Korşirmat
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Shir Muhammad-bek Gazi, also known as Mahmud-Bek also known under the nickname Korshirmat (1895, Garbaba, Fergana – March 10, 1970) was a prominent figure of the
Basmachi Movement The Basmachi movement (, derived from ) was an uprising against Imperial Russian and Soviet rule in Central Asia by rebel groups inspired by Islamic beliefs. It has been called "probably the most important movement of opposition to Soviet rul ...
in exile since 1923, the first head of the Turkestan Union during the
Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...
with the support of the
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
to restore the insurrectionary movement in
Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...
. He was of an Uzbek origin.


Russian Tsardom Era

Shir Muhammad-bek's grandfather, Abdurakhimbek, was a
bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...
of one of the last heads of the
Kokand Khanate The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. It was ruled by the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and ...
, Khudoyar-Khan. Abdurakhimbek at some time served as a vizier in Khudoyar's court. After the collapse of the Kokand Khanate, Abdurahimbek began to live in the
Margilan Margilan (, ; ) is a city (2024 pop. 253,500) in eastern Uzbekistan's Fergana Region. Margilan is located in the south of the Fergana Valley, where trade caravans from China traveled westwards and vice versa during the days of the Silk Road. Margi ...
village of Kumaryk as a simple farmer. Sher Mukhammed-bek's father Kushakboy Khoja was the amine of Kumaryk. In 1915, he died in
Konstantiniyye Constantinople ( see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman empires between its consecration in 330 until 1930, when it was renamed to Istanbul. Initia ...
on his way back from the
Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
. In his youth, Shir Muhammad-bey led the life of a peasant, was a mirab, which means he divided water along irrigation ditches. In childhood or adolescence, he suffered some kind of eye disease and therefore always wore dark glasses. Hence the widespread nickname Korshirmat, which is translated from Uzbek as Blind Shermat. He studied reading and writing in his native village from the
mullah Mullah () is an honorific title for Islam, Muslim clergy and mosque Imam, leaders. The term is widely used in Iran and Afghanistan and is also used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and Sharia, sharia law. The title h ...
, then graduated from the
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
h in
Margilan Margilan (, ; ) is a city (2024 pop. 253,500) in eastern Uzbekistan's Fergana Region. Margilan is located in the south of the Fergana Valley, where trade caravans from China traveled westwards and vice versa during the days of the Silk Road. Margi ...
. According to unconfirmed reports, Shir Mohammed-bek actively participated in the 1916 uprising. Shir Muhhamed's son Davron and his cousin Anvar claim that their father and uncle, respectively, never left Turkestan before
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
and was never imprisoned in Russian jail. But that claim is disputed by famous Bashkir
Turkologist Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and the Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative c ...
Zaki Validi. The fact that Shir Muhhamed was released from jail soon after the revolution is confirmed in memoirs of Uzbek emigre Abduhamid Cochar from
Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...
. Relatives describe that in the summer of 1917, during a demonstration in the vicinity of Tashlak, Shir Muhammad-bey stood up for a fellow countryman who was beaten by a policeman and "hit the policeman, knocking him off his horse" and then "beat him to death." Shir Mohammed-bey, his brothers and friends were forced into hiding, after which he, together with his supporters, attacked the prison in Skobelev to arm himself.


Fergana Uprising

Muhammad-bek was the
kurbashi Chorbaji (sometimes variously transliterated as tchorbadji, chorbadzhi, tschorbadji) (Turkish: çorbacı) ( English: Soup Seller) was a military rank of the corps of Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire, used for the commander of an '' orta'' (regim ...
of the Uzbek and Turkmen Basmachi in
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, who managed to organize the Basmachi into a political force and achieve major successes in the fight against
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
power. In 1920 they managed to get official support from
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
and then acted in northern
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. In the fall of 1921,
Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...
, in alliance with Korshirmat and Dzhunaid Khan, captured a significant part of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic. To fight them, the commander-in-chief of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
S.S.Kamenev arrived in Turkestan, together with
Sergo Ordzhonikidze Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, ; (born Grigol Konstantines dze Orjonikidze; 18 February 1937) was an Old Bolshevik and a Soviet statesman. Born and raised in Georgia, in the Russian Empire, Ordzhonikidze joined the Bolsheviks at an e ...
and Jēkabs Peterss. Only in June - August 1922, the Bukhara group of forces created under the command of
Nikolai Kakurin Nikolai Yevgenyevich Kakurin (Russian: ''Никола́й Евге́ньевич Каку́рин'', Oryol 4 September 1883 - Yaroslavl, 29 July 1936) was a Russian and Soviet military commander. Biography He was born into a noble family. His fa ...
, then P.A.Pavlov managed to defeat the Basmachi. In May 1920, Shir Muhammad-bey (Kurshirmat), being irreconcilable, firmly secured a leading position among the kurbashi of the Basmak formations in Fergana. According to analysts from the
Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...
, Korshirmat moved forward and became a prominent figure after the surrender of the Red Army on March 6, 1920, under the Ferganian rebel leader Madamin Bek. He managed to unite detachments of up to 1,500 fighters. In February 1921, after a series of setbacks, he left for Eastern Bukhara, but then returned again and was active until the end of 1921, after which he again left for Eastern Bukhara. With the appearance of Enver Pasha and under his influence, Korshirmat returned to the Fergana Valley on January 12, 1922, trying to unite all the Fergana Basmachi around him. According to the Cheka, in September 1922, after a series of major defeats, he left for Afghanistan, where he settled in Khanabad.


Assassination of Madamin Begkh

Kurbashi Madamin-bek, who stopped the struggle and entered into cooperation with the Soviet government, offered Shir Mohammed-bek mediation in going over to the side of the new government. Shir Muhammad-bey played along with Madamin-bek, saying that he was ready for negotiations, and he himself prepared a trap for him. Upon the arrival of Madamin-bek with a detachment in Uch-Kurgan for negotiations, Shir Muhammad-bek arrested Madamin-bek and handed him over the kurbashi of the Kyrgyz Basmachs to Hal-Khodja - with whom Madamin-bek had a personal bitter enmity. As a result, Hal-Khoja cut off Madamin-Bek's head. Most of the Basmachi formations, once subordinate to Madamin Bek, came under the control of him and Hal Khodja. At the end of March 1921 Kurshirmat agreed to negotiate peace with Soviet troops. And in the summer of 1921, he and his closest associate Muat'din-bek conducted these negotiations with the Soviet command. But Korshirmat conducted them very evasively. The demands put forward by him and other leaders of the Basmachi for concessions on the inviolability of
Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
, restoration of the court and justice under the Sharia, private property, inheritance rights, etc. were "satisfied" by the command of the Red Army with appropriate amendments, but the rebels did not agree to lay down their arms. According to Soviet sources, on September 12, he was presented with an ultimatum to surrender his weapons. The Korshirmat again avoided a direct answer. After that, the Red Army launched an offensive against its units in the
Margelan Margilan (, ; ) is a city (2024 pop. 253,500) in eastern Uzbekistan's Fergana Region. Margilan is located in the south of the Fergana Valley, where trade caravans from China traveled westwards and vice versa during the days of the Silk Road. Margi ...
area. In November 1921, Shir Muhammad-bey transferred control of the Fergana Basmachi formations to Kurbashi Muat'din, he himself moved to Eastern Bukhara, and from there he moved to Afghanistan.


Guerrilla Warfare

In 1925, the
OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...
agent Georges Agabekov met with Korshirmat in Kabul in order to obtain the text of his agreement with the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
, having found out that there was no such agreement, Agabekov lost interest in the development of Korshirmat. According to the OGPU, during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(until 1942), Mahmud-bey was the main intelligence-gathering agent in the republics of Central Asia and northern Afghanistan in the interests of Turkish,
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
intelligence services. Uzbek by nationality, Mahmud-bey was an experienced intelligence officer. Thanks to the ramified intelligence network he created on both sides of the Afghan-Soviet border, Mahmud-bek earned a lot of capital from trading intelligence information from different countries about the current situation in the Central Asian republics. In addition to managing the Basmach formations on the instructions of the German intelligence in September 1941, he expanded the agent and sabotage network he created in Soviet Central Asia, through which he was collecting intelligence information in the region. On instructions from German intelligence, in the spring of 1942, he formed an anti-Soviet armed organization called "Unyon" in Northern Afghanistan. Its tasks included the return to the Bukhara throne, located in Kabul, the former Emir Seyid Alim Khan.


Leadership of the "Unyon"

The first head of the organization "Unyon" was an anti-Soviet sabotage organization created by the
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
in early 1941 in Afghanistan with the aim of collecting intelligence and coordinating the combat activities of the Basmachi forces to attack the territory of the Central Asian republics of the USSR. The attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union, was greeted with enthusiasm by the kurbashi of the Basmachi in Afghan Turkestan. Kurbashi of the Central Asian emigration, who are in Kabul, declared
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
their "savior". And those who remained in the north of the country, already in July 1941, began to prepare their troops for renewed attacks on Soviet territory. Young people from wealthy emigrant families, anticipating the imminent arrival of the Germans, began hastily to learn German. The Afghan monarchy behaved with restraint in relation to the numerous formations of Basmachi in the north of the country, since it was sure that in a short time the Soviet Union would be defeated by Germany, and Afghanistan would have a chance to expand its territory, which once belonged to the
Emir of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara (, ) was a Muslim- Uzbek polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known former ...
and
Khan of Khiva The Khanate of Khiva (, , uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva xonligi, Хива хонлиги, , ) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khorezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid occupation by Nader Shah betwee ...
. A report from the Middle East Department of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs dated April 4, 1942, noted that a group of Afghan soldiers led by Prince Mohammed Daoud was developing a plan for a military campaign against the USSR. The Kabul Government, according to Soviet intelligence, was confident that the Red Army units stationed on the Soviet-Afghan border would certainly be transferred to the fronts for battles with Wehrmacht formations. And therefore, with the forces of one Afghan division, it will be possible to capture Khiva and Bukhara. To strengthen relations with the Basmach formations in Northern Afghanistan, King Zahir Shah concluded a secret agreement with the overthrown Emir of Bukhara Seyid Alim Khan who was living in exile in Kabul, which provided for the provision of armed support to Kabul, by the Basmach formations, in the event of clashes with the Red Army. In turn, the kurbashi of the Basmachi tried in every possible way to consolidate agreements with Kabul in the event of a war with the USSR. In August 1941, the kurbashi of the largest Turkmen formation, Kyzyl Ayak, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister
Hashim Khan Hashim Khan (;  – 18 August 2014) was a squash player from Pakistan. He won the British Open Squash Championships (the then ''de facto'' world championship) a total of seven times, from 1951 to 1956, and then again in 1958. Khan was th ...
, in which he asked to take Bukhara under his protection and undertook, if necessary, to put under arms up to 40 thousand armed Turkmens. Hashim Khan suggested that all the kurbashi keep their formations in full combat readiness, pointing out that a convenient moment for an attack on the USSR would be presented after the capture of
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
by the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
. In the summer of 1941, the Japanese and German missions established stable contact with all the major kurbashi of the Central Asian Basmachi. In August 1941, at the request of the German diplomatic mission, Katsubi, a Japanese attorney, met with Seyid Alim Khan, negotiating for possible cooperation against the USSR. The former Emir refused to cooperate, but Seyid Alim Khan's entourage and many Kurbashi Basmachi willingly began to interact with intelligence agents of Germany and Japan, who promised large sums of money for organizing partisan activities in the territory of the Soviet Central Asian republics. In September 1941, the Abwehr instructed the influential Uzbek Kurbashi Mahmud-bek among the Basmachis to create an espionage and sabotage network on both sides of the Soviet-Afghan border. This was the beginning of the cooperation of Mahmud-bey as a resident of the Abwehr among the Uzbek and Turkmen formations of the Basmachi in Afghanistan.


Family

* First wife (from 1916) - daughter of Mingbashi Muzaffarbek. * Second wife (from 1926) - Zulfiniso (? -1972) originally from Andijan, buried in Adana ** Son - Davronbek, later Davron Beck (born 1927), lives in the USA ** Son - Jahongirbek, died in childhood, buried in Kabul ** Daughter - Saodathon, lives in Adana (Turkey). ** Daughter - Hosiyathon, died in childhood, buried in Kabul * Brother - Tashmukhammadbek, was appointed Ambassador of Kurshirmat in Afghanistan * Brother - Ruzmukhammadbek * Brother - Shermukhammadbek * Brother - Tozhmukhammadbek * Brother - Nurmukhammadbek (1899? —10 January 1984, Adana) * Sister - Tufahon * Sister - Savrinisokhon


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korsirmat Basmachi movement 1895 births 1970 deaths People from Fergana Oblast Soviet emigrants to Turkey