Historical and Cultural Commonality in Central Asia

Meruyert Abusseitova

Historical and Cultural Commonality in Central Asia

(63rd Annual Meeting Ulaanbaatar, 2021)

The historical science acquired a new qualitative characteristic defined by the new approaches to the scientific topics, free creative research, and the increasing interest to the issues of ethnogenesis, statehood, studies of nomads, religion, international relations, and the common historical heritage.

Knowledge of historiography of the question determines the methodology of work of the historian, and knowledge of sources, the literature allows drawing objective conclusions based on interdisciplinary objective approach aimed at the study and creation of objective history from antiquity to the present and the formation of a new historical thinking on the development of statehood based on the original primary sources, archives and artifacts, as well as on the justification of territorial integrity, the study of the history and culture of Central Asia in the context of world history in the interrelation and interaction, the continuity in the history and culture.

Historical destinies of peoples inhabiting Central Asia have deep roots, historical and cultural community. Fundamental study of the historical and linguistic ties, historical and cultural interferences of peoples of Kazakhstan and Central Asia is required now more than ever. Retrospective analysis of the socio-cultural interaction of peoples of Central Asia will allow revealing the syncretic cultural unity that is present in the region since ancient times to the present period. As early as II-III thousand BC, there appears a single cultural community across Eurasia, which produces a common world view model, based on the unity of views of the Indo-Iranian, Tocharian and Ancient Turkic communities.

The interaction of cultures and religious systems in Central Asia for thousands of years resulted in the constant exchange of cultural achievements and adaptation of these phenomena in the ancient cultures that, on the one hand, led to a syncretism of culture, its integration, and on the other to the strengthening of culture, its self-sufficiency.

Kazakhstani oriental archaeographic expeditions discovered new archive materials, written sources and visual artifacts from foreign funds of libraries and museums. The newly revealed materials ascertain the historical role of commonality and mutual influence of the peoples of Central Asia.

In turn, collaboration with foreign scientists and experts plays an extremely important role in coordinating the efforts and establishing close ties not only between scientists from different countries of the East and the West, but also between the existing scientific schools, methodological trends on research of world history.