The book «Nomadic Civilization and European Travelers» has been published by Dossym Satpayev’s cultural and educational foundation in collaboration with art historian Valeria Ibraeva and nomadic culture researcher Julia Gani. A Kursiv Lifestyle editor attended the book’s presentation at the BonArt auction house in Almaty.
The title of the book perfectly reflects its content. It features a collection of drawings and engravings by European travelers in the early modern period who, at various times and by twists of fate, found themselves in the Great Steppe, now modern-day Kazakhstan.
«We wanted to connect two worlds,» said Satpayev. «For many centuries, our region was incredibly significant. Under the Soviet Union, it was reduced to the status of a restricted area. Before that, it was a vital region. Consider the Silk Road, bustling with the movement of diplomats, missionaries, spies and more. However, not everyone left behind visual records, as photography had yet to be invented,» he explained.
According to Satpayev, a well-known Kazakhstani political scientist and publisher, the book took 10 months to complete. The most challenging part was gathering information about the engravings, which are part of Satpayev’s private collection and the collection of Maxim Tkachenko, founder of the BonArt auction house. Some of the engravings were not created by the expedition participants but were instead drawn by artists who relied on their accounts. These works were later published in various catalogs and publications throughout Europe.
«In this catalog, you will find fascinating images compiled from the accounts of people who visited Kazakhstan,» said Satpayev.
The works featured in the book depict the daily lives of Kazakhs in the 18th and 19th centuries. Pierre Gabriel Bonvalot and Guillaume Capus, European travelers, shared their impressions of what they observed:
«The akyns are like ‘Kazakh troubadours’ and the dombra [a two-stringed, plucked folk instrument], like no other instrument, captures the spirit of the steppe. In its melody, one can hear camels’ footsteps, the whistling wind through the feather grass and the rhythmic clatter of a horse’s hooves.»
German orientalist Heinrich Julius Klaproth noted that his knowledge of Turkish allowed him to communicate with Kazakhs. He observed that they spoke pure Turkic, untouched by the «admixtures of Arabic and Persian» commonly found in the Ottoman Empire.
According to Ibraeva, the collection of engravings and drawings holds significant scholarly value. She hopes publishing them will spark societal discussion and inspire further research into Kazakhstan’s historical heritage.
The book is divided into chapters on daily life, family traditions and historical maps as seen through the eyes of Europeans. «Nomadic Civilization and European Travelers» has been published in Russian, Kazakh and English and will be available next week at Meloman stores. Many of the featured prints can also be viewed in person at the BonArt auction house in Almaty, located at Residential Complex Abay, 597/7 Seifullin Avenue.
