Microsoft Word terra sebvs- special issue final 23 februarie doc

Astana the Capital of Kazakhstan and Astanas in Siberia as a Linguistic-Cultural Aspect  

 

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stable relationship between the Soviet past and the old capital (Alma-Ata, 

now Almaty), the search for means of ethnic integration in the new 

Kazakhstan (as an independent state) led to the transfer of the capital to a 

geographically central part of Kazakhstan. The new city was symbolised in 

iconic symbols of the state, such as the flag and coat of arms, as the spiritual 

umbilical cord of the young state, along with a symbolic representation of 

the sun which metaphorically warms the entire Kazakh land and its peoples. 

The basic natural symbols of Astana reflected in its state symbols are the 

boundless steppe, the high sky and the bright sun. This powerful trinity, 

vital in a culture oriented towards agriculture, serves a special mystical role 

in the designation of Astana city as a symbol of the state. The main 

characteristics of Kazakhstan - the sky and sunshine - are laid down in these 

ancient mythological components. The steppe is a symbol of the infinity of 

being, the infinity of life, while the sun represents the presence of higher 

powers, of divine protection. 

Personal understanding of the sacred (as in Akmola, the name of the 

region, which translates as white tomb/holy tomb) and sacral (Astana, 

capital of the Siberian Tatars, and also used to designate the grave of saints 

and sheikhs, a sacred place) in the worldview of Eurasians (Russians, 

Kazakhs, etc.) has special significance. The dual designation of the sacred 

manifests itself in the profane world, most clearly indicating the presence of 

the Divine, of higher powers. Researchers emphasise that the sacred 

sanctum is “that which is on the periphery of the sacrum, ensuring 

complete isolation for contact with the divine.”

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 The researchers emphasize 

that the holy astanas are on the periphery of the sacred world; they 

represent the boundary between the real and sacred worlds. 

Researchers into the Tatar language, in particular F. T. Valeyev, 

indicate that the word “Astana” is of Arab origin and means “door sill” or 

“entrance into the palace.”

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 This interpretation offers a new perspective on 

the symbolic significance of Astana as the capital: it suggests a kind of 

entrance to the Heavenly Palace, in other words, this is the place where 

God lives or his arche is embodied (according the representations of the 

ancient Greeks (Plato), arche designates the root source or principle of a 

thing, which is universally identifiable and repeatable - hence archetype, 

arch-genius, etc.). By naming the capital Astana, all the Sary-Arka - the great 

Kazakh steppe - is designated a mythical locality. The entire Kazakh steppe 

thus serves as a collection of various astanas. 

                                                 

9

 Benveniste 1966, p. 343-350. 

10

 Valeyev 1976, p. 323. 

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I. S. Karabulatova, E. N. Ermakova, G. A. Shiganova 

 

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The delivery route of the Kazakh nomads, called the Yurt,

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 stretched 

from the Aral Sea to Tobolsk. It was no coincidence that astanas (as in 

sacred places) in the Tobol region were the most powerful. Here the sacred 

space is built into the profane, such that sacred sites are repeated in the 

profane space, multiplied across time and space in numerous sites in the 

Tyumen region.

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 In the authors’ opinion, an astana is a specially-structured 

space in Eurasia. Astanas represent the building blocks of the psychic space 

of the Turkic peoples. When Kazakhs immigrated to the Xinjiang Uygur 

Autonomous Region of China, they also referred to ancient cemeteries as 

astanas. Thus we find astana tombs in a location forty kilometres from the 

city of Turpan in the southern foothills of the Tien Shan mountains and 

two kilometres from Gaochang.  

Researchers have identified several types of Siberian Tatar places and 

objects of worship, distinctive in both nature and origin, most of which are 

undergoing a phase of Islamisation, acquiring the status of sacred places, of 

astanas.

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 It is no coincidence that there is an expression in the dialect of the 

Siberian Tatars, “astanaly yeres,” which means sacred land. The first astana 

is located in the Orenburg region of Kazakhstan, and according to the oral 

testimony of Professor Uldanay M. Bahtikireeva, a native of the Orenburg 

region, the astana is also a place of worship. To date, academics in the 

Tyumen region (Tyumen, Tobolsk and Kazan) have identified 56 astanas in 

that region. It is now known that there are more than 80 astanas in Western 

Siberia (Tyumen, Omsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk Regions). 

Tyumen historian R. Kh. Rakhimov made great contributions to the 

certification of sacred astana monuments in the South Tyumen area.

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 The 

northernmost astana is located in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. 

Siberian Turks believe that Hajj (pilgrimage) around the gravesites of these 

saints is equal to undertaking the Hajj in Mecca itself. 

In ancient times, people believed that Siberia was the space of the 

sacred spirit. Siberia can thus be seen as a place of mystical liminality, in which 

astanas mark the presence of the mystical world in the profane one. 

 

Results 

The preservation of national cultural identity in multi-ethnic regions often 

arises from similarities between the cultures that come into contact. In this 

case, the historical development of this area is inextricably linked with the 

                                                 

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 Yurt: A Yurt or Dzhurt is a migratory route of Turkic tribes. 

12

 http://www.con-spiration.de/texte/english/2007/huebner-e.html, accessed 11 June 

2014. 

13

 Yarkov et al. 2006, p. 3. 

14

 Rakhimov 2006, p. 24. 

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