Makhambet Utemisov was a hero, who led the people, a fighter who dreamed of seeing Kazakh soil and its people free and independent, and a poet of high spirit. He was born in the district of Beketai of Bokey Horde (nowadays Zhanibek district of the Ural region). Makhambet from his childhood was fascinated by versification. His outstanding poetic talent was known to the masses. The poet became famous not only for his mastery of the word, but also for his spiritual qualities, wisdom, courage, and humanity. When Makhambet became popular among the people, Zhangir Khan wanted to subordinate him to his will and forbade him to compose verses against the authorities. But the freedom-loving poet did not obey him.

Zhangir Khan decided to break his will and imprisoned the poet. In 1829-1830, Makhambet was detained in a city prison. Having come to freedom, Makhambet teamed up with Isatay Taimanov and played an important role in the uprising, urging the people with their songs to fight against tsarist power and khan's oppression. In his poems he sang the freedom and courage of the people's leaders and heroes. In 1838, after the death of Isatay, Makhambet  moved to Khiva Khanate with a small group. He again wanted to raise the people against power, but ended up with failure. Having secretly arrived in the Bokey Horde, he started agitating the people's environment against the khans and the tsar. But he was arrested, brought to Orenburg, where he was severely warned and released. The last years of his life the poet spent in the aul. Zhangir Khan and Sultan Baymagambet, fearing the influence of Makhambet on the people, kept him under surveillance. In the end, the Khan's henchmen killed the poet in a mean way. In the memory of the people Makhambet remained a fighter for freedom, independence, justice.

At the age of 16, Makhambet was recognized as the best poet of the genus Berish. He easily defeated experienced poets and quickly became the pride of the family. The sergeant-major and batyrs happily opened the doors in front of him. The most respected Berish sergeant Isatay declared him his friend and brother.

The glory of him flew through the villages of the junior juz, about which the Nogailians of Yedelya and the Shaktintsy Karatau knew, the Kipchaks and the Naimans. Khan of the Inner Horde, Jangir called the 19-year-old Makhambet the main poet of the Younger Zhuz and sent his son to Orenburg as the tutor of the khan's heir. Zhangir Khan had the intention of taking him to St. Petersburg as part of his retinue to visit the Imperial Palace. In 1834 Makhambet Utemisov was appointed the foreman.

As a kid he was remarkable for his extraordinary strength, accuracy in shooting; he was fair, direct and frank with people. The people valued his poetic talent. Given the increasing authority of Makhambet among the people, Zhangir Khan tried to bring him closer to himself. To this end, he appointed Makhambet as a foreman of his kind. Sending his son Zulkarnay to study in Orenburg, Zhangir appointed Makhambet as his tutor. However, the poet refused the mercy of the khan. The main reason for Makhambet's cooling to Zhangir is the ruthless exploitation and oppression of the working people by the khan, the plight of Kazakh sharoans under double oppression. The poet goes over to the side of dissatisfied peasants, who are preparing for an uprising. Together with Isatay, whom he greatly respected and valued, he did a great deal of work to prepare for an upcoming uprising. During the uprising of 1836-1838, Makhambet directly participated in all the battles and in all showed courage, inspired the insurgents. After the defeat of Isatay's uprising and death, Makhambet did not stop fighting against the tsarist authorities, khans and sultans.

Three years after the suppression of the uprising, the tsarist authorities succeeded in arresting Makhambet and imprisoning him in the Orenburg prison. The poet was transferred to a military court, and the threat of a death sentence loomed over him. However, with the help of sympathetic people, Makhambet managed to escape and hide from the authorities. The poet was not able to organize a new uprising. But he did not cease his struggle against the oppressors of the people for a single day. In 1846, the famous poet-soldier fell at the hands of hired assassins sent by Sultan Baimagambet.

Dissatisfaction with the reforms of tsarist power in the Middle Zhuz. Prerequisites for movement. In the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of the unification of the possessions of the Khans of Bukey and Vali and the formation of the Karkaraly district, significant administrative and political innovations were introduced. This allowed the tsarist authorities to speed up the colonization of the rest of the Middle Zhuz and advance into the territory belonging to the Senior Zhuz. The most perspicacious Kazakh leaders foresaw that further actions of tsarist Russia would lead to the loss of Kazakh statehood by its people, that these actions are contrary to the fundamental interests of the people. After the death of Khan Uali, his widow, an educated and energetic hansha Aigan, led a lively correspondence with the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his Asian Department and the Siberian Committee with the aim of preserving the khan's power in the Middle Zhuz. However, this state of affairs contradicted the plans of the tsarist government. Undoubtedly, the mayor Ayganym could not lead the armed resistance of the people against the tsarist power. This complex and difficult task fell on the shoulders of Sultan Kasym - the youngest of the thirty sons of Khan Abylai. He and his children - Sarzhan, Esengeldy, Agatay, Bopay, Kushak, Kenesary and Nauryzbai - remained in history as active participants and organizers of the longest struggle of the Kazakh people for two decades against the tsarist colonialists.

The tsarist authorities to give the Kazakhs the opportunity to live according to their own laws, according to their customs and traditions, dating back to the times of his father Abylai khan. Negative responses of tsarist officials to his letters could not force Kasim to turn off the chosen path - the struggle against the colonialist policy of tsarism.

The struggle of the Kazakhs of Central and Northern Kazakhstan for their rights was led by the sultans Gubaidullah and Sarzhan. The tsarist authorities managed to detain Gubaidullah and send him to Berezov. However, this measure could not prevent the deployment of the movement that swept the greater part of the Middle zhuz. Soon an uprising broke out in the Karpyk Volost of the Karkaraly District, which was headed by Sultan Sarzhan. Among the rebels of Sarzhan was the younger sultan of Kenesary, who later became the leader of the largest movement for the independence of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia.
 
Sarzhan unified the scattered units and proceeded to a determined struggle against the colonialist policy of tsarism. However, under the pressure of well-armed and trained royal punitive detachments, the rebels of Sarzhan were forced to retreat to the borders of the Kokand Khanate. Sarzhan appealed to the Kokand beks with a proposal to unite in the fight against the Russian colonialists. But the Kokandi beks broke the promise and, in order to please the tsarist government, treacherously killed Sarzhan and his closest associates. In 1840, as a result of the treachery of the Kokand rulers, Sultan Kasim and his relatives suffered the same fate. The murder of Sultan Kasym, his sons Sarzhan and Esengeldy and their closest associates briefly stopped further growth of the national liberation movement of the Kazakhs. In 1837, a new, more powerful uprising broke out, affecting most of Kazakhstan. At the head of this truly nationwide movement was the brother of Sarzhan, Kenesary Kasymov (1802-1847).
 
The reasons, goals, character and driving forces of the national liberation movement. The main reasons for the uprising are the colonial policy of tsarism in Kazakhstan, the abolition of the khanate power in the Middle Zhuz and the introduction of the Russian system of administrative management. The main goal of the uprising is the restoration of the territorial integrity of Kazakhstan, existing under the rule of Khan Abylaya, and the stop of further colonization of Kazakh lands by Russia. The main driving forces of the uprising were the Kazakh sharoans. The insurrection was also attended by sergeants, sultans and feudal lords. Of course, not all the participants in the uprising pursued the same goals. However, in one thing - in hatred of the Russian colonialists - they were unanimous.

Kenesary's comrades-in-arms and the chiefs of his separate detachments were well-known batyrs: Agybai, Iman, Basygara, Angal, Zhanaydar, Zheke, Bukharbay, Zholaman Tlenshiev, Suranshi. The participants of the uprising included Russians, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Bashkirs, Tatars and others. Kenesary Kasymov was a diplomat, batyr, leader of the people's liberation movement. He went down in history as the continuer of Khan Abylai's business. The direct speech of Kenesary in the spring of 1837 was preceded by a series of his attempts to persuade the tsarist authorities to abandon the construction of a fortress system in Kokshetau and Akmola, in Kenesary's homeland.

52 years ago, the remains of the poet were removed from the grave - with a good purpose, to recreate the image of Makhambet Utemisov according to the method of the famous Russian sculptor-anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov. This work was brilliantly performed by his student - Noel Shayakhmetov. But only after 17 years, the remains of the poet were again betrayed to the ground.

About the drama of life and death, the reconstruction of the physical appearance, the reproduction of the documentary portrait of Makhambet Utemisov can be read in the most interesting book "From the Dark Ages" of Noel Shayakhmetov, published back in 1969: "In search of necessary documents, I had to work in many archives of Moscow, Orenburg, Tashkent. It was possible to visit the places connected with the name of Makhambet, to hear his songs, which the Kazakh people preserved and carried to the present day. In the Indery steppe they found his grave: a simple earth hill."

In October 1846, Sultan Baimagambet Aishuakov, the ruler of the western part of the Orenburg Kyrgyz, wishing in reality to prove his lackey loyalty to tsarism, proceeded to implement the plan for the physical punishment of Makhambet, he himself did not consider it possible to personally participate in the detention of Makhambet. who, under a convenient confluence of circumstances, could have brought him to Aishuakov's bet alive or dead, such people were found, and on October 20, 1846, they brutally killed Makhambet.

For two days, on November 21 and 22, 1846, the Frontier Commission examined the murder case. In addition to the report of Sultan Aishuakov for the number 1355 written on November 15, 1846, on the circumstances of the death of Makhambet Utemisov (according to the assassins themselves), another report - the guardian of the Orenburg pre-election Kirghiz Redkin on October 31, 1846, based on the testimony of two Makhambet wives who at the time of the murder were inside the kibitka and saw all the details of this crime.

This is a valuable and objective document. The content of Redkin's report directly testifies to the deliberate murder of Makhambet. According to the testimony of Makhambet's wives, 12 armed men arrived to them 12 days ago. They were Iklas Tuleyev, Zhusup Uteulin, Zhanabergen Bozdakov, Turezhan Turumov and Musel Nuralin, a relative of Utemisov. They demanded the return of 4 horses (or their value), allegedly stolen by Makhambet Utemisov from a nobleman from the Adaev clan of Mauth.

Makhambet did not admit his guilt in the total theft, said that he did not have to return anything to anyone. Then the unexpected guests demanded that he go with them to Aishuakov's bet and explain himself directly to him, proved his innocence. Makhambet flatly refused to go. Then a quarrel ensued, Utemisov was tried to withdraw by force, he resisted. People, fighting, were out of the wagon. And the messengers of Aishuakov attacked Makhambet.

A fight broke out, at one point Musa Nuralin seized Makhambet Utemisov by the hand, and Zhusup Uteulin hit him on the head with a sword - in the parietal region. Makhambet fell dead on the ground with a heavy bleeding from his head. After this, the bandits cut off Makhambet's head from the body. The comrades of the killers who stood not far from the wagon rushed and rushed to the chests, plundered money and things, seized eight horses and four camels and, taking Uthemisov's severed head, left for Aishuakov's bet. During the attack with Makhambet were his brother Hasen and friend Bitimbai Chokin. Their bandits were also taken away with them. After the assassination of Makhambet, Sultan Aishuakov's record added a new entry dated February 27, 1847, which is contained in the archives: "For his stay in St. Petersburg he was honored with Representation to the Emperor and for the service and zeal given to him in the service of Gracious Major-General." 33 days after the audience of the emperor, the last record appeared in the sultan's record: "He died while in service, on March 30, 1847". There were rumors that Sultan Baymuhamed Aishuakov, returning home from St. Petersburg, was drowned by Asaubai, Makhambet's friend, crossing the Elek River. So he avenged Aishuakov for Utemisov's death.

Until 1958, it was not known where Makhambet Utemisov was buried. He was sought by Kazim Zhumaliyev, an academician of the KazSSR Academy of Sciences and Tair Zharokov, the poet, natives of the Ural region, Taipak and Furmanov districts. In 1958 in the summer they left for a creative business trip to the Urals region. Kazhim Zhumaliyev and Tair Zharokov published an announcement in the regional Kazakh newspaper about the search for the grave of Makhambet Utemisov. The announcement was read by 59-year-old Kurak Bekturganov, who knew the grave of Makhambet. In 1951, his father Dinmukhambet showed his grave to his son: pointing the place, he stuck into the ground the handle of the whip - tobyga, which does not collapse with time. Dinmukhambetu was shown the grave by his father Tashen. In turn, Tashen's grave was shown by his father, Bekturgan, a member of the peasant uprising of Makhambet Utemisov.

Kurak Bekturganov appealed to the secretary of the Taipak District Party Committee and said that he knew the place of burial of Makhambet Utemisov. K. Zhumaliev and T. Zharokov arrived, the secretary of the district committee invited Kurak Bekturganov from Kotelnikov village. Together with them, the chairman of the district executive committee and representatives of the leadership of the Inder (formerly Ispulsky) district headed by the secretary of the district party committee Zhumash Utegaliev went to the grave of the poet. In the steppe, Kurak Bekturganov found a dug handle of the whip, which indicated the place of burial of Makhambet Utemisov. In Inder region, in the place Kabanbai-Karakalpak, and was buried the great poet. Later, other people were buried next to him. The local population considered the grave of Makhambet holy: they worshiped her, came here in the hope of healing.

Verses of Makhambet are program works that determine the goals and tasks of the insurgents. His remarkable improvisations create images of people's defenders - including the heroic image of Isatay Taimanov, as the leader of a peasant uprising. According to the testimony of the Russian scholar-writer E. Kovalevsky (1811-1868), who met with Utemisov during his trip to the Kazakh steppe, he is distinguished by his courageous character, honesty, and eloquence. Kovalevsky notes that he perceived him as the nature of a heroic warehouse, a true patriot, a passionately searching soul and great charm." Makhambet Utemisov is also recognized as the author of numerous songs, as a talented kuyshi-dombrist. The poems of the poet were translated into Russian several times and were repeatedly published in separate collections.

Makhambet's poetry is still considered difficult to translate. Makhambet Utemisov as an insurgent poet was raised on the life-giving traditions of heroic poems. He sincerely loved his people and enthusiastically sang the innermost dreams of the people about freedom. His realistic poems are imbued with the spirit of the times, prompted by the class struggle of the common people. His freedom-loving poems were transmitted, transmitted and will be transmitted by descendants, inspiring and inspiring their lives.