Bokey Khan

BOKEY (year of birth is unknown, date of death — May 21, 1815), founder of the Bokey Horde (or the Inner Horde, the territory located behind the border, "inside" the Russian Empire; existed in 1801-1876) [1], Khan of the Bokey Horde (1812-1815). The grandson of Abulkhair Khan, the son of Nuraly.

At the beginning of 1801 Bokey, Sultan of the Junior Zhuz, obtained the permission of Pavel I to use Narynkum steppe (Kalmyk Region) as the permanent camping area of his dependent clans (the Order of Pavel I of 11 March 1801).

In 1801 after the permission of the Tsarist Government Bokey moved back to the camp of Nogay Kazakhs between the Zhaiyk (Ural) and Yedil (Volga) Rivers with a part of people of the Junior Zhuz. Bokey’s brother Shygay recalled the following: "Last year, in 1801, Astrakhan Military Governor Knorring invited my late brother Bokey Nuraliyev to migrate to the inner side of the Ural under the constant protection of Russia through the Head of Astrakhan Cordon Popov ... Bokey Khan did this together with me and other sultans — our brothers and dependent Kyrgyz people with 10 000 kibitkas (nomad tents), their property and cattle".

In 1801 5 000 Kazakh families led by Bokey Khan settled down between the Zhaiyk and Yedil.

In 1806 the borders of the Bokey Horde were defined.

According to the Tsarist Order of 17 July 1808, the Bokey Horde was under the responsibility of Astrakhan’s Military Governor and Orenburg Border Commission.

After the death of Bokey (1815) until the age of majority of his son Zhangir the Bokey Horde was ruled by Sultan Shygay.

In 1826 Orda city, which became the administrative center of the Bokey Khanate, was founded. The city was surrounded by the fortresses of the Russian Army.

In 1828 Zhangir became the Head of the Khanate. He sought to centralize and strengthen the power. During the rule of Zhangir the Bokey Horde reached its peak. By the end of the 1830s the Bokey Horde had 20 000 farms and 80 000 people. Commodity-money relations developed there more actively than in other regions of Kazakhstan.

The land and pastures the Bokey Horde were not equitably distributed among people. Within the short period of time two thirds of lands were transferred to the ownership of rulers Kazakh clans and Russian landowners Yusupov and Bezborodko.

In 1836-1837 the rebellion led by Isatay Taymanov undermined the basis of Khan’s power in the Bokey Horde.

In 1841 the primary school teaching in Russian and Kazakh was opened.

After the death of Zhangir (1845) power of Khans was abolished. The Provisional Council chaired by official of the Tsarist Government ruled the Inner Horde [2].

References:
1. Istoriya Respubliki Kazahstan. Tutorial. 3rd edition. Almaty: "Sanat", 1998. p. 188
2. Kazakhstan. Natsionalnaya entsiklopediya. Ed. B. G. Ayagan. Almaty: Chief Editorial Board of the "Kazakh Encyclopedia", 2004. pp. 432-433
3. Istoriya Kazakhstana s drevneyshikh vremen do nashikh dney (Essay). Almaty: "Dauir", 1993. p. 209

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[1] Zimanov S. Z. Rossiya i Bukeevskoe khanstvo. Alma-Ata, 1982; Levshin A. M. Opisanie kirgiz-kazachikh ili kirgiz-kaysatskikh ord i stepey. Almaty, 1996.
[2] Shakhmatov I. F. Vnutrennyaya orda i vosstanie Isataya Taymanova. Alma-Ata, 1946; Zimanov S. Z. Rossiya i Bukeevskoe khanstvo. Alma-Ata, 1982; Mashimbayev S. M. Kolonialnaya politika tsarskoy Rossii. Almaty, 1994.