How and why did Tevkelev’s attitude to and description of the

Qazaqs differ from that of Kirilov?

Tevkelev as the one who saw and talked with Qazaqs and their elites and as the

direct man of Queen, has different attitude and description of them. Tevkelev sees

Qazaqs as one of the nomad folks that seek for help of Her Majesty Queen, and

often refers to Qazaqs with negative comments on their barbarism and coarseness

with such words as “savage folk; wild animal; steppe beasts;” (Aleksei Ivanovich

Tevkelev, p.2). Tevkelev’s description differs from Kirilov’s and in my opinion

Tevkelev has a correct understandment of Qazaq people. He almost was killed so

many times and the only thing that helped him was bribing the starshinas with

clothes and other goods, which both of the facts are symptoms of wild people.

Kirilov’s point of view is quiet unemotional. He does not have a opinion about

Qazaq people’s lives, rather he saws the profit in everything. As the man who's

main profession in life was geographical expeditions and exploring new profitable

territories, he sees Qazaq land as the new treasure. However, he also has a opinion

that Qazaq’s are barbarians who robs and kills people. “They raid merchant

caravans and done many evil deeds,” “practiced in that and likewise in banditry

for ziyun, that is for, raiding and kidnapping many

people”(Kirilov, p. 3).

In conclusion, Tevkelev’s opinion about Qazaq’s differ because he suffered from

them, almost died and saw their true corrupt nature of Qazaqs in the face of

starshinas (well-respected elites). On the other hand, Kirilov is not primary source
of information. He heard about Qazaqs from Tevkelev and it definetly altered his

thoughts. Moreover, Tevkelev is more close to Queen and thus has biased opinion

about all neighboring nomad folks.