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Written Assignment 1

Maira Sulaimanova

School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University

HST 205: The Mongol Empire

Professor: Michael Bechtel

23rd of August 2023

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Chinggis Qan in Kazakhstan

The discipline of history is not only about studying the past but it is also about how the

past resonates with the present. Consequently, historians pay significant attention to examining

what impact different historical events have had as well as their legacy which is evident even

after hundreds of years in the contemporary world.

Undoubtedly, Chinghis Khan’s legacy is inescapable in the vast majority of the Eurasian

plate, especially in the territory of the nowadays’ Kazakhstan. There are a multitude of ways in

which Chinghis Khan’s legacy remains significantly relevant in Kazakhstan even after hundreds

of years since its submission to conquers of the Mongol Empire, which include the strong sense

of identity and cultural heritage, the archeological significance, etc. Although only a minority of

Kazakhs nowadays are actually the descendants of Chinghis Khan, there is still a strong sense of

unity between the nations of the central Eurasian plate. Just like Chinghis Khan’s ability to unite

people, Kazakhstan was able to unify such a big territory with so many different ethnicities

within its populations. Additionally, the archaeological legacy such as the battlefields, the

excavations, etc. also bears the cultural significance and heritage of Chingis Khan’s agency.

Finally, it is clear that although nowadays’ Kazakhs are mostly Turkic and only the

minority share the Mongolian lineage, there is still evidence of Chinghis Khan’s legacy within

Kazakhstan which includes the cultural heritage as well as the sense of belonging and unity.