The ideology of Genghisism in the light of E. Hobsbaum’s theory «Invention of Traditions» (in the light of the 750th anniversary of the Golden Horde)

Abstract

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.-Zh.K. Tokayev in his Message to the people of Kazakhstan highlighted the importance of celebrating the 750th anniversary of the Golden Horde. The need to celebrate this event is determined by the construction of state and national identity, and for this, history is always recruited. The Golden Horde had played an important role in the culture and history of the peoples of Eurasia. Nevertheless, at the same time, in the Soviet period, it was assigned the role of a predatory state. At present, everywhere, including in Russia, the history of this and the post-Golden Horde states is being revised. In all these countries, Genghisism had been used as an ideology. In accordance with it, in these states, as in the Kazakh Khanate, the descendants of Genghis Khan had ruled. A key element of this ideology was the myth of the origin of Genghis Khan and the ritual «Khan Koturmak». The paper applies the methods of semiotics to consider this ritual. It is shown that the meaning of the ritual is to affirm the idea of divine power. After the accession of Kazakhstan to Russia, the Tsarist government changed the meaning of the ritual through the «invention of tradition» in order to legitimize its rule. In 1916, during the uprising, tradition was revived.