Central Asian Studies

Digital transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a paradigm shift in work; hybrid work arrangements that combine remote and in-office work are becoming the norm in many business organizations worldwide. Employees benefit from the flexible working arrangements that the hybrid work offers, but they often navigate in uncertainty in terms of legal protection and contractual arrangements, even in the EU (European Union). WB (Western Balkan) countries have embraced hybrid work with a constant effort to align their policy and legal framework to the EU standards, as pressing requisites of EU integration aspirations. This study aims to explore the readiness of WB countries' national legal and policy frameworks to regulate hybrid work through mapping and analyzing the dimensions of hybrid work in national legal and policy frameworks through a comparative legal and policy analysis. Results reveal that in the majority of the legal frameworks of WB countries, there is no specific definition of hybrid work, and legal arrangements on homework or telework can be found in the legal frameworks of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Employees' working conditions, work-life balance, gender aspect, and well-being are not fully addressed. Policy instruments remain underdeveloped, with Serbia being the only country with significant labor reform progress. National legal frameworks need further harmonization, whereas national policies need to tailor proper policy instruments that address hybrid work.

В сборник включены материалы Республиканской научно-практической конференции магистрантов и студентов «Актуальные проблемы истории Казахстана: историческая память и судьбы личностей», посвящённой 100-летию академика Е.А. Букетова. Конференция прошла в рамках XII Республиканского форума молодых исследователей «Феномен Е.А.
Букетова: Учёный. Педагог. Личность» и была направлена на поддержку научного потенциала молодых исследователей, обсуждение вопросов сохранения и обновления исторической памяти, а также укрепление преемственности в развитии отечественной исторической науки. В сборнике представлены научные статьи и доклады, посвящённые актуальным проблемам истории Казахстана, вопросам исторического сознания, традициям государственности, сложным этапам национальной истории ХХ века, формированию политической и культурной элиты, а также исследованию жизненных путей выдающихся исторических личностей

Uzbekistan's post-2016 foreign and domestic policy trajectory offers a revealing case of how states facing acute geopolitical precarity convert vulnerability into strategic agency. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and amid China's expanding institutional and economic presence in Central Asia, Uzbekistan has been exposed to growing external pressure that might ordinarily lead to authoritarian consolidation or democratic backsliding. Yet the country has continued a cautious programme of institutional reform while simultaneously intensifying regional cooperation with its Central Asian neighbours. This article argues that Uzbekistan has managed these pressures through what Azmanova and Korosteleva [2026. The precarisation of politics in times of war and crisis: from paralysis to transformative resilience. Contemporary Security Policy] describe as transformative resilience-a form of political agency that moves beyond merely withstanding crisis and instead enables forwardoriented institutional adaptation. In practice, this resilience has taken the form of what we describe as sovereign regionalism, a strategy that combines gradual political opening at home with intensified regional cooperation abroad. Through border settlements, water diplomacy, and expanding regional economic integration, Uzbekistan has sought to reduce external vulnerability while preserving domestic reform momentum. The Uzbek case demonstrates how regional cooperation can function as a form of security infrastructure that sustains governance capacity under conditions of geopolitical precarity. Rather than retreating into authoritarian retrenchment, the state has pursued a dual logic of diplomatic accommodation and structural diversification that preserves room for institutional reform. The article concludes by outlining implications for understanding democratic resilience and regional security strategies in geopolitically exposed regions.

This article examines the political and military activities of the Khwarazmshahs in Azerbaijan during the late
twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, with particular emphasis on the campaigns and governance of Jalal al-Din
Khwarazmshah. The study employs a historical-critical and contextual methodology based on primary medieval
sources and relevant regional scholarship. Political and military developments are analyzed alongside administrative
practices and their socio-economic impact on the local population.
The article situates Khwarazmshah expansion within the broader context of Seljuk fragmentation, regional
feudal rivalry, and the Mongol threat, highlighting Azerbaijan’s strategic significance during this transitional period.
Special attention is given to key regions such as Tabriz and Nakhchivan, where Jalal al-Din attempted to
establish a new political center following the collapse of Khwarazmshah authority in Central Asia.
The findings demonstrate that although Jalal al-Din’s rule in Azerbaijan was short-lived, his military campaigns
and administrative policies significantly affected the region’s political stability and social structure, contributing
to the conditions that facilitated subsequent Mongol domination. By adopting a region-centered perspective,
this study offers a reassessment of Khwarazmshah rule in Azerbaijan and contributes to the historiography of
medieval Caucasia on the eve of the Mongol invasions.

The ancient oasis kingdoms on the edge of the Tarim Basin are sources of archaeological discoveries, including artifacts and fragments that provide insights into the history, culture, and religious practices of Central Asia, none of which are documented in official historical records. This paper investigates the identification and significance of nakṣatra (Ch. xiu宿) representations, with a particular emphasis on the relevant archeological materials discovered on the northern periphery of the Tarim Basin. Utilizing an art historical perspective, this research reevaluates these fragmentary objects, which have received little scholarly attention, in terms of their sources, illustrations, and functions. This examination clarifies the intertwined nature of Old Uyghur lunar astrology during the medieval period and demonstrates how knowledge of nakṣatra was disseminated, transformed, and perceived among various ethnic groups along the ancient Silk Roads.

This article presents a careful and strictly constrained reconstruction of linguistic themes from the author's foundational work on Arabic and Coptic. It remains closely tied to the original material, avoiding expansion beyond what is explicitly present in the source framework. The focus is on Arabic as a layered system combining Classical Arabic, dialectal variation, and external influences, as well as on Coptic only in the limited sense in which it appears in the author's research as a point of contact with Arabic. Additional elements include lexicography, intergenerational transmission, and brief references to semantic shifts, particularly the movement of eschatological concepts into present usage. The article is written in a readable, non-schematic style while preserving fidelity to the source.

The theme of "Russian influence" has been invading the think tank world. Yet the concept of influence must be deployed with care. Analysts have frequently assumed that, when states do things thought favourable to Russia, it must be because Moscow has either forced them to act in that manner, or has actively manipulated their domestic politics so that they do so. Left largely unconsidered are the various other reasons that one state might act in a manner desirable to another. In this article we look at the different vectors that might yield Russia-favorable behavior by Kazakhstan: exogenous ones that Russia actively and passively generates and endogenous ones that are passively or even actively generated within Kazakhstan itself. We discuss Russia's economic and strategic links with Kazakhstan, the issue of the Russian minority, the status of the Russian language, Russian media presence, Russia's governmental and non-governmental networks, and the "payoff" of the latter three vectors: Kazakhstani popular Russophilia. By distinguishing between active and passive vectors, as well as between exogenous and endogenous ones, we propose a more nuanced and better theoretically articulated picture of Russia's "influence" in Kazakhstan.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the newly independent states in Central Asia faced the challenge of defining ethnic identity within the broader process of nation-state building. Since these states had previously been shaped under Soviet ideological frameworks, the post-independence period marked their entry into processes of seeking legitimacy, ensuring social cohesion, and consolidating sovereignty. In this context, ethnic identity evolved from a purely cultural phenomenon into a political and institutional construct.
This study aims to examine how Central Asian states have redefined their national ethnic identities in the post-Soviet era. In this regard, the research analyzes how ethnic identity is managed through state language policies, historical narratives, and citizenship practices, as well as how it aligns with national identity. The study particularly focuses on Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, highlighting how multi-ethnic social structures are addressed within the process of nation-state formation.
The study argues that Central Asian states have continued to play a decisive role in identity politics even after gaining independence from the Soviet Union, and that national identity construction has been largely state-centered. In this context, national identity can be defined as a governance tool aimed at maintaining regime stability.

The Shudra Varna was established primarily on the basis of ancestral lineage and tribal identity rather than occupational division. While later classical texts frameworks reframed Varna as a functional division of labor, a deep comparative analysis of Vedic, Zoroastrian, and modern archaeogenetic data reveals that the rigid barrier separating the Shudra from the Dwij (twice-born) categories was rooted in distinct ancestral origins. This paper demonstrates how the exclusion of the Shudra from foundational socio-religious institutions mirrors the historical interaction and eventual stratification between migrating Indo-Aryan populations and the indigenous inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The Mongols adopted the Uyghur script around the 12th–13th centuries. The prevailing hypothesis today is that Genghis Khan brought the Uyghur scholar Tata-tunga to create the Uyghur-Mongolian script. It is possible that the vertical Uyghur script, written from top to bottom, was inherited through the Khitans. This script passed through the sequence of Phoenician, Aramaic, Sogdian, Uyghur, and Khitan.

Türk runik harfleriyle yazılmış eski Türk yazıtları, ilk bulunduğu günden bu yana sürekli artan bir heyecanla çalışıldı. V. Thomsen’in harfleri çözdüğünü duyurduğu 1893 yılındaki bildirisinden bu yana binlerce çalışma yapıldı. Bu çalışmaların bir bölümü yeni bulunan yazıtlar hakkında iken bir bölümü ise önceki yazıtlardan elde edilen bilgiler ışığında yeni okuma ve anlamlandırma denemeleridir. Eski Türk yazıtları, Türklerin bilinen ilk yazılı belgeleri olması hasebiyle Türk dili alanı dışındaki araştırmacıların da sıklıkla başvurduğu kaynak metinlerdir. Bu nedenle de üzerinde yapılacak araştırmalar teknolojik gelişmelere de paralel olarak gelecek yıllarda daha da artacaktır.
Eski Türk yazıtlarında dikkat çeken söz varlığı unsurlarından biri de kuşkusuz kişi adları ve buna bağlı olarak ünvanlardır. Bu makalede totok ünvanı üzerinde durulacak ve ünvanın kullanım alanı hakkında yeni bir öneri sunulacaktır. Önce kökeni ve hakkında yazılanlar verildikten sonra, ünvanın geçtiği tüm tanıklar gösterilecektir. Bu tanıklardan elde edilen bilgilerden hareket edilerek ünvanın tam olarak nasıl bir görev tanımına sahip olduğu konusunda değerlendirme yapılacaktır. Bu değerlendirmede; II. Türk Kağanlığı ile Uygur Kağanlığı kağanlarının bağlı boy ve halkları yönetmek üzere hangi ünvanları tevdi ettiği konusu üzerinde durulacaktır. Benzer görev tanımı dolayısıyla ilteberlerin ifa ettiği görev ile karşılaştırılacak ve sonuç olarak totokların kağanlığa bağlı ancak Türkçe konuşuru olmayan yabancı halklara; ilteberlerin ise yine kağanlığa bağlı ancak Türkçe konuşuru olan boy ve klanlara atanan yöneticiler olduğu görüşü dikkatlere sunulacaktır.

Özet. Bu makalede, Kazakça akademik ve resmi dilde yaygın biçimde kullanılan dilbilgisel kalıplardan koşaç işlevli bolıp tabıladı ‘болып табылады’ yapısı üzerinde durulmaktadır. Sözlüksel anlamlı bir dilsel birimin, bu anlamını kısmen veya tamamen kaybedip dilbilgisel anlam kazanması olarak tanımlayabileceğimiz dilbilgiselleşme, ‘bolıp tabıladı’ yapısının geçirdiği anlamsal süreci basitçe açıklar. Bildiriye, dilbilgiselleşmenin tanımı ve kuramsal alt yapısı verilerek başlanmakta ve söz konusu kalıbın biçimbilgisel yapısı eş zamanlı olarak izah edilmektedir. Buna göre yapı, bol-ıp ‘olup’ ve tab-ıl-adı ‘bulunur, mevcut olur’ şeklinde biçimbilgisel olarak çözümlenmekte
ve sözdizimsel olarak ad tümcelerinde genellikle tümce sonunda yüklem konumunda
ve koşaç (bildirme) işlevindedir. Bu yapının bildirme temel işlevi yanında kiplik (kesinlik ve kanıtsallık) işlevleri de görülmektedir. Süreç içinde ‘болып табылады’ yapısında Türkçedeki tur-ur>> +{DI4r} gibi sessel ve biçimsel kayıp sonucunda bir ekleşme görülmediyse de benzer bir dilbilgiselleşme süreci yaşanmıştır. Bildiride Kazakça akademik ve resmi dile ait çeşitli metinlerden alınan örneklerle ‘bolıp tabıladı’ yapısının farklı biçimleri ve işlevleri ortaya konmaktadır. Anahtar sözcükler: Kazakça, “болып табылады” (bolıp tabıladı), koşaç, dilbilgiselleşme,
akademik ve resmi dil

С опорой на делопроизводственные источники (отчеты и планы научного учреждения, стенограммы заседаний ученых, которые отложились в фондах Архива РАН и Научного архива ИРИ РАН, а также положения об аспирантуре, приказы и постановления органов власти и т. д.) и мемуары историков в статье реконструирована организация подготовки аспирантов в Институте истории АН СССР с первых послевоенных лет до начала 1960-х гг. Значительная часть проведенного исследования сконцентрирована на условиях поступления и обучения молодых историков, а также особенностях организации учебного процесса. В частности, были рассмотрены требования к экзаменационным испытаниям, письменным работам, которые входили в индивидуальный план, дана краткая характеристика тематики диссертационных исследований. На основе статистических данных в статье также выявлена динамика количества аспирантов (по годам), что позволило глубже представить проблемы, с которыми столкнулось научное учреждение в послевоенную эпоху. В заключительной части сделан вывод, что условия работы аспирантуры в Институте истории АН СССР не были оптимальными во многом из-за переизбытка обучавшихся молодых историков в послевоенные годы.

E. Shavarebi, "Shahi Coin Finds from Barikot", in: N. Kimmet & N. Verdon (eds.), Exploring the Contributions of the Shahi Kingdoms to Inner and South Asia, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2026.
Digital version: https://shahi.pubpub.org/pub/cw7a3my5

This chapter catalogues and briefly discusses one Turk Shahi coin, thirty-one Hindu Shahi coins, and two Ghaznavid coins excavated at Barikot by the Italian Archaeological Mission between 1984 and 2024.

E. Shavarebi & A. Annucci, "Coin Finds of the Shahi Kingdoms in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands", in: N. Kimmet & N. Verdon (eds.), Exploring the Contributions of the Shahi Kingdoms to Inner and South Asia, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2026.
Digital version: https://shahi.pubpub.org/pub/zxxsuixe

This chapter offers an annotated list of the reported complexes of coin finds of the Turk Shahi and Hindu Shahi periods from various parts of the Indo-Iranian borderlands to pave the ground for future studies.