Name of the monument: Balgasyn necropolis
Typological affiliation : sacred object
Dating of the monument: end of the 10th – beginning of the 16th centuries
Location of the monument: Shalkarsiy district, 11.2 km south-west of the Taldykum village.
Historical information : Balgasyn is an architectural monument. According to Kazakh legends, Balgasyn is the name of a girl. After her death, Kaztugan Khan’s father instructed each family to stack one brick at a time. Thus, the tower was built in one day. For a long time it was considered a monument of the Kipchak era. As a result of the study of the expedition of the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan ( headed by S. I. Adzhigaliev ) in 1979-1980. it turned out that the Balgasyn monument belongs to the end of the 10th – beginning of the 16th centuries. the era of the Kazakhs-Uzbeks-Nogai. Before the destruction of the tower (1900), namely in the drawings of A. Matov (1897), the signs of the architects of the school of Tamerlane’s time were traced on the monument. After the tower collapsed, these bricks were used to build the Onalbek Ata mausoleum. Balgasyn Tower shows the compositional relationship between the memorial structures of Maverenahr and Deshti-Kipchak. Also, the methods of construction of such structures had a huge impact on the construction of unique mausoleums with domes in the 19th century. in the Irgiz-Mugalzhar region.
In 2003, a letter was sent to the Secretary of State of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the chairman of the commission for the protection of objects included in the program “Cultural heritage” I. N. Tasmaganbetov regarding the monument to Balgasyn. As a result, an answer was received, which stated that the Balgasyn tower in 2004-2005. was included in the program “Cultural Heritage” and 3.5 million tenge was allocated from the republican budget for its research.
On May 3, 2005, scientists from Aktobe, Almaty, Turkestan arrived in the city of Shalkar. The members of the commission were at the Balgasyn facility from 3 to 8 May. Measurements were carried out with laser devices, various topographic surveys, photo and video filming. After the measurement work, archaeological excavations were carried out at the site on 8-20 May. The main purpose of the excavations is to determine the perimeters of the Balgasyn tower foundation. As a result, the following items were found: pottery, fragments of a cauldron, beads, taspihi, arrowheads, 5 kopecks of 1859. Also, at a distance of 400-500 m from the tower, the site of a brick kiln was discovered. The remains of bricks were nearby and you can see the ash where the bricks were burned.
Description and characteristics of the monument : The Balgasyn Tower had a base of 9×10 m. The entrance was on the southwestern side. The figure shows that a dome is erected over the slab. The height of the object is 18-20 m.Located in the city of Turkestan, a similar mausoleum of Rabiya Sultan-begim (end of the 10th century) has a height of 23 m.The Balgasyn mausoleum was built of high-quality fired bricks with the following dimensions: 4.5-5x11x12 cm and 5x22x22 cm, and the dome was made of bricks covered with blue enamel.