The New Historical Policy and the Shift Away from the Nazarbayev Era
Kazakhstan is carrying out a campaign of independent historical reassessment and rebranding, presenting itself both domestically and internationally as the direct heir to the Golden Horde (BBC Russian). Under President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Charter 97), the state is actively supporting research into the history of the Golden Horde, specifically the Ulus of Jochi—the eastern portion of Genghis Khan’s former empire and one of its successor states (Nasha Niva). This historical policy counters popular narratives in Russia that claimed the Kazakhs possessed no statehood prior to joining the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, instead functioning as nomadic populations (Nasha Niva).
During the presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev, authorities concentrated heavily on building the identity of a modern, newly created independent state (BBC Russian). According to Zhaksylyk Saparov, head of the Institute of the Ulus of Jochi, 1990s Kazakhstan faced a delicate domestic situation where promoting national self-awareness risked inciting civil conflict (Nasha Niva). A turning point arrived with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Following the Crimea annexation, the political elite recognized that treating Nursultan Nazarbayev as the sole founder of the state was untenable, sparking a strong resurgence of interest in pre-Nazarbayev history that culminated in historical restoration efforts after Tokayev assumed the presidency in 2019 (Charter 97).
Institutionalization and Regional Implications
In 2021, Tokayev initiated the creation of the Institute of the Study of the Ulus of Jochi and ordered the restoration of the mausoleum of Jochi Khan, the son of Genghis Khan, located in the Ulytau region of central Kazakhstan (Nasha Niva). Furthermore, the history of the Golden Horde has been detailed in a newly published seven-volume history of Kazakhstan as the predecessor of the Kazakh Khanate, which was formed in 1465 (Nasha Niva). In May 2026, Tokayev opened an international symposium on the history of the Golden Horde in Astana, where he stated that the country is the direct successor of the Golden Horde.
Tokayev noted that Central Asia’s intellectual evolution drew on the energy of the nomadic world and Turco-Mongol heritage, while Golden Horde civilization combined nomadic and warrior cultures with urban craftsmanship and control over portions of the Silk Road (Charter 97). Ukrainian analyst Anatoly Amelin observes that this focus on the Ulus of Jochi helps overcome tribalism by uniting all Kazakh zhuzes and clans under an institutional framework that existed prior to the division into Kazakhs, Nogais, Tatars, and Uzbeks (Nasha Niva). Marat Gatin, a historian from Tatarstan, views the approach as a normal development that strengthens national identity through an exploration of the region’s most prominent historical era.
At the same time, this shift generates regional friction. Uzbek anthropologist and political philosopher Bakhtiyor Alimjanov warns that reviving imperial legacies—comparable to Uzbekistan’s promotion of Tamerlane since the 1990s—risks intensifying rivalries within Central Asia and hindering regional integration by introducing two parallel imperial identities (Nasha Niva). Political scientist Askat Dukenbayev concludes that this process of rethinking the Orda’s heritage has established itself firmly within the region’s historical reality and cannot be canceled by external interpretations (Nasha Niva).