Ablai Khan

Khan who resisted the Dzungars and united the Three Zhuzes of the Kazakhs.

Life

Herd-slave boy

Ablai was born into a noble family of the Kazakh Middle Zhuz. As a boy his family was attacked by the Dzungars, and he ended up as a herding slave. When the Kazakhs suffered massive Dzungar invasions in the 1720s and 1730s, he won fame fighting the Dzungars and was at one point taken prisoner by them.

Resisted the Dzungars

He maneuvered between Russia and the Qing dynasty, entering into vassal and tributary relations with each in turn to preserve the survival and pastures of the Kazakh tribes. After the fall of the Dzungar Khanate, he recaptured some of the lost lands.

Khan of the Three Jüz

In 1771 he was elected great khan of the three Kazakh zhuzes; he died in 1781.

Legacy

Ablai Khan is a national hero of the Kazakhs, and many cities in Kazakhstan have streets named after him.

Did you know? As a destitute wanderer in his youth he went by the name "Sabalak" (meaning "ragged one").

Key dates

• 1730Wins fame fighting the Dzungars (approx.)
• 1740Swears allegiance to Russia (approx.)
• 1757Establishes tributary relations with the Qing
• 1771Elected great khan of the Three Zhuzes
• 1781Died