Eset Kotibaruli

Eset Kotibaruli (, Eset Kötıbarūly) (1803–1889), sometimes Izzat (or Izzet) Kutebar, was the leader of the wars against Khiva and Kokand khanates, the head of an anti-colonial uprising and the leader of the national liberation movement of Kazakhs. He was a Kazakh rebel and guerrilla leader who was active from the 1820s to 1858. He first robbed the Bukhara caravan in 1822, and was at his height as a raider and scourge of the Russian invaders in the 1840s. They eventually persuaded him to suspend his activities and rewarded him with a gold medal, but he rebelled again in the early 1850s. He was captured in 1854, but he either escaped or was released.

Origin Eset Batyr was originally from Shekty-Kabak subdivision of Alimuli tribe of the Lesser Horde. This tribe had nomadic style of life on the territory of modern Aktobe Province of Kazakhstan and Orenburg province of the Russian Federation, as well as between the Ural(Zhaik) and Volga rivers. Eset Batyr was born in 1803 near the Lake Shalkar in Kazakhstan in the family of famous judge and leader Kotibar.

Anti-Colonial Uprising

From 1847 to 1858 Eset Batyr led a revolt of Kazakhs against the Russian administration. In 1854–1858, there was an uprising of Kazakhs living in Aral region, due to the high taxes of the Tsarist administration. At that time, extortion or taxation was carried out by camels. For instance, the military campaign of Perovskii in 1853 to conquer the city of Akmeshit in Kazakhstan required almost 8 thousand camels. At first, Eset refused to enter into negotiations with the Russians but changed his mind after he learned about Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev's mission en route for Khiva and Bokhara. Eset met Ignatyev and agreed to make his peace with Russia, promising future loyalty to the Tsar.

Eset Batyr in historical essays AI Dobrosmyslov, "Turgayskaya Oblast - historical sketch" (Orenburg, 1902, pp. 407–409): "The most important Batyrs were Shekti batyrs Dzhankozha Nurmuhamedov and Eset Kotibarov. Our administration quarrelled with Eset Kotibarov and created a dangerous enemy. His influence and importance among people is indisputable… "