The Turkestan Autonomy or Kokand Autonomy was a short-lived state 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 ...

that existed at the beginning of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. It was formed on 27 November 1917 and existed until 22 February 1918. It was a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, headed by a president. It was one of the first secular states where the majority of the population were

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. It was the first democratic state in the history of Central Asia. The capital of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

was Kokand, which until then was the capital of the Kokand Khanate. There were 5 official languages: Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Russian. The population was about 5 million people, mostly

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

as well as

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

, Kyrgyz,

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and others.

History

The Turkestan Autonomy occupied former territories of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, which was called the Turkestan Krai or the Russian Turkestan, more particular parts of the Semirechye, Syr-Darya and

Fergana Fergana ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Fargʻona, Фарғона, ), () or Ferghana, also Farghana is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 320 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km southwest of A ...

Oblasts (Provinces). From the north it bordered on the Alash Autonomy, from the east on the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, from the south on the Emirate of Afghanistan, from the south-west on the Emirate of Bukhara, on the west and north-west on the

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 ...

Central Asian Regions. The state was created by Jadids and . The government of Turkestan autonomy in January announced its intention to convene its parliament on 20 March 1918, on the basis of universal, direct, equal and secret ballot. Two-thirds of the seats in parliament were intended for Muslim deputies, and one-third was guaranteed to representatives of the non-Muslim population. The existence of such a parliament was to be the first step towards the democratization of Turkestan. In January 1918, in response to an ultimatum from the Soviets on the voluntary inclusion into Soviet Russia, Mustafa Shokay refused to recognize the authority of the Soviets. For the destruction of the self-proclaimed Turkestan Autonomy, 11 trains with troops and artillery under the command of arrived from

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 ...

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. As a result of hostilities, thousands of civilians were killed. Thus, the Turkestan autonomy was liquidated by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

only three months after its creation. It was replaced by Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In November 1917, Muhamedzhan Tynyshpaev was the first president of the state. The second and last president was Mustafa Shokay.

Notes

References

General references

"Turkiston Muxtoriyati"
entry in the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan. {{inlang, uz 1917 establishments in Asia 1918 disestablishments in Asia 1910s in Uzbekistan Kazakhstan in the Russian Civil War Post–Russian Empire states Former countries in Central Asia States and territories established in 1917 States and territories disestablished in 1918

History

See also

Notes

References

General references