Karasakal Necropolis: Mausoleum, Saganatam, Qulpytas, and Small Architectural Forms
Research History
The Karasakal Necropolis was first surveyed in 1945 by an expedition of the Department of Architecture under the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR, led by T. K. Basenov. Between 1979 and 1980, the monument was further investigated by an expedition of Kazrestoration, operating under the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR. The documentation produced during these expeditions is preserved in the archives of Kazrestoration.
Historical Background
The middle reaches of the left bank of the Emba (Zhem) River are home to numerous necropolises and cemeteries dating to the modern period. Among them, the Karasakal Necropolis is considered both the earliest and the largest.
Historical information concerning the individual after whom the necropolis is named remains uncertain and contradictory. According to a modern commemorative epitaph, Karasakal was the nickname of Baktybai Tölesuly, a Kazakh batyr of the Shekti (Qabaq) clan within the Alimuly tribal union, who is believed by some sources to have lived between the 1720s and the 1780s. His grave, marked by a wooden post bearing an inscription, is located at the northwestern edge of the necropolis.
Other local accounts, however, claim that Karasakal was of Bashkir origin. This tradition is associated with an aitys between the poet Kerderi Abubakir and a Nogai participant at a fair in the town of Temir, during which Abubakir reproached his opponent for neglecting the grave of his ancestor, who, according to the poem, was buried on Kazakh soil.
This version is of particular interest in light of historical accounts of the Bashkir batyr Karasakal, who led an uprising against the Russian Empire in 1740 and later fled across the Yaik (Ural) River into the Kazakh steppe. While living among the Kazakhs, Karasakal reportedly spread the story that he was Shona, the younger half-brother of the Dzungar ruler Galdan Tseren, born to one of the ruler's concubines.
According to the testimony of the Cossack Matvei Arapov, Karasakal died in the spring of 1749. However, the exact location of his burial remains unknown.
The funerary monuments of the necropolis were created by traditional master builders and stone carvers representing various clans of the Junior Zhuz, including the Adai, Tabyn, and others.
Brief Description
The necropolis contains approximately one thousand funerary monuments, although many have survived only as ruins built of clay and chalk.
The site is divided into two principal sections. The southern section is the earlier part of the cemetery, while the north dates mainly from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Relatively few monuments are found in the central area. The southern section is characterized by enclosures constructed primarily of slate, many of which contain qulpytas tombstones. The northern section, particularly its northeastern edge, contains a remarkable variety of architecturally and artistically significant monuments.
The Karasakal Necropolis is distinguished by its wide variety of mausoleums and saganatams, including outstanding examples of both traditional architecture and stone-carving art. The most significant structure within the complex is the Indibai Tamy Mausoleum, constructed in 1886-1887 (1304 AH). Built from carefully carved limestone blocks, the mausoleum consists of a rectangular base surmounted by a helmet-shaped dome. Originally, its exterior was decorated with finely executed relief ornamentation, while the interior walls were adorned with colorful painted designs.
Most of the remaining structures are saganatams built from cut stone blocks. Particularly noteworthy are the earlier architectural forms preserved at the site, including enclosures built of sun-dried mud brick and rough stone slabs, which are believed to represent prototypes of the later saganatams. Like the saganatams themselves, many of these enclosures feature an entrance set into the southern wall and framed with stone slabs.
The Karasakal Äulie Necropolis also contains a rich variety of small funerary and ritual architectural forms. Epigraphic inscriptions and tribal tamgas carved on the tombstones indicate that members of numerous clans of the Junior Zhuz, including the Adai, Tabyn, Ozhyrai, Kete, and Shekti, were buried here. The diversity of the monuments makes the necropolis an important source for understanding the development of funerary and memorial architecture in the Emba Steppe during the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Today, the Karasakal Necropolis is visited primarily by residents of the Baiganin District of the Aktobe Region.
