Bu çalışmada Kazak kelimesinin kökenine dair yapılan tartışmalar değerlendirilerek Kazakların tarih sahnesine çıkışları ve tarihte oynamış oldukları rol ortaya konulacaktır. Çalışmanın temelini Türk ve Rus tarih literatüründe Kazakları ve Kazak Hanlığı’nı konu alan mevcut tetkik eserler oluşturmaktadır. Bunların yanı sıra Kazaklara ilişkin Rusça yayınlanmış olan Rus arşiv belgelerine de müracaat edilmiştir. Kazak kelimesinin kökenine dair ortaya atılan görüşler kelimenin bir yaşam şeklini ifade ettiğini göstermektedir. Bu yaşam şeklinde otorite tanımayan ve başıboş gezen savaşçı karakterlere sahip insanlar söz konusudur. Bu açıdan kelimenin ilk kullanımında siyasi ve etnik bir anlam bulunmamaktadır. Kazak kelimesinin siyasi ve etnik bir anlam kazanması XV. yüzyılda Özbek Hanlığı’nda yaşanan gelişmelerle alakalı görünmektedir. Ebu’l-Hayır Han’ın Özbek Hanlığı’nı kurmasına müteakip bazı Türk boyları onun iktidarını tanımamışlardır. Bu boylar Kazak olarak isimlendirilmişler ve XV. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında Özbek Hanlığı’ndan ayrılmışlardır. Bu hadise aynı zamanda Kazak Hanlığı’nın da kuruluşu olarak kabul edilmektedir. Kazak Hanlığı’nın ilk dönemlerinde hanlar hâkimiyet sahalarını genişletmek için çabalamışlar ve Özbek Hanlığı ile mücadeleye girişmişlerdir. Bu mücadele esasında bozkıra egemen olmak adına yapılmıştır.    Çalışma, Kazak kelimesinin etimolojisinin ve kazak halkının ortaya çıkışının incelendiği “Giriş” bölümü ile Kazakların siyasi faaliyetlerini konu alan “Kazak Hanlığı’nın Kuruluşu ve XVI. Yüzyıla Kadar Hanlığın Siyasi Faaliyetlerine Genel Bir Bakış” başlıklarından oluşan iki bölümden oluşmaktadır.

In this study, the discussions about the origin of the word Kazakh will be evaluated and the role of the Kazakh people on the stage of history will be put forward. Study “Introduction” examines the etymology of Kazakh word and the emergence of Kazakh people Establishment of the Kazakh Khanate, which deals with the political activities of the Kazakhs, and 16th An Overview of the Political Activities of the Khanate until the 18th Century ”. The basis of the study is the existing survey works on Kazakhs and Kazakh Khanate in Turkish and Russian history literature.The views on the origin of the word Kazakh show that the word refers to a way of life. In this way of life, there are people who do not recognize authority and wander warrior characters. In this respect, the first use of the word has no political or ethnic meaning. Gaining political and ethnic meaning of Kazakh word 15th Century, it seems to be related to the developments in the Uzbek Khanate. After Abu Khayr Khan founded the Uzbek Khanate, some Turkish tribes did not recognize his power. These tribes were named as Kazakhs and 15th They separated from the Uzbek Khanate in the second half of the century. This event is also regarded as the establishment of the Kazakh Khanate. In the early stages of the Kazakh Khanate, the khans tried to expand their area of domination and began to struggle with the Uzbek Khanate. This struggle was made in order to dominate the steppe. The word Kazakh is a Turkish word and it means homeless or homeless. However, although they have different meanings in the history literature, they do not have a common meaning. When examined, the difference in meaning varies according to periods or geography. Although the word “Kazakh  has no political or ethnic meaning, in general; it means a rambling person who has to break up with his own people or tribe or to live an adventurous life.As for the emergence of the Kazakh people; it is not possible to give a definite date for the departure of the people to the stage of history. The reason for this is the absence of chronicles and inscriptions about the Kazakh people. Therefore, there are doubts about the reliability of the information provided about the origin of the Kazakh people. When this is the case, the information about the Kazakh people is mostly obtained from the tribes they are in contact with. There is not enough information about the history of the Kazakh people until the first quarter of the 18th century. The Kazakh people were formed as a result of the unification of the old tribes and communities settled in the Kazakh territory. The most important of these communities are as follows. Uysunlar, Kanglar, Kıpçaklar, Dulatlar, Argınlar et al. In 1219–1221 the Kazakh lands were invaded by the Mongols. The Mongol invasion has negated the production of the country and brought the Kazakh armies back hundreds of years. During the period when the Mongols invaded the Kazakh armies, some nomadic Mongol tribes remained in the Kazakh territory. For Turkish-speaking local people, these tribes remained minority. This has slowed down the process of the Kazakh population as a community. However, in time these Mongols accepted the language and culture of the local people and melted among the Kazakhs. This has slowed down the process of the Kazakh population as a community.We can see information about the early period of the Kazakh Khanate only in the works of Muslim writers. Sources containing information about their political activities were tried to be discussed separately in our study. The sources refer to Urus Khan, the ancestor of the Kazakh Khanate, as a Uzbek ruler”. The Uzbek nation now covers much of Kazakhstan, and the entire nomadic population of the nation is called Uzbek. Again, there is no definite information about the origin and meaning of the word of Uzbek. However, we tried to determine the possibilities in our study. The most striking development of political activity is that Abu-Hayr, who has dominated power for 40 years, is in a long and relentless war with the Chuchis descendants who are trying to seize power of the Uzbek nation. In 1465, the Kazakh community of 200 thousand people soon became a Kazakh union of 1 million with the participation of other Turkish tribes and Mongolian tribes such as Nayman, Calayır and Duglat. The beginning of their own history of the Kazakh, Turk, Mongol, Uru and tribes after the separation. As a result, a new era was opened in the relations between the descendants of Urus Khan and Ebu’l Hayr Khan from the beginning of the 16th century and political and economic reasons that made it more ruthless and unacceptable in the struggle to seize dominance in the steppe.