Mirzhakip Dulatov is a Kazakh poet, writer, journalist, playwright, one of leaders of the "Alash- Horda" movement.

Born 25 November 1885  in the Turgai region. I lost my parents early his mother died when he was 2 years old, his father died when he was 12. He graduated from elementary school, then Russian-Kazakh school (1902), after which he became a rural teacher. His mentor was Akhmet Baitursynov, with whom Mirzhakip collaborated in literature and politics. In 1904 I met Alikhan Bukeikhanov in Karkaraly.

In 1907 Dulatov went to St. Petersburg for the All-Russian Congress of Cadets as a delegate from the Kazakh Party of Constitutional Democrats. He created magazine "Serke", where it published the poem "Zhastarga"

("Youth"). Written article “Bizdin maksatymyz” (“Our Goal”) for the second issue, but the publication was closed.

In 1910 Mirzhakip Dulatov wrote the novel “Bakytsyz Zhamal” (“Unhappy Jamal”), which is considered the first Kazakh novel. In it he revealed the problems of the oppressed position of women in Kazakh society.

In parallel, he became one of the leaders of Kazakh reformism. His activities aroused suspicion among the authorities, and in 1911 in Semipalatinsk he was arrested for poem “Zhumbak”, where he allegorically ridiculed Emperor Nicholas II. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison, but later the punishment was replaced with a fine of 2000 rubles.

After his release, Dulatov actively published in the magazine "Aykap" and the newspaper "Kazakh", which he founded together with Akhmet Baitursynov. In his articles he criticized the social and political situation of the Kazakhs. In 1913 he published poem “Azamat” (“Citizen”)

In 1916 during the uprising against the mobilization of the Kazakhs on rear work, Dulatov, together with Baitursynov and Bukeikhanov, spoke out for the implementation of the royal decree. This caused disagreements among the people.

In 1917, he became the organizer of the First All-Kazakh Congress in Orenburg, where the Alash party was created, and later became a member of the Alash Orda government.

After the defeat of the Alash autonomy in 1920, he left politics and took up publishing and teaching activities. In 1928, he sharply opposed the abolition of the Arabic alphabet, considering it a threat Kazakh language and culture.