Struggle for Turkistan
The Struggle for Turkistan, or the Struggle for the Kazakh Capital – a series of battles for the capital of the Kazakh Khanate – Turkistan, between the Kazakhs and the Dzungar Khanate.
Prelude
In February and March 1723, a 30,000-strong Dzungar army under the leadership of Lobsangtur invaded the southern nomadic camps of the Kazakhs. As a result of the Dzungar campaign, the Kazakhs lost control over the Syrdarya region, including Turkistan.Course of the Struggle
Eliminating, during the campaigns against the Kalmyk Khanate, the potential threat of an attack on the Kazakh clans of the Junior Jüz — In late summer of 1724, Abul Khair khan mobilized southwards to Turkistan, forcing the Dzungar commander Lobsangtur to retreat to the Karatau Mountains.About this, a Russian envoy to Bukhara — Florio Beneveni, reported to Moscow on January 15, 1725:
The Kazakhs had occupied the Syr darya river regions for about 6 months, including the city of Tashkent, however reinforcements of the Dzungar army soon fought the Kazakhs, and after a series of confrontation — they recaptured the city of Turkistan and repulsed the Kazakhs from the Syrdarya region. The Kazakhs were completely cut off from the urban markets and craft centers of Central Asia, with the direct result of this campaign was that a new wave of Kazakh refugees poured into the north-western and northern regions of Kazakhstan.