The Department of History of Kazakhstan is a product of Independence. Its establishment coincided with the attainment of state independence by the Republic of Kazakhstan. As an independent structural unit of the university, the Department of History of Kazakhstan was formed in 1991.
Its foundation was the Department of Marxism-Leninism. In 1965, it was divided into the Department of the History of the CPSU, which at different times was headed by Associate Professors A. I. Gubanova (1965–1978), G. M. Emelina (1978–1984), S. A. Zhienbayev (1984–1991), and the Department of Scientific Communism, headed by Associate Professors Zh. I. Iskakov (1974–1985) and V. K. Grivennaya (1985–1991). In 1991, the Department of the History of the CPSU was reorganized into the Department of Political History, on the basis of which the Department of History of Kazakhstan was established.
The creation of the Department of History of Kazakhstan was determined by several factors. First, the attainment of independence and the development of Kazakhstan as a sovereign state brought to the forefront the problem of objective reconstruction and study of the country’s history within the context of the global historical process. Second, the rich historical heritage of the Kazakh people serves as the foundation for the civic and patriotic education of the younger generation. Historical science is the main dominant force in shaping the foundations of Kazakhstani patriotism and international education of youth. Third, historical science has always attracted special attention due to its significance for any society at all stages of its development. The extent to which history is fully and objectively developed as a science determines how well society learns the lessons of the past and avoids repeating former mistakes.
A powerful instrument of influence on public consciousness is concrete examples from the lives of outstanding individuals—figures of science and culture, as well as examples of people’s behavior during difficult and crisis periods of history. Therefore, the study of national history in the educational process plays an important role in fostering feelings of Kazakhstani patriotism.
Since 1992, the course “History of Kazakhstan” has been introduced in higher educational institutions of the country as a compulsory discipline for all specialties, with a state examination as the final form of assessment. The state significance of studying the history of Kazakhstan and its role in implementing priority tasks of Kazakhstan’s development has increased in the modern period, when the country is developing under conditions of economic, political, social, and spiritual modernization, and society faces the crucial task of patriotic education of the younger generation.
The need to organize this department was primarily determined by the fact that for many years the presentation of the history of Kazakhstan was conceptually and thematically tied to the structural and thematic framework of the history of the USSR. The history of Kazakhstan was studied outside the context of world historical evolution. Thus, continuity in the development of historical thought in Kazakh society was artificially disrupted in favor of party ideology. As a result, during the formation of historical consciousness, national history became the most demanded.
The first head of the newly established department was Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor N. Zh. Agubayev (1991–1996), who bore the main burden of the formative period. Significant contributions to the establishment of the department were made by respected veterans: Zh. I. Iskakov, A. I. Gubanova, P. P. Golovina, N. A. Samsonova, and A. M. Mukazhanova. The pioneers of teaching the discipline “History of Kazakhstan” were G. M. Kakenova, G. A. Alpysbayeva, S. A. Maken, K. O. Kashayeva, G. E. Batyrkhanova, M. M. Sarsekeyev, and R. A. Khalikov. Young lecturers who actively distinguished themselves included R. T. Kabiyeva, S. V. Zavgorodnyaya, D. B. Shaimerdenova, A. K. Bayanova, B. Oroskhan, E. V. Shchelokova, Z. E. Eleshova, S. B. Zhainakova, and others.
In the early years, the department faced difficulties in providing students with textbooks and monographic literature. The teaching staff worked intensively to ensure the quality of educational and methodological materials: they developed lecture texts, seminar plans, published учебные materials, compiled thematic case folders, and prepared materials for student knowledge assessment.
There were also considerable challenges related to changing the methodological foundations for studying national history. Prior to 1991, the history of Kazakhstan was developed according to a programmed ideological scheme; subjective coverage of many pages of history—especially the Soviet period—was absent. Students of higher and secondary educational institutions were effectively deprived of the opportunity to learn about their historical roots and the place of the republic in the history of Europe and Asia.
The study of the history of Kazakhstan was allocated an insignificant number of hours; there was no scientifically substantiated methodology for teaching it as an independent academic discipline, nor were there appropriate textbooks. As a result, graduates of schools and universities often had only general and sometimes distorted ideas about Kazakhstan’s past. For example, heroes who led anti-colonial movements in the 18th–19th centuries disappeared from historical narratives, while themes such as collectivization, industrialization, and mass political repression remained “blank spots” in national history.
In this regard, it became obvious that along with broad public awareness efforts, it was necessary to establish high-quality teaching and study of the history of Kazakhstan in educational institutions.
From the first years of the department’s activity, the teaching staff sought to create optimal conditions for the full development of students’ spiritual aspirations and creative abilities, for the formation of civic positions, socially significant values, civic and professional qualities, and responsibility for decision-making. During lectures and seminars, instructors and students analyzed significant events in the life of modern Kazakhstan and the global community, contributing to the formation of humanitarian and worldview culture among university students. Faculty members regularly held thematic discussions and delivered reports at round tables, scientific and methodological seminars of the university and department dedicated to significant events, and participated in discussions of the annual Addresses of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the people.
Since its foundation, the department has paid great attention to research activities. In 1996, the department organized and held an international scientific conference titled “Russia and Kazakhstan: History and Prospects of Relations.”
From 1996 to 2001, the department was headed by Candidate of Historical Sciences Galya Aitpayevna Alpysbayeva. During this period, extensive organizational work was carried out to introduce additional special courses and disciplines into curricula, such as “Formation of the Multinational Population of Kazakhstan,” “Spiritual Heritage of the Kazakh People,” and “Economic History of Kazakhstan,” and to develop an educational and methodological base for teaching departmental disciplines. The introduction of special courses contributed to deepening knowledge of national history and strengthening the educational potential of the department.
From 2002 to 2004, the department was headed by Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor A. K. Abdina. Two research topics were registered with KazGosNTI: “Study of the Socio-Political Development of Kazakhstan in the 1950s–1960s” (headed by Assoc. Prof. G. A. Alpysbayeva) and “Spiritual Heritage of the Kazakh People in the Education System” (headed by Assoc. Prof. A. K. Abdina). The result of the first project was the publication in 2008 of G. A. Alpysbayeva’s monograph Astana in the New and Contemporary Period and the defense of her doctoral dissertation in 2009 titled Akmola, Tselinograd, Astana: History, Historiography, and Source Studies. Educational and methodological manuals on the course “Spiritual Heritage of the Kazakh People” were published by senior lecturers B. S. Abdildina, S. B. Zhainakova, and D. B. Shaimerdenova.
From 2004 to 2013, the department was headed by Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Khadisha Alkeevna Aubakirova. During these years, meticulous work was carried out to strengthen the scientific, pedagogical, and material-technical base of the department. Research and teaching activities were conducted in accordance with the Quality Management System, creating conditions for educational processes and intellectual inquiry at the level of modern requirements.
During this period, a new generation of specialists joined the department, including A. P. Aliakbarova, G. B. Baizhuma, A. M. Koskeeva, as well as Candidates of Historical Sciences Zh. R. Abisheva and A. Zh. Gabdulina. Young scholars actively engaged in faculty work and the Council of Young Researchers, becoming an integral part of the university community.
Over the years, they prepared and published textbooks in Kazakh, Russian, and English, a collective monograph, and scientific articles in authoritative academic journals indexed in leading scientometric databases. Parallel to this, significant educational and ideological work was conducted. During this period, A. P. Aliakbarova served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Humanities for Educational Work, and the faculty became a platform for major city and national events. In 2013, A. Zh. Gabdulina became a recipient of the international “Bolashak” scholarship and completed a nine-month research internship at the University of Reading (United Kingdom).
From April 2013 to September 2022, a new stage in the department’s development began under the leadership of Candidate of Historical Sciences Omirbay Zholdybekovich Bekmaganbetov. During this period, the staff was expanded by new specialists—K. V. Dzhumagaliyeva, L. T. Dzhumaliyeva, G. Zh. Zhuman, and N. K. Demeuova—who made significant contributions to strengthening the scientific and pedagogical potential of the department. In this period, L. T. Dzhumaliyeva’s textbook History of the Socio-Political Activity of the Kazakh Intelligentsia was published, as well as a number of educational publications and special courses by G. Zh. Zhuman, including Spiritual and Moral Guidelines and Everyday Life of Kazakhstani Society in the 1920s–1930s, Problems of Spirituality in Contemporary Kazakhstani Society, and the monograph History of the Resettlement Movement to the Territory of the Aulie-Ata District of the Syrdarya Region in the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Centuries.
Since September 2022 to the present, the department has been headed by Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) A. P. Aliakbarova.
Today, the Department of History of Kazakhstan possesses significant intellectual potential and qualified staff capable of training future professionals. As of 2025, the department’s degree attainment rate is 85%. The average age of faculty members with academic degrees and titles is 49 years. Seventeen faculty members teach in the state, Russian, and English languages, accounting for 100%. Two faculty members teach in multilingual groups in English. Recruitment of teaching staff is carried out among individuals holding academic degrees or titles and possessing pedagogical and professional experience.
The study of the history of Kazakhstan is based on new conceptual approaches and involves a substantial amount of students’ independent work. Lectures and seminars employ interactive teaching methods, enabling students to develop skills in critical thinking, understanding historical chronology, interpreting historical facts, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comprehensive and systemic analysis of historical events, phenomena, and personalities, as well as public speaking and oratory skills.
Improving students’ knowledge quality is facilitated by their active involvement in research work on local history, regular visits to city museums, and the organization of subject Olympiads, student conferences, and scientific seminars.
Since 2011, faculty members have participated in the development of state-funded projects. Priority research areas include state-confessional relations (early 20th century–1990s), historical urban studies of Kazakhstan (19th–20th centuries), social processes in northern regions during the Virgin Lands campaign, the Kazakh intelligentsia and the Alash movement, and others.
To date, the department has completed several projects funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
From 2011 to 2014, projects included Innovative Approaches to Modernizing the System of Agricultural Education for the Accelerated Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan (headed by Prof. G. A. Alpysbayeva) and Siberian Cossacks and Kazakhs of the Steppe Region in the 18th–19th Centuries (headed by Assoc. Prof. Kh. A. Aubakirova). The results included a monograph (2014), methodological recommendations (2013), and articles in journals recommended by KOKSNVO and international conference proceedings.
From 2015 to 2016, two research projects were implemented under the program The People in the Flow of History (2014–2016): History of Astana: Problems of Preservation and Transformation of Cultural Space (headed by Prof. G. A. Alpysbayeva) and Siberian Cossacks and Kazakhs of the Steppe Region in the 18th–19th Centuries (headed by Assoc. Prof. Kh. A. Aubakirova). The outcomes included monographs (2016), methodological recommendations (2015), and articles in highly ranked domestic and international journals.
From 2015 to 2027, a project titled Social Processes in the Northern Regions of Kazakhstan during the Virgin Lands Campaign and Their Impact on the Sociocultural Environment of the Region has been carried out (scientific supervisor: Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Sh. N. Sayakhimova). The results include a monograph (2017), a textbook (2019), and articles in journals recommended by KOKSNVO and international conference materials.
From 2020 to 2022, a state-funded project titled State-Confessional Relations in Kazakhstan (Early 20th Century – Late 1930s) (IRN: AP08855487), headed by Prof. G. A. Alpysbayeva, was implemented. The results included articles in journals indexed in Web of Science (Q1, Q2), journals recommended by KOKSON, and international conference proceedings.
Currently, the department is implementing a state-funded project for 2024–2026 titled Historical Experience of State-Confessional Relations in Kazakhstan (1940–1990) (IRN: AP23486006), headed by Prof. G. A. Alpysbayeva. Based on the first two years of work, articles have already been published in Scopus-indexed journals and journals recommended by KOKSNVO.
Faculty members involved in the projects (K. V. Dzhumagaliyeva, A. P. Aliakbarova, Kh. A. Aubakirova, G. Zh. Zhuman) actively work in archives of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Previously unused sources have been collected and introduced into scholarly circulation.
Faculty members (Prof. K. Zh. Nurbay, Associate Professors K. V. Dzhumagaliyeva, B. B. Yensepov, Zh. R. Abisheva, G. Zh. Zhuman, A. Zh. Gabdulina) conduct research and publish articles within initiative topics, including in journals indexed in Scopus (Q1, Q2) and KOKSON.
In 2024–2025, A. Zh. Gabdulina became a recipient of the “500 Scholars” scientific internship under the international “Bolashak” program and completed a one-year program at the University of Illinois, USA.
The department’s faculty systematically involve students in research activities. Annually, students under faculty supervision participate in the “Seifullin Readings” and in international student conferences both within Kazakhstan and abroad.
Educational and methodological activities of the department are carried out in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Education,” the Law “On Languages,” regulatory documents of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and on the basis of state compulsory educational standards and standard curricula.
With the introduction of the credit system of education, the department undertook extensive work on methodological support of the educational process. Syllabi and educational-methodological complexes for the disciplines “History of Kazakhstan” (G. A. Alpysbayeva, Kh. A. Aubakirova, Zh. R. Abisheva, A. Zh. Gabdulina) and “Spiritual Heritage of the Kazakh People” (B. S. Abdildina, A. P. Aliakbarova, G. B. Baizhuma) were developed and published.
For all taught disciplines, working curricula were developed in accordance with the requirements of the State Standard of Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, taking into account the number of academic hours in curricula for various specialties. New methodological approaches in modern humanities, the availability of new educational literature, and the specifics of specialty curricula were considered.
In recent years, the results of the department’s educational and methodological work include published textbooks and teaching aids, such as Culture of the Kazakhs in the 18th–19th Centuries (A. Zh. Gabdulina), History of Kazakhstan in Diagrams and Tables (A. Zh. Gabdulina), Political Processes in Kazakhstan in the 1920s–1930s (Zh. R. Abisheva), Independent Work Assignments and Methodological Guidelines on the History of Kazakhstan (A. M. Koskeeva, G. A. Magzumova), Lecture Course on the History of Kazakhstan (Kh. A. Aubakirova), The Liberation Struggle of the Kazakh People: History and Lessons (O. Zh. Bekmaganbetov, B. B. Yensepov), educational-methodological complexes on the History of Kazakhstan (B. S. Abdildina, K. R. Asilov, G. B. Baizhumas, A. M. Koskeeva), History of the Fight Against Nationalism in Kazakhstan (A. M. Koskeeva), Development of the Salt Industry in Western Kazakhstan in the 19th Century (K. V. Dzhumagaliyeva), materials for multilingual groups, Colonial Policy of the Russian Empire in the 19th – Early 20th Centuries (Sh. N. Sayakhimova), History of Kazakhstan in English (A. Zh. Gabdulina), and others.
As part of faculty development, A. P. Aliakbarova, G. B. Baizhuma, A. M. Koskeeva, and B. S. Abdildina enrolled in doctoral programs at L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University under national grants and successfully completed their studies. In 2019, A. M. Koskeeva defended her dissertation The National Question in the Works of Kazakh Creative Intelligentsia (1956–1991); in 2022, A. P. Aliakbarova defended H. Altai and the Kazakh Diaspora: A Historical Analysis; and in the same year, G. B. Baizhuma defended Demographic Processes of Kazakhs in Mongolia: A Historical Analysis (Second Half of the 19th Century – Early 21st Century).
It is important to note that the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan Chair operates within the department, conducting scientific, educational, and educational activities in the field of ethnopolitics, development of Kazakhstani identity, strengthening interethnic harmony, and promoting dialogue among representatives of different ethnic groups of Kazakhstan.
The department’s activities include the development of joint research projects with students on ethnopolitical and ethnocultural topics, active involvement of students in Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan events, meetings with public figures, work with student associations, and more.
In recent years, the department’s staff has been strengthened by the awarding of the title of Associate Professor to faculty members B. B. Yensepov, K. V. Dzhumagaliyeva, A. Zh. Gabdulina, G. Zh. Zhuman, Zh. R. Abisheva, and L. T. Dzhumaliyeva.
Currently, the scientific and pedagogical potential of the department has been enriched by a number of young and experienced specialists, including Candidate of Historical Sciences K. Zh. Zhubatkanov, Doctors of Philosophy (PhD) A. K. Ospanova, G. T. Momynova, M. N. Shakiev, and Master’s degree holders Zh. S. Smakhanova, Ö. R. Shnanov, and S. Nurdybek.
The arrival of a new and experienced generation of researchers has given impetus to the department’s research, methodological, and educational activities, contributing to the improvement of the quality of the educational process.
The department conducts extensive educational work, with special attention to patriotic education of students. Student clubs and circles operate within the department, aimed at forming national self-awareness, fostering citizenship, and implementing development priorities of Kazakhstani society. Every year, the Department of History organizes a series of events dedicated to Independence Day, including meetings with scholars and public figures, round tables, conferences, quizzes, and excursions to the National Museum, the First President’s Library, the Saken Seifullin Museum, and the State Archive of Astana.
Today, the Department of History of Kazakhstan faces major and responsible tasks. It must shape and structure students’ historical consciousness, present objective positions of historical science, and educate students with an active civic stance and patriotic feelings of love for their homeland.
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