Into the Kazakh Steppe

The adventurer and artist John Castle was one of several foreigners commissioned by the Russian Empire to take part in the Orenburg Expedition which started in 1734. The Russians planned to establish a line of forts, a trading base and centre for overseeing the Kazakhs at Orenburg at the junction of the Or and Ural (Jaik) rivers and to investigate the natural resources of the region. Castle volunteered to visit Khan Abulkhayir of the Lesser Kazakh Horde and to negotiate with him on behalf of the