What you think ?

I came across an interesting quote attributed to Galdan Tseren Khan, ruler of the Dzungar Khanate, in the context of his relations with the Kazakh Khanate and the Russian Empire:

“We, the Dzungars and the Kazakhs, together are hawks, and we will not kneel before that raven [the Russian Empress], for they are people of the carts, while we are nomads.”

The quote is cited in Vladimir Moiseev’s The Dzungar Khanate and the Kazakhs (17th–18th Centuries) (Almaty, 1991), pp. 128–129.

What I find particularly interesting is the political context. The Dzungars and Kazakhs had been bitter rivals and fought numerous wars, yet Galdan Tseren apparently emphasized their shared nomadic identity when speaking about resistance to Russian influence.

So this should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence that the Dzungars and Kazakhs were “brothers” in a modern national sense. Rather, it seems to demonstrate that even amid warfare, both sides could be portrayed as part of a broader nomadic political and cultural world, contrasted with the Russian state.

The wording “hawks” and “raven” is especially striking.

Does anyone know the original archival source behind this quotation? I would be interested in finding the earliest Russian record of Galdan Tseren’s statement and understanding exactly when and under what circumstances it was made.

Source: V. A. Moiseev, The Dzungar Khanate and the Kazakhs (17th–18th Centuries), Almaty: Gylym, 1991, pp. 128–129.

Hello,

There was very bad famine in the Volga region in early 1920s.

Many people died.

I know that Volga Tatars were affected.

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Was Kyiv (Kiev) founded by Khazars?