Bureaucratic Apparatus of Management among Southern Kyrgyz Tribes
The social and property differentiation among the Kyrgyz deepened during the Kokand rule and after their incorporation into the Russian Empire, which was associated with an increase in tax burdens. The number of horse-less and livestock-less families sharply increased, social support among relatives turned into an open form of exploitation, and clan solidarity began to lose its former significance and acquire distorted forms.
The tribal institutions of power and the management system underwent significant transformation. In the northern Kyrgyz tribes, the institution of biys yielded to a new institution of power - manapstvo; in the southern Kyrgyz tribes, under the influence of the Kokand Khanate (a state of Eastern despotic type), a bureaucratic apparatus of management began to form.
Manapstvo emerged on the basis of the institution of biy, and in a short period transformed into one of the effective institutions of power with elements of despotism. The manap relied on a special group of people called atkaminer (horsemen), who supported and promoted him among his kin, executed his orders, and punished disobedient individuals in his name. Additionally, the manap could maintain a group of young men - zhigitter for carrying out punitive functions. Ordinary community members feared the manaps, who forced them to share their livestock and other property with him. Manaps had to give a portion of the carcass of livestock slaughtered for future use sogum. During the toya - family feast, the most honorable part of horse meat - ucha was given to the manap, although this was considered a violation of traditional norms, according to which ucha was served to clan elders, village elders, and honored guests present at festive or memorial meals.
Russian Reforms. After the incorporation into the Turkestan General Governorship, administrative and judicial reforms were carried out in accordance with Russian legislation. The territories were administratively divided into regions, which were further divided into districts, then into volosts, and finally into aiyls. The management of regions and districts had a semi-military character, headed by imperial officers and district police. Volosts and aiyls were managed by volost elders and chiefs, elected from among local biys and manaps under the supervision of imperial officials; later, military governors of the regions were granted the right to propose candidates for these positions at their discretion. The positions of biys - judges who resolved cases according to adat (customary law) also became elective. Aksakals, clan biys, and other authoritative figures participated in management at the level of local communities, but their authority and influence noticeably weakened.
The introduction of the Russian system of territorial division and management was accompanied by the resettlement of large groups of the population to balance the numbers within the administrative borders of aiyls, volosts, and districts, which dealt a significant blow to tribal relations. Entire aiyls and clan subdivisions reunited with their kin or moved to new territories, resulting in a mixing of the population. Formerly small clans, dependent on stronger tribes, received independent administrative territories with their own governing bodies. This phenomenon became known among the people as kuyulush, ken kuyulush (literally, "merging, infusion") (Kyrgyzdar. 1991. p. 553). Strong tribes could not come to terms with the fact that formerly weak clans were gaining independence and fiercely resisted the innovations. The centuries-old system of dominance and subordination was collapsing before their eyes, and former "rootless" groups were emerging from their dependent status.
Strong clans and tribes lost those who were in their service. Conflicts often took on an armed character, but the Russian administration consistently suppressed the opposing sides by force.
The imperial administration prohibited inter-clan conflicts, barymta (cattle raiding), which overall had a positive effect on the development of Kyrgyz society. Representatives of traditional institutions of power, despite a sharp reduction in their powers, gradually became a support for Russian authority at the local level. Management bodies at the level of volosts and aiyls were formed from their ranks. Capable young men, graduates of Russian-native schools among the Kyrgyz youth, after receiving appropriate education in district and regional institutions, entered the service of the colonial administration. Later, prominent state and public figures of the country emerged from their ranks.
The Phenomenon of "Naymys"