Kazakh literature

[2] Traces of this tradition are shown on Orkhon script stone carvings dated 5th-7th centuries CE that describe the rule of Kultegin and Bilge, two early Turkic rulers ("kagans").

[1] Although the origins of such tales are often unknown, most of them were associated with bards of the recent or more distant past, who supposedly created them or passed them on, by the time most Kazakh poetry and prose was first written down in the second half of the 19th century.

[1] There are clear stylistic differences between works first created in the 19th century, and works dating from earlier periods but not documented before the 19th century, such as those attributed to such 16th- and 17th-century bards as Er Shoban and Dosmombet Zhıraw (also known as Dospambet Žyrau; he appeared to have been literate, and reportedly visited Constantinople), and even to such 15th-century bards as Shalkiz and Asan Qayghı.

In 2021, the government of Kazakhstan funded the translation of 100 famous international pieces of literature and textbooks into the Kazakh language.

Translated works include topics from the humanities, best-selling modern classics, economics & social science textbooks, and more.