On The Uprising Led by Syrym Datuly
24.07.2018 2755
The expansion of the colonial activities, carried out by the Tsarist authorities, caused a deepening of the agrarian crisis. It also strengthened the opposition and affected the integrity in khanate.

The result of this was the mass participation of Kazakhs in the Peasants' War of 1773-1775. Under the leadership of Pugachev, in which the Kazakhs took an active part, in the Junior Zhuz in 1783 a rebellion of sharue broke out again. The position of the khanate group was weakened by the fact that Khan Nuraly and his brothers received salaries in Orenburg every year. Possessing sufficient power, as early as February 1762 Khan Nuraly expressed dissatisfaction with the tsarist administration regarding the delay in the return of 8,000 horses, expelled by Volga Kalmyks. During the administrative reorganization, Orenburg province was abolished and most of the younger zhuz was subordinated to the Siberian and Ufa viceroys. The restored Ural border line controlled the transition of the Kazakhs of younger zhuz  to the left bank of the Urals. At the head of the uprising stood a batyr, a wonderful speaker. His support was the genus of the baibakty, wandering between the Volga and Zhaiyk. The main driving forces of the uprising were Kazakh sharua (peasants), most of the elders, biys and rulers who saw the cause of all troubles in the personal power of Nuraly khan. The excesses of Cossack detachments attacking peaceful auls that stole cattle contributed to an increase in the number of insurgents.

This movement had an anti-feudal and anti-colonial character, it was a continuation of the peasant war of 1773-1775, after which the Kazakhs managed to solve, albeit partially, land and water problems. By decree of November 7, 1775, the College of Foreign Affairs allowed Kazakhs to use pastures in winter between the rivers of the Urals and the Volga, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, on the right bank of the Irtysh, Ural rivers, in the Embi and Sagiz rivers.

But the concessions of the tsarist government were forced, and as they strengthened their positions in the region, they sought to eliminate or limit them. The Ural Cossack Host Actively went against the expansion of the land and water rights of the Kazakhs. On December 27, 1782 it was followed by a decree of the government to permit the winter migration of livestock to the above areas only on condition that Kazakhs rent land. Uralskoye kazachestvo used this decree to its own advantage, banning the surrender of Cossack lands in the hiring of Kazakhs. The cordon guard was strengthened on the Ural line of fortifications, besides, besides the fees, the Kazakhs were obliged to leave the hostages.

An important consequence of the participation of the Kazakhs in Pugachev's peasant war was the further disintegration of vassal relations in the younger and middle zhuzes. Thus, in the younger zhuz, Nuraly khan and the Sultans gradually withdrew from the insurgents and took the position of supporting the tsarist government. Mistrust and hostility to rebellion among the Kazakh aristocracy grew, which increased feudal disintegration. The different attitude of the Kazakh aristocracy and the nobility to the insurrection of Pugachev led to the rupture of the alliance between the aristocracy and clan elders in the eighties of the 18th century. and the crisis of the khan's power in the late 70-90s of the 18th century. Gradually, Nuraly khan's influence in the young zhuz started to weaken, which led him to political isolation, a new speech of the masses and the first attempt to eliminate the khan's power in the younger zhuz. In the spring of 1783, the Kazakhs raided the Ural line of fortifications.

The Kazakh detachment led by elders Tashbolat and Yerbolat captured soldiers and stole cattle. To the north-east of Orenburg, troops under the leadership of Kadir and Sadyr, the elders of the clan Tama, operated as well. They were preparing to attack the Krasnogorsk fortress and the Tatar settlement. Orenburg commandant Ladymensky sent to the steppe karate teams from the Orenburg Cossacks and a detachment of 1500 Bashkirs under the command of centurion S. Kharitonov. The Kazakh detachments had a stubborn resistance to Kharitonov's detachment, but the stone fortification built by the Kazakhs was taken by assault. Captured 56 people were sent to government work. In the summer, the Kazakhs attacked the fortifications and trade caravans, which led to a decline in trade with Central Asian khanates. An attack was carried out on the Kargai fortress, traffic was controlled on the highway between Orenburg and Iletskaya Protection. But while these were separate speeches, which did not have a unifying center. At this time, the head of the people's movement was Syrym Datuly - the foreman of the Baibakty clan.

The first information about Syrym Datuly was given in Russian sources during the period of Pugachev's movement. There is a message from the Urals Cossack F. Kuritsyn that Datuly in 1774 led the Kazakh detachment in the army of Pugachev. The report of Suvorov to the column of Panin has survived from June 22, 1775, in which he reports on Syrym Datuly  as one of the active participants in the Pugachev uprising. But in the autumn of 1776, Datuly withdrew from the movement and moved to the side of the tsarist administration. Only since 1783 he again adjoins the rebels, is fighting the Ural Cossack army. In December 1782, Syrym Datuly was captured near the Topolikhinsky outpost by the Urals Cossacks, in the spring of 1784 - he was redeemed from captivity by Nuraly khan, married to his sister. The repurchase amount included 70 horses and 350 rubles. Since May 1784, he led a bitter struggle with the Urals Cossacks. Kazakh detachments operated in the area of ​​the lower Urals line, near the Orsk fortress. In November, in the detachment of Syrym Datuly, there were 1,000 Kazakhs.

At the same time, the actions of punitive expeditions in the steppe intensified: especially, in the upper reaches of the river. Ilek was led by a detachment of 237 Orenburg Cossacks and 2432 Bashkirs sent Major General Smirnov. In the spring of 1785 the fierce battles of the Kazakhs with the tsarist detachments continued in the region of the Lower Urals line. Datuly was led by a detachment of 2700, Sergeant Barak - 2000 and Tlenchi - 1500 Kazakhs. Against them was formed three detachments of Cossacks under the command of the elders of the Ural army Kaspakov and Ponamarev and the prime minister Nazarov. The latter entered into a battle with the detachment of Datuly, who attacked the fortress Sakharnaya and Antonovo outpost. Since 1785 the struggle of the tribal foremen with the khan of Nuraly and his entourage has intensified.

The sergeant-major demanded from the tsarist government, to prevent Nuraly khan from power and to build the administration of the younger zhuz on a new basis. It was proposed to divide the zhuz into three parts, or hordes - Bayulinsky, Semiurodskaya and Karakasetskaya. In each of them, a meeting of the elders and the people held elections: in the part of Karaseisk the sergeant-major elected Segizbay-bi, and Zheti-batyr Tilenshi. Syrym Datuly was elected as an adviser to all three hordes, the sergeant Kokkoz-bi and Karatau-biy were joined for help. The sergeant-major in solemn conditions took the oath of allegiance to the tsarist government. This concludes the first stage of the anti-colonial and anti-feudal movement in Kazakhstan. The tsarist government invited the meeting of the senior sergeants to agree on the organization of the Frontier Court, which was a step towards the elimination of the traditional Kazakh statehood.

The elders were cautious about the issue of the Frontier Court, postponing its decision for the future. Some of the foremen were for retaining the khan's power, electing a new khan. Before the tsarist government, elders raised the question of expanding winter pastures. In the spring of 1786, Nuraly khan was expelled from the younger zhuz and taken under the protection of the tsarist authorities, who hid him in the Kalmyk fortress. Before the tsarist government arose the question of new forms of organization of state power in the younger zhuz. Catherine II approved the reform, developed by Orenburg Governor Igelstrom. Nuraly khan was sent to Ufa. The massacres were to be headed by the chairman and two assessors from the tribal foremen who received the salary. It was proposed to build two or three cities, mosques and schools for nobility in zhuz. These measures were supposed to destroy the political isolation of Kazakhstan from Russia. The Igelstrom project envisaged the removal of the khan from zhuz, but the Empress strongly rejected the proposal to elect a new khan, subject to the establishment of a council with him. The conflict between the khan and the sultans, who did not want to put up with the loss of influence in the steppe, with the tribal sergeant-major was growing. At the beginning of August they captured Syrym Datuly, they were imprisoned and decided to hold them until Nuraly khan was returned from Ufa to the zhuz.

The news of the capture of Syrym, who enjoyed great influence in the Kazakh communities, caused concern in the Orenburg administration. Igelstrom hoped to carry out the reform on Datuly, so he made energetic efforts to liberate him. In the autumn of 1786, he was released. But during this period that part of the tribal elders strengthened, which advocated the preservation of the khanate power in the younger zhuz. They proclaimed the khan of Kaip. In September 1786, the congress of the elders took place. It was agreed to create only a border court, which elected six generic Kazakh foremen, who were not representatives of influential families. The decisive force became representatives of the tsarist government. The chairman of the border court was Prime Minister S. Petrashchevich, member of the Second Major-General Kapustin, Bashkirian field sergeant Ak-Kulyanov and Mishar marching officer Abdusalamov. Among the elected in the massacres were influential Kazakh elders Tlenshi, Zhanibek and Tilep.

Thus, in administrative positions the sultans were replaced by patrimonial sergeants. But the elections were held only within the younger zhuz. The Frontier Court was not connected through reprisals against all the families of the younger zhuz, and this prevented it from influencing the political situation in the zhuz, limiting the influence of the sultans. The Sultans expressed a strong protest against the organization of reprisals in the steppes. By the opening of the border court, the foreman took advantage of the question of land, the expansion of winter pastures due to the interfluve between the Urals and the Volga and private land on the coast of the Caspian Sea.

The governor general abolished the payment for the use of only empty lands, for the use of privately owned land the fee was not canceled. In addition, for the transition it was necessary to obtain "open sheets" and leave the amanates. In the winter of 1786-1787. began a mass transition of Kazakhs in the inter-river Urals and the Volga. In the autumn of 1786, the petty officers also raised the question of the return of the escaped slaves to zhuz. This requirement of clan elders testified to the narrowing of genuinely public goals - the strengthening of Kazakh statehood and the solution of the land issue. Igelstrom partly fulfilled the requirements of the elders, but he set the condition for stopping the border raids. In this case, the Kazakh elders demanded an end to violence against the Kazakhs by the prilinear administration and the Urals Cossacks. Governor-General Igelstrom was aware that the new management system could not be extended to the whole zhuz. In part of the birth and after the massacres were created, the khan's power was retained in the person of Kaiyp khan, not recognized by the tsarist government.

Creation of reprisals played a role in the removal of the sultans from the administration of the zhuz. But the real power passed not to reprisals, but to the chief sergeant-major, therefore Igelstrom made a significant addition to his reform, defining the powers of the chief foremen. This removed analogies in the management of the younger zhuz in the Province of 1775. The chief sergeants had to comply with all the instructions of the governor-general, the frontier expedition and reprisals. At the same time controlling the work of massacres and clan officers, the Governor-General hoped to use the chief sergeant to completely refuse them from the restoration of the khan power in zhuz. This aroused the protest of the Sultans against the tsarist government, limiting their privileges. In the younger zhuz, the internal struggle of the sultans and foremen continued, on the organization of state power in the zhuz. It remained unclear the question of replacing the historically formed khanate power, which ensured the relative political unity of the zhuz and the established vassal system: the khan, the sultan, the family nobility.

Becoming the chief foreman in the youger zhuz, Syrym Datuly actually retained the traditional system of vassal submission, its forms and methods. He attached special importance to the congresses of the foremen, summoned by him in 1785-1786. Syrym Datuly was well aware that the stability and independence of state power in the zhuzes depends not only on internal organization, but also on the external political environment. He was for strengthening political and economic ties with Russia, but at the same time he did not trust the tsarist government. Thus, leading the movement of the masses, he refused to meet with the Governor-General. Entering into the correspondence and negotiations with the tsarist administration, tried to neutralize it, thereby facilitating the struggle of the tribal foremen with the sultan and khan. Breaking the reforms of Igelstrom, Datuly understood that this meant a break with the tsarist authorities and the continuation of the uprising.

He also understood that the success of an uprising is possible only with the unification of the forces of the peoples of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as well as generals. Syrym Datuly negotiated with Khiva to assist the Kazakhs with weapons, cavalry, food, and in case of defeat - to provide nomadic places within the Khiva Khanate, while he referred to the historical rights of the Kazakhs to these lands, demanded that the Karakalpaks return to the Kazakhs the previously captured cattle and property. In October 1789, Igelstrom presented a new draft of the administration of the zhuz, in which he took into account the wishes of the government: the restoration of the khan's power and the crushing of the younger zhuz into six parts - reprisals. The main board headed by the khan was created. Syrym Datuly was offered the position of prosecutor. Under the new project, the government refused to infringe on the rights of the khan and the sultan in the younger zhuz. But this project was not implemented.

The government insisted that Governor-General Igelstrom begin negotiations with the sultan of Eraly, that is, the policy based on the khan and the sultans resumed. Now the government tried to restrict the rights of Kazakhs in using pasture in the interfluve of the Urals and the Volga, which led to increased opposition in this area. The attacks of the Kazakhs on strengthening the Ural line became more frequent after the appointment of Governor-General Peutling, who opposed the new policy in the region. In 1790, 2000, the associates of Syrym Datuly prepared to attack the Iletskaya Defense. Especially active actions of the Kazakh detachments were in 1796 after a heavy winter zhut (famine), which led to the mass death of livestock. In the spring of 1797 the tsarist government sent punitive detachments against the insurgents. In March, the Yesim khan was killed. In the younger zhuz, the struggle for the election of a new khan became aggravated. Governor-General Igelstrom proposed the expedition of border affairs to entrust the administration of the zhuz to the Khan Council, the seat of which was determined by the river valley. 

The Khan Council began functioning in August 1797. Its chairman was Sultan Aishuak, members of Sultanbek-bi, Shakshabay-biy and Koshukbai-bi, and Bitik Myrza. Inclusion of Mufti Khusainov in the council was supposed to strengthen the benevolent attitude of the senior officers to the council. But Governor-General Igelstrom was mistaken. The sultans were elected khan of the Sultan of Karatay without convening a people's congress. This meant the performance of the sultans against the khan's council, in which the influence remained on the side of the tribal elders. Syrym was not elected to the Khan Council and migrated to the Syrdarya River. Here he found support among the elder of the generation of the Alimuli and put forward to the Khan's Council demands for pacifying the situation in the younger zhuz, stopping the intergenerational Barymta, clashing with the Ural Cossacks, and exchanging prisoners.

It was decided to restore the senior management in the young zhuz, but in October 1797 the Governor-General won election to the Aishuaq khan. This nomination satisfied both sultans and generals. Khan was a deep old man, and could not play a decisive role in zhuz's life. The reconciliation of the sultans and clan elders in the younger zhuz eliminated the soil on which Syrym Datuly managed to rally around himself generals and conduct a struggle both with the Sultan group and with the tsarist administration. Realizing this, he migrated to the Khiva Khanate: According to popular legends, S. Datov was poisoned in 1802 by proteges of Kazakh sultans. The main driving force of the uprising was sharua, seeking to get rid of feudal and colonial oppression, tyranny of khans, sultans and the tsarist administration. They sought to regain the lands taken from them in the interfluve of the Urals and Volga. The biys and the sergeant-major joined in the uprising, pursuing their class interests-to strengthen the situation in the zhuz, to force the khan and the sultans to share power with them. Syrym Datuly, supporting the struggle of the masses for lands, sought to create new forms of Kazakh statehood, eliminating the khan's power and replacing it with popular congresses, and in intervals to transfer power to the hands of the senior officers.

The reasons for the defeat of the insurrection were many. The communal patrimonial ownership of the land prevented the tribal nobility from disposing of the nomads, and its close ties with the tsarist administration. Hence the different attitude of the masses of the people and clan elders towards armed forms of struggle. The uprising in the conditions of patriarchal-clan life has only partially acquired complete class forms. At the head of the insurrection, tribal sergeants remained on all its continuation. Syrym Datuly was not completely consistent, betraying both the peasants and clan elders. Gradually, other biys and elders who took part in the uprising went over to the side of the tsarist administration. The Uprising of 1783-1797. was a major performance of the Kazakh sharuas, directed against feudal and colonial exploitation, undermining the foundations of the khanate power in the younger zhuz, which brought its final liquidation closer.