THE INTELLECTUAL ELITE OF CENTRAL ASIA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY: A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY FOREIGN LITERATURE

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to conduct a historiographical analysis of foreign researchers’ works on the activities of the intellectual elite in Central Asia during the second half of the 19th to the early 20th century. This period in Central Asian history is marked by transformative processes across various spheres of life for the region’s peoples. The research materials include monographs and articles by foreign scholars published over the past thirty years. Conducting a historiographical analysis allows for a deeper understanding of the scholarly approaches. theoretical frameworks and interpretative models employed by foreign historians in studying the intellectual elite, as well as identifying methodological differences between Western and domestic studies. The analysis of foreign research facilitates the integration of new methodologies (global, postcolonial, etc.) and international academic debates into the scientific discourse of Kazakhstan historians, positioning Central Asia’s intellectual elite as active participants within the broader contexts of colonial and global history. The scientific and practical significance of this article in enriching the methodology of domestic scholarship, fostering an understanding of new approaches and reinterpreting key issues such as Islam and the liberalization of public life, muslim reforms movements, the influence of Jadidism on the cultural development of Central Asia. By engaging with international perspectives, the study aims to contribute to a more nuanced and globally contextualized examination of the region’s intellectual history.

Keywords: Сentral Asia, modernization, jadidism, intellectual history, intelligentsia.