Beyis Taktenuly (1849-1917) - one of the brightest personalities of modern times, a famous enlightener, spiritual mentor of the Kazakh people. He was born in Bayanaul, Pavlodar region; he studied at the Kokiltash madrasah in Tashkent. After graduating from the madrasah in 1865 he continued his studies at the Kokiltash madrasah in Bukhara. Then, at the invitation of the director of madrasah Mahmudia, one of the most famous Muslim schools in Medina, he came and continued his studies. For sixteen years Beyis studied in Mecca and Medina.

Being away from home, he strongly supported relatives in holy places. Kunanbay kazhy, making a pilgrimage to holy places, built a guest house for the pilgrims-Kazakhs; the manager of the guest house was Beyis Khazret. According to archival materials, the guest house was located in the Hamidia madrasah territory, near Mecca, 2 versts from the Kaaba. Unfortunately, this house and the madrasah did not survive.

In 1891, having learned that his people were afflicted and subjected to religious oppression, Beyis Khazret returned to his homeland. He worked in Orenburg in the Hussainia madrasah of the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims at the invitation of Mufti Sultanov.

In 1892, by order of the Russian emperor, a bishop was sent to Kokchetav and Akmola lands to strengthen missionary activity (we wrote about this in our portal). To attract Kazakhs to the Christian faith, the Orthodox Church even translated the Bible into Kazakh for this purpose. These events forced Beyis Khazret to move to Atbasar, where in 1897 he opened a madrasah, trying to protect and preserve the national and religious traditions of the people with all his strength.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Beyis Khazret conducted an active correspondence with secular and religious leaders of the Ottoman Empire. In 1903, Beyis Khazret and Nauan Khazret wrote a letter to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdulhamid II asking for help in the fight against the Russian Orthodox Church’s religious policy with regard to the baptism of Kazakhs. The Turkish sultan sent a large delegation, which provided Muslims of the steppe region with all kinds of assistance: books on Islam were translated, training of people was organized, and new madrasah were opened. The author of the book, Sh. Orazaly, found the descendants of the delegation of the Turkish sultan. Among them, Nayzabek Imam - Imam of the Tavrichesky district of the Omsk region is one of the descendants of Gabdulla, a member of the delegation who arrived in the Kazakh steppes on the last Turkish sultan’s order.

In 1905, Beyis Khazret participated in the All-Russian Muslim Congress, which was held in St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Shaimerden Kosshygulov was the official delegate of the congress from the Kazakhs.

For his active civil position, Beyis Khazret was included by the Russian "Okhranka" in the list of "unreliable persons" of the region.

Beyis Khazret perfectly mastered Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Chagatai languages. With him, dozens of mosques and madrasah were built.

In 1917 Beyis Khazret died and was buried in the Atbasar district.

Numerous written sources in the archives of the cities of Kazan, Ufa and Tashkent have been preserved about him. About 600 documents on Beyis Khazret are now in the process of being translated, they are being coordinated with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Civil Society of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In November 2017, the publication of an encyclopedia is planned, in which all documents will be shown in translation.

The author of the book expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the Ufa State Archive, the Kazan State Archive, and the Chairman of the Diaspora of the Kazakhs of Turkey.

The presentation of the book was attended by the author of the State Coat of Arms of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhandarbek Malibekov, the director of the Institute of History and Ethnology named after Chokan Valikhanov Professor Ziyabek Kabuldinov, Professor of the Eurasian National University named after L. Gumilyov, Doctor of Philology Serik Negimov, social activist and descendant of Kunanbay kazhy Siyazbek Mukushev, Naib-mufti of Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nauryzbay Taganuly, local historian, poet and writer Tortay Saduakas, young poet and scientist Kairbek Kemenger and many others. Foreign guests from Uzbekistan and Russia, various cities of Kazakhstan (Pavlodar, Almaty, Atbasar, etc.) were also presented.

Translated by Raushan MAKHMETZHANOVA