The Young Soviet Power in the Struggle Against Basmachism
After the October Revolution, in January 1918, the leadership of the Osh Soviet was completely taken over by the Bolsheviks. In the spring of 1918, Soviet construction began throughout southern Kyrgyzstan. In the course of the struggle to establish and strengthen Soviet power in Kyrgyzstan, as everywhere, Red Guard units were created. In early 1918, a Red Guard unit (self-defense unit) was formed in Osh, consisting of about 20 people. At the end of March 1918, this unit merged with the Red Army forces.
At the same time, a new Soviet economy and a new administration for managing the city were being established.
With the victory of the socialist revolution, the liberation of Kyrgyz and Uzbek women began. They started to advocate for their rights, seeking protection and assistance from Soviet power. For example, a resident of Osh, Minsara Abdrakhmanbayeva, appealed to the Osh Soviet with a request to divorce her husband, whom she had been forced to marry at the age of 14. She wrote that she wanted to enjoy the same rights that were now granted to Russian women. Bolshevik agitation among Uzbek and Kyrgyz women was led by Zainab Kasymova — one of the first Kyrgyz activists in the city.
The peoples of Turkestan, a former colony of Tsarist Russia, began to live a new life as a free Soviet Republic. The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Republic played a huge role in uniting the peoples of Central Asia, breathing new strength into them for the struggle against the combined forces of interventionists and internal counter-revolution.
Meanwhile, the city of Osh was at the epicenter of various counter-revolutionary intrigues. Having agreed in the spring of 1918 with the internal counter-revolution in Russia, foreign imperialists began preparing for the invasion of their forces into the territory of the Soviet country. The American ambassador in St. Petersburg, D. Frentst, wrote that they had done everything possible to prepare for military intervention in Russia. In the summer of 1918, the English government sent a so-called military-diplomatic mission from India to Turkestan for direct leadership of the anti-Soviet movement in Central Asia, consisting of Colonel Bailey and Captain Blecker. The former British consul in Kashgar, George McCartney, and his successor, Esserton, under the guise of "hunting trips," traveled to Osh and Fergana, supplying weapons to the Basmachis and giving them appropriate instructions. A certain Bobchinsky followed to Kashgar via Osh with a power of attorney from Colonel Bailey to receive 5 million rubles from the consul for organizing Basmachi bands. Back in February 1918, with the support of the "Kokand autonomists," a Basmachi gang led by Irgash emerged in the Fergana region. The goal of Basmachism was to detach Central Asia from Soviet Russia and establish a bourgeois-landlord government in Turkestan under the protection of any imperialist power. The city of Osh was designated as the base for the Basmachi movement in southern Kyrgyzstan, being the closest to Kashgar and a major religious center where Basmachism would have the support of the clergy.
The emergence of Basmachism in the territory of the Osh district dates back to mid-1918. On July 14, 1918, a dangerous criminal, Hal-Khodja, who was under guard in the city prison, managed to escape with his like-minded individuals. Soon, Hal-Khodja formed a bandit group in the Aravan region and began committing robberies on the villages and suburbs of Osh.
In mid-February 1919, Hal-Khodja's gang of 500 sabers made a sudden raid on the old city and began a purge against activists. The worker-Bolshevik Baltikhodja Sultanov, one of the organizers of the city party cell, was brutally murdered. Mirzapasyl Kasymbekov, one of the founders of the people's schools, was shot by the bandits. Many progressive individuals sympathetic to Soviet power were killed by the Basmachis, including teacher Baltikhodja Babajanov, Artykbai Usmanov, and others. The Basmachis robbed and killed peaceful residents, raped women, and burned down the trading rows in the old city, known as the "covered market."
For the operational leadership of the struggle against Basmachism and the strengthening of Soviet power organs, in April-May 1919, by the decision of the Fergana Regional Committee of the Party and the Military Council of the Fergana Front, a group of Bolsheviks was sent to Osh, consisting of A. K. Dobrynin, members of the Military Council of Turkestan, V. A. Lebedev, T. I. Lashin, and L. Zigmunchik. Fearless fighters in the struggle against Basmachism included D. D., Churakov, S. Dadabaev, U. Yunusov, A. Sulaymanov, T. Shamsudinov, Rizaev, Sataybaev, Aliev Ergash, Seysh, the Taiychebaev brothers, Sh. Alimov, and many others.
During these days, the forces of internal counter-revolution and Basmachism in Central Asia were preparing to deliver a decisive blow to Soviet power. To provide practical assistance to the Fergana (Andijan and Osh) Basmachis, an English spy, Colonel Zaitsev, Colonel Kornilov (brother of the notorious counter-revolutionary General Kornilov), and a group of officers arrived.
In August and early September 1919, conspiracies took place between the Basmachi leader Madamin-bek and Tsarist Colonel Monstrov, who commanded the so-called "peasant army," consisting of kulaks and counter-revolutionary elements, joined by deceived peasants from Russian settlements in the Osh and Andijan districts. On September 7, 1919, the combined counter-revolutionary forces of Madamin-bek and Monstrov, numbering about 10,000, occupied the city of Osh. After capturing the city, the rebels created a "Temporary Government," which included Colonel Alexeyev, entrepreneur Dryakhlov, lawyer Orlov, Colonel Monstrov, Kurbashi Madamin-bek, and others. They attempted to restore the system of Tsarist administration.
The leaders of the Bolshevik organization and the Soviets were arrested and imprisoned. Among the arrested were A. D. Dobrynin, A. Rumyantsev, A. Petrosyan, D. Churakov, I. Kondratiev, E. Kirillova, B. Khodjaev, K. Abdrasulov, and others. The 22-year-old Sanjarbek Kasymbekov, elected secretary of the newly created party committee, was brutally killed by the Basmachis. After the victory over the defenders of Osh, Madamin-bek and Monstrov attacked Andijan. However, the Kazan regiment stationed there, with the help of the residents, decisively defeated the Basmachis.
In early 1920, thanks to the selfless struggle of the Red Army units supported by the working masses, the plans of English imperialists and Basmachism to destroy Soviet power in southern Kyrgyzstan were thwarted. Monstrov's gang was completely defeated, and its leader was captured. Madamin-bek was forced to negotiate with the command of the Fergana Front, which ended on March 6, 1920, with the signing of an agreement, according to which Madamin agreed to switch to the side of Soviet power. On March 8, 1920, in Osh, Yulchi and Hal-Khodja switched to the side of the Soviets, but five days later he returned to the Basmachis.
In May 1920, the commander of the Turkestan Front, M. V. Frunze, arrived in Osh. He spoke at a rally, calling on the city's workers to resolutely fight against counter-revolutionaries and Basmachism. As a result of a powerful blow, by the end of 1920, Basmachi gangs in southern Kyrgyzstan were mostly eliminated.
In early 1921, the Basmachis became active again. The command of the Red Army units prepared and implemented a plan to eliminate Muetdin's gang. Kyrgyz volunteer units participated in the elimination of this Basmachi stronghold, as noted in the newspaper "Turkestan Truth" (1922).
In the name of God, Islam, and Sharia, Basmachi gangs killed people, burned houses, and suppressed the population's unrest against them with blood and sword. This is eloquently evidenced by the trials of Muetdin and his associates, Yangibay, Saib-Kara, Mulla-toka, Akhmat-Ali, Asker-Ali, Babatov, and others. The trial took place in 1922 in Osh at a madrasa under Suleiman Mountain, and by the verdict of justice, all of them were publicly executed by firing squad.
Such a serious sentence was deserved for their atrocities. Here are a few episodes of the horrific terror perpetrated by the Basmachis. Kurbashi Muetdin-bek and his thugs attacked a food convoy guarded by 40 fighters in May 1921. The guards were subjected to horrific torture and then burned at the stake. Children were smashed against the wheels of carts, some were torn apart by being tied to horses. Women had their breasts cut off, pregnant women had their bellies ripped open, and the fetuses were chopped up with sabers. The notorious Basmachi Hal-Khodja burned alive several villagers for sympathizing with the Bolsheviks. On another occasion, he cut off the tongue, ears, and nose of a laborer.
On the head of a simple peasant, Hal-Khodja's henchmen molded a dough form in the shape of a dish and then poured boiling oil into it. Another peasant was tied upside down to a tree and cut in half with a saber. Kurbashi Hamrakul ordered the 22-year-old militiaman Kasymbekov to be bound hand and foot and then thrown to his "eagles" for goat baiting. In the struggle against Basmachism, the commander of the special unit Khokhlov, the chairman of the Osh volost committee Mamaljanov, and others heroically perished. In their memory, two streets in the city are now named after Khokhlov and Mamadjanov.
The Komsomol organization in the city of Osh was established in March 1920. The first Komsomol members were brothers Mikhail and Stezak Mikhailenko, Fyodor Shpak, Kudaybergen Niyazov, Alimzhan Yusupov, Daniil Kordub, Vasily Babenko, Boris Nesterенко, and others. The Komsomol members actively participated in the elimination of illiteracy, selecting 153 cultural army members from their ranks, and participated in the movement for a communist attitude toward labor. In 1985, about 20,000 Komsomol members worked in the city's economy. They were united in 244 primary Komsomol organizations and 9 committees with the rights of district committees, with a total membership of 33,977 members. There were 297 Komsomol-youth labor collectives operating.
The city of Osh was directly managed by the first secretaries of the Osh Regional Committee of the Party, among them were: P. Kolosov, N. Narozhny, A. Imanaliev, B. Yakovlev, M. Abdulgulov, T. Baltagulov, A. Suyumbaev, S. Ibraimov, M. Kaparov, akim-governor U. Sydykov, A. Erkebayev, A. Muralisv. They made a significant contribution to the development of the city of Osh. In the rise of the economy and culture of the city, invaluable assistance was provided by the first secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan, particularly Alexey Vagov, Ishak Razzakov, and Turdakun Usubaliev, the chairman of the State Planning Committee of the republic S. Begaliyev, and many others. Osh became a flourishing, modern, and eternally young city. It became a beloved city not only for its residents but also for all Kyrgyzstani people. The city of Osh has effectively become a national park — the pride of multi-ethnic Kyrgyzstan. By the 3000th anniversary, Osh will become even more beautiful, and may it continue to thrive!
Pre-revolutionary Osh