Periodization of the early Kyrgyz statehood

The article for the first time attempts to periodize the earliest history of the Kyrgyz statehood. We have studied of the early statehood of the Kyrgyz people through an objective analysis of well-known historical and written artifacts. Historiographic data give evidence of at least two thousand year statehood of the Kyrgyz. In our study we rely on ancient Chinese chronicles. In earlier works, we have identified the main stages in the development of Kirgiz statehood - the Antiquity, the Middle Ages, then early and late modern periods. The need for periodization of Kirgiz statehood is important for detailing the history of the ancient ethnos. There is also a need to show that the Kyrgyz are not just an ancient ethnos, but the people, who since ancient times had their own state under different names in different periods of history. The ethnonym «Kirgiz», as well as the names of tribes, clans, toponyms and hydronyms associated with the Kirgiz, are spread all over Eurasia. We believe that in the past the position of the Kyrgyz state in the international arena had been constantly changing. In the article, we have identified the main periods of the developing the statehood of the Kyrgyz in antiquity, given their general and special characteristics in chronological and logical sequence.