History of KazakhstanKazakhstan, the largest country fully within the Eurasian Steppe, has been a historical crossroads and home to numerous different peoples, states and empires throughout history. Throughout history, peoples on the territory of modern Kazakhstan had nomadic lifestyle, which developed and influenced Kazakh culture. Human activity in the region began with the extinct Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus one million–800,000 years ago in the Karatau Mountains and the Caspian and Balkhash areas.
Kangar unionKangar union was a Turkic state in the territory of the entire modern Kazakhstan without Zhetysu. The ethnic name Kangar is an early medieval name for the Kangly people, who are now part of the Kazakh, Uzbek, and Karakalpak nations. The capital of the Kangar union was located in the Ulytau mountains. The Pechenegs, three of whose tribes were known as Kangar (Greek: Καγγαρ), after being defeated by the Oghuzes, Karluks, and Kimek-Kypchaks, attacked the Bulgars and established the Pecheneg state in Eastern Europe (840–990 CE).
KanglyThe Kangly (康曷利; pinyin: Kānghélì; Middle Chinese (ZS): /khɑŋ-ɦɑt̚-liɪH/ or 康里 pinyin: Kānglĭ < MC-ZS: /khɑŋ-lɨX/; Karakhanid: قنكلى Kaγnï or قنكلى Kaŋlï, also spelled Qanglı, Kanly, Kangly, Qangli, Kangli or Kankali) were a Turkic people of Eurasia who were active from the Tang dynasty up to the Mongol Empire and Yuan dynasty. They may be related to the Kipchaks or Pechenegs, or they may have been a branch of the Kök Turks who were conquered by the Tang dynasty of China.
YuebanYueban () (Middle Chinese: */jiuᴇt̚-pɣan/ < Late Han Chinese: */jyat-pɑn/), colloquially: "Weak Xiongnu", was the name used by Chinese historians for remnants of the Northern Xiongnu in Zhetysu, now part of modern-day Kazakhstan. In Chinese literature they are commonly called Yueban. The Yuebans gained their own visibility after disintegration of the Northern Xiongnu state, because unlike the main body of the Northern Xiongnu, who escaped from the Chinese sphere of knowledge, the Yueban tribes remained closer to China.
Nomadic pastoralismNomadic pastoralism is a form of pastoralism in which livestock are herded in order to seek for fresh pastures on which to graze. True nomads follow an irregular pattern of movement, in contrast with transhumance, where seasonal pastures are fixed. However, this distinction is often not observed and the term 'nomad' used for both—and in historical cases the regularity of movements is often unknown in any case. The herded livestock include cattle, water buffalo, yaks, llamas, sheep, goats, reindeer, horses, donkeys or camels, or mixtures of species.