The Uprising of 1832 in Central Tian Shan.
The choro clan from the Sayak tribe, who were nomadic in Naryn, took particularly active part in it. The leaders were the heroes — brothers Taylak and Atantay. The uprising was caused by the unbearable oppression of the Kokand officials, their arbitrariness, and violence. This is clearly seen from the letter of the rebels addressed to the Kokand khan, which reads: "Your officials have ruined the Kyrgyz with various levies: they took our horses and camels, they took our zakat and ulfan; the Kokand officials left us with none of our precious belongings... Moreover, they took beautiful girls. We ask you to return the listed valuables. If you do not return them, all captured Kokand officials will be destroyed."
The rebels expelled the khan's officials and renounced Kokand's rule. However, the Kokand khan could not tolerate this. A punitive detachment consisting of 7,000 warriors was sent against the rebels, led by Minbashi Hakkuly. He managed to overcome strong resistance from the rebels and capture Taylak and Atantay, bringing them to the city of Kokand. But the Kokand khan, in order not to further provoke the rebels, was forced to release the aforementioned leaders of the uprising. To strengthen his rule in Central Tian Shan, the Kokand rulers built the fortification of Toguz-Toro and then Kurtka, reinforcing them with military garrisons.
However, this could not ensure the long-term power of the Kokand khans over the local population, which was once again burdened with heavy taxes and experienced unbearable oppression from the Kokand governors. Taylak and Tantai and all the working population could not reconcile themselves to Kokand's domination.
Neither torture nor the threat of death could break their spirit of freedom. Not wanting to be under the power of the Kokand khan, they migrated with their relatives to Ili to the Kazakhs of the Great Horde. But the Kazakh sultans treated them unfriendly and even robbed them. Taylak and Atantay returned to their native pastures and again became leaders of the working people, who soon rose up against foreign domination once more. This time the rebels, having gained some experience in the liberation struggle, acted more decisively and successfully.
The nomads, at the initiative of Taylak and Atantay, refused to pay taxes and killed the tax collectors — zakatchis.
The Kokand governor immediately reported this to the khan. The latter sent a punitive detachment consisting of 500 sipahis under the command of Arap Batyr to suppress the uprising. In Toguz-Toro, in the Bycha area, a battle occurred between the rebels and the mentioned punitive detachment, which was decisively defeated. Losing about 400 men killed, the pitiful remnants of the punitive forces were forced to flee. They were relentlessly pursued by the rebels.
In the Junbel area, Taylak Batyr caught up with the commander of the punitive detachment, Arap, and killed him. In honor of the victory of the rebels over the punitive forces, this area later received the name "Araptyn beli," i.e., the Pass of Arap.
Soon the rebels occupied the fortification of Kurtka and captured Kokand officials led by the fortress commander. Three of them were released and sent to Kokand. They were to convey to the khan the demands of the rebels for the return of what had been forcibly taken from them by the Kokand officials earlier, in particular, livestock, horses, valuables, beautiful girls, and women. But the Kokand khan managed to cunningly suppress this uprising, and his leader Taylak was poisoned by a khan's agent sent here under the guise of a doctor.
The population of Central Tian Shan again fell under the despotic power of the Kokand khans.
The arbitrariness and violence of the Kokand officials knew no bounds. The khan's governors barbarically mocked the memory of the hero Taylak. His kumboz (mausoleum) was destroyed. The beautiful daughter of Taylak became a slave of the commander of the Kurtka fortification. This is vividly captured in the folk folklore. In particular, among the indigenous population of Central Tian Shan, there was a poem that stated:
Black mountains suddenly covered with snow,
The brave hawk was somehow defeated by the shaggy-footed winter horse.
The clear-eyed beauty — daughter of my father-in-law — the hero
Became a slave of the black-bearded hated enemy.
Such arbitrariness of the khan's officials provoked a new wave of outrage, anger, and unrest among the masses, which erupted into open protests.
During the period of the internecine struggle between the Kokand khan and the Bukhara emir, which claimed hundreds and thousands of lives and brought sorrow and poverty to the peoples, the uprising of Kyrgyz and Uzbek workers against feudal-khanist oppression took on a relatively wide scale. In 1842, after a bloody struggle, the Bukhara emir managed to achieve victory and temporarily establish his dominance in Kokand. But the arbitrariness and violence of the Bukhara emir's governor and his officials, the exorbitant taxes levied in favor of the temporary victors, pushed the local population to fight against the incoming oppressors. The uprising Uzbeks and Kyrgyz expelled from Kokand the governor of the Bukhara emir, the officials surrounding him, and the troops. But this did not lead to social and national liberation of the working people. The khan's throne in Kokand was once again occupied by a descendant of the Ming dynasty. The khan's system of governance remained, as before, an instrument of feudal oppression of the masses.
The People of Central Asia Against the Domination of the Kokand Khanate