History of Civilizations of Central Asia
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Settled populations in the oases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 The nomadic population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Impact of Russian rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 The religious establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Water administrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Artisans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Slaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 In Central Asia, the social structure of the numerous groups varied greatly from Mongolia to Iran. Even within one ethnic group, the social structure changed significantly between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many groups that enjoyed linguistic, occupational, territorial, religious, ethnic and tribal unity were divided by the imperial borders imposed by Russia, Britain and China and embarked on different roads to devel- opment. The Russian colonial (and later Soviet) authorities integrated diverse populations into larger ethnic groups known today as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and others. The social structure of the various multi-ethnic khanates and tribal unions was complicated by a mutable division between peoples of oasis and steppe. In some cases, the ethnic or tribal identity connoted a profession or way of life, whereas in others, occupation indicated eth- nic affiliation. For instance, in Central Asia sart (merchant; from Sanskrit) usually meant 1 This chapter was written with the contribution of Dr G. Krongardt from the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic. 78 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 SOCIAL STRUCTURES IN CENTRAL ASIA a settled Tajik, Uzbek or a representative of a sedentary Muslim population engaged in agricultural and commercial activities. On the whole, the majority of the Central Asian peoples combined pastoralism and farming. Some of the Uzbek tribes, however, have con- tinued their nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. There was some professional division among ethnic groups. For instance, as L. Adamec noticed in Afghanistan, the Tajik elite were known as ‘men of the pen’, whereas the Pash- toons were called ‘men of the sword’. 2 Bukharan Jews were engaged in crafts, trade and usury and were known as skilled merchants. The nomads’ disdain for commercial activ- ities led to the unassailable position of the oasis merchants. The exchange of livestock products and manufactured goods between Mongols and the outside world was mainly in the hands of Chinese and Russian traders. 3 Similarly, Uzbek, Tajik, Tatar, Uighur, Muslim Chinese (Hui) and Russian merchants profited in barter exchanges with Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Turkmen nomads in the market place. The Muslim population throughout Central Asia attached overriding importance to
identity, 4 indicating kinship, social relations and territorial connections. Such iden- tity could include representatives of various ethnic groups settled in one city or locality ( Fig. 1 ). As O. Roy noted, ‘Both a Persian speaker and an Uzbek speaker from a family having come from Bukhara use the same term for their qawm, that is “Bukhara’i”.’ 5 On the
whole, settled dwellers identified themselves as residents of particular cities or localities in contrast to Turkic nomads whose identity was linked with their tribal group. Qawm affili- ation also reflected economic activity and change. Some Pashtoon tribes were engaged in the same profession and claimed the same ancestors. 6 Social, professional, age and ethnic groups were distinguished from each other by their place of residence and their clothes. Before Russian colonization of the Muslim oases, non-Muslim residents had fewer rights than other inhabitants; for instance, in some cases, they were obliged to wear garments indicating their religious affiliation and to live in a separate district within the city. The tribal structure of nomadic peoples such as the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Karakalpaks, Mongols and others was based on hereditary military units, although the warlike structure of tribal divisions gradually decreased in importance. In daily life, kin- ship played a decisive role in social relations and establishing contacts between different 2 Adamec,
1997 , p. 303. 3
, 1989 . http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ mn0057).
4 Qawm means the unity of people: it could be in a tribe or subtribe, a village, a kin group, a territorial or professional group. 5 Roy, 1992 , p. 76.
6 Pakistan. A Country Study , 1994 , p. 106. 79 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 SOCIAL STRUCTURES IN CENTRAL ASIA FIG. 1. Naukat, Ferghana valley. Little girls in front of a chay-khana (tea-house). G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) groups. Genealogy and group (tribal, ethnic, religious, linguistic, territorial) membership remained very important markers for social affiliation and relationships among pastoral populations scattered over the vast territories ( Fig. 2 ). The harsh climate and constant inse- curity meant that kinship networks were crucial in the protection and survival of nomadic households. Wealthy tribesmen had an obligation to support poor and vulnerable members in their seasonal migrations and everyday life in exchange for loyalty and a recognition of their inherited privileges in access to common resources. At the same time, inherited tribal membership fuelled endless clashes between tribes and kin groups over pastures and other resources that reflected a common belief in the collective property of their lands. The weakness of central power and the absence of doc- umented regulations of governance among pastoral tribes stirred up continuous warfare and disputes over resources. Before Russian rule, the hereditary elite of the Turkmens, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz had to maintain mobile military units to counter the challenges from neighbouring tribes and their own subtribes and from the khan’s tax-collectors. Following Russian colonization, the mutual feuds and raids on livestock (alaman, barymta) among tribal groups of Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Turkmens subsided. 80 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Settled populations in the oases FIG. 2. Ferghana valley. Kyrgyz nomadic women. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) Settled populations in the oases Russia consolidated its control over the Khiva khanate (1512–1920) and the Bukhara emi- rate (1500–1920), which complied with the orders of the tsarist administration. The sta- tus of the emir of Bukhara was higher and more privileged than that of the Khiva khan, who was a mere vassal of the Russian emperor; the Russian troops did not enter the capital, Bukhara. 7 A number of Turkmen tribes were only nominally subordinated to the Khiva khan and enjoyed a considerable degree of independence. The Kokand khanate (1710–1876), stretching from the south of the Syr Darya to the Pamirs, included settled and nomadic populations. A rebel leader, Pulat Khan, mobilized thousands of Kyrgyz, Kipchaks and Uzbeks to revolt against the Kokand khan (1873–6); this triggered the col- lapse of the Kokand state. The social structure and landowning pattern in both khanates were analogous to those in the Bukhara emirate. Since the fullest available description of social structures relates to the Bukhara emi- rate, the information below relates mostly to that emirate. The centralization of power led to an excessively bureaucratic apparatus managed by the qush-begi (lit. ‘chief of the 7 Bartol’d, 1927 , p. 118. 81 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Settled populations in the oases birds’), equivalent to prime minister, who was responsible for all administrative and eco- nomic affairs in the khanate and was simultaneously h¯akim (governor) of Bukhara vilayet (province). As a rule, the ethnic identity of the qush-begi played an important role in the domination of his countrymen. For instance, in January 1910, when Iranian Shi‘ites organized a religious celebration under the patronage of the Bukhara qush-begi, Astankul, whose mother came from Iran, the Sunni majority mocked the demonstrators. The emir only managed to stop the ensuing interreligious slaughter (resulting in a death toll of 500) after the dismissal of the qush-begi and with the support of invited Russian troops. 8 In the Kokand khanate, the ming-bashi (lit. head of ‘1,000’) enjoyed a similar role to the qush-begi in the Bukhara emirate. Relatives of the khan or emir traditionally held the top positions in the administration. Subordinate to the qush-begi, all h¯akims and beks (provin- cial governors) until the end of the Bukhara khanate lived at the expense of the population. In some provinces, such as Darwaz, Karategin, Kulab and Kurgan-tepe, the beks considered themselves as practically independent rulers. 9 The middle and lower classes included three major social groups: the fukaro (common people), the sipohs (military men) and the ‘ulam¯a’ (sing. ‘¯alim; clergy). The administrative system was led by chief officials, the k¯azi kolon, the rais, the mir-sh¯ab and the zak¯atchi, or tax-collector (from zak¯at, alms-tax). The k¯azi kolon appointed the muftis, who approved decisions in line with the shar¯ı‘a ( Islamic law) and searched for the relevant texts from the Qur’an or other religious books ( Fig. 3
). 10 The rais (muhtasib in Kokand) and the mir-sh¯ab both belonged to the clerical establishment and oversaw observation of the reli- gious instructions of the shar¯ı‘a. The rais exercised surveillance over prayers and punished any evasions of mosque attendance. The mir-sh¯ab supervised life in the cities at night and acted as a police chief. The regular army consisted of military men (sarb¯azs). The first sarb¯azs were recruited from among prisoners of war; after the Russian colonization the sarb¯azs were composed of volunteers from among the poor. 11 In the mid-nineteenth century the Bukhara emir main- tained 40–50,000 troops, but in the early twentieth century his army had only 10–11,000 sarb¯az s. 12 The fukaro consisted of artisans, traders, peasants and other commoners. The ruined dehq¯ans (peasants) had to become hired farm workers, chairikers and mardikers: 8
, 1947 , pp. 413–14. 9 Bartol’d, 1927 , p. 251. 10 Sukhareva, 1996 , p. 293. 11 Sukhareva, 1996 , p. 266. 12
, 1947 , pp. 161, 408. 82 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Settled populations in the oases FIG. 3. Samarkand. Reading of the Qur’an. (Photo: © S. Gorshenina-Rapin.) the first worked for a quarter or half of the crop, 13 and the second received their wages mainly in cash. In Afghanistan, the sedentary population continued the semi-sedentary practice of sea- sonal movements from lowlands to mountains. 14 Among the Pashtoons, a tribal assembly (jirga) resolved intra-tribal disputes, often with the mediation of respected members of the ‘ulam¯a’ and pirs (leaders of mystical orders). 15 The jirga included leaders, elders and all other men; in some places a man without land could not participate in the local jirga. 16 The muhtasib , an ‘inspector of morality’, supervised mosque attendance and checked weights and measures and scales in the markets; he was appointed by a q¯az¯ı (Islamic judge) ( Fig. 4
). With the organization of regular police in cities in the early 1920s, the position of muhtasib vanished. 17 In British India, the Pashtoons were united in several tribal groups (khels) linked to the possession of land. The name Punjab (punj is a Punjabi/Sanskrit word for ‘five’ and ¯ab means ‘water’ in Persian) 18 reflects the agricultural character of the region located between the Indus and Yamuna rivers. The statistical records of British India divided Punjabis into 13 Sukhareva, 1996 , p. 277. 14
, 1997 . http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ af0055).
15 Adamec,
1997 , p. 173. 16
, 1994 , p. 110. 17 Adamec, 1997 , p. 223. 18 Burki,
1991 , p. 169. 83 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The nomadic population FIG. 4. Meeting of q¯az¯ıs (Islamic judges). (Photo: © S. Gorshenina-Rapin.) functional castes or agricultural tribes. 19 The ethnic code of conduct (pushtunwali) played a key role in every aspect of the social life of the Pashtoons. Just as the Russian rulers had done, the British authorities supported maliks (minor chiefs who were intermediaries between the administration and the tribal groups of Pashtoons). Iran’s complex social structure included three main tiers (tabaghehs), the upper, middle and lower classes, split into numerous subgroups. The nomadic population Kazakh and Kyrgyz nomads were strongly aware of their military–tribal structure and kin- ship which included three major divisions among tribes. Membership in the Kazakh Lit- tle or Younger, Middle and Great or Elder Hordes (Zhuzs) identified the possibilities and limitations for each affiliate. Among the Kyrgyz, the two major divisions, the left wing (sol kanat) and the right wing (ong kanat), and a separate group (ichkilik) were subdivided into dozens of tribes. The richest and most privileged feudal class inherited power over large territories, which included various tribal kin groups. In Mongolia, several aimags (provinces) included a number of tümens (military units of ‘10,000’ troops among the Mongols) and ulus (familial or tribal domains). Both Mongol and Kazakh hereditary aristocrats claimed lineage from Chinggis Khan. The Kazakhs elected their khans only from tores (descendants of Chinggis Khan). Kazakh 19
, 1994
, p. 106. 84 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The nomadic population nobles claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and any person in command would lay claim to the title sult¯an. 20 In turn, a special group of telengouts served the Kazakh nobility (the tores). The Kyrgyz and the Kazakhs elected their khans by raising them on a white felt rug, which symbolized the inaugural ceremony and indicated that ‘khan’ was not always a hereditary title. In order to centralize power, the tsarist administration significantly weakened the domi- nation of the hereditary nobility, the Kazakh sultans and Kyrgyz manaps, who traditionally had power over a dependent population, the number of which varied from tens to thousands of households. Other categories among the upper class were composed of judges (among the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Turkmens, they were known as biis) and military commanders (known as batyrs among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz and serdars among the Turkmens). With the development of market relations, the newly rich nomads started speculating in livestock prices, thus forcing the hereditary noblemen into the background. Their newfound wealth opened up opportunities for them to buy low-level positions in the tsarist administration. Among the Kyrgyz, these newly rich common people were disrespectfully called sasyk
(‘stinking rich’), which reflected the redistribution of wealth and the fall in status of the hereditary nobility. The largest lower class of commoners (bukaras) among the Turkic-speaking tribes con- sisted of nomads and farmers, whose economic and social status varied widely. For exam- ple, 66–90 per cent of low-income Kazakhs had no minimum level of subsistence (up to 40–50 sheep) and worked for richer kinfolk. 21 The poor-stratum ‘neighbours’, such as the kongshu s (Kyrgyz), moved with upper-class families and to farms, according to the demand for labour. The most common form of exploitation, known as saan (‘milking’), made a sig- nificant number of commoners dependent on manaps and bays (rich men). With their large flocks, rich families could temporarily offer impoverished breeders part of their livestock in exchange for dairy products and everyday jobs. Besides, numerous customs obliged dependent tribesmen to pay rent-in-kind and to cover a nobleman’s expenses when inviting guests, for hosting celebrations and when giving gifts at races and other entertainments ( Fig. 5
). Wealthy households used the labour of mardikers and chairikers during the busy season, especially during the sowing and cultivation of fields, irrigation and the harvest. Pastoral nomads existing at the mercy of a continental climate frequently suffered from murrain when livestock starved to death during snowstorms. After losing their livestock, the poor had to settle in lowland areas and become work-hands. 20 Bacon, 1966 , p. 39.
21 Istoriya Kazakhstana: Narody i kul’tury , 2001 , p. 102. 85 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The nomadic population FIG. 5. Ferghana valley. A hired horse awaiting a traveller. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) Stockbreeding was the principal activity of the nomadic peoples, who valued sheep and their by-products as the main assets in the barter trade. According to the Russian census in 1897, the pastoral economy was the main means of subsistence for some 80 per cent of the Kazakhs. Only 18 per cent of them subsisted owing to a combination of stockbreed- ing and farming the land. The Kazakhs also engaged in fishing, hunting, gathering, craft work, etc. 22 For the majority of the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz, farming was an auxiliary livelihood ( Fig. 6
). Almost all the tribes engaged in animal husbandry at subsistence level, although it is known that the Kyrgyz tribes paid a tax (ziaket, from the Arabic zak¯at) in sheep and a tribute in wheat to the Kokand khan. 23 Among the nomadic tribes of the Kazakhs, the Kyrgyz and the Mongols, the most mobile households seized the best summer pastures and water sources. The size and speed of flock determined claims to the better ground. In order to lay claim to the best grazing lands and water resources, well-off households possessed livestock with a greater propor- tion of animals (horses and camels) that moved faster than the animals of their country- men. Their flocks were the first to graze the grassland, whereas the animals of later-arriving households had to be content with what remained. According to Kazakh scholars, the right of ‘the first taking’ did not cover winter camps and adjoining territories, being applied 22
, 2001
, p. 84. 23 Kadyrov, 1955 , p. 16.
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Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The nomadic population FIG. 6. Ferghana valley. A farmer. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) to private (about 15–18 per cent) and communal use. 24 Poorer nomads owned more cat- tle and fewer horses, camels and sheep, which meant that they always arrived last. Thus, over time, the rich monopolized pastures and water sources. For instance, Kyrgyz manaps claimed some tracts and pastures as their own property (koruk) and demanded rent or a toll (in kind) from other households that passed through. All Turkmens were divided into charvas (nomadic population) and chomurs (settled inhabitants) ( Fig. 7 ). The majority of nomadic communities (obas) among the Turkmens consisted of several small families linked by patrilineal kinship and having one common, not very distant ancestor. 25 Authors suppose that the Turkmens were characterized by fewer class differences 26 than other neighbouring peoples. Power often belonged to leaders who had proved their skills in war. In Mongolia, traditional society was made up of numerous herding camps, basic-level territorial units and Buddhist monasteries. An estimated share of noblemen (8 per cent) was 24 Amrekulov and Masanov, 1994 , p. 24.
25 Bregel’,
1961 , pp. 71–6. 26 Bacon,
1966 , p. 53.
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Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Impact of Russian rule FIG. 7. Merv. A Turkmen village. (Photo: © S. Gorshenina-Rapin.) traditionally engaged in political and administrative jobs alongside the top-level clergy; the rest of the population comprised common herders and monks. 27 In Iran, the Bakhtiari and Qashqa’i tribal units, led by their rulers (ilkh¯ans), were almost self-governing and possessed vast territories. In other tribes, a kh¯an, a beg, a shaykh or a sard¯ar would govern the commoners. Community leader (kal¯antars) administered subtribes. It was not until the 1920s that Reza Shah (1925–41) severely restricted the political and economic rights and influence of tribal leaders with the purpose of strengthening his own power. He took hostage the sons of tribal leaders and dispossessed them of their lands. 28 Impact of Russian rule Turkistan governor-generalship was established in 1867 and renamed Turkistan kray in 1886; it included the territories of the Kazakh Great or Elder Horde (mostly southern Kazakhstan), the Kyrgyz and the Kokand khanate, and parts of the Bukhara emirate and the Khiva khanate. Orenburg and Western Siberia of the Russian empire – transferred in 1882 to Steppe governor-generalship – incorporated the northern and central regions of Kazakhstan. Military governors appointed by the tsarist authorities administered the provinces, whose borders disregarded tribal kinship ties. 27
, 1989
. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field (DOCID+ mn0057).
28 Iran. A Country Study , 1987 . http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field (DOCID+ir0068). 88 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Impact of Russian rule The Russian authorities united the native inhabitants of western Turkistan into one estate group with the humiliating title inorodtsy (‘people of alien origin’ or ‘people of different birth’), who had access only to low-rank positions in the administration. The number of educated indigenous people is still unclear because Russian statistics only took account of natives able to read Cyrillic, totally disregarding Muslims educated in madrasas and
s (elementary schools) and able to write in the vernacular. New indigenous officials loyal to the colonial authorities and devoted to change emerged, supported by the tsarist administration; they gradually displaced the traditional power-holding elite. For instance, the Russian establishment minimized the role of the ak
(‘white bone’) aristocracy and elevated the status of loyal underprivileged groups known as the kara suyek (‘black bone’) among the Kazakhs by including them in the administration. The large bureaucratic apparatus involved a great number of educated natives regardless of their origin. From the mid-nineteenth century, among the Kazakhs, more kara suyek commoners, biis, batyrs and well-to-do nomads had access to positions as senior sultans and rulers than representatives of the tores. 29 These changes followed the repression of the anti-colonial movement led by the ak suyek khan Kenesary Kasymov, who mobilized over 25,000 Kazakhs against the Russian authorities in the 1830s–40s. 30 The rapidly developing cotton industry created a new class of middlemen between native producers and consumers. 31 In 1913 the Ferghana valley supplied more than 62 per cent of the cotton imported by Russia, Bukhara – more than 13 per cent, Syr Darya – 8 per cent and Samarkand – about 7 per cent. 32 The rise of the cotton-processing industry resulted in accelerated commodity–money relations; this led to the stratification of pop- ulations and the pauperization of many of them, and simultaneously a greater than ever number of entrepreneurs, money-lenders and usurers (sütkors), brokers (daldals/dalals), resellers (alyp satars) and traders (soodalers/soodagers). In order to enlarge the cotton-growing area, the tsarist administration conducted reforms designed to eliminate the feudal landowning class in Turkistan and distributed small plots to local peasants. This transformed farming and led to the development of a processing industry and the emergence of a native proletariat. The introduction of small land tenure gradually destroyed the nomadic households and reduced the area of pastoral pastures. For instance, the fodder supplies of the nomadic Kyrgyz in the Ferghana valley were under- mined by cotton expansion and the sowing of wheat on their pastures. 33 In addition, new 29 Istoriya Kazakhstana: Narody i kul’tury , 2001 , p. 183. 30 Ibid. 31 Bartol’d, 1927 , p. 186. 32 Istoriya narodov Uzbekistana , 1947 , p. 277. 33
, 1947
, p. 277. 89 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Impact of Russian rule small food-processing and mining enterprises with a number of wage-workers emerged across Turkistan kray, but on the whole, it remained a region with a mainly agrarian popu- lation. In 1885, even in the largest city Tashkent, the capital of the kray, only 27 enterprises were in operation, each with an average of more than 10 workers. 34 Taxation in cash introduced by the Russian authorities accelerated the stratification between poor and well-off. The commodity-exchange economy and rising taxes contributed to an increase in the number of landless peasants (chairikers), who were forced to offer their labour to wealthy locals (bays) and Russian well-off farmers (kulaks). Cotton mono- culture and the hardships of the nomadic and settled populations in the Ferghana val- ley resulted in the Andijan uprising in 1898, which involved the inhabitants of Andijan, Osh, Namangan and the surrounding areas. The leader, a Naqshbandi called Ishan Madali, mobilized thousands of impoverished peasants and urban wage-workers under the banner of gazavat, or holy war against non-Muslims. After the defeat of the revolt, the colonial authorities exiled 208 activists to Siberia; among them were 136 Kyrgyz, 52 Uzbeks, 13 Kashgharis, 4 Turks and 3 Tajiks. Tsar Nicolas II invented a cruel punishment for villages that stood in the way of the anti-colonial movement: all of them were destroyed and lev- elled to the ground and new Russian settlements were established in their place. 35 New economic relations, the rapid stratification of populations and the increased pace of rural–urban migration led to urbanization at the beginning of the twentieth century. Slav migrants from Russia consisted of bourgeois, merchants, Cossacks, middle and poor peasants, and a small number of hereditary noblemen (dvoriane). The colonial authorities mostly encouraged the migration of Russian subjects – Christians from among the rural population. The dramatic increase in cotton production led to the construction of railroads, with a consequent influx of Russians to build and service the railways. In Ferghana oblast’, the number of urban inhabitants doubled between 1880 and 1897. 36 Some settlements and cities established by the tsarist administration had mainly Russian populations and large Russian quarters ( Fig. 8
). Entirely Russian towns sprang up around railway stations. 37 For instance, Novy Marghilan (later renamed Skobelev and today Ferghana city in Uzbekistan) was planned exclusively as a Russian city ( Figs. 9
and 10 ). In all cities, the Russian minority enjoyed more privileges than the native population. In addition, the new railroad communications across Russian Turkistan and the Bukhara emi- rate gradually decreased the importance of the caravan routes linking up with the southern neighbours. 34 Ibid., p. 269. 35 Ibid., pp. 368, 370. 36
, 1947 , p. 268. 37 Lipovsky, 1995 , p. 532. 90 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Impact of Russian rule FIG. 8. Karavan. A Russian house and an arba (carriage). G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) FIG. 9. Skobelev. A Russian officer buying grapes in the bazaar. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) In a hazardous climate, stockbreeding remained the most prestigious employment among the Kazakh, Turkmen and Kyrgyz nomads, who lived better than their sedentary 91 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Impact of Russian rule FIG. 10. Skobelev. Principal mosque and the bazaar. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914.
(Photo: © mimdi.) counterparts and considered landowners to be second-class citizens. But from the end of the nineteenth century, the Russian administration and peasants started confiscating lands used by the nomadic population. Moreover, the tsarist authorities forced thousands of impov- erished nomadic and semi-nomadic households to settle. The confiscation of lands and economic restructuring led to a mass pauperization of the nomadic peoples and forced them to settle and adopt a sedentary lifestyle. Nomads as a proportion of the population of Turkistan dropped from 84 per cent in 1867 to 57 per cent in 1875. After the incorpo- ration of the Ferghana valley, this figure fell to 47 per cent and on the eve of the socialist revolution in 1917 only a third of the population was engaged in stockbreeding. 38 Sedentarization greatly affected the Kazakhs, the Kyrgyz and part of the nomadic and semi-nomadic Uzbeks who were unwilling to change a long-established lifestyle and saw the colonial period as the end of their era of national prosperity. V. Nalivkin mentioned that pastoral Uzbek groups had no respect for the lifestyle of sedentary Uzbeks, and disassoci- ated themselves from those who had discarded their nomadic felt houses to settle in clay huts and grow crops. 39 Kyrgyz and Kazakh bards composed a cycle of poems about the last days of their enjoyable pastoral life and the evils of sedentary survival. Despite all the social and economic changes, tribal affiliations were preserved in everyday life. The influx of Russians and Ukrainians who moved to cities and fertile valleys, thus evicting indigenous pastoral and oasis dwellers, greatly aggravated the interreligious and 38 Botiakov, 1990 , p. 75; Bartol’d, 1927 , p. 121. 39 Nalivkin, 1886 , p. 32.
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Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Impact of Russian rule inter-ethnic tensions. Russian migrants seized the lands of mainly Kazakh and Kyrgyz tribes, expelling the latter from their traditional territories. For instance, Slavs living in Kazakhstan totalled 1.5 million (28.5 per cent of the total population) by 1911. 40 The process of sedentarization among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz provided more opportunities for the tsarist administration to take possession of lands for the Russian population. The last straw was when the tsarists requisitioned the entire male population to serve as the rearguard in 1916, which ignited a mass rebellion across western Turkistan against all Russians and other non-Muslims. Thousands of rebels demanded an end to this male conscription and the return of their territories. After the revolt had been suppressed, the tsarist administration acknowledged that the main reason for the rebellion was the with- drawal of about 2 million desiatinas (2,179,999 ha) (1 desiatina = 1.09 ha) of land for the state fund and consequently a shortage of land and pastures among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.
41 Another source indicates that before the First World War, the Russian authorities had expropriated almost 20 per cent of the Kazakh nomads’ common lands. 42 The Russian administration did not consider the major part of these lands as the pri- vate property of the native populations. For instance, a revision conducted in Turkistan kray in 1909 by Senator Palen determined that in three oblast’s (Ferghana, Syr Darya and Samarkand), the right to private land extended over less than 1 per cent of the sown areas. 43 The Tatar commercial bourgeoisie played a distinctive role in the social and cultural transformation of the Turkistan colony. Speaking Turkic and Russian, they enthusiasti- cally moved to Turkistan, bringing their own economic resources and skills. By 1926 the number of Tatars in Central Asia had reached 119,000. 44 In Kazakhstan they became the largest minority after Russians and Ukrainians. 45 Volga Tatars, who are linguistically close to all Turkic-speaking peoples, successfully served as intermediaries between the Russian administration and local merchants and as educators and religious men in promoting Islam among the nomads. For instance, Kazakh and Kyrgyz neighbourhoods gave a good recep- tion to peripatetic Tatar mullahs and traders. As E. Lazzerini has indicated: By the turn of the nineteenth century the Tatar diaspora, with its modernist mentality and economic resources to support a range of reformist activities involving publishing, educa- tion, religion, economics, language, and social relations, would shape a developmental model 40 See Istoriya Kazakhstana: Narody i kul’tury, 2001 , p. 248. 41
, 1947 , p. 347. 42 Tursunbaev, 1973 , p. 224. 43
, 1947 , p. 259. 44
, 1994
, p. 111. 45
, 2001
, p. 236. 93 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The religious establishment attractive for many Turkic brethren faced with the challenge of preserving known ways while evolving a modern society. 46 Families remained large, but high child mortality led to few surviving children in the family. Polygamy was common among the well-off Muslim families and marked high social and economic status among the men. Inter-ethnic marriages between Muslims were considered customary, whereas both sides condemned interreligious marriages between Muslims and Christians. Property, knowledge and privileges were transferred patrilineally. As a rule, among the Muslim nomadic population, the youngest son inherited the largest part of his father’s rights over pastures and property. On the other hand, market relations in the colonial period promoted a breakdown of the large patriarchal family and helped to weaken kinship relations. The religious establishment Russian governors-general considered the emir of Bukhara as the head of the Muslim community of Central Asia. 47 Bukhara, with its population of 80–100,000, had up to 365 mosques and 103 madrasas and 10–15,000 mullahs and students who played an active role in political and social events. 48 According to other authors, there were 8 Friday (Jum‘a ) mosques, more than 200 guzars (districts) and about 50 other mosques in bazaars and madrasas. 49 As a rule, every neighbourhood (mahalla or guzar) had its own mosque ( Fig. 11
), which functioned as a centre for the local community ( Fig. 12
). The ‘ulam¯a’ owned a significant share of the lands and assets of the waqf (religious endowment). For instance, in the Ferghana valley, waqf lands made up 11–17 per cent of the sown areas. 50 The religious class consisted of seyyids (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) and khoja s (descendants of the first four ‘Rightly Guided’ caliphs). Both considered themselves a sacred group as opposed to the populace (karacha). If they violated this endogamy, their descendants could lose their dignity. According to V. Bartol’d, khojas were reluctant to allow their females to marry karacha, because in such a marriage, the children, regardless of the origin of their father, acquired all the rights of the Prophet’s descendants. Despite the resistance of the khojas, some nineteenth-century rulers forced women from this group to marry them in order to obtain the prestigious title of seyyid. 51
s and seyyids held high positions in the khanates, although their material situation varied. Even in the early 46 Lazzerini, 1992 . 47 Bartol’d, 1927
, p. 223. 48 Gafurov, 1964 , p. 184. 49 Sukhareva, 1996 , p. 293. 50
, 1947 , p. 270. 51 Bartol’d, 1963 , p. 276. 94 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The religious establishment FIG. 11. Namangan. Men sitting outside the Abdu-Karim mosque. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) FIG. 12. Ferghana valley. A mahalla (residential quarter) in a town. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914. (Photo: © mimdi.) years of the Soviet regime, some top administrative positions in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan belonged to descendants of khojas. 95 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The religious establishment FIG. 13. Marghilan. Maz¯ar of the Kok-Mazar mosque. (Photo: © S. Gorshenina-Rapin.) Both Russia and Britain made significant efforts to modernize criminal and civil laws to transform social relationships in their respective spheres of influence. However, they could not fundamentally alter the role of the shar¯ı‘a ( Islamic law) in the oases and of ‘¯adat (oral customary law) in the steppes, which strictly determined the everyday life of Muslims. Almost all legal proceedings remained in the hands of the ‘ulam¯a’ and well-off chiefs. Among the Turkic-speaking populations, the power of the aqsaqals (lit. ‘white-beards’, i.e. elders) and the court of the elders remained the strongest institutions, especially in remote regions untouched by market relations. The heads of Sufi brotherhoods (which enjoyed great popularity among peasants and nomadic farmers) did not belong to the official clergy. The Naqshbandis remained the most influential of the numerous Sufi brotherhoods in the Bukhara emirate and the Kokand khanate. In Khiva, almost all artisans, merchants and officials were members of Sufi brotherhoods, mostly the Kubraviya. 52 Leaders of dervishes and the official ‘ulam¯a’ com- peted with each other to gain power and land. Numerous holy shrines (maz¯ars) managed by shaykh s played a considerable role in the life of local Muslims ( Fig. 13 ). On the whole, the settled populations in the oases were more zealous Muslims than the nomadic populations. In Mongolia, the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism ( Lamaism) played the key role in the administration and management of community life. In times of political crisis, as 52
, 1947
, p. 148. 96 Contents Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Artisans
with the end of Chinese rule in 1911, the Buddhist authorities assumed political power. 53 Around ‘250,000 people, more than a third of the total residents, either lived in territories administered by monasteries and living Buddhas or were hereditary dependents of the monasteries.’ 54 Water administrators In the arid climate of Central Asia, water regulation was of primordial importance for the survival and wealth of the populations. Traditionally, local inhabitants had elected many administrators responsible for water management and the repair of canals to prevent fre- quent disputes. Every community had its own mir-¯ab (water manager) or aryk-aqsaqal. For instance, the Zakh-Aryk water system in the vicinity of Tashkent had 40 mir-¯abs and 1 aryk-aqsaqal remunerated in kind and later in cash. 55 However, in the colonial period, the tsarist administration started appointing officials responsible for irrigation instead of elected representatives, which led to mismanagement and continuous disputes among water users. In Afghanistan, more than one tenth of the land was cultivated and one quarter was irrigated; this necessitated collective efforts to maintain the water system and the hand-dug underground water channel systems (k¯arezs). The majority of the population had to use
, rain-fed dry farming. 56 Artisans
The number of artisans in the oases was significant; for instance, in the city of Bukhara about 25 per cent of the total population consisted of artisans with their families and roughly 100 branches of arts existed. 57 As in Europe, city artisans were united in guilds with their own charter (ris¯ala) and headed by respected masters, who used the wage labour of apprentices and accomplished poor masters (khalfas). Team leaders of the artisans col- lected purchase orders and allocated them among workshops. In the second half of the nineteenth century, an influx of Russian manufactured products led to a devastating decline of local crafts and put many artisans out of business; some arts have gradually vanished. 53
, 1989
. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ mn0073).
54 Mongolia. A Country Study , 1989 . 55
, 1947
, p. 296. 56
, 1997
. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ af0055).
57 Sukhareva, 1996 , p. 190. 97 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Slaves
In Central Asia, the common people ascribed supernatural powers to a skilled artisan (ust¯a) and believed that every craft has own divine protector (pir) who saves it from harm. According to traditional belief, Adam was the first farmer and weaver, and David was the patron of metal crafts. 58 Similarly, any educated writer or poet was highly respected because of the popular belief in his extraterrestrial ability and skills. For instance, a Kyrgyz manaschi (epic narrator), able to remember thousands of verses, could be asked to cure domestic animals because of his unique talent. Slaves
At major markets in Bukhara, Samarkand, Karakul, Karshi and Charju, slaves consisted mainly of Iranians and Russians, and some Kalmuks; they were brought there by Turkmen, Kazakh and Kyrgyz raiders. 59 The major providers of the numerous slaves for the Khiva khanate’s markets were Turkmens and Kazakhs; the first supplied Iranians and Kurds, and the second supplied Russians, Tatars, German colonists, etc. 60 Slaves were employed in the army and the administration; some managed to achieve top positions such as qush-begi. For instance, the Bukhara emir Muzaffar (1860–85) surrounded himself with a retinue of Iranian slaves and maintained a brigade of them. There were estimated to be some 40,000 slaves in the Khiva khanate alone; they were eventually released under pressure from the tsarist administration. 61 The number of slaves in the emirate of Bukhara remains unknown; after joining Samarkand vilayet to Russia, it is estimated that Samarkand district had some 10,000 slaves. 62 Among the Kyrgyz, Kazakhs and Turkmens, slavery was not as widespread as in the oases: their domestic slaves (kuls) had been prisoners of war or criminals whose relatives failed to ransom them; most worked in households and their offspring gradually became integrated into the tribal community. Kyrgyz manaps included domestic slaves as part of the kalym (bride-price), as prizes at races and as payments for fines. 63
a concubine was regarded as a commodity until she gave birth; after a child was born, her master could not sell her to anyone else, though it was his decision whether to marry her or to continue the illegal cohabitation. 64 The Russian authorities abolished slavery in 1861 and gradually it vanished from the subject territories. 58
, 1947
, p. 303. 59 Ibid., p. 150. 60 Ibid., pp. 150–1. 61 Ibid., p. 416. 62 Ibid., p. 150. 63
, 1956 , Vol. 1, p. 217. 64 Lomakin, 1993 , pp. 10–11. 98 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY TO 1918 4 THE BRITISH IN CENTRAL ASIA * Madhavan K. Palat Download 8.99 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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