Altynshoky, the mountain
It is located 40 km north-west of the main ridge of Ulytau mountains (Ulytau district, Karagandy region). Mount Altynshoky is notable for the fact that on its top in 1935 a famous scientist K.I. Satpayev discovered a stone slab with inscriptions carved on it. Later, at the end of 1936, the stone slab was moved to the State Hermitage Museum. The famous orientalist, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences N.N. Poppe studied the inscription on the stone. He found that the inscriptions on the stone contained 11 lines, the first three of which were carved in Arabic letters, and the remaining eight - signs of the Uyghur alphabet. Apart from N.N. Poppe, other Soviet scientists also studied the inscriptions on the stone, among them A.I. Ponomarev. In the course of the research it was determined that the inscription was carved on the stone of 23 Jumada al-ul 793 AH, i.e. on April 28, 1391 by order of the supreme ruler of Samarkand Timur - the Central Asian Turkic general and conqueror, the founder of the Timurid Empire. Timur (Tamerlane) played an important role in the history of Central, South and West Asia, as well as the Caucasus, the Volga region and Russia. The inscription of Timur was carved during his famous campaign in Desht-i Kypchak against the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh.
The inscription of eight lines of Uigur alphabet letters is made on a relatively flat and smooth rectangular plane of the stone. It occupies almost the entire area of this surface, leaving no room for the three-line inscription above it, made by letters of the Arabic alphabet. The Arabic inscription is made on the plane, which in relation to the surface where the Uigur inscription is located, is placed at a blunt angle, in the form of a chip on the stone. This plane is less flat and smooth than the Uigur inscription plane. It was much more difficult to make a clear Arabic inscription on it.
In the Uigur inscription it is said about the time of the beginning of the campaign of Timur, reaching the limits of the Golden Horde, the number of soldiers, the reason for their performance against Tokhtamysh, as well as the purpose of the device of the barrow with the inscription.
In the transcription of the text of the bilingual inscription on the slab, carved at the command of the emir Timur, during the campaign in Desht-i Kypchak says the following:
1. Bi-smi-l-lāhi-r-rahmāni-r-rahim
2. Maliku-l-mulki-l-kuddusu-l-hakku-l-mu'minul-muhayminu-ljabbaru
3. l-kadiru-l-hakimu-l-Mumitu-l-hayyu
4. Tarïq jeti jüz toqsan üçintä qoj
5. jïl jaznïŋ ara aj Turannïŋ sultanï
6. Temür beg üç jüz miŋ čerig bilä islam üçün toqtamïš qan bulγar
7. qanïqa jorïdï bu jerkä jetip belgü bolzun tip
8. bu obanï qopardï
9. Täŋri nïsfät bergäj inšala
10. Täŋri il kišigä raqmat qïlqaj bizni duu-a bil
11. jad qïlqaj
The text is translated into Russian as follows:
"In the name of Allah the Gracious, the Merciful! The Lord of existence, the Sanctuary of truth, the Sovereign Protector, the All-powerful, Almighty, the Wise Giver of life and death!
Year seven hundred ninety-three, in an average month of spring of year of a sheep (on April 6, 1391), sultan of Turan Timur-bek has risen with three hundred thousand armies for an Islam on Bulgarian khan Tokhtamysh-khan. Having reached this area, he erected this barrow to be a memorable sign.
God willing, God willing, let justice be done! May the Lord have mercy on the people of the country! May they remember us with prayer!
Today the stone with the inscription from Altynshoky is known in science as the Karsakpai inscription of Timur. Currently, this artifact is kept in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. On the Altynshoky Mountain in Ulytau there is an imitation stone with the inscription of Timur.
In general, the Altynshoky Mountain and the stone with the inscription are both a natural and landscape attraction and a valuable source of information on the medieval history of Kazakhstan. At the same time, Mount Altynshoky is an integral part of the cultural and historical landscape, where the mountain itself and the entire Ulytau massif probably acted as a sacred place, the sacralization of which occurred in ancient times and was especially updated in the nomadic era. This may have been one of the reasons for the choice of this place for the installation of a memorial stone with an inscription. Today Altynshoky is a place of pilgrimage and a bright spot in the tourist infrastructure of the Ulytau region.
It is an object of history and natural landscape.