“Winter Expedition” of the Tsarist Colonial Administration
The Tsarist colonial administration decided to finally suppress the uprising and teach its participants a lesson that they would remember for a long time. To this end, it mobilized almost all available military forces. A new punitive detachment was formed under the command of General Skobolev, who had significant experience in suppressing popular uprisings. It was called the “Winter Detachment” or “Winter Expedition.” It consisted of a mounted rifle division, 9 infantry companies, and 750 Cossacks; it was equipped with all types of military weapons of that time, including 12 artillery pieces and a rocket battery.
The Winter Detachment was supposed to “punish” the semi-nomadic Kyrgyz and Kipchaks who settled in the Eki-Suu-Arasy, i.e., the area between Naryn and Kara-Darya, and who were most actively involved in the uprising. They decided to punish them in winter when they were less mobile and more confined to their winter camps. At this time of year, the semi-nomads could not migrate to hard-to-reach high mountain areas and thus escape the pursuit of the punitive forces. The detachment set out from Namangan on December 25, and the next day it was already in the Eki-Suu-Arasy. Here, this detachment often came under attack from the rebellious indigenous population. The latter, knowing the local geographical conditions well, would suddenly attack the punitive detachment, inflicting significant blows and noticeable losses. However, the residents of Eki-Suu-Arasy, with their unorganized and local actions, could not stop the advance of the punitive forces. Despite the deep snow and severe frost, they were forced to flee and join the people's militia located in the mountains and in the area of Andijan.
The punitive forces passed through Eki-Suu-Arasy with fire and sword. They burned the kystaks: Chuzho, Mergu-zar, Toda, Khoja-Abad, Baitok, Ak-Mazar, Lagum-Bek, Ispaskan, Buta-Kara, Massy, Takachy, Kara-yantak, Kairabat, Kokan-Kishlak, Madrasah Aftobachi, Janabat, Maigyr, Turtkul, Hakul-Abad, Chumbagish (Chonbagypp), Khairebat, Yangyzbak, and others. The punitive forces killed everyone they encountered. They spared neither children, nor women, nor the elderly. In many cases, people were subjected to brutal torture before being hanged. This was reflected in the diary of a well-known Tsarist soldier, one of the commanders of the punitive detachment — Kurapatkin, who left the following entry: “The first thing we saw upon entering the camp was a hanged Kipchak. Before hanging him, they beat him terribly and smashed his head. The punitive forces looted the local population, taking all valuables and driving away livestock. Here is what is said about this in the mentioned diary: “In this campaign, foraging had a strange meaning: along with forage and fuel, they took everything that came to hand: blankets, carpets, livestock, horses, books, tools.
For the most part, the residents prudently fled, but in some places, trusting in the strength of the dastarkhan, they paid for it (with their lives—K.U.). An unter-officer and many soldiers were captured, who... sometimes cut down unarmed residents... Everyone scattered, leaving behind a few children who ran helplessly crying in the snow.” The brutal actions of the punitive forces in Eki-Suu-Arasy lasted for more than a week. In early January, the punitive detachment, leaving behind bloody traces of the ruins of kystaks and ails, with the looted property and several thousand heads of livestock, approached the city of Andijan, which once again became the main center of the uprising. As stated in an archival document, “military men and militias from all over the khanate were gathering in Andijan, where select forces of Kipchaks and Kara-Kyrgyz were concentrated.”
The total number of rebels in the mentioned city reached up to 87 thousand people. All of Central Asia's eyes were directed at Andijan. Kaufman, closely monitoring the course of the uprising, wrote that “Andijan acquired great significance as a stronghold of the victims of the war against us.” Indeed, the Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kipchak, and Tajik workers, concentrated in Andijan and in the surrounding kystaks, were determined to fight against the Tsarist punitive forces. They vigorously fortified the city, built barricades, erected barriers, blocked the streets, armed themselves, and manufactured firearms and ammunition.
Destruction of Kystaks by the Punitive Detachment of Colonel Pichugin