History of the founding of the city of Karakol (Przhevalsk).
The founding of the city is associated with the name of the well-known baron A.V. Kaulbars in Semirechye. In 1869, he was assigned to reconnoiter the Zaisyk-Kul Tien Shan. Upon arriving in the Issyk-Kul valley, he was tasked with:
a) After thorough reconnaissance and gathering all necessary information, to choose a suitable place for relocating the existing city and fortification on the Ak-Suu River, the location of which was deemed inconvenient both for trade and purely military purposes.
b) to carry out detailed surveying of the chosen site for the new city.
From the memoirs of Captain of the General Staff A.V. Kaulbars, in the spring of 1869, he was sent at the head of a military-scientific expedition to the Tien Shan, one of the tasks of which was to explore the pre-Issyk-Kul area (to compile a map, conduct topographic surveys, determine altitudes, etc.) and to choose a site for the county city-center in place of the Ak-Suu fortification (now from Teploklyuchenko), which stood aside from trade and caravan routes.
"Resolving the issue of choosing a site for the new city was an extremely difficult and responsible task," wrote A.V. Kaulbars. After consulting with local experts - Kyrgyz aksakals and county chief A.P. Chaikovsky, it was decided to found the city at the mouth of the Karakol River, 12 km from Lake Issyk-Kul, where several families of Tatar and Uzbek traders from the Ak-Suu fortification had already moved. With the assistance of the surrounding Kyrgyz, A.V. Kaulbars and his companions, soldiers and Cossacks managed to successfully complete the difficult task of laying out the city by July 1, 1869: "the streets, squares, and trading house of the city of Karakol were laid out... the new city was intended by its location to bring the light of Russian culture into the depths of the Tien Shan" (A.V. Kaulbars). (Kaulbars thus practically fulfilled his mission. The continuation of the construction was handed over to the Issyk-Kul county chief A.N. Chaikovsky.)
In 1870, during a new visit to the city, A.V. Kaulbars noted that the garrison occupied the already built barracks, and there was brisk trade in the trading house.
A little later, in February 1870, a government decree was adopted to transfer the Issyk-Kul administration from Ak-Suu to the fortification of Karakol. Here is the full text of this document.
Emperor Alexander II February 1870 48005 - February. The named decree, announced in the order of the military department, is about the transfer of the administration of the military commander of the Ak-Suu management, Semirechye region, and its garrison to the newly erected fortification on the Karakol River. His Imperial Majesty, having approved the order of the chief commander of the Turkestan military district regarding the transfer of the administration of the military commander of the Ak-Suu fortification, Semipalatinsk region, and its garrison to the newly erected fortification on the Karakol River, which flows into the southeast corner of Lake Issyk-Kul, has graciously commanded to name the latter fortification Karakol; the Ak-Suu fortification is to be considered abolished."
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the city served as a base and starting point for domestic and foreign expeditions into the inner Tien Shan and Central Asia.
Karakol (Przhevalsk) served as a usual starting point for mountain journeys; here the renowned Russian traveler, researcher of Central Tien Shan and Central Asia and adjacent territories, N.M. Przhevalsky spent his last days. He arrived in Karakol not in good health, having caught a cold while hunting. The illness progressed, and on October 20, 1888, the irreparable happened; the world-renowned traveler-scientist, N.M. Przhevalsky passed away.
Soon after this sad event, a petition was raised by the Steppe Governor-General and the commander of the troops of the Omsk military district to rename the city of Karakol to Przhevalsk, to immortalize the name of N.M. Przhevalsky in Central Asia, "to assign his name to the hospital barrack, and at the place where he breathed his last, to nail a board with the inscription: 'Here died Major General Przhevalsky on October 20, 1888, at 9 o'clock in the morning'." The petition was granted, and in the spring of 1889, a government decree was issued to rename the city of Karakol to Przhevalsk - here is the full text of the decree: "5829 - March 7. The highest order, announced by the military minister (Collection of decrees 1889, May 16, article 371). On the renaming of the city of Karakol, Semirechye region, to Przhevalsk. His Imperial Majesty, upon the most humble report of the military minister, on March 7, 1889, graciously commanded to consent: 1) to rename the city of Karakol, Semirechye region, to Przhevalsk, to immortalize the memory of Major General Przhevalsky in Central Asia and 2) to assign the name of General Przhevalsky to the hospital barrack in which he died." In 1923, the city was returned to its original name - Karakol, and on May 31, 1939, in connection with the centenary of the birth of N.M. Przhevalsky, at the request of the city's population, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR renamed the city back to Przhevalsk.
Bibliography
1. Central State Historical Archive of the USSR, Library of the p.s.3 collection, vol. IX. 1889. p. 87.
2. Branch of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan, city of Przhevalsk. Special folder, memoirs of General of Cavalry Baron A.V. Kaulbars. L.
3. Central State Historical Archive. Library p, s, vol. XU; 1870, p. 149. 3 Turkestan Gazette 524 June 13, 1889. p. 93
4. Branch of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan, city of Przhevalsk. The city of Przhevalsk is 100 years old. Statistical report, p. 3.
5. Kaulbars A.V. On the history of the founding of the city of Przhevalsk (Copy), materials of the state archive of the Issyk-Kul region in the city of Przhevalsk.
