History of Civilizations of Central Asia
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settlers have access to the irrigated land, to the valuable crops’. 26 For this he proposed ‘a plan for irrigation in the cotton-growing regions alone of not less than 3 million desiatinas of land, that is, an area equal to the existing irrigated area of Turkistan’, making it possible to ‘create a second Turkistan’. Moreover, ‘this new Turk- istan, on the scale of the old one, the native one, could surpass it in wealth and culture, and its new population will be Russian. At the same time our economic task will be solved,’ said Krivoshein, ‘the cotton harvest will be increased to meet the full demand of Russian factories’, while irrigation ‘will open up the opportunity to pour into the region a Russian population of 1.5 million.’ 27 Krivoshein’s report said not one word about the fate of the native peoples of Turkistan, beyond the promise that ‘the state will in no way harm their interests’. 28 Economic development and the creation of infrastructure Russia’s economic policy in Central Asia was quite similar to the policy in its European colonies. National wealth was confiscated, valuable raw materials were exported and, under pressure from goods from Russia, local crafts went into decline and were forced to seek new economic niches, while the traditional ways of life and value systems collapsed. At the same time, Central Asian civilization was drawn into the new system of world links and together with Russia was influenced by the traditional economic culture’s shift to the culture of the capitalist market. An important part of this process was the creation of an infrastructure in keeping with the needs of the times – water transport, networks of railway lines and main roads, a banking and credit system, industrial production and new means of communication – the telegraph and telephone. The creation of a transport network was directly linked to the implementation of tsarism’s strategic military tasks, and the conquest of the last southern frontier, the Tran- scaspian region, was considered a way of reinforcing the political dependence of Cen- tral Asia on Russia as well as a main route for the economic colonization of the region. The initiative for this, from the survey work to the creation of lines of communication 25 Krivoshein, 1912a , p. 47.
26 Krivoshein, 1912a , Appendix, p. 47. 27 Ibid., Appendix, pp. 30, 38. 28 Ibid., Appendix, p. 57. 136 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Economic development and the construction of depots and repair workshops, lay entirely with the state, although Russian and foreign businessmen showed great interest and put forward their own projects. Between 1880 and 1906 the following were built: the Transcaspian military railway from Krasnovodsk bay via Ashkhabad (now Ashgabat) and Charju to Samarkand (1888); the Samarkand– Andijan line, with a branch to Tashkent (1898); the Murghab railway from Merv to Kushka (Gushgy, on the border with Afghanistan) (1900); and the Orenburg–Tashkent railway (1906).
Private capital was involved in the building of internal railway branches from the main line, the Central Asian railway. Following publication of the law ‘On Measures to Encour- age the Participation of Private Capital in Railway Construction in Russia’, three big joint- stock companies were set up: the Ferghana railway (1912), Semirechye railway (1912) and Bukhara railway (1913). By the beginning of 1917 the overall length of private railways was 863 km. 29 Waterways were another form of transport. The Caspian shipping line, set up in the 1840s, was joined by the Aral Sea and River Amu Darya flotillas. Industrial enterprises specializing in the primary processing of agricultural raw mate- rials were usually built along transport routes. In Turkistan the cotton-ginning industry in 1913 accounted for 56.5 per cent of the total value of gross production (143 million roubles). Closely linked to it were the 30 enterprises of the cotton-seed oil-pressing indus- try, whose gross output in 1915 was estimated to have been worth 12.4 million roubles. 30 The cotton-growing centre was Ferghana oblast’, where the area sown to cotton accounted for one-third of all irrigated land. 31 Penetration of the region by Russian firms and companies began in the 1880s and developed on a wide scale at the beginning of the twentieth century. The firms Savva Morozov, Son & Co., N. N. Konshin Associates Tex- tiles, Yaroslavl Grand Textiles and many others made great efforts to introduce the best- quality cotton plants into Turkistan. They began by distributing to the local population high-quality varieties of American cotton-seed, they set up experimental stations and plan- tations, imported equipment for their factories from America and Europe and cooperated closely with St Petersburg and Moscow stock exchanges to set up the Kokand exchange (1906). The exchange was run by major bankers and businessmen: A. I. Zigel (manager), S. A. Knabe, V. E. Kokh, A. Ziyaev, A. Khusainov, Y. K. Vadyaev and others. 29 Ferghana railway 273 km, Semirechye railway 79.1 km, Bukhara railway 450 km. 30 Skobelev, 1924 , p. 46.
31 Central State Archives (TsGA) of the Republic of Uzbekistan, coll. I–90, inv. 1, file 2, fol. 22. 137 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Economic development The scale and tempo of development of the cotton-processing industry depended on the demands of the Russian textile industry. The rise and fall of industrial production in Russia was mirrored in Turkistan. It was therefore no coincidence that in the years of industrial growth (1909–13) in Turkistan, 468 industrial enterprises were set up, whereas the number for the entire preceding period had been only 195. On the eve of the First World War, there were 1,100 enterprises operating in Turkistan (including mixed trade and industry enterprises). The quantity of raw cotton exported to Russia grew from year to year. Exports rose from 873,000 poods (1 pood = 16.38 kg) in 1888 to 1.8 million poods in 1890, 3.1 million
s in 1895, 10.1 million poods in 1906 and 14.5 million poods in 1908. 32 Turkistan’s cotton-processing industry was geared not so much to the needs of the internal market as to serving the interests of the centre. A specific feature of the developing capitalist structure was the wide use of traditional conditions which had formed in the region in the pre-colonial period: a cheap workforce, manual labour and seasonal activity. In the regions of Central Asia not growing cotton the leading position was taken by enterprises processing the by-products of animal husbandry, especially wool-washing, tan- ning and gut-cleaning. For example, up to 60 per cent of all the commercial wool produced came from enterprises in Semirechye. Sectors working for the local market accounted for only 6.5 per cent of production. 33 In the indigenous oblast’s of Ferghana, Samarkand and Syr Darya there were 63 tanneries whose improvement was actively promoted by well- known commercial firms like G. I. Veksler & K. Pauli, Goldberg Bros. & Co. and Louis Zalm. 34
processing and exported their products to Russia, the US and Europe. Branches of these firms were scattered across Turkistan and Steppe kray. Astrakhan lambskin pelts and wool were exported in large quantities from the emirate of Bukhara and the khanate of Khiva. Astrakhan’s annual exports rose from 30,000 to 40,000 pelts in the first years of the Russian protectorate to 1.8 million on the eve of the First World War; wool exports rose from 150,000 to 250,000 poods respectively. 35 Silk spinning was less successful. The monopolist in this sphere was the Italian I. Aloizi, who arrived in Turkistan from Corsica in 1888 and built several silkworm breeding enter- prises in Tashkent, Samarkand, Novy Marghilan and Khujand. Aloizi was followed by a number of other businessmen attracted to this profitable enterprise: in Novy Marghilan 32 Gubarevich-Radobylsky, 1912 , p. 28; Central State Archives (TsGA) of the Republic of Uzbekistan, coll. I–1, inv. 12, file 1441, fol. 19. 33
’noy Azii, 2001
, p. 417. 34 Potapova, 2002 , p. 20.
35 Ibid., p. 19. 138 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Economic development by Yevtikhidhis, Glavkidhis and Kasyanov; in Kokand by Sotereadhis, Mandalaka, Valyuli and Elevtoriadhis; in Namangan by Bamanov, Ishkhanov, Tumasov and others. 36 Increased interest in silk boosted the gross output of cocoons. In 1910 production reached 450,000 pood s, 80 per cent of which was exported to Russia, France and Italy. 37 The remainder was processed by traditional handicraft methods. In the primary processing of agricultural produce a new branch for Central Asia appeared – wine- and vodka-making, which developed to meet the demands of the Russian popu- lation. Of 33 factories making alcoholic products, 27 were in Samarkand oblast’ and the remainder in Syr Darya and Ferghana oblast’s. In Tashkent alone in 1910 there were 3 vodka distilleries, 1 wine-making enterprise and 4 breweries belonging to the Moscow merchant I. I. Ivanov. The production of alcohol led to the appearance of a large number of wholesale warehouses, wine cellars, beer shops and pubs which brought in huge profits for their owners and gave rise to dissatisfaction among the Muslim population, which was concerned about the spread of alcoholism among young people. The mining and oil-extraction industries were based on the exploitation of the rich natural mineral resources. There were some relatively large enterprises with their own developed infrastructure: the coalmines of the Kizil Kiya joint-stock company, Aleksan- drov’s company Shurabskiye Kopi (Shurab mines) and the Santo and Chimion oilfields in Ferghana oblast’, which generally satisfied the ever-growing demands of the capitalist structure in the Central Asian economy. According to data from the statistical committee of Ferghana oblast’, 3,239,079 poods of petroleum were extracted in 1907, and in 1910 the Chimion joint-stock company alone extracted 1,416,551 poods. 38 Besides petroleum extraction, this company was engaged in the construction of oil pipelines and kerosene factories and the supply of modern equipment and quickly turned into a very large monopoly enterprise with a fixed capital of 2 million roubles. In Steppe kray, the Karaganda coalmines and Spassk and Ridder copper mines under- went considerable development. Altogether in the mining sector there were 197 active enterprises which, together with the oilfields, contributed 18 per cent of the region’s gross industrial production and employed over 70 per cent of the workforce. 39 The vast majority of the enterprises in this sector, however, were poorly equipped ( Fig. 4
). The main tools were still the pick, shovel and wheelbarrow. With the mass employment of cheap unskilled 36 Central State Archives (TsGA) of the Republic of Uzbekistan, coll. I–37, inv. 1, file 250, fol. 15. 37 Kasatkin, 1907 , No. 4.
38 Skobelev, 1909 , p. 59; Skobelev, 1912, pp. 90–1. 39 Istoriya Kazakhstana i Tsentral ’noy Azii, 2001 , pp. 418–19. 139 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Banking and foreign capital FIG. 4. Ferghana valley. A small factory at Baimat Tash. G. and L. Gain expedition to Central Asia. 1914.
(Photo: © mimdi.) labour, which constantly reproduced itself, the mines and oilfields earned their owners fab- ulous profits. Banking and foreign capital Among the external influences on the development of Central Asia’s economy was one closely linked with the invasion of the colonialists – financial and banking capital in the form of commercial links and the capitalist market, with the harsh laws of private enter- prise. Besides the branches of the Russian State Bank opened in all the major towns of Central Asia, there were more than 40 branches of various commercial banks. For exam- ple, 5 branches and 7 agencies belonged to the Moscow Discount Bank, founded by the trading houses Vogan & Co., L. Knop and Petr Botkin and the businessmen A. P. Shiling, A. S. Spiridonov and K. T. Soldatenkov. Moscow International Bank opened branches in Kokand (1891) and Bukhara (1892). Through its mediation, the Company for Trade with Persia and Central Asia was set up in 1904. Later it merged with the United Bank and took part in the financing of Central Asia’s biggest cotton-seed oil-milling company, Besh-Bosh. Special interest in the cotton trade and cotton-ginning industry was shown by the Russo- Chinese Bank (1895), which later became part of the Russo-Asiatic Bank (1907) and had branches in 12 of the region’s towns. The firms Mirkanula Mir-Muminbaev, Shakirov Bros., Fuzailov Bros., Vadyaev Bros. and Potelyakhov Bros. had permanent or seasonal credit from this bank and gave it all their cotton for sale on commission. 40 For exam- ple, in the 1910 season the Russo-Asiatic Bank approved credit amounting to 13 million 40 Vekselman, 1987 , pp. 40–1. 140 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Banking and foreign capital roubles. It actively invested its own capital in the development of the petroleum sector, railway construction and the creation of land irrigation concessions in the region. 41 Major trading operations were also carried out by the Azov-Don Bank, Siberian Trade Bank, Volga-Kama Bank and others. Despite tsarism’s protectionist measures, foreign capital actively took root in Central Asia’s commercial and industrial infrastructure via Russian banks. Considerable investments of British, French, American and German capi- tal promoted the founding and development of the petroleum and mining sectors and the extraction of copper, lead and gold, as well as the equipping of factories and the supply of consultants and managers in various areas. 42 The petroleum-extracting company Maili-Sai was established with British capital; in the Transcaspian petroleum sector, the company Nobel Bros. was the main player. British and French capital was actively involved in the setting up of the Pamir Gold Mining Co. and the Atbasar Copper Ores Co. All the same, the leading position was generally maintained by the capital of Russian monopolies and banks. The import of capital from Russia into Central Asia took place in the form of direct investment, loans and credits to form a potential reserve for speeding up the development of commerce and industry. Considering the size of the region, however, this potential was realized only to a limited degree. Moreover, these investments, being oriented towards serving the interests of Russia, created a mechanism for the constant and large-scale out- flow of the region’s material resources. The outflow of financial resources from Central Asia to Russia in the form of the transfer of profits, the cancellation of loans and credits and the redistribution of the social product with the help of monopoly prices in the process of trade exchange constantly exceeded the inflow of resources for the national economy. These circumstances and their colonial prescription had an oppressive effect on Central Asia’s economy, in the end promoting the reproduction of its backwardness. In view of the above, the formation of a single internal market was from the very begin- ning contradictory, proceeding in conditions (as envisaged by tsarism’s colonial policy) of an artificially created imbalance in the national economic complex. This influenced the formation of the national bourgeoisie, which was unable to participate equally in the process of capitalization and to build business relations with Russian partners on the basis of mutual interest. Because of the region’s political subordination, the Russian partners dictated rules of the game that were advantageous to themselves and built up commer- cial exchanges on the basis of the balance of power. However, the colony’s businessmen gradually freed themselves from their traditional economic ties and mastered the latest 41 Vekselman, 1987 , pp. 41, 52. 42 Ibid., p. 52. 141 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Relations with Islam innovations, accumulated capital and invested it in industrial production while acting as intermediaries in providing credit for the producers of goods, using the resources of Russian and foreign capital. The well-known merchant Arif Khoja Azizkhojinov had close links with Moscow and St Petersburg businessmen, visited London and Paris several times and was the owner of the Arif Khoja Passage in the middle of Tashkent, where Russian and European goods were sold. He was also the owner of several industrial enterprises. In 1905 he paid 0.5 million roubles at auction for the right to build and operate Tashkent abattoir, a modern, technically equipped meat processing combine. The brothers Seid Kerim and Seid Gani Seidazimbaev, sons of a famous karavan- bashi (caravan leader), created a large building and contracting firm in Tashkent which built roads, premises for state institutions and private housing. A group of merchants, Tashkenbaev, Isamukhamedov, Abdurashidov and Khojiev, invested 1.5 million roubles in the exploitation of minerals in Samarkand oblast’; and the merchants Nazarov, Nishanov and Abdukadyrov built their own iron foundry in Namangan uezd. 43 There were many similar examples. By the end of the nineteenth century local businessmen owned 117 of the 220 cotton-ginning mills operating in the region, 54 of the 75 tanneries and 20 of the 34 soap works. 44 In terms of local history the national bourgeoisie developed quite successfully. Its mem- bers were absorbed by the region’s new ‘climate’ of business relations, stock-market spec- ulation, unprecedented capital investment, participation in setting up industrial production facilities, firms and companies, that is to say, by what the literature calls the capitalist ‘spirit’. However, they were too weak to grow. Due to dependence on Russian capital, the national bourgeoisie was unable to take any independent decisions or to compete equally with Russian businessmen in the local market. Moreover, a great part of the economic area of Central Asia, which needed major investments from the state and business structures, remained outside the national bourgeoisie’s field of vision, untouched by ‘colonial capi- talism’. Everything was subordinated to the fulfilment of tsarism’s main strategic task – turning Turkistan into Russia’s cotton base. Relations with Islam The historical experience of the contacts of colonial capital with traditional Turkistan shows that these were not just a particular kind of socio-economic relations but also a 43 Potapova, 2002 , p. 17.
44 Dobromyslov, 1912 , p. 398. 142 Contents
Copyrights ISBN 92-3-103985-7 Relations with Islam particular phenomenon of spiritual culture. The development of capitalist relations was not organically linked with local Islamic culture, nor had Islam created any clearly expressed premises for proceeding along the capitalist road. The mass of the population still adhered to the traditional way of life. This explains in many ways the special drama of the national history of the peoples of Central Asia from the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, when they were forced ‘from above’ and ‘from outside’ into transformation. Local society, having experienced the bitterness of defeat by tsarist troops, the humilia- tion of merciless exploitation by their own people and by outsiders, disappointment and a fall in their living standards, perceived tsarism’s measures as an encroachment not only on values hallowed by Islam but also on the very pillars of daily life. There is eloquent proof of this to be found in extracts from a secret report dating from the 1890s: The mass of the population have not yet forgotten their independence under the dominion of their khan, who shared their faith; they have not yet lost their respect for their clergy and scholars; the authority of the shar¯ı ‘a, enjoyed by the people’s court, encourages respect for the q¯az¯ıs and ... thanks to these factors, the masses would probably not be averse to separating themselves from the Russian Government if suitable conditions for this could be found. The group which has not given up thoughts of independence is the biggest and most numerous and almost all the masses of the rural population and part of the urban population are part of it.
45 Reports such as this were confirmed by various forms of public protest, ranging from the stream of complaints and petitions sent in to various state bodies by the population, to Download 8.99 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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