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The '''Koyandinsk Fair''' (also known as the Koyandy fair) was a large annual trade fair held every June from 1848 to 1930 in the [[Karkaraly]] region of [[Kazakhstan]] on the caravan route from [[Central Asia]] to [[Siberia]], located near modern-day [[Yegindybulak|Egindybulak]], near a large freshwater lake.<ref name="Central Asian review" />

==Origins==
The Koyandinsk Fair opened in 1848 when merchant Barnabas Botov first began buying cattle on the banks of the [[Taldy River]]<ref name=saryarka /> near to [[Karkaraly]].<ref name=museum /> The following year, new buyers arrived and soon people from [[Kazakhstan]], [[Siberia]], the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]], [[Central Asia]] and [[western China]] were visiting the fair.

Because of the nomadic nature of the people’s lives, they waited until summer to sell their livestock and purchase necessary goods. It has been reported that a two-year-old ram was worth 2 silver rubles.

==The prosperous years==
In 1869, the [[Karkaraly]] regional administration filed an application to officially recognize the trade fair. By 1900 the Koyandinsk Fair had 30 stores, 276 shops and 707 yurts in the area of {{Convert|55|km2}}.<ref name=saryarka /> The fair was organized in four long rows. In the two central rows were Russian and Siberian merchants trading iron and copper goods, textiles and tea.<ref name=praz /> In the other two rows were merchants from Kazakhstan, Central Asia and China. They traded silks, oriental sweets, carpets, drinks, bread, [[leather]], grains, textiles, and much more. However, the main product of the fair was livestock. Every year over 200,000 horses, cows, sheep and goats were sold.<ref name=saryarka />

For the years of its operation, the Koyandinsk Fair was the largest of its kind in the [[steppe]] region. By 1913, the turnover at the fair approached five million rubles.<ref name=praz /> Anything could be found at the fair: English clothes, Belgian lace, Paris perfumes, and more.<ref name=wku /> One merchant raised so much money that upon his death, his children made a headstone of black marble for him, something that was unprecedented in this area of the world.<ref name=wku />

In the years of revolution and civil war, the fair stopped. But it was revived again in 1923.<ref name=wku /> By then, the fair had grown dramatically. There was a newspaper, library, playground, and a health center. Radios were present and for the first time, people were able to listen to broadcasts from [[Moscow]].<ref name=wku /> A “bureaucratic corner” was created, where a post-office, bank and courthouse were all built.<ref name=saryarka />

The fair was a celebration for all. Wrestlers, circus performers, magicians, orators were all common. Visiting [[Akyn]]s, singers and [[dombura|dombra]] players included [[Maira Ualukyzy]], [[Kalybek Kuanyshpaev]] and [[paluan]] [[Hadzhi Mukana]].<ref name=museum /> Land disputes and claims cases were settled at the fair. Many famous people of the day visited the fair. [[Abai Kunanbaev]] (the father of Kazakh literature) and [[Baluan Sholak]] (composer and famous wrestler) are known to have visited the fair. At the age of 49, Sholak accepted a fight from a well-known fighter named Carona, at the Koyandinsk Fair and during the fight broke several ribs.

==Closure==
Kazakh society was changing though and people were less nomadic than in previous years. Largely due to this, the fair was closed in 1930.<ref name=saryarka /> Today, all that is left are a few dilapidated buildings, warehouses, shops and a chapel. For 80 years the fair played a major role in the development of the region as a center of business and entertainment.

==References==
{{refbegin}}
<references>
*<ref name=saryarka>{{cite web|url=http://www.saryarka.karlib.kz/karkaralinsk.htm|title=КАРКАРАЛИНСК|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref>
*<ref name=museum>{{cite web|url=http://museum.karaganda.kz/index.php/en/museums/karaganda-regional-museum-of-local-history-and-ethnography|title=Karaganda regional museum of local history and ethnography|year=2010|work=Museums of Karaganda region|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref>
<ref name=praz>{{cite web|url=http://www.prazdnikinfo.ru/5/16/i21_8768.htm|title=Каркаралинская рапсодия (Karkaralinsk Rhapsody)|author=Vladimir Ryzhkov|work=Kazakhstan Pravda|date=2004-08-10|accessdate=2010-08-08}}</ref>
<ref name="Central Asian review">{{cite book|title=Central Asian review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVk0AAAAIAAJ|accessdate=2010-08-08|date=1 January 1962|publisher=Published by the Central Asian Research Centre in association with the Soviet Affairs Study Group, St. Antony's College, Oxford}}</ref>
<ref name=wku>{{cite web|url=http://www.kazakh.ru/talk/mmess.phtml?idt=39366&page=3|date=2009-03-16|author=Altynsoft|title=Общение – Егиндыбулак Карагандинской области|work=Казах.ру|accessdate=2010-08-08}}</ref>
</references>
{{refend}}

[[Category:History of Kazakhstan]]