Kyrgyz-Kokand Relations in the 18th Century

The Important Political Role of the Kyrgyz in Fergana at the End of the 18th Century

With the conquest of the surrounding Kazakhs in 1798, the Tashkent ruler Yunus-Khodja presumably temporarily subordinated the closest Talas Kyrgyz as well. There is evidence that these Kazakhs, and possibly the Kyrgyz of Talas and the upper reaches of the Chirchik, i.e., Chatkal, participated in Yunus-Khodja's campaign against the Kokand ruler who had risen against Tashkent in 1799. This information is drawn from the notes of mountain officials Burnashev and Pospelov regarding Tashkent's dominion. The basis for the assumption that it was not only about Kazakhs (which is quite definite) but also about Kyrgyz (which is only hypothetical) is the mention in their notes of the ethnonyms "kirghiz-kaysak" and simply "kirghiz," geographical points within the Tashkent dominion (the Ala-Tau mountains, the upper reaches of the Chirchik River, the Telyus River - Talas), and finally, the direct mention of "the black or so-called wild Kyrgyz who live in the mountains near Tashkent."

At the same time, the Kokand dominion, Kazakh zhuz, and Kyrgyz tribes had already been under the direct scrutiny of Russian politicians since the end of the 18th century. On November 2, 1794, Major General Bouwer reported to Catherine II about the necessity "to also make an alliance with the Great Horde, the wild stone Kyrgyz, and other owners." However, the alliance did not materialize, although the Kyrgyz sent a special embassy to St. Petersburg requesting protection. The objective conditions for Russia's advancement into the depths of Central Asia had not yet matured.

Beyond the Kazakh steppes, it made only timid steps towards Bukhara, Kokand, and Kyrgyzstan, constantly looking back at the reaction of the English Foreign Office, fearing serious complications in the broader international, i.e., European, politics.

Repeated mentions in sources about the Kyrgyz in the 18th century as an independent people provide grounds to believe that they were generally active participants in the turbulent political events in Fergana, managing to maintain their independence. A.Z. Validov rightly concluded (based on data from Central Asian chronicles) that "such Kyrgyz biys as Hadji-biy, Kubad-biy, Sadik-biy... dominated in the vicinity of the valley (of Fergana - Note by V.P.) until the unification of all of Fergana and its surroundings into one Kokand Khanate in the 19th century, under Alim-khan and Muhammad Ali-khan, they dominated in the vicinity of the valley just as the Kokand rulers did in the valley itself."

Thus, referring to the sources reveals the following picture of Kyrgyz-Kokand relations. In the 18th century, the Kyrgyz played an important political role in Fergana. Their feudal lords participated in the feuds of the Bukhara, Kokand, Samarkand, and Uratyub rulers. As a result of the strengthening of the Kokand dominion, the migration of some Kyrgyz tribes to the northeast after the fall of the Dzungar Khanate, and the civil wars that flared up by the end of the 18th century, Southeast Fergana with its historically Kyrgyz territories of Osh and Uzgen fell under the power of the Kokand ruler. At the same time, all encroachments by Chinese feudal lords and campaigns by individual Chinese detachments against Kyrgyzstan were repelled.

Overall, the Kyrgyz living in the mountains near Fergana, from Alai to Kashgar, in Ketmen-Tube and Semirechye, remained independent until the end of the 18th century. The Kokand and Tashkent rulers, as well as the Qing Empire, had to reckon with them. Firstly, the few but freedom-loving mountain dwellers possessed real military strength, a militia that was almost in constant readiness for battle. Secondly, the Kyrgyz pastures lay along the traditional trade routes connecting Central Asia with Eastern Turkestan and India, and the state of trade between Kokand and the East largely depended on the goodwill of the southern Kyrgyz and the loyalty of the Kyrgyz feudal lords.

However, squeezed by the ever-increasing neighboring states, torn by feudal infighting and clan disputes, the Kyrgyz people could not maintain their independence for long under these conditions. The unequal struggle exhausted the people's forces. The historically established situation led to the fact that one of these states had to conquer and absorb the fragmented and weakened Kyrgyz tribes. Given such an alternative, the Kyrgyz leaned more towards the Kokand dominion, in which individual Kyrgyz feudal lords began to play an increasingly noticeable role. There was a migration of Kyrgyz from Eastern Turkestan into the territories of the Kokand Khanate.

Gradually, through armed force, cunning, and often treachery, by the end of the 18th century, the Kokand rulers subdued the southern Kyrgyz tribes, while attracting their feudal lords to their service with flattery and gifts. In particular, the traveler Mir Izzet-Ulla, who passed through the Kokand Khanate from the south in 1812, wrote about the southern Kyrgyz as already being dependent on Kokand.

Thus, by the time of the birth of the future Alay Queen, her people, i.e., the southern Kyrgyz, were practically in complete dependence on the Kokand Khanate. The following chapters of the book will discuss how the fate of Kurmandzhan Datka was intertwined with the vicissitudes of this despotic state and its forced "grave digger" - the Russian Empire.

Kyrgyz Feudal Lords in Search of Allies