Aktaban Shubyryndy and the Battle of Anyrakay

In spring 1723 the armies of the Dzungar Khanate suddenly invaded the Kazakh lands. People abandoned their pastures and fled; these years are remembered as Aktaban Shubyryndy — "the flight until the soles were worn white". Their sorrow lives on in the song Elim-ai.

The disaster forced the three zhuzes to unite. Kazakh batyrs and bis formed a common army, and Abu'l-Khayr Khan was chosen as commander-in-chief.

In 1729, in the Anyrakay mountains south of Lake Balkhash, the Kazakh army inflicted a heavy defeat on the Dzungars. The battlefield is known as Kalmak Kyrylgan ("where the Kalmyks perished"), and the victory is remembered as a symbol of Kazakh unity.