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Mendikhanov Ishangali was born in 1872 in the former Bokeyev Orda, the Kalmyk part – he died in 1919 in Bokeyev province.

Mendikhanov Ishangali is a public figure, educator, and playwright. In 1885 he graduated from a two-year Russian-Kazakh school in the Orda. In 1886-1891 he studied at the teachers’ seminary in Orenburg. In 1891-1998 he worked as a teacher of a two-grade school in Aktobe. At the end of the 19^th century Mendikhanov was persecuted for his open statements against the colonial policy of the tsarist government and protection of the interests of the Kazakhs.

After his discharge from teaching in 1898 in 1899-1902 he worked as an interpreter in the Aktobe County Jury. In 1903, returning to his native land, Mendikhanov worked as an adviser in the temporary council for the management of the Bokei Orda, an assistant to the head of the Kamysh-Samara Division. After the October Revolution of 1917, he served as an assistant to the local commissar of the Provisional Government. With the coming to power of the Soviets in the Orda, he worked as the head of the press department of the Bokeyev Revolutionary Committee, later he was appointed as a People’s Commissar for Internal Affairs.

The Mendikhanov’s play “Maldybay”, ridiculing the illiterate mullahs, was printed in the newspaper and was put on stage by the amateur actors. His plays “The holder of science”, “The Poor”, “Tamyry” were staged in theatrical scenes of Orenburg, Kazan, Tashkent and other cities. In 1919 he died at the hands of Kazakh rebels.