The Spring Uprising of 1873 Against Kokand
The uprising began in the spring of 1873. Its catalyst and immediate cause were as follows. At the end of March — beginning of April, the khan's tax collectors came to the Kyrgyz, who were nomadic in the southeast of Kokand, and demanded the payment of "zaket" and "haraj," the amounts of which had been tripled. The Kyrgyz, firmly refusing to pay these taxes, beat the tax collectors who had come to them. Several tax collectors were killed, and the property they had collected from the local population was seized by the rebels.
Upon learning of this, Khudoyar Khan sent a punitive detachment against the rebels, consisting of several thousand regular sipahis (cavalry) led by his loyal bek Alimkan, ordering them to "punish the Kyrgyz" severely. Meanwhile, the uprising quickly spread throughout Alai and Gulcha. The number of rebels sharply increased, and a significant part of the Kipchaks joined the rebellious Kyrgyz. However, in a fierce battle, the poorly armed rebels were defeated by the punitive detachment.
A barbaric reprisal against the rebels began. It was reported with full justification in the pages of the contemporary central periodical press of Russia that "Khudoyar Khan ordered the slaughter of the rebellious Kyrgyz and Kipchaks without any trial, not only by the hundreds but by the thousands, so that one could say he turned Kokand into a place of execution."
The actions of the khan's punitive detachment were so brutal that 20,000 families of Kyrgyz and 10,000 yurts of Kipchaks were forced to flee to the foothills of Kashgar-Davan in the areas of Kirlik and Hazrat, which were considered impregnable for the Kokand troops.
The bloody actions of the punishing forces only hardened the rebels, whose spirit could no longer be broken. The Kyrgyz and Kipchaks, full of determination, prepared for a new uprising. The population of the southern and southwestern parts of the khanate was under their influence. The residents of the northern regions of the area also sympathized with them. This could not help but worry the Kokand khan, who feared a popular uprising like fire. Khudoyar Khan decided to give the rebellious Kyrgyz and Kipchaks another bloody lesson. To this end, in May 1873, he sent a punitive detachment against them led by the commander of the khan's troops, Abdurakhman Aftobachi, who had just returned from Mecca, where he had gone on a pilgrimage. This khan's official, a major Kipchak feudal lord, seeing the strength and fighting spirit of the numerous rebels, did not dare to engage them in combat and decided to suppress the uprising through deception. To this end, he posed as a supporter of the rebels, advising them not to openly oppose the authority of Khudoyar Khan and not to shed blood, but rather to send a delegation of 40 people to the khan as a sign of reconciliation and submission. The dark and oppressed Kyrgyz and Kipchak nomads naively believed Aftobachi and sent their representatives to the khan, who were to explain to him the difficult situation of the laborers. The bloodthirsty Khudoyar Khan, without even listening to the representatives of the rebels, ordered them to be slaughtered, which was carried out by his executioners.
Aftobachi took a wait-and-see position and, showing hypocrisy, remained in the nomadic camps of the rebels for some time. But later, when the khan summoned him, he appeared to him as the pacifier of the rebels and subsequently led the actions of the punishers against the rebels.
The Kyrgyz, having learned of the brutal murder of their envoys and the betrayal of Abdurakhman Aftobachi, rose again for a decisive struggle. Representatives of the laborers, especially nomads from various regions of the khanate, began to arrive among them. In June 1873, tens of thousands of Kyrgyz and Kipchak herders, gathered in Kirlik and Hazrat, moved towards Fergana. They occupied Uzgen without a fight, which was the main strategic stronghold of the Kokand khanate for supporting its power over Alai and Gulcha. The khan's treasury, stored in this stronghold, was seized by the participants of the uprising, and the representatives of the khan's authority, led by the commander Alim-Kipchak, were killed. This strengthened the confidence of the rebels and somewhat helped them materially.
Inspired by their initial successes, the rebels occupied the Suk stronghold, whose military garrisons were destroyed. The uprising continued to strengthen and expand.
Khudoyar Khan, seriously worried, sent a punitive detachment against the rebels led by his brother - the bek of the city of Margilan, Murat-bek. In the clash with the rebels, this detachment suffered a complete defeat, and its commander fled. Seeing the scale of the uprising and its successes, about 3,000 (according to some reports, 5,000) soldiers also switched to the side of the rebels. 508 people from the khan's troops were captured.
The rebels took Osh, Suzak, Bulak-Bashi, Uch-Kurgan, and other cities and kystaks without a fight, the residents of which joined the uprising, while the beks and elders fled. The bek of Bulak-Bashi, who fell into the hands of the rebels, was executed.
Upon receiving information about the successful actions of the rebels, Khudoyar Khan was very frightened. Fearing to remain in Kokand, he moved to Margilan. Against the rebels, the khan sent numerous troops led by the brother of one of his wives — Abdurakhman Aftobachi, the dignitary Isa-Auliye, and the Namangan bek Shaumilo. This time, Aftobachi was unable to deceive the rebels and halt their actions. A series of serious clashes occurred between the rebels and the punitive detachment. Both sides suffered significant losses in killed and wounded. In one of the clashes, Abdurakhman Aftobachi managed to capture several Kyrgyz. The rebels, despite their poor armament and disorganization, fought bravely. In the last battle, which took place near Tyure-Kurgan, Aftobachi and other khan's officials were defeated, their troops scattered, and they themselves fled to Tyure-Kurgan, then to Kokand. Inspired by these successes, the rebels occupied the city of Andijan, whose population joined them. But soon they were forced to leave this city.
Causes of the uprising against the Kokand khan in 1873-1874