Vol. 2 No. 4 (2024)

Dear readers!

We are pleased to present to you the next issue of the academic journal Qazaq Historical Review. Although our journal is very young, we have already established a small tradition of dedicating our annual fourth issue to the problems of medieval history in Qazaqstan and adjacent regions of Eurasia. Therefore, following this tradition, the editorial board of "Qazaq Historical Review" has invited modern foreign and domestic historians who specialize in this period of history to contribute as authors.

Historians from Ukraine, Finland, Japan, as well as researchers from Almaty, Karaganda and Semey, have responded to our invitation to publish the results of their research. We hope that this newly published material will contribute to the advancement of historical research and strengthen international academic cooperation.

In the first section, entitled «The Turko-Mongol World», Ukrainian historian Vladislav Gulevich, from the Office of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, has been exploring the status of Mongol military leaders Kuremsa and Moguchey in the Dnieper region. According to his research, both these leaders were descendants of Genghis Khan's sons and were responsible for managing the territories allocated to them by Batu Khan in accordance with his instructions. This is precisely why Moguchey could not, on his own initiative, demand that Prince Danila Romanovich surrender the city of Galich to him in 1245.

The renowned Qazaq historian Professor Amantai Isin, from Shakarim University, explores the diverse appellations of states established on the foundation of the Jochi Ulus in medieval written records, and the ways in which these names were preserved in the collective memory of the Qazaq people. In the final analysis, the author underscores the distinctions between scholarly and non-academic perspectives on the study of the history of the Jochi Ulus.

A joint article by Qazaqstani archaeologists Emma Usmanova, from the Saryarka Archaeological Institute at Karaganda University, and Mikhail Antonov, from of the Institute of Archaeology, is dedicated to the famous Talas/Atlakh battle of 751 between the Arab and Tang armies. The uprising of the Qarluq tribes in the rear of the Tang forces played a decisive role in this battle. The authors approached the study of the conflict through the lens of the "landscape of military conflict" methodology, which allowed them to create a cartographic reconstruction of the movements of the Arab and Chinese armies and the battlefield itself.

The section “The Middle Ages in Documents” presents a new analysis of medieval manuscripts, provides translations of sources, as well as new interpretations and commentaries on already known medieval documents.

Renowned Japanese researcher Associate Professor Hiroyuki Nagamine, from National Institute of Technology, Oyama College, analyzes four little-known manuscripts of the anonymous Turkic work Daftar-i Chingiz-nāma from the libraries of London, Paris, Berlin and Edinburgh. The article discusses the historical significance of various versions of this text and provides interesting information about the conquest of Constantinople by Timur (Aqsaq Temir), as well as the nickname of Berdibek Khan and Toktamysh Khan’s beks and sons.

Finnish historian Dr. Roman Hautala from the University of Oulu has published the original Latin text and Russian translation of a letter from Hungarian King Bela IV to Pope Innocent IV, in which he warns of a possible Mongol attack on Europe. The letter was written in response to the threat of another attack and requests assistance from the Apostolic See. The translation is accompanied by a detailed introduction explaining the historical context and circumstances surrounding the letter. Any unclear parts of the text have been explained with comments.

Professor Ablet Kamalov (Turan University / Narxoz University) examines a Chinese-Turkic bilingual tombstone (epitaph) from Xi'an in honor of the Uyghur prince Kara Chor-tegin, who died in 795 and was buried in the imperial palace in Chang'an, the western capital of the Tang Empire. According to the author, this epitaph sheds light on a major event in the history of the Uyghur Khaganate: the replacement of the ruling Yaglakar dynasty by the Ediz dynasty.

The issue ends with the section «Critics and Bibliography», in which Professor Nurlan Atygayev (Abai Qazaq National Pedagogical University) and Associate Professor Qanat Uskenbay (Institute for Humanities Studies ABDI) release a review of Erlan Karin's latest publication, a book-catalogue that focuses on antique maps and the representation of Qazaqstan on them.

On behalf of the editorial board of the journal, I would like to express my gratitude to our authors, reviewers, editors and translators for your contribution to the preparation of this issue.

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Zarine Dzhandosova (St. Petersburg State University) helped in translating and editing the texts in English.