Mirza Abū'l-Khair Mūhammed Khan bin Qājı Abdūllah Sultan ( kk, Мырза Әбілқайыр Мұхаммед хан бин Қажы Абдұллаh Сұлтан, ,

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

: ''Myrza Äbılqaiyr Mūhammed Han bin Qajy Abdūllah Sūltan''), more commonly known by his short name Abū'l-Khair Khan (1693–1748) was leader of the Kazakh

Little jüz Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

in present-day western and central

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. During this period, the Little jüz participated in the Kazakh-Dzungar Wars mainly to avenge the " Great Disaster" Dzungar invasion of major Kazakh territories. Under the strong leadership of Abu'l-Khair, the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Kazakh ghazis defeated Dzungar forces at the Bulanty river in 1726 and in the Battle of Anrakai in 1729. Abu'l Khair Khan was born as the second oldest son of Hajji (Qajı) Abdullah Sultan, a Kazakh '' mırza'' (aristocrat) who had quickly risen to the royal ranks after completing his

hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

. Like his father, Abu'l-Khair also began as a '' mırza'' before rising to the throne. This made him one of the few documented khans of the

Kazakh Khanate The Kazakh Khanate ( kk, Қазақ Хандығы, , ), in eastern sources known as Ulus of the Kazakhs, Ulus of Jochi, Yurt of Urus, was a Kazakh state in Central Asia, successor of the Golden Horde existing from the 15th to 19th century, ...

to have not been descended from either

Janibek Khan Abū Saʿīd Janibek Bahadur Khan bin Barak Sultan (, , ), otherwise known by his shortened regal name Janibek Khan, was a co-founder and second Khan of the Kazakh Khanate from 1473 to 1480. He was a son of Barak, Khan of the Golden Horde from 14 ...

Kerei Khan Kerei Khan (, ) (1424, White Horde - 1473/ 4, Kazakh Khanate) was a co-founder and the first Khan of the Kazakh Khanate from c. 1465 to 1473. History There are currently two versions how the first dynasty of the Kazakh khans originated. According ...

. Nonetheless, it was likely due to Abdullah's connections with the royal family that Abu'l Khair Khan himself became ruler. Abu'l Khair Khan took the throne in 1718 as the new khan of the

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...

. In order to obtain Russian help against the Dzungars, Abul Khair Khan took an oath of allegiance to the Russian crown in 1731. In an attempt to unite his empire and prevent anyone from defecting and helping out the Dzungars, Abu'l Khair Khan also fostered a strong religious identity among the

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

. He subsequently tried to limit the amount of Russian influence exercised over the Kazakh Little jüz since he still wanted his empire to function as an independent Islamic state. According to a 2019 study, "neither Kazakhs nor Russian officials thought of their relationship as a form of annexation, but rather merely an alliance." For his contributions in reuniting the Kazakh people and defeating the Dzungars, Abu'l-Khair was bestowed with the title "''Shah-i-Turan''" (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

for "King of

Turan Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...

").

Sources

"History of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Belgium (English)

Website on the Kazakh Diaspora in Germany *https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2018630 DİNÇ, Mehmet Ali. "RUSYA’NIN TÜRKİSTAN’DA YAYILMA SİYASETİNİN İLK ADIMI KAZAK KÜÇÜK CÜZ HANLIĞINI İŞGALİ." Akademik MATBUAT 5.2: 193-212. (Turkish)

References

Kazakh khans 1693 births 1748 deaths {{Kazakhstan-bio-stub