Abstract:
The article is devoted to the study of the social and institutional history
of the prosperous estate of a nomadic society – the Kazakh bais. The main content
of the topic of this study is the history of the bais estate as a social community – its
condition, social behavior, place and role in the system of social relations, sources
of material well-being, social alliances and conflicts, social preconditions and
consequences of political, cultural and economic transformations. Integration of the
Kazakh economy into the system of the all-Russian economy in the second half of
the 19th century caused changes in the social stratification of the traditional nomadic
society. The category of wealthy individuals – bais had begun to play an increasing
role in its structure. The article is aimed at studying the traditional authoritу – bais,
its transformation in the conditions of change of socio-economic and political life
in the Kazakh territory under the influence of strengthening of colonial policy and
penetration of elements of the market economy in the 19th – early 20th centuries.
The methodological basis of the article is the theory of modernization and frontier
modernization. Being part of the Russian Empire, Kazakhstan in the 19th – early
20th centuries actually was a frontier zone. As a result of the study, it was revealed
that bais, actively involved in the sphere of commodity-money relations, used
intensive forms of livestock breeding. By increasing the number of livestock, bais
formed initial capital, which contributed to the development of entrepreneurship
and trade. This, in turn, intensified charitable activities.
