Kalmakkyrgan, the mountain

They are located in 6-7 km from Akshiman village (Mayskiy district, Pavlodar region). The mountains are a low mountain massif of Saryarka, consisting mainly of rocky granite formations.

Since the XVIII century Kalmakkyrgan has been noted in the historical legends of Kazakhs as a place of battle of Kazakhs and Dzungars for the steppes of Saryarka. Until the middle of the XVIII century, this low mountain massif was called Serektas. In the XIX century the name Kalmakkyrgan was finally established as a toponym for this low mountain massif in the minds of the population of Pavlodar Irtysh region and became the name of the parish (Kalmakkyrylganskaya) in the Pavlodar district.

In historical science there are several versions concerning the date of the battle on Kalmakkyrgan. In the section "History of settlement of the county", prepared by Alikhan Bokeikhanov in the fourth volume of "Materials on Kyrgyz land use ...", we find the following lines: "The grandson of Aydabol's youngest son, Olzhabay Batyr, who served Ablai Khan 160 years ago, i.e. in 1730, appeared in the Bayanaul mountains. Olzhabay found here the Kalmyks, who after years of struggle were thrown away by the Kyrgyz to the south. Collisions of the latter with the Kalmyks in an embellished form were glorified by the Kyrgyz improvisers "akhyns", who attributed the expulsion of the Kalmyks to "brave Batyr Olzhabay and his glorious khan Ablai". The eternal monuments of the aforementioned struggle between the Kyrgyz and Kalmyks in the Pavlodar district remain in the upper reaches of the Chidderty River in the southwestern corner of the district - the Churchutkyrgan hill and in the south-east of the Kalmakkyrgan mountain.... "Kyrgan", from the verb "Kyrmak", means slaughtered. "Churchut-Kyrgan" and "Kalmak-Kyrgan" in free translation mean the place of defeat of Kalmyks or slaughter of Kalmyks". Thus, according to A. Bokeikhanov, the battle at Kalmakkyrgan was in the early 1730s. Alikei Margulan held a different opinion. He assumed that the battle in Bayanaul mountains, where Zhasybay Batyr dies, and the defeat of the Kalmyks by Olzhabay on Kalmakkyrgan took place in the 40s of the XVIII century.

It is obvious that the low mountain massif of the Kalmakkyrgan became the arena of battle in the epoch of the Kazakh-Dzungar wars. The main character of the Kazakh militia is Olzhabay Batyr, who took revenge for the death of the famous Kazakh batyr Zhasybai. In the work "History of Saryarka" the known expert of the Kazakh history Mashkhur-Zhusup Kopeyev wrote: "Kazakhs in Saryarka appeared and possessed it in an epoch slightly earlier than Abylai Khan's times. The Kazakhs did not seize free land, which did not have a master. Fighting against the Kalmyks to the death in the Batyrs' epoch - KarakereyKabanbay, Kanzhygaly Bogenbay, Kaz Dauysty Kazybek, Shakshakuly Zhanibek, dying, having connected their destiny with the military way of life, "the spear-point, the strength of the shoulder", extracted these lands... How many noble batyrs died from the enemy's arrows!...? Those to whom fate pointed to death died, those who were ordered to live, survived, and finally the Kazakhs managed to repel these lands. In Bayanaul mountains there is Zhasybay pass, this very Zhasybay - the known Kazakh batyr who was lost from an arrow of the enemy, fighting with Kalmyks, on this pass the batyr was buried, therefore the pass was named Zhasybay. In the foothills of Kyzyltau, there is the area of Kalmakkyrgan - the place of the last battle of the Kazakhs with the Kalmyks. Having heard about the death of Zhasybay Batyr, Olzhabay Batyr made an army against the Kalmyks, drove them away like a flock of sheep, and carved them all out, then the area was called Kalmakkyrgan. After these events, the Kalmyks did not see Saryarka anymore. In another version of this work, as a companion of Olzhabay Batyr in battle, the author calls Baymurat, a native of the genus of Tortuyl.

According to the interpretation of Mashkhur-Zhusup, the battles in the Bayanaul mountains and on Kalmakkyrgan under the guidance of the Batyrs Olzhabay and Zhasybay decided the future fate of Saryarka, and the Kazakhs became the masters of the entire steppe. According to folk legends, the remains of the Kalmyks hid in a small cave located in the western part of Kalmakkyrgan.

Kalmakkyrgan, like other famous battlegrounds of the Kazakh-Dzungar war period, is an object of unique historical memory of the Kazakh people, an outstanding natural monument rich in historical legends. The significance of Kalmakkyrgan as a sacred site lies in the fact that in the minds of the Kazakhs of the Middle Zhuz Kalmakkyrgan is associated with the place of the last battle, where the fate of the entire Saryarka was decided.