Features of the First Stage of the Uprising of the Kyrgyz 1873-1876.

The National Liberation and Anti-Feudal Character of the Uprising

The first stage of the uprising has ended, which had some of its own peculiarities, as we will discuss below. Here we will only note that the period of the uprising lasted about one and a half years. The actions of the rebels were local and spontaneous in nature. They arose in one area or another in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan.

The uprising had a wide scope and was characterized by its mass participation. It involved 42 Kyrgyz clans, comprising 132,500 yurts, i.e., the entire population of the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. Often, the number of participants in the uprising reached 10,000 or more. The uprising encompassed broad layers of the working population. Its driving force consisted of Kyrgyz herders and farmers, who were suffering under dual oppression. The uprising was led by representatives from the people. Indeed, some members of the feudal nobility participated in the uprising, dissatisfied with the khan's power in Kokand. However, they did not have as much influence as in the second stage of the uprising.

In the first stage, the uprising had a distinctly national liberation and anti-feudal character. Its cause was the feudal-khan oppression of the Kokand ruler and his officials. The rebels' actions were directed against the decaying rule of the Kokand Khanate. Participants in the uprising captured Kokand fortresses located in southern Kyrgyzstan, destroyed them, and eliminated representatives of the khan's authority.

Although the uprising had a wide scope in its first stage, it was limited to the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan and only occasionally, and rarely, spread to the territory of Uzbekistan. In 1873-1874, Uzbek workers, impoverished and devastated by the Kokand khans and their officials, sympathized with the rebellious Kyrgyz. They provided them with possible assistance and support, and in some cases actively participated in their actions. This was acknowledged even by high-ranking officials who were monitoring the course of the uprising and supporting the Kokand khan against whom the rebels were fighting. Here is what was said in this regard in a secret report by the Turkestan Governor-General dated July 31, 1873: "It is very doubtful that Khudoyar-khan will find many supporters, as the settled (Uzbek) population is embittered against him by heavy taxes, which increase every year, and looks favorably on the disturbances that have arisen," i.e., the uprising of the Kyrgyz. In the report of General-Lieutenant Kolpakovsky dated June 10, 1874, it is emphasized: "The Kipchaks and Kara-Kyrgyz, old enemies of the khan's power in Kokand, have found allies among the urban population and even among the close associates of the Kokand ruler." And on September 21, 1874, this imperial official, confirming his assumption, wrote: "The unrest among the nomads (Kyrgyz) has found an echo among the settled (Uzbek) population, dissatisfied with the harsh and excessive taxes of the khan."

The support of the rebellious Kyrgyz by the Uzbek working population is even more evident from a secret report by the same Kolpakovsky dated September 4, 1874. It reads: "In the cities of Kokand and Andijan, there are strong disturbances. They are only waiting for the arrival of the Kyrgyz to join them and overthrow Khudoyar-khan." Similar information is contained in the report of the imperial official Weinberg and other official archival documents. Thus, in the first stage of the uprising, contrary to the wishes of the feudal nobility and despite the policies of the rulers of the Kokand Khanate and local feudal lords, who incited national enmity between fraternal peoples, the solidarity of the working Kyrgyz and Uzbeks emerged, which united the working population in the struggle for social and national freedom.

At this stage of the uprising, support also came from Kyrgyz under the rule of Tsarist Russia.

There were cases when their representatives participated in the open actions of the rebels. The acting Turkestan Governor-General, General-Lieutenant Kolpakovsky, was more informed about this uprising than other officials and noted with concern: "The constant unrest in the khanate affects the lives of the Kyrgyz who roam on the border of Kokand. Many of them are from the khanate, who recently crossed into our territory and have relatives and clansmen in Kokand; frequent contacts are inevitable, and since there have been disturbances in the khanate for the second year now, our Kyrgyz are constantly in a state of some tense mood. Watching the successes and failures of their clansmen in the neighboring khanate, they sometimes participate in the insurgent movement themselves." This high-ranking imperial official, fearing the spread of the popular uprising to the territory under his control, had every reason to be concerned. For, not to mention the usual participation, such Russian subjects as Mumyn Shamyryzakov from the Kuramin district became leaders of individual rebel actions. Moreover, the uprising could indeed spread to neighboring areas that were part of Russia, as happened in its second stage.

At this stage of the uprising, despite the fact that the tsarist colonial authorities openly supported the hated Kokand khan and the feudal elite surrounding him, pursued a hostile policy towards the people, and persecuted some leaders of the aforementioned actions, the rebels tried to "maintain good and friendly relations" with the Russians. This was one of the peculiarities of the first stage of the uprising of 1873-1876.

Assistance of the Tsarist Colonial Authority in Suppressing the People's Uprising