Tax Exploitation in Pre-Revolutionary Osh
After the fall of the Kokand Khanate on February 17, 1876, the Turkestan administration established the "Commission for Clarifying Tax Obligations and State Property of Fergana," which presented a report with its proposals on March 11 of the same year "on the method of revenue collection and the abolition of certain revenue items that do not comply with our laws." Lieutenant General Kolpakovsky imposed a resolution on the report: "Everything proposed for Kokand should be practiced in other cities of the Fergana region." This provision was naturally extended to the city of Osh.
Among the state revenue items were all state properties belonging to the former khans (and there were such in Osh) — houses, lands, gardens, shops, workshops, etc. City revenue items included fees: weight, zakat from industrial establishments, and others. However, hereditary and wedding fees (tarine and nikahane), certain market fees, salt tax, guild fees, broker fees, forest fees, coal fees, and others were abolished.
The levies that, in the opinion of the Russian administration, led to particularly uncontrolled and unrestrained exploitation and that were incompatible with or contradicted Russian legislation were abolished.
Four years later, it was time to introduce a general tax administration regulation for the population of the Fergana region, which existed throughout Russia. To familiarize the urban and rural population of the Fergana region with the new tax regulation, the Turkestan Governor-General Kaufman issued a manifesto on April 6, 1880 — an address to the population of the Fergana region. "The residents of Fergana... now, after four years under the scepter of the Russian Tsar, I find it possible to introduce transformations in the entire Fergana region: public, tax, and land."
The purpose of the tax reform was "to replace the existing land payments under various names with one clearly defined state tax." Along with the permanent rate of the state tax, the size of land obligations, i.e., "fees to meet local needs," was also determined. "I proceed with the aforementioned transformations in confidence," Kaufman stated pathetically, "that they will contribute to the development of agriculture, the eye source of your well-being, the elimination of harmful disputes, and many abuses inevitable under the currently existing orders." There is no doubt — the intentions are good, but in reality — one form of exploitation, crude and openly predatory, was replaced by another, no less exploitative.
Even among the townspeople, the main sphere of production in pre-revolutionary Osh was agriculture.
Hence, the main form of tax exploitation was the land tax on the harvest of grain or melon crops, and on livestock. Then came the levies on handicraft production and trade. These are state taxes. Hired workers and craftsmen were exploited by employers who appropriated their surplus product.
Growing Social Protest of the Multinational Oppressed Masses of the Region
In addition to land taxes, there were public levies for the maintenance of local administration, expenses for building schools, road construction, etc. In the Fergana region, the majority of these funds were spent on maintaining horse guards and watchmen, and only 30% of the funds were used for their intended purpose.
Taxes and levies were collected both in kind and in cash. Labor duty was widely practiced — involving townspeople in public works. The tax farming system was also prevalent, exacerbating the burden. The practically unlimited working day ranged from 12 to 15 hours.
Despite the fact that the tsarist authorities vigorously tried to present the situation as if the new tax system was a blessing for the population, specific data from the same Turkestan lower administration shows that the tax burden was heavy and generally unbearable. This is evidenced, in particular, by the table of tax arrears by cities and districts of the Fergana region.
For example, in 1887, tax arrears in Osh reached 510 rubles for all items. In the Osh district, the arrears for tent tax amounted to 1595 rubles, for corvée tax — 6037 rubles, for fees in lieu of natural obligations and for expenses of a local nature — 1534 rubles, for the maintenance of the "native" administration — 1889 rubles, for reimbursement of government expenses on public-tax organization — 2247 rubles, and for various other items — 1712 rubles. Thus, in 1887, tax arrears accumulated to 30,491 rubles in the city of Osh and the Osh district.
The main source of revenue for the tsarist treasury in the Turkestan region was the land tax, which since 1886 constituted 10% of all collections from the settled population cultivating irrigated dry lands.
It was collected from both the rural population of the Osh district and from townspeople engaged in agricultural activities, who were designated by the administration (as noted earlier) for the convenience of their taxation in a separate Osh volost. Compared to the previous decade, the amount of land tax in 1886 increased almost twofold. Additionally, all townspeople were required to pay a state tax on real estate. Since 1885, fees for the right to trade and engage in crafts were introduced, and since 1899, a state industrial tax was established.
The intensification of the heavy national and social oppression of tsarism and the ruling classes of the empire over the working people of towns and villages in Turkestan at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries provoked a growing social protest among the multinational oppressed masses of the region, bringing them closer together on the basis of class solidarity against the tsarist and "their own" local exploiters. The working part of the townspeople of Osh and its district did not remain aloof from this struggle, and their resistance to dual oppression took various, sometimes sharp forms, rising to open mass protests during the period of imperialism and on the eve of the socialist revolution in the country.