Jüz

A jüz (Modern Kazakh tribes) (/ˈ(d)ʒ(j)uːz/; Kazakh: ءجۇز / жүз, pronounced [ʒʉz], also translated as 'horde') is one of the three main territorial and tribal divisions in the Kypchak Plain area that covers much of the contemporary Kazakhstan. It represents the main tribal division within the ethnic group of the Kazakhs.

The origin of the Kazakh zhuzes (tribal confederations) is dated by Kazakh historiography to the early 18th century, while pre-revolutionary Russian historiography attributes their emergence to the 17th century.

According to various Soviet, pre-revolutionary, and Kazakhstani researchers, the concept of “zhuzhood” (zhuzovost’) emerged as a result of internal elite conflicts among the Chinggisid clan of Töre following the death of Tauke Khan. The first khans of the three zhuzes were established in 1721.

Chokan Valikhanov believed that when the Golden Horde began to disintegrate, the Kazakhs formed large tribal alliances (zhuzes) in order to retain control over their nomadic territories.

N. A. Aristov linked the formation of the zhuzes to Dzungar raids, suggesting that external threats prompted the unification.

V. V. Bartold associated the rise of zhuzes with geographic factors, arguing that the natural environment of distant regions allowed Kazakhs to preserve distinct cultural and economic traditions.

M. P. Vyatkin agreed with Bartold’s position but added political developments to the explanation, asserting that by the 16th century, the separated hordes had become political unions.

Linguist Sarsen Amanzholov proposed that the Kazakhs had already divided into zhuzes between the 10th and 12th centuries, prior to Genghis Khan’s unification of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples into a single Turko-Mongol Empire.