cholpon chotaeva history

Cholpon Chotaeva

HISTORYOF KYRGYZSTAN

Lecture book

International University of KyrgyzstanInternational School of MedicineAnthropology DepartmentAmerican University of Central Asia

Bishkek • 2016

Cholpon Chotaeva

HISTORYOF KYRGYZSTAN

Lecture book

International University of KyrgyzstanInternational School of Medicine

American University of Central Asia

УДК 94(47)ББК 63,3(2Ки)

Сh 75

Cholpon Chotaeva — DoctorofHistory,ProfessorAnthropologyDepartment,AmericanUniversityofCentralAsiaInternationalSchoolofMedicine,InternationalUniversityof

Kyrgyzstan

Chotaeva CholponHistory of Kyrgyzstan (Lecture book).—B.:2016. —132p.,ill.

ISBN 978-9967-462-05-02

This History of Kyrgyzstan Lecture book aims to helpstudents studying in higher educational institutions of theKyrgyzRepublic.Theycanusethisbooktorevisethelectureson theHistoryofKyrgyzstan courseaswell as toprepare forthe state examon theHistoryofKyrgyzstan andpass it afterthe second year of their study.

The book can be interesting not only for students andhistorians but for all thosewhowants to knowmore on thehistoryofKyrgyzstanandCentralAsia. Itattempts toprovidethe basic information on the topic and facilitate the task oflearning history.

Сh75

©CholponChotaeva,2016

ISBN 978-9967-462-05-02

Сh 0503020911-16 УДК 94(47)ББК 63,3(2Ки)

PREFACE

The idea to publish such a book came in 2009when Iwasasked to teach the History of Kyrgyzstan course to the stu-dentsoftheAmericanUniversityofCentralAsia.Unfortunately,all textbooksavailableinbothRussianandEnglishsuchasthoseof Svat Soucek, David Christian, Oskon Osmonov and VladimirPloskikhwerenotgoodenoughtoteachthecourseandpreparefor the state exam. They appeared to be too sophisticated forthe average student of a non-historical department instructedin the English language.

History of Kyrgyzstan is amandatory course that each stu-dent is obliged to take in order to get a diplomaof theKyrgyzRepublic andan accrediteddegreeofBardCollege.The courseispartofbothgeneral educational requirements inKyrgyzstanand the USA liberal arts education. Moreover, the Ministry ofEducation in Kyrgyzstan requires students to pass the stateexam on the History of Kyrgyzstan after the second year oftheir study.

Thislecturebookaimstohelpstudentsmeetthoserequire-ments and to fill in the gap emerged. Students may use thisbook to revise the lectures of the course aswell as to preparefor the state examon theHistory ofKyrgyzstan. It attempts tosimplify the information available in other more fundamentaltextbooks and facilitate the task of learning history.

Thebookischronologicallyorganizedaccordingtothemaintime periods in the history of Kyrgyzstan. It provides studentswiththebasicinformationonthecourseandthemostimportanthistorical facts from Kyrgyzstani history. There are eight timeperiodspresented in thebook, eachone as a separate chapter.Abriefdescriptionof a timeperiod isoffered in thebeginningofeachchapter.Theintroductiondefinesthetermandthefield

of history as well as the approaches to the study of history,functions it performs, sources that thehistoryofKyrgyzstan isbased on and time periods thatmight be distinguishedwithinit. Thebook is supplementedwithmaps. Somemapswere ad-opted from Svat Soucek’sA History of Inner Asia, others weretaken from the Internet sites.

Iwould like to expressmy gratitude to all professors andstudents who offered me their generous moral and physicalsupport,inparticularAidaAbdykanova,anAssociateProfessorofAnthropologyDepartment, forhercommentsontheearlierdrafts of the book, Basira Mir Makhamad, a junior studentof Anthropology Department at the American University ofCentral Asia, for encouraging and motivating me during mywriting, and Ruziali Ruzimatov, a junior student of AppliedMathematics and Informatics Department at the AmericanUniversity of Central Asia, who skillfully drew most of themaps in this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

CHapter 1Prehistory (1 million years ago — 1000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.1.StoneAge(1millionyearsago —4000BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.2.BronzeAge(2000BC–1000BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CHapter 2Ancient history (1000 BC – 300 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

2.1.SakaTribalConfederation(1000BC–100BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.2.WusunState(100BC–300AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.DavanState(100BC–300AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.4.AncientKyrgyzState(200—100BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CHapter 3Turkic era (500–1200) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3.1.TurkicKaganate(552–744) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.2.TurgeshKaganate(700–740) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443.3.KarlukKaganate(700–900) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.4.YeniseiKyrgyzKaganate(600–1200) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473.5.QarakhanidKaganate(900–1200) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

CHapter 4Mongol rule (1200–1500) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4.1.MongolEmpire(1200–1300) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554.2.ChaghatayUlus(1200–1300) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594.3.QaiduState(1200–1300) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604.4.Mogolistan(1300–1500) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614.5.EmpireofTimur(1300–1500) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

CHapter 5Kyrgyz consolidation (1400–1800) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

5.1.FormationoftheKyrgyz(1400–1500) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685.2.JungarsandChinese(1400–1700) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695.3.KoqandKhanate(1710–1876) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

CHapter 6Russian rule (1860–1917) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

6.1.RussianColonizationofKyrgyzstanandCentralAsia . . . . . . . . . 766.2.TurkestanGovernorateGeneral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816.3.KyrgyzRebellionsagainstRussianColonization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

CHapter 7Soviet rule (1918–1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

7.1.RevolutionsandCivilWar(1917–1920) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897.2.Socio-EconomicReformsinthe1920–30s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 957.3.KyrgyzSovietStatehood(1924–1936) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027.4.GreatPatrioticWar(1941–1945) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067.5.KhrushchevPeriod(1953–1964) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097.6.BrezhnevPeriod(1964–1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1137.7.Perestroika(1985–1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

CHapter 8Independent Kyrgyzstan (1991–2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

8.1.AkaevRegime(1991–2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1238.2.BakiyevRegime(2005–2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288.3.Kyrgyzstanin2010–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

INTRODUCTION

History occupies an important place among other human-itiesandsocialsciences.Arts,literature,anthropology,sociology,psychology, political science and many others are incompletewithout history. History helps each of them to be aware of itsorigins, to come to the essence of things and matters. At thesame time,history relieson theachievementsof such fieldsasarchaeology,ethnography,paleography,numismatics,epigraphyandothers that considerably contribute to the studyofhistoryand can be regarded as its supplementary fields.

HistoryofKyrgyzstanisanintegralpartoftheWorldHistoryandtheHistoryofCentralAsia.Priortothe20 thcentury,CentralAsiawasasingleregionnotseparatedintoUzbek,Kazakh,Kyr-gyz,TajikandTurkmenstates.Allof themwereCentralAsians,although different states emerged and developed in the regionsince ancient times. Following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution,theregionsplit into fiveSovietrepublicswithnationalbordersthat in 1991 became the borders of independent Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Themeaningof the term“history”wasnot the same in thecourseofcenturies.Itchangedastheperceptionofpeopleaboutthe world around changed. The term had different meaningsin ancient, medieval and modern times. As many terms weuse today, it came to the English vocabulary from the ancientGreek language.

The word history derived from the Greek word historiathat originally meant “inquiry”, “knowledge acquired by in-vestigation”. When it entered the English language in the late14 th century, itsmeaning changed to become “relation of inci-dents, story”. Finally, in the 15 th century, the term received itscurrent meaning such as “the record of past events”.

History of Kyrgyzstan 8

As an academic discipline, history emerged as early as the5 th centuryBC.TheGreekhistorianHerodotuswholivedinthe5 th centuryisconsideredtobe“thefatherofhistory”.Hewrotehis famousThe Historiesandbelievedthatwhathewrotewasan inquiry or investigation on the origins of the Greco-PersianWars. Herodotus was the first known historian who collectedhisinformationsystematicallyandcriticallyandthenorganizedit in a chronological way.

Most of contemporary historians agree that history is the field of study that records and analyzes past events.This defi-nitionofhistoryincludestwoparts.First,historyisthechrono-logical record of past events, the events that happened manycenturiesagoor tookplace just recently. Second,history is theanalysis or interpretationof those events. These arehistorianswhoanalyzeandinterprethistory.Althoughthesamehistoricalfacts are available to historians, the analysis or interpretationeach historian suggests is often different. The interpretationof a historian can be affected by a number of factors, for ex-ample, the time period he lived, a social class he belonged to,religious views he had, a state ideology, and the like. That is,history isanattemptofahistorian to interpret thepast ratherthan the past itself.

The famous historian Edward Carr in his work “What isHistory?” defined history as “a continuous process of interac-tionbetween thehistorian andhis facts, anunendingdialoguebetween the present and the past” [Carr 30]. His definitionimplies twopoints.First, theunderstandingofhistory isneverstatic. It changes depending on the personalities of historianswhoanalyzeand interprethistorical facts.As itwasmentionedearlier,historicalfactsarenever“pure”.Theyareinterpretedbyhistorianswhoareunderthepressureofmanydifferentfactors.Second, historians are always contemporaries. Though they in-terpret things that happened many centuries ago, they live atpresent and look at the past through the eyes of present-daypeople.Therefore,ourunderstandingofhistoryisnotthesame

Introduction 9

atdifferent times. It changesasoftenasotherhistorians comeand provide their interpretations of history.

The interpretation of history can depend on an approachfollowedbyhistorians.Manydifferentapproachesareavailableto historians. Each approach helps looking at history and his-torical events from a different point of view.

Theapproach followedbySoviethistorians, including thosefromKyrgyzstan,was called the formation approach.The for-mationapproach consideredeconomy tobe thebasisofpoliti-cal and cultural development of human society and, therefore,devotedmuch attention to the development of socio-economicrelations. According to it, human society evolved progressivelyfrom ancient to modern times. In the course of its evolution,it passed five sequent stages (formations) such as primitivesociety, slaveholding society, feudalism, capitalism and finallysocialism. That is, a more progressive stage of human organi-zation replaced a more primitive one. Since the first one whosuggestedtheapproachwasMarx,theapproachwasalsocalledthe Marxist approach.

After the collapseof the SovietUnion and the socialist sys-tem,historiansattemptedtomoveawayfromtheformationap-proach and find an alternative to it. The alternativewas foundandcalled thecivilization approach.Thecivilizationapproachrefusedaprogressiveand linealdevelopmentofhumansocietyand argued for the simultaneous development and coexistenceof different civilizations. Each civilization was considered tobe unique. The Russian biologist Danilevsky is regarded to bethe first one who turned to the civilization approach. He wasthe onewho attempted to apply the laws of nature to the de-velopment of human society. Later on, hewas followed by theGerman philosopher Spengler and the British historian Toyn-bee.Eachof themdistinguishedat least three life cycles in thedevelopment of civilizations: the birth, the prosperity and thedecline. While Danilevsky and Spengler distinguished thirteencivilizations, Toynbee found twenty six.


History is important for people and the society as it per-forms a number of functions [Osmonov 5–6]. The first is edu-cational. History educates people, especially the younger gen-eration. It teacheswhat is the good andwhat is the bad; laysthe foundation of moral and cultural values. Another functionofhistory is informational.The informational functionconsid-ers history to be the source of knowledge that enriches indi-viduals, especially young people. The third function is world viewing. Varioushistorical sourcescontribute to the formationof the individualworldview,especially concerning thepeoplesand cultures around. The last but not the least function ispo-litico-practical. History teaches lessons. The study of historyismandatory not only as a source of new knowledge but alsoto achieve practical aims at present and in the future. Know-ing history helps avoidmaking the samemistakes and set outpriorities for the future. However, history can be manipulatedby politicians to get benefits and pursue personal goals.

Humans have been always interested in their history andthehistoryofpeoplesaroundthem.Theycarefullystudiedandrecorded it. Those records provided valuable information onthe history of Kyrgyzstan. Chinese, Greek, Arabic, Persian andother historical sources mentioned different tribes and statesontheterritoryofKyrgyzstaninancient,medievalandmoderntimes. That is, there are threemain groups of historical sourc-es available on the history of Kyrgyzstan.

The first group is the group of written sources. Variouswrittensourcesareavailableontheancient,medievalandearlymodernperiodsofKyrgyzstan:Chinese,Greek,Arabic, Persian,Turkic,European,andRussian.Allthosewrittensourcescanbecalledprimary historical sources, as theywerewritten by theeyewitnessesofhistoricalevents,or thosepeople thatreceivedthe “first-hand” information on those events from others andthen carefully recorded it.

Thesecondgroupisoral sources.WhentheKyrgyzlosttheirRunicscriptandbecameilliterate,theirhistorywaspreservedin

Introduction 11

anoralform.Legends,epics,genealogies,songswereimportantsources on the history of Kyrgyzstan during that period. Oneof themost valuable oral sources on the history of Kyrgyzstanis the Manas Epic that contains a lot of interesting facts notonlyonthehistorybutalsoonthelifestyle,traditions,customs,language and religion of the Kyrgyz people.

The third group can bematerial sources. Material sourcescanrefertoarchaeologicalfindings,architecturalremains,stoneinscriptions,etc.Materialsourcesaretheonlyhistoricalsourcesthatcanprovidetheinformationaboutthelifeofhumansduringprehistory, the very first time period before the first writtenrecordwasmade. Prehistory ismainly studied byarcheology, the field that deals with the study of material objects such asburials and settlements.

To facilitate the study of history, historians divide it intoshorter time periods.Eight time periods can be distinguishedin thehistoryofKyrgyzstan.Eachperiod followsapreviousoneinthechronologicalorder.Ontheonehand, theperiodizationofKyrgyzstanhistoryresembles theperiodizationof theworldhis-torywithfivemaintimeperiodsdistinguishedsuchasPrehistory(2.5 millionyearsago—4 000BC),AncientHistory(4 000 BC —4 th century),MiddleAges(4 th–15 th centuries),EarlyModernPe-riod (16 th–18 th centuries) andModernPeriod (18 th–21 th centu-ries).On theother, it has its ownparticularities.

prehistory (1million years ago— 1 000 BC) is the very firsttimeperiodintheWorldHistoryandtheHistoryofKyrgyzstan.Itwas the timeofso-calledprimitivecommunityandprimitiveculture when no states and civilizations yet emerged.

ancient History (1 000 BC— 300 AD) refers to the time pe-riodwhen the first statesandcivilizationswereestablishedonthe territory of Kyrgyzstan. It was the time when the writtenrecords of Chinese, Greeks, Persians became available on thehistory of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia.


turkic era (500–1200) is marked by the migration of Tur-kic-speakingtribesfromtheAltaiMountainstotheCentralAsianregion and the establishment of various Turkic states there.Turks assimilated the earlier Caucasoid and Iranian speakingpopulation of Central Asia, so that Mongoloid racial featuresand Turkic languages began to dominate.

Mongol rule (1200–1500) is one of the most tragic pages inthehistoryofKyrgyzstanandCentralAsia.TheMongolarmyofGenghisKhaninvadedtheterritoryofCentralAsiaanddestroyedthe developed Turkic culture. The large Mongol Empire alongwith smaller Mongol dynasties were established by GenghisKhan and his descendants.

Kyrgyz Consolidation (1500–1800)ischaracterizedbythelackof Kyrgyz statehood. Kyrgyz leaders were attempting to uniteKyrgyz tribes and create the Kyrgyz state but unsuccessfully.In the early 19 th century, Kyrgyz appeared to be ruled by theKoqand Khanate.

russian Colonization (1876–1917)istheperiodoftheannex-ation of Kyrgyz territories by the Russian Empire. Intensifiedintertribal fights among the Kyrgyz themselves as well as theexternalthreatscomingfromChina,KoqandandKazakhforcednorthern Kyrgyz tribes to seek the protection of Russia.Whilenorthern Kyrgyz joined Russia mostly voluntarily, southernKyrgyzstan was taken by force as a result of the colonizationpolicy of the Russian Empire.

Soviet rule (1920s –1991)beganwiththeadventoftheBolshe-viks to power in 1917. The idea of building a socialist societywhere there was no exploitation and people were equal wassupported by the peoples of Central Asia that for a long timewereoppressedbytheKoqandKhanateandtheRussianEmpire.The elimination of illiteracy and the creation of the system of

Introduction 13

elementary, secondary and higher education, the developmentof professional literature, theatre, art, cinema, science and theestablishment of a large-scaleheavymetal processing industryandmachinerywereunprecedentedinthehistoryoftheregion.

Independent Kyrgyzstan (1991 —present) is theperiod thatfollowed the dissolution of the SovietUnion and the establish-mentoftheindependentKyrgyzRepublic.IndependentKyrgyz-stanfacedanumberofpolitical,economicandsocialproblems.Therevolutionsof2005and2010resulted intheoverthrowoftwo presidents. As a result of the 2010 referendum, the stateshifted from a presidential to a parliamentary system.

Chapter 1PREHISTORY (1 million years ago — 1000 BC)

The termprehistory means “before history” and refers to theperiod before the firstwritten record became available to his-torians, and the time when history was mainly based on ar-chaeological artifacts. Sometimes prehistory is not seen as afull-fledged historical period but the time prior to the “realhistory” based on written historical sources. It was the timeof so-called primitive community and primitive culture whenno states and civilizations yet emerged.

The prehistory of Kyrgyzstan includes the Stone andBronzeAges. It is the timeperiodwhichbeginswith the appearance ofthe very first humans on the territory of Kyrgyzstan and endswith the advent of the Iron Age. The remains of the most an-cient humanswere found in the Sel Unkur Cave located in thesouth of Kyrgyzstan and dated back to onemillion years ago.

1.1. Stone Age (1 million years ago — 4000 BC)The tradition of calling archaeological eras by thematerial

(stone, copper, bronze, iron) used to produce tools goes backto the 19 th century when archaeologists did not havemoderndating techniques and could offer only relative dates basedon the types of objects found in corresponding archeologicallayers [Christian 99].

The StoneAge is the longest period of humanhistory. It iscalledtheStoneAgebecausehumansmadetheirfirsttoolsfromstone. Its beginning dates back to 2.5 million years ago whenthe remains of the most ancient human was found in EasternAfrica (Tanzania).Themost ancienthumanswere calledHomo habilis meaning “handyman” because they were able to makefirstprimitivetools fromstonetohuntsmallandlargeanimals

Chapter 1. Prehistory (1 million years ago — 1000 BC) 15

[Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1:78]. The end of the Stone Age goesback to 6,000 years ago when the first metal such as copperwas discovered.

The Stone Age of Kyrgyzstan is divided into three mainsubperiods: Paleolith (Ancient Stone Age) from 1 million to11,000 years ago, Mesolith (Middle Stone Age) from 11,000to 7,000 years BC and Neolith (New Stone Age) from 7,000to 4,000 years BC.

Thevery firsthumansappearedon the territoryofKyrgyz-stan about onemillion years ago. Their remains such as teethand bone fragmentswere found in the Sel Unkur Cave (Haid-arkan, the south of Kyrgyzstan). For a long time, the date ofthoseremainswasthesubjectofmanydisputes.Uzbekscholarsdatedthemto1.5millionyearsago,whileKyrgyzarcheologistsargued for 600,000 years ago. Anyway, the archeological findsof Sel Unkur testified that themost ancient humans appearedon the territory of Kyrgyzstan about one million years ago.Analyzing the teeth, scholars concluded that they belonged toPithecantropus who was an Asian species of Homo erectus populated the world about 1.9 million years ago. This periodthat began onemillion years ago and lasted till 100,000 yearsagowhen the firsthumanscame to the territoryofKyrgyzstanwas called Early Paleolith.


Moreover, there were archeological sites where the mostancientstonetoolswerediscovered.Thereweretwosuchsitesonthe territoryofKyrgyzstan:On Archa (Narynprovince)andKojo Bakyrgan Sai (Batken province). Both sites dated to ap-proximately300,000–200,000yearsago.Thestone tools foundtherewerethemostprimitivesuchaschoppersandchoppings [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 78–80].

The main economic activities of ancient humans werehunting and gathering. Huntingwas the dominant economy ofancienthumansontheterritoryofKyrgyzstan.Fishingwasalsopracticedby those living along rivers. It isworthy of note thatancienthumansoften settledon riverbanksandnext towatersprings, since water was an important source of life. In EarlyPaleolith, humans learnt to produce fire that warmed them,provided light and protected fromwild animals.

Hunters and gatherers lived in groups calledhumanbands.The number of people in the group was not stable. As a rule,each group included 5–15 people but the number increasedto 40–70 people during hunting seasons [Istoriya KirgizskoySSR1:83].Thosehumansmainly lived in cavesoropenareas.

Middle Paleolith (100,000–40,000 years ago) was markedbyatechnologicalprogress.Thetechniquesusedtomakestonetools becamemore complicated. Therefore, the tools producedbecame more developed too. A variety of tools were made.The most popular tools were tips that served as spearheadsand strickles to process animal skins and fells. Skins and fellswereused as thematerials formaking clothing.Whilemost ofhumans still lived in caves, some of them learnt how to buildartificial houses of a dugout or a semi-dugout type.

In Mesolith, Central Asia had been inhabited by anoth-er species of humans — Neanderthals. In 1938, ProfessorOkladnikov found the burial of a Neanderthal child in Teshik Tash (Uzbekistan) that dates to 40,000 years ago. The size ofNeanderthal brain increased to 1,200–1,600 cubic centimetersbut it was still smaller than the brain of present-day humans.


Moreover, the structure of the brainwas not yet so developed[Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 84].

The body of theNeanderthal child had an embryonic posi-tion and was surrounded by goat horns. It demonstrated thatthe humans of Middle Paleolith developed the earliest reli-giousbeliefssuchasmagicandtotemism.Humansworshippedgoats and other animals. Animals were the main objects ofhunting.

ThearchaeologicalsitesofMiddlePaleolithareTosor(Issyk-Kul province), Georgievskiy Bugor (on the border with Ka-zakhstan),Sasyk Unkur (Oshprovince)andAk Olon (Balykchy,Issyk-Kul province).

Tosor islocatedontherightbankoftheTosorRiver.It rep-resents a terrace-type ledge, 1,800 meters above the sea lev-el. It was an ancient settlement destroyed by a torrent. Morethan 3,000 stone items were found on the site. Most of themweremade of shale, jasper and other sorts of stone. However,the number of stone tools discovered there was not so many[Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 85–6].

Another site isGeorgievskiy Bugor. It represents a hill lo-catedontheleftbankoftheChuRiverclosetoBishkekcity.Itsheight is30meters.About4,000stoneitemswerefoundthere,mostofthemwerediscoveredonitswesternslope.Toolsweremade from river pebble [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 87–8].

Many tools were found in the so-called stone workshopsof Neanderthals located on the border territory of Kyrgyzstanwith Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The richest one is Kapchi-gai (Osh province). It is a rocky mountain in the center of alargevalleysurroundedbysnowymountains.Manystonepiec-es were found at the bottom of the mountain. Most of themwere processed by ancient humans. Flint of a very good qual-ity was the main stone used. Kapchigai workshop is not theonlyworkshopofancientpeopleintheFerganaValley[IstoriyaKirgizskoySSR1:89–90].Moreworkshopswere foundaroundother rockymountains.


Different typesofsettlementswereestablished.Thereweretemporary settlementswhere humans lived for a shorter peri-od,workshopswhere theyused to come to take the stone andprocessit,andbasicsettlementswherecommunitiesstayedfora longer time.

More changes could be observed during Late Paleolith (40,000–11,000 years ago). The stone tools made by humansbecamemorespecific.Around100differenttypesoftoolswereproduced. Compound tools became very popular. Very smallitems (microlites) were made from stone and used as tips incompoundtools.Apart fromstone,bonesandhornswereusedtomake awls, needles, spearheads, harpoons.Many toolsweresupplemented by wooden and bone handles.

Thechangesintheproductionoftoolsbroughttothechang-esintheorganizationofhumans.Humanbandsdevelopedintoamoreprogressive formofblood-relatedgroupswherepeoplewereunitedonthebasisofcommonblood,commonoriginandcommon economic activities. Matriarchy was the main formof social organization. Females dominated and had absoluteauthority in the community because they had a reproductivefunction and gave birth to the new generation of humans.

InLatePaleolith,Neanderthalswere replacedbyHomo sa-piens.Homo sapienswerenot verydifferent frompresent-dayhumans according to theirmain characteristics such as height,facial features, and size of brain. They built roomyhouses anddomesticated dogs. They were able to make weapons such asdaggers and tips that implied a considerable progress in themethods of hunting.

Mesolith is characterized by the development of complexandmicrolitic tools and the invention of the bow and arrows.Wooden arrows with the heads made from microlites sig-nificantly facilitated hunting [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 94].Some scholars assume that the development of the tribe as adistinctive form of social organization can be traced back toMesolith. That is, blood-related groups of Paleolith united into


larger groups such as clans and tribes. However, the Mesolithof Kyrgyzstan is not well researched and mainly representedby a number of sites such asObshir I–V (Obshir River, southof Kyrgyzstan) andAk Sai (Naryn).

Most of Obshir grottoes served as temporary shelters forancienthumansbutObshirVgrottowasusedbyancienthunt-ers for a longer period. Three cultural layers were discoveredthere with numerous layers of ashes and pieces of coals. Thewidth of the grotto is 30meters, the height is 20meters andthe depth is 9 meters. Among the tools found in Obshir V,there were a lot of microlites but fewer scrapers. Other toolsof the site were made from wood and bone such as woodenand bone handles. Bone tools as awls and piercings were dis-covered there [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 97–8].

Neolith was the period that put an end to the Stone Age.It wascharacterizedbytheinnovationsinthemethodsofstoneprocessingsuchaspolishinganddrilling.Addicesandaxesbe-came very popular. Pottery developed.

During Neolith, the so-called Neolithic Revolution tookplace. TheNeolithic Revolution signified a shift from huntingand gathering to producing economies such as agricultureand pastoralism.While domestication of plants brought to therise of agriculture, the domestication of animals resulted inpastoralism. The shift in the economies led to the changes inthe lifestyle of ancient humans: clay houses, clay ware, clayadornmentsand figurinesappeared.At thesametime, insomeregionsagriculturalandpastoralistcommunitiescoexistedwiththe communities of hunters and gatherers who still retainedtheir old economies and lifestyle.

Socialchangesalsotookplace.Matriarchywasreplacedbutpatriarchy characterized by the domination ofmales. The shiftintheeconomiespromotedthepositionofmenandmadetheirrolemore important compared towomen’s. Patriarchybecamethemain form of social organization in the Bronze Age.


Neolith sites are Semetei Grotto (Chatyr-Kul Lake, Naryn),Maitor(Kumtor),Terek I–VI(AkSai,Naryn),Teke Sekirik Cave (Kochkor, Naryn),Ak Chunkur Cave (Issyk Kul province).

AkChunkurCaveislocatedontheSaryJazRiver3,500 me-ters above the sea level. The length of the cave is 45 meters,thewidth is 1.5–7.5meters and theheight is 12meters at theentranceand1.5meters inside. Itwasusedasashelter foran-cient humans. Apart from tools, archaeologists found themostancient imagesofgoats,bulls,snakesandhumanstheredrawnonthewalls.Theimagesweremadewiththeredpaintandmayserveasgoodevidenceofthespiritual lifeofancientpeopleonthe territory of Kyrgyzstan [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 104].

1.2. Bronze age (2000 BC – 1000 BC)The Neolithic Revolution marked a significant change in

the development of human society. The switch from huntingand gathering to agriculture and pastoralism gave a stimulusto economic development and advanced the conditions of life.

Metals replaced stone as the main material in the produc-tionoftools.Thecopperwasthefirstmetaldiscovered. Itgaverise to the Cooper Age that didn’t last long: one-two thousandyears.Copperwasasoftmetal.Therefore,stonetoolswerestillwidelyused.The inventionofbronze (thealloyof copperwithtin, arsenic, lead, antimony and some others) in Central Asiain 2000 BC brought the Copper Age to an end. Bronze toolswere hard and durable.

During the Bronze Age, the climate on the Earth changed:first fromwarm to cold and then from cold towarm andwet.Theclimaticchangescausedthemigrationofpeoplesouthwardsand eastwards [Christian 99]. As a result, twoBronze culturesemerged on the territory of Kyrgyzstan: Andronovo and Chustcultures.

Andronovo Culturewasnamed like this after thevillage inSiberia thathad the samename.AndronovoCulturedevelopedinthenorthernpartofKyrgyzstan:Chui,Issyk-Kul,Talasvalleys,


Central Tien Shan (Naryn province). The peoplewhomigratedto the territory of Kyrgyzstan in the second millennium BCwere of Caucasoid (Europoid) race and spoke Eastern Iranianlanguages. They reached as far as the northwestern regionsof China. More than 100 Caucasoid corpses dated as early as2000BCwerefoundinSinkiang,orpresent-dayWesternChina[Christian 105].

Andronovopeoplewerepastoralists.Theycultivatedvariousanimals: cows, sheep, goats, horses, camels. A mountainouslandscape, large pasturelands, scarce snow favored the devel-opment of pastoralism.

Originally,Andronovopeopleledasedentarylifestyle.A clearsignofsedentarismwasanincreasingnumberofsettlementsinnorthernKyrgyzstan.However, inthesecondhalfofthesecondmillenniumanomadicwayof lifestartedprevailing. InKyrgyz-stan, the mountainous landscape caused vertical pastoralismthat allowed people moving up to the top of the mountainsduring spring and summer anddown to the valleys in fall andwinter. People led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. When pastoralistsshifted to anomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle, small animalssuch as sheep and horses began to dominate.

Andronovo people also practiced agriculture that was animportant source of food. However, agriculture was more


primitive and secondary in relation to pastoralism [Istori-ya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 111]. Milk and meat was the main diet.Andronovo peoplewere the first peoplewho produced kymysfrom themare’s milk.

Settlementswereestablishednexttowells.Theyweresmallin size consisting of 10–20houses.Houseswere built ofwoodand stone. In the earlier period, Andronovo houseswere rect-angular and sunk 1–1.5 meters deep into the ground. Houseshad storage pits and were large enough to keep the livestockinside in winter. Settlements were often located on flood andgrazing lands and surrounded bywalls and a ditch. As for thelater period, houses became of more round and oval shapeand were located in steppes and semideserts. The similaritiesbetween those round houses and later yurts may suggest acertain change in the lifestyle of Andronovo people and theirswitch to a more nomadic way of life [Christian 104].

ThereareclearsignsofsocialinequalityinAndronovoCul-ture. Some burials are of impressive size that suggests thatimportant chiefs or war leaders were buried there [Chris-tian 104].

Andronovopeopledevelopedcrafts.Metallurgywasthemainsource of technological progress. In the secondhalf of the sec-ondmillenniumBC,Andronovopeoplewidelyusedbronzetools.Bronzemastersknewvarioustechniquestocastbronze:mould-ing, smithery, coining, engraving and so on. A great number ofobjectsweremade from bronze, including jewelry. In the pro-duction of jewelry, some othermetals such as silver, gold andantimony were also used [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 113].

The development of ceramics was very important. Claymixed with sand, shells and other materials were carefullyprocessed to produce different types of vessels. Vessels wereornamented with geometrical patterns such as zigzag, mean-der, and triangles. Women wove wool and produced clothingfrom it. Leather was used to make shoes and caps [IstoriyaKirgizskoy SSR 1: 114].


The cultivation of animals, mining and producing bronzetoolsrequiredphysicalstrengthofmales.Moreover,warfareforpasturelandsbetween tribes inwhichmaleshad toparticipatebrokeout.Thatis,intheBronzeAge,patriarchyfinallyreplacedmatriarchy andmen become dominant in the community.

Andronovopeopleworshippedtheforcesofnature:thesunand the fire. An especial attitude toward the firewas reflectedin the cremation of the dead people. According to Andronovopeople, the fire cleansed the body, protected from evil spiritsandhelped reviving. The cremationwaspopular inChui, Talasand Issyk-Kul valleys of Kyrgyzstan.

Alongwithcremation,theburialwhenadeadbodywasputintothegravewithbentlegsandarmswaspracticed.The bodyplaced on the left side repeating the position of the embryoinside the woman’s wombwas believed to help reviving.

The belief in the life after death is manifested in the con-struction and decoration of the grave. The grave looked simi-lar to the house. It contained food, vessels, jewelry, tools andweaponry.Thegravewassurroundedbyafencemadeofstonesthat served as the border line between theworld of the livingand the world of the dead [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 118].

In thesecondand firstmillenniumBC,agricultural commu-nities settled the south of Kyrgyzstan. The coexistence of bothpastoralistandagriculturalcommunitieswasnotonlyaspecificfeatureofCentralAsiabutalsocommonforthehistoryofmanyEastern countries [IstoriyaKirgizskoy SSR1: 119]. In a similarmanner,thoseagriculturalcommunitieswereofCaucasoidraceand spoke Eastern Iranian languages.

Chust settlements were located in the valleys and deltasof small rivers in the Fergana Valley. They were named Chust Culture after the Chust village located in Uzbekistan.

The dominant economy of Chust Culture was agriculture.Agriculturebecamepossiblethankstotheartificiallyconstruct-ed irrigation system.However,no remainsof that systemwerediscovered yet.Wheat, barley, andmillet were themain crops


cultivated. Besides, Chust people grew legumes and some fruitplants [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 125].

Anothereconomywaspastoralism.Chustpeoplebredvariousanimals but themainwere large animals such as cows, horsesandothers.Cattleprovidedthemwithmeatandmilkandwereused as draft animals. In some regions of Chust Culture, smallanimals suchas sheepandgoatsprevaileddue togeographicalfactors.TheeconomyofChustCulturewascomplex,sincebothpastoralism and agriculture played important roles [IstoriyaKirgizskoy SSR 1: 126].

Osh settlement is the most ancient and unique settlementof Chust Culture. 400–500people lived in average settlements,morepeople lived in larger settlements. Just a few settlementshad fortified walls. The construction of citadels refers to thesecond and first millenniums BC and became a remarkablesign of transforming settlements into cities. Cities became thecentersofeconomicandculturallife[IstoriyaKirgizskoySSR1:129–30].

Chustpeoplelivedindugoutandgroundhousesmadeofclay.A typical Chust house was of a rectangular shape. The househadthickwallsandmanyroomsoccupyingfrom4to30squaremeters. Cropswere stored inpits insidehouses.As for dugouthouses,most of themwere found in Osh settlement. Each oneoccupiedtheareaof50–70squiredmeters.25–40 peoplecouldstay in each house [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 1: 128].

Chust Culture had the division of labor. Various craftsdeveloped such as construction, metallurgy, stone and boneprocessing, weaving and pottery. During the construction ofhouses,mudbrickswereused.Theconstructionofhouseswasnotonlytheproblemfacedbybuildersbutalsothecommunitymembers that took an active part in it.Metallurgists producedtools, horse harness, weaponry and jewelry. Weaving waspracticed using a weaver’s loom. Pottery was widely spread.Ancient masters made various types of ceramics: to keep andto cook food. Different techniqueswere used for both. Vessels


were decorated with geometrical patterns [Istoriya KirgizskoySSR 1: 127–8].

Social inequality emerged. The society of Chust Culturecould be divided into three main groups: warriors, priestsand farmers or cattle-breeders. Itwas patriarchal too [IstoriyaKirgizskoy SSR 1: 130].

During the Bronze Age, two lifestyles, nomadism and sed-entarism, and two economies, pastoralism and agriculture, de-veloped in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, the Bronze Age was markedby the division of labor when the development of metallurgymarked the separation of crafts from agriculture. The devel-opment of agriculture andpastoralism, an increasing exchangebetween two cultures, Andronovo and Chust, resulted in thestruggle of different tribes for resources and the developmentof weaponry.

The appearance of humans marked the development ofculture and art. One of the brightest examples of it is SaimalyTash Rock Art Gallery.

Saimaly Tash is one of the largest art galleries in Cen-tral Asia. It is located in Djalal-Abad province of Kyrgyzstan3000–3500 meters above the sea level. For the first time, thegallery was found by topographer and painter Khludov about100 years ago and then it was researched by Soviet scholarssuch as Zimma, Bernshtam, Sher and post-Soviet archaeologistTashbaeva.

During the Bronze Age, Saimaly Tash served as a spiritualcenterandwasvisitedbyancienthumansduringseasonalholi-days.ThewallsandceilingsofSaimalyTashGalleryarecoveredwithvariousimages.Thereareabout100,000imagescarvedon10,000stonesandrocks.Theyarereferredaspetroglyphs thatrepresent the combinationof twoGreekwords:petrameaning“stone” and glyphein meaning “to carve”.

Those petroglyphs reflect various animals such as goats,bulls, horses, deers, camels, dogs andothers aswell as humanbeings and anthropomorphic creatures. There are not only


individual images of animals and human beings but also thecompositions of hunting, plowing, ritual dancing, animalswithcarts,labyrinths,eroticandotherscenes.Theydepicttheevery-day life of ancient humans aswell as their economic, religiousand cultural practices.

Chapter 2 ANCIENT HISTORY(1000 BC – 300 aD)

Ancient time period is characterized by increasing social in-equality and the establishment of first states. Ancient historywasthetimewhenthefirstwrittenrecordsofChinese,Greeks,Persians became available on the history of Kyrgyzstan andCentral Asia. It also coincided with the invention of iron andthe beginning of the Iron Age.

The invention of iron resulted in the revolution of technol-ogyand lifestyle.The toolsmade from ironbecamemoresolidand flexible. Ironwas a goodmetal to produceweaponry. Thetribes in Central Asia learnt how to ride horse and, therefore,becamemoremobile.Nomadsmanagedtocreatewell-organizedand well-equipped armies.

The first state established on the territory of Kyrgyzstanwas Saka Tribal Confederation. The reason why it was calledSakaTribalConfederationwas that thestatewasstillbasedontribes and clans and lacked bureaucracy. The disintegration ofSakaStatewas followedby theappearanceof twoother stateson the territory of Kyrgyzstan: Wusun State in the north andDavanStateinthesouth.Thosestateshadmoredevelopedstateinstitutions of three levels: the ruler, theCouncil of Elders andstate officials. WhileWusuns were predominantly pastoralists,Davan people were engaged in agriculture.

2.1. Saka tribal Confederation (1000 BC – 100 BC)In the first millennium BC, the history of Central Asia was

not anymorebasedonarchaeological artifactsbut alsoon thewritten sources of those peoples who developed their writingsystems and provided the earliest information on the nomadsof Central Asia. Theywere Persian, Greek, Chinese and Indian


historical sources. Different sources named those nomads dif-ferently.Greeksources, inparticularHerodotus“TheHistories”,called them Scythians, Persian called them Saka, ChinesesourcesSeandIndianTur [Osmonov52].WhiletheGreektermScythians referred to the tribes populating the vast territoriesofEurasia fromtheBlackSea toSiberia, thePersian termSakawasmorespecific referring to thosewho livedon the territoryof present-day Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan. As for theorigin of the Persian term Saka,most of scholars agree that itmeant “strong, powerful, skillful” [Osmonov 52].

According to Persian sources, there were three main con-federation of tribes: Tigrahauda, Haumavarga and Paradaraya.Tigrahauda(literally“wearingpointedcaps”)populatedthere-gions of Semirechye and theTien ShanMountains or northernKyrgyzstan and Central Asia. Haumavarga (literally “favoringthe holy drinkhaum”) lived in the south of Kyrgyzstan — theFerganaValley.AndParadarayaorWaterSakawerethosewholived to the north from the Syr Darya River and the Aral Sea(Tabaldiev,Khudyakov).Eachconfederationconsistedofvarioustribes,forexample,TigrahaudaincludedMassagetas,oneofthelargest tribes, and the latter was often associated with it.

Sakas of Central Asia spoke Eastern Iranian languages andbelongedtotheCaucasoidrace.However,somescholarsassumethat SakaswereMongoloid, especially thosewho lived in Tien

Chapter 2. Ancient history (1000 BC – 300 AD) 29

Shan and Semirechye [Osmonov 52]. They were of combinedMongoloid-Caucasoid type because of their assimilation to theealiest Mongolod population in Eurasia. The evidence of theirMongoloid origin was the images of Sakas on the walls ofPersepolis, the capital city of the Acaemenid Empire.

Saka State cannot be considered a true state. Like manyearlystates,Sakastatedidnot representaverystablepoliticalformation. It was the confederation of various tribes ruled byruling dynasties. Such groupings as family, clan and tribe laidthe foundation for the state. Then the traditional system wassupplementedwith the supra-tribal structure thatwas to con-trol and distribute the economic andmilitary resources of thestate. Bureaucracy was not developed. Facing external threatslike wars could enforce the state formation, while peacefulperiods resulted in its decentralization. All tribes were quiteautonomous in theirdecisionsanddidnotdependon the cen-tralpower, so the latterdidnot interfere in the internal affairsof tribes and clans. All those became the main reasons whySakastatewasnot called thestatebut the tribal confederation[Christian 150–1].

SakaStatewasruledbytheKingorQueenwhoenjoyedalotof power.Hedecidedon the external issues suchaspeace andwar aswell as the intertribal relations.Heprobably appointedthe religious leader during religious festivals and the militarycommander formilitary campaigns. His powerwas hereditaryand was passed on to his younger brother or son. The kingwasassistedbytheCouncilofEldersthatrepresentedthemainbody in the state consisting of the chieftains of Saka tribes.

Sakaswerenomadicpastoralists.Theclimateandlandscapein Kyrgyzstan didn’t favor a sedentary lifestyle [Osmonov 53].It was hard to find enough forage for animals staying in oneplace.Sakashavetomoveseeking forbettergrasslands.Sheep,goats, cattle and horses were cultivated by Sakas. The mostvaluedbySakaswerehorses.Horsesweretheirtransport,foodand thebest friends in thewar.Thehorsesof Sakawere short


but hardy and tough. The Sakas who lived in Fergana led asedentaryandsemi-nomadic lifestyleandpracticedagriculturetoo. Nevertheless, agriculture was a secondary economy forthemcomparedtopastoralism.Sakaswereveryskillfulhunters.Huntingwasbotha sourceofmilitaryexerciseanda sourceoffood. Themain diet of Sakas wasmeat andmilk.

The archeological excavations of many Saka tombs provedthe existence of social hierarchy in Saka society. Different sizeandespecially thecontentsofSaka tombssuggested thedevel-opmentofvarioussocialgroupssuchasnobility,warriors,andcommoners. The tombs of the kingswere the largest reaching50–100meters in diameter and 9–15meters of height. Thosetombswerealsotherichestincontentsincludinggoldenarticles,weaponry,metal tools, bones of animals and humans. Nobilitywereburiedinsmallertombsof30–45metersindiameterand7 meters of height. The toms of warriors were much smallernot to say about the tombs of commonpeoplewhich could behardly distinguished [Osmonov 53].

The Saka society was patriarchal. However, some elementsof matriarchy were preserved. The role of women was highenough to compare to agricultural societies. Thereweremanywomen-warriors who could fight at wars as good as men[Christian 143].Women were powerful queens in Saka state.

NomadicSakalivedinfour-wheeledorsix-wheeledwagons,while sedentary and semi-nomadic Sakas built houses of dug-out and yurt types. The clothing of Saka was different fromthat of their agricultural neighbors. Theyused towearnarrowtrousers and long kaftans fixed by belts.

Sakaspracticedshamanismandpolytheism.Theyworshippedson, fire, deer and other natural objects and gods. They didn’tbuild temples but had sacred places they visited during re-ligious festivals. According to Herodotus, the most respectedGod of Sakas was the God ofWar. The swordwas the symbolof it. Sakas sacrificed horses and sometimes humans for theirGod. A lot of sacrificial altars and trays were discovered by


archeologists. Laterwritten sourcesmentioned Zoroastrianismas a religion practiced by Sakas [Christian 138, 148].

ThestyleSakasdevelopedinartwascalledtheanimal style. Animals were the main objects of art. The economic activityof Sakas such as pastoralism was the reason. They cultivatedanimals and worshipped them. Therefore, weaponry, jewel-ry, and pottery were decorated with animals predominantly.Animals were made from bronze, gold, sometimes from ironand bone.

In the 6 th century BC, founder of the Great Persian Empireof theAchaemenidsCyrus IIdecided tooccupy the territoryofnorthern Kyrgyzstan. At that time, northern Sakas TigrahaudawereruledbyQueenTomiris.In530BC,CyrusIIinvadedSakasandthefirstmilitarycampaignofPersianstookplace.Thefirstbattlewasdisastrous.ThearmydispatchedbyTomirisand ledby her son was completely destroyed by Persians. Persiansattacked Sakas at night when all solders were sleeping. Sakasdidn’t expect their attack and couldn’t adequately respond.The son of Tomiriswas killed in the battle. The second battlewas more successful. Persians lost in the battle. Their kingwas killed and his head was cut. In 519, the second militarycampaignagainstSakaswas ledbyanotherPersianrulerDari-us I.DariusmanagedtodefeatSakasandforcedthemtopayatribute.Thevictorywasmentioned in theBehistun Inscriptionrecorded by the order of Darius I in the Zagros Mountains ofpresent-day Iran. The inscription was supplemented with thescene of conquering tribes by Darius, including Sakas.

LittleinformationisavailableaboutSakasduringlatertimes.It is known that Sakas established good andpeaceful relationswith Persians and even fought on the side of Persians in theGreco-PersianWars in 500–449 BC. In the 4 th century BC, theterritories of Sakas were invaded by the army of Alexander the Great. In 329 BC, Sakas were defeated by them and theirterritorieswere included into this empire, the Empire of Alex-ander the Great.


2.2. Wusun State (100 BC – 300 aD)The namewusun is known from Chinese sources. Various

Chinese chronicles, including Shi-ji of Syma Tan, provided de-tailed information about them and their state.

Thewordwusun is translatedas “peopleof ten tribes”.Theorigin ofWusuns is still under question. Many historians con-siderWusun people Iranian speakers because of their culturalsimilarity to Iranian-speaking Sakas. At the same time, somehistorians believe that Wusun were Turkic speakers becausetheycametotheterritoryofnorthernKyrgyzstanfromEasternTurkestanwheretheylivedbesideTurkic-speakingHunnu.Chi-nesesourcesalsodescribedWusunasred-hairedandblue-eyed.Basedonthis,RussianethnographerAristovconsideredWusunsthe ancestors of the Yenisei Kyrgyz [Osmonov 58].

Wusun State is referred as a nomadic state in Chinesesources. In 160 BC, defeated by Hunnu, Wusun moved to thewest and established their state on the territory of Tien Shanand Semirechye. It bordered on Hunnu to the east, EasternTurkestan to the south and Fergana to the south-west [Zad-neprovskiy 459].


The administrative and political center of theWusun Statewas Chigu-chen (“the city of the red valley”). According tosome calculations, the city was located on the southern shoreof the Issyk-Kul Lake.

Compared to Saka State, Wusun State had more developedstate structure. The state was ruled by kunbag or kunmo.The powerofkunbagwashereditaryandlimitedbytheCouncilof Elders, the main decision-making body. The state employed16,000stateofficials.Wusunshada regulararmyofmore than630,000 soldiers. In fact, each man was considered a warriorandserved in thearmy.Twosonsofkunbagwere the rulersofthe right and left domains and commanded apersonal armyof10,000soldiers.Warswere themain sourcesof income.Goods,cattle, prisonerswere the trophies ofwars that the ruling eliteandprivilegedwarriors enjoyed [Zadneprovskiy460].

Wusuns were engaged in pastoralism. Wusuns bred hors-es, cattle, sheep and goats. They constantly moved with theirlivestock seeking forpastures andwater. That is, their lifestylewasnomadic.However, the landscapeandclimateofTienShanand Semirechye didn’t allow constant moving, so there theirlifestylebecamesemi-nomadicwhenthepeoplemovedverticallythrough spring to summer and cameback forwinter.Nomadicand semi-nomadic pastoralismwas combinedwith agriculture,especially in valleys. Crops weremainly cultivated.

The unequal distribution of power and economic wealthresulted in the development of social inequality. Historicalsourcesandarcheological findsprovideda lotofevidence.Dif-ferentsocialgroupssuchasnobility,warriors,slavesandothersdeveloped in the Wusun society. The society was patriarchal.The custom of levirate was practiced by Wusuns. Accordingto it, a widow was obliged to marry a brother of her deadhusband or another male relative if her husband didn’t havebrothers and stay in the family [Osmonov 60–1].

On the international arena, Wusun State served as a buf-fer state between the Hunnu and Chinese states. In 125 BC,


Wusuns were visited by famous Chinese traveler Chang Tan.Hewas dispatched toWusuns by the Chinese emperor of Handynasty Wu-ti to establish good relations with them and topropose a coalition against Hunnu. The main reasons of theChinese embassy were to control the Central Asian routes ofthe Great Silk Road and to eliminate their enemy Hunnu. In115BC,kunbagwasoffered thehandof aChineseprincess. Intheir turn, Hunnu too provided their princess to kunbag. Kun-bagmarried both princesses and declared theHunnu princessa seniorwife,while theChineseprincessbecamea junior one.Geographical proximity to Hunnu was the main considerationtaken into account byWusuns.

In 80 BC, Wusuns were attacked and defeated by Hunnu.Kunbag turned to the Chinese emperor for help. In 72 BC, thejoint forcesofWusunsandChinesedestroyedHunnu.Captives,animalsandother trophiesstrengthenedthepolitical influenceofWusuns in the region [Zadneprovsky 459, 460].

NotmuchinformationisavailableaboutWusunsduringthefirst centuries AD.Wusuns were oppressed by Juan Juans andlater came under the domination of Hephtalites.

In general, the culture of Wusuns was very similar to theculture of Sakas. Wusun burials, art and the way of life re-sembled Sakas’. Therefore, the time period of both Sakas andWusuns is often referred as the period of Saka-Wusun culture[Osmonov 65].

2.3. Davan State (100 BC – 300 aD)In the 2 nd century BC, Fergana attracted Chinese rulers. It

was theperiodwhenChinawas ruledby theHandynasty thatbrought most of the Chinese territory under one ruler. Thefamous Chinese emperor Wu-ti decided to send Chang Tanto Central Asia to form an alliance against Hunnu. Chang Tanspent more than a decade traveling, once being captured andescaped later. Themissionmarked a new stage in the historyof Central Asian and Chinese relations and opened the Great


Silk Road. His reports became themain source on the historyof Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan during that time.

In the first millennium BC, a new state emerged on theterritory of the Fergana Valley. Its namewas Davan. The statebordered onHunnu to thewest andWusun to the south-west.The inhabitants of the Davan State were of Caucasoid originand spoke Eastern Iranian languages.

Davan State consisted of 70 large and small citieswith thetotal population of 300,000–500,000 people [Osmonov 66].Each city was ruled by the ruler and the Council of Elders.The Council included the nobles of the city that made deci-sions on the most important political and economic issues ofthe state. The Council of Elders in Davan was more powerfulcompared to the Council of Elders in Wusun State. In case ofemergence, the Council could displace or even kill the ruler[Tashbaeva 157]. That is, Davan State represented a union ofcity-states ruled by local dynasties. The army of Davan Stateconsisted of 60,000 warriors armed with bows, arrows andspears. Soldierswere skillful in shooting from the horse back.Women had quite high status [Bernshtam 10–11].


Davanhadadevelopedagriculturethatwasthemainbasisofitseconomy.Peopleledasedentarylifestyleandplantedwheat,rice, and grape. Grape was used to produce wine. Pastoralismwas practiced too. Different animals were cultivated on thepasturesoutsidecities.Asforwinterseason,thosehorseswerestored in special rooms inside houses.Davanwas very famousforitsbeautifulhorses,so-called“heavenhorses”.The breedingof those horses played a very important role in its economy.Those horses were reflected in the petroglyphs. Horses weresold to nomads who valued them a lot. Trade developed sig-nificantlywithintheCentralAsianregionbetweennomadsandthe settled people [Bernshtam 10–11].

Variouscraftsdeveloped inDavansuchaspottery,weaving,and jewelry. Hemispherical cups were dominant in ceramics.Big jugs(khum)werediscoveredtoo.Theywereusedtostorevarious products and crops. Davan people brought silver andgold from China in order to produce jewelry.

The capital of the state was Ershi city. It was one of thelargest fortified cities in Davan. It had two walls: the externaland the internal. It was the city where “heaven horses” werealso kept [Tashbaeva 158].

In order to control the Great Silk Road routes of CentralAsiaandhave“heavenhorses”,theChineseemperororganizedaspecialembassytoDavan.TheambassadorproposedtheCoun-cil of Elders to sell heaven horses but was refused. Moreover,the Council ordered to kill the ambassador who appeared tobearrogant and impudent.This appeared tobea goodpretextfor Chinese to start a war against Davan [Tashbaeva 156].

Two military campaigns were launched against Davanduring four years. Chinese commander Li Guanli was put incharge of both. The first one that took place in 104–102 BCfailed. As a result, the most eastern Yu city was occupiedbut the Chinese army was so weak, so it couldn’t penetratefurther to the territory of Davan State and had to leave. Thesecond campaign of 101–99 BC was more successful. During


the second campaign, the capital Ershi city was besieged byChinese for 40 days. They cut the supply ofwater to the cityanddestroyed the externalwalls but couldn’t get through theinternal walls to subdue it. Finally, they negotiated with thenobility of Davan who agreed to kill their ruler Mugua andgive his head to Chinese. However, the Chinese armywas ex-hausted. They appointed another rulerMotsai whowas loyalto them, took 3,000 heaven horses and left. As soon as Chi-nese left, the Council of Elders killed Motsai and appointeda brother of killed Mugua the new ruler. That is, the DavanState was not completely subdued by China and became in-dependent very soon [Osmonov 68–9].

2.4. ancient Kyrgyz State (200 — 100 BC)ProminentRussianhistorianacademicianBartholdcalledthe

Kyrgyz“themostancientpeopleofCentralAsia,specifyingthatamong thepeoples of CentralAsia therewerenootherpeoplewhose name was found in history so early” [Kyrgyzy 68].

The very first record of the name Kyrgyz dates back to201 BC. It was made by Chinese historian Sima Tan in thechronicleShi-ji(translatedasHistorical notes).Amongthefivepeoples,conqueredbytheHunnutheauthormentionedGegun (Gyagun), the Chinese transcription of the nameKyrgyz. Thestory didn’t tell anything about the location of the Kyrgyz butmentioned the name of another people Dinling conquered bythe Hunnu. Dinling was the people of Europoid origin on theMiddle Yenisei River.

The next record of the Kyrgyz dated back to the 1st cen-tury BC and was found in another Chinese chronicleHan-shu (History of Han)writtenbyBanGu.Moreover, thesourcegavea description of the location of the Kyrgyz state. It was men-tioned that the Kyrgyz state was at some particular distancefromtheheadquartersof theHunnuruler.Moderncalculationsmade based on the Chinese document pointed to the area ofEastern Turkestan. That is, the ancient Kyrgyz state in the


1 st century BC was located somewhere to the east from theterritoryofpresentKyrgyzstan[Vvedenievistoriyukyrgyzskoygosudarstvennosti 26].

According to the source, in the 1 st century BC, the Hunnurecruited soldiers from among the Yenisei Kyrgyz and havingKyrgyz soldiers in the army attacked Dinling on the MiddleYenisei River. As a result, in themiddle of the 1 st century BC,firstKyrgyzpenetratedtheirnewlandonYenisei.Thefinalmi-grationoftheKyrgyztotheMiddleYeniseiRivercouldprobablytake place under the pressure of Juan Juans and Hephthalitesin the 5 th century.

In the1 st centuryBC, theChinesearmy invaded theHunnuterritorybutwasdefeated.Oneof theChinesemilitary leadersLi Linwascaptured.HeagreedtoserveHunnu.Hunnuappoint-edLiLin tobe the rulerof theYeniseiKyrgyzState.Accordingto historical sources, the successors of Li Lin ruled theKyrgyztill the invasionofGenghisKhan in the13 th century [Vvedeniev istoriyu kyrgyzskoy gosudarstvennosti 27–8].

Chapter 3 TURKIC ERA (500–1200)

TheperiodoftheearlyMiddleAgesfromthe6 thtothe13 th cen-turiescanbealsoreferredastheTurkicerainthehistoryofKyr-gyzstanandCentralAsiabecauseitwasmarkedbythemigrationofTurkic-speakingtribesfromtheAltaiMountainstotheCentralAsianregionandtheestablishmentoffirstTurkicdynastiesandstates there. Turks assimilated the earlier Caucasoid and Irani-an-speakingpopulationofCentralAsia,sothatMongoloidracialfeatures andTurkic languagesbegan todominate.

The first state established by Turks in the 6 th centurywasthe Great Turkic Kaganate. Its territory occupied the regionsof Central Asia, Mongolia and Southern Siberia and was thelargestTurkic state inEurasia that reached theAral Sea in thewest and the Baykal Lake in the east. Turks were nomads bytheir lifestyle and cattle-breeders by economic activity. In 603,the state split into two: theWestern Turkic Kaganate and theEasternTurkicKaganate.WhentheWesternTurkicKaganateinCentral Asiawas destroyed by Chinese, other Turkic dynastiessuchasTurgesh,KarlukandfinallyQarakhanidwereestablishedin Central Asia. During the Qarakhanid dynasty, the political,economic and cultural life of Turks prospered significantly.

3.1. turkic Kaganate (552–744)The first record of the name Turk was found in Chinese

sources and dated to 546. The name was used by Sogdians,Persians and Byzantians for the new nomads of the steppes.It meant“strong”,“stable”,and“courageous”. Initially, thenamehad a social rather than an ethnic meaning. It was used ex-ceptionally for themilitary nobility. Later it became the ethnictermforthetribalconfederationandpeoplethatwerebrought


undertheruleofTurks[Osmonov100].TheinformationaboutTurks could be also received from Turkic inscriptions, whichbecame a valuable source on the history of Turks since the7 th century. Moreover, Arab writers reported on the locationof Turks, their tribes, customs and beliefs.

TheoriginofTurks couldbe tracedback toHunnu, aMon-goloid people living to the north from the Great ChineseWall.There was a legend that explained the origin of Turks fromAshina, amythic son of the she-wolf. According to the legend,the ancestors of Turks lived in Mongolian Altai. In one of thewars, all Turks were killed, and the only one remained was amaimedboy.Theshe-wolfsavedandfedtheboy.Latershegavebirth to ten sonswhose fatherwas themaimedboy [Christian248–9]. One of those ten sons was Ashina — the forefatherof Turks who ruled on the Altai Mountains. Another one wasKyrgyz who became the ancestor of the Yenisei Kyrgyz.

In the 5 th century, Turks were subordinated by Juan Juanswhodominated inCentralAsia. TheAltaiMountainswere richin ironore.Turkssmelted ironoreandproducedvarious toolsandweaponsfromit.TheyalsopaidtheirtributetoJuanJuans

Chapter 3. Turkic era (500–1200) 41

in iron.Within ahundredof yearsTurksmanaged to establisha large army with well-trained and well-armed soldiers. Bythe middle of the 6 th century, all tribes populating Altai weresubjected to Turks. In 552, Turks under the leadership ofBu-min defeated Juan Juans and established the first Turkic State[Osmonov 100].

Victorious Bumin announced himself kagan following theexample of Juan Juan’s ruler. The headquarters of Bumin andthe capital of the Turkic Kaganate became Orkhon city innorthern Mongolia [Osmonov 101]. In 553, Bumin died andhis sonMuqan succeeded him on the throne. Muqan tried toexpand the territory of the state to the east bringing the re-gions of Southern Siberia and Northern China under his rule[Christian 251].

While Muqan controlled the eastern part of the empire, theyoungerbrotherofBumin Istemi ruled in thewesternpart andpreparedhimselftooccupytheterritoriestothewest.Istemiwasinterested in conquering Central Asia. Even before the death ofBumin,hemanagedtoinvadetheterritoryofSemirechyeandtheCentralandWesternTienShanMountains[Osmonov101].

Inthe6 thcentury,CentralAsiawasundertheruleofHeph-talites. The Hephtalite State was very powerful, even Iran hadto pay a tribute to it. In order to crashHephtalites, Istemi ap-proached the Persian shahKhosraw Annushirvan. Turks andPersians formed a military alliance, according to which eachally had to support the other in the case of war. The alliancewas strengthened by the marriage of Istemi to the daughterof the Iranian shah.

In 565, the armies of Iran and Turks attacked the enemyfrom both sides, the west and the east. The Hephtalites weretotallydefeatedandtheirlandstothenorthfromtheAmudaryaRiver were passed to the Turkic state. The border betweenthe two allies became Amudarya. Istemi moved his capital toSuyab (near present-day Tokmok city) which had a favorablegeographical location for trade.


However,verysoonafterthedefeatoftheHephtalites,a con-flict broke out between the two former allies. The pretextwasthe refusal of the Iranian shah to pay a tribute to Turks, oncepaid to Hephtalites. At the same time, the true reason of theconflict couldbe thewillingnessof former allies to control thetrade routes going through the Central Asian region. The warwas inevitable.

In 568, Istemi signed an agreementwith the old enemy ofIran Byzantine. The embassy of Western Turks to Byzantinewas led by Sogdian ruler Maniach. The Byzantine emperorresponded positively by agreeing to create amilitary coalitionagainst IranandsendingtheByzantineembassybacktoTurks.The embassy led by famous military general of ByzantineZemarch successfully reached Turks. However, when Turksattacked Iran,Byzantinedidn’t support them.The IranianshahwasscaredbytheattackandhurriedtoconcludeapeacetreatywithTurks, according towhichheagreed topay the tribute toTurks [Osmonov 101–3].

That is, in the late 6 th century, Turks created the first Eur-asian empire that included the territories of Southern Siberia,Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Established in 552, the empireexisted almost two centuries till 744. Turkic state includedvarious regions inhabited by different peoples and tribes, forexample Sogdians, an Iranian-speaking people of Transoxania(Mawarannahr) who were forced to accept Turkic suzerainty.However, Turks retained their lifestyle and culture but obligedlocal rulers to pay a tribute to them.

ConstantwarsfornewterritoriescausednumerousconflictsofTurkicelite forpower. In603, theTurkicempire finallysplitinto two states: Eastern Turkic Kaganate located to the eastfrom the Altai Mountains, southern Siberia andMongolia, andWestern Turkic Kaganate located to the west from the AltaiMountains, in Central Asia. The capital of the Western TurkicKaganate became Suyab city located in the Chui valley, whilethe capital of the Eastern Turkic state remained in Orkhon.


Themost prominent ruler ofWesternTurkic StatewasTon Jabgu Kagan. He carried out a number of reforms in both do-mesticand foreigndomains.Hewasacleverpoliticianandmil-itary leader. In the foreignpolicy, Ton Jabgu formed an alliancewith Byzantine against its main enemy Iran and successfullyparticipated in the anti-Iranianmilitary campaign.Hewas ableto occupy the former Iranian territories of Toharistan, Afghan-istan, Transcaucasia.

In the domestic policy, he implemented an administrativereform and established a very strict political control on sub-jected territories. He granted local rulers the rights equal toTurkic nobility. However, many Turks did not like those re-forms and opposed his rule. He was killed by his uncle whoassumedpowerafterhim.Thepolitical crisisbrokeout. ItwasmarkedbythecontinuingwarsbetweendifferentTurkic tribes[Osmonov 104–5].

In 630, the Chinese army conquered Eastern Turks andin 656, they defeated Western Turks on the Ili River. In 704,Turgeshkilled the lastTurkickagan inCentralAsiaandputanend to theWestern Turkic Kaganate [Osmonov 105–6].

In679, EasternTurks rebelled against theTangEmpire andcould restore the Second Turkic state for a while. It became apowerful state under the rule of Kapagan Kagan who initiatedfew military campaigns to restore the Great Turkic Kaganate.In 744, the SecondTurkicKaganatewas crashedby theunifiedforcesofUighurs,QarluksandBasmyls [Osmonov107,110].

Politically, the Turkic state represented the confederation oftribes,thelargestofwhichweretwo:duluandnushibi [Osmon-ov 104]. Kagan was the title of the ruler. He had an assistantjabgu who usually was a brother or a close male relative tokagan.The third level in thepoliticalhierarchywasoccupiedbytarkans, buiruks and tutukswhoexecuted theordersofkagan.Bekswerethe leadersof tribesandclans[Djumanaliev90–1].

By economy, the Turks were nomadic and semi-nomadicpastoralists. They cultivated large and small animals. Hunting


wasanimportantsourceoffoodandmilitaryexerciseforTurks.Theyimprovedtheirmilitaryskillsandtrainedtheiryoungsol-diers at hunting. However, the territory of Turks also includedsettledpeoplessuchasSogdianswhopracticedagricultureandwere themain traderson theCentralAsianroutesof theGreatSilk Road. Following the example of Sogdians,many Turks tooturned to a more sedentary lifestyle and became farmers.

ThelifestyleandeconomyTurkswerereflectedintheirmate-rialculture.YurtrepresentedthepredominantportablehouseofTurkicnomads.Thematerialsused in theconstructionofyurtswerewood, leather and felt. Thewooden core of the yurtwascoveredwith chiy (strawmats) and felt. The inside yurt couldbe divided into sections: bosogo (threshold), male and femalesections(leftandrightssidesoftheyurtrespectively),tyor(themost respected place for guests opposite to the entrance) andkolomto (hearth in the centre of the yurt).

The traditional clothing of Turks was hand-made from theimported fabrics. The clothing had different types and formsdisplaying the social andmarital status of the person, his ageandgender.Chepken, ton, kementairepresentedtheclothingofTurks.The traditionalheaddresseswerekalpak, topu, tebetei, elechek [Osmonov 234–40].

3.2. turgesh Kaganate (700–740)In the 8 th century, on the territory of formerWestern Tur-

kic state, Turgesh tribes established the Turgesh State thatalso recognized Chinese suzerainty. Turgesh were also Turkicspeakers. The new state represented the tribal confederationwhere the Yellow and the Black Turgesh always rivaled forpower.Their capital ofTurgesh state remained in thepreviousTurkic capital Suyab city.

The founder of the ruling dynasty was the ruler of theYellow Turgesh Uch Ilig Kagan. He assumed the traditionalforWestern Turks title of kagan and ordered to coin TurgeshmoneywithSogdianinscriptions[Osmonov106].Hissuccessor


was his son Sakal Kagan who had to face the opposition ofhis younger brother.

At that time, the situation on the international arena be-came very complicated. Turgesh were threatened by Chinesein the south, Second Turkic Kaganate in the east and Arabsin thewest. However, themain threatwas represented by theSecond Turkic Kaganate.

In 710, the Tripartite alliance of Turgesh, China and theYeniseiKyrgyzwasformedagainsttheSecondTurkicKaganate.However, the rulerofTurksKapaganKaganmanaged todefeateachone separately. First he crossed the SayanMountains anddestroyedtheYeniseiKyrgyz, thenTurgeshandfinallyChinese.Both Sakal Kagan and his brother were killed.

The next ruler was Chabysh Chor Suluk. He had to fightagainstArabs.Whenhewas killed, his son came topower.Hisreign was marked by a continuous rivalry of the Yellow andBlack Turgesh. Finally, the Black Turgesh took over but Kar-lukswhocame toCentralAsiadestroyed themandestablishedtheir state [Osmonov 107–8].


3.3. Karluk Kaganate (700–900)Karluks were the Turks who migrated to the territory of

Central Asia pressured by Uighurs. Originally, Karluks roamedin Mongolia and Southern Siberia.

In 744, the unified forces of Karluks, Uighurs and Basmylscrashed the Second Turkic Kaganate. The new dominant stateemerged on the territory of present-dayMongolia became theUighurKaganate(744–840).ItdominatedontheterritoryfromAltai Mountains to Manchuria [Osmonov 110].

In 746, Karluks oppressed by Uighurs had to migrate toSemirechye where they played a decisive role in the struggleagainstChinese.TheChinesearmyinvadedtheterritoryofChuiValley, occupied Suyab city and destroyed it. The Arabs whowere attempting to spread their influence in the region triedto prevent Chinese interference.

Twoarmiesmetin751ontheTalasRiver.Nonecouldattackfirst.Duringthefifthday,Karlukswhoinitiallywereonthesideof Chinese suddenly attacked them from behind. Arabs imme-diately supported them and attacked Chinese from the front.The Chinese army was completely destroyed. 50,000 Chinesedied and 20,000 were captured [Osmonov 110–1].

TheArabs’victoryhadlastingandfar-reachingconsequences.China did not appear on the territory of Central Asia formorethan 1000 years. The region became the center of Islamic cul-ture. Turks became the third people after Arabs and Persianswho converted to Islam and contributed significantly to thedevelopment of the Islamic culture in the 9–12 th centuriesand later during the Ottomans. Turkic became the third mainlanguage of the Islamic civilization [Soucek 68].

In 893, the firstMuslim dynasty in Central Asia, the Sama-nids,conqueredtheterritoryofKarluksandextendeditspowerover them [Osmonov 112].


3.4. Yenisei Kyrgyz Kaganate (600–1200)Within the first six centuries AD there is no record of the

Kyrgyz in Chinese sources, so their destiny within this periodis unknown. Beginning from the 6 th century, the informationabout the Kyrgyz can be received not only from Chinese butalso fromGreek,Arab,Persian,Turk,Uighur, Sogdianhistoricaldocuments. Besides, in the 7 th century, the Kyrgyz adoptedTurkic Runic script and developed their own written system[Istoriya kyrgyzov 70–1, 72].

In the 7 th century, theKyrgyz established theKyrgyzKaga-nateonthemiddleYeniseiRiver.Duringthistime,thestatewasruled byBarsbek with the official title ajo [Osmonov 114].

As for Turks, they managed to defeat Chinese and restoretheir state the Second Eastern Kaganate and became themostpowerfulstateintheregion.Intheearly8 thcentury,theYeniseiKyrgyzdecided tosend theirmissions toChinaandTurgesh inorder to establish the anti-Turkic coalition [Osmonov 116].

However,Turksdidnotwaituntiltheirenemiesattackthemfirst. In thewinter of 710, Turks crossed the SayanMountainsanddestroyed theYeniseiKyrgyzarmy.Theattackwassosud-den that most of the Kyrgyz soldiers were not ready. Barsbek


with the remaining forces attempted to resist but was killed.ThenTurksdestroyedTurgeshandfinallyChinese.Afterthede-feat,theYeniseiKyrgyzdidnotparticipateinCentralAsianmil-itary campaigns for more than 40 years [Osmonov 116–8].

The first scholar who put the term Great Kyrgyz EmpireintoawideusewastheprominentRussianandSoviethistorianBarthold. He did so referring to the period of the 9–10 th cen-turies when the Yenisei Kyrgyz could build the empire thatstretched from the IrtyshRiver in thewest to theBigKhinganrange in the east, from the Angara and Selenga Rivers in thenorth to the Gobi Desert in the south.

In the 8 th century, the new hegemon of Central Asia wastheUighurswho in coalitionwithKarluksandBasmylsdefeat-ed the Eastern Turkic Kaganate. In the early 9 th century, theUighur Kaganate lost its former might because of permanentinternal strives and the famine that broke out because of thepoor harvest. In 820, Kyrgyz ajo used the situation and chal-lenged Uighurs announcing himself kagan [Osmonov 119–20].

In840,after20yearsofstruggle,theYeniseiKyrgyzcrushedtheUighurKaganate.Uighurs chasedbyKyrgyz fled toEasternTurkestan. It was the time when Kyrgyz could reach the TienShan Mountains and Semirechye. They initiated a number ofsuccessful military campaigns to Eastern Mongolia and Jun-garia and established the Great Kyrgyz Empire on the newlyconquered territories. During the era of the Great Kyrgyz Em-pire, itspopulationsignificantlyincreasedandincludedvariousnon-Kyrgyz tribes who adopted the name Kyrgyz. That is, thenameKyrgyzbecamenotonlyofethnicbutofpoliticalmeaningas well [Osmonov 121–2].

However, theeraof their empiredidn’t last long. In thebe-ginningofthe10 thcentury,themajorityoftheKyrgyzreturnedtoYeniseibecausebothgeographicallyandclimaticallythenewterritorywasverydifferentfromtheYeniseiregion.At thesametime,anumberofsmallKyrgyzkingdomsemergedontheterri-toryoftheformerKyrgyzEmpire.Oneofthemwasestablished


in the Altai Mountains. Within a few centuries, the Altai Kyr-gyz underwent considerable cultural and ethnic changes. Fol-lowing the assimilation of the Kyrgyz by the local population,their appearance, language and culture changed. At the sametime, they had lost many achievements of their Yenisei ances-tors, including theRunic script. In the13 th century, theKyrgyzof Altai and Jungaria moved to Central Tien Shan pressed byMongols. There they assimilated local tribes and gave rise tothemodern Kyrgyz ethnicity.

That is, the period of the Great Kyrgyz Empire is veryimportant from a historical point of view. It became the timethe Kyrgyz could establish their state on the whole territoryof Eurasia and create favorable conditions for the rise andformation of the modern Kyrgyz ethnicity.

The organization of the Yenisei state was quite similar toother Turkic states. The ruler of the Yenisei state had the titleajo, later kagan. The second person in the state was advisorbuiruk.The third levelwasoccupiedbyboylawhoannouncedthedecisionsoftherulerandyarganwhoputthemintoeffect.Kaganappointed tutuks, tarkans, biys and tyutyuns to rule inregions and tribes [Osmonov 123–4].

Kyrgyzhadacombinedeconomy.Theywereengagedincattlebreeding (horses, camels, cowsandsheep), agriculture (wheat,millet, oats, artificial irrigation),metallurgy (daggers, hatchets,spears, arrows, harness), hunting (deer, goats, fur-bearing an-imals, goose, ducks), and fishing [Osmonov 125]. At the sametime, the dominant economywas cattle-breeding.

Trade developed. A branch of the Great Silk Road namedtheKyrgyzWay ledto theYeniseiRiver fromTurfan inEasternTurkestan. There merchants could exchange their goods forhorses, furs, musk (a strong-smelling glandular secretion ofthe male musk deer used in perfumery), mammoth tusk andbones,wood,silverkitchenware.Themaincurrencywasthefurof squirrel (tyyin chichkan in Kyrgyz). Probably the modernword tyyin for Kyrgyzmoney derived from it [Osmonov 125].


In terms of religion, Kyrgyz were shamanists and believedin Tengri and Umai. They worshiped and sacrificed to naturalobjectssuchasmountains, lakes,treesandsprings.Kyrgyzcre-mated their deceased, collected bones and buried them a yearlater.Highmoundswereconstructedontheburialsofrulersandnobility and surrounded by stone fences [Osmonov 129].

Their written language was based on the common Runicscript spread since the 7 th century. Kyrgyz made inscriptionson stone, wood, metal and wrote from the right to the left.More than 120 monuments written in ancient Kyrgyz scripthave been discovered on the Yenisei River [Osmonov 127–8,Istoriya kyrgyzov 72].

3.5. Qarakhanid Kaganate (900–1200)Thebeginningofthe10 thcenturyinCentralAsiawasmarked

bythedeclineoftheSamanidsandtheriseoftheQarakhanids.Unlike the Samanids whowere Iranian, the Qarakhanids wereTurks. Qarakhanid rulers adopted Islam and announced it theofficial religion of their state. The period of Qarakhanids wasthe most prosperous in the history of Turks. It was the timewhen economy and culture prospered significantly.


The name Qarakhanids was introduced by European andRussian scholars in the 19 th century instead of previouslyapplied Afrasiyab. It derived from the term Qarakhan thatmeant Great Khan and was the title of the Qarakhanid ruler[Soucek 83].

ThefounderofQarakhaniddynastywasSatuk Bughra Khan.Satuk Qarakhan converted to Islam under the influence of aSufi missionary and his son Musa declared Islam the officialreligion of the Qarakhanid state.

The Qarakhanids were of Karluk origin. The fact that thegrandfatherofthedynastyfounder,SatukQarakhan,wasaKar-lukcouldserveas theevidenceofKarlukrootsofQarakhanids[Osmonov 134].

ThecapitalofQarakhanidswasBalasaguncity(nearTokmok)withBuranaTower still remained there since the10 th century.

As a result of thewarbetweenQarakhanids and Samanids,the Samanids were defeated and their state was divided be-tween Qarakhnids and the newly established Gaznavid State.The territoryof theQarakhanidKaganate enlargedand includ-ed Semirechye, Tien Shan, Fergana, and Eastern Turkestan, orthe territories to the north from Amudarya River, while theterritories to the south were given to Gaznavids [Osmonov134–5].

The state flourished during the reign of Ibrahim Tamgach Khan.HewasagoodrulerandMulsim.Hebuiltmanymosques,madrasas, hospitals. He tried to stop intestine wars betweentwo main branches of the Qarakhanids, Hasanids and Alids.It wasduringhisrulethatthestatespitintoEasternandWest-ern parts. The capitals of Eastern part were Balasagun cityin Chui valley and later Kashgar in Eastern Turkestan, whilethe capitals of theWesternwereUzgen and later Samarkand[Osmonov 136].

In the late 11 th — early 12 th centuries the QarakhanidKaganatewasundergoinga seriouscrisis.TheSeljukssubordi-nated the Qarakhanids but did not interfere in their domestic


affairs.Inthe12 thcenturySeljuksweredefeatedbyQarakhitay,nomads of a Mongolian origin. In 1210, the Qarakhitay wereoverthrownbyanotherMongolian tribeofNaymans [Osmonov137–40].

Under Qarakhanids, various forms of land ownership de-veloped such as divani (state lands) and iqta (private lands),and the land taxes such as kharaj and zakat were imposedon the people of the state. There were other taxes to be paidas well including khashar, or the rent paid by working forthe construction of roads, mosques, palaces and other publicbuildings [Djumanaliev 142–3].

During the time of Qarakhanids, the trade over the GreatSilk Road flourished. The Great Silk Road represented a his-torical network of overland trade routes that connected Asianstates with the Mediterranean and European world. The termSilk Road is attributed to the German geographer Ferdinandvon Richthofen who made seven expeditions to China from1868 to1872.TheSilkRoadwasnamedthiswayafterChinesesilk that was themain good exchanged. Chang Tan is consid-ered to be the founder of the Great Silk Road. The length ofthe road was 4,000miles (6,500 km).

Three branches of the Silk Road crossed the territory ofKyrgyzstan:themostpopularChuiroutewentthroughtheChuiand Issyk-Kul valleys, the Fergana route passed the FerganaValley including Osh and Uzgen cities, and finally the Pamir-Alai route that went through the Alai Mountains. Initially, itwas predominantly natural exchange but later money was in-troduced. Sasanian, Greek, Chinese, Arabic, Turgesh and finallyQarakhanid coins were used. Various goods were exchangedalong theSilkRoad.Chinaprovided silk, tea,porcelain, fabrics.Spices, ivory, textiles, precious stones came from India. Glass-ware, gold, silver, wine, and jewels were delivered from Byz-antine [Mokrynin, Ploskikh 111–2, 114–5]. Sogdians were thetradersinCentralAsiaresponsibleforsendingtheircaravanstoChina and bringing Chinese goods to Central Asia. The spread


of different religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Islamto Central Asia took place thanks to the Silk Road.

TheculturalrenaissancethatbeganundertheSamanidscon-tinuedunder theQarakhanids. Architecture, literature, art andscience flourished. Many beautiful Islamic buildings such asmosques, medreses, minarets, mausoleums were constructed.Famous Persian and Turkic poets andwriters such as Firdaw-si, Kashgari, Balasaguni created their masterpieces. Prominentscholars like Ibn Sina, Biruni, Farabi and others made theircontributions to the development of science.

Ferdowsi was a famous Persian poet. He was the authorof the national epic of Iran and Tajik people Shahnameh.The poem consisted of many legends and myths. It describedthelegendaryhistoryofthepre-IslamickingsinIranandTuran(the land of Turks) and the rivalry of Iranians and Turks forthe dominance in Central Asia in the 10–11 th centuries.

Ibn Sina, commonly known in Europe as Avicenna, was afamousPersianscholaranddoctor.Hewrote450treatisesonmedicine, astronomy, philosophy, geology, psychology, Islamictheology, logic, andother subjects.150ofhis survivingbooksfocused on philosophy and 40 onmedicine. Hismost famousworks were The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical andscientific encyclopaedia, andThe Canon of Medicine, a stan-dard medical text used at medieval universities of Europe[Soucek 86–7].

AlthoughtheArabiclanguagebecametheofficiallanguageofthestate,Persianplayedasignificantroleinthedevelopmentofliterature and science. At the same time, Turkicwas promotedand became the third language of the Qarakhanid State.

ThefirstliteraryworksinTurkicwereDivan Lugat at-Turk (DictionaryofTurkic Languages) ofMahmudKashgari and theQutadghu Bilig(BlessedKnowledge)byYusufBalasaguni,bothwritten in the 11 th century.

Yusuf BalasaguniwasborninBalasaguncity,thecapitalandthemostdevelopedcityintheQarakhanidKaganate.He studied


in cultural and scientific centers of that time such as Farab,Kashgar, Bukhara. He was fluent in Arabic and Persian andwas interested in philosophy, science, poetry, politics. During18 months,hecompletedhisphilosophicalanddidacticalpoet-ryBlessed Knowledge and presented it to aQarakhanid ruler.The rulerawardedhimwiththetitleHass Hajib(chamberlain).ThepoetrywaswritteninTurkicandrepresentedaphilosoph-ical piece about a perfect society and state [Soucek 92].

ThefamousphilologistandtravelerMahmud Kashgari wasborn in Barskon city on the southern shore of the Issyk-KulLake. He spent most of his life in Kashgar but had to escapeand reached Baghdad, the capital of the Arab Caliphatewherehewrote his famousDivan Lugat at-Turk. The dictionarywastheTurkic-Arabicdictionarythatcontainedalotofinformationon the dialects of variousTurkic tribes, their customs and tra-ditions, geographical locations as well as a unique roundmap[Soucek 87–91].

Chapter 4MONGOL RULE (1200–1500)

The 13 th century marked one of the most tragic pages in thehistory of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. It was the destructiveMongol invasion. The Mongol army created by Genghis khanconquered the territory of Central Asia and destroyed the de-veloped Turkic culture. The prospering citieswere ruined andturned into pastures. Instead of Turkic states, a large MongolEmpire along with smaller Mongol states such as Qaidu Stateand Mogolistan were established on the territory of CentralAsia by Genghis Khan and his descendants.

However, one hundred and fifty years later, the new rulerof Central Asia Amir Timur was able to revive the destroyedeconomy and culture of the region and create the empirealmost equal to the Mongol one in size and power. The timeof Timur is known as the most prosperous in the history ofpost-Mongolian Central Asia.

The Mongol invasion had a significant impact on the pop-ulation and culture of Central Asia. In the ethnic compositionof the region, the Mongol element began dominating. Rulingdynasties were gradually Turkicised and Islam became thedominant religion of those states.

4.1. Mongol empire (1200–1300)In the 10 th century, Mongolia represented the country of

nomadsgroupedintotribes.Thosetribeswereofteninconflictto each other driving away animals and kidnapping women.The eastern part from the Khingan Mountains was occupiedby Mongolian-speaking tribes, while the western and centralparts ofMongoliaused tobepredominantlyTurkic. Those liv-ing inEasternMongolia called themselvesTatarsandMongols


[Soucek 104]. That was the reason why Mongols were oftencalled Tatars or Tataro-Mongols by Chinese and other sub-ordinate peoples. On the other hand, Tatars were one of theMongol tribes that didn’t submit voluntarily to Genghis Khanandusually stood in the forefront of theMongol army [Osmo-nov 146].

The 1162 (1167)was the yearwhen the leader of Borjiginclan inMongol tribe Yesugei got a sonTemujin. Later Yesugeiwas killed by Tatars and his wife Hoelun and children wereabandonedbythemembersofthetribe.Temujinandhisfamilyhad to go through many obstacles and hardships to survivebeforehe finallymanaged to bring allMongol tribes underhiscontrol and unite them [Osmonov 142].

In 1206, Temujinwas announcedGenghis Khan (UniversalKhan) at the all-Mongolian kurultai (meeting) and became theonlyruleroftheMongolEmpire[Osmonov143].GenghisKhanwas able to create an absolutely loyal, disciplined and strongarmy. Themain force of the armywas itswell-trained cavalry.His soldiers and commanders were often from the ordinarypeople. Genghis Khan didn’t distinguish his soldiers and com-

Chapter 4. Mongol rule (1200–1500) 57

mandersbytheiroriginbutbytheirtalentsandskills.Therefore,there were many commanders in the army from the commonpeople who were promoted due to their personal merits (thesystem of meritocracy).

GenghisKhandividedhisarmyandstateintotens,hundreds,thousandsandtenthousands(tumens).Eachonehaditsleaderwhosepositionwashereditary.Theleadersoftumensassumedstate andmilitary functions [Osmonov 145]. They had to con-trol people on their territory, distribute pastures, collect tax-es, lead the army duringwars, and take care of theweaponryand armor.

After he was able to subordinate and unite all Mongoliantribes,hedecidedtolaunchcampaignsbeyondMongolia.Threecampaignswere initiated.The firstwasorganized to thenorthagainst the Yenisei Kyrgyz, the second was to the south-westagainstTangutsandthethirdwastothesouth-eastagainst theChin dynasty established in northern China [Soucek 104].

GenghizKhanwasaflexibleandpragmaticpolitician.In caseofapeacefulsurrender,hekeptanenemyathroneandhislife.Resistancemeant extermination and devastation.

In 1207, the Yenisei Kyrgyz submitted themselves to Gen-ghizKhan.But in1218, theyrebelledagainstMongols.GenghizKhansenthiseldestsonJuchitosuppresstherebellion[Osmo-nov 143]. After suppression, the disobedient Kyrgyz were re-settled in different regions of the Mongol Empire.

Tanguts, a people of Tibeto-Burman origin also submittedto Genghis Khan in 1209 but later they rebelled and paid forthis with extinction [Soucek 105].

In1215,Beijing fell.However, after theconquestofBeijing,Mongolsturnedtheirattentiontothewest —theCentralAsianregion [Soucek 105].

During that period, the territory of Kyrgyzstan and CentralAsia was under the rule of Kuchlug from a Nayman tribe.He conquered Qarakhitayswho subordinated the Qarakhanidsin the12 th century. In1218,Mongols easilydefeatedNaymans


with the help of local dynasties who hated them for being in-tolerantand imposingtheirreligionBuddhism.Therefore, localpeople welcomed Mongols as their liberators. Genghis KhanconqueredSemirechyeandTienShan.AllcitiesoftheChuiandTalasvalleysweredestroyed.Theurbanculturewassubstitutedfor nomadic [Osmonov 148–9]. By 1223, all Central Asia wasunderthecontrolofMongols[Soucek107].ThenGenghisKhanreturned to Mongolia where he died in 1227.

GenghisKhanhadfoursonsfromhismainwifeBorte:Juchi,Chaghatay, Ugedey and Toluy. They all helped him in his con-quests. Juchi was sent to subordinate the Yenisei Kyrgyz, Cha-ghatayandUgedeyweresenttofightagainstKhorezmianShakhin Urgench, Toluy conquered Marv. He divided all conqueredterritories among them according to the nomadic tradition.

Juchi, the eldest son, received the Kipchak steppe. Becauseof his early death, his territory was divided among his sons:Ordu established theWhiteHorde fromthe IrtyshRiver to theUral River,Batu created the Golden Horde on the Volga River,Sheybani ruled the Blue Horde from Tyumen to Aral [Soucek108, Osmonov 149]. However, the territory of Juchi was tobe conquered. Chaghatay, the second son, received CentralAsia (Transoxania, Semirechye,Western Sinkiang).Ugedey, thethirdson, receivedCentralSiberiaandEasternSinkiang.Toluy,the youngestson,receivedthehometerritoryofMongoliawiththe capital in Karakorum. But this did not mean that he re-ceivedthetitleofGreatKhan.UgedeywasdesignatedbyGeng-his Khan as his successor [Soucek 107–8].

As soonasUgedeybecame theGreatKhan in1230,he ini-tiated the second wave of military campaigns against China(Chin dynasty) and Russia. Only in 1238–1240, Batu couldconquer Russia and Ukraine and receive his portion of landswhere he established the GoldenHorde. TheMongol conquestput anend toKievanRussia andpromoted the riseofMoscow[Soucek 108–9].


After thedeathofUgedey andChaghatay and later the sonofUgedeyGuyuk,thesonofToluyMongkewasproclaimedtheGreatKhan.UnderMongke,thethirdfinalwaveofconquestswaslaunched. Itwas the conquest of Iran and Iraq. Thebrother ofMongkeHulagu conqueredbothbutwas stoppedbyMamluksof Egypt. The myth about the Mongol army as invincible wascrashed.On the conquered territoryof Iranand Iraqheestab-lished the new dynasty of Ilkhans (il — a khan subordinatedto the main khan). The conquest of China was continued byQubilay, another son of Toluy, who became the new Mongolkhan in 1264. He moved his capital to Beijing and in 1271established thenewChinesedynasty there,Yuan dynasty, anddeclared Buddhism the state religion [Soucek 110–11].

4.2. Chaghatay Ulus (1200–1300)Chaghatay received the lands of Transoxania, Semirechye

and Western Sinkiang. The capital of Chaghatay Ulus becameAlmaliq city on the territory of present-day southern Kazakh-stan [Soucek 112].

With the death of Chaghatay, a new period in the historyof Chaghatay Ulus started. It was the time of Chaghatayid dy-nasty. Most of Chagatayids lived in steppes retaining their no-madic life style.Their religionwaspaganism.Thepolitical andmoral norms remainedYasa — the traditionalMongol codeofbehavior formulated under Genghis Khan [Soucek 113].

Most of the conquered territories were occupied by Mus-limswhosegovernorsenjoyedconsiderableautonomy.Mongolsdidn’t interfere with their lifestyle based on the Islamic lawShariat. They were also tolerant or indifferent towards otherreligions, for example Christianity. Local rulers were obligedto pay tributes to Mongols and soon became very prosper-ous. However, their prosperity began to decrease at the timeof Qubilay [Soucek 113].

About a century after the Mongol invasion of Central Asia,someChaghatayidkhansbeganconvertingtoIslam.Islamplayed


a fundamental role in thedevelopmentof local identityduringtheMongolrulethankstothecontributionofSufibrotherhoods:Kubrawiya and Yasawiya [Soucek 117–20].

4.3. Qaidu State (1200–1300)Themain rival of the lastMongol khanQubilaywasQaidu,

thefounderofthenewlyestablishedQaiduState.In1269,Qaidu,agrandsonofUgedey,managed toholdakurultay(a meeting)in Talas valley where the chieftains of Chaghatay and Ugedeyuluses met and recognized him as the ruler of both uluses[Soucek 112]. The new state emerged became independentfrom the Mongolian State with the center in Karakorum city.It stretched from the Altai Mountains to the Amudarya Riverand included the territories of present-day Kyrgyzstan andEasternTurkestan.ThecapitalwasTarsakent citylocatednearpresent-day Bishkek [Osmonov 150].

Qaidu initiated several military campaigns to Karakorumagainst the Mongol ruler Qubilay but they were unsuccessful.After the final defeat he died in 1303 [Soucek 112].

Qaiduwasagoodand just ruler.Herefused to leadaggres-sivewarsaimedattheinvasionandconquestofotherterritories.He unified his state and realized well that the stability of thestate depended on its economic development. He undertooka number of reforms to improve economy, develop trade andcrafts. He successfully implemented the money reform, intro-ducinggoldenandsilvercoins.Heorganizedastricttaxcontroland limited the number of taxes paid by people to the state.Healsopassed the lawadvocating the rightsofagriculturalistsand restricted the use of agricultural lands by cattle breeders.Violators were severely punished [Osmonov 151].

Qaidu made numerous attempts to help Altai and YeniseiKyrgyz rebelling against the Mongolian rule. In 1293, he senthis army to support Yenisei Kyrgyz struggle but was defeatedbyQubilay.Qubilaydestroyed theYeniseiKyrgyz state.Howev-er, Qaidu was able to help those Kyrgyz who already lived in


the Altai Mountains by moving them from Altai to Tien Shan[Osmonov 151]. In the 14 th century, Qaidu territory was splitintotwostates:Mavarannahr(thewesternpartofCentralAsia)andMogolistan (the eastern part of Central Asia).

4.4. Mogolistan (1300–1500)In the middle of the 14 th century, a new stateMogolistan

(the state ofMogols) emerged in the east of the Central Asianregion.TurksofCentralAsiacalledthedescendantsofMongolsMogols, therefore,thestatewascalledMogolistan.MogolswereMongol tribes who came to Central Asia in the 13 th centuryandwereTurkicisedby theTurksofCentralAsia.These tribesremainedMongol in their names but were Turkic in contents.They spoke Turkic, followed Turkic traditions and practicedIslam. They considered Tien Shan but not Mongolia as theirmotherland. Later many of those tribes entered the Kyrgyzethnic group. The largest tribes were Duglats, Barlas, Baarinsand others [Osmonov 153].

The territory of Mogols reached Syr Darya in the west,IrtyshRiverintheeast,BalkhashLakeinthenorthandEasternTurkestan in the south.

InthenorthofthestatetherulerwasPuladchifromDuglattribe. Intheeast,hisyoungerbrotherKamarad-Dinruled.Thecapital was Ak Suu city in the Ili Valley [Osmonov 153].

Puladchi was not a Genghizid and, therefore, he could notbe a khan. He made an 18-year old descendant of ChaghatayTogluk Timur the formal ruler of Mogolistan and took thehighest post at him ulusbek. However, Togluk Timur grewa talented leader. He adopted Islam and made it the officialreligion of the state. He started spreading Islam among hiscitizens by force. The latter allowed him raising claims to thewhole Central Asian region [Osmonov 153–4].

In1360–1361,ToglukTimurundertookamilitarycampaigntoMavarannahr.Hedidnotmeeta strongresistance thereandeasilyreachedSamarkand.Atthattime,Mavarannahrdidn’trep-


resent a unified state but consisted of many small kingdomsthat often rivaled with each other. He returned to Mogolistanfull of booty and loot. His son Ilyas Khodja continued his ag-gressive policy towardsMawarannahr. In 1365, so-called “MudBattle” between Mavarannahr and Mogolistan near Tashkenttookplace.Asaresult,thearmyofMavarannahrwasdestroyedand about ten thousands from both sides were killed. Mogolsapproached and seized Samarkand but its citizensmanaged todefend the city anddidn’t let the enemy in.Mogols camebackto Mogolistan ashamed of their defeat [Osmonov 154–5].

However, after the rise of Timur the situation changed.Timurundertook severalmilitary campaigns toMogolistanbutwasnotable toconquerMogolistanbecauseeachtimehepen-etrated the region nomadic Mogols retreated from their terri-tories high to the mountains where they were not reachable.Therefore, themain aim of Timurwas not the conquest but acomplete devastation and loot. Timur destroyed Mogolistan’scities and moved many people to Mavarannahr. Formally, Mo-golistan became part of the Empire of Timur and his grand-son Ulugh Beg was appointed the nominal ruler of the region[Osmonov 156–8].

During the15 th century,Kyrgyzalsomade their appearancein Central Asia. They occupied the eastern part of Mogolistanandweredifferent fromMogols.TheywerestillpagansbutnotMuslims,spokeadifferentfromMogolsTurkicdialect,and werewarlike people [Osmonov 158–9].

Inthe16 thcentury,KyrgyzoccupiedthenorthernterritoriesofMogolistanandassimilatedtheremainingMogoltribesthere.TheleaderoftheKyrgyzMuhammad KyrgyzwasabletouniteKyrgyz tribes and suppress the attempts ofMogols to conquerNorthern Kyrgyzstan. Along with Kazakhs, Kyrgyz successfullyattackedMogols and Sheybanids [Osmonov 175–7].


4.5. empire of timur (1300–1500)If the Mongol period was a traumatic experience in the

history of Central Asia, the Timurid periodwas viewed as themostglorious.AlthoughTimurspenthis lifeengagedincontin-uousmilitarycampaigns,hissuccessorswere less interested inconquests but encouraged the development of art and science[Soucek 123].

Timur was born in 1336 in Shahrisabz. He was a Turk ofBarlas tribe. Although this tribe had a Mongol name, it waspractically Turkic. He spoke Turkic and probably Persian butnotMongolian. He received his name Tamerlane (lame Timur)for being lame in one leg.

However, the legacy of the Genghis Khan in Central Asiawas still very profound. Therefore, the rise of Timur and seiz-ing power was rather difficult because he was not a directdescendant of Genghis Khan [Soucek 124–5].

When Togluk Timur invaded Mawarannahr, Timur joinedMogols and received Kesh region to rule. Then he unitedwithHussein, the rulerofMawarannahr,but in1370killedhimandtookpower[Osmonov155].Heneverassumedthetitleofkhan


butonlyamir(prince,ruler).Anotherhistitlewasgurgan(son-in-law) because he married a princess of the Genghisid lineto legitimize his rule. On the other hand, he placed a puppet(formal) khan from Genghisids who was a convenient tool inTimur’s hands [Soucek 125].

HedefeatedTokhtamysh Khan,theruleroftheGoldenHorde,in 1395, the sultan of Delhi in 1398, andBayesid I, the sultanoftheOttomanEmpire,in1402.However,theempirehefound-edwas not comparable to the Empire of Genghis Khan in sizeand structure [Soucek 125]. The state he created was small-er, not as solid and genuine as that of Genghis Khan, thoughTimur tried to divide the territory between his successors fol-lowing the example of Genghis Khan. Timur died in 1405 andwas buried in Gur Emir Mausoleum.

The territory that was inherited by his son Shahrukh in-cluded Transoxania, Khoresm, Fergana, Khurasan and Iran.Timurmade thecapitalofhisempireSamarkand city.Howev-er, Shahrukhmoved the capital toHerat, the city in Khurasanregionthatbecamethepoliticalcenteroftheempireexceptforthe short reign of Ulugh Beg. Shahrukh did not feel any needin puppet khans and assumed the new title of sultan startedruling directly on his own behalf [Soucek 126].

WhileShahrukhwas inHerat,TransoxaniawasruledbyhissonUlugh Beg.HewasborninIranandreceivedexcellentclassi-calMuslimeducation,includingthefluencyinArabicandPersian.Bythetimehewas10,Timurhadprovidedhimwithsoyurghal[portion of land) in the north-east of the empire, includingthe territoriesofTashkent andMogolistan [Soucek127].

However, themain interests ofUlughBegwere not politicsbutscience,mathematicsandastronomy.Hebuiltthreemadra-sas (schools) in Bukhara, Gijduvan and Samarkand where heinvited the most prominent scholars. The madrasa in Samar-kand became the center of learning with a real astronomicalobservatory, a mosque, a students’ dormitory, a bath [Soucek128–9].


UlughBeghadtosucceedhisfather’sthroneafterhisdeathin1447.Hewonamilitarybattleagainsthisnephewbutfailedto give credits to his elder son for the help. He preferred hisyoungest son to the elder to inherit the throne. That is, whenhe returned to Samarkand, his elder son marched from Heratwithhisarmyagainsthis fatheranddefeatedhim.Thehighestreligious authorities of Samarkand issued a decision todeposeand execute Ulugh Beg, and in 1449 while on his journey toMecca he was beheaded [Soucek 131].

WhileUlughBegwas the initiatorofscientificprosperity inSamarkand, inHerat his younger brotherBaysunghur demon-strated the talent for arts and literature. He sponsored thedevelopmentofPersianliterature.Duringhisreign,theheritageofFirdawsi(Shahname)wasrevived.Atthesametime,anotherTimurid ruler Bayqara supported the development of bothTurkicandPersianpoetryandliterature.WhiletherewerenewPersian masterpieces created by Jami, the Turkic poet Navai greatly contributed to the establishment of the Turkic literaryculture and language [Soucek 131–4].

The last of Timuids was Babur who succeeded to his fa-ther’s soyurghal in the Fergana Valley. Hewas the next candi-date toTimur’s thronebuthisdreamnevercame true.HewasdefeatedbyMuhammadSheybaniwhowasadirectdescendantof Juchi. Babur had to flee to Kabul with his troops where hewas able to defeat the sultan of Delhi and establish the newstate in 1526, the Empire of Great Mogols that collapsed inthe 19 th century [Osmonov 174–5].

A great role in the consolidation of sultan’s position wasplayed by Naqshbandi Sufi order established by Baha al-DinNaqshband.HewasbornnearBukhara in1318,wasaPersianbyoriginandspentmostofhislifeinhisnativecity.Hisadeptsplayed a central role in the Islamizationof local people duringthe Timurid and Shaybanid Empires. It is largely because ofthe Naqshbandiya that Sufism has been institutionalized and


become an integral part of the political, social and cultural lifeof Central Asia.

Bahaal-Dindidnotleaveanywrittendocumentsofhimself.However,histeachingreachedus inthewritingsof thePersianpoet Jami. One of the main principles of his teaching was theidea that a Sufi can live the life of an ordinary person but hisinternal lifeshouldbefullydevotedtoGod.Anotherinnovationwas a silent zikr (repeating the name of Allah) that could bepracticedby theperson individually.BeforehimSufiswereen-gaged in laud zikr, or recitals performed in groups. These in-novations brought far-reaching consequences to Sufi methodsand techniques that later developed into the new Sufi system.The newNaqshbandiorderlaterabsorbedtheearliestKubraw-iyaandpartiallyYasawiyaordersandbecamethemostpopularSufi order in Central Asia [Soucek 137–9, 143].

Chapter 5KYRGYZ CONSOLIDATION(1400–1800)

Theperiodof the15–19 th centuries is characterizedby theabsence of Kyrgyz statehood. Kyrgyz leaders were fighting tounite Kyrgyz tribes and create the Kyrgyz state. However, thisstruggle was not successful. Therefore, the formation of theKyrgyzpeopleaswell as the followinghistoryof theKyrgyz inthe 15–19 th centuries took place in terms of no Kyrgyz state.Insteadofthis,Kyrgyzcreatedthedualethno-politicalsystemoftwowingsthat for fourcenturiesmaintaineditsethno-politicaland cultural integrity.

Externalenemiesplayedanimportantpartintheunificationof the Kyrgyz. A joint struggle of the Kyrgyz against Jungars,Chinese and Koqand brought various Kyrgyz tribes together.During the 15–19 th centuries, Kyrgyzwere under the domina-tion of Jungars who in the mid 18 th century were destroyedby Chinese. After Chinese destroyed Jungar Khanate, it ceasedtoexistanditspopulationwasmassacred.LaterChinesebeganclaimingtheterritoryoftheKyrgyzandonlydecisiveresistanceof Kyrgyz put an end to the expansionist policy of Chinese.

In theearly19 th century,Kyrgyzappearedunder thedomi-nationof another stateofCentralAsia— theKoqandKhanate.Thanks to its expansionist policy, Koqand became the mostpowerful and large state of Central Asia. The hegemony ofKoqand over the Kyrgyz lasted till the 1880swhen as a resultof the Pulat Khan Rebellion in 1873–76, the ruler of KoqandKhudoyar Khan escaped to seek the protection of Russians,while the rebellionwas suppressed by Russian troops and theKoqand Khanate was abolished.


5.1. Formation of the Kyrgyz (1400–1500)Ethnogenesis is the history of ethnic group formation.

The ethnogenesis of the Kyrgyz people is a very complicat-ed and disputable issue. One of the reasons is that historicalsourcesrecordedtwoethniccommunitiesunderthenameKyr-gyz. The first community of the earlier historical period up tothe 13 th centurywas found in Southern Siberia on the YeniseiRiver, and the second one populated the eastern part of Cen-tral Asia, the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai Mountains since the15–16 thcenturies.SincetheKyrgyzhadnowritten languageoftheir own until the late 19 th century and didn’t play a signif-icant political role after the defeat of the Yenisei Kyrgyz statein the 13 th century by Mongols, their ethnic history is not al-ways discernible and even known.

There was no unanimous opinion regarding the ethnogen-esis of the Kyrgyz in the historiography of Soviet and post-Soviet years. Threemain groups of theories developed [Osmo-nov 165–6]:• ThemodernKyrgyzethnicgroupmigrated fromtheYenisei

River to Tien Shan. The first scholar who mentioned thattheory was Miller. However, Bernshtam considered thatmigration not a one-stage but a many-staged process;

• The modern Kyrgyz ethnic group was formed on the ba-sis of indigenous tribes which inhabited the Tien Shanterritory since the ancient times. This viewwas supportedby Valikhanov, Bichurin, Aristov;

• The modern Kyrgyz ethnic group developed as a result ofthecombinationoftwoelements:thelocalandthemigrated(Yenisei Kyrgyz).

ThenameKyrgyz is themost ancientname inCentralAsia.It dates back to the 3rd century BC when the very first re-cord of nameKyrgyz wasmade. It wasmentioned by Chinesehistorian Sima Tan in the chronicle Shi-ji (Historical records).Among the five peoples conquered by the Hunnu, the author

Chapter 5. Kyrgyz consolidation (1400–1800) 69

mentionedGegun (Gyagun),whichwasaChinesetranscriptionof the name Kyrgyz.

There aremany legends about the origin of the name Kyr-gyz:Kyrk+Kyz=40 girls,Kyrk+Yz=40 tribes,Kyryg+Yz=Red People, and others.

Thatis,inthe15 th —early16 thcenturiestheKyrgyzethnicgroup completed to be formed in the Tien Shan Mountains.The Kyrgyz didn’t have their own state. A basic form of polit-ical organizationwas the tribal confederation built around thefamily. In the 16 th century, all Kyrgyz tribeswere divided intotwo wings: on (right) and sol (left). Later on, the third groupof tribes was separated from the right wing and became anindependent group ichkilik (middle).

The right wing, the most numerous, included sarybagysh, bugu, sayak, solto, jediger, tynynseit, mongoldor, bagysh, baaryn, basyz, cherik, joru, boru, bargy, karabagysh andothertribesthatinhabitedNorthernKyrgyzstan.Kushchu, saru, munduz, jetagen, kytai, chonbagysh, basyg, toboi of the left wing occupied theTalas valley. Ichkilik represented by kypchak, naiman, teyit, kesek, jookesek, kagdy, boston, noigut, doolos, avat populatedthe south of Kyrgyzstan.

Ideological factors played a great role in the consolidationofKyrgyztribes:theadoptionofIslamandtheManasEpicthatfinally formed in Tien Shan. Islam helped Kyrgyz integratinginto the larger Muslim community providing Kyrgyz with thenewscriptbasedontheArabicalphabet,while theManasEpicplayedapositiverole intheconsolidationof theKyrgyzpeoplebringingdifferenttribestogetherinthefaceofacommonthreat.

5.2. Jungars and Chinese (1400–1700)In the 15–16 th centuries, Kyrgyz who lived in the eastern

part of Mogolistan and Altai Mountains weremigrating to theTienshan Mountains, or the present territory of Kyrgyzstan.HeretheyparticipatedinthemilitarycampaignsagainstMogolsand Sheybanids. Beginning with the late 15 th century, Kyrgyz


alongwithKazakhsandUzbeksresistedtheattacksof thenewenemy Kalmaks.

KalmakswereMongolian-speakingtribesbutdifferent fromthose of Genghis Khan’s Mongols according to the dialectsspoken and the territories inhabited. Theywere fromWesternMongolia, while Genghis Khan’s Mongols were from EasternMongolia [Soucek 145].

Kalmaks were called differently in historical sources: Oi-rats, Jungars, Kalmaks (Kalmyks). The name Kalmaks usuallyrefers to those tribes that penetrated southern Russia and es-tablished the Kalmak Khanate in southern Russia, while thosewhoremained in theeastwerecalledOirats.Theyestablishedthe Jungar Khanate in the 17 th century in Sinkiang. The literalmeaning of Jungar is “left hand” opposed toBarungar (“righthand”) that appeared to be two main divisions in the tribalconfederationofMongols.Theplacewhere Jungarsestablishedtheir state is called Jungaria, an area in present-day Sinkiangof China [Soucek 169].

TheOiratsbegantoplayanimportantpoliticalroleinMon-golia after theMongol Yuan dynasty in Chinawas replaced bythe native Chinese Ming dynasty in 1368. Although their riseresembled the rise of Genghis Khan, their military conquestswere a pale shadow of Genghis Khan’ conquests. They werejustordinarynomadic conquests for thepurposeof loot,whiletheconquestsofGenghisKhanwerewell-organized,large-scalemilitary campaigns in order to dominate and rule on the con-queredterritories.Atthesametime,bothwereshamaniststhatlater converted to Buddhism [Soucek 146].

The Jungar State had two stages in its evolution: the uni-fication of Oirat tribes in Jungaria and the extension of theirruleoveradjacent territories.Fourmain tribesgaverise to thestate: Choro, Dorbot, Torghut and Koshot. Oirats pursued anexpansivepolicytowardsMongolia,China,andwestwardtoMo-golistan and Kipchak Steppe (present-day Kazakhstan).


ThreemainwavesofconquestswereundertakentoCentralAsia: in the15 th,16 thand17–18 thcenturies.Numerousbattlestook places between Kyrgyz and Kalmaks (1643, 1652, 1658,1681–83, 1727, 1748–49). As a result of Kalmak conquests,many Kyrgyz tribes were forced to migrate to the southwestof Kyrgyzstan — the Fergana Valley.

Since1644,KalmakshadtodefendthemselvesfromChineseconquests. In 1644, the Manchu dynasty was established inChina. In1757–58, the JungarKhanatewascompletelycrashedby Manchu dynasty of China and its population (about 70%)was exterminated. The remaining fled to Russia and CentralAsia. The descendants of Kalmaks live today in Kyrgyzstan,nearKarakolcityknownunderthenamesart kalmaks [Osmo-nov 183].

Chinese also advanced their claims on Eastern Turkestan.After the abolition of the Jungar State, Chinese renamed thenew conquered territory Sinkiang (“new region”). Since thenthe new object of Chinese expansion became Central Asia.In 1758, few battles took place between Kyrgyz and Chinesein the Issyk-Kul Valley, inwhich Chinesewere defeated. Thosevictories forced Chinese to begin negotiations with Kyrgyz.In 1758, Kyrgyz organized their embassy to China requestingto return lands occupied by Jungars. However, in fact Kyrgyztribeshadbeenalready roaming there [Osmonov183–5].Thatstruggle ofKyrgyz against Jungars and laterChinesewerewelldepicted in the Manas Epic.

5.3. Koqand Khanate (1710–1876)In 1710, a chieftain of one of the tribes in the central part

of the Fergana Valley, Shahrukh Biy fromMing tribewith thesupport of other tribal chieftains was announced the ruler ofthe new state. He established the Ming dynasty. The nameof the dynasty had nothing in common with the Ming dynas-ty of China. It is a Turkic word meaning a “thousand”. Some


sourcesconsideredthefounderofthestateasbelongingtooneofUzbek tribes,while others regarded him as a descendant ofTimurids[Osmonov196].AlthoughtherulingdynastywasmostprobablyofUzbekorigin,Koqandwasamultiethnic statewithvarious ethnic groups living on its territory: Kyrgyz, Kazakh,Kypchaks, Sarts, Tajiks and others.

The capital of the new state was Koqand, a city that wasgrown up of a fortified palace. The new capitalwas located inthe western part of the state, different from the former capi-tal Andijan, partly because it was less exposed to the raids ofnomadic Kyrgyz and Kalmyks. On the other hand, the capitalwas close to Bukhara Khanate [Soucek 189].

Themain territoryof theKoqandKhanatewas theFerganaValley. However, within almost two centuries the territory ofthe khanatewas expanded to Semirechye in the north and thePamir Mountains in the south.

The history of the Koqand state can be divided into threemain stages [Osmonov 196–8]:

1. ThegrowthofKoqandstate(1709–1800)wastheperiodwhen the political-administrative system and socio-eco-


nomicrelationsinthestatewereestablished.Thestatere-ceiveditssolidstructureundertheruleofIrdana Biy (thetitlebiyoriginatedfromtheTurkicwordbeg).Duringhisreign,Koqandbecameanindependentstate.

2. TheprosperityofKoqandstate(1800–1840)wasthepe-riod of the state highest development and expansion ofits territory. Koqand competedwithBukhara for prima-cy in Central Asia. Kokand rulers also assumed the titlekhaninsteadofbiy.DuringthereignofMadali Khanthestatereacheditsgreatestextentandpower.Its territorystretchedfromtheKipchakSteppethatincludedTurkes-tan,Tashkent,ChuiandIlivalleystothePamirMountainsandsouthernKyrgyzstan[Soucek190].

The khanate also experienced the flourishing of artandliterature,theriseinagriculturalproductionthroughtheconstructionoftheirrigationsystem.Silk and cottonbecameincreasinglyimportant,especiallycottonexport-ed to Russia. Urban architecture, both the religious andcivic,flourished.PoetryintheTurkiclanguageflourished.A veryfamouspoetesswasNadira,themotherofMadaliKhan [Soucek 190–1].

3. ThedeclineoftheKoqandstate(1840–1876)wasthepe-riodofsocialcontradictions,internalstrives,the weaken-ingofthestatesystem,thepoliticalcrisis,popularupris-ingsandfinallytheabolishmentofthestatebyRussians.Duringthisperiod,thetensionsbetweenthesettledpopu-lation(SartswhospokeTurkicandTajiks whospokePer-sian)andKipchakandKyrgyznomadsintensified.Numer-ousrebellionstookplaceinthisperiod,particularlythoseofKyrgyz. The last rulerKhudayar Khan was forced toseekarefugeattheRussianmissionasaresultofthe1873RebellionledbyIskhaqHasanuulu.In1876,Russiansoc-cupied the whole territory of khanate, annexed it andabolished establishing the new Fergana Oblast [Soucek192–3].


In theearly19 th century,southernKyrgyzstanwasannexedby the Koqand Khanate. The conquest of northern Kyrgyzstanbegan in the1820s. In1825,after the invasionof theChuiVal-ley,Bishkek fortresswasbuilt [Osmonov203].Thepurposeofthe fortresswasbothmilitary and economical: to garrisonKo-qandi troops and to control trade routes going through north-ern Kyrgyzstan to Russia [Soucek 190]. Later Issyk-Kul andNaryn territories were conquered. Many other fortified settle-mentswereestablishedbyKoqandontheterritoryofnorthernKyrgyzstan such as Tokmak, Ak Suu, Chaldavar, Kara Balta, Merke, At Bashi, Kurtka, Toguz Toro, Kochkor, Jumgal, Kara-kol, Barskon andothers.ThefactorthatfacilitatedtheconquestofKyrgyz tribeswas their intertribal fights,so thatsomechief-tains helped Koqandis in their expansion [Osmonov 202–3].

Bythemid19 thcentury,thepopulationofKyrgyzwasmorethan800,000people[Osmonov210].While theruleofKoqandKhanatewasmore stable and firm in the south of Kyrgyzstan,in the north it wasmore formal and superficial.

Kyrgyz tribes in theFerganavalleybegan to settleand leada more sedentary lifestyle. The annexation of Kyrgyz by theKoqandKhanatebroughtnewformsof landownership:ashlaq(state lands),mulq (private lands),waqf (Islamic lands tosup-port medreses and mosques). However, traditional for Kyrgyzforms of land ownership also remained such as tribal landsand livestock that was controlled by Kyrgyz biys and manaps[Osmonov 210–1].

VarioustaxeswereimposedonKyrgyz:zeket(ataxonlive-stock), tunduk zeket (a tax on a yurt — one sheep), kharaj(a tax on land — 1/10 of harvest), military tax (3 sheep or1 golden coin). Later on, more other taxes were introduced.During the reign of Khudayar Khan there were more than20 taxes paid [Osmonov 212–3].

KyrgyzleadersplayedasignificantroleinthepoliticallifeoftheKoqandKhanate.Theyparticipatedintheintestinestruggleof Koqand khans by supporting one candidate for the throne


or another. One of them was the ruler of Alai region Alym-bek. He was invited to serve byMadali Khan and appointedtherulerofAndijanvilayet (province) in thekhanate.Alymbekmovedthecenterof theprovincefromAndijantoOshcitythatbecame his main headquarters. For his good service he wasawarded the title of datka, a commander in the Koqand army.UnderMallya KhanAlymbekwasappointedavizier,oramin-ister. At the same time, he never forgot about the true inter-ests of Kyrgyz. In 1860, he led the rebellion of Kyrgyz againstKoqand rulers. The aim was to consolidate Kyrgyz tribes andcreate a unified Kyrgyz state. However, his attempts were notsuccessful. He was killed in one of the Koqand coups [Osmo-nov 290–1].

The political instability in the Koqand Khanate, the taxpolicy of Koqand andmany other problems contributed to theRebellion of 1873–6 led by Pulat Khan. Pulat Khan (IskhakHasan Uluu) was born in Margelan city in the family of ateacher. He gave up his study in medrese and settled amongthe Kyrgyz of Boston tribe.When the grandson ofAlim Khanrefused to lead rebels, he pretended to be the royal grandsonand joined the rebellion. There were some other leaders wholed rebel groups in different parts of the Fergana Valley butPulat Khan was the most charismatic and popular. Althoughthe Kyrgyz started the rebellion, many other ethnic groupssuch as Kypchaks, Uzbeks, Tajiks joined it later. So during thefirst stage of the rebellion, it became a popular, anti-Koqand,national-liberationmovement of the suppressed people of Ko-qand. During the second stage when the Russian army joinedKoqand to suppress the rebellion, it assumed an anti-Russianandanti-colonialcharacter.TheKoqandarmyledbythefamousKypchak commander Abdyrakhman Abtobachi took the sideof rebels and tried to resist the invasionofRussian troopsbutunsuccessfully.TherebellionwassuppressedbyRussia,KoqandKhanate was annexed and abolished. Pulat Khan was hangedon themain squire of Margelan city [Osmonov 293–9].

Chapter 6RUSSIAN RULE (1860–1917)

With the abolition of the Koqand Khanate, the new era beganin the history of Kyrgyzstan – the development of Kyrgyzstaninside the Russian Empire. The annexation of Kyrgyzstan byRussia was preceded by the period of Kyrgyz embassies sentby northern Kyrgyz leaders to join Russia and be protectedfrom both external and internal threats. Intensified intertribalhostilitiesamongtheKyrgyzthemselvesaswellas theexternalthreats coming from China, Koqand and Kazakhs became thefactorsthatforcednorthernKyrgyztribestoseektheprotectionofRussia.While thenorthernKyrgyz joinedRussia voluntarily,southernKyrgyzstanwastakenbyforceasaresultofcoloniza-tion policy andmilitary campaigns of the Russian Empire.

ThearrivalofRussiansinCentralAsiasignificantlychangedthe traditional life style of the local population. The new ad-ministrative and economic relations introduced in the regionwerecharacterizedbythenewlandownershipandtaxpoliciesofRussianauthorities.GrowingRussianmigrationtotheregionand granting them the best lands became the main reasonof the Kyrgyz and other Central Asian uprisings against theRussian rule.

Atthesametime,theRussiancolonizationwasaccompaniedby theculturaldevelopmentof theregion.Suchadevelopmentwas explained by better conditions of life that were providedand the political stability in the region that were establishedwith the advent of Russians to Central Asia.

6.1. russian Colonization of Kyrgyzstan and Central asiaThe period from 1813 to 1907 was characterized by the

Great Game, or the rivalry between two superpowers of the

Chapter 6. Russian rule (1860–1917) 77

19 th century, the Russian Empire and the Great Britain for su-premacy inCentralAsia.The termGreat Game isattributed tothe officer of theBritish armyArthurConnolywho introducedit.However, itwas famouswriterKiplingwhopopularizedthatterm in his novel in 1900. Great Gamewas accompanied by asmaller-scale rivalry of Koqand and Chinawho alsowanted togain control of Central Asia. In the 19 th century, Central Asia,orTurkestan,becameanimportantgeopoliticalandgeostrategicregion, where the interests of many countries met.

The riseofRussia as anewpowerbeganunder the ruleofIvanIV(1547–84)andhisconquestoftheKazanandAstrakhanKhanates and was quickened by Peter the Great (1682–1725)and the annexationof theKhanateof Crimea in1783byCath-erine the Great [Soucek 196].

The Russian colonization of Central Asia in the mid 19 thcenturywasstimulatedbytheundertakenattemptsofneighbor-ingBritain,Koqand,Chinatocontrol theregion.Understandingthe geostrategic importance of Turkestan, Russia directed itsefforts to establish itself in the region. The primary reason ofRussian expansion was political: to gain a new territory and


region of political influence, and the secondarywas economic:to receive a sourceof cheap labor and rawmaterials includingcotton and land as well a new market for Russian goods andproducts [Osmonov 272]. The Russian colonization of CentralAsia was a typical colonization, since it was motivated by thedesire toreceivecheap laborandnatural resourcesandapriv-ileged position for Russian commerce.

At the same time, a number of factors caused the annex-ation of Kyrgyzstan to the Russian Empire [Osmonov 276–7].All those factors can be divided into two groups, the internaland external:• Intertribal conflicts of Kyrgyz (for example, the ongoing

conflict between the sarybagysh and bugu tribes);• ThelackofKyrgyzstatehoodthatcouldcontrolthesituation

on Kyrgyz territories and provide stability and peace forits people;

• The invasion of Kazakhs (the campaign of Ablay Khan in1775–1776 against Chui and Talas Kyrgyz, the campaignofKenensary in1846against solto andsarybagyshKyrgyzwhen they refused to join Kazakhs to prevent Russianexpansion);

• Chinese attempts to invade the territory of northern Kyr-gyzstan;

• The Koqand rule of the Kyrgyz.

Onaccountof those factors,northernKyrgyztribesdecidedto send their embassies to the Russian Empire. In 1785, thefirst embassy was dispatched by Atake Baatyr, a chieftain ofsarybagysh tribe, toCatherine II in SaintPetersburg.The em-bassywas led by Abdyrakhman Kuchakov who spent a lot ofyears trading inAstrakhancityofRussiaandShergazy,an au-thorized representative of Atake Baatyr. The Russian Empressreceivedtheembassy. Itwas the firststep in theestablishmentof diplomatic relations of the Kyrgyzwith the Russian Empire[Osmonov 277–9].


In 1813, the second embassy to Russia was dispatched bybugu tribe (Issyk-Kul region) to Semipalatinsk. The embassywas led byKachibek and Jakypbek. The embassy establishedpermanent political and trade-economic Kyrgyz-Russian rela-tions [Osmonov 280–1]. Following that embassy, many otherembassies were organized and dispatched by Bugu.

Inthefallof1825,thekurultaiofbugutribewasheldwhereKyrgyzmanapsandbiysdiscussedthemainissueontheagenda:which state, Russia or Koqand, to join. Most of the delegatesdecided to join Russia. Firstly, because it was much more po-litically and economically developed compared to Koqand and,therefore, could givemore opportunities to Kyrgyz to develop.Secondly,thegeographicalremotenessofRussiafromKyrgyzstanalsowas quite important. Kyrgyz hoped that Russiawould notinterfere often with the situation in the region. Therefore, thedecision wasmade in favor of Russia [Osmonov 281].

The Russian conquest of Central Asia can be divided intotwo stages: the conquest of Kazakhstan in 1730–1848 exceptfor its southern segments, and the conquest of present-dayUzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,TajikistanandTurkmenistanfrom1864to 1884 [Soucek 195].

At first, Russians accepted the vassaldom of Kazakh lead-erswithoutimposingdirectmilitaryandadministrativecontrolover their territories. During that period, Kazakhstan did notrepresent a unified khanate but steppe sultans claiming Geng-hisid origin: theLesser Horde or Juz (a hundred) in thewest,theMiddle Juz in the central part, and theGreater Juz in thesoutheast. There was also the fourth small horde — Burkey’sHorde to the west of the Lesser Horde between the Ural andVolga Rivers. By 1848, all four were abolished. Their abolish-ment removed any ambivalence about Russia’s intention inthe region.

The short break in the 1850s before the second stage ofthe conquest was caused by the engagement of Russia in theCrimeanWarandthesuppressionoftheuprisingledbyShamil


in the Caucasus. In the 1860s, Russia came back to CentralAsia conquering Chimkent, Aulie Ata (Jambul) and Tashkent.In 1868, Russians annexed a substantial part of Bukhara andannouncedBukhara Khanate aRussianprotectorate. In 1873,they defeatedKhiva andmade it a protectorate. In 1876, theyannexed the territory of Koqand suppressing Pulat Khan Re-bellion. The Russian conquest of the Central Asian regionwascompleted in 1884 with the conquest of Merv.

ThefallofMervcityandthedriveofRussiatotheAfghanandIndia’sKashmirborderbroughtBritainandRussiaclosetoawarinthe1890s.Finally,noneoftwosidescouldstartthewarandapeacefulagreementwasconcluded.Further,the 1907Anglo-Rus-sian Conventionwas signed, according to which both sidesobligedthemselvestorespecteachother’szonesofinfluenceandcreate thebufferzonessuchasAfghanistan [Soucek197–9].

TheannexationofKyrgyzstani territory canbedivided intotwo stages: the incorporationof thenorthand the conquestofthe south.While the incorporation of the north was generallypeacefulandvoluntary,theannexationofthesouthwasviolentand forced.

TheannexationofnorthernKyrgyztribesandterritorytookplacebetween1855and1868.Thestrugglebetweensarybagyshand bugu in the 1850s and the death of sarybagysh ruler,Ormon Khan,madebuguKyrgyztoseektheprotectorateoftheRussianEmpire. In1855, theembassyofbugu tribe (Issyk-Kulregion) was dispatched to Omsk, and Russia agreed to admitit [Osmonov 282–3].

In 1862–65, Russia admitted Chui (sarybagysh, solto)and Talas (saruu, kushchu) Kyrgyz. In 1864–65, Naryn (cher-ik, sayak) Kyrgyz became Russian citizens. That is, by 1868,almost all territory of northern Kyrgyz was incorporated intothe Russian Empire [Osmonov 283–8). Not all northern tribessubmitted themselves voluntarily to Russians. Some, for exam-ple, the sarybagysh tribe led byUmetaaly Ormon uulu resist-ed till 1867 [Osmonov 287, 289].


The conquest of southern Kyrgyzstan took place in 1865–1876. In 1865, Tashkent was occupied by Russian troops andbecame the starting point to advance to the south of Kyrgyz-stan. After that the Russian army was able to occupy Ferganaand Alai.

In1873–1876,therebellionofPulatKhanbrokeout.The re-bellionwasledbyPulatKhanandhadananti-Koqandandlateranti-Russiancharacter.ThelastKoqandKhanKhudayarescapedto Russians and asked for their help. Russians suppressed therebellion and executed Pulat Khan.

In 1875–1876, the Alai military expedition was launchedby General Skobelev. Alai was ruled by Kurmanjan Datkha.Kurmanjan did not want to submit to Russians and escapedto Kashgar. But shewas notwelcomed there and had to comeback. Then she decided to go to Afghanistan and on the waythere she was caught and brought to General Skobolev. Sko-belev receivedherwithhigh respect.During themeeting,Kur-manjan expressed her obedience to Russians and promised tostop resisting if her sons and peoplewould not be persecuted[Osmonov 299–300].

Thatis,thesouthernpartofKyrgyzstanwasannexedthroughdirect conquest. After the suppression of the Pulat Khan Re-bellion and Alai expedition, southern Kyrgyzstan was finallyincorporated into the territory of the Russian Empire.

6.2. turkestan Governorate GeneralOn the newly annexed territories of Central Asia and Ka-

zakhstan, a new administrative-territorial system was estab-lished. That systemwas semi-military in its character becausemost of the positions in the region were occupied by Russianmilitary officers.

In 1867, Turkestan Governorate General was establishedin Central Asia. It consisted of five oblasts: Syrdarya (cen-ter Tashkent), Semirechye (center Vernyi), Fergana (centerSkobelev), Samarkand (center Samarkand) and Transcaspia


(centerAshgabad)andtwoprotectoratesofBukharaandKhivaemirates [Soucek 201). Obastswere divided into uezds, uezdsintovolostsandvolosts intoayils [Osmonov304].Kyrgyz livedin three oblasts: Syrdarya, Semirechye and Fergana. As for theterritoryofpresent-dayKazakhstan,anotherSteppeGovernorateGeneral was formed there.

Theheadsofoblastsanduezdswereappointedfromamongthe military, while heads of volosts were elected out of localpeople and were not hereditary as before. When Russianscametotheregion,theyinitiatedelectionsforvolostsandayilsauthorities. However, most often tribal leaders and chieftainswere elected to those positions [Osmonov 305].

TashkentbecametheseatoftheRussiangovernorinTurke-stan. First of all, the climate in the citywasmoderate. Second,the location was favorable, right between the Kipchak Steppeand Transoxania, between nomads and sedentary peoples, sostrategically it was convenient for Russia to control both. Thesedentary people were Sarts who spoke Turkic and nomadswho were Kazakhs and spoke Kipchak Turkic [Soucek 202].

One of the most prominent governors of Turkestan Gov-ernorate General wasGeneral Konstantin von Kaufman whostayed in the office from 1867 to 1882 and did much to putthe colonial administration on a solid basis [Soucek 203].

The economyof CentralAsia followed the classical colonialpattern. Central Asia regionwasmainly a supplier of rawma-terials for Russian industry and a consumer of Russian goods.Cotton became the most important commodity exported toRussia. So its cultivation increased, that is the side effect wasa decrease in the growing of cereals that made Central Asiadependent on Russian wheat.

The other important aspectwas the economic colonizationoftheregion,especiallynorthernKyrgyzstanandKazakhstan,byagricultural settlers of Russian andUkrainian origin. Themostfertile landswereseizedby themaffectingseasonalmigrationsof nomads and their pasture lands [Soucek 203].


When Russia colonized the region of Central Asia, it facedwith some difficulties and complexities of taxation. It was im-possible to follow the Russian tax policy in the region. There-fore, initially the taxes collected by Russians remained thesameasbefore.However, later somechangeswere introduced.That is, all lands were announced the state property, so thatthe statewas the only owner of land and had the right to ex-propriate it from locals. Locals were divided into two maincategories: the settled and nomads. All nomads had to paykibitka tax (a tax on each yurt). After the number of yurtsin a village was estimated, the amount of kibitka tax was re-distributed among the yurt owners. While nomads were alsosupposed to pay the cattle tax, the settled had to paykharaj(a tax on grain lands paid by grain) and tanap (a tax on gar-den and vegetable products paid in money). Moreover, therewere many extra taxes and duties to be paid by the people,for example on the construction of roads, the irrigation sys-tem and the like. As for Russian settlers, they had to pay theland tax [Osmonov 308–9]

At the cultural and religious level, Russians were tolerantcolonizers. They preserved the traditional faith of the regionsuch as Islam, traditional institutions and practices such asreligious courts based on Shariat and Adat (the customarylaw), and religious schools and religious lands (waqfs). Mostof Central Asians continued to live as before the Russian col-onization [Soucek 204].

Moreover, since the mid 19 th century, the scientific studyof the region by Russian scholars and travellers began. TheRussian ethnographer Radlov, Russian travelers and geogra-phersPrzhevalskiy and Semenov-Tienshanskiy, the historianBarthold contributed significantly to the study of Kyrgyzstan[Osmonov 339–41]. In the early 20 th century, two historieswritten by the first Kyrgyz historians Osmonaly Sydyk uuluandBelek Soltonoev were published in Kazan city in the Ar-abic script [Osmonov 334–5]. Enriched by the achievements


of Russian and other cultures, the material and spiritual cul-tures of the Kyrgyz developed. The epic genre and the poetryof akyns were revived.

At the same time, Russians opened Russo-native schools where Russian and local children was taught in the Russianlanguage. On the other hand, new Muslim schools were es-tablished by Muslim reformers inspired by the ideology ofJadidism (usul jadidmeans “newmethod” inArabic) [Soucek206]. Jadidism signified the cultural and educational reform-istmovement among theMuslims of the Russian Empire thataimed to advance Islamic education and teach religious sub-jects alongwith other secular disciplines such asmath, geog-raphy, science.

6.3. Kyrgyz rebellions against russian ColonizationA lot of uprisings marked the period of the Russian rule

in Central Asia. However, the most powerful uprisings duringthat timewere two: the 1898 Andijan Rebellion and the 1916Rebellion.ThemainreasonsofbothrebellionswerethecolonialpolicyoftheRussianEmpire,especiallylandseizurebyRussianand Ukrainian peasants.

The Andijan Rebellion took place in 1898. The rebellionwas led by religious person Madali Dukchi who performeda pilgrimage to Mecca and was very popular in the FerganaValley.

The rebellion broke out on May 17 when more than1,500 people attacked the Russian military garrison. Variousethnic groups jointed the rebellion soon: Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Ta-jiks.ItrapidlyspreadtothewholeFerganaValley.Therebellionassumed an anti-Russian, national-liberation character. Sinceit broke out in the Fergana valley and was led by a religiousperson, it took the formof aholywarof localMuslimsagainstRussian colonizers.

However, the rebellion was severely suppressed by theRussian army. 18 people were executed and 356were sent to


Siberia. Among those sent to Siberia was famous Kyrgyz akynToktogul Satylganov [Osmonov 314–6].

Alongwith the colonial policy such as heavy taxation, landseizurebyRussiansettlers,the1916Rebellionwasalsocausedby the 1916 Tsar’s Degree on the mobilization of Turkestanimales aged 19–43 formilitary-defensiveworks. A lot ofmalesfromCentralAsiaweredispatched to the front to dig trenchesfor the Russian army.

The rebellion broke out in July in Khodjent city and verysoon spread to all Central Asia. Although the protests anddemonstrations in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan took place,theywerequiteweekanddidn’t causemanyvictims.However,inSemirechye,especiallynorthernKyrgyzstan,thesituationwasmuchmore complicated. A number of objective and subjectivefactors contributed to it.

Following the colonization of the region by the RussianEmpire, Russian and Ukrainian landless peasants were reset-tled in Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan where climaticconditions were very similar to Russian’s. That caused moresevere forms of the rebellion in northern Kyrgyzstan. North-ernKyrgyz in theirmajority still practiced a nomadic lifestyleand they used their collective tribal property land as pasturelands for their animals. Russian authorities regarded that col-lective land as vacant and turned it over to Russian peasantsfor cultivation.

In 1916, Russians peasants constituted 6% of the localpopulation but possessed almost 58% of the cultivated land,while locals were 94% and possessed 42% of the land [Os-monov 317].

Rebels attackedRussian villages, burned their houses, tookcattle away. Most of males were absent fighting on the front,so mainly women, children and elders remained and wereaffected.

The rebellionwasbrutally suppressedby theRussianarmyand resulted in the killing ofmany Kyrgyz. According to some


estimations, about 200,000 Kyrgyz died, or the populationin northern Kyrgyzstan decreased by 41% [Osmonov 323].The remained fled toChinaanddiedonthewaythereorbackhome because of the cold weather, diseases and starvation.Therebellionwasanti-colonial, anti-Russian, sinceallRussianswere associated with Russian colonial authorities, as well asnational-liberation movement of the Kyrgyz and other CentralAsian peoples.

Summarizing this chapter, it is worthy of note that theperiod of Russian colonization had both positive and negativeconsequences. All of them have been grouped in three maincategories: political, economic and cultural.

positive consequences of russian rulePolitical:• the threat of the conquest by neighboring states (China,

Khoqand, Britain) was eliminated;• the intertribal struggle of Kyrgyz that negatively affected

their economic and cultural development was put an end;• the institution of slavery was abolished and slave trade

was banned;• the new administrative-territorial system, for example the

elections to local authorities, was introduced.

Economic:• CentralAsiawasinvolvedinthenewcapitalisteconomyand

more developedmarket relations were introduced;• the switch of the nomadic lifestyle to the settled one and

agricultural economy took place.

Cultural:• the research study of Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan: its

territory,landscape,floraandfauna,wasinitiatedbyRussianscholars;

• thefirstrecordsoffolklore,historyandlanguageweremade.


negative consequences of russian rulePolitical:• Central Asia was a colony of the Russian Empire;• Central Asians didn’t not have their independent state or

autonomy;• As a result of the 1916 Rebellion suppression, thousands

of local people were killed.

Economic:• Following themigrationofRussianandUkrainianpeasants,

Central Asian land was expropriated from locals;• Due to the increasing cultivation of cotton, the region was

short in the production of grain.

Cultural:• During the later period of the Russian rule, a gradual

elimination of religious institutions and practices tookplace.

Chapter 7SOVIET RULE (1918–1991)

With the advent of the Bolsheviks to power in 1917, a newpage opened in the history of Kyrgyzstan. The idea of build-ing a socialist society where no exploitation and people wereequal was supported by the peoples of Central Asia. However,the establishment of the Soviet rule and the building of thenew socialist society were accompanied by the persecution ofreligious figures, national leaders and thewealthy.Atheization,Collectivization and Cultural Revolution led tomass killings ofmany innocent people.

Atthesametime,theSovietperiodappearedtobethemostfruitful for the political, economic and cultural developmentof Central Asia. The elimination of illiteracy and the creationof the system of elementary, secondary and higher education,the development of professional literature, theatre, painting,cinema, science and the establishment of a large-scale heavymetal processing industry andmachinerywere unprecedentedin the history of the region. Moreover, the creation of Kyrgyzstatehood in the form of an autonomous region and then anautonomous republic and a union republic became possibleonly thanks to the policy of Bolsheviks.

A big trial for the Soviet people was the Great PatrioticWar. More than 30 million people died on the front and theterritories occupied by fascists. Destroyed cities and villages,factoriesandplants,burnedfieldsandotherswerethecalamitiesthat the Soviet people went through. After the war, a bipolarworld with two superpowers such as the USSR and the USAwas established.

Perestroikaofthe1980suncoveredmanycontradictionsandmisbalances of the Soviet policy that for a long time implicitly

Chapter 7. Soviet rule (1918–1991) 89

existed in the state and society. The Communist ideology andextensivemethodsofthedevelopmentdidnotanymorejustifythemselves.With the policy of publicity, many problems cametothesurface.Theuniversalpolitical,economicandsocialcrisisthat broke out in the late 1980s brought to the dissolution ofthe USSR.

7.1. revolutions and Civil War (1917–1920)februaryrevolution

TheFebruary Revolutionwasabourgeoisdem-ocraticrevolutionaimedtooverthrowmonarchyandprovidepoliticalfreedomstoitspeoplesuch

as the freedom of speech, the freedom of press, the freedomof associations and others [Osmonov 342].

The participation of the Russian Empire in World War I aswell as the unresolved land issue, the oppression ofminorities,the lackof freedomsandotherproblemsprovokeda revolutiononFebruary27,1917,thatresultedinthecollapseoftheTsaristregime and the establishment of a democratic government.

As a result of the February Revolution, so-called dual au-thority was established: the Provisional Government underAlexander Kerensky and the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies. The Provisional Government representeda coalition government comprised of different political partiessuchasConstitutionalDemocraticParty,SocialistRevolutionaryParty,Octobristparty,andSocialDemocraticParty(Mensheviks)withtheonlyexceptionoftheRussianSocialDemocraticLaborParty (Bolsheviks) who refused to join. In 1912, the RussianSocial Democratic Labor Party formed in 1899 in Minsk splitinto two: the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolshe-viks) and the Social Democratic Labor Party (Mensheviks).Bolshevik Party under the leadership ofVladimir Ilyich Lenin created its own bodies: the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ andPeasants’ Deputies.

The news about the success of the February RevolutionreachedKyrgyzstan in earlyMarch1917.Massdemonstrations


demandingtooverthrowTsarism,tointroduce8hoursworkingday,toputanendtoWorldWarI,toreleasepoliticalprisoners,took place [Osmonov 342]. Following the example of Russia,new authorities were established in Kyrgyzstan too.

The February Revolution first succeeded in the south ofKyrgyzstanwheremining and industrial centers such asKyzyk Kiya, Sulyuktaandotherswerelocatedandmanyworkerswereemployed, and then in the northern cities of Tokmok, Naryn, Przhevalsk [Istoriya kyrgyzov181] that represented traditionalnomadic zones of the Kyrgyz with animal husbandry as themain economy.

However in Kyrgyzstan, the February Revolution resultedin the creation of three but not two authorities. The Provi-sional Government established its Turkestan Committee ofthe Provisional Government. Bolsheviks created their Sovietsof Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’. The third authority wasset up by local political parties that were quite weak initiallyand often took the side of the first or the second authority[Istoriya kyrgyzov 182].

The February revolution withdrew the ban on political ac-tivities. So many political parties stopped being undergroundand began to operate openly and legally aswell as newpoliti-cal parties emerged. InKyrgyzstan, the following localpoliticalparties, organizations andmovements appeared in Kyrgyzstan[Osmonov 346–8]:• Alash composed of Kazakh and Kyrgyz intellectuals, capi-

talists,workers, peasants. TheKyrgyz affiliationwas led bySydykov, Arabaev, Tynystanov. The aim was to create anindependent Kazakh and Kyrgyz state;

• Shura-Islami(IslamicCouncil)composedofUzbekandKyr-gyz intellectuals, peasants, Muslim clergy. The Kyrgyzaffiliationwas ledbyKudaibergenov.Theaimwas tocreatean Islamic autonomy in Turkestan;

• Turan, the only political party composed of Kyrgyz intel-lectuals. The aim was to create a unified Turkic state;


• Bukara Union,aprofessionalunion,composedofthepoorestand peasants of Pishpek uezd (7,000members). Itwas ledby Sarykulakov and Kobekov. The aimwas to advocate theinterests of workers and other poorest classes;

• Other professional unions that advocated the interests ofother social and professional groups.

Although many different demands were made, the mostburningissueforminoritieswasthenationalissue.However,theProvisional Government didn’t resolve that problem anddidn’tgive minorities with any freedoms. Moreover, it protected thecolonialregimeandcontinuedtofollowtheregulationsadoptedby Tsarist authorities [Istoriya kyrgyzov 183].

That situation was especially critical for Kyrgyz refugeeswho fled to China after the suppression of the 1916 rebellionandattempted to comeback.Theywerenot allowed returningto theirhousesandplaces theyescaped from, their landswereconfiscated by kulaks.Moreover, the new lawof theTurkestanCommitteeoftheProvisionalGovernmentprescribedtoresettlethose from Pishpek and Przhevalsk uezds in themountainousregions of Naryn region [Istoriya kyrgyzov 184].

The Provisional Government didn’t bring any freedom tothe Kyrgyz and other minorities of Russia, didn’t resolve thenational and land issues, didn’t put an end to the war but,on the contrary, aggravated the political and socio-economiccrisis and resulted in the failure of crops and famine [Osmo-nov 344–5].

bolshevik revolution

On October 25, 1917, as a result of the armedinsurrection, the Provisional Government wasoverthrown and power passed to the Soviets

of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies led by the Bol-sheviks. They elected the first government of workers andpeasants — the Council of People’s Commissars chaired byLenin [Osmonov 350].


Two documents were issued by the new government: theDecree on Peace that brought to signing a peace treaty withGermany at Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 and the withdrawalof Russia from the war, and the Decree on Land that meantthe elimination of private property and nationalization of land[Osmonov 350].

The Bolshevik rule was established on the territory ofKyrgyzstan soon. First, it was established in the south of Kyr-gyzstan (Kyzyk Kiya, Sulyukta, Osh), then in the north (Talas,Pishpek, Tokmok, Przhevalsk, Naryn, Issyk-Kul) [Istoriya kyr-gyzov 184, 185].

The establishment of the Bolshevik rule had some partic-ularities in Kyrgyzstan. It was initially established in industri-al andmining centers of the southern andwestern regions ofKyrgyzstanwith a largestpercentageofRussianandUkrainianworkers. The number ofworkers among the local people, par-ticularly Kyrgyz, was very small and, therefore, the influenceof Bolshevismwere quiteweek among them. Very often localsdidn’tgrasp the ideasofequalityandnationalization thatwereperceived as alien. They didn’t distinguish between Bolsheviksand Mensheviks, on the one hand, and Bolsheviks and SocialRevolutionaries,ontheother.Moreover, followingthe1916 re-bellionanditssuppression,therelationsbetweenRussiansandKyrgyz remained hostile [Osmonov 350].

Themost severe struggle took place in Pishpek and Przhe-valsk uezds of Kyrgyzstan. In these regions, the influence ofkulaks was very strong. They dominated in local authoritiesand affected their decision-making. Numerous meetings anddemonstrations took place there. One of them was the meet-ing organized by the Bolsheviks in the Oak Park of Bishkekcity on December 31, 1917, where 1000 people, mainly fromBukhara Union, took part. As a result, the new chair for thelocal Soviets andpeople’smilitiawereelected fromBolsheviks[Istoriya kyrgyzov 185–6].


However, by the summer of 1918, the Bolshevik rule wasestablished on the whole territory of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyr-gyz supported Bolsheviks or turned to be very loyal to thembecause of the freedoms that Bolsheviks gave them [Istoriyakyrgyzov 186].

civilwar

As soon as the Bolsheviks came to power in CentralAsia, the Civil War (1918–1922) broke out. It wasthewar between the Bolshevik Red Army (in alliance

with other leftist pro-revolutionary groups) and the WhiteArmy represented by anti-Bolshevik forces. The CivilWarwasaccompaniedbytheforeigninterventionofBritain,France,USAand Japanwhich attempted to eliminate the first and the onlysocialist state in the world [Osmonov 353]. They supplied theWhite Army with weaponry and funds.

In the summer of 1918, the Civil War reached Kyrgyzstan.The White Army occupied Semirechye. To repulse it, the Bol-sheviks created the Northern Semirechye Front. Almost allBolshevikpartymembersweremobilized to fighton the front.AmongthefirstcommandersoftheRedArmywereLogvinenko, Dubovitsky,Pavlov and others. However, not only Russians butKyrgyzstanis too volunteered to join the Red Army: Saadaev, Kamchibekov and others [Istoirya kyrgyzov 188–9].

InKyrgyzstan, theCivilWar took the formsofkulakrevoltsin the north of Kyrgyzstan and Basmachi movement in thesouth of Kyrgyzstan. Kulaks were rich Russian and UkrainianpeasantswhodidnotwelcometheBolshevikrulebecausetheyexpropriated their land property and redistributed it amongthe local population. Such rebellions took place in Talas city, Belovodsk village, Przhevalsk and Naryn uezds.However,allthoserebellions were suppressed by the Red Army.

InAugust1918,akulakrevoltbrokeoutinTalascity.In De-cember of 1918, it was followed by another one in Belovodskvillage.Rebels reachedPishpekbutweredestroyedbyPishpek


regiment that came from Semirechye Front. In July of 1919,a kulak revolt took place in Przhevalsk uezd. In Septemberof 1919, kulaks occupied Osh, Djalal-Abad, Andijan but weredefeated. The last revolt broke out in November of 1919 inNaryn uezd but also failed to achieve its goals [Istoirya kyr-gyzov 189–90]. The reason for the failure was that fact thatkulaks didn’t enjoy amass support among other social groupsand ethnicities such as the poor people and the Kyrgyz and,therefore, were suppressed quickly and easily.

As for the south of Kyrgyzstan, the Fergana Valley, the an-ti-Soviet struggle there took the form of theBasmachi move-ment that broke out in 1918 and lasted till 1924. The wordbasmach means“bandit”.Startedasanarrowbanditmovement,it developed into a genuine national liberation movement ofCentral Asian peoples. Some historians consider the 1916 re-bellion against the Russian rule to be the starting point of theBasmachi movement. However, the majority of Kyrgyzstanihistorians regard 1918 as the year when it began.

The aim of the Basmachimovementwas to establish an in-dependentIslamicstateinCentralAsia.Therefore, itwasmainlyMuslim clergy and intellectuals who led the movement. Otherssuch as traders and peasants joined it later. Among the factorsthatcontributedto thedevelopmentof theBasmachimovementwere the anti-religious policy of Bolsheviks when all religionspracticedwerenotallowedaswellastheeconomicpolicywhenthe landandotherpropertywerenationalizedby thestate.Theideologies that inspired themembers of themovement to fightagainstSovietswerepan-Turkism(theunityofallTurkic-speak-ingpeoplesbasedonthecommonTurkicculture)andpan-Isla-mism (the unity of allMuslims based on their common Islamicreligion).AcompletedefeatoftheKoqandautonomyservedasagood pretext for themovement to start, asmany leaders of thedestroyed autonomy turned to take an active part in it.

It was very difficult to defeat Basmachis because they leda partisan war. In order to destroy Basmachis, Bolsheviks


opened the Turkestan Front led byMikhail Frunze, a promi-nent Bolshevik commander. Moreover, they made advances toBasmachisbyofferingtheir leadershighpositionsintheSovietgovernment and reopening Muslim courts and schools. In the1920s, themain forcesofBasmachisweredestroyed.However,itwasnotbeforethe1930sthatthemovementwascompletelysuppressed by the Red Army.

7.2. Socio-economic reforms in the 1920–30snew economic policy

In 1920, the Civil War ended. The WhiteArmywas destroyed and the Bolshevik rulewas reestablished on the whole territory of

the country.However, thepolicyofWarCommunismwhen thesurplus of agriculture was withdrawn by the state and peas-ants starved continued. It resulted in the breakout of a severesocioeconomic and political crisis.

In1921,atthemeetingoftheCommunistParty,Lenindeci-ded to introduce the New Economic Policy (NEP). The NewPolicy aimed to replace prodrazverstka (a surplus-appropria-tion systemof the state) byprodnalog (20% tax), to introducemarket relations, and to implement amoney reform. TheNewEconomic Policy was seen as a temporary measure by theBolsheviks to overcome the socioeconomic crisis, restore theeconomy damaged byWorldWar I and the CivilWar and sta-bilize the political situation in the country [Istoriya KirgizskoySSR 3: 267–8].

Prodnaloghadtobepaidinmoneyequivalent.Inagriculture,prodnalogwasestimateddifferentlyfordifferentgroupsofpeas-antsdependingontheirincome.Thatis,thehighesttaxwaspaidbykulaks.The lesswaspaidbypeasantsof averagemeans.Thepoorest were exempt from paying the tax [Istoriya KirgizskoySSR 3: 269]. The state also encouraged peasants to unite intovarious cooperatives.However, theydidn’t hurry to join them.

Intheindustrialsector,thestatestillkeptalllarge-scaleandmedium-scale industries in its hands. As for small enterprises,


most of them were denationalized and returned to their pre-vious owners. Concessionswere granted to large-scale foreignand native capitals.

Thedevelopmentofthecommodity-moneyrelationsrequiredstrengthening the Soviet ruble. In order to do it, state expens-es were cut. A number of state enterprises were switched toself-financing.Educationalandculturalinstitutionswerefundedfromlocalbudgets,defenseexpenseswerereduced.Atthesametime, various direct and indirect taxes, fees for transportation,public services and utilities were introduced to increase thestate budget [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 3: 283–4].

AsaresultoftheNewEconomicPolicy,in1926,theeconomyachieved the pre-war level and laid the foundation for furthereconomic development and growth.

land-water reforms in kyrgyzstan

In Kyrgyzstan, the New Economic Policytook the form of the land-water reformsthat aimed at the redistribution of land andwater equally among Kyrgyz and Russians.

According to thenewpolicy, theRussiankulakswhohadmorelandthanrequiredwerewithdrawnthesurplusandthenpassedit to the landless and land-poor Kyrgyz peasants. The Kyrgyzwho fled to China after the suppression of the 1916 rebellionwere encouraged to come back and provided with land plots[Osmonov 362].

The land-water reform was initially implemented in thenorthofKyrgyzstanwhere the land issuewas themosturgent.Itbeganin1920–21withtheresettlementofRussiankulakstotheir previous places of living. Their land and other propertywasconfiscatedanddistributedamong landlessKyrgyz.Kulaksresisted. Such a resistance took place in Naryn but was soonsuppressedby theSovietArmy.Kyrgyzdidn’tonly receive landplots but were also provided with free tools of land cultiva-tion, seeds, and cattle. They were exempted from paying tax


for five initial years and given a choice to join collective farms[Osmonov 363–4].

A very important part of the reformswas the water issue.Water was vital for local farming. However, most of watersprings were in the hands of Russian kulaks. The sources ofwater were also taken away from kulaks and an equal accessto water was provided to all.

BecauseoftheBasmachimovementintheFerganaValley,theland-water reform in the southwas implemented in 1927–28.In the south of Kyrgyzstan, the Soviet rule was weak and theinfluence of the Muslim clergy was strong. Therefore, it tookalmosttenyearstoimplementthereforminthesouth[Istoriyakyrgyzov 196].

The New Economic Policy in Kyrgyzstan had very positiveconsequences. It brought to the transformation of the Kyr-gyz traditional economy and a switch of Kyrgyz nomads to asedentary lifestyle that eventually had a good impact on thedemographic growth of the Kyrgyz population.

industrialization TheNewEconomicPolicy stabilized thesituation and restored the economy de-

stroyedbythewar.Nevertheless,thefirstsuccesswasfollowedby new difficulties that arose in the mid 1920s. The interna-tional situation of the Soviet state was still very complicated.It remained internationally isolated. In order to develop as anindependent country, it had to give priority to the creation ofindustry, especially a large-scale heavy industry. The state in-comereceivedfromagriculturewaspassedtothedevelopmentof industries [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 3: 371–4]. For this, thestate reduced the prices for agricultural production but raisedthe prices for industrial goods.

Peasants refused to sell their grain so cheap or exchangedit for very expensive and not very qualitative industrial goods.The foodcrisisbrokeout.Toovercome thecrisis, theeconomy


wascentralized,theindependenceofenterpriseswasrestrained,prices and taxes were increased. The New Economic Policywas put an end. Industrialization and agricultural cooperationbecame the new priorities in the economic development inthe country.

AfterthedeathofLenin,theChairoftheCouncilofPeople’sCommissars becameRykov. However, real power was concen-trated in thehandsof theGeneral Secretaryof theCommunistParty Stalin.

Industrialization meant a switch to a large-scale industryandmachinery.In1920s,theSovietUnionremainedanagrariancountry. Light industry dominated heavy industry that lackeda number of important sectors. In 1925, the course towardsindustrializationwas taken.Therewasaneed todevelop largeindustry,metallurgy, fuel industry, railway transportation, localindustriesand to trainspecialists in those fields.The first five-year plan was worked out [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 3: 374].

During the first years of industrialization, old plants andfactories were renovated and modernized. Simultaneously,the construction of new plants and hydroelectric stations be-gan. A special attention was paid to the development of theenergetic basis of the country, the production of coal and oil[IstoriyaKirgizskoySSR3:375;Dmytryshyn161].Asaresult,in1937, theUSSRturned fromanagrariancountry intoa leadingindustrial state that became the second in theworld after theUSA according to its industrial input.

At thesametime, industrializationwasaccompaniedbythecrisis.Mostofthestaterevenueswerepassedtosupportheavyindustry often at the expense of light industry that producedconsumer goods. Private business and property were heavilytaxedand later abolished.The state took loans from thepopu-lation [Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR 3: 371–2].

As for the industrialization in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia,it was not as successful. The prioritized sectors were miningand processing. Central Asia was seen as a supplier of raw


materials to Russia. The first five-year plan failed to achieveitsgoals.Thesamehappened to thesecondand third five-yearplans.Thatis,inthepre-warperiod,theindustrialdevelopmentof the republic was very low and slow and couldn’t lay thefoundationforthefurtherindustrialdevelopmentinKyrgyzstan[Istoriya kyrgyzov 206–8].

collectivization Whileindustrializationprovidedforasta-ble increasein itsproduction,theagricul-

tural sector experienced a steady decline. All funds releasedfrom agriculture were directed to heavy industry but not tothe construction of plants producing consumer goods. Peas-ants refused to sell their grain for low prices to the state orexchange them for the goods they didn’t need. In 1927–28,the agrarian crisis broke out.

To cope with the crisis, collectivization, or forced integra-tion of peasants’ individual farms into collective farms, wasannounced to be a very important task of the state. Collectiv-ization aimed to support industrialization. The 1928 new landlaw gave a lot of privileges to poor and middle peasants toreceive land plotswithin collective farms. Theywere also pro-vided with the best and more convenient for cultivation landplots near water springs and roads. However, the law refusedkulaks to lease land [Dmytryshyn 168–70].

In 1930, complete and speedy collectivization was an-nounced. It was planned to be complete by 1933. Raskula-chivanie, or the liquidation of kulaks as a social class, tookmore severe forms. Kulaks’ propertywas confiscated and theywith their families were deported to themost remote regionsof the country such asWestern Siberia and Kazakhstanwherethey were employed in building, forest industry and mining.In 1933, as a result of collectivization, the famine burst outin Ukraine, Northern Caucasus and other regions of the USSR[Dmytryshyn 170–1].

Since Russian kulaks were already abolished as a classin Kyrgyzstan during the period of land-water reforms,


raskulachivanie affected the property of Kyrgyz bays, manaps,tribal leaders, influential Muslim clerics. Their property andcattle were confiscated. Some of them were moved to otherregions of the SovietUnion,while the remainingwas resettledon the territory ofKyrgyzstan. The creationof collective farmsin Kyrgyzstan resulted in the extermination of cattle and thedecline in the level of crop yield [Istoirya kyrgyzov 202–4].

Under such conditions, the Chair of the Council of PeopleCommissars inKyrgyzstanAbdrakhmanov decided to ruin thestateplanof grainbuthelp and feed starvingpeople.As a re-sult, hewas dismissed from his positions of the chair and themember of the Communist Party [Istoriya kyrgyzov 204].

repressions The term repression was officially used inreference to the prosecution of individuals

considered as anti-revolutionaries and enemies of the Sovietpeople. The mass-scale purges were motivated by the desireof Stalin to remove dissidents and opposition from the Bol-shevik party and to consolidate his authority.

TherepressionswereinitiatedbyStalintoeliminatepotentialoppositiongroups ledbyTrotsky (so-called leftopposition)onthe issueof industrialization, and lateronBukharin (so-calledright opposition) on the issue of collectivization. Followingthe Civil War and the reconstruction of the Soviet economyin the late 1920s, a temporary dictatorship by Stalin seemedno longer required. Soviet leaders disagreed on the furthereconomic development of the country.While Stalin insisted onstate planning and collectivization policy, his opponents foundhis ruleundemocratic.This resulted inmass repressionswhenStalin eliminated all thosewhoseopinionsweredifferent fromhis own [Istoriya kyrgyzov229]. TheNKVD (People’s Commis-sarsforInternalAffairs)chairedbyYezhovandthen Beriawasequallymerciless towards the supporters, friends and familiesof the so-called “enemies of the people”.


If before 1934 the repressions resulted in the expulsionfrom the Communist Party and the position, after 1934 thosepeoplewerearrestedandexecuted.Kirov’smurderin1934wasused as a very good pretext to start more violent repressionsthat brought to about a million of victims [Osmonov 402].Somehistoriansbelived that itwasStalinhimselfwhoorderedto kill Kirov enjoying a wide popularity among the ordinarypeople.

Additional campaigns were undertaken against social andethnic groups. Social groups such as kulaks (rich peasants)were accused of acting against the Soviet state. Theywere ex-propriated land, cattle, property and sent to far-away regions.6,000 families from Kyrgyzstan were resettled in Ukraine andNorthern Caucasus in August-September of 1931. The resultwas a large-scale famine in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Anumberofpurgeswerecarriedoutagainstethnicgroupson the grounds of their sabotage and espionage on the eve ofthe expected war with Germany. Kurds of Armenia and Azer-baijanandKoreansoftheFarEast,VolgaGermans, thepeoplesof the newly incorporated territories of Bessarabia, WesternUkraine, Baltic republics as well as Ingush, Karachais, Chech-en, Balkars, Mesketian Turks of Northern Caucasia, Kalmyks,Crimean Tatars were deported to Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia[Chotaeva 46–7].

During the period between 1928 and 1938, many Kyrgyzleaders were repressed in Kyrgyzstan as well. Such politicalfiguresasSydykov, Abdyrakhmanov, Aidarbekov, AitmatovandotherswereaccusedofbeingthemembersofSocial Turan Partyand shot in 1938 in Chon Tash Village. Clergymen too werearrested and imprisoned on the account of their collaborationwithnationalistleaders.Thatis,morethan40,000peoplewererepressed inKyrgyzstan that had the population of 1.4millionpeople [Osmonov 402–3].


7.3. Kyrgyz Soviet Statehood (1924–1936)During the 1917Bolshevik revolution, one of themajor issueson the agenda was the national issue. Unlike their politicalopponents,who spoke of “one and indivisible Russia”, the Bol-shevikscameout in favorof thepolicyofself-determinationofnations and supported national movements among minoritiesof theempire.Assoonas theyachievedpower, they issued theDeclaration to all Muslim Workers of Russia and the Orientthat revoked national and national-religious privileges and an-nounced free and equal development of minorities in Russia.Within the firstSovietgovernment,a specialbody —National Commissariat on Nationalities — was set up. Stalin was putin charge of it.

Atthesametime,thepolicyofself-determinationofnationswasatooltoforgeanallianceamongtheforcesworkingagainstTsarism. As soon as the world proletariat came to power andunited under the leadership of the Communist party, national-ismandnationalitieswoulddisappear, givingplace to theneworder, which would be rather based on class than nationality[Chotaeva 23].

Following the FebruaryRevolution of 1917, the ProvisionalGovernment and the Bolshevik-dominated Soviets were estab-lished in Tashkent. The Tsarist andBolshevik authoritieswerecompeting to each other, and the lack of Muslim representa-tion in either of these two forced the indigenous populationto organize their own government. In November of 1917, the4 th meeting of the Extraordinary all-Muslim Conference washeld in Tashkent. The main issue raised was the creation ofa Muslim government and autonomy in Turkestan. The newlyestablished authority was called the Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkestan (Koqand Government) and waschaired byMustafa Chokayev.

TheKoqand governmentwas seen as a threat by the Tash-kentSovietsthatactedindependentlyfromtheBolshevikleader-shipinPetrogradandMoscow.InJanuaryof1918,theTashkent


SovietsdeclaredtheKoqandgovernmentcounter-revolutionaryand on January 30 the troops of the Tashkent Soviets crashedthe Koqand government and massacred at least 5,000 people.The Koqand government fell. Muslims in the Fergana Valleyrevolted in response. That initial revolt in the Fergana Valleymarked the beginning of the Basmachi movement.

The Bolsheviks in Moscow soon realized its mistake andattempted to meet the need of local people in its own state-hood by creating the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1918 within the Russian Federation.

AsfortheKyrgyz,theyweredispersedamongthreeoblastsof Turkestan: Syrdarya, Semirechye and Fergana, and repre-sented a minority in each. Therefore, their development andinterests were not considered enough. Under such conditions,Kyrgyz intellectuals such as Abdyrakhmanov, Arabaev and Sydykov raised the issue of creating the Mountainous Kyr-gyz Autonomous Oblast in 1921.However, the attempt failed.In 1922, the issuewas raised again. It failed again because ofthe rivalry of Sydykov’s group supporting the idea of Kyrgyzstatehood and the group of Khudaikulov that was against it[U istokov 18–20].

In 1922, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics wascreatedoutof fourrepublics: theRussianSovietFederativeSo-cialistRepublic,UkrainianSovietSocialistRepublic,BelorussianSoviet Socialist Republic and Transcaucasian Soviet FederativeSocialist Republic. In 1924, the first Constitution of the USSRwas adopted [Osmonov 385].

In1924,KyrgyzdelegatesattheTurkestanSovietsCongressaddressedtheCentralCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyagainasking to create the Kyrgyz oblast. They pointed out that al-thoughKyrgyzliveinCentralAsiaalongwithUzbeks,TajiksandKazaks,theirexistenceisstillunknown.ThedelegatesaskedtorecognizeKyrgyzasanethnicgroup inCentralAsia, toemploythem in state institutions and to educate them in their nativeKyrgyz language [Istoriya kyrgyzov 214].


As a result of the 1924 national territorial delimitation ofCentral Asia, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Uzbek SovietSocialist Republic, Tajik Autonomous Oblast, Kara-Kyrgyz Au-tonomousOblast,Kara-KalpakAutonomousOblastwerecreated[Osmonov 385]. Kazakh Autonomous Republic was createdearlier in1920.TheKara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast becamepartoftheRSFSR.Forthefirsttimeintheirhistory,theKyrgyzreceivedtheirownstatehood,althoughintheformofautonomywithin the USSR [Osmonov 386].

The Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast with the territory ofalmost200,000kilometersandthepopulationof828,300 peo-ple (63.5% Kyrgyz, 17% Russians, 15% Uzbeks, 4% others)includedSemirechyeoblast(Przhevalsk,Naryn,Pishpekuezds),Ferganaoblast (10volosts ofNamanganuezd, 2 oblasts ofKo-kand uezd) and Syrdarya oblast (14 volosts of Aulie-Ata uezd,or present-day Talas province) [Osmonov 386].

In1925,theKara-KyrgyzAutonomousOblastwasrenamedtheKyrgyz Autonomous Oblast. In 1926, it was reorganizedandnamedtheKyrgyz Autonomous Republic.Orozbekovwasappointed the Chair of the Presidiumof the Central ExecutiveCommittee. In1929, the firstConstitutionofKyrgyzASSRwasadopted. In 1936, the Kyrgyz Autonomous Republic becamethe full-fledged Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic [Osmonov388–91].

language and religious policy

An important part of the national policy oftheBolshevikswaslanguagepolicy.Sinceonlyfew languages in the Soviet state had theirwritten forms, the first step in this direction

was the creation of writing systems. Out of 130 languages,spoken by the country’s population, only twenty had more orless developed written systems. Only Russians, Georgians andArmenians used their own alphabets [Chotaeva 79].

The national delimitation of Turkestan in 1924 aimed toblockade the tendency towards the consolidation of Turkic-


speaking peoples, and to protect them from the growing influ-enceofTurkey.Theseaimswereachievedthroughthelanguagereforms of 1920–40s, which resulted in the disconnection ofcommon Turkic cultural traditions. In 1924, themodified Ar-abic script was adopted for Kyrgyz. In 1927, the Kyrgyz lan-guage switched from Arabic to Latin, and in 1941, the Cyril-lic alphabet replaced Latin. If the first reform brought to thesimplificationoftheArabicscriptadjustingittotheTurkiclan-guages of Central Asia, the second reform cut off the Islamictradition in the region, and the third provided a good groundfor Russification [Chotaeva 74–5].

Political and linguistic motives caused the second reform.TheArabic alphabet, even in itsmodifiedversion,wasdifficultto learn. In contrast toArabic, Latinwas seen asmore neutralandcompromising. Itwasauniversalalphabet,whichcouldbeand actually was more effective in combating illiteracy. Latinwould facilitate the learning of Central Asian languages. Mos-cow also assumed that it could be easier to control publica-tions printed in local languages and create a barrier betweenthe new national literatures of Central Asian republics and itscommonMuslim heritage. On the other hand, the introductionof Latin was profoundly affected by Turkey that at that timealso switched from Arabic to Latin.

The last language reform was caused by solely politicalconsiderations. After the introduction of the Latin alphabet,the task to prevent the consolidation of Turkic-speaking peo-pleswasundertaken.Thethirdreformalsolaidthefoundationfor their furtherRussification.TheLatinalphabet complicatedthe study of Russian as Kyrgyz students had to study twodifferent alphabets: Latin for Kyrgyz and Cyrillic for Russian.Both alphabets had a number of letters, which were similarin writing but different in pronunciation. The latter createdlinguistic confusion and put many obstacles on the way oflearningRussian.The introductionofCyrillicforbothlanguages


would resolve the problem and facilitate the study of Russianby local nationalities [Chotaeva 80].

In the course of their rule, the Bolsheviks treated Islamvery pragmatically using it as an instrument to achieve theirends.In1918–20,theantireligiouscampaigntookplace.BytheDecreeof1917,civilmarriagebecameobligatory;marriageanddivorce contracted according to Shariatwas announced illegal.Following the Decree “On separation of church from state” of1918, the teachingof Islamicdisciplinesand the functioningofIslamic schools were banned. Traditional Muslim courts werereplacedbyauniformpeople’scourt.Waqfs(thelandsofMus-limclergy)wereconfiscated.Thepersecutionof Islamresultedin the closing of thousands ofmosques and the elimination ofthe most educatedMuslim clerics [Chotaeva 124–5].

However, since 1941, the period of more tolerant attitudetowards Islam tookplace.Themain stimulus for the change intheSovietpolicywastheGreatPatrioticWar.Theshiftwasmo-tivated by the need for military manpower to win the war.

In 1941, Stalin made a decision to create Central Asian Spiritual Board of Muslims (SADUM), an official Islamic bodythatwould take a centralized control of the religious situationin the region. In 1946, it was permitted to publish quarterlyJournal of the Religious Board of Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

In 1944, Muslims were officially allowed to perform pil-grimagetoMecca. In1945, theMiri-l-Arab Madrasa inBukharawas reopened. Itprovided the Islamic training to100 studentsenrolled in a five-year program. As formosques, their numbergradually increased. The best students of Miri-l-Arab MadrasaweredispatchedtoMuslimuniversitiesabroad,primarilytoAl-Azhar in Egypt. The official Muslim clergywas sent abroad tospread the Communist propaganda as well as Muslim officialsfrom foreign countries were received [Chotaeva 126–7].


7.4. Great patriotic War (1941–1945)TheGreat Patriotic WarwasanintegralpartofWorldWar

II.WWIIwas a globalmilitary conflictwhich involvedmost ofthe world’s nations (62–72 states), including great powers ofthat time organized into two opposing military alliances: theAllies andthe Axis.Over70million(themajoritywerecivilians)were killed or died from starvation.

A number of reasons led to the war. In the aftermath ofWorldWar I defeatedGermany signed theTreaty of Versailles.ThiscausedGermanyto losearound13%of its territory,alongwithitscolonies,prohibitedGermanannexationofotherstates,imposedmassive reparations and limited the size andmakeupof Germany’s armed forces.

The war started on September 1, 1939, with the Germaninvasion of Poland and subsequent declarations of war onGermany by the British Empire and France. The Soviet Unioninvaded Poland from the eastern side. Many states that werenot initially involved joined the war later as a result the Ger-man invasion of the USSR and the attack on Pearl Harbor inthe USA by Japan.

As soon as the war ended in 1945 with the victory of theAllies, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as theworld’s superpowers setting the stage for the Cold War thatlastedforthefollowing46years.TheUnitedNationswasformedin 1945 in order to prevent the world from another militaryconflict. The promotion of the principle of self-determinationof nations by UN resulted in the decolonizationmovements inAsia and Africa.

The invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941, by Germanymarked the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Kyrgyzstancontributed to the victory of the USSR over fascist Germanyon the war front and the home front.

Since the first days of the war many young males in Kyr-gyzstanvolunteeredforthearmy.All-statemobilizationwasan-nounced.Duringthemobilization,385 thrifledivision,40 th and


153 th rifle divisions and 2nd national cavalry division wereformed in Kyrgyzstan.

The most famous were 385 th rifle division named afterGeneral Panfilov. It was formed of Kyrgyzstani and Kazakh-stani citizens. In 1941, that division defended Moscow andwithin awholemonth held its positions. For this, the divisionwas awardedwith theOrder of Red Star. General PanfilovwaskilledandawardedtheHerooftheSovietUnionposthumously.28 legendaryheroesof thePanfilovdivisionwereKyrgyzstanissuchasShopokov, Ananyev, Shemyakin, Konkin, Moskalenko, Petrenko and others. They also were awarded the Heroes ofthe Soviet Union posthumously [Osmonov 405–6].

ThefirstHerooftheSovietUnionwasDmitrievwhodefend-ed the Brest fortress during the first days of thewar. AnotherHerooftheSovietUnionwasthesonofthefamouscommanderMichael Frunze —Timur Frunze [Osmonov 404, 406].

ManyotherKyrgyzstanisperformed immortalheroicdeeds.Cholponbai Tuleberdiev shut the pillbox with his breast andwas awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

The artillery man Daiyr Asanov during 4 hours of battledestroyed8tanks,6armouredvehiclesand40fascists.Hewasposthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Akun Sadyrbaev could catch and throw back 16 grenades.The 17 th exploded and killed him.

PilotIsmailbek Taranchievdirectedhisplanetotheenemy’stanks at the petrol station. The explosion destroyed 6 tanksand several cars. Only in 1991, he was awarded the Hero ofthe Soviet Union.

TheKyrgyzstaniwhowasawardedtheheroof theSUtwicewas pilot Begeldinov who remained alive after the war andmoved to Kazakhstan after independence.

Overall,380,000Kyrgyzstanisfoughtonthewarfronts,morethan90,000werekilled,morethan150,000wereawardedwithorders and medals. Among them, 73 were awarded with thehighestaward,theHerooftheSovietUnion[Osmonov408–13].


In order tomeet the needs of the war, many factories andplantsweremovedfromtheEuropeanpartoftheSovietUniontoUral, SiberiaandCentralAsia.More than30 large industrialenterpriseswereevacuatedtoKyrgyzstan:themachineryplant,the mercuric complex, the tannery and glue plants, the sugarmill, textile factories and others. Most of themwere relocatedin Chui province.

ByDecemberof1942,morethan138,000peoplewereevac-uated from Moscow, Moscow and Leningrad oblasts, Ukraine,Belorussia, Baltic region, Poland. Most of them were famousscholarsandartists.Followingthewar,manyofthemremainedinKyrgyzstanandsignificantly contributed to thedevelopmentof science and art in the republic.

People of Central Asia were donating to the front not onlyproductsandclothingbutalsotheirsalaries,money,jewelryandcattle. A special account was opened at the State Bank wheremoney frompeoplewas transferred.During thewar,Kyrgyzstancollected 189million rubles and sent 195 wagons of food [Os-monov415–9].

7.5. Khrushchev period (1953–1964)The period from 1953 to 1964 is known as the period of

Khrushchev Thaw in thehistoryof theUSSRand is character-izedbythe liberalizationofdomesticand internationalpoliciesin the USSR. The period of 1953–64was the timewhenmanychangesinthepolitical,culturalandeconomiclifeoftheSovietUnion took place.

AfterthedeathofStalin,MalenkovbecametheChairof theCouncilofMinisters,whileKhrushchevwaselectedtheGeneralSecretary of the Communist Party. When Malenkov proposedhis plan of economic reforms that prioritized the developmentof light industry, Khrushchev accused him of betraying the in-terests of heavy industry. Malenkov resigned andKhrushchev took power into his hands [Khrushchev 14–5].


In the political aspect, Khrushchev era was marked byde-Stalinization, ordenouncingStalin’sdictatorialruleandcultofpersonality. In1956, at the20 th Congressof theCommunistParty, Khrushchev made the report “About the cult of person-alityand itsconsequences”wherehepresentedthedocumentsconcerningtherepressionsoftheprominentpartyandpoliticalleaders of the country. It was stated that they were not the“enemies of the people” but honest people and patriots. Lateron, the Central Committee of the Communist Party issued theDecree“Aboutovercomingthecultofpersonalityanditsconse-quences”where it was attempted to analyze the objective andsubjective factors of the cult of personality. Stalinwas chargedwiththosecrimes,mistakesmadeinthedevelopmentofnationaleconomy and the leadership, and the abuse of power.

After the congress, a large-scale rehabilitation of the re-pressedbeganinthe1930–50s.Manypeoplewererehabilitatedposthumously. Deported ethnic groupswere allowed returningto their homelands. However, that process was interrupted inthe late 1960s.

In the economic aspect, Khrushchev initiated a numberof agricultural reforms. The food crisis took place. Therefore,the agricultural sector required urgent changes. He raised theprices for agricultural production,while cancelled the debts ofcollective farms. The taxes on cattle were abolished and theagricultural production from personal plotswas not anymorerequired to be turned over to the state. All those measuresappeared to be effective and very soon agriculture becameprofitable.

Another problem was the grain issue. Khrushchev decidedto resolve it by cultivating virgin lands. In 1954, the Virgin Land Campaign started. Many young volunteers from Russia,Ukraine and other republics of the USSR were dispatched tocultivate the virgin lands of Kazakhstan, Sothern Siberia andUral. Living in very harsh conditions, often in tents, withoutelementary conveniences, they remained very enthusiastic.


However,duetosomereasonstheVirginLandCampaignfailed[Khrushchev 103–17].

In 1959, Khrushchev visited the corn fields of the USA. HewascharmedbythemostpopularintheUSAcropanddecidedto cultivate corn instead of the grassland agriculture. He as-sumed that the cultivation of the corn would help resolve thegrain and forage problems together. He began to introduce itscultivation everywhere on the territory of the state not takinginto account that that crop likes themild climate and requiresa lot of labor. That is, the cultivation of the corn failed too.

In the early 1960s, the food problem emerged again. Milk,butter, breadwere not produced enough. People stood in longlines topurchase them.For the first time in thehistory, itwasdecided to import food to the USSR.

In the industrial sector, the program of economic reformsto develop light and food industries proposed by Malenkovwas rejected.Themain rolewas stillplayedbyheavy industry.Constructionbuilding,machinery,metalworking,chemicalindus-try, oil industry, energy industry developed. A number of newhydroelectric stationswereput into operation.Anew industryof nuclear power engineering emerged. In 1961, first humanYuri Gagarin flied to the space [Khrushchev 63–7].

As for foreign relations, they were marked by the con-frontation between the USA and USSR in 1962 (Caribbean Crisis). In 1962, the USSR decided to deploy its missiles onthe territory of Cuba, the only socialist state in Latin Amer-ica. The US administration was alarmed when its spy planetook their photo. The USA demanded to withdraw missilesand return them to the USSR. The tension lasted for 13 dayswhen the Soviet Union finally agreed to dismantle them inexchange of the US declaration not to invade Cuba [Khrush-chev 103–17, 205].

In 1964, Khrushchevwas accused of hismistakes and fail-ures and deposed from the position of the General Secretaryof the Communist Party.


razzakov In 1945, Razzakov was appointed the Chair oftheCouncilofMinisters in theKyrgyzSSR. Itwas

the time when post-war Kyrgyzstan faced a lot of difficulties.The task of Razzakov was to restore the economy ruined bythe war within the five-year 1946–50 plan. The five-year planprescribed to increase the economic output, to build and putinto operation new plants, mines, electric stations, irrigationsystems, schools and houses. In terms of agriculture, it wasrequired not only to restore but to increase the areas undercrops, raise harvest production of cereals and technical crops,increase livestock and its productivity [U istokov 323].

Under thedirect leadershipofRazzakov, the industrial sec-tor of Kyrgyzstan was reconstructed. A large-scale work wasmade on the development of mining and energy industries,machinery, construction building, and transportation. During1946–60,more than20 large-scale industrial enterpriseswereconstructed.Duringthe1951–55five-yearplan,about30enter-priseswereput intooperation. In1955,about1,500 industrialenterprisesfunctioned.In1950,theeconomicoutputincreasedtwice compared to 1940 and in 5.6 times in 1958 comparedto 1940. The new instrument-making industrywas introducedwith the estalishment of “Fizpribory” Factory in Bishkek cityin 1958 [U istokov 323–4].

In theagricultural sector,newtechnologiesand fundswereintroduced. Razzakov realized how important agriculture wasfor the economy. For 1956–60, the production of grain in-creased by 48.6%, sugar beet 2.4 times, potato and vegeta-bles twice, milk almost twice, wool more than twice. For theachievementsintheproductionofsugarbeet,cottonandcattlebreeding and for successful implementation of the state planin 1956, the Kyrgyz SSR was awarded with the Order of Le-nin alongwith 45 people who became the Heroes of SocialistLabor for their contribution to the development of agriculture[U isokov 326–7].


Significant achievements were made in the cultural devel-opment. Both secondary and higher education developed. Theuniversal7-yearandthenin1959,8-yearsecondaryeducationalsystemwasintroduced.Childrenofcattle-breederswereplacedin special boarding schools. In 1957, free hot breakfasts wereprovided at schools. As for higher and secondary special edu-cational institutions, the Kyrgyz State University, Osh Institute, Przhevalsk Institute, Polytechnic Institute, Women’s Pedagogical Institute, Physical Labor Institute were opened. Local studentsgot the opportunity to study at Moscow, Leningrad and otherlarge cities of the Soviet Union [U istokov 327–8].

In1954,theAcademy of Sciences ofKyrgyzstanwasopened.It included 14 research institutes, 4 independent departments,2museumsand3experimentstations.By the initiativeofRaz-zakov, theKyrgyz complex archaeological-ethnographic expedi-tionwas organized. During 4 years, they collected the data onthe Kyrgyz ethnogenesis. Razzakov initiated the all-union andrepublican conferences on the Manas Epic in 1952, the 1916 Rebellion in 1953, the Ethnogenesis of the Kyrgyz people and the Cultural Heritage of Moldo Kylych in 1956. As a result ofthose conferences, theManas Epic was recognized as people’sepic, the 1916 rebellion was admitted the national-liberationrebellion, the formation of the Kyrgyz people was seen as thecombinationoftwoethnicelements:thelocalCentralAsianandSouthernSiberian,MoldoKylychwasconsideredthereactionarypoetand for30yearshispoemswerebanned. In1955,Opera and Ballet Theatre was opened [U istokov 329–31].

In 1961, Razzakov was charged with nationalism and dis-missedfromthepositionoftheFirstSecretaryoftheCommunistParty in Kyrgyzstan.

7.6. Brezhnev period (1964–1982)More than half of the century the country lived under

emergency conditions. New leaders came to the conclusionthat thecountryneededstability. Stabilitywasachievedby the


denial of political upheavals of the recent years, the policy ofde-Stalinization and reforms.

The period of 1964–85 is known as theperiod of stagna-tion,orofficiallyreferredastheperiodofdeveloped socialism,because during that period the country lacked radical politi-cal, economic and cultural changes and was characterized bypolitical and economic stability. The 1977 Constitution of theUSSR stated that “developed socialist society” characterizedby strong productive forces, advanced science and culturewasbuilt in the USSR.

Brezhnevwasappointed theGeneralSecretaryof theCom-munist Party, while the Chair of the Council of Ministers be-cameKosygin.

In 1965, itwas decided to implement an economic reform.The reform was developed by Kosygin and aimed to switchstate enterprises to partial self-financing. The profit receivedaftertherealizationoftheplannedproductioncouldbeusedbythe enterprise for its owndevelopmentor to raise the salariesof its personnel. Therefore, the transition from administrativeto economic methods in the management proved to be moreeffective. In 1966–70, the economy experienced a significantgrowth [Osmonov 441–2]. The most successful in the Sovieteconomywereelectricpowerengineering,machinery,instrumentengineering, radio electronics and oil industry.

Nevertheless,sincetheearly1970s, thegrowthratesloweddownandby the1980s it completely stopped.Themainprob-lemconsistedinthedisconnectionbetweentheSovieteconomyand its scientific-technical progress. The economy developedextensionally by introducing more human and material re-sources but not intensively. The resources of the countrywererunning out. The economy was monopolized and centralizedby the state. The majority of enterprises were militarily andindustrially oriented. Enterprises were predominantly large-sized. In the 1970–80s, serious disproportions were observedin thedevelopmentand structureof theUSSR industrieswhen


heavyindustriesdominated.Theattemptstoswitchtointensivemethods of development failed [Dmytryshyn 340–7].

Theagricultural sectorexperienceda serious crisis.Theat-temptsofreformsundertakenbytheadministrationdidn’thelp.Tostimulateagriculturalproducers,thestatepricesforagricul-tural production were raised. The agricultural overproductionwas paid 50% more. The integrated farms were established.Those integrated farms included collective farms, state farms,processing,transportationandtradecompanies.Tofacilitatethemanagementofagriculture,theStateAgro-IndustrialCommitteewas created. However, all thosemeasures failed and the grossagricultural output decreased [Dmytryshyn 336, 343–5].

usubaliyev In1961,UsubaliyevwasappointedtheFirstSec-retaryoftheCommunistPartyoftheKyrgyzSSR.

The leadingeconomicsector inKyrgyzstanbecame indus-try. Electrotechnical engineering, instrument making, elec-tronics developed rapidly. One of themost automated enter-priseswasMailisai electric bulb plant. Construction buildingindustry developed. Kyrgyzstan produced cement, reinforcedconcrete plates and wall construction blocks. Processing in-dustry was represented by cotton and wool processing, coalprocessing, agricultural products processing. In energetics,the largest Toktogul Hydropower Station was put into op-eration. Overall, 150 large industrial objects were construct-ed during his time.

Atthesametime,lightindustrywithsuchsectorsasclothingmanufactures, knitted goods factories, tanningwasnot paid asmuchattentionasheavy industryanddidn’tdevelopasrapidlyas it could be. Food industry experienced the same problem.Both produced low quality goods and, therefore, were not de-manded by the population [Osmonov 442–4].

In agriculture, the leadingpartwasplayedby sheepbreed-ing. The new breed of sheepwas raised. It was the Tien Shan


breed, the bread of a very high meat and wool productivity,welladaptedtotheclimaticandotherconditionsofKyrgyzstan.

The cultivation of sugar beetwas another important sectorof agriculture. It was the basic culture in the Chui Valley. In1970s,Kyrgyzstanwas the first in theUSSRby theproductionof sugar beet. The main export of the republic was cotton. Atthe same time,most of those industries and economic sectorsused extensivemethods of development that proved to be notso effective.

Bishkek capital was given a new image during Usubaliyev.He was in charge of the so-called “marble city”. Under hisleadership,the Manas Airport, the National Library, the Academy of Sciences, the White House and other architectural ensembleson theAla-TooandPobedaSquireswerebuilt inBishkek.Masshousing construction was launched as well.

In 1985, Usubaliyev was charged with corruption and re-placed by Masaliyev.

7.7. perestroika (1985–1991)In the late 1980s, the stagnation in economy, politics and

social life of the country became inevitable. Social instabilityandcorruption increased.Agreatdemandforcardinalchangesin the economy and political system of the country surfaced.

After the death of Brezhnev, Andropov came to power. Heattempted to revise the party and state system but died after15months of rule. Andropovwas replaced byChernenko thatsymbolized the return of Brezhnev times.However, Chernenkodied soon too [Osmonov 453].

In 1985, Gorbachev was appointed to the position of theGeneral Secretary of the Central Committee of the CommunistParty. He took the course of reforms that later spread to allaspects of life. The policy of Gorbachevwas called perestroika[White 23].

Perestroika was associatedwith a number of political andeconomic reformsundertaken in 1985–1991. The aimof pere-


stroika was to improve the economy but within the frames ofsocialist system. That is, perestroika did not aim to switch tocapitalism. However, it resulted in the escalation of the crisis,the elimination of the Communist Party domination and thedissolution of the USSR.

Perestroika was initiated under the slogans of uskorenie,democratization and glasnost.Uskorenie (acceleration) meantthe reorganization of the economy, the switch from the exten-sivemethodsofeconomicdevelopmenttotheintensive.Itwasdecided to start by reforming a large-scale industry, especial-ly machinery, and bring the economy up to the internationalstandards in the1990s.However, large investmentsdirectedtoeconomy did not result in any improvement but in the wasteof money and goods shortage. Democratization that initiallyaimedatthedemocratizationofintra-partyrelationslaterwentfar beyond it and laid the foundation for the multi-party sys-tem in the country.Glasnost (publicity)meant the abolitionofcensorship in mass media [White 23–6, 57–60].

Inorder to fight corruptionamong the stateandparty lead-ership, Gorbachev initiated his cadre policy and replaced allleaders of the union republics and secretaries of local party or-ganizations. Usubaliyev, the First Secretary of Kyrgyzstan whoruled the republic for 24 years, was replaced by Masaliyev.The Second Secretary Kiselev was appointed by Moscow [Os-monov 453–4].

In the late1980s,variouspolitical clubsdiscussingpoliticaland social issues appeared in Kyrgyzstan: Demos, Zamandash (KyrgyzNationalUniversity),Koz Karash (theInstituteofEcon-omy, the Committee of State Planning).

With the elections to the Supreme Soviet of Kyrgyzstan,different political associations, unions and organizations wereestablished.Mostofthemaimedtorevivethelanguage,cultureand history of the Kyrgyz people. Later many of them werereorganized into political parties [Osmonov 456–7].


• AsharwastheorganizationofKyrgyzunauthorizedhousingconstructors who seized land plots around Bishkek city.

• Osh Aimagy was the organization of Kyrgyz unauthorizedhousing constructors who seized land plots around Oshcity.

• Adolatwastheorganizationof theUzbekyouthofOshcity.• Asaba was first Kyrgyz national-democratic party.• Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan became the largest

politicalmovementthatunitedmostoftheexistingpoliticalpartiesandlatergaverisetosuchpoliticalpartiesasAsaba,Erkin Kyrgyzstan and others.

In 1990, the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the Kyr-gyz SSR were carried out under the new law on elections.The electionswerealternative,freeanddemocratic.Asaresultofelections,10%ofthedeputieselectedwerenotCommunists.That is, the elections finally put an end to the dictatorship ofthe Communist Party. Masaliyev was appointed the Chairman(speaker) of the Supreme Soviet [Osmonov 458].

In 1990, the new institution ofpresidency was introducedintheUSSRandKyrgyzstan.TheSupremeSovietelectedAkayev the first president of the republic.

The introductionofpresidency inKyrgyzstanputanend tothe one-party system inwhich the Communist Party dominat-ed the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of power.It laid the foundation for a popular vote and the election ofleaders filling thevacuumemergedwith theeliminationof thedomination of the Communist party [Osmonov 506].

On December 15, 1990, the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan was adopted. Thedeclaration signified the supreme authority of the republic onits territory and independent foreign relations. The republicintroduced its own banking, financial and tax systems.

In August of 1991, some Communist and military leadersorganizedthecouptorestorethepreviousregime.Theattempt


failed.However,itresultedinthedissolutionoftheSovietUnionand creation of 15 independent states.

In economic terms, the aim of perestroika was to switchfrom a centralized and planned economy to amarket-orient-edeconomy.Manyenterpriseswere introducedtheprinciplesof self-financing and self-management when they were notany more funded from the state budget and had to admin-ister their enterprises by themselves. If prior to 1990 therewas some increase in the economic development, it declinedafter 1990. Nevertheless, only in 1991 the Denationalization and privatization law was adopted [Osmonov 459–62]. Thatis, themarketeconomycouldnoteffectivelyfunctionintermsof socialism.

As for agriculture, peasants were given a free hand. Co-operatives and farms were encouraged. By 1990, the live-stock increased. However, after 1990 the number of pasturessuddenly decreased that caused the decline in productivity[Osmonov 463].

The contradictions of the Soviet language policy surfacedduringGorbachev’sperestroika.Growing ethnic self-conscious-ness in the late 1980s and early 1990s promoted the Kyrgyzethnic and cultural revival that had the language issue in thecore.

In the late of the 1980s, all union republics initiated anumber of measures to increase the functions of their titularlanguages. The firstwasMoldova that in 1987 passed the lawtoextend the functionsof theMoldavian languageand in1989switched to the Latin alphabet. The legislations on titular lan-guages came next.

ByMay of 1990, all union republics except for the RussianFederation passed the laws on state languages. It isworthy ofnote that prior to the 1980s, neither the Soviet Union nor itsunion republics had any comprehensive language laws of suchkind except for the corresponding paragraphs in their consti-tutions [Chotaeva 86–7].


Inthesecondhalfofthe1980s,linguisticrussificationcarriedout by the Soviet state met a strong resistance from nationalintelligentsiaofKyrgyzstan.PublicdemandsofgrantingKyrgyza higher status brought to the adoption of the 1989 Law “On the state language of the Kirgiz SSR” recognizing Kyrgyz astheonlystatelanguageofKyrgyzstan.ThedeclarationofKyrgyzthe state language aimed at:• the elimination of a great disparity between the use of

Russian and Kyrgyz;• the promotion of the status and prestige of Kyrgyz;• decentralization of power fromMoscow;• nation and state building.

The adoption of the 1989 law was accompanied by theResolutionoftheSupremeCounciloftheKyrgyzSSR,accordingto which beginning from January 1999 the official correspon-dence in state bodies, enterprises and organizationswas to beswitched to Kyrgyz [Chotaeva 87].

From 1959 to 1989 Kyrgyz was not taught in non-Kyrgyzsecondary schools. The capital of the republic had the onlyschool where Kyrgyz was the language of instruction. 42% ofKyrgyz school children did not study Kyrgyz and knew it onlyat the level of spoken language.The functioningofKyrgyzwasreduced to the secondary and higher humanities and socialsciences education [Chotaeva 86].

In June of 1990, there were the clashes between KyrgyzandUzbeks inOshprovince.OshAimagyandAdolatwere twoinformal organizations responsible for the conflict. The mainsource of the conflict was the land issue. The needy Kyrgyzliving in Lenin collective farm (in the suburbs of Osh city)were promised to have land plots. Uzbeks did not welcomethat decision of the local administration.

On June4, twogroupsofKyrgyzandUzbeksbeganmovinginopposingdirections inOsh city crashingeverythingon theirwayandbeatingupandkillingpeopleoftheoppositeethnicity.


OnJune5,theclashesbetweenKyrgyzandUzbeksbrokeoutinUzgen city. There were many Kyrgyz in those cities that livedin rented Uzbek houses. On these days, Uzbeks expelledmanyKyrgyz families from their houses. In response, many Kyrgyzfrom neighboring villages came to take revenge.

The sources of the conflict were social problems (land is-sue,housingproblem),economicsituation(UzbekswereurbandwellersandeconomicallybettercomparedtoKyrgyz),politicalfactors (with independence political power was in the handsof Kyrgyz), demographic problems (Uzbeks were the majorityin cities,while Kyrgyzwereminorities andmainly lived in ru-ral and mountainous regions), cultural problems (Kyrgyz wasdeclared the only state language in Kyrgyzstan).

Theconflict stoppedonlyon the thirdday June6when theSoviet Army entered Osh province. As a result of the conflict,about300peoplewerekilled (byofficialestimations),ormorethan 1000 people (by unofficial sources).

Duringperestroika,alcoholismbecameamassproblem.Thatproblem first surfaced during the period of stagnation underBrezhnev. Gorbachev initiated so-called “dry law”. Alcoholicdrinkswerenotanymoresold in shops.People turned topro-ducehome-madevodka,drinktechnicalspirits,ortosubstitutealcoholwith drugs. According to the data of theWorld HealthOrganization, there were 40 million alcoholics in 1980 in theUSSR, or every seventh citizen of the USSR was an alcoholic[Osmonov 465].

In the 1980s, drug abuse became another social problem.One of the factors consisted in the fact that Kyrgyzstan hadmany fields of wild hemp. Another factor was its geograph-ical proximity to Afghanistan, the region of drugs and drugtrafficking.

As a result of alcoholism and drug abuse, criminality in-creased. Kyrgyzstan became one of the four most criminalrepublics in the USSR along with Moldavia, Uzbekistan andLithuania. In 1980, 11.7 thousand, in 1985, 14.4 thousand,


in 1989,25.5thousandcrimeswerecommitted. In1980,morethan 40% of crimes were not opened. The number of seriouscrimes increased [Osmonov 468].

Chapter 8INDEPENDENT KYRGYZSTAN (1991–2015)

The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked the new peri-od — theperiod of independentKyrgyzstan. For the first timeinhistory, theKyrgyzenjoyed their independentandsovereignstate. The attributes of a national state such as national flag,emblem and anthem were adopted. In 1993, the first Consti-tution of Kyrgyzstan was passed by the parliament.

However, soon the euphoria of the first years of indepen-dencehadgone.The standardof livingdeclinedandmass-scaleunemployment surfaced. The newly established independentrepublic had faced a deep political, economic and social crisis.Kyrgyzstanwasnotanymorereferredasan“islandofdemocra-cy”butan “islandof instability” inCentralAsia.Therevolutionsof 2005 and 2010 resulted in the overthrow of two presidents.The 2010 revolution brought tomore than 80 victims and pro-voked the 2010 interethnic conflict in the south of Kyrgyzstan.

The recent development in Kyrgyzstan has been character-ized by political stabilization. As a result of the 2010 referen-dum, thestateswitched fromapresidential toaparliamentarysystem.In2012,apeacefultransitionofpowerfromapresidentto another took place.

8.1. akaev regime (1991–2005)Akayev became the first president of Kyrgyzstan. He was

elected as soon as the presidency was introduced in 1990.In October of 1991, Akaevwas elected the president again asa result of a popular referendum receiving 95% of the votes[Osmonov 510].


InDecember1990, theSupremeSovietvoted tochange therepublic’s name to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. However,withthe Constitution in 1993, the new name was adopted — the Kyrgyz Republic. InFebruary1991, thecapitalof therepublic,Frunze city, was renamed Bishkek. The major streets of thecapital city were also given Kyrgyz names. During the refer-endum on March 21, 1991, 76% of the voters in the USSRagreed to remainpartof theSovietUnionbutof the “renewedfederation” [Osmonov 508].

OnAugust 19, 1991,when the StateEmergencyCommittee(GKCHP)assumedpowerinMoscow,therewasanattempttode-poseAkayevfrompresidency.Thecoupfailed.Akayevannouncedhis resignation from the Communist Party and banned it fora while. On August 31, 1991, the Supreme Soviet proclaimedthe independence of Kyrgyzstan by passing the Declaration on the State Independence of the Republic of Kyrgyzstanwas adopted. On December 21, 1991, Akayev along with thepresidents of other 10 newly independent states signed theagreementinAlmatycityonthecreationoftheCommonwealth

Chapter 8. Independent Kyrgyzstan (1991–2015) 125

of Independent States (CIS) that eventually put an end to theSoviet Union [Osmonov 511].

OnMay5,1993,thedraftofthenewConstitutionwaspassedby the parliament. It took two years since 1991 before it wasfinally approved [Osmonov 512]. The Constitution declared:• Kyrgyzstan is a sovereign unitary democratic republic built

on the basis of legal secular state;• Sovereignty is extended to the whole territory of Kyrgyz-

stan;• The people of Kyrgyzstan is the only source of state power;• The people exercise its power through the system of state

agencies on the basis of the Constitution.

According to the constitution, the state powerwas dividedinto three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.

The President ensured the unity of all branches of power.He waselectedbyapopularvoteforafive-yearterm.The pres-identialcandidatewasprescribedtobe35–65yearsold,shouldspeakKyrgyzandliveinKyrgyzstannotlessthan15 yearspriortohis nomination. The sameperson couldnotbe thePresidentmore than twice in a row. The Prime Minister was nominatedby thePresident and confirmedby theParliament. TheCabinetof Ministers was appointed by the President upon the recom-mendation of the PrimeMinister [Osmonov 513].

The Executive branchwas administered by the PrimeMin-isterwho also served as the chair in the Cabinet ofMinisters.Thebranchincludedministries,statecommittees,stateagenciesand localadministration.Localadministrationwasrepresentedby the governors in provinces, akims in rayons and cities, aylokmots in villages.

The Legislative branch of power was represented by theParliament Jogorku Kenesh. Prior to 1995, Kyrgyzstan had aunicameral legislature. In 1995, it was replaced by a bicamer-al one. The bicameral Parliament consisted of the LegislativeAssembly (35seatselectedbypopularvote)and theAssembly


ofPeople’sRepresentatives (70 seats electedbypopular vote).The legislative term was five years. In 2005, the Parliamentbecame unicameral again.

TheJudicialbranchincludedtheConstitutionalCourt,Supre-me Court, Supreme Arbitration Court, local courts and judges.Although the Constitution assumed an independent judiciary,Kyrgyzstan’scourtsystemhadalwaysbeenundertheinfluenceof theprosecutor’soffice. Lowsalariesmadebriberiesof judg-es common. As a rule, most cases originated in local courts.They then moved through the appeals process to municipalor regional courts finally reaching the Supreme Court, or theultimate court of appeals.

In1994, theparliament failed toproduce a quorum.Akayevscheduled a referendum in October 1994 that approved twoamendmentstotheConstitution:thefirstwastoallowthe Con-stitution to be amended by means of a referendum, and theother onewas to create a new bicameral parliament.

In 1995, the elections for both chambers, the 35-seat full-time Legislative Assembly and the 70-seat part-time AssemblyofPeople’sRepresentatives,tookplace.Independentcandidateswonmostof theseats.Thenewparliamentconvened its initialsession in March 1995.

Since 1995, many observers began speaking about author-itarianism gaining ground in Kyrgyzstan. In 1996, anotherreferendum was scheduled. In violation of the Constitutionand the lawon referendums, it approved theamendments andgave President Akayevmore power, for example the power todissolve the parliament.

After independence, the program of economic reformswasadopted. The most significant of economic reforms was dena-tionalization and privatization. The reform aimed to establishnew private enterprises with effective management systems.In 1993, the new national currency som was introduced.

The economic reform began in 1991 with the adoption oftheDenationalization and Privatization Law and the creation


of the State Property Fund as the main agency to design andimplement the program. By the end of 1993, about 4,450 stateenterprises, or 33%, were fully or partially privatized. By mid1994, nearly all services and 82% of trade enterprises, 40%of industries, and 68% of construction assets were in privatehands.However, theresultwasnotsopositive.Privatizationwasaccompaniedbythecreationof jointstockcompaniesandtrans-ferringenterprisesharestolaborgroupswithinthem.Almostnopublic bidding for enterprise shareswas organized.

The second stage of reform took place in 1994. The 1994Law on Privatization prescribed competitive shares bidding insmall enterprises (with fewer than 100 employees) as well aslong-termprivatizationofmedium-size(with100to1,000 em-ployees) and large-size enterprises through competitive cashbidding. The new law also spoke for auctioning all enterpriseshares. By the end of 1994, 65% of industrial output camefrom non-state enterprises.

In 1991, the agrarian reform was undertaken. The aim ofthe reform was to dissolve collective farms and pass land topeasants, thus creating peasant farms. By the end of 1993,172collectivefarmsweredissolvedand17.5thousandpeasantfarmscreated. In1995, thenumberofpeasant farms increasedto21 thousand.The statehad topurchase theirproductionbymarket prices.

In 1994, the president issued the decree on deepening theagrarian reform.By1998,55 thousandpeasant farmswere cre-atedaswellasagriculturalcooperatives,collectivepeasantfarmsand joint enterprises. In 1995, the land tax was introduced.In 1998, the private ownership of landwas permitted. In 2000,the law that allowed buying and selling land passed.

OnDecember24,1995,PresidentAkayevwas reelected foranother5-year term(75%ofvote). In1996,newamendmentstotheConstitutiontoincreasethepowerofthepresidentwereintroduced. In 2000, Akayev was reelected for the third termin violation of the Constitution based on the decision made


by the Constitutional Court. In 2003, new amendments to theConstitution were adopted through referendum.

In2005, aspart of the electionsprocess and in accordancewith the 2003 referendum, the Parliament became unicameralagain. The 2005 parliamentary elections failed to be free andfair. Sporadic protests against perceived manipulation andfraud during the elections erupted into widespread calls forthe government to resign. Mass demonstrations took place inthe south of Kyrgyzstan.

OnMarch24,15,000pro-oppositiondemonstratorsinBish-kekdemanded theresignationof thepresidentandhis regime.Protesters seized theWhiteHouse, andAkayev had to flee thecountry, first to neighboring Kazakhstan and then to Moscow.Initiallyrefusingtoresignanddenouncingtheeventsasacoup,he subsequently signed his resignation on April 4, 2005.

Anumber of factors brought to the revolution of 2005: theruleofAkayevandhis family for15years,growingauthoritar-ianism of his regime, an economic crisis and accompanying itcorruptionandunemployment,regionalismandtribalismwhenmostof thosehigh stateofficialswere chosenaccording to theregional and tribal principles.

8.2. Bakiyev regime (2005–2010)Following the revolution of 2005, the opposition leaderBa-

kiyev was appointed interim President and Prime Minister ofKyrgyzstan.HescheduledpresidentialelectionsforJulyof2005.Inordertowintheelections,Bakiyevdecidedtoformapoliticaltandemwith another opposition leaderKulov. Both agreed thatifBakiyevwaselected thepresident,Kulovwouldbeappointedthe Prime Minister. This political tandem also represented theunionoftwoKyrgyzstaniregions,thenorthandthesouth.WhileBakiyevwas from the south, Kulovwas a popular northern po-litical leader.Kulovwas theopposition leaderwhowas respon-sibleforreestablishingtheorderinBishkekonMarch24duringthenightof loot.Themainquestiononthepoliticalagendawas


the constitutional reform. Bakiyev promised that he would im-plementthereformandlimitpresidentialpowerbygivingmoreauthority to the parliament and the cabinet. On July 10, 2005,KurmanbekBakiyevwon the presidential elections andbecamethe second president of independent Kyrgyzstan.

In 2006, Bakiyev faced a political crisis, as thousands ofpeopledemonstratedtheirangerinaseriesofprotestsinBish-kek. They accused him of inaction and not implementing theconstitutionalreform.Theyalsoblamedhimforfailingtoerad-icate corruption, crime, and poverty. Bakiyev in turn accusedthe opposition of plotting a coup against him.

In2007, thenewamendments to theConstitutionwere in-troduced.ThenewConstitution, on the contrary, increased thepower of the president. Authoritarianism was gaining ground.The same 2007 year, the new electoral system was approved.According to it, parliamentary elections were to be organizedbasedon thepoliticalparties listvoting, aproportional systemof voting in which candidates are selected from the centralparty list rather than are locally elected.

In 2009, Bakiyev was reelected for the second term ofpresidency. Presidential elections, originally expected in 2010,were rescheduled for July 23, 2009. Bakiev won the electionswith 83.8% of the vote. However, on polling day Atambayev from Social Democratic Party withdrew his candidacy claim-ing widespread fraud. Independent candidateNazaraliev alsowithdrew his candidacy on the elections day.

Moreover,in2007Bakiyevintroducedchangesintheforeignpolicy of Kyrgyzstan defining it as “multi-vectored, balancedand pragmatic policy based on the national interests, naturalresources and possibilities of the country”. He didn’t removeUSmilitary baseGansy from the territory of Kyrgyzstan as hepromised toRussia but prolonged its termand renamed it theManas Transit Center.

In 2009, Bakiyev established the Central Agency on Devel-opment, Investments and Innovations and made his younger


son inchargeof it. In2010,he initiatedthedenationalizationofimportantstateobjectsasKyrgyztelecom, Severelectroandoth-ers.In2009–10,thesocial-economicsituationinthecountrywasunfavorable.Theenergy crisis tookplace.Electricitywas cut ona regular basis in Bishkek aswell as electricity and hitting feeswere raised.Mobile phones holders had to pay an extra tax forusingthem.Massprotestsbeganinthenorth:NaryninFebruaryandTalas inAprilof2010.OnApril 7,2010, thesecondrevolu-tionbrokeout.Thesamefactorsasinthepreviousrevolutionof2005suchastheruleofBakiyevfamilyandhisauthoritarianism,a deepening economic crisis, a large-scale corruption, povertyand unemployment, regionalism when southerners were ap-pointedtotoppositions,causedit,sincenoneofthoseproblemswas resolvedwhen Bakiyevwas in power. The 2009 fraud andunfairpresidentialelectionsservedasthepretextforit.However,the second revolution was bloodier compared to the first onebecause it resulted inmore than 80 people killed.

The April revolution overthrown the government of Baki-yev and provoked the interethnic clashes between Kyrgyz andUzbeks in Osh and Djalal-Abad provinces in June of 2010 thatleft about 500 dead according to the official data. A numberof factors such as political instability, the economic crisis andsocial problems brought to the interethnic clashes.

8.3. Kyrgyzstan in 2010–2015TherevolutiononApril7,2010,resultedinthedepositionof

Bakiyev regime. The Provisional Government chaired byOtum-bayeva wasformedonApril8,2010.Bakiyevhimself fledtothesouthandtriedtodestabilizethepoliticalsituationfromthere.

As soon as the newgovernmentwas established, it draftedthenewConstitution.ThenewConstitutionwasputforwardtobeapprovedby thepeopleofKyrgyzstanat thereferendumonJune 27. Themajority of votes agreed to the changes, and theswitch from the presidential to parliamentary system wascompleted. Otumbayeva was appointed the President of Tran-


sitional Period. Thenext presidential electionswere scheduledfor October of 2011.

Thesameyear,theparliamentaryelectionstookplace.Theywere held according to parties’ list. As a result, four partiesreceived their seats in the new parliament: Social Democrats, Ar Namys, Respublica, Ata Jurt and Ata Meken.Threeofthemformed a coalition government: Social Democrats, Respublica, and Ata Jurt. Atambayev was appointed the Prime Minister.Soon he resigned to nominate himself for the coming presi-dential elections.

OnOctober30,2011,AtambayevwaselectedthePresident.For the first time in the history of independent Kyrgyzstan,a peaceful transition of power from President Otumbayeva toPresidentAtanbayev tookplace.

The new coalition government was formed out of four po-litical parties: Social Democrats, Respublica, Ata Meken and Ar Namys. The PrimeMinister becameBabanov. In 2012, the co-alition collapsed and the cabinet resigned.

In 2012, the new coalition was formed of three politicalparties: Social Democrats, Ata Meken and Ar Namys. Satybal-diev was appointed the Prime Minister. In 2014, the coalitioncollapsed and the cabinet resigned.

In 2014, the new coalitionwas formed based on the samepolitical parties: Social Democrats, Ata Meken and Ar Namys.Otorbaev was appointed the Prime Minister. In May of 2015,Sariev became the PrimeMinister of the Cabinet.

In 2014, Manas Transit Center stopped operating on theterritory of Kyrgyzstan. The foreign policy of Kyrgyzstan wascharacterizedby thecourse towardsstrategicpartnershipwithRussia, Turkey, China. In 2015, Kyrgyzstan became a memberof the Eurasian Economic Union.

In the fall of 2015, the new parliamentary elections wereheld and six parties were elected to the parliament: Social Democrats, Respublica-Ata Jurt, Onuguu-Progress, Kyrgyzstan, Bir Bol and Ata Meken.

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