January Clashes of 1876
Starting from January 3, a series of major clashes occurred between the rebels and the punitive detachment. In the suburban area of Andijan — Aryk-Musulman-Kul — the punitive detachment met with strong resistance from the local residents. Before the main battle, which took place on January 8, Abdurakhman Aftobachi and his associates left the city of Andijan and took a position near the city of Assake, preparing for a new uprising with its residents. From the morning of that day, the punitive forces began the assault on the city of Andijan. Its defenders put up stubborn resistance. They fought for every street, for every house. The battle lasted until late evening.
However, the rebels managed to win it. They could not withstand the well-armed and trained punitive forces. They had to leave the city. According to a participant in this battle, A. Bogolyubov, "The entire bazaar and about half of the city (Andijan-K.U.) perished in flames." But even this could not break the freedom-loving spirit of the rebels.
The tsarist military officials imposed a monetary tribute on the city of Andijan and obliged its residents to provide food and fodder to the victors. All this contributed to the instillation of hatred towards the tsarist colonizers and the emergence of new waves of uprisings.
In mid-January, the uprising on the right bank of the Syr-Darya in the area of Kamysh-Kurgan and Chil-Makhrama gained significant intensity. Several groups of rebels operated here, each consisting of 200 to 2000 people. On January 16, in the southeast of Khojent — in the gorge between Kamysh-Kurgan and Samgar — a part of the rebels numbering 150 attacked the caravan of merchant Gromov, capturing 300-450 camels, 50 guides, and several horsemen. Another group of rebels, consisting of 200 Kyrgyz, approached the kystaks of Bish-Aryk and Bakhman, whose residents joined them. On January 18, a part of the rebel Kipchaks numbering 150 horsemen, led by the son of Abdul-Gafar Aktuba, captured the elder of the Basmandin, Faiza, 4 horsemen, and the junior assistant to the head of the Zaravshan district — Murad-bek. The latter was killed. In mid-January, Pulat-khan with a significant part of the rebels continued to occupy the city of Margilan, where he moved in early December from the kystak of Assake, where this leader had been in October and November. Now, in the mentioned kystak, there were 15,000 rebels led by Abdurakhman Aftobachi. In this kystak, the rebels decided to resist the punitive forces. They took a strong position on the road to Assake behind the Aryk Sharikhan-Sai, dismantled the bridge, and blocked the street with debris. On January 18, the tsarist punitive detachment, led by Major General Skobelev, approached Assake and attempted to take it by storm. The rebels put up stubborn resistance to the punitive forces and retreated, leaving 200 dead and many wounded on the battlefield. Even after the battle of Assake, the rebels continued to resist the punitive forces.
Some leaders of the uprising, especially from the feudal nobility, led by Abdurakhman Aftobachi, fought alongside the rebels for a certain time. But when they saw that the uprising was suffering defeat, they immediately took care, as always, of their personal interests: they prepared to switch sides to the tsarist regime, betraying the rebels. Thus, after the defeat near Assake, as a result of a series of written negotiations with representatives of the tsarist authorities, on January 24 in Indu-Kystak, not far from the city of Andijan, Abdurakhman Aftobachi surrendered. Along with him surrendered Batyr-Tyurya, Isfandiyar, Nurmukhamed-datka, and another 26 major feudal lords with 400 horsemen. The tsar saw in Aftobachi his supporter and social support in the exploitation of the local labor population, which is why he was granted a lifetime pension of 3000 rubles per year.
"Winter Detachment" Against the Kyrgyz and Kipchaks