The Ethnical Naming of the Kyrgyzes in 17th-19th Century Russian Historical Sources

Abstract

Russian historical sources are very important in searching the Kyrgyz history between the 17th-19th centuries. These sources can be classified into three categories as the archival materials, diaries of diplomats and travelers, and valuable works of the scholars. The ethnic naming of the Kyrgyzes is given in different ways in these rich sources. The fact that this ethnic naming was sometimes related with the Kazaks and the Hakhas people caused difficulties in its usage in scholarly works. In this article, we try to study and elaborate on this question systematically.