Changes in the flock: sheep-keeping as a symbol of the transformation of the Kazakh traditional economy

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire had significant economic potential. The dynamics of industrial growth influenced both territorial expansion and increased population, and the improvement of the transport system, which also contributed to the formation and development of industry. This process found its expression in the development of textile cloth production, which stimulated the growth of demand for wool and led to the development of commercial sheep-keeping. Sheep-keeping, which played a minor role on both peasant and private farms, became one of the most important economic interests of the empire. The tsarist government’s special interest in using the Kazakh steppes as a source of cheap raw materials for industry led Kazakh animal husbandry to gradually adapt to market requirements. Such changes ignored the fundamental role of traditional sheep-keeping in Kazakh culture and economic life. The loss of habitat and reduction of migration routes for Kazakhs, together with an increase in demand for livestock and livestock products, threatened the degradation of Kazakh sheep-keeping and the loss of a key element of culture.