The Relocation of Karakalpaks to the Aral Sea Region in the Second Half of the 18th and at the Beginning of the 19th Century

Abstract

The article explores that historically the Karakalpaks lived along the Urals, then on the Volga, around the Aral Sea and in the foothills of the lower reaches of the Syr Darya River, and that their migration was largely determined by external factors. Finally, in the early 19th century, they began to settle in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, in the south and southwest of the Aral Sea. The Karakalpaks were attacked by the Kazakhs and Turkmens, as a result of which they became subjects of the Khiva Khanate. Through their hard work, they conquered the vast deserts and salt marshes of the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River. When the Karakalpaks began to settle, agriculture became an important part of their lives. However, cattle breeding remained one of the leading industries of the Karakalpaks’ life. In the mid-19th century, the Karakalpaks were under the rule of the Khiva Khanate, living on both banks of the Amu Darya and in the areas where it flows into the Aral Sea. Their number at that time did not exceed approximately 100.000 people. The lands granted to the Karakalpaks were considered the property of the khanate, and they paid taxes for these lands and fulfilled various obligations.

The article also scientifically analyzes the significance and essence of the political and economic ties of the Karakalpaks with the Central Asian khanates and Russia in the 18th – early 19th centuries.