STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF FIVE VOLOST NOMADS OF THE URAL UYEZD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ("MATERIALS ON KYRGYZ LAND USE..." IN PRINCIPLE)

Abstract

The author, using the cadastral–statistical historical source Materials on Kyrgyz Land Use Collected and Processed by the Statistical Party of the Turgay–Ural Resettlement District, along with a number of other sources and studies, examines the incomes derived from various occupations in five volosts of the Ural Uyezd (the Chilik, Chingirlau, Burlin, Karaoba, and Dzhanbeyti volosts) in the early twentieth century. The article considers the following groups of occupations: agricultural, commercial, artisanal, craft-based, miscellaneous, women’s occupations, and others. The author presents both the number and the percentage of households engaged in these occupations, for the uyezd as a whole and for each volost individually. The article compares incomes both within occupational groups and between them, showing which occupations generated higher incomes and which yielded less. Although individual professions and professional groups brought great income, the vast majority of Kazakhs were engaged in low-income professions. Based on the statistical data, the author concludes that these occupations played a significant yet still auxiliary role in the lives of nomads, although certain occupations did yield substantial income.