Description
Book SynopsisIn Qazaqlïq, or Ambitious Brigandage, and the Formation of the Qazaqs Joo-Yup Lee examines the formation of new group identities, with a focus on the Qazaqs, in post-Mongol Central Eurasia within the context of qazaqlïq, or the qazaq way of life, a custom of political vagabondage widespread among the Turko-Mongolian peoples of Central Asia and the Qipchaq Steppe during the post-Mongol period. Utilizing a broad range of original sources, the book suggests that the Qazaqs, as well as the Shibanid Uzbeks and Ukrainian Cossacks, came into existence as a result of the qazaq, or “ambitious brigand,” activities of their founders, providing a new paradigm for understanding state formation and identity in post-Mongol Central Eurasia.
Trade Review2017 CESS Book Award Winner "The author has done a great service for historians of the Kazakhs, particularly those hoping to introduce monolingual students to the rich sources for medieval Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Those wishing to follow along with Lee’s analysis more closely are welcomed to do so by the inclusion of two appendices marking the appearance and context of the terms qazaqlïq and qazaq in medieval (Appendix 1) and modern sources (Appendix 2). The book also includes several maps, though they are difficult to read as they contain only river courses, ethnic labels, and the occasional city. Comprising the annotated bibliography in the introduction, a bibliography, an index and two helpful family trees, the scholarly apparatus should be useful to a wide array of scholars even tangentially interested in the field of Kazakh history." Michael Hancock-Parmer, Indiana University Bloomington, USA, in Central Asian Review, 2016
