The 19th century is often described as the Age of Enlightenment in Kazakhstan’s cultural history. Three outstanding figures played a particularly important role in the development of Kazakh culture during this period: Shokan, Ybyrai, and Abai. Their contributions are often described as follows: Shokan advanced science, Ybyrai developed education, and Abai helped establish modern Kazakh literature.
Abai Kunanbayev (1845–1904) was a great poet, composer, philosopher, public figure, educator, and founder of modern realist written Kazakh literature.
As a child, Abai listened to countless folktales and legends told by his wise grandmother Zere, affectionately known as an elderly matriarch. His mother, Ulzhan, also played an important role in his upbringing. She was known for her gentle character, wit, humour, and deep understanding of traditional customs.
Abai first learned to read and write under a village mullah named Gabitkhan. At the age of ten, he entered the Akhmet Riza Madrasah in Semipalatinsk, where he studied for three years. The curriculum focused mainly on religious subjects and the Arabic and Persian languages. Abai demonstrated exceptional ability and became one of the best students.
He was not satisfied with religious education alone and sought to broaden his knowledge independently. He studied works by Eastern poets and became familiar with stories, epics, and literary narratives written in Arabic, Persian, and Chagatai. He was particularly influenced by the great classical poets Nizami, Navoi, Saadi, Hafez, and Fuzuli.
During his third year at the madrasah, Abai also attended a Russian parish school in Semipalatinsk and began learning Russian. However, he was unable to continue his studies, and his formal education ended after three years.
Recognizing his son’s exceptional abilities, Kunanbay brought him home and intended to involve him in public administration. As a result, Abai began participating in community affairs at the age of thirteen.
As he matured, Abai engaged in intellectual discussions with the philosophers, poets, and scholars whose works he had studied. He translated outstanding literary works into Kazakh. His translations demonstrated remarkable artistic skill and sometimes matched or even surpassed the originals in literary quality.
Ybyrai Altynsarin (1841–1889) left a lasting mark on the history of Kazakh education and the development of the national school system. He was born in 1841 in what is now Kostanay Region. Having lost his father at an early age, he was raised by his grandfather, Balgozha Zhanburshin, a respected biy and community elder.
From childhood, Ybyrai showed a strong interest in learning and independent study. His desire to acquire more knowledge and contribute as much as possible to the well-being of his people became his guiding principle. He was modest and hardworking, read extensively, and sought to learn from the achievements of other nations so that he could use this knowledge for the benefit of Kazakh society.
Between 1879 and 1883, Altynsarin opened new schools in four districts of Turgai Region: Turgai, Irgiz, Troitsk, and Aktobe. In 1883, a vocational school was opened in Turgai. It became the first institution in the Kazakh steppe to provide technical education.
Ybyrai paid particular attention to the education of Kazakh girls. In 1887, he established a girls’ school in Irgiz, one of his most significant achievements in education.
As the number of schools increased, the need for trained teachers also grew. In 1881, the first teachers’ school was opened in Omsk. Altynsarin’s work extended beyond establishing schools: he placed great emphasis on teaching quality, student development, and modern educational methods.
In 1876, Ybyrai began compiling Kazakh Anthology, which was published in Orenburg in 1879. The poems and stories included in the book promoted public education. His poems Kel, balalar, oqylyq! (“Come, Children, Let Us Learn!”) and Öner-bilim bar zhūrtar (“Peoples Who Have Attained Knowledge and Education”) encouraged young people to pursue learning and education.
Shokan Valikhanov Chingisuly (1835–1865) was an outstanding Kazakh scholar, educator, Orientalist, historian, ethnologist, geographer, folklorist, and artist. His given name was Muhammad Qanafiya. As a child, he was affectionately called “Shokanym” by his grandmother, and the name Shokan stayed with him.
He was born near Lake Kushmurun in what is now Kostanay Region. Shokan was the great-grandson of the renowned Kazakh khan Abylai. His grandfather Uali was also a khan, while his father, Chingis, held the position of senior sultan after the abolition of the khanate system and the introduction of a new administrative structure.
As a member of a ruling family expected to know many languages, Shokan received his early education at a village school and learned Arabic script. He later mastered Arabic and Chagatai. His father then sent him to the Omsk Cadet Corps, considered one of the finest educational institutions in Siberia at the time.
At the request of the renowned Orientalist I. N. Berezin, Shokan studied and analysed the Yarlyk (decree) of Khan Tokhtamysh. This became one of his earliest scholarly works. Despite his young age, Russian scholars began to recognize his exceptional knowledge, particularly of Eastern literature and history.
After graduating from the Cadet Corps, Shokan remained in the office of the Governor-General of Western Siberia. In 1855, he participated in an expedition intended to study the region and extend Russian influence over the Senior Zhuz, which was then under the influence of the Kokand Khanate. The expedition travelled through Semipalatinsk, Ayagoz, and Kapal to the Trans-Ili Alatau. Shokan also travelled to the Dzungarian Gate, Lake Alakol, and the Tarbagatai region.
During these journeys, he collected historical and ethnographic materials about the Kazakh and Kyrgyz peoples and documented examples of their oral traditions. His work was highly praised by General G. H. Gasfort. Shokan was recommended for an award, promoted in military rank, and given the rank of lieutenant.
He was among the first to record the Kyrgyz epic Manas in writing. He also visited locations near the upper reaches of the Ili River associated with legends about the campaigns of Manas. Shokan critically examined the works of geographers K. Ritter and Alexander von Humboldt, as well as Orientalists Schott and Klaproth. His scholarly reputation reached St. Petersburg, and he was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society while still a young man.
Shokan’s journey to Kashgaria marked a new stage in his scholarly and educational work. He produced a study of the history and social structure of the peoples of Eastern Turkestan that met the high academic standards of his time. The work was subsequently published in Germany and England.
His artistic legacy is also significant. Shokan is regarded as one of the earliest professional Kazakh artists. He mainly created portraits, landscapes, and drawings depicting traditional life and customs. Approximately 150 of his drawings have survived.
Shokan’s life was short, like a bright shooting star. Yet, within that brief lifetime, he demonstrated extraordinary human potential, deep humanism, unwavering devotion to his people, remarkable scholarly talent, and exceptional intellectual curiosity.
School-Gymnasium No. 8 named after M. H. Dulati in Central Park
School-Gymnasium No. 8 named after M. H. Dulati is located in Central Park. It was opened in 1879. Initially, it operated as a private girls’ gymnasium with eight female students and two teachers. The school was founded by Maria Nikolaevna Murashkina.
The 1916 National Liberation Uprising
The uprising in Kazakhstan began after the publication of the Tsar’s decree of 25 June 1916. In early July, protests erupted in almost every region of Kazakhstan and soon developed into an armed uprising.
Taking advantage of the absence of birth certificates among many residents, local officials arbitrarily included poor people in the conscription lists regardless of their actual age. Meanwhile, the sons of wealthy families were exempted from conscription in exchange for bribes. The preparation of the lists became a source of widespread corruption and abuse.
The main objective of the uprising was national and political liberation. The largest centres of armed resistance emerged in Zhetysu and the Turgai region.
Tokash Bokin (1890–1918) was one of the leaders of the 1916 uprising in Zhetysu and an active participant in establishing and strengthening Soviet power in the region. He was born into a peasant family in the Kurti district of present-day Almaty Region.
Bokin helped organize local Soviet authorities in Zhetysu, provided assistance to starving peasants, and actively participated in battles against White Cossack forces. In 1918, he was killed by opponents of Soviet rule.
Turar Ryskulov (1894–1938) was a prominent statesman and public figure. When the national liberation uprising began in the Kazakh steppe in the summer of 1916, Ryskulov interrupted his studies and travelled to the village of Merke in Aulie-Ata District. By the time he arrived, people were already openly protesting against the tsarist administration, and armed clashes were intensifying in various locations.
At the height of the uprising in Merke, Ryskulov was arrested by the tsarist authorities. However, they were unable to establish his guilt and were forced to release him. After the February Revolution of 1917, he returned to Merke in the spring and founded the Revolutionary Union of Kazakh Youth. In the summer of that year, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.
On 21 April 1918, Ryskulov organized a gathering of Kazakhs in Aulie-Ata to elect representatives of the Kazakh population to the district council. According to the meeting’s decision, 15 of the 26 members of the Aulie-Ata District Council represented the local population.
Under Ryskulov’s leadership, public kitchens were established near Aulie-Ata, providing food for up to 20,000 starving Kazakhs.
In September 1918, Ryskulov was appointed People’s Commissar of Health of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Republic. In addition to healthcare, the commissariat was also tasked with combating famine.
On 14 March 1919, at the Seventh Congress of Soviets of the Turkestan Republic, Ryskulov was elected Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee. On 21 January 1920, he became Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of Turkestan.
In March 1926, Ryskulov was sent to Kazakhstan and appointed editor-in-chief of the newspaper Enbekshi Qazaq. Soon afterwards, on 31 May, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
At the same time, Ryskulov headed the government commission responsible for the construction of the Turkestan–Siberia Railway, known as TurkSib. Through his organizational efforts, the railway was completed and put into operation in three years instead of the planned six.
Ryskulov openly opposed the idea of a “Little October” revolution in Kazakhstan proposed by F. I. Goloshchekin, head of the Kazakh Regional Committee of the Communist Party. He submitted concrete proposals to Joseph Stalin aimed at eliminating the consequences of forced collectivization and saving the people of Kazakhstan from famine. However, Stalin placed greater trust in Goloshchekin.
Ryskulov continued doing everything he could to assist those suffering from famine. On 21 May 1937, while resting in Kislovodsk, he was arrested on charges of “Pan-Turkism” and being an “enemy of the people.” During the Soviet purges, Ryskulov died of heart disease in a Moscow prison.
Amangeldy Imanov (1873–1919) was one of the participants in the struggle to establish Soviet power in Kazakhstan. He was born in the Kaidaul volost of Turgai District. Influenced by the liberation ideas of the First Russian Revolution of 1905–1907, he participated in peasant struggles against wealthy landowners. In 1916, he became one of the principal leaders of the national liberation uprising in the Turgai region.
