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Kazakhstan

Republic of Kazakhstan

by Victor Lomantsov

See also:

Kazakhstan. Main page

Ancient flag of Kazak Khanate (1456-1822) from http://members.tripod.com/~kz2000/history/histflags.html
David Straub, 30 May 2003

This flag was published on the website of the Turkish government and series of Turkish postage stamps. They were very common in the Turkish official iconography.
Ivan Sache and Onur Ozgun, 30 May 2003

There wasn't actually a Kazakh Khanate but there were independent Kazakh Tribes in Central Asia during that time. I don't know the origin of the flag but it is certainly possible that it existed. These were located in what is today modern Kazakhstan.
David Straub, 25 May 2003

Is it only me, or does a flag with three five-pointed stars neatly aligned down the hoist look suspiciously modern for a flag purporting to date to 1456? But then again, the khanate itself did not exist.
Joe McMillan, 30 May 2003

According to Pierre Lux-Wurm, the word "Kazak" appeared in the Turkish language and in Russian documents around the XIVth century. Its original meaning was "independent, tramp" and it was used to designate the
nomadic peoples from Central Asia. The history of the Kazaks before the XVIIIth century is less-known due to the lack of local written sources. The Kazak tradition says that their common ancestor divided them into three hordes ("jouz"), the Greater Hord (Oulog Jouz), the Middle Horde (Orta Jouz) and the Lesser Horde (Kichi Jouz). The names of the hordes were not related to their size but to the relative age of the three sons of the ancestor, the elder, the second, and the younger. In 1602, the Kalmuks led by Khan Urluk and the Djungar Mongols devasted the steppes. The Kazaks call this era "aktaban choubroundi" (the big disaster). The Djungars came back in 1710 and 1713 and seized between 1722 and 1727 most of the lands of the Greater and Middle Hordes. The Lesser Horde called for the Russian protection, which was acknowledged in 1734. Following a revolt in 1860, Kazakstan became a colony, officialy regulated in 1868 and considered as a "zone of agricultural colonization".
Ivan Sache, 30 May 2003