a great nomadic empire under the warlord Kasim Khan. However, the Kazakhs soon became divided, with the tribes fighting among themselves. The khan Haq Nazar succeeded in uniting the Kazakh hordes between 1538 and 1580, but by the 17th century the Kazakhs were again fragmented. In the 1680s the Kazakhs began to fight a series of wars against invaders from the east called Oirots, a group of four Mongol tribes, including Dzungars, that sought to conquer Kazakh lands. Although the Kazakh hordes united again for purposes of war, Dzungar invasions completely devastated the Kazakhs by 1720. This period in Kazakh history is remembered as the “Great Disaster.” In the early 18th century the Cossacks established a line of settlements and fortifications across the Kazakhs' northern boundary in order to defend the Russian frontier, which had expanded eastward into Siberia. During the Dzungar invasions, the Kazakhs appealed to Russia for protection and military supplies. Although Russia was, at the time, unwilling to become involved, the Kazakh hordes subsequently declared their allegiance to Russia in return for Russian protection. Russia gradually came to dominate local affairs, limiting the powers of the khans and imposing the Russian administrative system. As Russian domination increased, the power of the khans began to completely erode. In the 1790s the Kazakhs revolted against Russian rule, but their uprisings were ultimately ineffectual and were followed by Russia's decision to abolish Kazakh autonomy. The tumultuous histories of the two countries led them to establish similar governments, both with popularly elected executives, unicameral legislatures, and similar judicial systems; also both are broken up into comparable administrative districts. Belarus adopted its first post-Soviet constitution in 1994. Under that constitution, a popularly elected president replaced the chairperson of the unicameral legislature, called the Supr...
