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Mirzhakyp Dulatuly

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Alasha khan mausoleum

ALASHA KHAN MAUSOLEUM is an architectural monument of the Ogyz-Kypchak period (X-XI centuries). It is situated on the right bank of the Karakengir River in Ulytau Mountains.

The Mausoleum was erected by craftsmen in the XI-XII centuries in honor of Alasha Khan - batyr, bi and later ruler of the country - who is also renowned for establishment of the three Kazakh Zhuzs. He lived in the first half of XV century.  

Alasha Khan united nomadic Turks and established first Alash (Kazakh) state. According to the chronicles of Abulgazy, Kok Khan was Alasha Khan's father, one of his descendants was Karakhan, Oguz Khan was his grandson. Rashid-ad-Din and Abulgazy wrote that Alasha Khan lived in the Central part of the Desht-i-Kypchak land.

The Mausoleum of Alasha Khan is a sample of proscenium-domical architecture. It is rectangular in shape (9.73 x 11.9m), and is 10 m height. The monument is built from burnt brick of various sizes (230х14х60 mm, 160х230 mm, 320х320х60 mm). Windows and doors are decorated with wood. The domical construction consists of 16-faceted drum (231 cm in height) and a dome itself. There is a folding door framed with shaped bricks in the central part of the facade. 6-faceted columns supported by 3 hemispheres each rise on two sides of the facade. Central Asian countries rarely use such style in architecture. A by-pass gallery is on 3.65 m height from the floor and connects the 1st floor of the building with viewing platforms around the dome.

The walls of the Mausoleum are covered with geometrical ornaments. Due to severe proportions of the elements of the composition, their perfect combination and restrained architectural decorations, the building represents a solid and monumental-majestic construction.

The Mausoleum was studied in S. Ualikhanov's articles "About Kirgiz-Kaisak tombs and antiquities" (1855). In 1868 Lieutenant N. Krasovskiy describes the ancient building in his work "Siberian Kirgizs' area". Chief geologist of Atbasartsvetmet trust, academician K. Satpayev took part in study of architectural monuments of the Central Asia.