Abstract
The purpose of the article is the introduction and critical study of new materials about Qazaq political and commercial relations with the Central Asian khanates. This article is primarily based on the Bukharan narrative sources as well as archival documents in the Turkic and Russian languages from the Central State Archives of Kazakhstan (Almaty), which contain material not yet analyzed from our perspective. These primary sources contain the most important and comprehensive information on the various aspects of the history of the Qazaqs and their relations with the Central Asian principalities in the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries. Relations between Qazaq khans and other Central Asian khanates took various forms. The periods of military conflict between Qazaq Jüzes and Central Asian khanates and mutual attacks alternated with periods of peaceful neighbourly relations. Some Qazaq khans and sultans found in the Central Asian khanates a refuge from their pursuers; others maintained vassal relations with the Central Asian states.