Mirzhakyp Dulatov (1885 – 1935) – Kazakh enlightener, public figure, poet, writer. Prominent representative of the Kazakh culture and literature of the early twentieth century.
Biography
Mirzhakyp Dulatuly was born on November 25, 1885 in village No. 1 of the Sarykopinsky volost of the Turgai district (present Kostanay region, the village of Kyzbel, Zhankeldin district). His father, Dulat, trained in Arabic writing, was a craftsman. Mother – Damesh was a person close to art, performed Kazakh folk songs. Mirzhakyp was left without a mother at two years old, and lost his father at twelve years old. He was raised by his elder brother Askar.
Their father wanted, like Askar’s eldest son, Mirzhakyp to be first taught Muslim, and then Russian, to work in the legal field, and first give him to study at aul mullah.
Mirzhakyp Dulatuly wrote about his childhood: “I am from the Middle Horde, my kind is Argyn. At 2, he was left without a mother, and at 12 – without a father. When I was 8 years old, my father gave me to teach aul mullah. He was a very ignorant mullah. I don’t remember how much I studied with him, but I didn’t learn anything except memorizing prayers in Arabic ”[1, p.12].
After a two-year training with a mullah, he learns from a teacher named Mukan Toktarbai, who taught at a Russian school in the aul. So, he was admitted to the Russian-Kazakh school in the city of Torgai, studied for five years and in 1902 graduated with honors. This school not only filled the gaps in his education, but also contributed to his formation as a person. Teacher Mukan himself was a graduate of an educational institution founded by the great enlightener Ybyray Altynsarin.
A teacher who has just graduated from school for six to seven years has been teaching children in the people, in aul schools. He gives his students deep knowledge and upbringing in the same spirit. In his autobiography, Mirzhakyp Dulatov writes: “In 1897 I entered a two-year Russian-Kazakh school, after graduating I studied at teacher courses and received the specialty of a rural teacher. This ended my education in educational institutions. Since 1902, working as a rural teacher, he devoted his free time to improving his knowledge ”[1, p.12].
Mirzhakyp independently studied and mastered the Russian language perfectly. He gets acquainted with the works of Russian writers. During the 6 years of teaching, he learns many things, and prepares for the struggle for the independence of his people. His poetic talent manifests itself in these same years.
This time was a period when colonialism of the tsarist government on Kazakh soil grew and exerted strong pressure on the whole people. This circumstance became an incentive for educated and learned citizens and intellectuals of the Kazakh people. At this time in Tsarist Russia echoed the first bourgeois-democratic revolution.
Mirzhakyp, who independently studied, developed his knowledge and mastered the Russian language well, in his free time he read art books to improve his language, begins to compose poems. He reads many works of the Kazakh intelligentsia, thinking about their people – Alikhan Bokeikhan and Akhmet Baitursynuli, issued in their native language.
In 1904 Mirzhakyp arrived in the city of Omsk and met with the scientist Ahmet Baitursynuli. In 1905, Mirzhakyp participated with Akhmet Baitursynuli in social and political work carried out in the city of Karkaralinsk [2, p.134].
He participates in the national liberation movements held in the cities of Uralsk and St. Petersburg, and takes part in the work of the Congress of the Constitutional Democratic Party, during the revolutionary events of 1905 he is in the ranks of demonstrators in the city of Karkaralinsk. At this time, a congress of regions is taking place in the city of Uralsk and the “Kazakh Constitutional Democratic Party” is being created. In this congress, questions of the independence of the people, the development of national culture, language and creativity, freedom of religion are raised, a petition is filled for the tsarist government and sent.
In 1906, he visited the city of St. Petersburg, where many Kazakh scientists and Kazakh youth study. In 1907, the publication “Serke”, published in St. Petersburg, published under the pseudonym his poem “Youth” and the article “Our Goals”.
The first collection of poems by Mirzhakyp was published in 1909 in the city of Kazan under the title “Oyan, Kazakh!” (“Wake up, Kazakh!”). The impact of this book on Kazakh readers was very strong. The book brought the young author persecution by the tsarist rulers, he was taken under the supervision of the investigating authorities, followed by the confiscation of the entire circulation of the book [3, p.4].
In 1909 – 1911 he continued his activities in the judicial council of the city of Kyzylzhar, renewed his teaching work and taught Russian to Kazakh children. At this time, Magzhan studied with him for some time. In 1910, in the publishing house of the Karimov city of Kazan, his novel “Bakytsyz Zhamal” (Uncommon Zhamal) was published. He regularly wrote for various Kazakh publications published in various places, especially often for the Aykap magazine.
Mirzhakyp in 1911 sent from Kyzylzhar to the Semipalatinsk region and traveled around Kazakh villages to see the life of the population with his own eyes. Here he, who came into the view of the tsarist secret police, falls into the hands of the police, and is under arrest for a year and a half.
In 1912 he came to Orenburg. After being consulted by a small number of Kazakh intelligentsia, it decides to start publishing with the goal of continuing to influence the consciousness of the people. M. Dulatuly, together with A. Baitursynov, lays the foundation for the first unofficial publication with an educational and democratic direction – the “Kazakh” newspaper (1913 – 1918) [4, p.146].
On May 14, 1914 Mirzhakyp Dulatuly married Gainizhamal Baimuratkyzy, who lived in the city of Omsk. According to the memoirs of the poet’s daughter Gulnar Dulatova, the wedding took place in the restaurant of the Kolomzino station near the city of Omsk. After the wedding, the newly married Dulatovs immediately leave for the city of Orenburg [5, p. 87].
In 1917 – 1918 Mirzhakyp resumed the Alash movement, and in difficult years for Russia he was engaged in issues related to the country’s independence. In 1917 he participated in the work of the general Kazakh congresses convened in June and December. After the establishment of Soviet power, he worked for some time in newspapers and magazines in Orenburg.
In 1920 he came to Tashkent, and there he worked in the editorial office of the “Ak Zhol” newspaper, and then in the judicial authorities of the Semipalatinsk region.
In the same years, Mirzhakyp wrote textbooks on literature and arithmetic, translated into Kazakh the works of Firdousi, Krylov, Pushkin, Lermontov and Schiller.
In 1922 – 1926 he works as a teacher at the Kazakh Institute of Public Education. In the period after returning to teaching, he prepares a “Mathematics Manual”, consisting of two parts, and publishes it in Tashkent. He writes a play in four acts entitled “Balkia”.
In 1922, M. Dulatula was illegally taken into custody. But this injustice does not last long, and he is released from custody upon transfer from Semipalatinsk to Orenburg. In 1924, the two-volume “Book of Kiragats” (a textbook) in Orenburg and the new edition of “Manuals on Mathematics” in Kyzylorda were published. In the same year, Mirzhakyp participated in the First Congress of Kazakh scientists and delivered a speech [6, p.12].
In 1925 – 1928 Mirzhakyp Dulatuly lived in the capital of the country – the city of Kyzylorda. There he wrote several works of art.
In 1928, the Soviet totalitarian system again arrested Mirzhakyp. In the neighboring cells of the Kyzylorda prison, Zhusupbek Aymauytuly and Akhmet Baitursynuly sat with him.
This time, after the investigation, M. Dulatula was sentenced to death, but soon the sentence was commuted to 10 years in prison. At first he was in Butyrka prison, then he was exiled to the Solovetsky camp.
Despite the fact that Mustafa Shokai arranged for Dulatov to escape from the camp when a merchant ship from France entered Karelia, Mirzhakyp refused, fearing for the fate of his family.
In 1930, he was referred to the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. The scientist died on October 5, 1935 at the Sosnovets railway station in the Belomorsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic), and was buried there [1, p.123].
During the years of Soviet power, the name Mirzhakyp Dulatuly and his work were banned for many years. On October 27, 1988, the prosecutor of the Kazakh SSR expressed a corresponding protest, and the Republican Collegium of the Supreme Court on November 4 of that year completely rehabilitated his honorary name. And in 1991, the collected works of Mirzhakyp Dulatuly were published, where all his works, poems and articles were collected.
After the independence of our country, in 1996 its ashes were returned to their homeland and buried.
Merits
Mirzhakyp’s creativity and political activity can be considered in three stages. Stage 1 — years of struggle against the colonial policy of the Russian Tsar, Stage 2 — participation in the Alash movement and the struggle against Soviet power, Stage 3 — years of service to the people and country after the amnesty of the new government.
M. Dulatuly after meeting in Omsk with A. Bokeikhan and A. Baitursynuli in 1904, begins to actively participate in the political struggle. In 1905, he was one of the drafters of the petition addressed to the tsarist government [7, p.123].
After the Karkaraly events, a person who has fully formed a political creed has now set his sights on political training in the center of Russia, embraced by the flames of revolution. And in 1906 he was sent to Petersburg as a member of the party of cadets of Russia. Here he participates in the work of meetings organized by the Muslim faction and the leaders of the Volga and the Caucasus. In 1907 he participated in the creation of the first newspaper with the national spirit “Serke” at the Tatar newspaper “Ulfat” in St. Petersburg.
On July 3, 1907, by the Tsar’s decree, Kazakhs and all indigenous peoples of Siberia and Central Asia were denied the right to participate in the State Duma of Russia. This decision fundamentally violated the possibility of national self-government.
In the article “Our goals” M. Dulatuly wrote that the Kazakhs in Russia are powerless people. Over the years, Dulatov writes many works and articles. Most of them were aimed at awakening the Kazakh people and exposing the Russian Empire. After the publication of this article, the tsarist police confiscated the newspaper Serke. From this article you can see how brave he was [8, p.29].
After the creation of the Kazakh newspaper, which became a platform for free expression of views and included urgent problems of the Kazakh society on the agenda, Akhmet Baitursynuli became its chief editor, and Mirzhakyp Dulatuly became his deputy [3, p.4]. In 1913, he, together with Akhmet Baitursynuli, published the Kazakh newspaper and his famous collection “Wake up, Kazakh! A collection of poems, beginning with the words: “Wake up, Kazakh, raise your head. Do not live your years in vain in the dark” became a book that stimulated Kazakhs to think about the future of their people.
Mirzhakyp Dulatuly wrote a lot about the scientific and technical achievements of that time. Through such articles, Dulatuly wanted to interest Kazakh youth in knowledge and science [6, p. 43].
In 1916, M. Dulatuly, A. Baitursynuli, and A. Bokeikhan opposed the royal decree of June 25 calling on the Kazakhs for front-line work [9, p. nine].
The poet was in the midst of the Alash movement in 1916 – 1920: he reached the other edge of Russia – modern Belarus, and returned to the homeland of Kazakh dzhigits sent there for black work, took up arms during the Civil War.
Mirzhakyp Dulatuly is one of the founders of the “Zhanar” relief committee, the first in Kazakh history, to help people who suffered in the First World War and became refugees. He opened centers for assisting Kazakhs sent to front-line work in various places, he was always constantly next to them. He took patronage over those who did not know the language, and provided them with everything necessary. Despite such works, in 1919 Mirzhakyp Dulatuly was illegally accused of involvement in the death of an active participant in the fight against the establishment of Soviet power – Amangeldy Imanuly [10, p. 115].
The proof that Dulatuly considered the fate of the people from a state point of view is provided by his articles published on the pages of the Kazakh newspaper: “People Leading the Kazakh People”, “Land Question”, “About Kazakhs”, “Problems of the Kazakh Muftiate”, “ Meetings are prohibited”. He wrote eight articles at once in the newspaper on the topic “What is a zemstvo?” It means that he was thinking of help from the authorities to improve the economic well-being of the people at that time in a civilized way, and this says a lot [8, p. 287].
1. Absemetov M. Mіrzhaқyp Dulatovtyң өmіrі men shyғarmashylyғy. – Almaty, 1995, -215 b.
3. Dulatov M. Ojan, қazaқ! Roman, өleңzhyrlar, әңgіmeler. – Almaty: Atamұra, 2003. – 192 b.
5. Dulatova G.M. «Alashtyң sөnbes zhұldyzdary» Estelіk jesse. –Almaty: Mektep, – 2010. -360 b.
6. Әbsemet M. «Mіrzhaқyptyң aғartushylyқ қyzmetі» // «Aқiқat» zhurnaly 2003 zh., № 7.
11. Dulatұly M. Bes tomdyқ shyғarmalar zhinaғy. – Almaty: Mektep, 2003. – 388 b.