CINEMA AS BRANDING - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 182

to his story. The following verse by Bukhar zhirau is a succinct description
of Ablai in the eyes of his contemporaries: “Oh, Ablai, Ablai // Always
victorious over the enemies // And still you are not satisfied // You have
squeezed the people with extortions // … // Must I tell you what kind of
man you are?” 18 It is his transgressive qualities as a man of unrestrained
ambition, political talent, and a Töre, a combination the most rewarding
as well as the most troubling within the given historical context which has
kept his story 'going' over the centuries.
Narratives of Ablai begin with his passage from the existential limbo
as a child survivor, taking refuge in a common family, to political star-
dom. 19 As a young adult, he joins Kazakh warriors in a fight against Jun-
gars that ends his humble and anonymous life. A novice to battlefield,
Ablai displays courage and aptitude, winning in a sword duel with a more
experienced Jungar warrior. With this victory Ablai overcomes his vulner-
ability, moving to the center stage of the steppe politics. The tribes of Orta
jüz , his designated domain, praise him as a capable Töre. An important
detail here is that because Ablai spent his youth in exile so his demeanor
escapes the usual public scrutiny. The story provides clues, however, to his
uneven character by inscribing instances of his disregard of ordinary peo-
ple among whom he matured and his unexplainable blasts of viciousness.
His true self is revealed when he discards his given name and picks Ablai,
a choice that shocks the society. 'Ablai' was the name of his grandfather
who wrestled his way to power and was remembered by his nickname - a
Bloodsucker (Khan-Icher). Ablai will confirm the society's fear that by
picking his name he intended to repeat his grandfather's life: he sets tribes
against one another, wipes out entire communities as a punishment for
disobeying his orders, and betrays his allies. His pain-inflicting actions
generate anger and frustration among people; but he has grown too fast
and too powerful based on their premature blessing.
Ablai excels in manipulating his friends and foes. The warrior whom
young Ablai kills in the duel is Sharish, a son of Galdan Ceren, a mature
leader of Jungars. Seeking vengeance, Galdan Ceren captures Ablai. His
ingenuity and his noble status, however, earn Ablai a special treatment
18 Bukhar zhirau, fragment from 'Obrasheniye poeta Bukhara k khanu Ablayu.' Cited in English in
Winner (1958: 88 - 89). Full text is available in Sobolev (1940: 225).
19 His father, Vali khan, was killed in 1723, according to the Uighur sources, by Jungars when Ablai
was 12 years old (Benson and Svanberg 1998: 37). His father's slave named Oraz rescued the boy.
Two of them found sanctuary with Tole bi, the biy of Uly jüz (Yessenberlin 1989: 242-243; Kasym-
baev 1999b: 135; Valikhanov, 1985: 111-116).