Bolat Khan

In 1718, after the death of Kaiyp Khan, a new Khan of the Kazakh Khanate was elected Bolat, one of the sons of the late Tauke Khan .

At the beginning of the XVIII century there was a final disintegration of the Kazakh Khanate into three separate principalities ( Senior , Middle and Younger zhuzes ). Part of the genera of the Younger and Middle Zhuz chose Abulkhair as their khan. In Tashkent, Zholbarys Khan was proclaimed Khan of the Senior Zhuz, and some of the Middle Zhuz genera chose Samek as Khan. The zhuzes were divided, pursuing their own independent and independent policies.

During the reign of Bolat Khan, the Kazakh Khanate experienced “ years of great disaster ” - “ aktaban shubyryndy ”. The Dzungar juntaiji Tsevan-Rabdan , taking advantage of the disintegration of the Kazakh Khanate, intensified its aggressive campaigns on the Kazakh nomads. In 1723, the 70,000th Dzungarian army, through the mountains of Kara-Tau, invaded the south of Kazakhstan in the valley of the Talas River. Kazakhs at this time did not wait for the attack, they were preparing to migrate from winter pastures. Almost the entire Kazakh population here was killed, and the survivors were forced to flee. Scattered Kazakh tribes began to retreat to the west, the tribes of the Elder Zhuz retreated south through Khojent , partly submitting to the invaders, the Middle Zhuz tribes went to Samarkand and Bukhara , partly to Saryarka , diverting their nomads to the Ori and Uya rivers, where they pressed the Bashkir tribes . Younger zhuz retreated to Khiva and the Volga region . In 1724 - 1725, the Dzungars seized and plundered the cities of Tashkent and Turkestan .

Due to the weakness of the khan's power, the Kazakh people took upon themselves the organization of resistance to the invaders. In the area Ordabasy , near the river Badam , there was a council of tribes of three Kazakh zhuzes. It was attended by the khans Abulhair from the Younger Zhuz , Abilmambet and Sameke from the Middle Zhuz , Kushik and Zholbarys from the Senior Zhuz , as well as large and influential Kazakh biys of the three zhuz. Kazakh leaders decided to join forces to repel the enemy invasion. Abulkhair, the Khan of the Younger Zhuz, was elected commander-in-chief of the Kazakh militia. A prominent role in the organization of the militia was played by the batyrs Bukenbai, Taylak and Sayryk.

In 1728, the Kazakh troops in the area of ​​Lake Chubar-Tengiz , on the banks of the Bulanty River, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Dzungar army. In December 1729 or January 1730, the last major battle took place in the south of Lake Balkhash in the area of Anrakay . The Dzungars suffered a new defeat and temporarily suspended their attack on the Kazakh nomads.

In the same year of 1729, after the death of Bolat Khan, the struggle for the Kazakh throne began between his son Abilmambet , Samek Khan and Abulkhair Khan.

• World History in 24 volumes, volume 14, chapter 3, Central Asia and Kazakhstan, The liberation struggle of the Kazakh people against the Dzungarian invasion, Minsk, 1999. ISBN 985-456-282-4 , art. 203–208

• Kazakh Khanate in the early XVIII century.