Aidabol Bi

Aidabol Bi was the son of the batyr (warrior) Kulboldy and belonged to the Suyundik clan of the Argyn tribe, part of the Kazakh Middle Zhuz. Genealogies trace his forebears to famous clan founders and warriors, and his name survives in Kazakh oral tradition and in written shezhire (genealogies). Sources on him are sparse and rely largely on tradition, so the dates of his life are approximate.

According to Wikipedia and other reference works, he was born around 1599 in Tashkent. In the 17th century the city lay within the sphere of the Kazakh Khanate, and in Kazakh tradition Tashkent is tied to the biys and khans of that age. The Kazakh Wikipedia says only that Aidabol grew up near Tashkent and gives different years for his life from the Russian and Uzbek articles.

He was recognised as a bi at the age of thirteen. Biys settled disputes between people and clans under customary law, and Aidabol’s fame rested on his eloquence and fair rulings. The phrase “Aidabol bi aitqan eken” (“so Aidabol bi said”) remained in popular speech as a maxim. One legend says that in a difficult lawsuit he swore that if his ruling proved wrong, his own son Taigeltir should be put to a cruel death.

Aidabol is said to have had three wives, nine sons and a daughter, Akbilek, in some versions of the tradition. The sons are described as poets (akyns), biys and batyrs, and the daughter as a seer and a skilled weaver. The Kazakh Wikipedia gives another version, four wives and nine sons. Stories about Aidabol and his sons were recorded by the Kazakh scholar Mashkhur-Zhusup Kopeev.

The date and circumstances of his death are unknown; the literature gives 1680. His memory is kept in place names, Lake Aidabol and the settlement of Aidabol in the Akmola region of Kazakhstan, and in the 19th century a volost of the Pavlodar district bore his name. Many well-known Kazakhs regard themselves as his descendants.