Abstract

The article analyzes the zhyrau phenomenon as one of the institutions for the formation, rooting and transmission of the values of the national idea of the Kazakh people. The multifaceted activity of zhyrau is shown, from collecting and transmitting historical legends in poetic form to direct participation in political power as advisers to khans, batyrs and ordinary soldiers and a stronghold of morality, the unity of the Kazakh people.

The article concludes: the zhyrau institution was a factor in the formation of civic consciousness, one of the foundations of democratic government, the most important institution of checks and balances of political power. Zhyrau - bearers of the steppe traditions, they became an example of imitation of the political and cultural elite of the Kazakh society and were continued in the activities of Abai, Shakarim, M. Zhusup, representatives of Alash, etc. The creativity of zhyrau, continuing the tradition of the Oral Word, has in many ways become a source of knowledge about the historical events of the Kazakh state, historical figures. Based on the multifaceted role that the zhyrau played in Kazakh society, the article concludes that the zhyrau institute performed the function of a carrier, creator and relayer of the national idea.