Kazakh men’s headdresses in visual and narrative sources of the 19th – early 20th centuries: evolution of the vestimental code

Abstract

The article presents the characteristics of men’s national headdresses in the context of social practices
of their use in Kazakh traditional society in the period of the 19th – early 20th centuries, in the context
of changes in the socio-cultural space within the Russian Empire. The headdress was an important
marker of status and an attribute of social rank, the vestimental code of which in the 19th – early 20th
centuries was determined by semantic meanings both within the framework of the traditional culture of
the Kazakhs and by the symbolic meanings of power relations in the Russian Empire.
In addition, the authors systematized published studies on the history of the Kazakh folk costume,
drawing attention to the evolution of the vestimental code of Kazakh headdresses in the 19th-20th centuries.
In the article, in combination of historical research methods with anthrpological approaches and
ethnographic descriptions of men’s headdresses, an attempt is made to present their detailed characteristics
on the basis of visual, narrative and archival sources of the 19th – early 20th centuries.The authors
pay special attention to the fact that the headdress in the studied time is a symbol of social status among
the Kazakh people, as well as an indicator of the role of the individual in society. The authors note that
the color of men’s hats also has its own meaning.
Key words: Kazakh men’s headdresses, vestimental code, visual sources, XIX – early XX centuries,
Kazakh traditional society, Russian Empire.