Born as Waliullah Abu'l-Mansur, Abylai Khan belonged to the senior branch of descendants of the 15th century founder of the Kazakh state,
Janybek Khan. The son of Korkem Wali Sultan, he was given the shortened name Abulmansur at birth. Abulmansur spent his childhood and part of his youth in exile, spending many years near present-day
Burabay on the northern borders of the
Kazakh Khanate. After losing his father to political rivals at the age of thirteen, Abulmansur moved back south towards present-day
Kyzylorda. First, he worked as a shepherd in a noble
Tole Bi and then Dauletgeldi Bai a herdsman. The ill-dressed and emaciated boy was called by the contemptuous name of "Sabalak" - the beggar. But Abulmansur, according to contemporaries, always carried himself with dignity and loved solitude. He kept this pen name "Sabalak" in order not to be noticed by his father's rivals as he was one of the descendant of
Janybek Khan. In his teenage years, Abulmansur developed the nickname “Ablai”, which he was more commonly known by for most of his adult life. In the first half of the 18th century, Ablai Khan proved to be a talented organizer and commander as he headed detachments of the Kazakh militia during the
Kazakh-Dzungar Wars. He participated in the most significant battles against the Dzungars from the 1720s to the 1750s, for which he was declared a "batyr" ("hero") by the people. Due to his strength, he was also bestowed with the honorific
Kazakh title
Shah-i-Turan (
Persian for "King of
Turan"). He was the last ruler of the
Kazakh Khanate to hold this honorific title since the khanate collapsed shortly after his death. Although Ablai swore loyalty to the Russian tsarina in 1740 at
Orenburg, Ablai's later activity aimed to create a strong and independent Kazakh state. He headed the unified forces of the Kazakhs and furthered the centralization of state power in
Kazakhstan. Until his election as the khan of the three
jüzes, Ablai had to compete with Abul-Mambet Khan and his descendants of
Middle jüz for leadership. Initially,
Russia recognized Abul-Mambet Khan as the Khan of
Middle jüz, while Ablai was supported by
China. Ablai's talent in playing China against Russia gradually made him the unrivaled Khan of the steppe. His support for the Chinese earned him an offer of Chinese citizenship in 1757, but seems not to have accepted it. During the
Qing campaigns against the
Dzungars, Ablai Khan chose not to take sides. He sheltered the Dzungar
Oirat taishis Amursana and
Dawachi from attacks by the Dzungar Khong Tayiji
Lama Dorji, as the
Dzungar Khanate fractured following the death of
Galdan Tseren in 1745. However, once Amursana and Dawachi were no longer allies, Ablai Khan took the opportunity to capture herds and territory from the Dzungars. During Amursana's rebellion against the Qing in 1755-56, Ablai Khan offered him sanctuary at one point and refused to hand him over despite the threat of a raid on his territory. However, by 1757, Ablai Khan had acknowledged Chinese suzerainty. Ablai was then confirmed as Kazakh Khan by both the Chinese and the Russians. He led numerous campaigns against
Khanate of Kokand and the
Kyrgyz. In the last campaign his troops captured many cities in today's Southern Kazakhstan and even
Tashkent. Then he proceeded to present-day Kyrgyzstan and won a furious battle with troops of local warlords. Upon his death in 1781 he was interred in the
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi in
Hazrat-e Turkestan. Following his death, Ablai's sons, namely Khanzada Wali Sultan, Khanzada Qasim Sultan, and Khanzada Adil Sultan, fought against each other to take the throne. In 1781, Wali Sultan became
khan of the Kazakhs, succeeding his father after months of battle for succession, but he only succeeded in ruling over the northern clans of the
Middle jüz. ==Legacy==