`Alimqul (also spelt Alymkul, Alim quli, Alim kuli) (ca. 1833 – 1865) was a warlord in the Kokand Khanate, and its ''de facto'' ruler from 1863 to 1865.
Alimqul was born in Budjun Batken, 1833, into a family of a
Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to:
* Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan
*Kyrgyz people
*Kyrgyz national games
*Kyrgyz language
*Kyrgyz culture
*Kyrgyz cuisine
*Yenisei Kirghiz
*The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China
...
madrasah
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
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 ...
, earning the title of ''
mullah
Mullah (; ) is an honorific title for Shia and Sunni Muslim clergy or a Muslim mosque leader. The term is also sometimes used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and sharia law.
The title has also been used in some Miz ...
'', and for a while he himself served as the ''
biy
Biy ( kk, Би, Bi) were elected judges and administrators during the Kazakh Khanate era.Malla Beg (Malla Bek) overthrow his brother
Khudayar Khan
Sayid Muhammad Khudayar Khan, usually abbreviated to Khudayar Khan, was a Khan of Kokand who reigned between 1845 and 1875 with interruptions. He was the son of Shir Ali Khan. During the reign of Khudayar Khan, the Khanate was suffering from a ci ...
by bringing the Kyrgyz over to Malla Beg's side. Malla Beg, upon seizing the Kokandian khan's throne in November 1858, rewarded Alimqul with several successive promotions. In 1860, already governor of
Marghilan
Margilan ( uz, Marg‘ilon/Марғилон, ; russian: Маргилан) is a city (2022 pop. 242,500) in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Administratively, Margilan is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Yangi Marg ...
, Alimqul was in charge of a large Kokandian force that defeated invaders from 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 ...
.
Alimqul actively participated in the struggle for power that ensued after the death of Malla Beg in a February, 1862, coup. He soon succeeded in thwarting Bukhara's attempt to bring Khudayar Khan back to power. Not being of royal blood himself, Alimqul elevated Malla Beg's minor son,
Sultan Sayyid Khan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
as a titulary khan, and ruled the country himself as Atalyk and commander in chief of the military (''Amir-i Lashkar'').
In late 1864, Alimqul was instrumental in sending
Buzurg Khan Buzurg may refer to:
*Bozorgmehr, legendary Sassanian prime-minister of Persia
*Bisanda Buzurg, a town and a nagar panchayat in Banda district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India
*Hasan Buzurg, the first of several de facto independent Jalayirid r ...
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
. Once established as Kashgar's ruler, Buzurg and Yaqub sent Alimqul an ambassador,
Mir Baba
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
, with rich gifts. Although Mir Baba met with Alimqul, he did not have a chance to deliver the presents: Alimqul was wounded and died when defending Tashkent against the Russians in May 1865.
Literature
*Timur Beisembiev. ''The Life of Alimqul: A Native Chronicle of Nineteenth Century Central Asia''. Published 2003, Routledge (UK). 280 pages.
*Beisembiev T. K. Kokandskaia istoriografiia : Issledovanie po istochnikovedeniiu Srednei Azii XVIII-XIX vekov. Almaty, TOO "PrintS", 2009, 1263 pp., .
*Beisembiev Timur K. "Annotated indices to the Kokand Chronicles". Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Studia Culturae Islamica. № 91, 2008, 889 pp., .
*Beisembiev T.K. "Ta'rikh-i SHakhrukhi" kak istoricheskii istochnik. Alma Ata: Nauka, 1987. 200 pp. Summaries in English and French.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alimqul
Khanate of KokandEthnic Kyrgyz people (individuals)1830s births1865 deathsPeople from Batken Region