Kazakh Khanate

State · 1468–1847 CE · at its largest around 1595 CE

Kazakh nomads drove herds of horses, sheep and camels across vast steppe pastures, living in felt yurts and led by khans, judges and clan elders. Their oral epics, improvised aitys poetry duels and horsemanship remain at the heart of Kazakh identity.

On its lands while it lasted

Timurid Empire (1370–1507 CE): Empire founded by Timur in 1370; under his successors Samarkand and Herat became centres of a Persianate cultural flowering.
Saray-Jük (c. 1450–1634 CE): Capital of Nogai Horde (1450–1563), Kazakh Khanate (1511–1521), Small Horde (1564–1634).
Kazakh Khanate (c. 1465–1847 CE): State founded by the sultans Kerei and Janibek in the Chu valley around 1465, the forerunner of the Kazakh nation.
Sozak (c. 1468 CE): Capital of Kazakh Khanate (1468–1469).
Sighnaq (c. 1469–1599 CE): Capital of Kazakh Khanate (1469–1599).
Khanate of Bukhara (1500–1785 CE): Uzbek state established by the Shaybanids after they took Bukhara and Samarkand from the Timurids.
Khanate of Khiva (1511–1920 CE): Uzbek state in Khwarazm with its capital at Khiva, which became a Russian protectorate in 1873.
Köneürgenç (c. 1512–1919 CE): Capital of Khanate of Khiva (1512–1919).
Yining (c. 1634 CE): Capital of Dzungar Khanate (1634–1756).
Dzungar–Qing Wars (1687–1757 CE): Wars between the Qing and the Dzungar Khanate ending with the Dzungars' destruction and Qing control of Xinjiang.
Qoqon (c. 1709 CE): Capital of Khanate of Kokand (1709–1876).
Tashkent (c. 1729 CE): Capital of Kazakh Khanate (1729–1781), Republic of Uzbekistan (1992–today).
Bishkek (1825 CE): Capital of Kyrgyzstan (1992–today).
Astana (1830 CE): Founded as the Russian fort of Akmolinsk in 1830, it became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997.
Russian conquest of Central Asia (1839–1895 CE): Russian annexation of the Kazakh steppe and the khanates of Kokand, Bukhara and Khiva, culminating in the capture of Tashkent in 1865.