(1835, Kuntimes village, now Sarykol district, Kostanay region - 1865) was a great Kazakh orientalist, historian, ethnographer, geographer, folklorist, translator, journalist, traveler.
In 1853, Chokan graduated from the cadet corps and, with the rank of cornet, entered the service as an adjutant to the Governor-General of the Steppe Region, G.H. Gasfort. In the service of the Governor-General, Chokan studied the history, ethnography, literature and culture of the peoples of Central Asia, traveled to Central Kazakhstan, Zhetys, Tarbagatai, collected materials and wrote articles on the history of the steppe region, customs and traditions, and the religion of the Kazakhs.
In 1856-57, Ch. Valikhanov made a research and ethnographic expedition to the Trans-Ili Kyrgyz and to the villages of the Elder Zhuz, to Kuldzha, where he got acquainted with the history of Dzungaria. During these trips, he wrote the famous "Essays of Dzungaria", "Notes on the Kyrgyz", "On the genres of Kazakh folk poetry", "Diary of a trip to Issyk-Kul", "Legends and Legends of the great Kirghiz-Kaysak Horde" and other works that became the basis of a fundamentally new view of the Kazakhs, their culture and references
In 1858-1859, Chokan made the most important journey in his short life to Kashgar. Chokan brought out of Kashgar a lot of interesting statistical and historical information, which were published in the "Notes of the Russian Geographical Society" in the form of two articles: "Sketches of Dzungaria" and "Description of Kashgar or Altyshaar". In the spring of 1864, Valikhanov was invited to the military expedition of General Chernyaev, whose task was to annex Southern Kazakhstan to Russia. In July 1864, with a group of officers dissatisfied with Chernyaev's actions, he returned to Verniy. He died in April 1865. in the village of Tezeka, in the Koshentogan tract, near the foot of the Altyn-Emel ridge.
