Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie (Sep 2014)
Maslyuzhenko D.N. Turko-Mongol Traditions in the “State of Nomadic Uzbeks” of Abu al-Khair Khan
Abstract
The author of this article identifies the daily and political traditions in the Khanate of Abu al-Khair, which researchers traditionally call the “State of nomadic Uzbeks”. This State was created in the south of Western Siberia in the 1430’s and annexed by military means to the land of Shiban’s (the younger brother of Batu) descendants. The overwhelming majority of researchers consider it as a Muslim State since its very foundation, substantiating their allegations by indication both on the reading of khutba in honor of Khan after he took the “throne of Sain Khan” and on the presence of the sheikhs and Sufis in his entourage. At the same time, the authority of Abu al-Khair had the strong support of nomadic elite of more than twenty tribes. Precisely this elite, its inquiries and interests, which were advocated on the nobility councils, formed the existing political and daily traditions. These traditions reflect the preservation of Turko-Mongol customs among nomadic populations. We can find analogies of these practices in the earlier customs among the precursors of post-Golden Horde State, i.e., in the Mongol Empire and the ulus of Jochi. Traditions of the Abu al-Khair’s Khanate represented a phenomenon of cultural inertia, which were restored in the conditions of Islamization and could become the adats. This effect is particularly significant in view of the specific attitude of Sufi tariqats to the phenomena of social life. In political terms, of particular importance among these was the restoration of the Toy and the related kurultay that could take place in accordance with the existing steppe (animals) calendar. The khans restored the ritual of robes and belts’ distribution as the main mechanism for redeployment of posts and responsibilities among the steppe aristocracy. Military tradition was also focused on samples of the previous time, which was particularly manifested in the selection of wings and avant-garde. In the course of military operations, there was the prevalent practice of magical rites known since the early Middle Ages and aimed at influencing the weather by means of the magic stone “yada” and Yadachi-sorcerers.
