Sacred Geographies in the Eurasian Steppe: The Aqkol Shrine as a Symbol of Kazakh Ethnicity and Religiosity

Abstract

In the case of Aqkol, the close connection between religion and a national Kazakh identity is visible in the process of museumification of the shrine complex. Aqkol has its own small museum, located in the wing of the village’s administrative building. In the museum, pictures of Zhandarbek or Isabek, or Zhandarbek’s personal belongings are exposed and practically blended with an official vision of the Kazakhstani history, thus creating a sense of belonging to Aqkol within an official discourse on the Kazakhstani past and present. The state-run mass media slowly built up public interest in the Aqkol’s renovated shrines, leading to the construction of a nationalistic narrative around Aqkol. From being local Kazakh tribal saints, Isabek and Zhandarbek slowly joined the pantheon of all-Kazakh saints.