Monument to General Kolpakovsky in Uzun-Agach.

"When the Kokand army fled,
When Jetysu was conquered.
A monument to the general was erected with a stone sign.
"The Kazakhs are prey.
The steppe is a hunting ground.
This mighty eagle is me."
Revealing such a meaning,
They hoisted the eagle up there."

Ilyas Dzhansugurov. Poem "The Steppe". 1930.

Battle of Uzun-Agach in 1860.

Monument in honor of Battle of Uzungach is located at an altitude of 855 meters above sea level, in central part of village of Uzun-Agach, in village cemetery, 814 meters to east of local bazaar, in Zhambyl district of Almaty region. 
In the Tien-Shan, Russian interests collided with the ambitions of the Qing Empire and the active expansion of the Kokand Khanate. In the autumn of 1860, in the area of ​​Kara-Kastek, not far from Verny (present-day Almaty), a three-day battle took place, ending with the victory of Russian troops.
This battle put an end to the Kokand claims to Semirechye, ensuring a fragile peace and creating conditions for the development of the region. In the following years, active construction and improvement began. The modern cities of southeastern Kazakhstan were founded and developed: Almaty, Kaskelen, Talgar and Issyk. In May 1864, at the foot of the Saurukov Kurgan, a regimental prayer service was held in honor of the fallen participants of the Battle of Uzun-Agach.
Later, a tent-church was erected on this site, which was used during the devastating earthquake of 1887. In 1885, a new monument in the form of a chapel was built in honor of the heroes of the battle. However, it stood for only two years and was destroyed by the same earthquake.
On the site of the chapel, a granite obelisk was built according to the design of the architects Troparevsky and Gauguin. The opening of the 20-meter obelisk took place in 1905, becoming the first memorial of its kind in Semirechye. The events of the Battle of Uzun-Agach and its heroes were immortalized not only by monuments, but also by churches.
In 1911, for the 50th anniversary of the battle, the Uzun-Agach Military Cathedral was built. A church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the village of Malo-Almatinskaya. The village of Uzun-Agach was renamed Kazansko-Bogorodskoye.
A memorial cross was erected at the site of the battle, and the celebrations included a re-enactment of the battle. After the 1917 revolution, the symbolism of the monuments underwent changes: the double-headed eagle was replaced by a flag, which over time lost its shape, having become a witness to the dramatic events of the XXth century.
The cast-iron plaques with memorial inscriptions were also lost, telling about the historical event in honor of which the stele was erected, about the number of killed and wounded. After the establishment of Soviet power in Semirechye, on June 8, 1921, the "Koshchi holiday" was held in Uzun-Agach - the local proletariat, the program of which, in addition to the baiga and traditional dastarkhan, included the destruction of a historical monument.
During the celebration, under the blows of the hero-hammerman Kamaletdinov, cast-iron plaques and medallions with the names and portraits of the participants in the battle, captured Kokand cannons, fastened with a chain, and an eagle, tearing apart the map of the Kokand Khanate's possessions on top of the obelisk, were knocked down and disappeared, but the obelisk itself remained standing.
The captured Kokand cannons, fastened with a chain, went to scrap metal.And the valiant symbol of the battle, the eagle, tearing apart the map of the Kokand Khanate's possessions on top of the obelisk. For many decades now, a half-ruined monument has stood on Saurukov Hill, senselessly desecrated by people, causing puzzled questions from those who care.
However, in the assessments of contemporaries, the Battle of Uzun-Agach is unworthy of being remembered even in unflattering criticism, they say, it is undoubtedly subject to oblivion among descendants. Moreover, at the foot of the ancient burial mound they had already managed to install an obelisk to the batyr Karasai, a new symbol of the republic's past military glory.
During the Soviet era, the stele was preserved, but the fence at the base of the stele, consisting of cannons connected by chains, was gone. During the Soviet era, the stele was destroyed, but in 2007, on the initiative of the Coordinating Council of Russian, Cossack and Slavic Organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Yuri Zakharov, the stele was restored. Instead of cast-iron cannons, concrete imitations were installed.
In memory of the famous battle, Uzun-Agach Boulevard appeared in Alma-Ata. Currently, a rusty creaking weather vane in the shape of a flag is installed at the top of the pyramid. There is no memorial plaque on the obelisk. The monument is located at the highest point of the old Uzun-Aach cemetery.
You can drive up to it from the south, if you turn off the Uzun-Agach - Prudki highway immediately west of the bazaar. By the 140th anniversary of the battle, local historians tried to restore the Cossack memorial, but instead of an accurate restoration, a new monument appeared, significantly distorting the appearance of the original, although the author's sketches have been preserved in the archives.
During the Soviet years, the fences at the base of the stele, consisting of cannons connected by chains, disappeared.
Geographic coordinates of monument in honor of Battle of Uzun-Agach: N43°13'09 E76°18'23

Ilyas Dzhansugurov in poem "Steppe", which he wrote in 1930, described this event as follows:

"And they went like a stream to roar
On the Uzungach tract.
Mass, covering the mountains, flooded,
The human river was seething.
When the Kokand army fled,
When Jetysu was conquered.
A monument to the general was erected with a stone sign.
"The Kazakhs are the prey.
The steppe is the hunting ground.
This mighty eagle is me."
Revealing such a meaning,
They erected an eagle at the top.
“To you, Kolpakovsky, the hero,
The hero of great times,
At the site of the last battle
This monument was erected.”
“Our October is the end of darkness!”
“Today our day has come!”
“Today we rule!”
We have come to this, surrounded the slab,
“The slave has risen from the shackles today!
Why is this monument cast from the people’s blood?”
- And they laid their hands on it.
They threw stones with a cry,
Stormed one julma-ton.
A lasso was thrown at the monument,
It loosened and collapsed.”

Translated from the Kazakh language by Zoya Kedrina and Mukhtar Auezov.

Authority:
Georgy Parshin. “Essays on the history of the native land.”
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BD-
Vladimir Proskurin.

Photos by:
Alexander Petrov.