Central Asian Law

Martin, Virginia. “Kazakh Chinggisids, Land and Political Power in the Nineteenth Century: A Case Study of Syrymbet.” Central Asian Survey 29, no. 1 (2010): 79–102.

Martin, Virginia. Law and Custom in the Steppe: The Kazakhs of the Middle Horde and Russian Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century. Richmond: Curzon, 2000.

Sections: Introduction Legal Culture in the Colonial Context; The Middle Horde Nomads and Colonial Rule; Nomadism and Adat; Law and Empire-Building; Settlement: Cossacks, Peasants and Nomads; Adat in Practice 1868-1898; Biys and Litigants; Land Disputes; Barimta; Conclusion

Martin, Virginia. “Barimta: Nomadic Custom, Imperial Crime.” In Russia’s Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples, 1700-1917, edited by Daniel R. Brower and Edward J. Lazzerini, 249-70. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.

Relevance:  “In this chapter, I have argued that while the practice of barimta survived by adjusting to a new colonial context, the Kazakh cultural understanding of the importance of honor, justice, and revenge remained the same. An examination of barimta shows that colonization brought new legal structures, but not necessarily new legal sensibilities, to the colonized.” (264)

Martin, Virginia. “Kazakh Oath-Taking in Colonial Courtrooms: Legal Culture and Russian Empire-Building.” Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 5, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 483-514.

Oaths in Russian Legal Practice and Empire-Building
The Oath, Custom, and Legitimacy in the Official Biy Court
Kazakh Oath-taking on the Qur’an and Perjury in the Russian Courtroom
Conclusion