Coat of Arms of the City of Osh
Agriculture and farming have always played an important role in the economy of Osh during the pre-revolutionary period. This is similar to other late feudal cities in Central Asia, whose populations were equally closely tied to the land.
Most of the Osh farmers were residents of the old ("indigenous") part of the city, which was even designated as a separate tax district within the Osh county. Its lands were located around the city. In 1903-1905, the crops of the Osh district amounted to 8,927 desiatinas, including 3,916 desiatinas of wheat and 2,693 desiatinas of corn. The residents of Osh primarily grew cereal crops, the range of which was the same as that of the sedentary farmers in the county.
In 1915, the Osh residents sowed 3,934 tanapas of land with cotton.
Some of the Osh farmers engaged in gardening and melon growing. Many households had small gardens. The assortment of fruit trees was dominated by local species — apricot and mulberry, traditional for southern Turkestan horticulture. With the beginning of the 20th century, beekeeping began to develop in Osh, initiated by the Osh forester, who imported bees from the Caucasus: In 1905, his apiary had more than 50 hives. By 1911, three Osh beekeepers had a total of 161 hives.
Animal husbandry played a predominantly supplementary role for the townspeople. In the early 20th century, the residents of the city had 9,000 to 11,000 heads of livestock — almost half as many as in the mid-1890s. The composition and ratio of animal species show that the townspeople primarily kept working cattle — oxen and horses (the latter were also owned by Osh residents engaged in transportation). Sheep were raised for personal use, while wealthier households raised them for sale. Goats and donkeys were kept by less affluent townspeople, whose means did not allow them to feed a cow or horse. The breeds of livestock and horses were mainly local. In 1914, a breeding stable with 8 stallions of Swedish blood was opened, which gave a certain impetus to the further development of horse breeding.
Interestingly, the traditional economic activities of the residents of Osh (agriculture and, to a lesser extent, animal husbandry), as well as the notable feature of its territory (Suleiman Mountain) and the legendary Muslim traditions of the local population, found a certain reflection in the materials for designing the city coat of arms and in its very depiction.
Thus, the Osh City Economic Administration proposed the following coat of arms project for the city: "A shield divided. In the upper part of the shield, the mountain [Suleiman] with a beam of light cast upon it; in the lower, silver part, a pair of oxen harnessed to a plow. In the free part, the shield is crowned with a golden imperial crown and surrounded by two golden ears of corn (highlighted by us — ed.)." An interesting detail in the description of this first coat of arms project noted that, according to local residents, Suleiman Mountain resembles a camel with an elongated neck, and it was suggested to send a photo of it if necessary. Although the initial project of the city coat of arms (the corresponding protocol was signed by one of the deputies of the city economic administration, a certain Salimbaev, on June 14, 1904) was later modified during its consideration in the heraldic department of the Senate's heraldry department, the image of the mountain continued to be included out of respect for local tradition, "that on the mountain Takht-i Suleiman, at the foot of which the mentioned city is located, King Solomon erected a mosque, or according to another version — his throne."
According to heraldic tradition, the coat of arms shield of cities where agriculture and grain trade occupied a significant place was adorned with an Alexander ribbon with two golden ears of corn. New details appeared in the modified coat of arms of Osh, proposed by the head of the heraldic department at the Senate's heraldry department: "In a red shield, a silver peak of the mountain, accompanied from above by a golden crescent, horns up. In the green base of the shield, two ox heads with red eyes. In the free part of the shield, the coat of arms of the Fergana region. The shield is adorned with a silver tower crown with three teeth and surrounded by two grapevines, connected by an Alexander ribbon" (highlighted by us — ed.). Traditionally, different types of crowns — the main decoration of the coat of arms shield — indicated the different status of the city.
For example, images of silver crowns with three teeth served for county towns. As can be seen from the image and description of the coat of arms emblem of the city (the coats of arms of ten Central Asian cities, including Osh, were approved by the tsar on October 22, 1908, as reported in the "Collection of Laws and Regulations of the Government under the Governing Senate" on May 12, 1909), these distinctive symbols of Osh remained: a mountain with a crescent above it, reminiscent of the "sacred" mountain Takht-i Suleiman revered by local townspeople, and the heads of oxen, indicating the livestock breeding of the Osh residents.
The Osh City Covered Market (Tim)
In the internal trade of the region, urban and rural markets played an important role. Osh has long been famous for its vast and rich bazaars, astonishing visitors with the abundance of local and imported products and goods. Like in other Central Asian cities, bazaars were the most crowded and lively places in the city.
On market days and Muslim holidays, the trading squares were literally teeming with people. Although on festive days most shops were closed, numerous ashkans and teahouses (local eateries and tea houses) were bustling with trade, as well as wandering vendors of halva and other Eastern sweets; water carriers offered water to those in need during the summer. The Muslim newspaper "Vakt" wrote in 1913 about Osh: "The bazaar of this city is large, and trade is brisk. The mountains are mostly inhabited by Kyrgyz, who engage in animal husbandry, raising sheep, cows, horses, etc., which are sold at the Osh bazaar. Trade goods from Turkestan are transported to China through Osh, and Kashgar goods — carpets, felt, fabrics — are transported to Fergana [through Osh], where they are sold and exchanged."
According to information gathered by the county chief, the main trading items at the Osh bazaars included: wheat, fruits (fresh and dried), and clover, as well as sheep, horses, hides, and other livestock raw materials, among local handicrafts — finished footwear and robes, and among imported goods from Russia — calico, iron hardware, tea, and sugar; from Eastern Turkestan — felt, carpets, and fabric (broadcloth). Travelers and visitors were attracted by the tanned white hides of Kashgar goats and blue Kashgar porcelain. It was easy to purchase handicrafts from other Eastern countries, including Indian and Afghan goods.
The Osh City Covered Market (Tim) with traditionally specialized trading rows is one of the oldest in Central Asia. It was located near the Ak-Bura riverbank with its wide and deep floodplain within the city limits. This place has long been the center of the trade and economic life of the townspeople. A detailed description of the tim from the late past and early present century is provided in the book by O. I. Smirnova, based on the words of a native and long-time resident of Osh, Tura-Niyaz Khoja — Niyazogly Niyazov (from where we borrow while preserving the transcription of local terms). At that time, there were two hanging bridges (osmakupryuk) across the river at a distance of up to 900 meters from each other. The tim was located between them on a busy city street on the right bank, about fifty meters from the riverbed and parallel to its flow. Like other covered Eastern markets, it was a wooden frame structure resembling a unique above-ground tunnel up to 800 meters long, covering the street but open on both sides. Inside the tim, there were numerous shops on both sides of the street. The reed roof (burye) of the tim protected sellers and buyers from heat and bad weather. The shops in the tim were arranged in a specific sequence. First came the shops of sellers of perfumes and medicines (attor) and sweets (kandfurush), deeper in were the sellers of fabrics, clothing, and tubeteikas (bazzos), and behind them were the shops of locksmiths (tamurchi), jewelers (zorgar), and knife makers (pukokchi), where craftsmen sat. The shops of the latter consisted of two rooms — a front one where the craftsman worked, displayed, and sold his goods, and a back one — an annex for stock.
Almost all city trade concentrated around the tim, especially on market days. Between the tim and the river (from bridge to bridge), there was brisk trade in tea (choi-bozor), tubeteikas (duppi-bozor), and clothing (ton- or joma-bozor). On the other side of the tim, trade in greens — watermelons and melons (kavun-bozor), raisins (uzum-bozor), vegetables, and fruits took place. Below the bridges and the tim, several bazaars gathered on both sides of the river on market days. On the left bank, between the tim and the road, fodder was traded (utup- or alaf-bozor); on the other side of the road, between this bazaar and the tim, trade in horses and sheep (koy-bozor) and cattle (mol-bozor) took place. On the right bank of the river, below the bridge, trade in reeds and reed products (burye-bozor) occurred. Near the hanging bridges by the water, there were teahouses and ashkans, two on each side of the bridge, overflowing on market days.
Teahouses played a significant role in market life, where people met and concluded various trade deals. Mosques and madrasahs stood on the market squares. Such was the trading center of old Osh.
Trade with Other Cities of Fergana
Osh maintained lively trade with the cities of the Fergana Valley and the surrounding Kyrgyz nomadic and semi-nomadic periphery. The most intense trade connections were between the merchants of Osh and Andijan, which were much more significant than those between the merchants of Osh and Namangan. For instance, in 1913, 635,700 poods of goods were sent from Andijan to Osh, mainly manufactured goods, tea, sugar, salt, and kerosene, intended for the needs of the nomadic area, as well as iron hardware and building materials, agricultural tools, and luxury items for the urban and rural elite.
In the same year, even more goods — 735,248 poods — were sent from Osh to Andijan, not counting cargo from Kashgar. The call to Andijan mainly included livestock raw materials and products of Kyrgyz crafts and industries: intestines, hides, wool, carpets, palaces, felt, ropes (arkans), horse harnesses, and other small items, a significant amount of bread in grain and flour, cotton, and charcoal. Thus, the trade exchange between the cities of Osh and Andijan reached 370,948 poods.
Osh also played an important role in Russia's trade with Eastern Turkestan. In exchange for Russian manufactured goods, products of local crafts and handicrafts from Kashgar were received, mainly felt, as well as agricultural raw materials. A group of merchants living in Osh engaged in the trade of Kashgar goods, some of which were sold in city shops and markets, at the bazaars of neighboring villages, purchased by townspeople, peasants, and Kyrgyz herders, while the remaining mass of imported goods was transported further to Fergana.
In the 1880s and 1890s, trade establishments in Osh were mainly small. Many traders lived in Margilan, Namangan, Tashkent, and other cities of Fergana but owned (or rented) shops in Osh, and many also in Kashgar.
There were few Russian traders, mainly large merchants — Filatov, Tuzin, and others.
By 1914, the picture changed somewhat. Trade in manufactured goods and other industrial products was concentrated in the hands of merchant tycoons — Pugasev and Filatov, while leather and other raw materials were predominantly in the hands of large Uzbek traders, and "Kashgar goods" were held by newcomers from Eastern Turkestan, the Uyghurs.
In 1898, 26 merchants of the I and II guilds traded in Osh, holding wholesale trade. Of these, the majority — 20 merchants — had permanent residences in Osh, three in Kashgar, and one each in Namangan, Margilan, and Tashkent. All of them, except for two Russians (from Osh and Tashkent), were representatives of Central Asian merchants. Twelve Osh merchants traded in sheep, while the remaining eight engaged in mixed trade. The latter primarily traded in manufactured goods, so-called colonial goods, tea and sugar, carpets, traditional "Kashgar goods," and especially felt, as well as furs, sheepskins, felt, and even iron.
A similar assortment of goods was also found among merchants from other mentioned Turkestan cities: the same colonial goods and manufactured goods, partly tea and sugar, wine and beer, as well as the aforementioned "Kashgar goods."
The Kashgar merchants engaged in mixed trade, specializing in manufactured goods, tea, and sugar, to a lesser extent — carpets and iron, while some Kashgar merchants primarily traded in colonial goods.
Moreover, the imported "Kashgar goods" — cotton fabrics (felt) and clothing (robes) — faced strong competition from Central Asian and Russian products.
Thus, the large merchant class effectively monopolized the trade in imported goods from Russia and abroad, as well as sheep and sheepskins, carpets, and felt purchased from the Kyrgyz population from both settled and nomadic areas of the Osh district.
Development of Craft Production in Osh
Along with bazaar trade, so characteristic of Osh and the county in the 1880s, stationary trade began to develop widely in the city at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The growth of this trade can be judged by the increase in the number of small city shops: in 1882 there were 852, in 1908 — 1,035, and by 1911 — already 1,300.
By 1914, stationary trade in the Osh district was controlled by 45 wealthy merchants who owned large second-class trading enterprises in the city, shops, and trading agents in the villages. Many small and even itinerant traders depended on them. The large urban, so-called "guild" merchant class of Osh tried to seize all trade life in the city and the county. Among the merchant elite of the city, predominantly Uzbek, there were 10 merchants who traded wholesale and retail in manufactured goods, 7 large livestock breeders and traders in wool and animal raw materials, 5 merchants who traded in Eastern carpets, and 3 Russian wine merchants.
In addition to profits from the sale of alcoholic beverages and beer, the trading houses of Pugasev, Epifanov, and Filatov, possessing large capitals, also profited from the trade in grocery products, iron hardware, and other goods. The Tashkent merchants Pugasev expanded their trade in Osh to include food supplies, as well as perfumery, jewelry, footwear, ready-made clothing, and even stationery. In the stores, shops, and warehouses of Epifanov, one could also purchase dishes and household items, mosquito nets, building and timber materials, furniture, and even medicines.
There is almost no direct information about the crafts and craftsmen of Osh in the late 18th to the 70s of the 19th century in archival sources, although this does not indicate their absence during the period of khanate dependence. Soon after its liquidation, with the cessation of feudal strife, and with the development of commodity-money relations and trade connections with neighboring cities of Fergana and Russia, Osh began to stand out among other settlements in the county, distinguished by a concentration of crafts and handicrafts, the products of which found a secure market among townspeople, settled, and nomadic residents of the county. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, craftsmen increasingly occupied a significant place in the productive contingent of the population of Osh. Naturally, many craft workshops could not arise in a vacuum without the presence of certain skills and traditions among the masters, without continuity with the past craft life of the townspeople.
Of course, after the annexation of Fergana to Russia, new craft productions unknown to the population of old Osh and the residents of the villages emerged, and the inclusion of the region's economy into the orbit of the capitalist market of Russia had its influence on changes in the sectoral composition and nature of craft and small-scale production in Osh.
Urban crafts began to noticeably differ from rural ones, in particular, in their professional direction and larger workshop sizes, the orientation of craftsmen towards the tastes and demands of urban clients and buyers.
As early as 1884, 75 craft workshops in Osh employed 42 workers. The total output of all owners (8 coppersmiths, 3 tinmen, 6 goldsmiths, 4 tailors, 20 shoemakers, and 36 representatives of other professions) amounted to 7,065 rubles. The owners of tin workshops employed one worker each, while regarding the owners of other workshops, hired workers were not present in every case. The annual output per workshop averaged from 200 rubles (for shoemakers, and somewhat more for other craftsmen) to 33,800 rubles (for owners of jewelry workshops). In 1897, over a quarter of the townspeople engaged in independent occupations were involved in various crafts.
With the growth of the city's population, especially in the early 20th century, there was an increase in the number of craftsmen serving the townspeople. In many families, for example, hand sewing of embroidered headwear (tubeteikas), robes, etc., was practiced. In 1914, 114 shoemaking workshops in Osh employed 135 workers, producing goods worth 47,600 rubles. The annual value of production for each of them more than doubled compared to 1884 (417 rubles), and the output per worker also significantly increased. Like in other Central Asian cities, Osh had many unmatched master craftsmen in preparing dishes of national Eastern cuisine — both individuals and owners of ashkans, etc. There was also a large group of construction craftsmen — carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, plasterers, masons, bridge builders, producers of raw bricks, wallpaper hangers, etc., engaged in the construction of housing and improvement works in both the old and especially the new parts of the city.
By the time of the First World War, Osh was not only the oldest center of craft production among the cities of Kyrgyzstan but also the largest in the Turkestan region. The number of craft establishments reached several hundred (even the authorities were not always aware of their exact number, surprised by the disappearance of small industrial establishments and the appearance of new, occasionally large ones), and the number of people engaged in craft production was in the thousands.
Processing of Agricultural Products
The continuous production of hand-woven fabric, as well as the import of fabrics of artisanal and factory production from neighboring regions and countries, whose coloring did not match the tastes of the local population, necessitated re-dyeing, which led to the emergence of initially few dyeing workshops as a separate branch of production. Thus, in 1884, there were 12 small dyeing workshops in Osh.
The average output of each of them was 142 rubles, and the gross production of all was estimated at 1,700 rubles. By 1900, their number had increased to 20, with the production per workshop rising on average by only 14 rubles (the total value of all gross was 3,120 rubles).
An important branch of small-scale industry in Osh was the processing of agricultural products from both townspeople and rural residents of the county. In 1903, among Osh enterprises processing agricultural products, there were 52 mills, which employed 112 workers (an average of 1.8 workers per mill) and 45 oil presses, each employing one worker. By the time of the First World War, the number of such establishments had significantly increased. Among them, relatively large ones appeared, whose products went directly to the market. Thus, by 1914, the quantitative breakdown included "indigenous-type" oil presses (juvazy), numbering 490, followed by rice mills — 369, and then water mills of the "Sart" type — 87 (with 205 installations). The annual productivity of the latter was 450,000 poods of flour.
Among the owners of small mills, so-called peasant or agricultural mills, which operated only on order, large millers began to emerge in the pre-war years, owning so-called mixed mills that worked both on order and for the market. There were also a few large commodity mills that supplied products exclusively for sale. Some of these mills were located right at the bazaar in the "old city." Apparently, four mills owned by wealthy Uzbek townspeople — holders of industrial certificates of 4th and 6-8th categories (according to their capacity) were mixed. A steam mill was also located in the old city (on the current Bolshaya Andizhan Street).
The commodity mills, which operated exclusively for the market and did not accept small orders for grinding, were the first two large mills in the city. One of them, powered by an oil engine, with one installation, belonged to the wealthy Osh resident T. G. Dryakhlov. It employed 21 workers. Its annual productivity was 200,000 poods of flour (apparently, just under half of the total output of all city mills), and its annual turnover was 150,000 rubles. Mixed-type and commodity mills were pushing small peasant mills out of the flour milling production of the city, making it difficult for their owners to compete with large millers.
Development of Factory and Plant Enterprises
Among the many small establishments in the food industry, two confectioneries — A. V. Grigoryev and S. V. Suslikova stood out by their annual turnover. In 1916, one of the confectioneries in the "Russian" part of the city employed 2 workers, and its turnover was 500 rubles per month. There was a factory for fruit and berry waters owned by Kolotaev, and a sausage production facility by F. Bauer (with one worker, gross production estimated at 800 rubles).
As early as 1880, a certain Romanenko received permission to build a brewery in Osh. By 1894, it was built, but it did not operate that year. This was the first industrial enterprise in the city that could be called a factory according to the industrial statute. Other large enterprises in the city included two other breweries. One of them, built in 1911, employed 10-12 workers. It brewed 60,000 buckets of beer, and the total production amounted to 12,000 rubles. The second one was apparently even larger, but it was inactive in 1914. According to some data, the annual productivity of both breweries was 30,000 rubles, employing 92 workers.
Data on foundry and blacksmith production in Osh in the late 19th and early 20th centuries indicate a trend towards the emergence of the first signs of capitalist relations in local industrial production. Thus, the demand for agricultural and other tools, iron, and other metal products, as well as difficulties with their delivery and, consequently, the shortage and high prices of cast iron and metal in the market, led to the emergence of the first cast iron workshops in the city since the 1880s. By 1895, there were already four with 12 workers, and the total value of annual production was estimated at 2,000 rubles. In 1910, there were three such workshops remaining with the same number of hired workers, but a foundry shop with an annual turnover of 1,500 rubles was functioning, supplying products to the market.
The products of Osh's foundry workshops were also used by urban blacksmiths. In terms of production size, they were somewhat larger than the blacksmith workshops that emerged in the late 19th century in rural areas.
During these years, alongside small forges, there was also a large blacksmith workshop owned by Akhmedzhanov with 6 workers; the total production of all forges amounted to 2,970 rubles per year.
In the reports on factory and plant industry in the Fergana region, a gut-cleaning plant (built in the first decade of the 20th century) is also mentioned among significant urban enterprises. In 1913, it employed 12 workers, and its annual productivity reached up to 21,500 rubles. In the pre-war years, it was acquired by the Dürschmidt firm.
A fairly large enterprise of artisanal type was the Osh tannery with an annual productivity of up to 10,000 tanned hides. Its production included rough leather ("chert") for use by the common people ("working class"), as well as sheep and goat skins.
Alongside Dryakhlov's steam mill, the largest urban enterprise was the Osh cotton gin (though it was smaller than the Naiman gin). In the 1913/14 season, 35,000 poods of raw cotton were processed there. Its total annual production amounted to 150,000 rubles, and the factory employed 41 workers. On October 11, 1915, another cotton gin began operating in Osh, receiving electricity from the city power station.
In 1908, there were 446 small artisanal-type industrial enterprises in Osh, employing 616 workers and with an annual productivity of 41,360 rubles, averaging 1.5 workers per establishment.
Center of Craft and Small-Scale Production
The few large factory-type enterprises that emerged in the 1910s did not displace the mass of small establishments of small-scale production by the time of the First World War. On the contrary, if the data for 1908 are not understated, by 1914 there was a clear increase in the latter. According to the authors of the economic justification for the construction of the Osh access road, there were 869 of them. This number included oil presses, rice mills, brick, brewery, and gut-cleaning productions, but did not account for mills, shoemaking workshops, forges, etc. Since it seems that mainly those enterprises, semi-finished products, and products that could serve as potential railway cargo were considered, it should be assumed that there were about 1,000 small artisanal and craft establishments in the city.
The technical backwardness of the poorly developed Osh industry is characterized by the fact that in 1913, only three large enterprises with 140 workers — a roller mill, a brewery, and an electrical installation had only one engine with a total capacity of 95 horsepower. Such low energy provision of urban industry speaks to its low technical and economic level. The first energy installation in Osh was built only on the eve of the First World War, the second — already after it began. The total capacity of both did not exceed 400 horsepower, and they were serviced by several dozen workers (one of the power plants employed 35 people). Both installations belonged to T. G. Dryakhlov, who later entered into a partnership with A. A. Ivanov.
One of the power plants provided lighting, while the other supplied electricity mainly to the cotton gin.
According to a survey of Turkestan industry initiated in the pre-war years by V. V. Zaorskaya and V. K. Alexander, there were 4 relatively large industrial enterprises in Osh with 25 workers. The total value of the products they produced annually, sold on the market, amounted to only 29,800 rubles. This led researchers to somewhat categorically characterize Osh's industry: "Due to the insignificant importance of the city of Osh, it may not be considered as an industrial point..." However, at the same time, some significant urban enterprises were not "taken into account," and considering them increases the total number of workers and the value of their gross production in comparative assessments of the industries of not only the Fergana region but even the Turkestan region. Although lagging in industrial development behind Pishpek and Przhevalsk, Osh remained the most notable industrial point in Southern Kyrgyzstan, and the value of its industrial gross production cannot be dismissed in the overall share of the industry of pre-revolutionary Kyrgyzstan. Especially since Osh played a very significant role during this period as a center of craft and small-scale production in southern Kyrgyzstan.