Urkun

The Central Asian revolt of 1916, also known as the Semirechye Revolt and as Urkun ( ky, Үркүн, lit=Exodus, translit=Ürkün, , ) in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was an anti-Russian uprising by the indigenous inhabitants of Russian Turkestan sparked by the conscription of Muslims into the Russian military for service on the Eastern Front during World War I. The rampant corruption of the Russian colonial regime and Tsarist colonialism in all its economic, political, religious, and national dimensions are all seen as the contributing causes.

The revolt led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz and Kazakhs into China, while the suppression of the revolt by the Imperial Russian Army led to around 100,000 to 270,000 deaths (mostly Kyrgyz and Kazakhs, but also Tajiks, Turkmen, and Uzbeks) both directly and indirectly. Deaths of Central Asians are either the result of diseases, violence or famine. The Russian state was not able to restore order to parts of the Empire until after the outbreak of the October Revolution and the subsequent Basmachi revolt (1916–1923) further destabilized the Central Asia region.

The USSR regime's censorship of the history surrounding the Central Asian revolt of 1916 and the Basmachi revolt has led both Central Asian and international researchers to revisit the topic in the 2010s. The revolt is considered a seminal event in the modern histories of several Central Asian peoples. Special importance is given to the event in Kyrgyz historiography due to the fact that perhaps has many as 40% of the ethnic Kyrgyz population died during or in the aftermath of the revolt.

Alexander Kerensky and some Russian historians were the first to bring international attention to these events.

Background

The Russian conquest of Central Asia during the second half of the 19th century imposed a colonial regime upon the peoples of Central Asia. Central Asia's inhabitants were taxed by Tzarist authorities and made up around 10% of the Russian Empire's population but none served in the 435-seat State Duma.

By 1916, Turkestan and the Governor-Generalship of the Steppes had accumulated many social, land and inter-ethnic contradictions caused by the resettlement of Russian and Ukrainian settlers, which began in the second half of the 19th century, after the Emancipation reform of 1861 which abolished serfdom. A wave of resettlement was introduced by a number of lands and legislative reforms.

On June 2, 1886, and March 25, 1891, several acts were adopted which were "Regulations on the management of the Turkestan Krai" and "Regulations on the management of Akmola, Semipalatinsk, Semirechye, Ural and Turgai regions" that allowed most of the lands of these regions to be transferred to the ownership of the Russian Empire. Each family from the local population were allowed to own a plot of land of 15 acres for a perpetual use.

From 1906 to 1912, as a result of Stolypin reforms in Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia, up to 500,000 farmer households were transported from central regions of Russia, which divided about 17 tithes of developed lands.

The revolt

Institution of conscription

After Emperor Nicholas II adopted on the "requisition of foreigners" at the age of 19 to 43 years inclusive, for rear work in the front-line areas of the First World War. The discontent of people fueled the unfair distribution of land, as well as the calls of Muslim leaders for a holy war against the 'infidel' Russian rule.

On 25 June 1916 (8 July 1916, ), shortly before the start of the rebellion, Tsar Nicholas II adopted a draft of conscripting Central Asian men from the age of 19 to 43 into labor battalions for the service in the ongoing in support of the ongoing Brusilov Offensive. Some regional Russian officers were bribed to exempt certain people from conscription. The cause of the uprising was also due to the transfer of lands by the Tsarist Government to Russian settlers, Cossacks, and poor settlers. Political and religious extremism played a role too, as well as the fear of being used as human shields during the Russo-German trench warfare.

Beginning of the uprising

The first casualties of the revolt were on July 3–4, 1916 (16–17 July 1916, ) in Khujand, present-day Tajikistan, when an outraged mob assaulted Russian officials. The crowd was dispersed after the Russians opened fire. Not all 10 million people living in Turkestan were willing to participate. Such as the Tekeans living in the Transcaspian region, who were willing themselves to be conscripted. On July 7 (July 20, ), the civil unrest spread to Tashkent and Dagbit. On 9 July (22 July NS) civil disorder occurred in Andijan, where protestors clashed with the police before being dispersed with gunfire, leaving 12 natives wounded. A similar incident occurred on 11 July (24 July NS) in Namangan. That same day, In the village of Dalverzan, the volost head had no troops to defend himself and was thus overpowered by the rebels. Also that day, several Russian officials tried to explain in Tashkent what the call was about and how the lists were to be drawn up. A large crowd appeared around the building where this took place, and the protestors demanded that the drawing of lists should be completely halted, and after their pleas were ignored, they tried to storm the building before being dispersed. 4 people were killed and 6 were wounded in the engagement. On 12 July (25 July NS), Tashkent rose in rebellion. By 13 July (26 July NS) the rebels had seized all of Ferghana oblast.

The rebels had several demands, including transparency in how the lists of citizens due for conscription were compiled, to delay the draft until the end of the harvest, and for one man of each family to stay at home.

83 Russian settlers died and 70 were captured following riots in Jizzakh. The news about the uprising in Jizzakh led to further uprisings in the Sansar river valley and around Zaamin and Bogdan. A force consisting of 13 companies, 6 cannons, 3 sotnias of Cossacks and three-fourths of a company of sappers was dispatched from Tashkent to deal with the uprising in Jizzakh. The force retook the Russian settlement of Zaamin and Jizzakh, causing many civilian casualties.

On July 17, 1916 (July 30, ), martial law was declared over Turkestan Military District. The insurrection began spontaneously, but it was unorganized without a single leadership; nevertheless, the rebellion took a long time to suppress.

n 31 July (13 August, ), Aleksey Kuropatkin, The Governor-General of Russian Turkestan, conducted a purge of the local hierarchy and convinced Nicholas II of Russia to postpone the conscription until mid-September. However, this effort proved too late to reverse the uprising.

On August 10 (23 August, ), Rebels numbering in the thousands attacked the city of Prebechakenska, while wielding White Banners. It was only defended by a local garrison of Russian Soldiers who were on leave from the front, who swiftly constructed two wooden cannons to try and beat back the attack. The first blew up, while the second was lost in a Kyrgyz attack. Undeterred, the defenders created four new cannons, which still work today.

By August 11 (24 August, ), a cavalry force of the Kyrgyz rebels disrupted a telegraph line between Verniy, Bishkek, Tashkent, and European Russia. A wave of inter-ethnic violence also swept through Semirechye. Dungan detachments destroyed several Russian settlements of Ivanitskoe and Koltsovka in the region of Przhevalsk.

A Kyrgyz attack on the Russian settlers in Sazanovka, near Lake Issyk-Kul was repelled after a local women shot the Khan who was leading the attack, causing the offensive to disintegrate.

Rebel weaponry

The rebels, including those under the control of Ibrahim Tulayaf, suffered weapon shortages throughout the course of the Rebellion. Weapons used by the rebels included iron-tipped spears and horse-whips.

At one point in the rebellion, Ibrahim had discovered that several munition carts would soon pass through the mountain road that followed the Chu River

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