Multinational City of Osh
The city of Osh — a multinational city
The archaeological research of the city of Osh was conducted by the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic. In particular, B. Amanbaeva — the head of the South Kyrgyz Archaeological Expedition, G. Bragina, and others. However, there are individual scholars who dispute the 3000-year history of the city of Osh. At the international scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 3000th anniversary of the city, T. Chorotegin proposed to cancel the anniversary of the city of Osh, but the conference participants sharply condemned T. Chorotegin's viewpoint. The director of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of Russia, Academician V. M. Massoy, while in Osh preparing for the celebration of the anniversary of our ancient city, left a memorial note titled "On the 3000th Anniversary of Osh as an Outstanding Center of Cultural and Archaeological Heritage of the Peoples of Kyrgyzstan": Osh residents perceive any attempts to dispute the age of their "eternal city" almost as a personal insult. The Russian Academy of Sciences not only supports this specific (or even somewhat earlier) dating of the city's founding, but also substantiates it with a number of additional facts. Speaking about the settlement that gave rise to Osh somewhere at the turn of the second and first millennium BC, V. M. Massoy evaluates it "as an important cultural center." V. M. Massoy further writes: "Osh during the Kushan Kingdom is the 'missing link' between the original settlement that existed here three thousand years ago and medieval Osh. New data from archaeologists leave less and less room for supporters of the 'periods of desolation' in the history of Osh, who presented their skeptical assessments of its ancient age at a recent scientific and practical conference."
The city of Osh is multinational. Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Russians, and other nations live and work here. The majority of the population consists of Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. They have lived together in friendship and harmony for centuries. However, there were disagreements due to the fault of the city's leaders. Nevertheless, the Osh events of 1990 exceeded all expectations. This led to an interethnic conflict and casualties on both the Kyrgyz and Uzbek sides. Neither the Kyrgyz nor the Uzbek peoples bear responsibility for the tragedy in Osh. The tragedy occurred solely due to the actions of certain leaders. The peoples of the two countries expressed their gratitude to the presidents of Uzbekistan I. Karimov and Kyrgyzstan A. Akayev for extinguishing the fire. The conflict ended with the allocation of land plots to both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. It is encouraging that the citizens continue to live harmoniously.
Among the intelligentsia, there continues to be a division of Kyrgyz into northerners and southerners, which negatively affects people's moods and creates tension.
South-north is a geographical concept. We say "north pole," "south pole," we determine the location of a certain point on the continent, and finally, this is how it is said in any country in relation to geographical location. Yes, our republic is divided into northern and southern parts. This only speaks of the geographical location of our state. Unfortunately, the concept of "north-south" has become a political game for some individuals. There were objective reasons for the division of the territory of Kyrgyzstan at one time. As is known, the Kyrgyz were not territorially unified; they were located in various areas of the Turkestan region. Kyrgyzstan gained its statehood after the establishment of Soviet power. As a result, the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was formed. Kyrgyz living in the north and south united, and the age-old dream of the Kyrgyz people was realized. However, for a long time, northern Kyrgyz were considered Kazakhs in the south, and vice versa, southern Kyrgyz were considered Uzbeks.
Gradually, they began to recognize each other and jointly solve all issues.
Statistics of Osh in the 1880s
