Seven Rivers

Semirechye (in the pre-revolutionary administrative division of the Semirechye region ) is a geographical area that includes the south-eastern part of Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan. It is limited to Seven Rivers in the north - by lakes Balkhash, Sasykol and Alakol; in the east - the Dzungarian Ala-Tau ridge; in the south - by the ridges of the northern Tien Shan, Terskey Ala-Too and Kyrgyz; in the west - by the Karabalta, Chu rivers and Lake Balkhash. However, these boundaries are conditional. Seven Rivers currently located mainly in Kazakhstan ( Almaty region , partially Zhambyl ); the upper reaches of Ili are part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China ; part of the Chui valley , included in the expanded historical interpretation of the Seven Rivers, is part of Kyrgyzstan .

According to R.I. Abolin (Soviet geographer), the Semirechye includes part of the Kazakh small hills (upland north of Lake Balkhash), the entire Betpakdalu steppe and the northern Tien Shan. That is, completely Dzhambul (Taraz), Almaty and Taldy-Kurgan regions, part of Chimkent, Dzhezkazgan and Semipalatinsk regions and northern Kyrgyzstan. And in the reference book “Geographical Names of the USSR” for 1983 it says: “Semirechye is a geographical area lying south of Lake Balkhash. Alma-Ata region of the Kazakh SSR ”, that is, Northern Kyrgyzstan is no longer included. As you can see, the discrepancy is quite significant. This area could be called not Semirechye, but another compound word, in which the numeral would even be a two-digit number, because there are much more rivers here. But which seven rivers are exactly - opinions, as well as regarding borders, are also different.
In Alma-Ata, on the fountain symbolizing the Seven Rivers, the names of seven rivers were carved: Ili, Chu, Aksu, Karatal, Lepsy, Tentek and Koksu. In the encyclopedia "Alma-Ata" we read that the name Semirechye came from the rivers Ili, Karatal, Bien, Aksu, Lepsy, Baskan and Sarkand. Three new rivers appeared in this seven, displacing three from the list depicted in the fountain. As you can see, here there are different interpretations, several options for the seven rivers. Some of this list excludes the southernmost Chu River. Others insist on inclusion in the list of the northernmost river of the region - Ayaguz. Still others consider only Ili and the tributaries flowing into it: Charyn, Chilik, Turgen, Issyk, Talgar and Kaskelen.
I. Zavalishin in his work “Description of Western Siberia”, narrating about the Kazakh steppe, argued that the name “Semirechye” is generally wrong, because six rivers flow into Balkhash itself.

In the I millennium BC. e. Iranian-speaking Sak tribes lived on this territory; in the II century BC e. - V century BC e. - put it down . In the middle of the VI century AD e. here the Western Türkic Kaganate was formed , in the VIII century - the states of the Turgeshes (until 758) and Karluks (766–940). At the end of the 10th century, the Semirechye entered the state of the Karakhanids , and from the 1130s into the state of the Karakites . At the beginning of the XIII century, the territory was conquered by the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan. In the XIV century, as a result of the collapse of the Chagatai ulus of the Mongols, another Mongolian state, Mogulistan , was formed here.

In the XV century, the Kazakh Khanate arose on the lands of Semirechye. The Kazakh Senior Zhuz settled here.

In the middle of the XIX century, the region became part of the Russian Empire , the Slavic, mainly Cossack , colonization of the region was carried out. Since 1867, the Semirechensk region existed, which, in addition to the Semirechye proper, included the Chui valley and the mountain regions of the Tien Shan.

The name "Seven Rivers" appeared in the 1840s, when detachments of the Siberian Cossack Army arrived in this region. Accustomed to the waterless, dry steppes of the Irtysh region, the Siberian Cossacks were struck by the abundance of rivers and rivulets falling from the northern slopes of the Dzungarian Alatau and Kungei Ala-Too. Therefore, they called the newly occupied region Semirechye. A lucky number in folklore meaning “a lot” - seven spans in the forehead; seven do not wait; seven troubles, one answer and others. It is more thoroughly believed that the term “Semirechye” was introduced into scientific circulation by the Russian geographer A. G. Vlangali, who described the rivers flowing into Lake Balkhash in his report on a trip to Semirechye and the Dzungarian Alatau in 1849-51.

The version associated with the seven largest rivers of the region, which the Russian troops had to overcome when moving from northeast to south, is the most common. Therefore, in this version there is no Chu River. They explain this by the fact that Russian troops reached it much later, and initially the area was called the Semirechye only to the Ili River. The rest in Russian sources and documents was called Zailiysky and Zachuisky districts. And only subsequently, the area called Seven Rivers was expanded to the borders described above.

Since 1867, when the Semirechensk region was formed, the names Ayaguz district, Zaili and Zachuisk territories disappear. There remains one name - Semirechye, assigned to the entire district included in the region. But this is one of the versions related to the promotion of Russians in this region. A detailed description is given to her because she is the most common.

Let's start with an inaccurate translation. The term “Semirechye” is either a free translation of the Kazakh name of the region “Dzhetysu” or an incorrect explanation of the origin of the term from the number of rivers flowing into Balkhash. "Su" in Kazakh "water". So, the exact translation is “Seven Waters, Seven Waters”, allegorically - “High Water”. Compare with the fabulous Russian "Belovodye". After all, the river in Kazakh is "Zen" (or "Yezhen" - the first letter is absent in the Russian alphabet (pronounced as Е in the word "birch")), "the river is Kishkene Ozen." It turns out that Semirechye is a free, poetic translation of the Kazakh Dzhetysu.

At Balkhash, between the rivers Ili and Karatal there was a tract of Seven Rivers. If we are talking about the local name of the tract, then most likely we do not mean rivers or even small rivers, but some springs, streams or small lakes. Perhaps some combination of these water sources. "Seven Rivers", that is, a tract rich in water in the arid Kazakh steppes, which is why it was chosen for the construction of the Sultan’s headquarters.
The Seven Rivers tract was known to the Russians even before coming to Semirechye. In 1819, the Sultan of the Great Horde Suyuk (Syuk) Ablaykhanov, with territory on the eastern shore of Lake Balkhash, accepted Russian citizenship. In commemoration of this event, by decree of Alexander I (reigning years 1801–25), it was ordered to build a house and a mosque on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the "tract of Seven Rivers" Sultan "Seke". By letter No. 450 of June 9, 1822, the West Siberian Governor-General P. M. Kaptsevich instructed the provincial secretary, Mullah Tasbulat Bekbulatov, to "go to the Seven Rivers to the Adilev Sultans, wandering the Koksu and Karatal rivers" for the census and to swear "who come from them (the sultans - B. M.) into Russian citizenship of their subordinates biys and Kyrgyz ”.

And in a report dated May 25, 1825 he announced the dispatch of a detachment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Shubin to the sultan "Syuk Ablaykhanov to the tract Semirechen." [RGIA, f. 1264, about 1, d.334, l. 3]. The detachment was supposed to follow "along the well-known caravan route to the Seven Rivers, located 600 miles from Semipalatinsk" [ibid., P. 9]. B. Bronevsky in his Notes on the Kirghiz Kaisaks of the Middle Horde in 1830 wrote: “The great hordes of Kyrgyz who migrate to the tract of the Seven Rivers, are engaged in agriculture with diligence near Lake Balkhash.”

• Alma-ata
• Senior Zhuz
• Semirechye Cossacks
• the city of Kuldzha (under Russian rule in 1871-1881; in 1881, at the end of the Dungan rebellion , returned to China)
• Vernensky County

• Marikovsky P.I. According to the Seven Rivers. - M .: Thought , 1972.- 240 p. - (Stories about nature). - 65,000 copies.
• Chekmenev N. Semirechye: Trilogy / Entry. article by V. Vakulenko. - 4th ed. - Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1977.
• Baipakov K.M. Medieval urban culture of South Kazakhstan and Semirechye (VI - beginning of XIII century) / Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography. C.Ch. Valikhanova. - Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1986 .-- 256 p.
• Mosolov V.V. Semirechye. - Alma-Ata: Kaynar, 1986.- 200 p. - 15,000 copies.
• TSB : Seven Rivers

• Last Ataman of the Seven Rivers
• History of Kazakh Semirechye