Join us as we discuss two giants of Alash Orda and fathers of modern Kazakhstan: Alikhan Bukeikhanov and Akhmet Baitursynov.
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Continue readingAfter negotiations with the Bolsheviks stall, the Alash Orda turn to the White Movement in Siberia. What they find are endless political factions, Cossacks, numerous battles with the Red Army, and a White Army coup.
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Continue readingThe Russian Civil War knocks on the door of Siberia and the Steppe. The newly created Alash Autonomy must decide who they will ally with: the Bolsheviks or the White Army. Attracted by Bolshevik rhetoric, the Alash Orda start negotiates with the Soviets, but quickly learn that they have two, conflicting definitions of “self-determination”
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Continue readingThe Tashkent Soviet just overthrew the Kokand Autonomy and now they rule Turkestan which is being threatened from all directions by famine, the Red and White Armies, the Basmachi, and violent tensions between the Russian Settlers and the indigenous peoples. So, obviously, the bests thing to do is invade their name the Bukharan Khanate.
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Continue readingMustafa Cho’qoy activist, minister, refugee, and Bolshevik enemy #1. Learn how a Kazakh activist went from being a minister in Turkestan’s first all Muslim, autonomous government to isolated expat in Paris struggling to get Europe to care about the plight of his people and Turkestan bogeyman that haunted Bolshevik dreams.
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References
Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR by Adeeb Khalid
Central Asia: a New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present by Adeeb Khalid
The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform by Adeeb Khalid
In November 1917, the Muslim modernizers of Turkestan came together to create the Kokand Autonomy. But how can people with no governing experience govern a region racked by ethnic violence and famine while their neighbors, the Tashkent Soviet, are planning an all out assault?
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Continue readingWhat is a Khanate to do when his Russian supporters are overthrown by a revolution and he must now rely on a traitorous warlord to retain his throne? Read our article to learn about the Khivan Khanate during the Russian Revolution.
Last week we talked about the Russian Revolution and Central Asia, but we limited it to the urban areas of Turkestan and the Bukharan Emirate. Today, we’ll be discussing how Russia’s other protectorate, the Khiva Khanate, responded to the fall of the Tsars.
As we discussed in our episode on Russian colonialism, Khiva was one of the two protectorates created by Tsarist Russia as it colonized Central Asia. It was smaller than Bukhara and not as wealthy or important to Russian officials, meaning the Khan could exercise great independence on how his territory was ruled, as long as he understood his protectorate was granted to him via Russian power. Khiva had been ruled by Muhammad Rahim until his death in 1910, when his son Isfendiyar took over. Isfendiyar passed minor reforms between 1910 and 1917 including support for a state budget, tax reform, and placing all government servants on a salary. He even supported the building of a reform madrasa and encourage the spread of the new-method schools championed by the Jadids. However, many of the reforms never became law and may have been lip service to keep the Russians at bay. Isfendiyar’s true focus was on his troublesome subjects the Turkmen.
Continue readingFamed but often misunderstood guerilla fighters, the Basmachi were an Islamic resistance force that targeted both the Bolsheviks and modernizing Islamic forces of Central Asia. This article provides a basic overview of their creation, organizational hierarchy, and talks about some of their most famous leaders.
We’ve spent considerable time exploring how the Russian Revolution affected Central Asia from several different perspectives. So far, we’ve talked about the Russian Settlers, the Alash Orda, the Jadids, and the Bukharan and Khivan Emirs. You may be thinking, that’s plenty of peoples and we’re ready to move onto 1918, but we have one more perspective to add and that’s the Basmachi, a guerrilla movement that reinvented itself numerous times during the 1920s and clashed with the Soviets from 1918 to the 1930s.
Continue readingFamine, civil wars, complete breakdown of authority-it only makes sense to join a guerilla movement that promises provisions and safety, right? Learn about the Basmachi, a group of warlords turned guerilla movement that became one of the Soviet’s most persistent headaches in Central Asia during the 1920s and 30s.
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Continue readingDid you ever wonder how the Russian Revolution affected Central Asia? This episode discusses how the various political factions in Central Asia-the Jadids, Alash Orda, the Ulama, and the Russian Settlers-responded to the fall of the Tsar and the rise of the Bolsheviks.
When we last discussed Central Asia, they were in the midst of the 1916 Revolt, which is now seen as the harbinger of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil Wars. Today we’ll discuss how the Russian Revolution affected Central Asia.
1917 is an odd year for Russia, because it’s a period were militarily-things were beginning to look up, but socially and politically, things were at their lowest. Even though Russia had seen its greatest military victory in 1916 (one that cost them an estimated 3 million killed, wounded, or taken prisoner) and it was correcting its production issues, it was still facing a massive supply crisis because of an overstrained and broken transport system. This meant shortages of food, fuel, and basic household goods, rapid inflation, and corruption within the government and its military suppliers. Most fatal of all was the complete lack of trust everyone had in the Russian government. Governmental officials were either unacceptably incompetent or German spies and traitors. Even the staunchly monarchist General Aleksei Brusilov admitted that “Russia could not win the war with its present system of government.” (Figes) Everyone agreed that Russia was on the brink of a great catastrophe, but no one could have predicted it would have been at the hands of women tired of queuing for bread.
Continue readingIn this episode we discuss two giants within the Jadid movement in Turkestan: Munavvar qori Abdurashidxon and Mahmudxo’ja Behbudiy. Both men came from religious families, both men were successful merchants, and both men believed that reform was the only way to save Turkestani society.
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References:
Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR by Adeeb Khalid
Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent 1865-1923 by Jeff Sahadeo
The Russian Revolution provided the Kazakh intellectuals an opportunity to create their own government and redistribute land that had been taken from them by Russian settlers. But what sort of government can you create when you and your fellow indigenous intellectuals can’t agree on the best way to rule and the Russian Civil War is at your doorstep?
Listen to our episode above or read our blog post version of our episode below:
It’s 1917 and Central Asia is adjusting to a Tsarless reality. To briefly recap, because a lot has already happened and it’s about to get even more complicated:
Up to this point, we’ve focused on an Uzbek/Tajik Jadid perspective. Today we’ll be switching focus to the Kazakh and Kyrgyz intellectuals in the Steppe and the creation of the Alash Orda government and the Autonomous Alash state.
Continue readingThe Russian Revolution provided the Kazakh intellectuals an opportunity to create their own government and redistribute land that had been taken from them by Russian settlers. But what sort of government can you create when you and your fellow indigenous intellectuals can’t agree on the best way to rule and the Russian Civil War is at your doorstep?
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Continue readingToday we are discussing how Russia’s second protectorate, the Khiva Khanate, reacted to the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. We’ll discuss Turkmen Revolts, a desperate Khan clinging to power, and a coup.
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Continue readingLost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane by S. Frederick Starr, published by Princeton University Press, 2013
Polymaths of Islam: Power and Networks of Knowledge in Central Asia by James Pickett, published by Cornell University Press, 2020
I enjoyed both books and would highly recommend them to anyone interested in how knowledge was developed and preserved in Central Asia. I did not plan to read these books together, but I think reading them back-to-back is beneficial as these books compliment each other so well.
Lost Enlightenment studies Central Asia’s Enlightenment from about 800 to 1200, with a particular focus on Abu Ali al-Husayn Ibn Sina and Abu Rayhan al-Biruni. The book is written in an easy to engage with prose. There is a lot of information, so re-reads are recommended, but I was never lost or felt overwhelmed. Overall, I found this book to be very eye-opening in terms to the depth of intellectual thought and development according in Central Asia from 800-1200 and I was introduced to several historical figures I either only heard about in passing or had never heard about. The pacing and structure of the book suffers from the vast scope of Starr’s narrative and while he tries to shape the book’s narrative around key events and key figures such as Ferdowsi, Ibn Sina, etc. there were parts of the book that felt disjointed or there were some chapters I would have liked to have seen broken into smaller chapters.
Polymaths of Islam studies the knowledge networks crafted specifically by the ulama of Central Asia. Pickett limits his exploration to the long 19th century, roughly from the collapse of Nadir Shah’s empire in 1747 to the rise of the Bolsheviks in the 1920s. This book is not as easy to engage with as Starr’s book, because Pickett has the daunting task of introducing multiple concepts and arguments at once and in an academic manner, but I would say that his book picks up in chapter three where he really begins talking about the formation of intelligence networks. The first two chapters are important for his overall argument, but if you’re not interested in terminology or academic argument building then you can skim them. Where Starr tripped because he was doing too much at once, Pickett benefits from his limited scope and simultaneously provided a, intimate and complicated portrayal of the ulama (challenging many assumptions) while also having the skill to take a step back and discuss the systematic developments that supported and hindered the ulama.
Did you ever wonder how the Russian Revolution affected Central Asia? This episode discusses how the various political factions in Central Asia-the Jadids, Alash Orda, the Ulama, and the Russian Settlers-responded to the fall of the Tsar and the rise of the Bolsheviks.
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Continue readingToday we take a deep dive into the tactics the Russians used to suppress the Central Asian Revolt of 1916, discussing the Urkun Exodus, the mass reallocation of Steppe lands, and Kuropatkin’s decision to use an scorch earth strategy.
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Continue readingDuring this episode we revisit the Central Asian Revolt of 1916, this time focusing on the tactics used by the indigenous rebels, particularly the Kazakh and Kyrgyz peoples in the Steppe. We’ll discuss their use of hit and run tactics, the advantages the Steppe provided, and their targeted assaults on major infrastructure.
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Continue readingThis is a very special episode as we discuss the Jadids with renowned scholar, Dr. Adeeb Khalid. The Jadids were an Islamic modernizing movement within Central Asia that would later find common cause with Bolsheviks and create modern day Uzbekistan. We’ll be discussing who the Jadids were, their doctrinal development, and how they fit within our narrative of the Russian and Central Asian Civil Wars.
Dr. Khalid is Professor of Asian Studies and History as well as director of Middle Eastern Studies at Carleton College. He is an expert in his field and published numerous works on Central Asia including Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Revolution, and Empire in the Early USSR and the Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform: Jadidism in Central Asia. He has a new book coming out this May, Central Asia: a New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present which you can preorder at your favorite bookstore.
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In this episode, we briefly discuss the Tsarist Administration in Central Asia, focusing on how the Russian administration created two societies one of the incoming Russian Settlers and one for the indigenous peoples. We also discuss the two biggest problems facing the Russian administration: land and the demand for political participation.
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References
Knowledge and the Ends of Empire: Kazak Intermediaries and Russian Rule on the Steppe, 1731-1917 by Ian W. Campbell Published by Cornell University Press, 2017
Russia and Central Asia: Coexistence, Conquest, Coexistence by Shoshana Keller Published by University of Toronto Press, 2019
Russia’s Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865-1924 by Seymour Becker, Published by RoutledgeCurzon, 2004
Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent 1865-1923 by Jeff Sahadeo
Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR by Adeeb Khalid
“James Pickett, “Polymaths of Islam: Power and Networks of Knowledge in Central Asia” (Cornell UP, 2020) New Books in Central Asia Studies podcast, https://open.spotify.com/episode/6dMiIYmGolImL4gW9CpKwJ?si=LdcDCbJZSCOuIEebBWHlmA
In this episode we discussed the Central Asian Revolt of 1916. Sparked by decades old administrative issues, the Russian settler’s “redistribution” of land and resources, and the Tsarist’s decision to conscription indigenous peoples (who up until that point that had been exemption of conscription), the revolution overtook most of Turkestan and lasted into 1917. In this episode we focus specifically on the actions that took part in Jizzakh (where the revolt began) and the Kazakh and Kyrgyz Steppes (where it morphed into a fight for existence).
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Continue readingIn this episode, we discuss 5 facts abou the 1898 Andijan Uprising, discussing Madali Ishan’s revolt against Russian colonialism in Central Asia and stoking paranoid Islamophobia.
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Continue readingDuring this episode we will briefly discuss Russian colonialism in Central Asia from 1860-1890, focusing on the how and why. We’ll discuss the subsuming of Steppe Lands, the abolishment of the Kokand Khanate, the subjugation of the Bukharan and Khivan khanates, and the attacks on the Turkmen people of the Ferghana Valley.
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Continue readingIt’s season 2 of the Art of Asymmetrical Warfare! This season we’ll be discussing the Central Asian Civil Wars during the Russian Civil War.
Today, we’re starting with a BRIEF history of Central Asia. In this episode we’ll explain how this podcast defines Central Asia, give a very brief overview of Central Asia’s ancient and fascinating history, ending with Russia’s conquest of Central Asia (1839-1895), and detail what we hope to cover during season two.
Continue readingRating: 5/5
Pros:
Cons:
When I’m not reading/researching history topics, I write fiction. My newest project is a Middle Eastern/Central Asian novel about a royal family trying to keep out colonists and a growing terrorist ring wanting to recapture the glories of the past. While writing this book, I need to do a lot of research. This week, I’ve been reading about Central Asian women-warriors, leaders, poets, etc. and I thought it’d be fun to write a post about my favorite women I’ve encountered.
I recently finished Hamid Ismailov’s book the Devils’ Dance, which is about Abdulla Qodiriy’s last days in a Soviet prison and the book he was working on before his arrest. The book mentions several Uzbek writers who I was unfamiliar with, so I decided to do a little research. This was what I was able to find out.
Before we can discuss the three writers, we must understand the world they lived in. All three men lived during the painful and dangerous period between the end of the Victorian Era and the beginning of the Edwardian Era. They also lived through one of the century’s greatest disasters: the First World War and then the Bolshevik Revolution.
Nationalism had been on the rise all over the world during the decades that preceded the First World War, and Central Asia was no different. When World War I occurred, many in Central Asia thought they could gain their independence. This hope was increased by the Bolshevik Revolution and the disintegration of Tsarist Russia.
A few months ago, I finished Hamid Ismailov’s the Devils’ Dance, which is a historical novel about the famous Uzbek writer, Abdulla Qodiriy’s last days in a Soviet prison, and the book the real Qodiriy was working on, but never published about an Uzbek princess, Oyxon, and the courts of Kokand and Bukhara. I was somewhat familiar with the court of Bukhara before starting the Devils’ Dance because I had read of the executions of the British envoys: Charles Stoddart and Arthur Connelly.
