Folk culture history of Karakalpak Turks

The Karakalpaks appear in historical sources as a Turkic tribe that originally came from the Pechenegs. Karakalpaks were referred to as "Kavm-i Külâh-i Siyah" (Black hats tribe) in Câmiu't-Tevârîh, the work of historian Reşidüddin, "Karabörklü" (people in black hats) in Arab sources and "Çorniye Klobki" (people in black hats) in old Russian sources. The name Karakalpak comes from the colours the people used in their living and clothing. They mostly lived around Khwarezm and the Aral Sea. Due to the geography they lived in, Karakalpaks frequently took part in political and military struggles with the Russians, Arabs and other Turkic tribes. It is seen in the historical sources that this Turkic tribe, who were masters in the art of military service, also fought on the side of the Russian Army in order to ensure the security of the Russian principalities when appropriate. Central Asian khanates had to live under Russian domination for a long time after being occupied by the Russian Empire. After the collapse of the Russian Tsardom in 1917, Karakalpaks lived autonomously in the Kazakh Soviet Republic for a while. Then they became an autonomous republic directly affiliated to the USSR, and finally, with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, they took part in the Republic of Uzbekistan under the name of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. Most Karakalpak Turks live in this autonomous republic today. The rest are located in the Central Asian Turkic Republics and the Russian Federation. Qualitative research method was used in writing the thesis. After the literature review, data analysis was made by scanning the relevant sources, and then the writing phase was started. Turkish, Russian and Uzbek sources were used in the thesis. After mentioning the short history of the Karakalpak Turks, subjects such as their social life, religious life, belief systems, literature, language and oral culture were explained in detail. This thesis as a comprehensive study about Karakalpak Turks will contribute to the literature in the sphere of history.