The burial ceremony and the tradition of meal offering of Kazakh Turks

Abstract

The Kazakh burial ceremony and mourning practices are highly similar to Gokturk and Oghuz traditions. Because Kazakhs have kept to their steppe traditions and nomadic life style until recently, they have been able to preserve their older Turkish traditions, which they still practice today, though in a slightly changed form due to the influence of Islam. Similar to the case concerning any geographical region inhabited by Turkish communities, traces of these old Turkish traditions can be found rather frequently on Anatolian soil, too. This study focuses on the burial ceremonies of nomadic Kazakh tribes from the 15(th) to the 19(th) century and explores how pre-Islamic traditions were re-shaped after the adoption of Islam.