The Newly Minted Ruler of Kokand
In 1862, there was a struggle for khan power in Kokand. Khudoyar emerged victorious. It is worth mentioning the circumstances under which this remarkable politician came to power. It is known that he ascended to the throne with the support of his regent, the Kipchak Muslimkul. The latter killed Murad Khan, who ruled in Kokand for only 11 days. At the time of his ascension, Khudoyar was only 16 years old.
According to the biography of the newly minted ruler of Kokand, later presented in the Russian "Yearbook of the Fergana Region," "Khudoyar Khan's father, Shirali Khan, lived among the Kyrgyz of the Namangan Mountains before seizing the throne of the Kokand Khanate."
Cut off from Bukhara, Khudoyar Khan accepted (in 1868) the trade agreement proposed to him by General-Adjutant von Kaufman, under which Russians in the Kokand Khanate and Kokandis in Russian territories acquired the right to free residence and passage, establish caravanserais, and maintain trade agencies (karavan-bashi), while duties could be collected at a rate not exceeding the value of the goods. The commercial agreement with Russia in 1868 effectively made Kokand a dependent state.
For several years, the ruler of the Kokand Khanate, Khudoyar, obediently carried out the will of the Turkestan authorities.
At Kaufman's insistence, from September 1869 to March 1870, he ceased military actions against Bukhara over disputed territories in Karategin, expelled the Shahri Sabz beks who had fled to Kokand after being defeated by General Abramov's detachment, and in August 1870 transferred control of the Shahri Sabz oasis to Bukhara nobles.
In 1871, Kaufman confidently reported to St. Petersburg that Khudoyar had renounced "any thought of warring with us or contradicting us." The khan was even presented with diamond insignia of the Order of St. Stanislaus of the 1st class and the title of "Brightness."
Russian diplomat Struve wrote in May 1870 that Khudoyar "is building palaces, bazaars, caravanserais, cultivating gardens, and hosting large feasts to entertain the people." A similar idyllic picture was depicted in a publication of the Russian magazine "Niva" in 1873. It stated, in particular: "Khudoyar Khan has indeed brought peace to the weary and ravaged country. He reconciled all parties, entered into friendly relations with the Turkestan Governor-General, granted full freedom of trade to Russian merchants in his country, and constantly provides them with assistance and protection. He strives to develop the prosperity of his country, construct vast irrigation canals, built an excellent covered bazaar in Kokand, and caravanserais in all significant cities of the khanate."
The khan closely observes European customs and tries to adopt some external aspects of European civilization. He ordered mirrors, tables, chairs, and other furniture from Russia to furnish some rooms of his luxurious palace, acquired carriages (several carts), various luxury items, such as expensive dining and wall clocks, candelabras, chandeliers, etc. These European-style furnished rooms of the palace serve for receiving foreign visitors, i.e., Russians. The author of the publication further notes with affection: "In his everyday life, the khan has certainly not yet detached himself from his Asian customs and habits, which, of course, we cannot demand from him."
This idyllic picture had little in common with reality. On the banks of the Syr Darya in its middle and lower reaches, between Tashkent, Auliye-Ata, Pishpek, and other cities, tax revenues to the khan's treasury sharply decreased, and naturally, both the ruler himself and his courtiers tried to compensate for the losses at the expense of the remaining subjects, completely ruining them with extortions.
Widespread forced conscription of peasants for labor occurred, with very harsh methods applied. For instance, farmers who did not come to work on the khan's irrigation canals were buried alive in the ground. The khanate introduced the most unimaginable taxes. For example, taxes on reeds, steppe thorns, leeches caught in ponds... In addition, soldiers (sarbaz) who did not receive salaries simply robbed the population, taking whatever they liked. The orientalist A. Kun emphasized in the early 1870s at a meeting of the Geographical Society that in Kokand, the disease of general discontent against the khan and his entourage had deeply "taken root." Kaufman repeatedly warned Khudoyar about the harmfulness of his course, but to no avail.
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