Grave of B. Karatayev, Member of the Military Revolutionary Committee for the Administration of the Kyrgyz Region

Historical Background: Bakhytzhan Bisalievich Karatayev was a prominent public and statesman, lawyer, educator-democrat and deputy of the Second State Duma. He was born in 1860 in Akbakai village, Karatobe district of the Ural region, and died in 1934 in Aktobe.

Bakhytzhan Karatayev was one of the first representatives of the Kazakh public and political elite who consistently defended the legal and political interests of the Kazakh people. In 1907, he was elected to the Second State Duma from the Ural Region, where he raised issues concerning land, the rights of the Kazakh population and the injustice of the colonial administrative system.

In 1917–1919, he took an active part in the public and political events of Western Kazakhstan and in the struggle against the Ural White Guards. Later, Karatayev was associated with the work of the Military Revolutionary Committee for the Administration of the Kyrgyz Region and participated in the political processes of the early Soviet administrative system.

Description of the Monument: The grave of B. Karatayev is located in the city cemetery of Aktobe. The monument consists of a four-tiered grey granite slab measuring 1.50 m by 0.52 m.

In the north-western part, there is a gravestone with a five-pointed star. The gravestone bears inscriptions in Arabic and Russian. The monument is enclosed by a metal fence.

The composition is restrained and laconic. The grey granite slab, four-tiered structure and five-pointed star reflect the features of Soviet memorial tradition of the first half of the twentieth century. The Arabic and Russian inscriptions reveal the multilayered cultural and historical context of the period in which Bakhytzhan Karatayev lived.

Historical and Cultural Significance

The grave of Bakhytzhan Karatayev is an important memorial site connected with the public and political history of Aktobe. It recalls the development of legal consciousness, political representation and the struggle for the interests of the Kazakh people in the early twentieth century.

Karatayev’s work in the Second State Duma became one of the important moments when the land issue of Kazakh society was raised at the imperial level. His name is associated with legal education, political courage and the defence of national interests.

This monument is not only the burial place of a historical figure, but also an important site for studying the revolutionary, public and legal history of Western Kazakhstan and the Aktobe region.

Did You Know?

Bakhytzhan Karatayev is regarded as one of the first professional Kazakh lawyers to graduate from the Faculty of Law of Saint Petersburg University. He used his legal knowledge to defend the land, administrative and political interests of the Kazakh people.

In 1907, in the Second State Duma, Bakhytzhan Karatayev was among the figures who raised the issue of Kazakh lands being transferred to settlers and the restriction of the rights of the local population.

The full version of the inscription on the gravestone is preserved in the materials of the regional monument protection centre.

Read More

1. Adilet Legal Information System of the Republic of Kazakhstan. State List of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Local Significance of the Aktobe Region
2. Abai.kz. Material about Bakhytzhan Karatayev as one of the first Kazakh lawyers, a deputy and a public figure
3. El.kz. Biographical note on Bakhytzhan Karatayev
4. Aktobe newspaper. Material about Bakhytzhan Karatayev’s public and political activity