Funeral and memorial rituals of the Kazakhs of Western Kazakhstan: based on materials from the authors of the pre-revolutionary period

Abstract

The article presents historical and ethnographic data and materials published before the October Revolution, concerning the funeral and memorial rituals of Kazakhs in the Western region of Kazakhstan. Starting from the 1st half of the 18th century, the first information about the life and traditions of the Kazakhs of the Western region began to accumulate during trips to the Kazakh steppe of the military and ambassadors of the Russian Empire. Special «surveys», originally created for political purposes, in a later period were continued in the notes of travelers and merchants, representatives of various administrations and officials who served imperial Russia, who personally saw the life of nomads. The article reflects the works and articles of French, Russian, German, Kazakh authors, published in Russia since the second half of the 18th century, concerning the funeral and memorial rituals of the nomads who inhabited this region. The materials comprehensively contain information about the funeral and memorial rituals of the Kazakhs of Western Kazakhstan, notification of the death, mourning, washing, excavation of graves, reading memorial prayer, burials, erection of graves, meals in relation to the dead. The named historical and ethnographic materials published before the October Revolution most reliably describe the customs of nomads. In this regard, at present all of them are of special source-research importance for researchers. Key words: Western Kazakhstan, ethnography, Kazakhs, funeral and memorial rituals.