In this article, the authors explore a little-known segment of the life and work of the ideological founder and leader of the national liberation movement, the Alash party of the early twentieth century, the founder and head of the Autonomous Republic of Alash A.N. Bukeikhana in the early years of the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan. After the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan, he lived and worked in his native country for less than two years -from August 1920 to December 1922. New historical materials found in the fund of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the central archives of the Russian Federation (Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, Department of Archives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation), as well as collections on the movement and the Alash party, individual historical documents, published in the periodical press, allow us to restore the little-studied periods of the life and work of A.N. Bukeikhana (1920-1922), conducted by him in his homeland.

The article is devoted to the study of the ethnic component of the identity of the Kazakhs at the beginning of the 20th century on the basis of the works of Alikhan Bukeikhan. The article considers internal and external factors that influenced the development of the ethnic identity of the Kazakhs. Particular attention is paid to the problem of the plurality of Kazakh identities, the study of various components of identity, the mechanisms of their formation and manifestation. The authors for the first time presented a comprehensive description of the identity of the Kazakhs at the beginning of the 20th century. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study includes the ideas about the identity of B. Anderson, F. Bart, E. Hobsbaum. The main content of the study is the analysis of the scientific works of Alikhan Bukeikhan, in which the idea of the role of "Alash" in the revival of the national identity of the Kazakhs runs like a red thread. According to the authors, this issue reached its climax in December 1917 after the Second All-Kazakh Congress of the Alash Party and the decisions made at it. As a result of the study, the authors came to the conclusion that the Kazakhs of the period under review are characterized by a multiple identity, consisting of several levels. It is emphasized that the reasons for such a hierarchy in ethnic identification were the large share of the territorial component, the increased role of the religious factor and the crisis of tribal identity.

In the article the authors investigate ethnic autostereotypes of Tuvans and Kazakhs, as well as heterostereotypes of other ethnic groups. As part of the study, a retrospective review of written sources on the ancient and medieval nomads of Eurasia was made as well as a comparative analysis of historical stereotypes about Eurasian nomads and modern Tuvans and Kazakhs. The authors identified a common basis of nomadic stereotypes reflected in culture or in ideas about similar elements of “traditional” culture. Based on the comparative analysis of ancient and modern stereotypes, the authors came to the conclusion that they have certain continuity. The authors identified five groups of heterosteric stereotypes and three groups of autostereotypes that arose in antiquity and are used in various forms in the modern cultural and interethnic agenda.