Ablai Khan

Wāli-ūllah Abū'l-Mansūr Khan (Kazakh: ولی الله ابو المنصور خان, Уәлиұллаh Әбілмансұр хан, romanized: Uäliūllah Äbılmansūr Han), better known as Abylai Khan or Ablai Khan (May 23, 1711 — May 23, 1781) was Khan of the Middle Jüz (central region) and was the last independent Kazakh Khan of the Kazakh Khanate before the Khanate was absorbed into the Russian Empire. Ablai Khan played an important role in the historiography of the Kazakhstan and the history of the Kazakh people. He led the Kazakh–Dzungar Wars, heading the Kazakh struggle against the Dzungars and later against the forces of the Qing dynasty. Seeking to unite the fragmented Kazakh tribes into a single political entity, he was among the first to voluntarily recognize the suzerainty of the Russian Empire and compelled many Central Asian powers to reckon with him. Assessments of Ablai Khan’s personality vary widely. Some portray him as a cunning barbarian whose “trickery and resourcefulness” were unmatched, while others idealize and admire his political and military activities. In Soviet and Chinese publications, the subject of Ablai Khan has often been heavily politicized.