Livestock breeding was the main form of the economic activity of the Kazakhs. The way of life was nomadic and semi-nomadic. Migration distances were different. Before moving to a new place, experienced villagers scouted the area and looked for grazing suitable lands for the cattle. An indispensable condition for choosing the land was the presence of the meadows and water sources. Related clans, usually, roamed along a certain route. The herds of horses were kept on the fodder, getting foodby tebindeu (winter pasture when cattle find fodder under the snow) in winter. Following the horses, large and small cattle were grazed at this place, cleared from the snow by tebindeu. Mainly sheep, goats, horses and camels were bred by the nomadic Kazakhs.
Clothes, as other different items of material culture, reflect the historical development of society, changes in climate, national peculiarities, and aesthetic view of the people throughout the world, their ethno-cultural peculiarities, age categories, and social and ethnic membership of a man. The clothes protect the human body from environmental influence, different natural factors and meet the needs of a human and convey aesthetic meaning changing and decorating man's appearance. National clothes are a rich historical and cultural heritage. Its full study introduces the traditions, customs and the standard of living of the people. The national clothes of the Kazakh people are distinguished by their peculiarity. The reason might be that the Kazakh people led a nomadic lifestyle and were very close to nature. They actually remind them of the clothes of early nomads. Some styles originated during the age of saks. The clothes of the Kazakhs with odor recall the clothes of the saks and the medieval clothes of the Turks. The types of cutout and tailoring of the nomads have survived.
The history of the Kazakh dwelling goes back to ancient times to the tribal settlements and dwellings that inhabited the vast expanses of Kazakhstan. Archaeological researches allow tracing the change in the forms of housing since the Bronze Age. Certainly, it would be wrong to lead a Kazakh traditional dwelling, well-known since the 19th c. directly from those forms that existed among the ancient tribes of Kazakhstan. The housing is significantly influenced by changes in the economy, the level of technology, socio-economic development. Thus, the transition to nomadic cattle breeding led to a radical change in the way of life of people, the disappearance of a settled dwelling in most of Kazakhstan, the emergence and development of entirely new forms of a portable dwelling. The ethnic history of the population of the Kazakh steppes, where new tribes constantly invaded, is very complex, and the Kazakh people were formed on the basis of the processes of interaction of different ethnic groups. Newcomers brought their culture, including their traditional home or housekeeping skills. Nevertheless, the culture of the newcomers, especially the dwelling, was to take a lot from the already developed culture of their predecessors during the adaptation to the natural conditions of Kazakhstan. And the forms of the nomadic dwelling, obviously, formed over a wide territory including the Kazakh steppes Yurt obviously was the main form of nomadic dwelling for Kazakhs in the 15th – 16th cc. A p ersian author of the beginning of the 16th c. RuzbikhanIsfagani wrote about the dwellings of the Kazakhs: "quickly disassembled and ... transported by animals."
The national applied arts, closely relate to an esthetic transformation of the material world, were one of theartistic and ethnic self-expression ways. It deeply and widely represents the essence of national peculiarity, as well as the identity of culture and civilization. This kind of art reflected creative and philosophic conceptions of Kazakh nation and played the essential and generating role in the development of its unique mentality and culture. The major position in the traditional Kazakhs' applied arts occupies the jeweler's art, making the bright and sparkling impression. The human being is always tended to decorate his clothes with different jewelry, which was based, on one hand, esthetic motives and prestige and on the other hand, on magical and protective notions. Since the late Stone Age people wore necklaces, bracelets and pendants made of bones and shells. Men decorated themselves with claws and fangs of animals, killed in order to possess them, their strength and fearlessness, according to the principle of similitude. With the lapse of time, the decorative role of jewelry began to dominate and as fr its magical function, it persisted to keep its meaning, but became secondary.
Blacksmiths had a great respect among the people. They were called the keeper, darkhan, sheber-master, craftsman, master. In the people there was a perception that blacksmiths possess supernatural powers and abilities. This attitude towards the people of this profession is characteristic of all Turkic-speaking peoples. The blacksmiths kept secrets of their craftsmanship passed it on to their heirs. Their skill and art are sung in the heroic tales of the Kazakh people, for example, in the poem "Koblandy". The blacksmith's craft of the Kazakhs provided the population with household and domestic items. In the process of work, the masters used the following tools: fur (korik), anvil (tos), crucibles (eritetinozhau), a set of hammers of various sizes with flat or convex working ends (balga), tongs (kyskash), chisels, (kashau), piercers (teskish), poker (koseu), drill (burgy), rasp (turpi). The smith used hot forging, casting of metal on the prepared forms, riveting of various details, filigree and blackening.
In the homeland of Abu Nasr al-Farabi, who left an indelible mark in the culture of the world and their followers - in Otrar, science and culture developed from the ancient times. In the 19th - early 20th cc. the role of educational institutions in the Otrar region were carried out by the madrasah. In some sources, the situation of the educational schools informs of the mosque-madrasah in Sarykol. The founder and teacher in this educational institution was Ospan azhi Begalyuli, who was educated in the Central Asian madrassas and educational institutions of Mecca. In the madrasah, the pupils underwent a five-year course of study. Also known are the names of local enlighteners Zaurbek Molda, Abuseit Molda, Akimkari, Uakhap Hodja, Bilal Hodja, Ospankul Molda, Mamyrbek Molda, Nabi Molda.
The presence of the Syrdaria and Arys rivers contributed to the development of agriculture in the Otrar oasis. In this region millet, rice, wheat, cotton, from melons pumpkins, melons, watermelons, grapes and much more were grown. Dozens of medieval hydro structures are known on the rivers Syrdaria and Arys, in the form of the main canals, up to 40 km long. They are blocked by the channels of the Kazakh period, which date back to the 18th-19th centuries. An extensive network of Kazakh channels was identified on the Bugun River in the region of Buzuk settlement and Shoshkakol Lake, on the right bank of the Syrdaria River in the area of the town of Rabat, Tekturmas and Oksyz. In the 30s of the 20th century a new period began in the agriculture of Otrar. The Schaulder canal was built along the channel of the medieval Temir-aryk. Throughout the 20th century, other channels were refreshed and expanded, new ones were built, which breathed life into the agriculture that was dying out in the late 19thcentury in the region.
In Kazakhs, hunting is divided into two types: with the use of weapons and various adaptations, and with the help of sighthounds and predatory hunting birds. The first type of hunting, in its turn, has the following subspecies: "kum kakpan, tas kakpan kuru - catching on traps", "orga zhygu – catching in the hole", "catching in the burrow",“shanshu”, “atky”, “baspa”, “abak, au, catchingin the grid, depend on the usage method. The second type of hunting is divided into "tazymen ankagu - hunting with sighthounds", "sayat - hunting with hunting birds", "sonar - hunting on the trail", "salburyn", etc.
Fishery is one of the oldest forms of economic activity of people. As a kind of activity, fishing originated with the invention of the harpoon. So the fish began to catch much easier. Thanks to the bone hooks on the end of the harpoon, the fish could not slip away. Fisheries became the third most important occupation of ancient people after gathering and hunting. The forms and methods of traditional fishing, as well as tools, were very diverse and represented almost all known methods of non-fishing fishing: dams, nets, baskets, fishing rods, fish wheels, etc.