The Dombaul Mausoleum is a monument of ancient architecture and one of the oldest structures on the territory of Kazakhstan. The exact date of this sacred building’s construction is unknown, but indirect evidence suggests it predates Islam, possibly dating back to the 8th or 9th centuries, during the era of the Huns.
There is no conclusive information about whose tomb lies within the mausoleum, but various theories abound. One popular version is that the mausoleum commemorates Dombaul—a warrior, musician, and poet who was a loyal companion to Khan Jochi. This hypothesis gains credibility from the mausoleum’s direct line of sight to the mausoleum of Jochi, Genghis Khan’s son. According to one interpretation, Dombaul was an ancestor of one of the Kipchak tribes and, through a complex web of kinship, was among the forebears of Börte and thus of Jochi. If this is true, Jochi may have viewed Dombaul as a celestial protector, seeing him as both a «guardian» and «musician.» Dombaul also appears in Kazakh folklore, specifically in the epic Er-Targyn, where he is portrayed as a powerful, fierce zaisan, a leader of the Kalmyks who engages in a legendary duel with the hero Targyn.
The peculiar structure, resembling a stack of layered stone slabs, was built during one of the Kipchak khaganates. The mausoleum is shaped like a yurt or haystack, resembling a miniature Egyptian pyramid. The walls, made of stones mixed with clay, are impressively thick—no less than two meters—and the dome rises over five meters. Inside, the structure is square, with a floor paved with flat stones. A staircase leads up to a chamber beneath the dome, a feature that sets Dombaul apart from other mausoleums, where rooms typically remain at ground level.
One comparable structure is the larger, younger Bayan-Sulu Mausoleum in East Kazakhstan. Some theories suggest Dombaul may not be a mausoleum at all but rather a pagan temple. Either way, it is the oldest surviving building in Kazakhstan; in Russia, only the Arab Juma Mosque in Derbent, Dagestan, is older.
For its «age,» the mausoleum is well-preserved, with only minimal damage inflicted by time. Restoration work on the sacred structure took place in the 1970s. Surrounding the mausoleum is a cemetery with stone-covered kurgans (burial mounds) and a clay mazar from the 19th century. On one of the stones lies a tamga, a clan symbol, which can be found on many graves in the area.
One finds here a rare «mustached kurgan,» a unique feature of the Kazakh steppe shrouded in mystery. Even the dating of these kurgans is disputed, with estimates ranging from the 5th century BCE to the 5th century CE, let alone their purpose or origin. These small mounds, once up to three meters tall, feature two symmetrical horseshoe-shaped ridges extending from 11 to 300 meters, ending in smaller mounds. Some contain horse burials, while others are empty.
Paganism was a practical religion, firmly rooted in agrarian cycles and tied to specific dates. The pagan temple, serving double duty as an observatory, would monitor these dates, with the “mustaches” possibly serving as a form of calendar. Given that “mustached graves” were built even before the Turkic Khaganate, we can infer that Dombaul stands on truly ancient ground.
On the nearby hill, there is another intriguing sight, frequently encountered in these lands—a structure known as an oboo. This is a remnant of an ancient steppe tradition still alive among the Buryats and Mongols. An oboo (also oboo or ovaa) is a sacrificial marker for the spirits of mountain passes, crossroads, and watersheds. For centuries, nomads would leave a symbolic gift when passing by—be it a stone, a piece of cloth, or a handful of grains. In Buryatia, the oboo is still revered, but in Kazakhstan, it has long lost its mystical significance, though they are still maintained for practical purposes: these cairns serve as excellent landmarks, standing as ancient triangulation points in the open steppe.