Report of the Chief of the Pishpek District to the Semirechye Regional Administration on the Place and Role of Shabdan Jantayev among the Kara-Kirgiz. Part - 1
Part - 1
City of Pishpek March 18, 1896
In response to the letters from the commander of the troops of the Transcaspian region No. 809 and the commander of the Transcaspian Cossack cavalry brigade No. 2167, received with the proposal from the regional government dated March 2 of this year No. 1018, I have the honor to provide the following information about the military elder from the Kara-Kyrgyz, Shabdan Djantaev.
To clarify the origin of the influence exerted on the Kara-Kyrgyz by Shabdan Djantaev, whom Major General Baron Shtakelberg attributes to his outstanding noble status, it is necessary to familiarize oneself with the history of the existing manaphood in the Pishpek district, to which Shabdan also belongs.
The Kara-Kyrgyz in this district are divided into the clans of Sultu, Sarbagysh, and Sayak. Each clan has its own manaps. The Sultu clan is the strongest, followed by Sarbagysh, to which Shabdan belongs. Each clan had several families of manaps, who during the Kokand rule constituted privileged estates, having the Kyrgyz of simple status completely under their control, who are still referred to as "bukara." The dominance of the manaps over the bukara was unlimited: they paid kalym for brides, showcased their bukara as prizes in horse races, and, with their own judgment, could take the lives of the guilty. At the head of all the manaps stood the Kyrgyz khan Urman, with very limited powers. The Kokand khan governed the manaps themselves, judging only those manaps considered equal among themselves; the wealth of the manaps was determined not only by the number of livestock but also by the number of bukara (slaves) and kul (bondservants). Among the prominent, the number of bukara was considered as follows: Djantay, Shabdan's father, had about 700 yurts; Khudoyar, the father of Sooronbay, had about 700 yurts; Djangarach, the father of Dikambay, along with his brother Sultanal, had up to 1000 yurts; Shamen, who is still alive, had up to 400 yurts; then among the smaller manaps, there were up to 300, 200, 100, and even as few as 10 yurts. Thus, during the khanate, the manaps were very powerful. All the aforementioned Kyrgyz are now alive and were young men during the dominance of their fathers, and since the manaphood was hereditary, the people still cannot change the deeply rooted consciousness of the superiority and power of the manaps, who still take every measure to preserve their preeminent position among the Kyrgyz. On this basis, the authority of the manaps in the eyes of their bukara is indeed great, and they must be taken into account at every step. However, on the other hand, the manaps were equal among themselves, and the influence of each extended only over their own bukara. Djantay, Shabdan's father, and Shabdan himself were merely members of the manaphood and did not occupy a preeminent position. On the contrary, Djangarach from the Sultu clan, whose son Dikambay is now in the Sokuluk volost, was considered older and more respected than Djantay, while in the Sarbagysh clan, Khudoyar, the father of Sooronbay, who is associated with the Tynaev volost, was considered more influential and noble than Djantay and Shabdan, while the former Kara-Kyrgyz khan Ormon undoubtedly stood above all.
Meanwhile, the children of Djangarach, who did not manage to rise in Russian service, are now considered ordinary manaps, influencing only a few hundred Kyrgyz in their Sokuluk volost, while the children of Khan Ormon, who rebelled against Russia, fled to Kashgar and were ruined with their yurts, now have about 50 yurts of supporters, former slaves, and cannot achieve a position higher than that of a fifty-man in the Sarbagysh volost, where Shabdan lives. Sooronbay Khudoyarov is still considered equal to Shabdan but is less influential due to a lack of energy. Therefore, I take the liberty of denying the assumption of the commander of the Transcaspian Cossack cavalry brigade, expressed in a letter dated December 21, 1895, No. 2167, that Shabdan Djantaev, due to his outstanding noble status among his kin, is still compelled to bear significant expenses for the needs of the people and the government according to the custom accepted among the Kyrgyz. As described above, other manaps equal to Shabdan and even of higher nobility now live as ordinary Kyrgyz and are not compelled to spend on the needs of the people, helping as much as they can according to the existing customs among the Kyrgyz, alongside others. Therefore, Shabdan Djantaev's influence is primarily based on his personal merit before the Russian government, which I am not competent to judge, and which alone should be evaluated in deciding the issue of increasing his pension.
Furthermore, although Shabdan's nobility is significant, he has gained preeminence among the Kyrgyz through his intelligence and cunning. During the subjugation of the region to Russian authority, he immediately understood that their manap rule had come to an end, and therefore, to rise under the new circumstances, he was more diligent than all others in providing services to Russia, which then provided him with assistance. He extended his policy further, solidifying his position through significant connections, as evidenced by the letters of Major General Baron Shtakelberg and the commander of the troops of the Transcaspian region.
He has other influential acquaintances that the Pishpek district officials would not even dare to dream of, and therefore they must meet with Shabdan not as with other manaps. The people see this and consider Shabdan strong with the Russian government, and therefore authoritative.
If it were not for such merit before Russia, he would be just another manap like many others in the Pishpek district. A small example can confirm this. Before the appointment at the end of last year of a deputy for the sacred coronation of Their Imperial Majesties, it was initially unknown to the people that the deputy from the people had to travel at his own expense, and therefore there was a proposal to collect 20 kopecks from each yurt for the deputy's expenses. When the question of appointing a person arose, many wanted to nominate their own.
Then the Kyrgyz decided that there were many equals among them and everyone wanted to be at the coronation, but only Shabdan was more deserving than all of them, and therefore it was decided to elect Shabdan. Here, he was given preference precisely on the basis of his merits and also because, as the Kyrgyz said, "he knows many good gentlemen, with whom he knows how to conduct himself." All of Shabdan's strength lies precisely in this. The Kyrgyz are like children; it is not difficult to throw dust in their eyes. I saw how Shabdan, during a public holiday, slaughtered several heads of livestock daily for three days and treated the Kyrgyz, who came to him in crowds to pay their respects. I also saw how during public games, Shabdan threw ruble notes to the Kyrgyz who distinguished themselves in competitions and then tossed handfuls of silver into the crowd, laughing like a child at the crowd pressing around the money. Such antics, aimed at effect, indeed cost him dearly, but there are hardly grounds to support them.
It is especially uncomfortable for me to support his authority given his developed passion for various ishan and hodja, for whom he collects enormous donations from the people in livestock. A year or so ago, I raised the issue of teaching the Kyrgyz Russian literacy among the honored individuals; many responded sympathetically and did not set any conditions, while Shabdan directly conditioned that these schools be at mosques and that children must be taught the Muslim religion. In view of this, this year I began the matter of schools with other Kyrgyz, and when everyone agreed, it was already embarrassing for Shabdan to lag behind the others, and he joined in.
None of his sons have been taught Russian literacy, while one of them received higher Muslim education at the Andijan madrasa.
Dispatch to the military elder Shabdan Djantaev
