History of Civilizations of Central Asia
Download 8.99 Mb. Pdf ko'rish
|
|
Contents The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule (1850–1917) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Economic developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Population and social developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Russian rule over Kyrgyzstan lasted almost 140 years, and the tsarist colonization of the nineteenth century continued under the Soviet Union. The people of the post-Soviet Kyrgyz Republic look back on their Russian colonial and Soviet past with conflicting emotions. In retrospect, the major events of the country’s 74-year Soviet history – forced sedentariza- tion of the nomads, Sovietization accompanied by Russification and de-Islamization, and remarkable progress in education, women’s liberation, housing and health care – have had long-lasting and far-reaching consequences for Kyrgyzstan, although the Soviet ideology was short-lived and ultimately proved alien to the peoples of the country. The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule (1850–1917) ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL RULE AMONG THE KYRGYZ TRIBES In the mid-nineteenth century, a majority of the Kyrgyz tribes conquered by the Kokand khanate sporadically united with each other and organized uprisings against some Kokon khans and their tax-collectors. Besides their principal enemies – the rulers of the Kokand khanate to the west and China to the east – the Kyrgyz tribes were frequently at war with * See Maps
1 and
2 . 258 Contents ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule . . . each other. External forces would take advantage of these intra-Kyrgyz feuds, and then the tribes that had previously been at war with each other had to fight jointly against the outside adversary, whether Kokand, China or Russia. Because of the threat from the Kokand khanate, China and neighbouring kin tribes, some Kyrgyz leaders made the decision to ask for protection from Russia. The Kyrgyz tribe Bugu from Issyk-kul, with 10,000 households, voluntarily joined the Russian empire in January 1855. In 1863 the permanent Russian garrison in Issyk-kul defended the Kyr- gyz from raids by the Kokand khanate to collect taxes. Anti-Kokand uprisings by the Kyr- gyz tribes in the Chu valley facilitated the Russian conquest of northern Kyrgyzstan. The Russian troops seized Pishpek, near the Kokand fortress, only after the second campaign in 1862. Such was the despotism of the Kokand rulers that, even after they had retreated, the Kyrgyz levelled their settlements to the ground and erased all traces of their presence. 1 Some Kyrgyz tribes – the Solto, Sarybagysh, Cherik and Sayak – joined Russia in order to escape the yoke of the Kokand rulers, but many other groups fiercely resisted the Russian conquest. In their struggle for domination over southern Kyrgyzstan, Kokand and Russia attempted to attract the various Kyrgyz tribes to their side. Both gave honorific titles to Kyrgyz lead- ers. The Russian conquest of the Kokand khanate was facilitated by the anti-Kokand war led by Pulat Khan, who united the Kyrgyz and Kipchaks to fight against the Kokand ruler Khudoyar Khan (1873–6). The tsarist administration supported the Kokand khan, who fled to Tashkent in 1875; following that, Pulat Khan declared gazavat, a holy war against non-Muslims, in this case, Russia. After the rebels’ defeat by Russia, the signif- icant territory of the Kokand khanate was joined to Russian Turkistan and renamed Fer- ghana oblast’ (province). The Kyrgyz of the Pamirs and Alai mountains, led by the Alai ‘queen’, Kurmanjan Datkha (1811–1907), initially strongly defended their lands against the tsarist troops. After the death of her husband Alymbek Datkha, the first vizier of the khan of Kokand, in 1862, Kurmanjan successfully ruled the Alai and other parts of southern Kyrgyzstan. As a political leader, Kurmanjan Datkha skilfully negotiated with both the Kokand and tsarist leaders. The Russian conquest of the Kyrgyz lands ended with the inclusion of the Alai in the Russian empire in 1876. The tsarist government established an administrative division that completely disre- garded the tribal organization and political economy of the Kyrgyz. The modern territory of Kyrgyzstan under the governor-generalship comprised three oblast’s of Russian Turkistan: Semirechye, Ferghana and Syr Darya. As a result of the Russian laws on non-Christians, the participation of Muslims in municipal councils was insignificant in comparison with 1 Bartol’d, 1927 , p. 166. 259 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule . . . their share among the urban population ( Fig. 1
). 2 In the largest city Osh, with 34,200 inhab- itants, agriculture was the main source of income for half the population (17,700). 3 First, Tokmok was the administrative centre of the south-western uezd (district) of Semirechye, then, in 1878, the uezd’s administration moved to Pishpek near the Kokand fortress and the uezd was renamed Pishpek (Russian transliteration of Bishkek). 4 Another city, Karakol, was renamed Przheval’sk after the death of N. M. Przheval’skiy (1888), a Russian geogra- pher and major-general who explored the possibilities of colonization. Called jarym padsha (half-tsar) by the local population, the governorgeneral exercised nearly unlimited power. The tsarist authorities declared that all the nomads’ lands were to become state property, thus providing a legal basis for the confiscation of native territories. 5 Immediately after the conquest of the Kyrgyz lands, the Russian administration encouraged Russian peasants and military men, Cossacks, to move to Kyrgyzstan by offering them the best fertile lands along major roads and rivers. By confiscating Kyrgyz lands in the valleys, the tsarist administration forced the pastoral nomads to change their traditional system of transhumance. Russian peasants used the new lands for farming, expanding the areas sown FIG. 1. Ferghana valley. A village in the Isfara valley. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914.
(Photo: © mimdi.) 2 Ibid., p. 168. 3 Kirgiziya v tsifrakh , 1963 , p. 6. 4 Bartol’d, 1927, p. 169. 5 Istoriya Kirgizii , 1956 , p. 295. 260
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule . . . to wheat, cotton, tobacco and vegetables. In the 1890s the number of Russian immigrants greatly increased because of a famine in Russia. In 1916, in Przheval’skiy uezd (Issyk-kul region), Russians and Ukrainians, who made up only 24 per cent of the total population, owned more than 67 per cent of all arable land. A similar situation occurred in Pishpek uezd . 6 Besides Russians, between 1877 and 1888 thousands of Muslims (Dungans and Uighurs) fled from China to the Kyrgyz lands because of the repression of the anti-Chinese rebellion. In the 1880s small groups of Sart- Kalmuks (Muslim Oirats) moved to the Issyk-kul region (Böry Bash and Chelpek villages). ANTI-RUSSIAN MOVEMENTS The Andijan revolt of 1898 and rebellion of 1916 had a major impact on national devel- opment. Led by the Naqshbandi ish¯an (headman) Madali Dukchi (1858–98), the Andijan revolt, together with the mass discontent against tsarist military rule in the Ferghana val- ley, united various social and ethnic groups. The thousands of rebels declared gazavat. According to Sokol: In this economic motivation, the uprising was a measure of the despair of the poor over the cotton crisis, which had seized Ferghana in 1897 and 1898 as a consequence of the fall of world cotton prices. The years of crisis sharply worsened the position of the peasantry and brought them to the side of the ish¯an. 7 The tsarist military administration arrested 777 people, executed all the active partici- pants and exiled hundreds to Siberia. 8 In the summer of 1916, the tsarist order for the mobilization of native men for rear work during the First World War triggered the Kyrgyz rebellion (Urkun). This sponta- neous revolt of the Kyrgyz against colonial exploitation and the confiscation of their lands started by killing Russian soldiers, officers and peasants. The 1916 rebellion spread across Russian Turkistan, with the most violent resistance and ensuing repression occurring in northern Kyrgyzstan. The better-equipped Russian troops defeated the rebels and killed thousands of unarmed civilians. Large numbers of Kyrgyz fleeing to China in wintertime perished on the high mountainous passes. As a result of the rebellion, some 200,000 Kyrgyz died, the indigenous population of northern Kyrgyzstan decreased by 41.4 per cent, 9 and
60 per cent of the livestock were lost. 10 By 1 January 1917, the number of Kyrgyz house- holds in Pishpek uezd had decreased by 43 per cent; in Issyk-kul region, Przheval’skiy 6 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 153. 7 Sokol,
1953 , p. 58.
8 Chotonov and Nur uulu (eds.), 1998 , p. 9.
9 Asankanov and Osmonov, 2002 , p. 273. 10 Baktygulov and Mombekova, 1999 , p. 274. 261 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule . . . uezd , 70 per cent of households vanished. 11 Huge losses and impoverishment generated hopes among the Kyrgyz refugees in China that, after the collapse of tsarist rule and the establishment of Soviet power, they could return to their homeland. Most of the Kyrgyz refugees started returning in early 1918. The communist administration set up special aid committees and organizations to provide them with food, but did not return their confis- cated lands. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS In the Kyrgyz ethnic structure, two wings and a separate group of Ichkilick include various tribes. Each tribe is divided into subtribes (uruus) and kin groups (uruks). The fluctuating boundaries between the areas of different tribes and subtribes led to numerous disputes over the possession of land. A pastoral economy indicated a sign of wealth; the richest Kyrgyz used four pastures according to the seasons of the year. Only well-off Kyrgyz with thousands of sheep and horses took advantage of the whole cycle of transhumance. In the winter camps of the Kyrgyz (kyshtoos), typically located in the lowlands, some farmers would grow wheat and vegetables. Standing higher than 3,000 m above sea level, summer pasture (jayloo) was combined with spring pasture (köktoo) and autumn pasture (küzdoo). Despite well-elaborated techniques of pastoral economy, the lack of hay and fodder in winter made nomadic households very vulnerable and totally dependent on weather condi- tions. The main wealth of the Kyrgyz was based on their livestock; and relationships were built on the number of sheep and horses (‘currency’ in the nomadic economy) ( Fig. 2
). In marriage, the Kyrgyz included livestock in the kalym (bride-price). In 1867 the nomadic population constituted 84 per cent of the people of Turkistan; after joining with Ferghana in 1877, it was 47 per cent. 12 In the late nineteenth–early twentieth centuries, with economic differentiation among the Kyrgyz, many poor people converted to a settled life and set up winter villages ( Fig. 3 ). Unable to continue transhu- mance, the poor Kyrgyz turned to farming. Overall, 200,000 Kyrgyz, 65 per cent of them from Ferghana oblast’, were settled and engaged in farming. 13 Husbandry was combined with farming and hunting; in 1913 about 93 per cent of the Kyrgyz households of Pishpek uezd were engaged in arable farming. 14 At the same time only 15 per cent of the Kyr- gyz households were settled. 15 In the south, coal mining and the oil industry gradually 11 Istoriya Kirgizii , 1956 , p. 406. 12 Bartol’d, 1927 , p. 121. 13
, 1956 , p. 325. 14
, 1916
, p. 274. Cited in Abramzon, 1990 , p. 100. 15 Abramzon, 1990 , p. 100. 262 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule . . . FIG. 2. Ferghana valley. Caravan of Kyrgyz nomads. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914.
(Photo: © mimdi.) developed. Imported Russian commodities greatly changed the everyday life of the indige- nous people. With integration into the Russian empire, barter continued to flourish, with the Kyrgyz exchanging animals, leather, felt, wool and fur for fabric and metal goods from Russia. Known as skilful hunters using hawks, eagles and greyhounds (taygans), the Kyrgyz exchanged fur for cotton or metal commodities. Hunting also helped them to survive in times of early snow and frost, and epizooties. National games (alaman bayga), long- distance horse races and many others were highly popular among the Kyrgyz. Awards for participation could be very high; thus, in the late nineteenth century, one Issyk-kul rich man (bay) put up 1,000 horses as the first prize. 16 At the end of the nineteenth–early twentieth centuries, Russian-native and Tatar new- method schools were opened across Kyrgyzstan. By 1914 there were 107 schools, including 103 primary schools, with 7,041 students, only 547 of whom were Kyrgyz 17 children of the local elite. Local religious schools also offered some basic education. But on the whole, the majority of Kyrgyz families had little access to education. The popular Kyrgyz poets Kalygul and Arstanbek were outspoken in their criticism of the Russian impact on Kyrgyz political and cultural life. They called the colonial era 16 Simakov, 1980 , p. 116. 17
, 1963 , p. 7. 263
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The Kyrgyz under Russian colonial rule . . . FIG. 3. Ferghana valley. Settled people in a village in the Isfara valley. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.)
or Zar Zaman (the ‘Era of Grief ’). Another famed improviser and writer Moldo Kylych (1866–1917) continued that theme in his poems and verses. The poet Tok- togul Satylgan uulu (1864–1933) was exiled to Siberia for his participation in the Andi- jan rebellion. After his return, he called on the Kyrgyz to focus on the positive sides of Russian rule and to integrate into Soviet society. Togolok Moldo (Baiymbet Abdrakman uulu, 1860–1942), from Naryn, was the first poet to write down folkloric stories. Both Toktogul and Moldo accepted Russian tsarist power and Soviet innovations. They were welcomed and their names were included in the annals of Kyrgyz classic literature by the Soviet establishment. Their contemporary, Osmonaly Sydyk uulu (1875–1940), wrote a history of the Kyrgyz tribes based on traditional genealogical stories (sanjyres). Before the Soviet era, shar¯ı‘a (Islamic law) and ‘¯adat (customary law) dominated among both the settled and the nomadic people. Islam had deep roots in this region, com- pared to the north; in Osh uezd alone, there were 88 madrasas with 1,178 students in 1914; 18
one of the most important religious centres in the Ferghana valley. Well-organized Sufi 18
, 1968
, p. 553. 264
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) communities were very influential and popular among a part of the Kyrgyz. Local ish¯ans had close links with Kashghar Sufi communities that dated their genealogy to Appak Khoja. 19
s (holy places) – Suleiman Mazar in Osh, Azret Aub hot springs in Jalalabad, Ydris Paigambar mausoleum in Chatkal and many others – attracted Muslim pilgrims across Central Asia. Local Muslims regardless of ethnic affiliation venerated the maz¯ars, ascribing to them healing powers. Besides, maz¯ars preserved ecologically important land- marks and territorial boundaries between communities. The maz¯ars were also significant points for local history, places to contemplate ancient legends and epics. 20 The Kyrgyz widely observed fasting and celebrated Muslim holidays. The end of Ramadan (Orozo in Kyrgyz, the Muslim month of fasting) was marked by the funeral repast of ancestors and the cooking of ritual food (boorsok). The Kyrgyz had their own traditional methods of healing cattle and sheep. Often they ascribed animal diseases to evil forces and used juniper for magic smoke; they would drive the livestock to maz¯ars where they organized mass prayers and sacrificed animals to their protectors of livestock. 21 Some Kyrgyz venerated Umay ene (mother), the ancient Turkic goddess, a protector of children and fertility. Appeals to Tengir (Sky) and Jer–Suu (Earth–Water), the supernatural forces of pre-Islamic Turkic beliefs, were integrated into the traditional Islam of the Kyrgyz. Besides, numerous bakshylar (shamans) practising healing and fortune-telling presented their performance as Muslim rituals. The Russian administration did not dare to spread the Orthodox Christian faith among the Muslim population, fearing a backlash against non- Muslim newcomers. Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS Soviet state-making The communist planners replaced
Turkistan governor-generalship by the
Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, March 1918–October 1924), which included the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan. In the 1920s, when the struggle over the creation of new republics intensified among the national elites, the Kyrgyz leaders attempted to create the mountain Kyrgyz Republic, including the north part of Kyrgyzs- tan; discussion about the status of the south of the country was postponed because of 19 Abramzon, 1990 , p. 289. 20 Tabyshalieva, 2000 , p. 28.
21 Abramzon, 1990 , p. 93.
265 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) the ongoing civil war. As a result, in 1922 the Secretariat of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Turkistan made a decision to set up this republic within the Turkistan ASSR. An organizational committee for the establishment of the Mountainous Kyrgyz Republic was formed, with Abdykerim Sydykov (1889–1938) as chairman; how- ever, feuds among the national elites prevented the implementation of this plan. Subse- quently, Kara-Kyrgyz autonomous oblast’ was created; it was incorporated into the Russian Federation (14 October 1924), and later renamed Kyrgyz autonomous oblast’ (25 May 1925). Overall, state boundaries in Central Asia were created in a hasty manner, disregard- ing the seasonal migrations of the nomadic Kyrgyz (who were absent in summer from the lowlands and returned there in winter) and any discussion or serious investigation of eth- nic issues. The status of the oblast’ was elevated and it was transformed into the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 1 February 1926, then on 5 December 1936 into the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, a full-fledged Union Republic. In 1926 the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Pishpek, was named after the commander-in-chief of the Turkistan Front, Mikhail Frunze; it only changed its name back to Bishkek in 1990. Resistance to Soviet power The most violent resistance to Soviet power, known as the Basmachi movement, spread in the Ferghana valley. Anti-Soviet rebels, both Muslim natives and Russians, united and established an interim government with a head, Madamin Bek, and his Russian deputy, general-in-chief, Monstrov, General Mukhanov, Khal-Khoja, Kur Shirmat Irgash and oth- ers. The majority of the common people did not support either of the belligerent parties: the Basmachis and the Red Army terrorized the civilians and performed acts of great cruelty in killing each other and the peaceful population. The Soviet leadership had to create the Turkistan Front in 1919 and appointed Mikhail Frunze as chief. In the same year, Basmachis and joint units of White Guards and kulaks (well-off Slavic farmers) were defeated in Osh and Jalalabad. For several years the Red Army detachments could not penetrate the Pamirs and the Alai mountains, the Basmachis’ stronghold. Groupings of Basmachi fighters skilfully used the mountainous terrain of the Pamirs and Alai. It took some time for the Red Army to eliminate the largest groups of rebels in Kyrgyzstan in 1923, and the liquidation of the Basmachis was only reported in the 1930s. Facing fierce resistance in an unfamiliar environment, the Soviet leadership had to cre- ate military units which included natives who knew the local languages: in the Ferghana valley in 1920 the First Tatar Brigade and later the Kara-Kyrgyz Division were formed. 266 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) About 25,000 natives of Turkistan were recruited into the Red Army. 22 In order to encour- age Sovetization and prevent resistance by the indigenous people, Moscow launched a policy of nativization (korenizatsia), inviting and promoting local cadres in the party estab- lishment. At the same time, mutual suspicion between natives and the Russian leadership persisted. From Jalalabad, Frunze wrote a telegram to Lenin: ‘The matter will not progress if you do not send from Russia at least ordinary middle-class workers.’ 23 Besides indigenous resistance to the radical expropriations of private property, Russian and Ukrainian kulaks fiercely revolted across the country. 24 Kyrgyz refugees coming from China intended to return to their fertile lands confiscated by Russian farmers during the 1916 rebellion. Attempts at a fair redistribution of land led in 1918 to uprisings initiated by the Russian settlers, which were suppressed but attained their goal, in as much as the Soviet authorities decided not to change the situation on land issues after the 1916 rebellion. 25 In
triggered anti-Soviet resistance by the indigenous population. Purges
In 1925, 30 Kyrgyz party and Soviet officials wrote a letter to the Central Asian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party complaining about the style and methods of party work. This attempt by the Kyrgyz communist elite to resist the irrational way of governance and to offer policy recommendations was ruthlessly repressed: all of them were dismissed and expelled from the party. From the very first years of the Kyrgyz communist organization, Kyrgyz intellectuals were accused of participating in the alleged Socialist Turan Party and planning the creation of the Turan (Central Asian) Federative Republic, including the Turkic-speaking peoples. Several purges of party activists led to an atmosphere of fear and denunciation among the bureaucracies. The party purges were conducted on the pretext of re-registration of members. The first purge started as early as 1919, and was followed by others in 1922–3, 1925, 1929 and 1933–6. 26 Nationwide purges repressed thousands of activists: from 19,932 members of the Communist Party in 1933, only 6,385 were left by 1935. 27 In this small 22 Chotonov and Nur uulu (eds.), 1998 , p. 34.
23 ‘Delo ne prodvinetsia vperyod yesli vy ne poshlyote iz Rosii khotia by prostykh seredniakov-rabochikh’, Istoriya Kirgizskoy SSR , 1967 , p. 184. 24 Riots by Russian farmers broke out in late August 1918 in Talas, December 1918 in Belovodskoe, July 1919 in Tup, September 1919 in Kurshab, Bazar-Kurgon and Kugaart provinces (volost’s) and November 1920 in At Bashi (Naryn province). 25 Shukurov and Tabyshalieva, 1997 , p. 23.
26 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 75.
27 Ploskikh (ed.), 1998 , pp. 218–19. 267 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) republic more than 40,000 people, regardless of their ethnicity, were repressed. 28 Many political leaders and officials, scholars and writers perished or were exiled during Stalin’s repressions. Almost all the leaders of the communist establishment in the 1920s–30s were tortured to death. Later, in the post-Soviet era, a mass burial site was found in Chon Tash, near Bishkek, where 137 people – the most well-known state and party officials of Kyrgyzs- tan – were put to death during celebrations in 1938 marking the twenty-first anniversary of the October revolution. 29 Party leadership Iskhak Razzakov (in office 1950–61) was the first Kyrgyz leader of the Kyrgyz Communist Party. Before him, the first secretaries of the Kyrgyz Communist Party – M. Belotskii, 30 M.
Kyrgyz, were appointed by Moscow and sent from Russia. In the Stalin period, the Kyrgyz Republic had very restricted rights. Later, Nikita Khrushchev (1953–64) and Leonid Brezh- nev (1966–82) slightly increased the rights of the national government to plan and develop some branches of its own industry and agriculture. But major ministries and branches of the economy were always under the strict control of the central government in Moscow. Under Khrushchev some steps towards decentralization and local initiatives in the econ- omy were undertaken. Razzakov struggled for more independence from Moscow and tried to resist the rapid Russification of the youth. His attempts to introduce the Kyrgyz language into the curricula of high schools were condemned by the party leadership as national- ism. In 1959 both Razzakov and K. Dikambaev (prime minister) were dismissed by the Kremlin for violation of state discipline and localism (mestnichestvo). Razzakov’s successor, Turdakun Usubaliev (1961–85), governed the country for 25 years and loyally served the interests of the Kremlin. Under his rule, the policy of Russification was intensified and the importance of national culture and history was reduced. The only school teaching in Kyrgyz was in the capital; the Kyrgyz language and Kyrgyz history in the national curriculum were not permitted in Russian-language schools. To impose stricter controls over non-Russians, Khrushchev’s leadership demanded steps to encourage a better knowledge of Russian and promoted further Russification. 28 Asankanov and Osmonov, 2002 , p. 351. 29 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 77.
30 He was the first secretary of Kyrgyz Obkom VRP (b) (Oblast’noy Komitet Vserossiyskoy Kommunis- ticheskoy Partii Bolshevikov) in 1934–6 and the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan in 1936–7. 268 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) The position of first secretary (in fact, president) depended not only on personal rela- tions and loyalty to the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), but the ability to repress all resistance to communist policy and the local dic- tatorship. The political leadership, under the watchful eye of the second secretary of the Communist Party (always an envoy of the Kremlin), could not make any serious deci- sions without the approval of Moscow. Under Brezhnev, bureaucratization and corruption reached a peak. The first secretary enjoyed almost unlimited powers nationwide, and nepo- tism and tribalism thrived from top to bottom. The ruling elite distributed power among several territorial groupings and loyal supporters. A clan-tribal division perfectly fitted the hierarchical structure of the Soviet state and the totalitarian bureaucratic regime. Yuri Andropov (1982–4) and later Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–91) replaced the Brezhnev- appointed elites in all the Central Asian states, including Kyrgyzstan; Usubaliev was dis- missed in November 1985. Moscow appointed Absamat Masaliev (1985–90), who severely criticized Usubaliev for his policy of kinship and nepotism and deviation from the party line. Although Andropov and Gorbachev intended to replace the corrupt cadres of the Brezhnev era, they (like the previous Moscow rulers) did not trust the local leaders. The Gorbachev administration appointed (even more than before perestroika, or restructuring) Russian cadres to key positions, including the KGB and the notorious position of second secretary. Only after the declaration of perestroika and glasnost (openness) in Moscow, and First Secretary Usubaliev’s dismissal in 1985, did Kyrgyz intellectuals and politicians dare to criticize Soviet authoritarianism, to publicize information on political repression, and to mention national heroes and poets who had been anathema during Soviet times. After 1985 changes in the political climate encouraged intellectual freedom: many hot topics previously discussed behind closed doors started openly being debated in newspapers and forums for public discussion. For instance, Razzakov’s name as a prominent leader could now be mentioned in public, because under Usubaliev any mention of him had been taboo. The renewed interest in local heroes and leaders, writers and anti-Soviet rebels led to numerous publications and talks. Despite glasnost and perestroika, Masaliev was too cautious to initiate any serious reforms in the country. Moreover, his passivity during the ethnicconflict in Osh province in 1990 made him unpopular. His successor, Jumgalbek Amanbaev (April–August 1991), was only in office for several months because the Kyrgyz Communist Party was banned. In the atmosphere of glasnost, people expressed their open distrust of the Communist Party leadership and its local bosses. The increased freedom in political life led to the creation 269
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Soviet Kyrgyzstan (1917–91) of various democratic and nationalistic movements calling for democratic reforms and the redistribution of power in the country. In the wake of the Cold War, the perestroika process triggered ethnic conflict in Osh province in 1990, 31 which facilitated the redistribution of resources and a new balance of elites. The conflict was rooted in the internal social and political conditions inherited from Soviet times. Although the clashes were marked by ethnic rivalries, the underlying causes were more complex than simple inter-ethnic hostility. While riots were taking place in Osh, Uzgen and some rural areas, in Bishkek groups of young people marched in front of Government House demanding the immediate resignation of the communist leadership. 32 The Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan (DDK) called for the leadership to resign and criticized its inability to manage the situation in the country and prevent ethnic conflict in Osh.
The end of communist rule Public opinion supported Askar Akaev, a 46-year-old physicist and president of the National Academy of Sciences, who promised democratic reforms and distanced himself from the Communist Party and its local bosses. As the power of the party weakened in 1990, the national parliament elected Akaev as president of the Union Republic, the real head of state. After anti-Soviet riots in the Baltic states, Gorbachev initiated an All-Union referendum on the preservation of the Soviet Union on 17 March 1991. In Kyrgyzstan, an overwhelming majority of the voters backed the proposal to retain the USSR as a ‘renewed federation’. During the August 1991 coup in Moscow, however, Akaev, supported by many people, condemned the pro-communist attempts to restore the authoritarian USSR. After the failure of the coup, the superiority and ominous power of the Communist Party was ended for ever. Akaev publicly resigned from the CPSU and called for the nationalization of all its property in the country. The Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan was prohibited and outlawed on the pretext that it had supported the August coup hardliners. On 31 August 1991 the Kyrgyz parliament declared the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. Thus, after the break-up of the USSR, the Kyrgyz experienced a peaceful transition to national independence andsovereignty. In October 1991 Akaev was elected as first president of the newly independent state – the Kyrgyz Republic. 31 See more in Tabyshalieva, 1999 , pp. 20–2. 32 Tabyshalieva, 1999 , p. 21.
270 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Economic developments Economic developments The most painful experience of the Soviet period is considered to be the forced sedentariza- tion of the Kyrgyz nomads within a short period of time. In 1927, 62 per cent of the 145,114 Kyrgyz households were nomadic or semi-nomadic. 33 Between 1918 and 1937, 142,000 households, or almost 600,000 people, were forcibly sedentarized. 34 The rapid sedenta- rization and collectivization of the nomadic and semi-nomadic households severely dam- aged the social fabric of the traditional society and the national economy. The transition to a sedentary way of life in the first years of Soviet power and the new nation-building, in spite of all the communist rhetoric, strengthened tribalism and clan divisions. Newly estab- lished settlements and collective farms became homogeneous in their tribal composition. In addition, impediments to traditional movements led to the greater isolation of tribes and clans. 35
scale of which is still unknown. In 1932 a severe famine spread throughout Kyrgyzstan; furthermore, 130,000 refugees from Kazakhstan and Siberia arrived to settle there. The head of government, Jusup Abdrakhmanov (1901–38), 36 deliberately allowed famished farmers to disregard the state plan for the provision of wheat. In 1933 he was dismissed and banished from the Communist Party. 37 The number of horses in 1928 before sedenta- rization and collectivization has never been regained; the size of cattle herds was restored only in the second half of the 1960s, and that of sheep and goats in the mid-1950s. 38 All
these processes of sedentarization and collectivization had long-lasting consequences and affected almost all Kyrgyz and non-Kyrgyz households. In 1928 the rich Kyrgyz (bay-manaps), representing about 10 per cent of all rural house- holds, were uprooted as a class; many of those with families fled or went into exile. 39 To
leadership had to repress people with average incomes. In June 1931 farmers and nomads of the Naryn and Issyk-kul regions put up armed resistance to forced collectivization. 40 In
Chotonov and Nur uulu (eds.), 1998
, p. 70. 34 Ibid., p. 73. 35 Shukurov and Tabyshalieva, 1997 , p. 23.
36 Chair of the Sovnarkom (Soviet of People’s Commissars) of the Kyrgyz ASSR, 1927–33. 37 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 205. 38 Koychuev, Mokrynin and Ploskikh, 1999 , p. 71.
39 Baktygulov and Mombekova, 1999 , p. 275. 40 Baktygulov and Mombekova, 1999 , p. 250. 271 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Economic developments some places it led to a mass migration of the Kyrgyz; for instance, 3,000 households from Naryn (Atbashi) fled to China to save their lives and livestock. 41 In a move designed to overcome the severe resistance to rapid Sovietization, the Krem- lin presented the new campaign as a gesture of support from the working class to the vil- lages: thousands of professional workers (dvadtsatipyatitysyachniki, or ‘25,000 people’) were sent to various regions of the Soviet Union. Between January and March 1930, 219 workers from the movement of ‘25,000 people’ arrived in Kyrgyzstan. Industrial workers – generally communists lacking all knowledge of the region and any agricultural skills – were appointed to managerial positions in agriculture; some of them became heads of collective farms (kolkhozs). In order to develop agriculture, women’s labour was greatly encouraged by the Communist Party leadership. For instance in the 1940s–50s, Zuurakan Kainazarova harvested a record crop of sugar beet; she was twice honoured by being awarded the title ‘Hero of Socialist Labour’, and ‘elected’ a deputy in the parliament of the USSR. In agriculture, cattle-breeding and farming were the main sources of income for collec- tive and Soviet farms. Ten large water reservoirs built across the country greatly increased the efficiency of irrigation and therefore the production of cotton, tobacco and wheat. Though they had 10 million sheep and 1 million cattle, the highest per capita and per hectare production of meat in the USSR and fewer than 3–4 million people in the 1980s, there was a permanent shortage of meat in Kyrgyz state grocery stores because the meat products were sent to Russia. The average per capita meat consumption in Kyrgyzstan was 1.5 times lower than that in the Soviet Union. The high density of livestock led to the erosion of pastures and over-grazing; 60 per cent of these pastures were drained and by 1985 sheep farming had become a lossmaking activity. 42 Disregarding these negative environmental trends, Moscow demanded higher meat output and productivity. Overall, despite huge investment, the collective and state farms proved to be an inef- fective form of management. Rapidly developed private farming played the most impor- tant role in food supplies for the local population. In Kyrgyzstan, the private sector pro- duced 57 per cent of the potatoes, 50 per cent of the vegetables, 28 per cent of the meat, 32 per cent of the milk and 42 per cent of the eggs. 43 During the Second World War, about 60 military-related plants and factories with skilled workers from Russia and Ukraine were evacuated, mainly tothe north of Kyrgyzstan, in Frunze. New enterprises contributed greatly to industrial development in the country. Dur- ing the war, particular attention was paid to the mining industry, which supplied strategic 41 Ibid., p. 252. 42 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 262. 43 Rumer,
1989 , pp. 125–6. 272 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Economic developments materials for military equipment. Antimony from Kadamjay plant, mercury from Khaidark- han industrial unit and other rare metals were all sent to Russia. By the end of 1941 Kyrgyzstan produced 85 per cent of all the antimony produced in the USSR. 44 In addi- tion to the development of non-ferrous metallurgy, Kyrgyzstan extracted 40 per cent of the stone coal in Central Asia in the 1980s. 45 Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin’s (1964–80) reforms produced some positive results: during 1965–85 the national income of the Kyrgyz Republic increased almost threefold, energy production fivefold, and more than 150 industrial enterprises were built. 46 In the last decades of Soviet Kyrgyzstan, machinery building and non-ferrous metallurgy were the major industries, both heavily dependent on the Russian Federation and other Union Republics. Part of the production, mainly agricultural machinery, was exported to other socialist countries. Energy and water were the most important areas of the Kyrgyz economy. In the mid- 1970s, the largest hydro-power station in Central Asia, the Toktogul HPS, with 19.3 billion m3 reservoirs on the Naryn river, was constructed. It accumulated and regulated the water of the Syr Darya river for the downstream countries, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The electric power generated by this HPS was transmitted and distributed through the Central Asian energy network. Soviet planners in Moscow saw irrigation in Central Asia as of crucial importance and they set the rules for water and energy management, and all prices for fuel and energy in the region. 47 Agriculture and industry developed extensively and productivity increased. However, from the mid-1970s a gradual slowdown of economic development in the country led to stagnation in many sectors of industry and agriculture. Despite having the status of Union Republic, in reality, the leadership of Soviet Kyrgyzstan could not have its own strategy for economic development; Moscow ran the major ministries and closed its eyes to local needs, though direct budget transfers from the central Soviet government to Kyrgyzstan were substantial. In the 1960s–80s in Kyrgyzstan, as everywhere in the Soviet Union, corruption became a part of everyday life and the share of the black economy increased substantially. 44 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 228. 45 Ibid., p. 256. 46 Koychuev, Mokrynin and Ploskikh, 1999 , p. 85.
47 Iskakov and Tabyshalieva, 2002 .
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Population and social developments Population and social developments DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES The population of Kyrgyzstan increased fivefold – from 863,900 in 1913 to 4,463,000 in 1991. The highest rate of population growth took place in the 1950s–60s, due to migra- tion from the Russian Federation and a high birth rate. The share of the urban population steadily expanded: in 1913 it was 12 per cent, but by 1989 it had risen to 38 per cent. The Second World War greatly affected the demographic situation: 360,000 people from the Kyrgyz SSR fought in the war; every fourth citizen went to the front. 48 Besides,
36,300 people, 85 per cent of whom were Kyrgyz, were mobilized for Russia’s industrial enterprises. 49 At the same time, the Stalin administration deported thousands of Turks, Chechens, Kabardins, Kurds and other peoples from the Caucasus, Crimean Tatars, Poles and Germans to Kyrgyzstan as ‘unreliable’ peoples. During the war, more than 300,000 people arrived there. 50 The young men of Kyrgyzstan were regularly recruited into the Soviet army; of the 7,141 Kyrgyz soldiers sent to the war in Afghanistan (1979–89), 259 were killed, 1,500 injured and 504 permanently disabled. 51 The Kyrgyz traditionally inhabited the mountainous zone; almost all the ethnic minori- ties lived in the lowlands and in cities. Russians were settled in the north of the country and in cities, especially Bishkek, where they constituted the majority of citizens with an urban residence permit, whereas the Uzbeks lived mainly in the southern provinces. The Kyrgyz slowly moved to the cities: only 1 per cent lived there in 1926, and 11 per cent in 1959. 52 During the Soviet era, the capital remained a mainly Russian-dominated city, where the Kyrgyz made up a minority. To develop heavy industry and strengthen the periphery of the Soviet Union, thousands of Russians were invited to settle in cities as skilled personnel, industrial workers and simply as ‘reliable’ citizens for the Soviet leadership in Moscow. The propiska, the Soviet-style residence permit, greatly restricted the movement of labour and impeded the migration of the rural Kyrgyz to the cities, where living standards were higher than in the high mountainous zones. Only in the late 1980s, when the pressure of Russian rule weakened, did thousands of Kyrgyz young people and their families move from rural areas to the cities. Some of them united in the Ashar (Mutual Support) move- ment and demanded plots of land around Frunze (Bishkek). The authorities tried to satisfy these requests by building new neighbourhoods around the capital. In the south, unlike the 48 Ploskikh (ed.), 1998 , p. 224. 49 Koychuev (ed.), 1995 , p. 228. 50 Ibid., p. 234. 51 ‘Esche raz pro “Afghan”’, Slovo Kyrgyzstana,14 Feb. 2003, p. 10. 52 Kozlov,
1975 , p. 84.
274 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Population and social developments TABLE 1. Ethnic structure of largest ethnic groups in the Kyr- gyz SSR (per cent; 1926–89) 1926 1939
1959 1979
1989 Kyrgyz
66.7 51.7
40.5 47.9
52.4 Uzbeks
11.1 10.3
10.5 12.1
12.9 Russians
11.7 20.8
30.2 25.9
21.5 Ukrainians – 9.4
6.6 3.1
2.5 TABLE 2. Ethnic structure in the Kyrgyz SSR (1989) 53
Total number Per cent
Kyrgyz 2 229 663 52.4 Russians
916 558 21.5
Uzbeks 550 096
12.9 Ukrainians 108 027 2.5
Germans 101 309
2.4 Tatars
70 068 1.6
Kazakhs 37 318
0.9 Dungans
36 928 0.9
Uighurs 36 779
0.9 Tajiks
33 518 0.8
Turks 21 294
0.5 Other ethnic groups 116 197 2.7
north,the ill-advised redistribution of irrigated land near Osh city triggered a bloody ethnic conflict between Uzbek and Kyrgyz youth groups in June 1990. ETHNIC STRUCTURE Kyrgyzstan is a multi-ethnic state, with the largest ethnic groups being Kyrgyz, Rus- sians and Uzbeks ( Table 1
). Together with these three ethnic groups, Ukrainians, Ger- mans, Uighurs, Koreans, Dungans (Chinese Muslims), Tatars and many other minorities greatly contributed to the development of the local economy and culture. The share of the Kyrgyz in the total population decreased after the Second World War and correspondingly the migration of Russians and Ukrainians increased in the late 1950s–60s, when they made up one third of the country’s population ( Table 1 ). But in the 1980s, with the deteriorat- ing economic conditions and lack of employment opportunities, Russians and Russian- speaking groups started leaving for Russia. The ethnic structure as of 1989 is shown in 4, Table 2 .
Osnovnye itogi pervoy natsional’noy perepisi naselenya Kyrgyzskoy Respubliki 1999 goda , 2000 . 275
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Population and social developments TABLE 3. Human development and health indicators in the Kyrgyz Republic (1991) 55 Male life expectancy at birth (years) 64.6 Female life expectancy at birth (years) 72.7 Mortality rate per 1,000 6.9 Child mortality per 1,000 live births 29.7 Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births 55.6 SOCIAL PROTECTION AND HEALTH CARE Under the Soviet regime, there were undeniable achievements in the social protection of many population groups, including mothers with children, senior citizens and children; this partly explains the post-independence nostalgia for the socialist era among ordinary peo- ple. Free health care and education, decent allowances and pensions maintained minimum living standards, and what amounted to symbolic payments for housing and utilities were widely associated with the benign care of the Communist Party. While compared to the developed countries, the standard of living in Soviet society was not high, the relatively good provision of essential services and access to education, employment and culture cre- ated confidence that certain minimum conditions of life would continue to be guaranteed. 54 Human development indicators for 1991 ( Table. 3 ) demonstrated a convincing success for the developing country after independence. By the end of the Soviet era, the Kyrgyz Republic, like other former Soviet countries, had well-developed medical institutions, hospitals and specialized dispensaries. The num- ber of doctors stood at 15,354 (1991), 56 or 1 physician per 291 people, although the high number of specialists meant the inadequate preparation and distribution of medical work- ers for primary health care. Epidemics such as cholera and malaria have either disappeared or been contained. Social protection and the health-care system deteriorated greatly in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, if the indicators of human development during the Soviet and post-independence periods are compared. EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE Remarkable achievements in the overall literacy of the population and the creation of a wide network of schools and universities changed the nation considerably over a short period. By the end of the 1930s, 70 per cent of the population above the age of 9 and 63 54 Shukurov and Tabyshalieva, 1997 , p. 16.
55 Tabyshalieva, 2001b , pp. 64, 113, 114. 56 Ibid., p. 117. 276 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Population and social developments per cent of women were literate. Compulsory schooling led to universal literacy, and free higher education opened remarkable opportunities for almost any student in the country. At the same time, a noticeable gap in the quality of teaching between native Kyrgyz schools and Russian schools significantly impeded the access of rural Kyrgyz youth to higher edu- cation and better employment opportunities in the cities. Soviet language policy played an important role in overcoming illiteracy and monitoring political and cultural activities. As it was the most convenient for the Turkic languages, the Latin script was adopted instead of the Arabic alphabet that had been in use before 1928. However, in 1940–1, under pressure from Moscow, the Latin script (well suited for the Kyrgyz language) was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. A standard literary language of the Kyrgyz was developed, and the first newspapers, textbooks and documents were widely published. Kasym Tynystanov (1901–38), a poet and philologist, greatly contributed to the development of Kyrgyz orthography and contem- porary principles of language. The first Kyrgyz newspaper Erkin-Too, later renamed Kyzyl Kyrgyzstan (1924), mobilized the indigenous population to build a new Soviet society. In 1989, following glasnost, a new law on the state language was adopted in the republic: for the first time, the Kyrgyz language was given significance at national level. CULTURE AND SCIENCE The most important positive aspect of the Soviet regime was the creation of a learned intel- lectual elite and the general education of all the populace within several decades. Cohorts of scholars, writers, musicians, performers, artists and many others studied in Moscow and Leningrad (St Petersburg), and European art, drama, cinema, ballet and opera were remarkably developed. Despite strict censorship by the party administrators and persis- tent ideological pressure to promote ‘socialist realism’ in literature and art, many talented writers and artists were able to create masterpieces popular in both Soviet times and the postindependence era. Published during the Soviet era, the famous novels of the writer Tchingiz Aytmatov (b. 1928) describe the everyday life of the rural Kyrgyz and the harsh realities of Soviet innovations and domestic traditions. In 1959, when Louis Aragon trans- lated Jamila into French, the name Aytmatov became famous beyond the Soviet Union. His novels The White Ship, Jamila, Farewell, Gulsary and others have been translated and published in many languages worldwide. Among the most popular Kyrgyz of the Soviet era were the talented ballerina Bübüsara Beishenalieva, the opera singer Bulat Minjilkiev, the writer Tugelbay Sadykbekov, the film director Tölömush Okeev, the actor Süymönkul Chokmorov and many others. 277
Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Population and social developments There were major contradictions within Soviet policy, however. On the one hand, Kyrgyz culture and language were promoted, Manas and other epic poems were written down, and the study and conservation of ancient monuments were encouraged; on the other hand, the essence of folk culture was greatly distorted by ideological demands to create a new socialist culture, and by the imperial revision of the imperfect ‘backward’ past of the Kyrgyz. For instance, new Kyrgyz ‘ethnic dances’ were invented to demonstrate the national traditions of one of the 15 ‘equal’ Union Republics. On the whole, ‘the cultures of the local peoples were asserted merely as material for transformations and integration into the Soviet socialist culture, and an independent value behind them was not recognized.’ 57 The Kyrgyz branch of the Academy of Sciences (created in 1943) was transformed into the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR in 1954. In the 1980s the academy included 17 institutes with 3,500 scientists. Working under the persistent threat of party intervention and punishment, the social scientists had to avoid many themes in their research. In the Russian-dominated Soviet state, all mention of political leaders or distinguished persons from the past who might be a pattern for national rebirth was forbidden. Only those poets and national heroes who welcomed the Russian presence (even in the nineteenth century) and the Soviets could be included in historical chronicles and textbooks. Scholars who dared to discuss or publish alternative views were severely attacked by the local party leadership; researchers were discouraged from discussing many taboo questions, especially regarding their own ethnic history. For instance, in the 1970s, K. Nurbekov’s publications on the history of Kyrgyzstan and S. M. Abramzon’s books and articles on tribal structure were considered ‘incorrect’ by the party leaders of Kyrgyzstan. 58 RELIGIOUS SITUATION In the late 1920s the ‘Union of Militant Godless People’ (Soyuz Voinstvuushchikh Bezbo- jnikov ) was created across the Soviet Union; its Kyrgyz branch had more than 11,500 mem- bers. In Kyrgyzstan 12 churches and 90 mosques were shut down in 1940. Khrushchev’s anti-religious decrees led to another destruction of mosques and madrasas in the early 1960s. During Soviet times Islam was de-intellectualized and survived mainly in its ritual and traditional forms. The Soviet system prevented Islam from being modernized, since most progressive Islamic leaders were silenced. As a result, the role of holy places (maz¯ars) increased considerably. The most popular maz¯ars were linked to hot springs and water- falls, medieval mausoleums and some ecologically important sites. However, the Soviet 57 Shukurov and Tabyshalieva, 1997 , p. 15.
58 Tabyshalieva, 2001
, p. 5.
278 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Population and social developments prohibitions on religious practices could not stop the centuries-old pilgrimage to Suleiman Too (mountain) in Osh city, Aub and Arstan Bab in Jalalabad, Shah-Fazil in Alabuka, Manas Kümböz (mausoleum) in Talas and many other maz¯ars, all ideologically and cul- turally influential shrines among native Muslims. The Suleiman maz¯ar in Osh city – a very popular site attracting thousands of pilgrims – was blown up one night in 1963 and replaced by a poster reading, ‘Long live the CPSU’. Despite Soviet attempts to demolish and destroy the maz¯ars, they survived this destructive period of history. 59 Although the Communist Party leadership implanted atheism and attempted to cre- ate a new society free from religion, any cemetery throughout the settlements of Central Asia clearly proved the unspoken division of society into Christian Slavs/Europeans and Muslims (the indigenous inhabitants). Even with thousands of ideological workers, and the massive and systematic anti-religious propaganda against Islam, the population remained overwhelmingly Muslim. The post-independence revival of Islam demonstrates the failure of a 70-year state policy of atheism that has been unable to replace Islam with the utopian Soviet ideology. THE KYRGYZ OUTSIDE OF KYRGYZSTAN Large groups of Kyrgyz outside the Kyrgyz SSR live in the Kyzyl-Su Kyrgyz autonomous prefecture in Xinjiang, which was created in February 1955; it gained the status of province, with Artysh as the administrative and cultural centre. 60 By the end of the Soviet period, 140,000 Kyrgyz inhabited this province. Besides the Kalmuk-Kyrgyz, a small group close to the Mongols observed Lamaism and spoke in Kazakh with elements of Kyrgyz. 61 Among
the most well-known Kyrgyz in Xinjiang are Yusup Mamay, who wrote down the epic Manas , and the historian Anvar Baitur, whose lectures on Kyrgyz history were published in Bishkek. The largest diaspora is located in neighbouring Uzbekistan. In 1989, 174,907 Kyrgyz lived mainly in the Ferghana valley and in Jizak province of Uzbekistan. 2 Another group of Kyrgyz roam the Pamirs and Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. According to information provided by Vakhan Turdy Ahund, the representative of the Kyrgyz community in the loya jirga in 2002, the population of the Afghan Kyrgyz numbers about 30,000 people, or 5,500 households. They occupy the lands of the Wakhan corridor in Badakhshan province in the north-east of the country. 63 Rakhmankul Khan (1912–90) fled to Afghanistan in the late 1940s and became khan of the Pamiri Kyrgyz. He protected 59 Tabyshalieva, 2000 , p. 28.
60 Asankanov and Osmonov, 2002 , p. 562. 61 Abramzon, 1990 , p. 40.
2 Yalcin,
2002 , p. 128. 63 See http://www.kyrgyz.ru/?page=12. 279 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Afterword the Afghan borders with China and the USSR and was a representative of the Kyrgyz in the
. After the 1978 coup and civil war in Afghanistan, Rakhmankul Khan with 1,300 people (280 households) had to flee from the Pamirs to Pakistan, but they later returned to the Pamirs. 64 In 1982 another group with Rakhmankul moved to Turkey and settled near the city of Van in Kara- Kunduz. 65 The Kyrgyz traditionally lived in Karategin, Jergital and the Pamirs of Tajikistan. During the Tajik civil war (1992–6) and the ensuing insecurity, thousands fled to Kyrgyzstan and have been granted Kyrgyz citizenship. Afterword When Russia unexpectedly retreated from Kyrgyzstan, the country embarked on the long and painful route to real independence. Kyrgyzstan’s postindependence history is also a history of the loss of the major achievements of Soviet times: universal education, the tri- umph over epidemics, accessible health care, state protection for mothers and children, a wide safety net, and agricultural and industrial development. Thousands of people, espe- cially senior citizens, who are now surviving on the edge of starvation regret the decent liv- ing standards achieved in the 1960s–80s. Following their society’s return to normalcy, the majority of Kyrgyz young people know very little about Soviet rhetoric and party doctrine. By and large, the post-independence period in Kyrgyzstan is a new era in the development FIG. 4. Kyrgyz men going hunting with falcons. (Photo: © A. Abdygulov.) 64 Asankanov and Osmonov, 2002 , p. 564. 65 Ibid.
280 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Afterword FIG. 5. Kyrgyz women in national costumes. (Photo: © A. Abdygulov.) FIG. 6. Kyrgyz men demonstrating their skilled horsemanship. (Photo: © A. Abdygulov.) of the Kyrgyz nation, which is benefiting greatly from the new freedom and civil liberties and its integration into the international community ( Fig. 4 ,
and 6 ). 281 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Political history 12 TAJIKISTAN * M. Dinorshoev Download 8.99 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
|