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Introduction
Between 1680 and 1760, the Kazakh people faced an existential threat from the east. The Dzungar (Oirat) Khanate — a powerful Mongol confederation based in modern Xinjiang — launched repeated invasions of Kazakh territory, aiming to subjugate or destroy the Kazakh Khanate entirely.
The period of greatest crisis, known as the Aqtaban Shubyryndy ("Barefoot Flight," 1723-1727), saw the near-destruction of the Kazakh state. Yet from this darkest hour emerged the heroes — batyrs and khans — who rallied the people and ultimately secured Kazakh survival.
IThe Dzungar Threat
The Dzungar Khanate was no ordinary enemy. Under leaders like Galdan Boshugtu (r. 1671-1697) and Tsewang Rabtan (r. 1697-1727), it had built a formidable military state that combined Mongol cavalry traditions with firearms acquired from Russia and China.
The Dzungars' goal was to recreate the Mongol Empire's western domains. The Kazakh steppe — with its rich pastures and control of trade routes — was their primary target.
The first major Dzungar invasion struck in the 1680s, capturing Sayram, Tashkent, and much of Zhetysu. For the Kazakhs, this was not just a military setback — it was the loss of their ancestral homeland.
IIAqtaban Shubyryndy: The Great Disaster
In 1723, Tsewang Rabtan launched a massive coordinated assault on all three Kazakh jüz simultaneously. The attack came in winter, when Kazakh forces were dispersed across their seasonal pastures.
The result was catastrophic. Entire clans were destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people fled westward in panic — barefoot through the snow, hence the name Aqtaban Shubyryndy ("Barefoot Flight"). Contemporary accounts describe families abandoning everything, children dying of cold and hunger on the march.
The Kazakhs lost Zhetysu, Saryarka, and most of southern Kazakhstan. Their state appeared to be on the verge of complete destruction. It was the lowest point in Kazakh history.
IVMemory and Meaning
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Keywords
Dzungar warsAqtaban ShubyryndyKabanbai BatyrBogenbai BatyrRaiymbek BatyrAbylai KhanKazakh resistance
Sources
This article references 4 academic sources. Selected references used in preparing this article.
- 01
Radik Temirgaliev, Kazakhs in the Dzungar Storm (Almaty, 2017)
- 02
Michael Khodarkovsky, Russia's Steppe Frontier (Indiana University Press, 2002)
- 03
Peter Perdue, China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia (Harvard University Press, 2005)
- 04
Nurbolat Masanov, Nomadic Civilization of the Kazakhs (Almaty, 2011)