The purpose of the dissertation is to research Kazakh shezhires as historical sources. The dissertation is consisted of four basic sections and touches upon the concerned scientific problems such as: gathering of samples of shezhires and being acquaintance with manuscript funds; constructing the methodological bases for the scientific approach to the shezhires as historical sources; to study the process of the forming of shezhires telling tradition; to classificate the forms and types of shezhires; to trace up the information of the authors of shezhires; to interpret the meanings and the functions of shezhires; to study the outer influences on shezhires in different historical times.
