i have a few questions now. as i understand the hero is called Mansur (victory), but during the battle with Sharish he shouts Abylai and the Kazakh soldiers on the walls repeat it, this was also his later name, what does it mean?
Historically, one of the rulers of Senior jüz,
Töle bï (in Qazaq society,
"bï" was a influential judge, "bey" in Turkish) had a poor and kinless boy nicknamed
Sabalaq ("shaggy-haired") who took care of his camels. When Abu-l-Mämbet khan prepared a military campaign against Oirats (Zuungars), this Sabalaq asked Töle bï for permission to join the campaign.
Later, on one of the battles, which were usually preceded by the duel, Sabalaq challenged the Oirat warrior named
Sharish. The story goes that during the duel, Sabalaq shouted the war cry
"Abılay!" and defeated Sharish. Qazaqs also defeated the Oirats.
According to the legend, after the battle Abu-l-Mämbet khan called Sabalaq and asked him why did he shouted "Abılay". Sabalaq then confessed that he used the name of his supposed grandfather,
Qanisher Abılay (Blood-drinking Abılay), a
sultan of Genghisid origin (Qazaq "sultans" were lower than khans).
Qanisher Abılay sultan was the son of
Wälïbek sultan, who was the son of Salqam Jäñgir khan (1630s-1652) and a brother of Täwke khan (1650s-1718), both of whom were one of the most brilliant Qazaq khans.
Qanisher Abılay had a son
Körkem Wälï (Handsome Wali). All of them (Wälïbek, Qanisher Abılay, and Körkem Wälï) were sultans, but never khans and died in the court of Qayıp khan (small ruler in the Lesser jüz). Supposedly, Körkem Wälï had a son named
Abil-Mansur who was lost for some unknown reason, and Sabalaq claimed that he was that Abil-Mansur.
Everyone, including all the Genghisids, accepted that claim. It may have meant two things: whether they had a proof that Sabalaq really was Abil-Mansur, or Sabalaq rose to such an extreme power that his claims on the Genghisid heritage simply didn't recieve any objections (at least, nobody heard of any objections from the numerous Genghisid rivals of Abil-Mansur at that time).
So, because Sabalaq/Abil-Mansur used "Abılay" as his war-cry in the battles, everyone started to call him "Abılay" as a nickname, and we all know him as
Abılay khan.
Abılay khan (Sabalaq, Abil-Mansur) became one of the greatest khans in the Qazaq history who opposed the colonial advances of Russia and China, and played a significant role in the destruction of the Oirat khanate.
Here, you can see Nazarbayev riding next to him.
There's no ethymology of "Abılay" that I know of.
"Arwaq" is the Qazaq word for an ancestoral spirit.
So, whenever Qazaqs shout "Arwaq!" they call their ancestors for help. You can see that word under my avatar
