In Tatarstan, a Russian autonomic republic, there lives a man of advanced age who had much to do with the restoration of historical truth about the Nogais, a distinct ethnic group formed after the disintegration of the Golden Horde. It’s about Marcel Akhmetzyanov who is characterized by the Tatar Center of Academic Science as “a world-famous scholar, a leading specialist in textology, paleography, archeography, and epigraphy, who devoted his life to collecting and studying the written monuments of the Tatar people”.
Here, there is a need to note that the scholar considers the Nogais to be an integral part of the Tatar people. According to him, the Nogai Horde, that appeared after the fall of the Golden Horde and was one of the major states in Eastern Europe during the 14-16th centuries, should be seen as a historical heritage of the Tatar people. He is considered a leading expert not only in Tatarstan but in the Russian Federation on the question of who else must be seen as the direct descendants of the Nogai horde’s population today.
Here are two quotes from his publications that may be of interest to those engaged in dealing with the matters of the origin and history of the Kazakh country and nation.
The first one says: “The keepers of literary legacy were usually the so-called “zhyrau” [creators of the epic genre] who, as is known, came from the cities of Saraichik, Astrakhan, Azak [Azov], etc. The most notable “zhyraus” were Asan Kaigy Sabit ugyly (XV century), Shalkiyz zhyrau (1465 – 1560), Dosmambet zhyrau (1493 -1523). The Nogai “zhyraus” created beautiful dastans [eposes] such as “Idegey”, “Koblandy”, “Er Targyn”, “Alpamysh”, “Chura Batyr”, and “Kyrk Kyz”.
The second one says: “The immediate descendants and heirs of the Nogai Horde are the Nogais (a Caucasian people), the Crimean,........© Eurasia Review