500 Tenge Abulhair Khan

Abulkhair Khan ruled the Junior Zhuz of the Kazakh steppe in the early 18th century and made the controversial decision in 1731 to seek Russian imperial protection against Dzungar raids — a move that placed Kazakhstan on a trajectory toward eventual full annexation. His calculation was pragmatic: the Dzungar Khanate had inflicted catastrophic losses on the Kazakhs during the years known as Aktaban Shubryndy, the Great Retreat, which began around 1723. Whether he foresaw the long-term consequences of that petition to St. Petersburg is a question Kazakh historians still debate.