The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (initially, the Turkestan Socialist Federative Republic; 30 April 191827 October 1924) was an

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...

of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

located in Soviet Central Asia.

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

were the preeminent nation of

Turkestan ASSR The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (initially, the Turkestan Socialist Federative Republic; 30 April 191827 October 1924) was an autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic located in Soviet Central As ...

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

was the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

and

largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...

in the region. During the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, the Turkestan ASSR's territory was governed as Turkestan Krai, the

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the lan ...

, and the

Khanate of Khiva The Khanate of Khiva ( chg, ''Khivâ Khânligi'', fa, ''Khânât-e Khiveh'', uz, Xiva xonligi, tk, Hywa hanlygy) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm in Central Asia from 1511 to 1920, except fo ...

. From 1905,

Pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), with its aim bei ...

ideologues like Ismail Gasprinski aimed to suppress differences among the peoples who spoke

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

, uniting them into one government. This idea was supported by

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

, and after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

of 1917, the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s in

created the Turkestan ASSR. But in February 1918, the Islamic Council ( uz, Shuroi Islamia) and the Council of Intelligentsia (Uzb. ''Shuroi Ulammo'') met in

Kokand Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...

city and declared a rival Turkestan Autonomous Republic, battling Bolshevik forces until the 1920s as part of the conservative Basmachi rebellion. The Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic was officially proclaimed on 30 April 1918. In the late 1917, the TSFR was cut off from the RSFSR by the revolt of the

Orenburg Cossacks The Orenburg Cossack Host (russian: Оренбургское казачье войско) was a part of the Cossack population in pre-revolutionary Russia, located in the Orenburg province (today's Orenburg Oblast, part of the Chelyabinsk Obl ...

, but held out, despite being surrounded by hostile states, until the arrival of the Red Army in September 1919 after the Counteroffensive of Eastern Front. Meanwhile, a power struggle among the Communists ensued between those favoring a Pan-Turkist government like

Turar Ryskulov Turar Ryskululy Ryskulov ( kk, Тұрар Рысқұлұлы Рысқұлов, ''Tūrar Rysqūlūly Rysqūlov''; Russian: Турар Рыскулович Рыскулов; 26 December 1894 – 10 February 1938) was a Soviet politician, the chair ...

and

Tursun Khojaev Tursun may refer to * Tusrun (name) * Tursun Uljaboev, a municipality in Tajikistan * Tursun Tuychiev, a municipality in Tajikistan {{disambiguation, geo ...

, and those in favor of dividing Soviet Turkestan into smaller ethnic or regional units, such as Fayzulla Khodzhayev and Akmal Ikramov. The latter group won, as

national delimitation in Central Asia National delimitation in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the process of specifying well-defined national territorial units (Soviet socialist republics SR autonomous Soviet socialist republics SSR autonomous oblasts rovinces raions ...

began in 1924. Upon dissolution, the Turkestan ASSR was split into Uzbek SSR (now

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

), Turkmen SSR (now

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

) with the

Tajik ASSR The Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik ASSR) (russian: Таджикская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика) was an autonomous republic within the Uzbek SSR in the Sovi ...

(now

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

), Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast (now

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

), and

Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was created on February 19, 1925 by separating lands of the ethnic Karakalpaks from the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Khorezm People's Soviet Republic. Initially located within the Kirghiz Autonom ...

(now

Autonomous Republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

Flag

File:Turkestan Autonomous SSR Flag.svg, Flag of Turkestan ASSR (1919–1921) File:Flag of Turkestan ASSR (1921-1923).svg, Flag of Turkestan ASSR (1921–1924)

Chairmen of the Central Executive Committee

# Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseevich (April – May 1918), Solkin, Andrey Fedorovich, contributor (April – 2 June 1918) #Tobolin, Ivan Osipovich (2 June – 5 October 1918) # Votintsev, Vsevolod Dmitrievich (October 1918 – 19 January 1919) #– (19 January – 31 March 1919) #Kazakov, Aristarkh Andreevich (31 March – July 1919) #Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseevich (July – September 1919) #Apin, Ivan Andreevich (September 1919 – January 1920) # Ryskulov, Turar Ryskulovich (January – 21 July 1920) #Biserov, Mukhammedzhan (21 July – August 1920) # Rakhimbaev, Abdullo Rakhimbaevich (4 August 1920 – May 1921), Khodzhanov Sultanbek, acting, prev. (12 May 1920 – ?) # Tyuryakulov, Nazir Tyuryakulovich (May 1921 – June 1922) #Rakhimbaev, Abdullo Rakhimbaevich (June – October 1922) #Khidir-Aliev, Inagadzhan (October 1922 – 1 January 1924), Dadabaev Butabay, vrid. prev. (August – September 1923) # Aytakov, Nedirbai (9 January – November 1924)

Turksovnarkom

Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars ("Turksovnarkom").

References

External links

Uzbekistan
at worldstatesmen.org, accessed 23 July 2009.
AUTONOMOUS TURKESTAN SOCIALIST. THE SOVIET REPUBLIC
{{Coord, 41, 18, 40, N, 69, 16, 47, E, display=title Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Early Soviet republics Soviet Central Asia States and territories established in 1918 States and territories disestablished in 1924 Communism in Kyrgyzstan 20th century in Kyrgyzstan Communism in Uzbekistan 20th century in Uzbekistan Communism in Turkmenistan 20th century in Turkmenistan Communism in Tajikistan 20th century in Tajikistan 1918 establishments in Russia 1924 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Former socialist republics Post–Russian Empire states