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irithnova · 1 year ago

Note

I would love to hear more on, Mongolia's children? Ilkhanate and all the others.

But I would really love to hear is more about the central Asians!

Thank you for your ask. I'll take this opportunity to talk more about IIkhanate/Chagatai Khanate and their relationship with Mongolia as I don't think they get much attention, the Golden Horde and Kazakhstan, and then the Central Asians.

I would really like to thank @peonycats for their help with the Central Asian section!

With Ilkhanate: I think Ilkhanate's relationship with Mongolia was a little strange, but part of it can be chalked up to the fact that it followed traditional structures within Mongol culture in father-son relationships. Typically in Mongol culture, the youngest son would be kept closest to the father/parents, whereas the oldest would inherit the father’s land furthest away from them (golden horde). The youngest son would be called the Otchigen, meaning "prince of the hearth", being kept close to his parents and being expected to take care of them. With IIkhanate being the youngest, this tradition was reflected in his relationship with Mongolia. IIkhanate - out of his 2 brothers, not only was the youngest born but also the youngest in terms of establishing his Khanate, with the Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate establishing their rules in 1226/7, and the IIkhanate in 1256 after the conquest of Baghdad under Hulegu Khan. This means that Ilkhanate had alot more time with Mongolia personally before he was sent off officially to govern his own lands, and additionally because of his status as the "prince of the hearth" being the youngest, Mongolia was more emotionally involved with Ilkhanate compared to his brothers. I'll elaborate on their relationship a little more later.

The Ilkhanate was a result of the Great Khan at the time (Mongke) sending Hulegu (his brother) out to the middle east to conquer it. Despite plans of Hulegu returning to the Mongolian heartland after his expedition to the East, he stayed and established the IIkhanate. It is thought that this was the plan all along.

It is my headcanon that the golden horde, chagatai khanate and ilkhanate were born some years before the official establishment of their khanates because they were representatives of the lands that Chinggis Khan's sons would inherit, as per Mongol tradition which is in turn reflective of what lands Chinggis assigned to each of his sons in the year 1219, just before the invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire. In 1219, Empress Yisui convinced Chinggis that he needed to choose an heir before the invasion of the Khwarezmian empire. He agreed, and chose Ogedei, his third son, as his heir, leaving Jochi (his eldest) and Chagatai (his second eldest) inheritance to their own lands in the future after his death and Tolui, his youngest, to act as the Otchigen.

You're probably wondering why Chinggis did not choose Jochi, his eldest, to become the next great Khan. This was for quite a few reasons.

Between Ogedei and Tolui, the two youngest, both were the strongest candidates to become the great Khan/heir/who Mongolia would accompany. This is because Mongol succession tradition was ultimogeniture, meaning that the youngest born had the position of inheriting their parent's wealth. Jochi and Chagatai were already cut out of the inheritance race for various reasons including the fact that they were the eldest and because of this, they did not have succession privilege, but ultimately electing either one of them could be a recipe for disaster in the future considering how much they hated each other.

So it was left between the two youngest - Ogedei and Tolui, either one of them could have been the next Great Khan and ruler of the Mongol Empire/who Mongolia would be accompanying/ruling alongside. In the end, Ogedei was chosen as he was seen as fair tempered and generous.

Now that it was official that Ogedei was to become the next great Khan, and that Jachi and Chagatai would be given their own domains to rule over once Chinggis died (still answering the Ogedei, as he would be the great Khan, of course), this meant that the representatives of Jochi and Chagatai's future domains would begin to be born. I headcanon that Jochi's future ulus (kingdom), the Golden Horde, was born in the year 1219, and Chagatai's ulus was born one year afterwards in 1220. I gave them a one year age difference to reflect the one year age difference between Jochi and Chagatai themselves.

From now on, I'll begin to refer to them using their human names.

Ogtbish = Golden Horde

Khenbish = Chagatai Khanate

Khunbish = Ikhanate

I won't exclusively refer to them as their human names however just for reference, if I say "Ogtbish" for example lam referring to Golden Horde.

Golden horde, the first born, represented future Jochid land (the Golden Horde was ruled by Jochid Khans), the Chagatai Khanate represented future Chagataid land (ruled by the Chagataids) and lastly, the IIkhanate represented future Hulagu/Toluid land (I say Toluid lands because the IIkhanate was ruled by Toluids because of Hulegu, who was a son of Tolui. It should be noted that the heartland of the Mongol Empire, later the yuan dynasty who Mongolia himself represented also became ruled by Toluids after the death of Guyuk Khan who was the son of Ogedei, and Mongke Khan took over. He was the first Toluid Khan.)

Now this begs the question, what about IIkhanate? When was he born? Wasn't the Ilkhanate established later in the late 1250s?

That would be correct. However | see IIkhanate as being born in 1224, and here is my reasoning:

1) The future ruler/establisher of the IIkhanate, Hulagu (grandson of Genghis and son of Tolui) was already born by this point (born in 1217), and just like how the Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate were ruled by Jochi and Chagatai's bloodline, the IIkhanate was ruled by Hulagu's bloodline.

2) The IIkhanate was originally based off of the Mongol invasions of the Khwarezmian Empire that lasted from 1219-1224. Strong Mongol rule was later consolidated in 1256 by Hulagu Khan, however it was based off of these original invasions.

3) So, two foundations of the IIkhanate, the future ruler and the original invasions it was based off of, were in existence by 1224. The first foundation may be a little more mystical in nature however even without the first reason, the Ilkhanate being based off of those original invasions is enough justification for me to make him be born in 1224.

So, the official birth dates in my canon:

1219: Ogtbish (Golden Horde)

1220: Khenbish (Chagatai Khanate)

1224: Khunbish (Ilkhanate)

The Golden Horde was officially established in 1227, ahd the Chagatai was officially established in 1226, one year before. The fact the Khenbish had his ulus established one year before his eldest brother definitely gave him a further sense of superiority over his brother. I'll elaborate on this later when I talk about Khenbish specifically.

It is my canon that Ogtbish and Khenbish were officially released to their lands by 1235/6 despite the fact that the Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate were established in 1227/6. This doesn't mean they were completely cut off from the ongoings/politics of their lands, and they were allowed frequent visits, however they were kept back temporarily in a bad attempt on Mongolia's part to instil a sense of supremacy over them. To teach/remind them that despite the fact that they had their own domains, that they would always answer back to Mongolia/the Great Khan. As Jack Weatherford describes in "Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world", Chinggis only began to realise nearing the end of his life that he should have been more present of a father, and desperately tried to get his sons (particularly Jochi and Chagatai) to get along by sending them on joint military campaigns for example as a way of mending their relationship and teaching fhem the importance of unity, along with a load of other life lessons. The siege of Ugrench for example lasted for months longer than it should have because Jochi and Chagatai kept on sabotaging each other. Similarly, holding them back was a failed attempt on Mongolia's part to teach them about unity. Remember that the Mongol Empire split up in the 1260s, and the four Khanates were still functioning as a unit in the 1230s, hence why I don't think that this headcanon is unreasonable.

Now onto IIkhanate's relationship with Mongolia and what I was previously talking about: Considering the fact that "iIkhanate" literally meant "subordinate/obedient Khanate", that traditionally the youngest son would be kept close to the father and the official establishment of the Ilkhanate as a state was a bit later than his older brothers, llkhanate spent a lot of time with Mongolia personally. Mongolia was quite sticky towards IIkhanate in particular, especially when his eldest sons would fight with each other and then with him.

Before being released to his own domain, Ilkhanate took on a similar supportive role that Tolui did, and acted as kind of an assistant/administrator for Mongolia. He was certainly very keen on doing a good job. His older brothers on the other hand thought he was quite pathetic and spoiled - they had bigger responsibilities pushed onto them earlier than he did after all.

From Christopher Attwood, a prominent historian on Mongolia "The dynasty's traditional foreign policy revolved around three rivals, Mamluk Egypt, the Golden Horde, the Chagatay Khanate, and one ally, the Yuan Dynasty."

One ally. The Yuan Dynasty (Mongolia.)

The Mongol empire, after breaking into 4 parts in the 1260s, never collaborated closely with each other again. In fact, the different Khanates began fighting each other (much to Mongolia's chagrin because wtf I'm your father why aren't you listening to me stop that-).

That is except, between the Yuan dynasty and IIkhanate. Not only were they allies, but they collaborated with each other on different scientific ventures too. They did eventually lose contact with each other, however the Yuan and llkhanate were closer to each other for a longer period of time than the other Khanates were.

(Quick sidenote, Hulagu Khan actually commissioned an observatory to be built swiftly after the establishment of the iikhanate. I see Ilkhanate as being a bit more reserved compared to the likes of Chagatai Khanate and was the nerdiest out of his brothers. Also fluff headcanon but I think IIkhanate loved astronomy so much because when he was a small child and would cry at night, he'd be taken outside by Mongolia so as to not disturb others and the stars would calm him down.)

The ties between the Yuan and Ilkhanate was so much so that the Yuan dynasty kept suzerainty over the Ilkhans for quite a long period of time. This suzerainty was proclaimed over Ilkhan coinage, there was an active tributary relationship between the IIkhanate and Yuan dynasty, and Ilkhans sought after Yuan/Chinese titles, such as chingsang (grand councillor) and gong (duke).

Because of this, Mongolia saw IIkhanate as sort of a "golden child". He never fought back against him or strayed too far away from him, he always listened to him when he wanted him to, he was the "obedient" one. This was evident even before Mongolia's children flew the nest and they lived under one (felt) roof. Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate were constantly arguing or fighting with each other, meanwhile IIkhanate was just sitting there in the background. He never gave Mongolia a headache like his brothers did in his earlier years and even in the later years - the yuan and Ilkhanate allied together to defeat Chagataid forces.

This was not necessarily a good thing for IIkhanate. Mongolia was also mentally immature during this time so did not have thie maturity to be a good father figure. This meant that not only could he not properly control the spats that Chagatai Khanate and Golden Horde got into, but he would then use Ilkhanate as a live-in therapist to not only vent about his two eldest not getting along, but also about anything that bothered him at the time really once he realised that IIkhanate pretty much would always hear him out. In this sense he parentified IIkhanate and was an overbearing parent to him, even after the Ilkhanate as an official state was established (previous example: the coinage.)

About the coinage again. There was a period of time when the Ilkhanate tried to kind of break free from Yuan influence instead of deferring to the Yuan all the time. Under Ahmad Khan, the coinage of the iIkhanate would show Islamic inscriptions instead of inscriptions acknowledging the supremacy of the Yuan. However in some areas, it would show both (Islamic on one side, deferral to the Yuan on the other). However after Ahmad Khan, his successor Arghun deferred back to recognising the supremacy of Yuan rule. It is speculated that this move may have been encouraged by Khublai Khan (yuan dynasty emperor) himself. Mongolia was definitely overbearing towards IIkhanate, especially so when the Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate flew the nest and became "rebellious" (The Kaidu-Qublai civil war, when Kaidu as the defacto leader of the Chagatai Khanate tried to overthrow Qublai, the IIkhanate supporting Qublai/the Yuan, the Esen Buga-Ayubarwada war, when it was Chagatai Khanate vs the alliance of the Yuan and Ilkhanate.)

Under Ghazan of the IIkhanate, there was another attempt at trying to remove the IIkhanate from acknowledging Yuan supremacy all the time when he'd publicly downplay the Yuan's relationship with the Ilkhanate for Islamic codes and laws. Regardless, ties between the Yuan and IIkhanate remained relatively strong.

About the other two Khanates being "rebellious", even throughout all of that "rebellion" (in Mongolia's eyes), IIkhanate always remained an ally, which only further solidified his golden child status. Circling back to the Qaidu-Khublai war, this was essentially the Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate coming together to repudiate Khublai's status as the great Khan, accusing him of turning his back on Mongol tradition in favour of Chinese laws.

What happened was, when Khublai took the throne as the Yuan emperor, he invited Kaidu, but Kaidu refused. Khublai then urged the Khan of the Chagatai Khanate, Baraq to attack Kaidu. Although Baraq defeated Kaidu, upon discovering that the golden horde sided with Qaidu, Baraq, in turn, joined them. A subsequent alliance was born at the Talas Quriltai of 1269, and down the line, Kaidu became the defacto leader of the Chagatai Khanate. Ultimately, Khublai/the Yuan came out victorious, however during this time, the IIknanate supported the Yuan dynasty as opposed to allying with the golden horde and chagatai khanate against the yuan dynasty. The IIkhanate and Mongolia remained close, and Mongolia was an overbearing parent towards Ilkhanate despite the IIkhanate having pretty much it's own dominion.

IIkhanate found it difficult to socialise and to form alliances. Quoting Christopher Attwood again, "The dynasty's traditional foreign policy revolved around three rivals, Mamluk Egypt, the Golden Horde, the Chagatay Khanate, and one ally, the Yuan Dynasty."

Ilkhanate could only really consider his own father as a Stable/strong ally. To an extent he held some resentment towards his father but not enough to stop him from being needy. Not exactly the healthiest relationship.

Also: Ilkhanate definitely isn't as uh, timid as he is on the surface. The Berke-Hulagu war (Golden Horde vs IIkhanate war) was mainly fuelled by the fact that some Golden Horde princes were executed under Hulagu's watch, apparently because of "sorcery." He was definitely sneaky in his own ways and this showed even when the whole family were still living together. He was quite the snitch.

Ilkhanate:

Favoured youngest child

The more reserved/artsy one

Also the nerdiest one - really liked astronomy

Unhealthy attachment to his father

Somewhat coddled

Sneakier than you think he is

Onto the Khenbish (Chagatai Khanate) I find him interesting. Being the middle child, I think he knew he had to fight more for attention, and resented the attention Ogtbish would get for being the eldest (even if it was only a marginal amount more because Mongolia was very much preoccupied with other things) , especially with the rumours surrounding the parentage of Jochi and golden horde representing future Jochid lands.

He'd tell Ogtbish that he was the adoptees’ ulus and that therefore he had no right to call himself one of Mongolia's sons. He'd instigate a majority of the arguments he had with Golden Horde and probably rubbed in how he was the first to be granted his own ulus officially in 1226 - a year before the Golden Horde despite the Golden Horde being the eldest, under the provision of Chinggis Khan (golden horde gained his own territories in 1227 when Chinggis Khan died.) He always saw himself as more strong-willed than his brothers, and absolutely turned his nose up at Ilkhanate's seeming dependence on Mongolia even after gaining his own lands and being granted dominion over them.

Despite Chagatai Khanate and Golden horde arguably being the most keen on fighting for their father's attention and approval, ironically, ultimately they were the first to explicitly express their disenchantment with their father. Circling back to Kaidu-Qublai war, they believed that their father was abandoning Mongol tradition for Chinese. This situation can be seen as somewhat comedic if you see it as Mongolia's children rebelling against him because they don't like their new stepmom. I digress.

Khenbish was odd. He was very much someone who clung to rules and tradition. This stemmed out of his need for Mongolia's approval - especially over Golden Horde's, so the harder he stuck to the rules, the more he respected tradition, the more (he thought, anyways) his father would appreciate him. So queue his surprise when his father established the “Yuan dynasty" in China and subsequently went through some levels of cultural syncretism with China (different from full on Sinicization). I'd say that Chagatai was a little irked at his leader - Baraq, at seemingly siding with Qaidu only after the Golden Horde Khan sided with Qaidu. Of course there was discontent about Khublai already there however the way things unravelled, it was as if Chagatai Khanate quickly took Golden Horde's side rather than again, the discontent already being there and it seemed like he only spoke out after he found out that Golden Horde had the same opinion. Golden Horde definitely rubbed this in.)

Note: Qaidu was the defacto ruler of the Chagatai Khanate from 1266 to 1301. This did not mean that he was the official Khan of the Chagatai Khanate however he held massive amounts of influence and would appoint Khans himself.

The alliance did not last long. Qaidu defeated a major Yuan army in 1289 in the Khangai range, and managed to briefly occupy Kharakhorum - the capital. Nauruz, a commander from the Ilkhanate, led a rebellion in the same year in Khorasan, starting a succession struggle in the West, which allowed for Du'a's (Baraq Khan of the Chagatai Khanate’s second son) 1295 invasion of Mazandaran into Eastern Iran 2 few years later. Kaidu essentially told Du’a to take advantage of the situation and invade the Ilkhanate in order to spread his influence. This expansionism lead to Qaidu losing support from the Golden Horde.

Ultimately, the Golden Horde stopped supporting Qaidu after Mengu-Temur’s death and his successors, in a peace overture to the Yuan, returned Nomugan. This then urged Qaidu to return Hantum to the Yuan as well.

This was also definitely rubbed in Chagatai Khanate's face by Golden horde as, once again, it seemed like Chagatai Khanate was going along with things just because Golden Horde did it.

I'd say Mongolia was... annoyed, to say the very least when his own two sons went against him and accused him of all people of going against Mongol tradition and his own two sons became a thorn in his side.

Chagatai Khanate really irked him in particular though because not only was he the most incessant in his attacks but Mongolia remembers just how keen Chagatai Khanate used to be when it came to pleasing him, only for him to end up like that. Mongolia found himself to be the most annoyed at Chagatai Khanate and his clingyness to tradition. Not to say that Mongolia himself did not cling to tradition, because that is exactly how the Mongols of the Yuan managed to avoid sinicization and Mongolia was not about to call the Yuan a Chinese dynasty anytime soon. However I guess Chagatai crossed the line in his eyes when he decided to try and dictate to him what he should and shouldn't be doing.

In addition, I think Khenbish held resentment towards his father and brothers because he believed he was given the short end of the stick. Baraq Khan of the Chagatai Khanate in 1269 even complained that the Chagatai Khanate was a “miserable little ulus (realm)" compared to the Yuan, IIkhanate and even Golden Horde. The foreign policy of the Chagatai Khanate until 1300 was expansionist, so he was the main instigator of inter-Khanate conflicts as all of his neighbours were, well, his family.

Mongolia/the Yuan continued to battle it out with Qaidu/Du'a until their deaths in the early 1300s. A peace treaty was held in 1304, giving the Yuan nominal suzerainty over the other Khanates, but it was honestly never the same. I mean it was already fragmented after the 1260's however this peace treaty didn't actually do much to bring the four Khanates closer together or to help each other. For example, the IIkhanate’s decline in the 1330's was definitely seen as a good thing for Golden Horde who took full advantage and used it to become a major route for Mediterranean trade with the East. Queue 1304's most awkward family dinner ever though with Mongolia basically being like "...Well you guys still acknowledge my supremacy right?"

As said before, Chagatai Khanate was almost unhealthily obsessed with adhering to tradition, even in later life. By 1344, the Chagatai Khanate split into 2, the Mongols in the West/Transoxania, and Moghulistan in the East. Chagatai Khanate came to represent Moghulistan, as they still revered the Chagataid lineage and culture wise - kept a lot of the original tradition. The broken off Western part of the Chagatai Khanate - Transoxania, adhered much less to the original tradition, quickly converting to Islam and becoming semi-nomadic rather than remaining fully nomadic. The Mongol ruling elite mixed with the sedentary population and integrated into the local settled lranic culture. The Mongols in Transoxania/ the West dismantled the power of the Chagataid elite and merely used them as puppet rulers, unlike Moghulistan who clung to Chinggisid/Chagataid tradition.

In short: Chagatai Khanate (as Moghulistan) hated the Mongols of Transoxania and vice versa. The Mongols of Moghulistan considered the West to be too sedentary, too mixed, too non-traditional. The Mongols of Transoxania/the Western Chagatai Khanate considered the Mongols of the East to be outdated, uncultured and barbaric. Both sides attacked each other. At first, the Mongols of Moghulistan payed little attention to what the Mongols in West were doing, and elected strong leaders of Chagataid lineage, whereas the Mongol elite in Transoxania were struggling with a succession of puppet Khans. Moghulistan converted to Islam, and invaded the Mongols in the West, using religion partly to justify their invasions. To Chagatai Khanate (now as Moghulistan), he saw this as a triumph of tradition - the fact that his clinging onto old Chinggisid rule served him right in the end.

The Moghulistan leader, Tughlugh Timur (not the Timur of the Timurid empire) took advantage of the terrible state that the Western Chagatai Khanate was in and invaded - temporarily holding power there and bringing the two halves of the Chagatai Khanate back together again. Chagatai Khanate/Moghulistan definitely wanted to show this brat that he had a few more tricks up his sleeve. This did not last long however when Timur (of the Timurid Empire) and Amir Husayn expelled the Moghols, and fought to take Transoxania amongst themselves, much to the Chagatai Khanates/ Moghulistan's dismay.

Chagatai Khanate:

Typical middle child who acted up

Probably the biggest jock out of all of his brothers

Highschool bully vibes

At first was obsessed with pleasing his father but came to resent him

Loud/not afraid to say what he thinks

One more factoid about Chagatai Khanate, when the Mongols were booted out of China, quite a few Yuan Mongol refugees made their way into the Chagatai Khanate/Moghulistan. Chagatai Khanate definitely found this amusing.

Golden Horde and Kazakhstan

Now talking about (1) Central Asian and his relationship/feelings about the Golden Horde - Kazakhstan. I think Golden horde pretty much was. Dead/close to death when the "Great Horde" rump state was created. The rump state of the Great Horde was a product of the overall Golden Horde disintegrating into smaller units. The Golden Horde was officially dead by 1502 when the Crimean Khanate finished off the last remnants of the Golden Horde. The "Great Horde” rump state which included the likes of the Crimean Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, and Kazakh Khanate happened in the 1460's I think was when he was pretty much on his death bed and the only lands he had left was Sarai, and little control over the caravan trade. So he would have been dead by the 1502 at most - when the Crimean Khanate finished off the remnants of the Golden Horde, possibly even a few years before.

I don't think Kazakhstan was born as soon as the Kazakh Khanate was created, he was definitely around for a bit as the Kazakh tribes under the rule of the Uzbek Khanate. You could make a good argument that he was around even in the 14th century as it is specutated that from the 13-15th century was when the ethnogenesis of the Kazakh people took place. I believe, in hetalia terms, the Kazakhstan was "born" in the (very) late 14th century to signify this ethnogenesis as Kazakhs became fully emerged by the mid 15th century.

Another reason why I believe it is realistic to make Kazakhstan's birthdate around the late 14th century is because of the chain of events that lead tothe beginning of the Kazakhs. Urus Khan, son of Toga-Temur who was Jgchi Khan's 13th son, seized control over the Eastern Golden Horde - where modern day Kazakhstan is. The Uzbeks however, drove them out in the mid-15th century, and the descendants of Urus Khan (most notably Janibek and Kerei, his great grandchildren. Urus died in 1377) became the "Kazakh" (meaning free booter) aristocracy around the Xinjiang-Kazakhstan border. Hence why I think it would be logical to make him be born in the late 14th century, both to signify the ethnogenesis of the Kazakh people during this time and because this chain of events allowed for Kazakhs as a group to emerge/the events surrounding Urus Khan and his death and descendants was a major catalyst in Kazakh history that drove forward the emergence of the Kazakh people/aristocracy of the Kazakhs.

The Golden Horde was in it's decline by the late 14th century anyways, so Kazakhstan never got to experience Golden Horde rule during its peak. To note: The Kazakh Khanate became a thing when the Kazakh's became dissatisfied under Uzbek rule, and under Janibek and Kerei, fled the Uzbek Khanate in 1459. The Kazakh Khanate was then established in 1465, and 3 years later in 1468, the Kazakhs fought against the Uzbeks for independence.

What did Kazakhstan think of the Golden Horde? | don't think he ever met Golden Horde face to face to be honest.

The Golden Horde capital of Sarai and where the Kazakh tribes were situated were some distance from each other, and quite honestly Golden Horde was both too busy dealing with his own issues, conquests, politics etc and really not in the mood to think about other nation personifications that were either popping up because of him or gaining power within him - as they only served at testaments to his potential doom. Despite this, Kazakhstan definitely knew of the legends of the Golden Horde.

He was more of a legend figure to Kazakhstan than someone he had a tangible relationship with - being told he shared a resemblance to him when he was younger did give him a bit of a complex. | don't think this is something he obsesses over today (for the most part, I mean some Kazakh nationalists online are wilding and Mongolia can't help but waste time flaming them) but he definitely acknowledges his ties to the Golden Horde when it comes to his origins. For example, leaders of the liberal-nationalist Alash-Orda party until 1919 proudly traced their origins back to Chinggis Khan or Arghun Khan of the Golden Horde.

More on Kazakhstan's personality these days:

He's the baby of Central Asia but also the most successful

Because of this he feels a lot of pressure to do well

Smokes to deal with it

Workaholic

Very particular on keeping a stable/good public face. Especially with Russia Kyrgyzstan sort of scolds him for not being meaner to Russia LMAO but Kazakhstan finds importance in keeping things professional

Might snap one day who knows but he's doing good for now

Quite big on Central Asian unity/comradery and usually organises the meet ups

Which Uzbekistan finds really ironic considering that Kazakhstan breaking away from her Uzbek Khanate back in the 15th century is why he is who he is but oh well

Doesn't really like addressing the Soviet era but will speak about it objectively if someone asks him about it, both because it’s not a nice time to remember and also he'd prefer to give rigid responses so the asker eventually gets bored.

Those closer to him get the full scoop

Usually seen spotted with Kyrgyzstan

A bit of a space nerd he'll let you know that Yuri Gagarin took off from a launch site in his central country

Interests: He's sporty! And really loves falconry. Very good singer

Uzbekistan:

More religious/strict compared to quite a few of her CA counterparts

Serious face

I'd say she's quite disciplined and this extends to her work

At times she catches herself being authoritative towards Kazakhstan because she sort of treats him like annoying younger brother .

She's more reserved and tends to keep her personal feelings private. Less so for political/diplomatic reasons like Kazakhstan but because she prefers it that way. She's particular on who exactly she keeps close to her

Despite her disciplined exterior, she does have a compassionate side, particularly to those who have faced similar hardships as her

Her faith is incredibly important fo her, especially given the history of religious persecutions in her country

The second biggest player in CA beside Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan's face when the babies are the most successful: 🙄

Difficult on/off again relationship with Kyrgyzstan (not in a romantic way) considering their history of conflict/comradery between each other

Still doesn't have the best relationship with each other but Kyrgyzstan has to suck it up considering he almost entirely is dependant on Uzbekistan for natural gas

Is a little bit of a gossip but you'd never know on the surface

Interests: Reading, art museums, pottery, quilt making... gossiping

Kyrgyzstan:

A little bit. Batshit. But I say that in the most affectionate way possible

Has a bit of a complex about Kazakhstan being younger yet more successful

Cares a lot less about keeping a cool exterior/diplomatic face and can sometimes let out of pocket stuff escape him

Not exactly happy about his position in Central Asia wealth wise

On/off again relationship with Uzbekistan as said before and is one of the only people who have seen her more vulnerable side

This didn't last long though and now he finds her overbearing and uptight considering how much younger she Is.

Despite his somewhat emotionally erratic behaviour he too has a compassionate/understanding side, but this is unlike Uzbekistan.

With both, it's hard for them to let people in. However with Uzbekistan, once she let's you in she'll keep you close/you're there for life. With Kyrgyzstan, he has moments of vulnerability towards people who he secretly does trust and would consider his inner circle but will never explicitly tell them, and when that moment ts over it's gone in a blink and you wonder if it even happen

Relationship with Tajikistan is a little rocky and he has a lot less of a filter around vocalising his grievances about her to her than Uzbekistan

If you're his friend though he is a ride or die

Interests: Really big on poetry/ (epic of Manas anyone?), falconry/horseriding (tends to do this with Kazakhstan most of the time). Also goldsmithing!

Tajikistan:

Unlike Kyrgyzstan, she doesn’t mind being perceived as younger than the babies of the region as she sees that as adding to her natural youthful appearance

Has a somewhat bouncy/bubbly personality

However if something gets on her nerves she can get exasperated quite quickly but doesn't reach Kyrgyzstan levels of lashing out. Just sulks really

Very proud of her history

Isn't one to hold grudges usually however if there is an event that had happened to her that gets in the way of her #proudhistory narrative she can get sulky about it

She admittedly does hold some resentment about being held under foreign rule for so long (since about the 10th century)

Speaking about history, at times she can prattle on about her own history quite a bit like her close ties to Persia but she does like history in general.

Is quite dose to Iran/Afghanistan

Hobbies: I can see her being really into embroidery because a lot of Tajik arts/crafts includes embroidered wallhangings and bedcovers! I can also see her being a sporty/active to keep up with her “natural youthful appearance”, blasting Iranian music.

Turkmenistan:

Quite cut off/isolated from the rest of CA because of her government so isn't particularly close to a lot of people

So in this sense she is quite reserved on the surface but inside she is kind of itching to talk to other people

Because she's so cut off, to the very few people who she is close to or that she does talk to, she can be quite sticky/needy with them and has a tendency to overshare

As mentioned before, she is itching to talk to more people/make new friends but at the same time 1) government 2) she is very cautious when it comes to falling under the influence of other nations (Russia, USA etc) so she sees it as a way of protecting her own interests

She kind of justifies the extent of isolation she puts up with by comparing herself to more unfortunate nations/neighbours and using excuses such as "It could be worse at least the food is cheap..." etc etc. —

So, not the best coping mechanism but it's not as bad as the chain smoking Kazakhstan participates in

As said before, she is reserved but her reserved-ness doesn't give the same sort of resting-bitch-face vibes that Uzbekistan's reserved nature does. People just look at her and think "oh she seems quiet”

This does not mean she is shy though - just has hard boundaries with talking to new people

I can see her really liking Turkey! I'd say that Turkey is a bit more enthusiastic about their friendship than she is because he is a bit of a larper lol but she really appreciates his company. Lots of Turkmen students go to Turkey and speak very good Turkish!

Interests: I think she does a lot of reading but also I can see her doing beadwork/jewellery making to pass the time :3

I hope you enjoyed reading !

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