forbidden to marry anyone who is related to you by 7 generations.

But an interesting side is though most people fit into 1 of these 3 groups some Kazakh do not fit into any of these groups. They instead are outside of these groups. When I tried to figure out about their origins most people didn't know. One answer I did receive is that those people are ancestors of the Han Chinese and those were people looked down upon long ago but I can't be sure.

(I need to add a soviet section and Russian invasion paragraph but that won't be for a while. )