Some speculate that it comes from the Turkic verb qaz ("wanderer, brigand, vagabond, warrior, free, independent") or that it derives from the Proto-Turkic word *khasaq (a wheeled cart used by the Kazakhs to transport their yurts and belongings).

[39] According to Turkic linguist Vasily Radlov and Orientalist Veniamin Yudin, the noun qazğaq derives from the same root as the verb qazğan ("to obtain", "to gain").

[40] Throughout history, Kazakhstan has been home to many nomadic societies of the Eurasian Steppe, including the Sakas (Scythian-related), the Xiongnu, the Western Turkic Khaganate, the Kimek–Kipchak Confederation, the Mongol Empire, the Golden Horde and the Kazakh Khanate, which was established in 1465.

Early Medieval Turkic peoples who migrated into Central Asia displayed genetic affinities with Ancient Northeast Asians, deriving around 62% of their ancestry from a gene pool maximized among Neolithic hunter-gatherers in the Amur region.

The tribal groups formed a powerful confederation that grew wealthy on the trade passing through the steppe lands along the fabled Silk Road.

[45] Kazakh was a common term throughout medieval Central Asia, generally with regard to individuals or groups who had taken or achieved independence from a figure of authority.

[46] In Turco-Persian sources, the term Özbek-Qazaq first appeared during the middle of the 16th century, in the Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a Chagatayid prince of Kashmir.

Seen from a broader perspective, the Kazakhs belonged to the Chinggisid uluses, others being the Shibanid Uzbeks, Crimean Tatars, Manghits/Noghays, and Chaghatays (Moghuls and Timurids), who shared a common language (Turkic), political ideology (based on Mongol traditions), royal lineage (Chinggisid related), ethnic identity (“Mongol Turks” [Turk-i mughūl]), and religion (Sunni Islam), and who still dominated much of the vast region stretching from the Crimea in the west to the Tien Shan Mountains in the east, and from southern Siberia in the north to northern India in the south during the post-Mongol period.

[51] Regarding these events, Haidar Dughlat in his Tarikh-i-Rashidi reports:[52] At that time, Abulkhair Khan exercised full power in Dasht-i-Kipchak.

Isán Bughá Khán received them with great honor, and delivered over to them Kuzi Báshi, which is near Chu, on the western limit of Moghulistán, where they dwelt in peace and content.

The Kazák Sultáns began to reign in the year 870 [1465–1466] (but God knows best), and they continued to enjoy absolute power in the greater part of Uzbegistán, till the year 940 [1533–1534 A.D.].In the 17th century, Russian convention seeking to distinguish the Qazaqs of the steppes from the Cossacks of the Imperial Russian Army suggested spelling the final consonant with "kh" instead of "q" or "k", which was officially adopted by the USSR in 1936.

[54][55] Like many people who live a nomadic lifestyle, Kazakhs keep an epic tradition of oral history which goes back centuries.

It is most commonly relayed in the form of song (kyi) and poetry (zhyr), which typically tell the stories of Kazakh national heroes.

[59] The theory suggests that the Qazaqs then divided among a wider territory after expanding from Zhetysu into most of the Dasht-i Qipchaq, with a focus on the trade available through the cities of the middle Syr Darya, to which Sayram and Yasi belonged.

Russia's response was to set up secular schools and devise a way of writing Kazakh with the Cyrillic alphabet, which was not widely accepted.

Overall, Kazakhs show their closest genetic affinity with other Central Asian populations, namely the Kalmyks, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, and Altaians, but also Mongolians and Tuvans.

Genetic analysis (AMOVA and MDS) did not show significant differences between the two groups (Kazakhstan and Karakalpakstan Kazakhs) in terms of Y-chromosome diversity.

[74] The study analyzed haplotype variation at 15 Y-chromosomal short-tandem-repeats obtained from 1171 individuals from 24 tribes representing the three socio-territorial subdivisions (Senior, Middle and Junior zhuz) in Kazakhstan to comprehensively characterize the patrilineal genetic architecture of the Kazakh Steppe.

[citation needed] Turkey received refugees from among the Pakistan-based Kazakhs, Turkmen, Kirghiz, and Uzbeks numbering 3,800 originally from Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War.

[105] Kayseri, Van, Amasya, Çiçekdağ, Gaziantep, Tokat, Urfa, and Serinyol received via Adana the Pakistan-based Kazakh, Turkmen, Kirghiz, and Uzbek refugees numbering 3,800 with UNHCR assistance.

For hundreds of years, Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation, clothing, and food.

There is a large practice of salting and drying meat so that it will last, and there is a preference for sour milk, as it is easier to save in a nomadic lifestyle.

Pilaf (palaw) is the most common Kazakh rice dish, with vegetables (carrots, onions, or garlic) and chunks of meat.

[116] Such attempts included methods of eulogizing pre-Islamic historical figures and imposing a sense of inferiority by sending Kazakhs to highly elite Russian military institutions.

[115] In more recent times, however, Kazakhs have gradually employed a determined effort in revitalizing Islamic religious institutions after the fall of the Soviet Union.

For example, the Kazakh Foreign Affairs Minister, Marat Tazhin, recently emphasized that Kazakhstan attaches importance to the use of "positive potential Islam, learning of its history, culture and heritage.

"[121] Pre-Islamic beliefs, such as worship of the sky, the ancestors, and fire, continued to a great extent to be preserved among the common people, however.

[123] Tusau kesu (Kazakh: тұсау кесу – to cut ties) – a tradition to celebrate the first attempts of a child to walk.

The legs of a child are tied with a string of white and black colors symbolizing the good and the bad in life.

After studying in Moscow, Gaziza Zhubanova became the first woman classical composer in Kazakhstan, whose compositions reflect Kazakh history and folklore.