Researchers consider Jochi the founder of the united Kazakh Khanate – Sabit Zhambek

Researchers consider Khan Jochi as the person who laid the foundation for the united Kazakh Khanate. Professor Sabit Zhambek of Kokshetau University named after Sh. Ualikhanov stated this in a conversation with a correspondent of the Kazinform News Agency.

According to the scientist, Jochi stood at the origins of the proto-Kazakh state. He was a brave and persistent man of his era. In all the campaigns of his father, he showed himself as a brave batyr, a very talented major military leader. We talked about Jochi's life in more detail earlier.

In 1218, Jochi, at the head of numerous tumens given to him, entered battle with the 60,000-strong army of Khwarazmshah in the Irgiz steppe and, despite the inequality of forces, particularly distinguished himself with his military leadership talent. In an open battle, the army of Khwarazmshah was defeated and retreated to its territory. The army led by Jochi then conquered the cities of Otyrar, Syganak, Uzkent, Barshynkent, Aspas, Zhanakent, and a year later captured Khwarazm and the Turkestan region.

In the spring of the following year, at the call of Genghis Khan, Jochi took part in the kurultai held on the plain of Kulanbasy, between Sairam and Talas. When Genghis Khan, who had created a huge empire, divided the captured lands between his sons, Jochi received the lands from the Irtysh to the middle of the Ural Mountains. Jochi's headquarters were located on the banks of the Irtysh.

S. G. Klyashtorny and T. I. Sultanov write about the fact that Jochi stood at the origins of Kazakh statehood:

"The Ulus of Jochi, according to Juwayni, occupied vast lands to the west of the Irtysh and from the borders of Kayalyk (in Zhetisu) and Khwarazm to the places of Saksin and Bulgar, right up to the limits where the hooves of Tatar horses reached. Thus, the territory of Kazakhstan became part of three Mongolian uluses: the greater part - the steppe expanses of the north of the country and the entire area from the upper reaches of the Irtysh to Lake Ala-Kol and further west to Ili and Syr Darya was part of the ulus of Jochi, Southern and South-Eastern Kazakhstan - in the ulus of Chagatai, and the north-eastern lands - in the ulus of Ogedei. For our topic, the Ulus of Jochi is of greatest interest, since it was on this territory that the Kazakh statehood itself was formed and developed."

Jochi created the Great Ulus Desht-i-Kipchak on the vast territory from the Irtysh to Atyrau, which later became the basis of the Blue Horde (Kok Orda). Chagatai ruled the lands of Central Asia.

The literary scholar Tursyn Zhurtbay, who studies the history of our country, shows the role of Jochi in the creation of Kazakh statehood in the following words:

"Jochi separated from the state of Genghis Khan and began to create an independent, self-sufficient state, uniting the Turkic-speaking tribes of Desht-i-Kipchak. This was an Ulus, including modern Kazakh lands. Therefore, researchers unanimously assess Jochi as the person who laid the foundations of a single Kazakh khanate."

Sabit Zhambek notes that historical sources and legends reveal serious contradictions between Jochi and his father, Genghis Khan. One example of such disagreements is the story of the historian Zhuzbani about how Jochi, having fallen in love with the land of the Kipchaks, decided to stay there and free these people from unrest, even thinking about overthrowing his father. However, Сhagatai, another son of Genghis Khan, reported Jochi's plans, after which Genghis Khan ordered Сhagatai to poison Jochi. Zhambek also mentions that Jochi did not participate in the kurultai convened by Genghis Khan with his other sons.

“There were various stories about Jochi’s death among the Kazakhs. One of them says that Jochi was killed by a wounded kulan while hunting, while another says that he died after falling from his horse. Another story says that Genghis Khan killed his son by sending special assassins who broke Jochi’s spine. The writer and scholar Mukhtar Magauin writes about it this way: “Genghis Khan’s eldest son Jochi died while hunting. His grave is located on the bank of the Kengir River in the Karaganda region. To this day, dombra players perform a kui called “Lame kulan, Jochi khan”, which Ket-Buga used to notify about Jochi’s death. According to the genealogy of the Kazakhs, one of the clans of the Naiman tribe, Baltaly, is the descendants of Ket-Buga. In the folk epic, Ket-Buga is mentioned as a “wise aksakal”. Such a legend can also be found in a historical work written in the 15th century in Farsi – “Shajarat al-Atrak” (genealogy of the Turks),” adds the professor.

Zhambek also noted that Ket-Buga, who informed Genghis Khan of Jochi's death, is also called the "Great Storyteller" in this work, and sometimes the "Father of Storytellers." The content of all these legends is the same.

“Be that as it may, Jochi Khan died in the Kazakh steppe, in the Ulytau area. The proof of this is that the old mazar of Jochi still stands on the left bank of the Kengir River at about 45 kilometers from the city of Zhezkazgan. The name of Khan Jochi, the ancestor of all Kazakh khans and sultans, who left an indelible mark on the history of the Kazakhs, who left noble and valiant descendants, should be especially revered in our history,” concludes Sabit Zhambek.