“A Look at Some Pre-Islamic Elements in the Culture of the Kazakhs”

Once mostly nomadic, the majority of Kazakhs today are settled in the vast Republic of Kazakhstan, though significant populations of Kazakhs continue to practice seasonal transhumance in adjacent areas in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and in western Mongolia. Though the Kazakhs self-identify as a Muslim people, certain distinctly pre-Islamic elements are evident in their culture, connecting them to their ancient Turkic past.