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The Karakalpaks or Qaraqalpaqs (; ), are a Kipchak-Nogai Turkic peoples ethnic group native to Karakalpakstan in Northwestern Uzbekistan. During the 18th century, they settled in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and in the (former) river delta of Amu Darya on the southern shore of the Aral Sea. The name Karakalpak comes from two words: qara meaning 'black' and Kalpak meaning 'hat'. The Karakalpaks number nearly 871,970 worldwide, out of which about 726,000 live in the Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan.
The Karakalpaks, Uzbeks, and Kazakhs are regarded to be subgroups of the same Uzbek Khanate that arose in the fifteenth century following the breakdown of Genghis Khan's empire and the collapse of the Golden Horde. The Karakalpak group was formed in the seventeenth century as a result of a split from the Kazakh Khanate.
Recent archaeological evidence indicates that the Karakalpaks may have formed as a confederation of different tribes at some time in the late 15th or the 16th centuries at some location along the Syr Darya or its southern Zhany Darya outlet, in proximity to the Kazakhs of the Lesser Horde. This would explain why their language, customs, and material culture are so similar to that of the Kazakhs.
Rural Karakalpaks mainly live on former collective or state farms, most of which have been recently privatised. Many rural Karakalpaks have been seriously affected by the desiccation of the Aral Sea, which has destroyed the local fishing industry along with much of the grazing and agricultural land in the north of the delta. The majority of Karakalpakstan is occupied by desert: the Kyzyl Kum on the eastern side, the barren Ustyurt Plateau to the west and now the growing Aralkum Desert to the north, once the bed of the former Aral Sea.
Due to the geography and history of the Karakalpak people, Karakalpak has been influenced by Uzbek, Mongol, Tajik language and Russian language. A Karakalpak-Uzbek pidgin language is often spoken by those bilingual in both languages.
Dervish orders such as the Naqshbandi, Kubrawiya, Yasawi and Qalandariyya are fairly common in the region. The religious order that established the strongest relationship with the people of the region is the Kubrawiya, which has Shi'i adherents.
Of 553 mosques recorded in 1914, a few remain in Nukus, Tórtkúl, Xojeli, and Shımbay. Many Karakalpak use their homes for Friday prayers.
The history of Karakalpak national literature begins with the formation of the Karakalpaks as a people from the 2nd half. XVI century, from the time they were mentioned in historical chronicles under the name "Karakalpaks". Appeared in the XIV-XV centuries. and in the 1st half. XVI century in the Golden Horde, White Horde and tNogai Horde, literary monuments and the work of the poets who lived in those times should be considered common to the modern Kazakhs, Nogais and Karakalpak peoples. Songs composed in the XIV-XVI centuries. in the Nogai Union, scientists called them "Nogai songs". The same name is also used by Shoqan Valikhanov, who divides the heritage created by the people into 3 groups and calls the 3rd group "Nogai songs", indicating the time of their appearance – the XIV-XVI centuries. – and noting their commonality for the Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kyrgyz, Nogai peoples.
In the political development of the Karakalpaks, the 18th century was the most difficult and tragic time. Many Kazakh clans were subject to the Kalmyks. Many Karakalpaks were forced to flee to the lower reaches of the Syr Darya. Since 1810, the historical fate of the Karakalpaks has been closely connected with the history of the Khiva Khanate. The poor were hired as farm laborers by the rich and by officials, which testified to the strengthening of class stratification and contradictions between the Karakalpaks. In the 18th century Along with rich oral folk art, a literary heritage itself arose, which had specific creative features, the authors of which were known. These include the zhyrau-storyteller Zhien zhyrau (Karakalp. Jiyen jıraw). There were other poets in that era, but neither their names nor the works they created have survived to our time. Poems differ from folklore in certain ways in terms of theme, style, realism and are in the nature of written literature.
The awakened class consciousness became for those who lived in the 19th century. classical poets as a determining factor. It formed the ideological essence of the works of such major representatives of Karakalpak classical poetry of the 19th century as Ajiniyaz, Berdakh. They wrote about the hard life and struggle of the people, their dissatisfaction with the feudal order. Satire also developed. The anecdotes Joker Omirbek, a defender of the poor and a wit, a follower of Nasreddin, were actively retold. The annexation of Karakalpakstan to Russian Empire did not free its population from exploitation and oppression.
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