Altybaeva, A. A.: Some Aspects of the Social and Economic Development of South Kazakhstan at the end of the 19th century

Altybaeva, A. A.

Some Aspects of the Social and Economic Development of
South Kazakhstan at the end of the 19th century

Altybaeva, A. A.
University “Syrdariya”
Auezov street 11, 160500 Zhetysai, Kazakhstan

Abstract

The Russian colonization of Kazakhstan entailed drastic changes in the traditional way of life of native stock-breeders. The reforms of 1867 – 1868 declared all the land to be the state property that further could only be acquired by Kazakhs on leasing terms. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the new Russian settlers and especially paramilitary Cossacks obtained huge plots of land on more favourable conditions but they were not able to administer it properly. The new owners leased their shares of land to the Kazakhs who started to lead a semi-settled way of life. The Russian administration wallowed in luxury and bribery. The direct and indirect taxes increased 3,5-fold, extrajudicial levies were a daily fare as the Ili-river-bridge-construction-fraud reveals. Before the Russian colonization the Kazakh’s society had had traditional legal norms that to regularized the landowning and land tenure, social and political aspects of everyday life. The norms of Russian legislation began to redraw these relations to their advantage. The introduction and development of cotton growing in South Kazakhstan was started due the efforts of the Governor-General Nikolaus-Otto von Rosenbach. The Turkestan Governorate-General became one of the most important cotton raising regions of the Russian Empire. Due to the administration’s assistance the American species of cotton and methods of its cultivation got firmly established in Russian Turkestan.

Keywords: History of Kazakhstan, Russian colonization of Kazakhstan, cotton growing, Russian Turkestan, landowning

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