Editing Jetisu

{{Short description|Historical region of southeast Kazakhstan}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Semirechye|the former Russian oblast|Semirechye Oblast|the Cossack host|Semirechye Cossacks|locality|Semirechye, Kugarchinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan}}
{{Coord|45|N|78|E|type:city_region:KZ|display=title}}

[[File:Balkhash labeled eng.jpg|thumb|300px|The region of the "seven rivers", only five of which still exist today]]
'''Jetisu''' ({{langx|kk|Жетісу|Jetısu}} {{IPA|kk|ʒʲetɘˈsuˑ|}})<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk54H8aHzEIC|title=Traditions of Heroic and Epic Poetry: Characteristics and techniques|date=1989|quote=Jeti-suu |editor=J. B. Hainsworth, Arthur Thomas Hatto|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk54H8aHzEIC&pg=PA87 87]|isbn=978-0-947623-19-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VLdAAAAQBAJ|title=Movement, Power and Place in Central Asia and Beyond: Contested Trajectories|date=2012|editor=Madeleine Reeves|isbn=978-0-415-50353-2|quote=Jeti Suu{...}Seven Waters|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_VLdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 134]|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> or '''Semirechye''' ({{lang-rus|Семиречье|p=sʲɪmʲɪˈrʲetɕje}}) or Heptopotamia is a historical region in [[Central Asia]] corresponding to the southeastern part of modern [[Kazakhstan]].

==Name==
Jetisu{{efn|{{langx|tr|Yedi-su}};<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIYqBgAAQBAJ|title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature|quote=The Qarluqs conquered the entire province of Yedi-Su |author=Mehmed Fuad Koprulu|date=2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KIYqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 5]|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-21137-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPuQAgAAQBAJ|title=Central Asia: Aspects of Transition|quote=Participated in the 1916 uprising in Yedi Su.|editor=Tom Everett-Heath|date=2003|isbn=0-203-45135-X|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aPuQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT81 ]|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> {{langx|fa|هفت‌آب|Haft-āb}}; {{langx|mn|Долоон ус|Doloon us}}.}} is also transcribed '''Jeti-Suu''' ({{langx|ky|{{nowrap|Жети-Суу}}|Jeti-Suu}}, {{IPA|ky|dʑetɪˈsuː|pron}}), '''Zhetisu''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://astanatimes.com/2018/02/five-star-hotel-recreation-areas-to-open-this-year-on-alakol-lake/|title=Five-star hotel, recreation areas to open this year on Alakol Lake|date=8 February 2018|access-date=27 April 2020|website=Astana Times|quote=Tourism in Zhetisu, one of the most picturesque regions in Kazakhstan, is on the rise.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uE7HCq3lso |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/6uE7HCq3lso| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Taldykorgan is the center of Zhetisu|date=15 December 2017|access-date=27 April 2020|website=[[Kazakh TV]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> '''Jetisuw''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ihFUDAAAQBAJ|title=Ancient History of Central Asia: Yuezhi origin Royal Peoples: Kushana, Huna, Gurjar and Khazar Kingdoms|quote="Sedmorechie" today (in Russian), meaning "Seven rivers" (Kazakh- Zhetisu, Jetisuw, Jetysu)|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ihFUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 33]|last1=Katariya|first1=Adesh|date=25 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Formation of Modern Turkic 'Ethnic' Groups in Central and Inner Asia|date=2018|volume=7|edition=1|publisher=[[Hungarian Academy of Sciences]]|quote=Rebellious eastern clans founded the Kazak Horde in the Jeti-suw region (to the south of Balkash Lake).{...}The Kazak Horde was established in the Jeti-suw region (1456) as a vassal state to Moghulistan|author=Dávid Somfai Kara|journal = The Hungarian Historical Review|issue = 1|pages=98–110|jstor = 26571579}}</ref> '''Jetysu''',<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://adiu.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/216|volume=27|edition=2|journal=Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine|date=22 June 2018|access-date=27 April 2020 |author=G. S. Jumabekova |author2=G. A. Bazarbayeva |title=On the Early Iron Age of Jetysu: Results of Some Data Systematization|issue=2|pages=469–484|doi=10.37445/adiu.2018.02.36|quote=Jetysu («Seven Rivers» from Kazakh «jety» — «seven», «su» — «water») is a vast region in the historical and cultural aspect, located in the southeast of Kazakhstan. Jetysu is surrounded by steppes and foothills of Saryarka, Kazakh Altay, Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan.|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDby6ZK3waM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/LDby6ZK3waM| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Mysterious lakes Jetysu|date=12 December 2018|website=[[Kazakh TV]]|via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> '''Jeti-su'''<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/71/16_Galimzhanov%20et%20al.pdf|title=THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES OF TAMGALY AND ESHKIOLMES SANCTUARIES RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND CULT CEREMONIES|date=August 2018|access-date=27 April 2020|journal=European Journal of Science and Theology|volume=14|issue=4|page=166 |author=Said Galimzhanov |author2=Assiya Galimzhanova |author3=Lyazat Nurkusheva |author4=Mihribanu Glaudinova |author5=Gauhar Sadvokasova |author6=Larissa Brylova |author7=Hvaydolla Esenov |quote=Performed in the sanctuaries for many centuries, numerous sacrificial rites testify to the stability of religious rites on the territory of Jeti-Su.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qEgs9ZL7LgC|title=Central Asia: A Global Studies Handbook|author=Reuel R. Hanks|date=2005|isbn=1-85109-661-2|quote=Jeti-Su the Jeti-su has been a key region of Central Asia for at least a millennium.|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7qEgs9ZL7LgC&pg=PT281 261]|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> or '''Jity-su''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k81_Y5BYFV4C|title=Library of Congress Subject Headings|quote=Jity-su (Kazakhstan)|volume=3|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k81_Y5BYFV4C&pg=PA4205 4205]|last1=Congress|first1=Library of|year=2011}}</ref>

The name comes from "seven rivers" in [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]] but meant "abounding in water", in contrast to the dry steppes of the eastern Balkhash area. It owes its name to the rivers that flow from the southeast into [[Lake Balkhash]]. Jetisu primarily falls into today's [[Jetisu Region]] and [[Almaty Region]] and other South-Eastern parts of Kazakhstan and some parts of Northern Kyrgyzstan.

==Geography==
[[File:Operational Navigation Chart F-6, 6th edition.jpg|left|thumb|Map including the Jetisu region (US [[Defense Mapping Agency]], 1985)]]
The lands of the 19th-century [[Semirechye Oblast]] included the [[steppe]]s south of [[Lake Balkhash]] and parts of the [[Tian Shan]] Mountains around Lake [[Issyk Kul]]. The province had an area of 147,300&nbsp;km², and was bounded by the province of [[Semipalatinsk]] on the north, by [[China]] ([[Xinjiang]]) on the east and south, and by the former Russian provinces of [[Fergana Oblast|Fergana]], [[Syr-Darya Oblast|Syr-darya]], and [[Akmolinsk Oblast (Russian Empire)|Akmolinsk]] on the west.
[[File:Lakebalkhashbasinmap.png|thumb|300px|Remaining rivers flowing to [[Lake Balkhash]]]]
The [[Dzungarian Alatau]] Mountains, which separated it from the Chinese region of [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture|Kulja]], extend south-west towards the river [[Ili River|Ili]], with an average height of 2,700&nbsp;m (9,000&nbsp;ft) above the sea, several isolated snow-clad peaks reaching 3,400 to 4,300 m (11,000 to 14,000&nbsp;ft). In the south, the region embraces the intricate systems of the [[Ala-Tau]] and the Tian Shan. Two ranges of the former, the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and the Terskey Ala-tau, stretch along the north shore of Lake Issyk Kul, both ranging from 3,000 to 4,600 m (10,000 to 15,000&nbsp;ft) and both partially snow-clad. South of the lake, two ranges of the Tian Shan, separated by the valley of the [[Naryn]], stretch in the same direction, lifting up their icy peaks to 1,800 and 2,400 m (6,000 and 8,000&nbsp;ft); while westwards from the lake the precipitous slopes of the Alexander chain, 2,700 to 3,000 m (9,000 to 10,000&nbsp;ft) high, with peaks rising 900 to 1,200 m (3,000 to 4,000&nbsp;ft) higher, extend into the former province of Syr-darya (containing the southern Kazakh cities of [[Chimkent]], [[Taraz|Auliye-ata]] and [[Hazrat-e Turkestan|Turkestan]]). Another mountain complex of much lower elevation runs north-westwards from the Trans-Ili Ala-tau towards the southern extremity of Lake Balkhash. In the north, where the province bordered Semipalatinsk, it included the western parts of the Tarbagatai range, the summits of which (3,000 m or 10,000&nbsp;ft) do not reach the limit of perpetual snow. The remainder of the province consisted of a fertile steppe in the north-east ([[Sergiopol]]), and vast uninhabitable sand-steppes on the south of Lake Balkhash. Southwards from these at the foot of the mountains and at the entrance to the valleys, there are rich areas of fertile land.

===Climate===
[[Image:IMG 9366-Kaindy.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lake Kaindy]]]]
The climate in Jetisu is thoroughly continental. In the Balkhash steppes the winter is very cold. The lake freezes every year, with temperatures falling to &minus;11&nbsp;°C (13&nbsp;°F). In the Ala-kul steppes the winds blow away the snow. The passage from winter to spring is very abrupt, and the steppes are rapidly clothed with vegetation, which, however, is soon scorched by the sun. Average temperatures at [[Almaty]] (733&nbsp;m, 2,405&nbsp;ft high) are: for the year {{convert|8|°C|°F|abbr=on}}, for January &minus;8&nbsp;°C (17&nbsp;°F), for July 23&nbsp;°C (74&nbsp;°F). At [[Przhevalsk]] (1,660&nbsp;m, 5,450&nbsp;ft): for the year 2.5&nbsp;°C (36.5&nbsp;°F), for January &minus;5&nbsp;°C (23&nbsp;°F), for July 17&nbsp;°C (63&nbsp;°F); still higher in the mountains, at [[Naryn]] (2,100&nbsp;m, 6,900&nbsp;ft), the average temperature  for the year is only 6.5&nbsp;°C (43.7&nbsp;°F), for January &minus;17&nbsp;°C (1.4&nbsp;°F), for July 18&nbsp;°C (64.4&nbsp;°F).

===Bodies of water===
[[Image:E8405-Bishkek-Almaty-hwy.jpg|thumb|In the hills between [[Bishkek]] and [[Almaty]]]]
The most important river is the [[Ili River|Ili]], which enters Jetisu from the Tian Shan mountains of China's [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture]] in northern [[Xinjiang]], and drains it for 250&nbsp;km before it enters Lake Balkhash. The [[Chu River]] also rises in the Tian Shan mountains and flows north-westwards through the former Akmolinsk province of the [[Governor-Generalship of the Steppes]].  The [[Naryn River]] flows south-westwards along a [[longitudinal valley]] of the Tian Shan, and enters the [[Fergana Valley]] to join the [[Syr Darya]].  The major lakes of the area include Lake Balkhas (or Denghiz) and Lake Ala Kul, which was connected with Balkash in the post-Pliocene period but now stands some hundred feet higher, connected by a chain of smaller lakes with Sissyk Kul, Lake [[Issyk-Kul]], and the alpine lakes of [[Son-Kul]] and [[Chatyr-Kul]].

==Population==
The population was estimated in 1906 as 1,080,700. [[Kazakhs]] formed 76% of the population, [[Russians]] formed 14%, and [[Taranchi]] ([[Uyghurs]]) formed 5.7%.

==History and administration==
[[History of the central steppe]] has an outline history with links to the many peoples who lived in this area.

In the VI-III vv. BC. e. the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[Sakas]] ([[Scythians]]) established their first state, whose center was in Jetisu.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kazembro.kz/?kazakhstantype=history&lang=en |title=History |website=kazembro.kz}}</ref> In the mid 6th century, the Turkic nomads subordinated Jetisu, Central Kazakhstan, and [[Khorezm]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scientificfund.kz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43:history-of-states-on-the-territory-of-kazakhstan&catid=5:2&Itemid=27|title=HISTORY OF STATES ON THE TERRITORY OF KAZAKHSTAN|last=Administrator|website=www.scientificfund.kz|access-date=2018-06-27|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628015541/http://www.scientificfund.kz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43:history-of-states-on-the-territory-of-kazakhstan&catid=5:2&Itemid=27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Семиреченская область 1900.svg|thumb|left|[[Semirechye Oblast]] in 1900]]
[[File:Zakaukazie-Turkestan1903-Semirechye.jpg|thumb|left|A 1903 map in Polish showing the Semirjeczeńsk region. The map also shows a much smaller historical area labeled ''Siedmiorzecze'' southeast of Lake Balkhash.]]
The area belonged to [[Dzungar Khanate]] in the 17th century. When [[Dzungar Khanate]] was conquered by the [[Qing dynasty]] in 1755, the area formed part of the Qing dynasty and was under the direct rule of the [[general of Ili]] ({{lang-zh|伊犁將軍}}, {{translit|zh|Yīlí jiāngjūn}} [<small>[[:zh:伊犁將軍|zh]]</small>]), headquartered at the fort of [[Huiyuan, Xinjiang|Huiyuan]] (then more often known as Ili or New Kuldja)<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution=[[:s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Ili]] |title=[[:s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition|Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |edition=9th |volume=XII |date=1881 |publisher= |location= |page= }}.</ref> about {{convert|30|km|mi|sp=us|abbr=on}} west of [[Yining City|Ghulja]] (Yining). Most of Jetisu was annexed by the [[Russian Empire]] from Qing China in 1854,<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Atlas of the 19th Century World, 1783-1914|year=1998|publisher=Barnes & Noble Books|isbn=978-0-7607-3203-8|page=5.19}}</ref> before the outbreak of the [[Crimean War]], which delayed the southern advance. The territorial change was confirmed by the [[Treaty of Tarbagatai]], where Russia gained about 350,000 square miles of territory at the expense of [[Xinjiang under Qing rule|Chinese Xinjiang]].<ref>{{cite book |first=S. C. M. |last=Paine |title=Imperial Rivals: China, Russia, and Their Disputed Frontier |url=https://archive.org/details/imperialrivalsch00pain |url-access=registration |year=1996 |publisher=M. E. Sharpep=29|isbn=978-1-56324-724-8 }}</ref> The two major Russian fortresses and garrisons in the region, [[Almaty|Verny]] and [[Bishkek|Pishpek]], were founded in 1854 on the sites of former Kokandian fortresses on the Steppe frontier.

From 1867 to 1884 this province was made part of [[Russian Turkestan]], and from then until 1899 it was incorporated in the [[Governor-Generalship of the Steppes]] before reverting to Russian Turkestan that year. The province was divided into six districts, the chief towns of which were [[Almaty|Verny]] (the capital), [[Jarkent]], [[Qapal|Kopal]], [[Bishkek|Pishpek]], [[Przhevalsk]] and [[Sergiopol]].
[[Image:E8476-Almaty-Ascension-Cathedral.jpg|thumb|[[Ascension Cathedral, Almaty]] (modern view)]]
Before the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] the chief occupation of the Russians, the Taranchis and the Dzungars, and partly also of the Kazakhs of the region, was [[agriculture]]. The most important crops were wheat, barley, oats, millet, rice and potatoes. A variety of oil-bearing plants and green fodder, as also cotton, hemp, flax and poppies, were grown. Livestock breeding was very extensively carried on by the Kazakhs, namely, horses, cattle, sheep, camels, goats and pigs. [[Orchards]] and fruit gardens were well-developed; and the Russian Imperial crown maintained two model gardens. [[Bee-keeping]] was widely spread. The factories consisted of flour-mills, distilleries, tanneries and tobacco works; but a great many domestic trades, including carpet-weaving and the making of felt goods, saddlery and iron goods, were carried on, among both the settled inhabitants and the nomadic Kazakhs. There was also trade with [[China]], valued at less than half a million sterling annually in 1911. From 1905, after the [[Russian-Japanese war]] and the construction of the [[Trans-Aral Railway]], the settlement of Russian people in the area increased greatly under the guidance of the new Migration Department in [[St. Petersburg]] (Переселенческое Управление). The province was administered by [[Vasile Balabanov]] under General [[Alexander Dutov]] until the Bolshevik take-over in 1921, when both Dutov and Balabanov escaped to China.

[[Image:Magasin kupza Gabdulwakijewa.jpeg|thumb|A shop in 19th-century Almaty]]
After the [[Central Asian Revolt]] of 1916 and the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] the [[Provisional Government]]'s authority in the region collapsed. Approximately 2,500 Russian settlers are thought to have been killed by the Kazakhs in the violence that followed in Jetisu, and this was followed by equally bloody reprisals against the nomadic population, led by the (all-Russian) workers' & soldiers' [[Soviets]] in [[Tashkent]] and Verny. Bolshevik control was reimposed in 1918-21 in a series of campaigns led by [[Mikhail Frunze]], after whom the town of [[Bishkek|Pishpek]] in Jetisu was renamed. In 1924, Jetisu was incorporated in the southern portion of the new [[Kazakh ASSR]] by the new [[Soviet Union]], and, in 1931, this was made a full [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet Republic]] and nominally independent of Russia. In 1936 the [[Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1926–1936)|Kyrgyz ASSR]], which incorporated the southern portion of Jetisu, also became a Soviet Republic.  In late 1991, both republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union, forming the new nations of [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]] respectively.

==Derived names==
The name of [[Onsu County]] (Wensu) in nearby [[Aksu Prefecture]], [[Xinjiang]], China similarly means "ten water" in Uyghur and other Turkic languages- both names consist of a number followed by 'su' (river; water).<ref name="wszf_温宿县人">{{Cite web
| title = 温宿县人民政府 领导致词
| trans-title = Wensu County People's Government - Address by the Leaders
| publisher = 温宿县人民政府
| date = 2019-03-22
| access-date = 30 November 2019
| url = http://www.wszf.gov.cn/zjws/ldzc/index.html
| language = zh
| quote = 温宿，维吾尔语意为"十股水"
| archive-date = 2020-04-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200407001512/http://www.wszf.gov.cn/zjws/ldzc/index.html
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> The name 'Aksu' in nearby [[Aksu Prefecture]] is Turkic for 'white water'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.akss.gov.cn/gkxx/index.html|script-title=zh:阿克苏市概况|access-date=18 May 2020|script-website=zh:阿克苏市人民政府|language=zh-hans|quote={{lang|zh-hans|阿克苏市，维吾尔语意为"白水城"，}}|archive-date=26 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626083018/http://www.akss.gov.cn/gkxx/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Kizilsu]], name of a river and of a nearby prefecture in Xinjiang, means "red water" ({{lang|zh-hans|[[:zh:克孜勒苏河|克孜勒苏河]]}}).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/throughunknownp00olufgoog/|title=Through the Unknown Pamirs|author=Ole Olufsen|author-link=Ole Olufsen|year=1904|via=[[Internet Archive]]|publisher=[[William Heinemann]]|quote=The Kizilsu Surkhab (Kizilsu being Turkish for ''Red Water'', and Surkhab the Persian for ''Red Water'') has its source near the psas of Ton Murum in Transalai, and, with it broad fertile valley, forms the boundary between the Alai mountains and Transalai, the most northerly range of Pamir.|page=[https://archive.org/details/throughunknownp00olufgoog/page/n31/ 5]}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Sapta Sindhu]], the seven rivers of the [[Indian subcontinent]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{wiktionary|Jetisu}}
{{Wikivoyage|Jetisu}}
*[http://7rivers.kz/ Miracles of the Jetisu (Russian)]

{{Kazakhstan topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Central Asia]]
[[Category:History of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:History of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Historical regions of China]]
[[Category:Turkic toponyms]]