In history, only the truth should be written ... Today is the history of tomorrow. Every nation has its own story that they experienced. Similarly, the Kazakh nation has its own centuries-old history. In kazakh history, there are many personalities whose hearts have fought for their country, nation and land. Each era has its own hero. There are many of those, who defended their homeland at the same time wrote and glorified the exploits of other heroes. The history and literature are the witness here. As the folk saying goes: “A prosperous country leaves its history on a rock, a dying country writes its history with tears”. If this is so, then we can confidently say that our nation is truly a growing, because our people have passed through the thorns of fate, having experienced many difficulties, opposing many opponents, defeating all the difficulties, as well as conveying the whole truth of life to the descendants and having written everything both on stones and on a paper. The history of each epoch must be written in due time. After all, history can not be changed. History has never been changed, and did not change even when the King of Rome burned the bones of all the kings (who ruled before him) in the sarcophagus with the words: “The story begins with me”. So our people’s history lies in the depths, on the very roots. The witness of which the bitter truth of every age.
Representatives of the Kazakh people have long been considered as orators, people with a sharp but honest character, with freedom-loving disposition. One of such representatives of the Kazakh people is Makhambet Utemisuly, who was not only an eloquent speaker that with one word could resolve the disputes, but also possessed a powerful force and fighting character. Who is Makhambet? Who is he? He is a poet, he is a hero, he is that Kazakh who was a preacher of honesty and justice. The history have the witnesses about these statements too. The main witnesses is the poetic works of Kazakh literature, dedicated to the courage and heroism of Makhambet. There are just a few of such writers and poets among the people who did not write about Makhambet and did not dedicated a song to his heroism.
In the Kazakh literature there are many opinions about the origin and clan of Makhambet. One of which is the opinion of Halel Dosmukhameduly: “Makhambet is from the clan – Berish”. The grandfather of Makhambet is Utemis, and Utemis’s grandfather is Kulmaly. “Mali was a captive taken by the enemies”.
Berish, adopted the children of Tumash. He called himself a descendant of King Nadirche. The Kurmaly nowadays is a separate clan residing in the county of Gerieva, the village of Taysogan. “There is another similar opinion of the Astanian poet Serik Turgynbekov. In the poem of the poet “Makhambet and Khan Jangir” it is said that Makhambet is the descendant of the Persian king. Maybe possibly the grandfather of Makhambet had Persian Roots, and his mother was from the genius Berish .There is an information to prove it:
Whatever the poets would say, we know that Makhambet is a brave hero for the Kazakh people who aspired to the independence of his people and land. Professor Syzdykova K.A. in turn believes that the very first data on Makhambet came out even during the lifetime of Makhambet and she confirms this in the following words: “The first data on the creative life of the great poet Makhambet were mentioned during his lifetime, in 1843 in the work of E.P. Kovalevsky “Wanderer by land and sea”. This scientist was close friend with Shokan Valikhanov and N. Chernyshevsky. We also know that some of Makhambet’s songs were published in the collection “Songs of the poet Murat” in 1908, in Orenburg. An analysis of his poems and biographies firstly were published in Tashkent, in 1925 by Halel Dosmukhameduly.
One of the first who wrote about the life and work of Makhambet Utemisuly was Mukhtar Auezov. He made a literary and scientific analysis based on a collection written about the life and creation of Makhambet, entitled “Isatai-Makhambet”, published in Tashkent in 1925. The data provided by Professor K. Syzdykova are close to the truth. And the truth is that the very first researcher of Makhambet’s creativity was Mukhtar Auezov.
The name of Makhambet Utemisuly became widely known among the people during the peasant revolution in 1836-1838, in the head of which was Isatai. There are many of those who hold such an opinion. As Berkayyr Amanshin said: “Regardless of which nation, or at what time, there are enough proofs in the history that in the difficult times of upheavals, great, wise, heroes were born”. In 1836-1837 – was not an easy time for the Kazakh people, when during the uprising of the former leaders of the internal Orda against the tsarist colonizations and the pressure of the government, the hero-commander and great poet Makhambet Utemisuly was born. Soon Makhambet himself became the leader, the organizer of such movements for honesty and justice [1. 5 pages]”. Yes, Makhambet is not only a writer and poet, but also a brave soldier and leader who raised the flag of independence. It is known in the history, that the people needed such brave heroes and wise personalities as Makhambet and Isatai who, during the tsarist colonization and khan’s oppression and cruelty, will support the side of the common people, and will not be on the side of the cruel khans and the tsar for their own good.
The hero Makhambet was an honorable and respected person in his environment. This is evidenced by the opinion of Berkaiyr Amanshin: “A person, who is bright, wise, orator, a person worthy as Makhambet, can not be not active participant in the social life of the people and remain on the side. This can be seen from the fact that when the Father of Makhambet – Utemis-bi was poisoned and soon killed by enemies from poison, which was smeared on the stirrup, Makhambet became the Sergeant-major from all his possible brothers, and not even Bekmagambet bi”.
Information about the poet’s early life is very small. It is only known that he was captured in 1829 and stayed for more than a year at the Kalmykov Castle for the illegal crossing of the Ural. He was able to escape from there in the autumn of 1830, when the plague came to the nation. In his song found later:
Yesterday we were lying in the dungeon,
We have many imprisoned enemies
The boy from the window,
Were missing his relatives
Wanted to see them once...
Says about this period of life. From the life of Makhambet before the insurrection, only one thing is known: that he married a rich girl from the village Manan. This poet’s wife was Ultugan, from whom he had a son, Mahmud (at the moment in Mangystau live Mahmud’s great-grandsons from his daughter Nurbike [9 pages]). During his short life Makhambet was able to become a leader of nation and a defender of the people and an eloquent poet. Another of the qualities of the hero was his persistence and perseverance, his words always corresponded to his actions. These properties were seen not only during the uprising, but also when he was only got married and had children, these qualities were also seen. Evidence of his persistence is that he married Ultugan. From his wife Ultugan, he had a son, Mahmud, who had a daughter Nurtugan, now, the great-grandchildren of the great hero from this daughter Nurtugan live in the Kazakh land. It is a great honor and joy for the Kazakh people that there are still descendants of the great hero of nation. In addition to the joy, it is a great value for the younger generation to learn more about the life of the poet.
Makhambet himself was a poet, a dombra player and a performer. He was a very militant person. Besides, he was a real man who would not give up anything. If Isatai controlled people by different methods, like using wisdom, citing the arguments as an example, but Makhambet attracted attention with a warm word and cheerful disposition. When Isatai consulted with the sergeant-major and high-ranking people, Makhambet traveled to nearby houses collecting people around him for singing songs, playing dombra and cheering people. The character of Makhambet was such that he could utter in the face of anyone but he was also a good joker. With the enemy he behaved himself ingeniously and bravely. In 1838, on November 23 Isatai with his thirty associates were detained in the Bekaidar area by Russian detachments. Then Makhambet with his friends drove out the detachments by shooting them with bow and weapons. When they released Isatai, Makhambet and his companions fled from the Russians. The pursuers nearly caught up with Makhambet, when he blew a pillow into the cushion and poured on his catching feathers, thereby slowing them to escape “(Khalel Dosmukhameduly). Yes, indeed in the character of Makhambet there was a quick temper, stubbornness. But above these qualities he had his poetry, singing and professional game on dombra. Isatay was more than just a friend for Makhambet, he took Isatai more as a brother, and this shows his high-hearted feelings, his loyalty. Makhambet’s loyalty can be seen from the fact that he saved Isatai from the enemy’s hands with all his cunning and skill at the cost of his life. How Makhambet was not strong and courageous, he understood that he could not lead the people without Isatai. Because, as already mentioned, Isatai was cold-blooded, wise, and Makhambet was quick-tempered. “After Isatai’s death, Makhambet could not lead the people. He even lost the number of people that Isatai once recruited into his ranks”. That reason was Isatai’s death. The crowds parted. People were seized with the thought that if the leader is not good, there is no need to follow him. Yes, indeed, after the death of Isatai, the people were devastated. Makhambet after the loss of a friend lost his spirit, besides he was oppressed that he could not rule the people and lead them along. He himself, moreover, was expelled by the tsar and became an enemy for his relatives at that time. Shortly after Isatai’s death, Makhambet died. In some sources it is said that Makhambet was killed by his brother Bi Baimagambet, at the same time, some researchers say that his relative, Ykylas, killed him. To somehow confirm this information, I want to give a few arguments about this. “It was believed that Makhambet died in 1846, on October 20, at his age of 43, from the hands of his relative Yhkhlas Toleev from the Kishi Zhuz, from the Tama clan. To be more precise, there is a legend that Makhambet sat in front of Uhlas to cut his hair, then Uhlas scored his relative with a blade. In fact, the date of Makhambet’s death is clear, but the exact cause of his death is not known, “says Kaiyrzhan Abisaitov.
In the information, given by Zeynolla Kabdolov written: “On October 19, 1846, on the land of Karaoi, the head of the great Makhambet was severed.” It is known that Makhambet was killed by his enemies in Karaoy, in 1846, that his head was cut down and handed over to Baimagambet, and the body of the great leader and poet who sang of love for the people and his land was not destined to leave his land according to the dignity Sharia. A few years after his death, the descendants found the burial place of Makhambet’s body, stole his head from Ikhlas and buried the hero anew.