Svetlana Ivanovna - Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, L.N. Gumilyov
Eurasian National University, Astana Kazakhstan
This article analyzes the role of the exceptional natural phenomenon known as jute in the Kazakh steppe. It examines the term's meaning, the objective conditions under which it emerged, and its impact on the pastoral economy, Kazakh nomads' way of life, and their adaptive capacity to overcome its effects. Nomads are people «inscribed in nature». In order to survive, they must continually adapt, including to current climatic realities. The Kazakh nomads' conditions of life, no matter where they lived, were very complex. Nature gave their herds sustenance, but also condemned animals and humans to starvation and death.
The wilderness is understood not only as the type of natural area, but also as the habitat of the nomads. The term “steppe” describes the combined unique experience of development of natural spaces such as steppe, semi-desert and desert. Interestingly, in the Russian language the word meaning "steppe" meant the desert.
In scientific literature, the word "steppe" has as many as 54 different meanings. For example, a "geo-botanical dictionary" Grebenshchikov O.S. contains approximately 2,660 terms. The word steppe in his vocabulary has 23 different categories . This Quadrilingual "Geobotanical dictionary" is the world's first attempt at making these kinds of careful distinctions. It includes terms on geobotany (phytocenology), the names of the principal plant formations and communities of the world, as well as some of the terms in related disciplines - plant ecology, soil science, climatology, geomorphology, phytogeography and others.
“Steppe” in physical geography refers to a plain, covered with grassy vegetation in temperate and subtropical zones of the northern and southern hemisphere. This treeless, low-moisture and usually flat space with grassy vegetation falls in the Dry Zone. A characteristic feature of the steppe is the almost complete absence of trees (not counting artificial plantations and forest belts along streams). The steppe belt stretches from west to east in Eurasia and north to south in North America. There are also the steppes of South America and Australia.
Especially well known are the steppes of Central Eurasia, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Mongolia. The climate of the steppe regions is typically in the range of moderately continental-to-continental and is characterized by very hot summers and cold winters. The climate conditions in Kazakhstan are determined by its location in the center of Eurasia in the temperate zone, terrain features and hydrographic regime of solar radiation and the amount of precipitation. Kazakhstan is a landlocked country, equidistant from all the oceans, characterized by extreme continental climate regime, resulting in drastic daily, seasonal and annual variations in air temperature. Continental climate is increasing in the west to the east. Among the distinctive features of the climate in Kazakhstan is its pronounced aridity and uneven seasonal distribution of precipitation.
In general, geographical conditions in Kazakhstan can be characterized by increased solar radiation, aridity, pronounced aridity, seasonally differentiated climate, poverty, water and soil resources, lack of rainfall, scarce vegetation, yield fluctuations, seasonally-zonal vegetation characteristics, and low forage productivity pasture grasses. "As a result, this area is a very fragile ecosystem that is highly sensitive to external influences and human activities," emphasizes N.E. Massanov in his monograph, “The nomadic Kazakhs civilization: the basics of life migratory habits of society” [2, Р.55].
The fragility of the ecosystem led to the emergence of a variety of stressful situations for the system of life of nomads. And jute was the most dangerous of them.
Different dictionaries provide the following definition of the word "jute": "The starvation of cattle in the Central Asian republics (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Karakalpakstan), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, caused by significant meteorological phenomena that contributed to economic insecurity with respect to feed stocks. The most common winter jute comes from the formation of ice on the surface of the cortex pastures that livestock, especially sheep, are unable to break down; as a result, they die from starvation. Less commonly, jute is due to heavy snowfall and too thick snow cover.
Following a jute year there were unusually fast and strong burn pastures. In the fight against the jute, nomads needed hay from natural grasslands and field grass cultivation ". There is also another definition of "jute": "Mass deaths of livestock in winter pastures because of the inability to use the vegetation as a food source during or after natural disasters" .
If we turn to the emotional characteristics of the word "steppe", you can find very demonstrative adjectives reflecting a range of human perception of wilderness, most of which will have a tinge of pessimism, sadness, or meditation on the transience of life and the fragility of life.
On the extent and the nature of the relief: boundless, limitless, roadless, the endless, infinite, wavy, deep, enormous, open, flat, spacious, wide.
·About the experience and the psychological perception: silent, dreary, dismal, homeless, full of grace, Herculean, epic, fun, freestyle, hostile, dozing, drowsy, peaceful, grim, inaudible, sad, darling, fabulous, boring, was quiet, stern, quiet, melancholy, anxious, moody, sad, somber, docile, well-fed, dull, mining, cereal, feather grass, shrub, grass, sand, wormwood, virgin, black soil, etc.
·On climate, color, odor, the presence of water, vegetation, wildlife, fitness for human life: waterless, barren, treeless, desolate, without pasture, borax, brown, dead, naked, hungry, blue, flammable (obsolete), thick, virgin, wild, sultry, smoky, yellow, nature reserve, snow-covered, arid, green, sultry, golden, golden-brown, purple, dead, wet, naked (obsolete), fragrant, fertile, half-dead, desert, lush, pink, red, light, dry, dark, foggy, cold, blooming, black [ 5].
The direct translation of the Kazakh word "zhұt" - eater (in Russian - "jute") and is a massive loss of livestock from starvation . Steppe and jute combined into one word, "Godina" – hungry, bitter, terrible, angry, hysterical, dashing, dark, evil, cheerless, memorable, difficult, unhappy, memory, vague, harsh, black, mourning, hard, severe .
Among the options for use in the Kazakh word "zhұt" are the following:
· жұтжылықыстажaңбыржауып, мұзболады - jute caused by icy conditions in the winter due to rain
· ақсүйекжұт - the strongest jute (when all the cattle are killed)
· қоянныңжұты - jute, which occurred in the Year of the Rabbit
· жұтұажағажыртқызбау - prevent loss of cattle during the jute
· жұтқаұшырау - be subjected to jute
In the Kazakh language has many proverbs relating to these tragic circumstances in the history of the nation:
· Bai - before the first jute warrior - before the first bullet
· Jute's seven relatives - zhұt Zhety agayyndy "(meaning the summer drought, burning vegetation, early winter, loss of deep snow, winter rains, the formation of ice crust and other adverse environmental factors).
The historian Zardyhan Kiyanatuly in "Zhylagan zhyldar shezhiresi" notes that this proverb means that "jute seven brothers, snow, frost, strong storm (blizzard), no pens, lack of water, hunger and laziness" . Another interpretation of this folk proverb is that, "Misfortunes never come alone," meaning that after a heavy jute, there would be widespread epidemics of animal disease, and hunger, poverty, etc. for people.
These proverbs can also be found among other Eurasian nomads. For example, the Kyrgyz proverb "Without a blizzard jute does not happen, where there is no gossip there is no litigation" - Kazhalaң bolboy, zhut bolbont, car ozgoy bolboy, doo bolboyt ".
The objective conditions of a natural jute is considered by scientists to be the following: 1) sharp frosts and snowfall that began in the early spring, when not only the grass dies, but also the seeds of the future plant, which will cause poor summer herbage and prevent cattle from getting enough food; 2) the lack of rains in late May and the scorching sun, which will destroy the vegetation and the animals will have to migrate in search of food over long distances, leading to weight loss and poor growth of young animals. Summer woes can result, as the animals grew, gained weight and fat, and are themselves able to produce their own food under the snow. There are also other conditions, which can lead to jute; 3) heavy snowfall and windless weather, making a thick crust of snow and making it hard for animals to forage; 4) a sharp return of heat in the winter and the formation of a solid ice cover, which also does not allow animals to feed themselves independently.
If all these conditions are aligned, there comes a jute. Nomads can not under these circumstances resist the forces of the elements and prevent the oncoming disaster - massive loss of livestock. In other words, jute - is the death of livestock. It is necessary to make a reservation that the word has come to assume a deep metaphorical meaning and came to mean a massive loss of life. For example, the term is applied to the situation that characterized the period of collectivization of the 1930s.
In addition, the current study is the general laws of the interaction of natural, geographical and socio-economic factors in a nomadic society. First of all, it concerns the study of the question of the resettlement policy of the Russian Empire and a run on pasture land in the resettlement fund. The policy of resettlement of farmers, accompanied by a mass eviction from the fertile land of the Kazakhs, led to the destruction of traditional livestock farming. Evidence of this is the reduction in the number of Kazakh livestock at a time of relatively constant population growth.
For a long time in historical literature, it was thought that the main reason for the decline of nomadic pastoralism were jute. However, jute rarely covered all areas or regions, and in such cases, Kazakhs in one area which began in jute could go with their flocks to more favorable areas. In the late XIX - early XX century, however, nomadic Kazakhs did not have the right to move freely along traditional nomadic routes due to the reform of 1867-1868 years. Kazakh lands were declared state property. As a result of the resettlement policy from 1870-1896, peasant settlers arrived: to Akmola region - 144,180 people, in Semirechensk region - 92,842 in Semipalatinsk - 39,763, in the Ural - 60,867 [10, Р.65]. The most significant inflow of migrants was observed in the period 1903-1914, and was directly related to the implementation of the Stolypin’ agrarian reform. For 9 years, the European population was about 714,395 people. During the period from 1896 to 1914, 2,027,263 people moved to Kazakhstan [10, Р.70]. This increase in agrarian population significantly changed the way nomads Kazakh lived.
"The nomadic way also not provided, often wintering grounds have been completely separated from dzaylyau, Kazakhs and the district had to make a workaround for bypassing the resettlement villages hit by dzhaylyau. Kazakhs were gradually forced into the steppes' worst land, away from cultural centers, railways and waterways,” stressed S. Asfendiyarov [11, Р.187].
“Jutes increased in the last two decades. The population became directly dependent on reduced summering and wintering areas in the north to the south. Thanks to the first, because of tightness in the pastures of the sedentary Kazakh and resettlement of the population, the cattle in the summer did not have time to gain weight sufficiently to move the conditions of the winter tebenya” [12, P.172]
Thus, the Kazakhs in the impending jute were no longer free to drive their cattle to more favorable areas, because those areas were either peasant settlements, or "desyativerstaya band," through which it was impossible for nomads to pass. The radius of nomadism was limited to a minimum. The state maintained a policy of non-interference in nomadic animal husbandry but the system was gradually destroyed, with the nomads experiencing a very difficult process of transition to new forms of semi-nomadic and "dzhatachnoi" economy. However, this issue requires special study and is beyond the scope of this report. Therefore, we limit ourselves to formulation of the problem.
Examining issues related to the history of jute in the Kazakh steppe will be aided by archival materials and documents contained in the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kazakh scholar Atusheva Saltanat Bisenbaevna has done a lot of work on this topic. She has collected and systematized archival materials on the topic studied and defended in 2000 her thesis on "Jute in Kazakhstan in the late XIX-early XX centuries" .
Significant factual material about the loss of livestock, drought, animal diseases, as well as various reports and official reports to the higher authorities about disasters that befell a particular county, about measures in this regard, are contained in the 44 CSA Fund of Kazakhstan "Semirechensky regional board of the War Ministry.” Statements about the number of the fallen and the remaining animals after jute, statistical reports on the health of the population are in the collections of 41 "Verniy County Government" and 25 fund "Turgay regional board." Various information about the cattle, the consequences of storms, droughts, mortality among the population in the fund are 369 "Akmola regional board." Statistical data on the economy of the Kazakhs, the data of the 1897 census are contained in 460 fund "Semipalatinsk regional statistics committee." Materials about sanitary and executive commissions to combat the plague, typhus and other diseases are contained in the 40 Fund "Mangyshlak County Government Ministry of Internal Affairs." A considerable amount of sources have been published in collections of documents and materials: "The past Kazakhstan in the sources and materials", "Materials on the history of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic", "Materials on the history of the political system of Kazakhstan", "Kazakh-Russian relations in the XVIII-XIX centuries."
Diverse actual material is also contained in a number of historical, ethnographic, statistical, geographical research. Rich ethnographic material of a descriptive nature is contained in the works of Russian scholars, travelers, government officials, and military: P.I. Rychkova, P.S. Pallas, I.G. George, J. Gaverdovsky, A.I. Levshina, G.N. Potanin, R. Karuttsa, N. Konshina, A. Divaeva, A. Dobromyslov, A. Alentova, W. Gern. Various materials contain works of representatives of the Kazakh intelligentsia: Ch. Valihanov, M.-S. Babadjanov, I. Altynsarin, B.Daulbaev, A.Dzhantyurin, M. Chormanov, A.Baitursynov, A. Bukeikhanov, M. Dulatov, T. Shonanov, T. Seydalin and many others.
Diverse statistical and ethnographic material are contained in "Materials on Kyrgyz Land" gathered under the leadership of F.A. Scherbiny on the twelve counties of Akmola, Semipalatinsk, Turgay areas, as well as "Materials on the survey of native and Russian old farming and land use in the area Semirechensk" in 4 volumes, compiled under the direction of P. Rumyantsev.
Important information and statistical data are contained in the annual reports of the governors-general, the application of which served as a "survey of the area for the years 1883-1909." And "Memorable books" published in the late 90s of the XIX century. Each document calls for a critical approach and comprehensive utilization of resources.
The prominent scholar S.D. Asfendiyarov mad a significant contribution to the study of the history of the Kazakh people from ancient times to the national uprising in 1916. In his "History of Kazakhstan," the author examines the colonial policy of Tsarism, the agrarian question. In particular, he writes: "Immigration policy tsarist caused a lot of damage is extremely Kazakh state. The main features that characterize the king's resettlement policy are: 1) The recovery of the best, most valuable land with water sources, and 2) a complete disregard for the needs of the Kazakh population, the confusion generated by the land and disturb the natural and familiar cycle of migrations, and 3) a constant offset of Kazakh villages with a lived-in area , with the demolition of the buildings, with the occupation of ready-made irrigation and tree plantings, and 4) the unauthorized assumption of mass migration, with the subsequent registration of persons " [11, Р. 186].
Jute were different, sometimes partially, sometimes majorly, devastating events for the whole of the Kazakh steppe. With every big jute a huge mass of nomads were deprived of their cattle and turned into beggars. "As they cursed fate for the fact that, by depriving them of cattle, jute condemned them to a slow death by starvation. These jute and carried off thousands of lives ... Could a man feel master of nature?" [14, Р.26]. Large jute repeated approximately every 10-12 years, and there have been partial jutes almost each year here and there. Disastrous in its consequences were jute 1855-1856, 1867-1868, 1879-1880, 1891-1892, 1903-1904, 1910-1911 etc.
Large and small jute occurred with varying frequency. Big (great) Jutes tended to fall on the Year of the Rabbit on the animal calendar. Especially harmful were jute every 36 years. They were called "ulkun-jute" (the great jute). In such years, 60 percent of the horses perished, half of sheep and camels, and almost all livestock goats. Nearly half died out in many encampments. In the story there are several such jute "Uly қoyan" - (the great hare) in 1879 and "Kіshіқoyan" - (small bunny) 1891. The same hungry were in 1903, 1927, 1963-1964 years.
Depending on their nature and consequences, the jute years were popularly called by various names. Therefore, the jute in 1867/68 was called "Zhalpak Koyan zhuty" (totally universal jute Koyan), 1879/80 'uly Koyan "(great Koyan), 1891/92 -" Kishi Koyan "(Koyan Jr.), 1915 / '16 - "gakyr Koyan" or "ak Koyan" (white Koyan), etc. .
Ubiquitous and local jute cyclically repeated not only in the years of the "Koyan", but also in the other years. For example, the almost universal 1911-1912 jute (jute, the pig) or the local jute 1918 in the Pavlodar district (zhylky zhuty – jute the horses) caused considerable damage to livestock farming Kazakhs [16, Р.57]. Jute emerged and spread to more areas, or sometimes almost the entire Kazakh steppe. In the most severe years, total livestock mortality was 70% and above. Here's how jute literature describes the circumstances of the late XIX century: "Sometimes with such a snow covered icy thick crust that it does not give way under the blows of the horse's hoof and livestock slides on it, as on the ice. In such cases, the animals are killed in masses ... ". "During times of heavy jute percentage of cattle plague could reach 50 or even 90%," the researchers emphasized [12, Р. 167].
In such years, many encampments died out, and in the desert, antelopes, argali, gazelles, kulans, bustards and other animals also died out. In these lean years Kazakhs were forced to eat foods that were never used in normal circumstances - birch syrup, mushrooms, a variety of prairie plants and grasses.
M. Tynyshpaev writes about this in his article, "Ak-Taban - shuburundy (great distress and great victories of the Kazakhs): "Folk legends still others give guidance on the size of the disaster: after "Ak-Taban shubryndy," he adds "Alka-kol’ Sulama" or "kain saugan," which literally means "milked birch," that is, that people ate stripped birch and birch pulp juice. During the 1918 famine, an old tradition was recalled that once during the invasion of the Kalmyks, their ancestors ate the same things as in 1918, "Jau Jumhury" - something like a field of potatoes, "algyr" - like the onion, the root is very bitter plants (in raw form - the poison), "goat-kuyryk" (mushrooms) and other plants and their roots, and unclean beasts "[18, Р.191]. Changing their diet gave the nomads a chance of survival, who in calmer and more fruitful years had never eaten these plants or products.
Nomads, living only by grazing cattle, could lead only a passive fight against natural phenomena like the jute. Their ability to resist the famine it brought was limited mainly to migrations from place to place. Usually they escaped from jute by traveling to new places. Without regard to any frost, storm, or mist, the nomads roamed up until the cattle could not move. During such terrible winters nomads sometimes arranged fences of the corpses of dead animals to escape the fierce snowstorms. As a result of such a disaster, yesterday's rich animal-owner turned within a few days into a beggar.
"If any country in the winter or early spring will be sleet, then transported livestock to other locations, free of glazed ice. When the herds suffered from prolonged or icy storms, the likelihood of a complete sacrifice one of the herds or even part of it, to save others from death, emerged, as the misery of starvation was seldom equally disastrous for the whole steppe, as it was in terrible winter of 1879-1880 years., when it hit all the steppe from the far western China to the river to the Urals and from the Irtysh to the Syr Darya "[19, Р.22-23].
In the severe winter of 1879-1880, in the central part of the Kirghiz steppe (Turgay, Akmola and North-Western part of Syrdarya region) 6,106,000 (50%) of 12.71 million head of livestock died from starvation. After 12 years, in 1891 there was a significant loss of livestock from starvation - 364,054 head or 17.5%, of which: 217 470 fine (18%), 107,398 horses (22%), cattle 29580 (12.6 %) and camels 9606 (11.4%) [20, Р.24].
Winter 1899-1900 was distinguished by heavy snow and extreme severity, especially in the Balkhash plain in the valley. Or in the upper river. Chilik, as well as in Bakhtin's site where the slain 58785 head of cattle: horses - 4464, cattle - 1705, camels - 876, rams - 50600 and goats 1140. The percentage of natural growth of livestock decreased compared to the previous year's 27007 heads.
In 1903, from jute and other adverse reasons for livestock, 1,249,024 heads fell in Semirech’e region. Those registered on January 1, 1903 were 6,197,291 head of cattle, 20.2% less.
Another long and cold winter in 1907 with frequent snow and rain heavily affected the nomadic herding. Due to lack of food supplies in the spring and a lack of grazing, cattle were condemned to death. From this jute in 1907 Verny, Jarkentskaya and Przewalski counties suffered the most. In 1907, the area Semirechensk lost 326162 heads of all the animal species in 1908 from the jute - 1,050,970 heads in 1909 - 56436 heads.
Kazakh people in the XIX - early XX century suffered a number of hardships and misfortunes, especially different diseases: typhoid, natural trachoma, smallpox, phthisis, measles, consumption, rheumatism, malaria, eye diseases. Infant mortality was very high, 60-70% of the children born before the age of 1 year. Even imperfect statistics testified to a relatively low natural increase of the Kazakh population. The main reason for this was harsh economic and social conditions of the Kazakh population, which could not be hidden by official sources. However, often the governor's statements concealed this fact behind streamlined wording: "failure to adapt to a healthy life Kyrgyz wintering." Massive epidemics were one of the reasons for the high mortality rate.
Natural climatic conditions have a system of grazing, which was reflected in the seasonally pasture use and the specific organization of social production. At the same time, grazing in extreme periods, called jute and caused by icing, poor harvests, heavy snowfalls, blizzards and snowstorms was significantly different. Typically, cattle grazed separately, but during jute nomads were forced to resort to co-grazing. This meant any grazing animals in sequence with the biological characteristics of the form and degree of palatability of feed and permitted to feed cattle in deep snow and ice [2, C.100]. A.I. Levshin described the practice of co-grazing "... first let the horses hooves are tearing the snow and eat the tops of grasses. Behind them to the same place kicked cattle and camels, horses continue to have started the grass and eat up the middle of the stems. But the lower part thereof, located near the root, camels can not gnaw ... then the sheep, produced by grazing cattle after things at one and the same place find food "[21, Р.379]. Such descriptions can also be found at the P. Pallas, A. Dobromyslov and others. For example, J. Gaverdovsky writes "... First let horses ... They are raking in drifts with hooves and on the top layer eat grass. The horses were followed by the camels and cattle, and then herds of sheep and goats ... "[2, Р.101].
A prominent expert on the specifics of the Kazakh nomadic type of life, N.E. Massanov, emphasized that, on average, the nomads resorted to co-grazing for almost the entire winter period, not more than once every five or six years. However, he also pointed out that, for example, in northern Kazakhstan without sharing grazing cattle feed to ensure it was not possible. And, for example, in the south of this type of grazing could occasionally be used in the case when the winter herd of horses was near wintering. In general, the practice of joint or separate grazing depended on the specific climatic conditions [2, Р.101].
Other ways to combat extreme natural events included corralling cattle in the forest and the creation of artificial barriers, clearing pasture from the snow by hand for cattle. For example, Pallas MP, describes the situation as "if the big snow fell, the kirgiztsy thereof rake shovel for small livestock." Bronevsky S., in turn, writes that icy snow was smashed with axes [2, Р.102].
Survival in extreme conditions was also aided by ecological knowledge and superstitions. Quite a lot of Kazakhs' superstitions involved weather and predictions. Here are some of them: if the moon is surrounded by a circle of shadow, it is expected a severe winter, if the month is lying on his back, the weather is unfavorable for livestock, windy summer corresponds to blizzard, winter, if the summer will be rainy, the winter will be severe, and if the summer will have frequent lightning, winter will be unfavorable, if wild birds lay eggs less than usual, the winter will be severe, and if the winter sparrow nest warms and there is fluff, frost will increase, and if your bird's nest in the hollow of recoil, the summer is dry, and if there is a marmot hiding in a hole early, then winter will be severe, and many others [22, Р.258-261]. There are also a number of prohibitions related to the environment of the heavenly bodies and all that surrounds us. For example, "Do not count stars", "do not leave the ground dug", "Do not cover the green grass", "do not touch the spring of animals and birds" [22, Р.269].
Vivid descriptions of jute and national tragedy, we can read in the various works of Kazakh writers. The works of Kazakh literature for us is a very important historical source. Such a description of jute can be found in the pages of the works of Kazakh writer Mukhtar Auezov: "The surface of the steppe like getting licked, uniformly smooth as an egg. Food supplies quickly ran out, livestock starved. Many animals died. On the cattle yards and piled up in the desert were mountains of icy sheep carcasses. In the set fell from starvation and cows. Somehow, I kept a strong adult camel. Rescuing animals falling from exhaustion, the women walked for several months with hoes and hands in the cold, looking for food to unearth bushes, camel thorn .
Here are a few excerpts from novels by M.Auezov. "Jute has been at all times ... this is normal, inevitable disaster" .
"The strength of jute is judged not only by the cattle that graze near the village, but also by horse herds returning from winter pastures to the first heat. All the hardships of severe winter time are reflected on them. Emaciated herds from Kunanbai barely made it to the Zhidebaya. Horses looked terrible. The strongest stallions and mares wandered like shadows. Wool grew on their backs, ruffled and matted, swollen feet and joints and bulging huge nodes. In the posts was not a single stallion, only the strong survived ... village horses were suppressed. People stopped to visit each other' homes, to meet, live as if the hurricane. All were absorbed by only one concern - to save the remnants of thin herds from the deadly cold spring wind ".
"Winter stocks of fodder is the first concern of the local residents, but they also have another way out in case of jute. Since the beginning of the cold, they closely monitor the weather, the condition of the snow, and prepare for the fight against the chill. And if, as now, December is fierce, they leave only the most emaciated, weak cattle, all the cows and sheep, suitable for pasture, sent to the shelter from the wind distant pastures to Genghis, Zhidebaya and Akshoky. Endless processions then pulled the herd to the side of mountain gorges, guarded by their owners and shepherds ".
"This short end of the winter made people cringe. Especially difficult was the beginning of April. April is the month of the first green shoots. Unprecedented cold and snowstorms found people by surprise and caused irreparable disaster. They are etched in the memory of the people under the name of "April jute" or "jute last snow" - that was unusual deep snow that fell at that time ".
The following are illustrative excerpts from the book written by M.Auezov for school and which contains the two following text: "Why is jute?" And "How to save the cattle at the time of jute?".
· "Why is jute?
-Why is jute? - Khadisha asked the mother.
-Jute happens when deep snow falls, and then thaws, followed by-rain. The ice forms. Animals find it hard to get food out of ice and deep snow. The animals lose weight and die of starvation.
-And why not feed them hay?
-Do you know how much hay we have? - Asked the mother.
-We have a lot of hay, I saw.
No, we have twenty cartloads of hay. If you feed our cattle with hay, hay will not last long.
-Then why have you not stacked more hay?
-Because there is nowhere else to mow. We mowed all our meadows.
-What about how to save animals from starvation during the jute?
-If the wind blows warm or thaw comes, the ice will not. Animals will again get their food out of the snow. Then the cattle will be saved. Or the city will help us. No city would be hard to us at the time of jute. The city provides cheap animal feed, help and money.
- What a nice, kind city! - Said the little Khadisha. "
· "How to save animals during jute?
It's hard for Kazakhs to save their cattle from jute. It is very bad for those who have no close-by mountains or convenient for winter tracts. During all the jute lean cattle are separated and fed in the villages with hay. Horses were sent to distant sites, where there was more grazing. Sheep and cows were sent to the shepherds in the big mountains. In the mountains there are fewer storms. There is a land where there is little snow. Aula, which are close to the city, get help from the city. Cities help with money and food. If it were not for the mountains and cities, it would be hard to save animals from death " .
It must be recognized that the impact of the Russian state to the nomadic steppe was multifaceted. We were trying to avoid colonial rhetoric in the course of our conversation, leaving it with the fact that one of these impacts was the steppe urbanization and the emergence of new types and forms of employment. And if before, the lack of demand for labor and impoverishment would lead them to a slow death in the desert, or settling on the outskirts of migratory habits of the area, now there are new opportunities for the life of these groups. These capabilities were provided by the city. In his book, "The nomadic Kazakhs' civilization," N.Massanov emphasizes, "As the data on the" ticketing fees indicated, each year up to 20 thousand Kazakhs flock to the city, the Cossack villages, peasant population, military capacity for employment. As a rule, most of them there forever, and remained, swelling the ranks of the Ural, Orenburg, Siberian Cossacks, the peasants' element of the urban population, etc." [2, Р.237].
Paraphrasing and extending certain provisions given by the author of "The steppe ecosystem,” 'Mordkovich, on the society of nomadic steppe, we note some main trends in adaptive devices [29, Р.143-144]. First, the majority of adaptation strategies were multifunctional and therefore universal. They were designed for all the surprises of environmental variability. Second, most of the nomadic adaptation strategies had a huge margin of safety based on the load limits associated with significant fluctuations of environmental factors in the desert. Third, steppe organisms possessed adaptive abilities, that could turn on and off with almost lightning speed. This switchability was a successful response to the high frequency of environmental emergencies in the wilderness. These adaptations in the environment included, for example, the unique flexibility of saiga, able to stay at full gallop, and turning to 90 °, again instantly develop a speed of an express train. Fourth, the characteristic feature of the steppe's adaptive organisms was "passion" for the storage of energy, nutrients and water. This means that they were all equally effective responses to all the previously named integral qualities of the steppe ecosystem. Plants accumulated organic matter and water in the root mass; mammals - in the subcutaneous fat. These trends applied to the entire ecosystem, flora and fauna, as well as human society, and in particular the resources of the human body, characterized by a high degree of endurance and adaptive plasticity. About these characteristics Kazakh nomads wrote almost all European authors who visited the Kazakh steppes in the XVII-XIX centuries, including travelers, diplomats, missionaries, government officials, traders.
And to finish, I would like to share a report from the unique, in my opinion, book by Mordovitch entitled, "The steppe ecosystem," which claimed that "the future of the steppe landscape, no matter how distant it may seem, and no matter how important present-day concerns, people should worry about now. More care should be given to the problem of the relationship between man and the steppe. A large number of costs in the course of history from one to the other cannot be regarded as an accident. To live at odds with as unstable a terrain as the steppe, one must be flexible and follow all the twists and turns of its fickle nature. It is necessary to first, quickly pick up sand prairie fluctuations, and second, to perfect an adequate yet instantaneous response to them. People in their relations with the steppe as the more experienced and older age of their "lesser brothers" should strive to create response mechanisms that can easily be turned on and off, multi-purpose, with a reserve of strength and a lot of attention to the soil. With respect to the young man and the steppe, such an approach gives hope that the former will eventually form the best relations with nature, and its full strength and regenerative abilities will come out of any test with honor "[29, Р.192-193].
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