Agriculture. According to the legislative acts of the Russian Empire, the lands of the indigenous population were declared state property, which had significant political implications. From the very first days of governing the region, the Russian government effectively began to act as the supreme landowner. The 1886 statute legally defined land relations of the indigenous population of Turkestan, reflecting the essence of land policy in Kyrgyzstan. Although the land was generally declared state property, rights to private land ownership were still partially recognized. Milyk privileges (milyk - local privately owned land) were abolished, while waqf lands (waqf - a form of land ownership by Muslim clergy) continued to exist. The establishment of a new type of land ownership was also provided for. The settled population was allowed to buy and sell land according to local customs as well as Russian regulations (according to serfs). The right to acquire land was granted to individuals belonging to Russian subjects who practiced Christianity, as well as to the local population. The statute provided the nomadic population with land for hereditary use in three forms: winter pastures, summer pastures, and cultivated lands. Lands designated for nomadic grazing and cattle-driving routes were made available for the general use of the region's population.
In 1887, the regional government adopted the "Rules for Land Management in the Turkestan Region" and the "Instruction on the Rules for Land Tax Management in Settled Areas of Turkestan," which remained in effect until 1890. By January 1, 1910, the land reform in Turkestan, which lasted 24 years (20 years in the Fergana region), was considered complete. As for the nomadic districts of Kyrgyzstan, they remained untouched by the reform until 1917.
Commodity agriculture developed in Kyrgyzstan. The widespread development of "commercial" wheat crops became possible due to the close economic ties of commercial agriculture on the outskirts with the industrial development in the central regions of Russia. One of the main occupations of the indigenous population of Kyrgyzstan remained animal husbandry. In mountainous areas, especially in high-altitude regions, it was advantageous to engage in mobile animal husbandry, based on the use of natural fodder and associated with lower labor costs than a settled lifestyle. The Kyrgyz raised sheep, goats, horses, cattle, as well as yaks, camels, and donkeys. Kyrgyz animal husbandry was primarily extensive. However, many innovations (hay and feed harvesting for winter, combining pasture feeding with stall feeding, etc.), the beginning of the penetration of scientific veterinary medicine into Kyrgyzstan, and the establishment of veterinary medical points contributed to the development of intensive animal husbandry.
The socio-economic changes that occurred after Kyrgyzstan's annexation to Russia intensified the process of the Kyrgyz transitioning to a settled lifestyle. As a result, by the 1890s, settled settlements—kyshtaks—began to appear in southern Kyrgyzstan. On April 4, 1898, for the first time in the Chui Valley, 33 households of the Talkan rural district formed the settled village of Tash-Tyube. A new settled Kyrgyz rural district, Baytik, was established, which included two villages: Tash-Tyube and Chala-Kazaki in the Pishpek district. From 1910, land management began in the East Sokuluk Kyrgyz rural district of the Pishpek district. By January 1915, 10 settled Kyrgyz rural districts were officially formed, which included 67 villages with 8,267 households. In the Przhevalsk district, five Kyrgyz villages were established, which were classified as Russian rural districts. By the beginning of 1916, land management was completed in four more rural districts of the Pishpek district.
With the annexation of Kyrgyzstan to Russia, intensive socio-economic changes were observed in the region.
Thus, if before trade was barter-based, now there was a transition from barter, occasional forms of trade to fair-seasonal, and then to permanent trade. In Kyrgyzstan, measures were gradually implemented to stimulate local trade and crafts. Since 1879, urban and rural residents of the region were allowed to conduct duty-free itinerant trade in local handicrafts on market days. In the Fergana region, there was a zakyat trading system (zakyat - a certain trade fee from the merchant's revenue). However, in 1885 it was abolished, and the rules in effect in the empire were spread here. In 1889, a regulation on the state industrial tax was introduced, imposing an industrial tax on all traders, including nomadic ones. By the decision of the State Council on April 30, 1884, in Turkestan, including Kyrgyzstan, old forms and types of stamps, measures, and weights were replaced with new Russian ones over three to five years. "Kokans" and "tengas" (currency units that existed during the Kokand Khanate) were gradually withdrawn from circulation, and Russian currency was introduced.
With the encouraging policy of the Russian administration, progressive forms of trade—fairs and stationary trade—developed. The largest was the Auliye-Ata fair. Its turnover sometimes reached 4 million rubles. The Atbash fair also held significant importance, but with the opening of the Karkar fair (1893), the turnover of the Atbash fair began to decline. To improve the trading status of cities and attract more nomads to them, fairs were established in cities as well. Thus, Przhevalsk, Pishpek, and Tokmak city fairs were opened. In the early years, they were successful. Such fairs did not hinder the development of stationary trade; on the contrary, they gradually merged with it and turned into permanently operating "trading points." Stationary trade existed in the settled areas of Kyrgyzstan even before the region's annexation to Russia—in the form of bazaars. They were held weekly, but trading took place daily in the market square. In the early 1880s, the regulation of bazaar operations began in the cities of the Fergana region. By the early 20th century, the cities of Pishpek, Przhevalsk, Tokmak, Osh, Uzgen, and others became centers of trade. Many areas in southern Kyrgyzstan gravitated towards the trade and industrial centers of the Fergana region. Many villages, both in the south and the north, gained significant trade importance: in 1913-1914, there were about 3,000 trading shops in 36 populated points in Kyrgyzstan, excluding cities. In Pishpek, Przhevalsk, and Osh, there were 139, 171, and 1,300 trade and industrial establishments, respectively. Trading shops were also opened in mountain pastures.
The development of internal trade in Kyrgyzstan, especially from the beginning of the 20th century, contributed to a lively exchange of goods between the nomadic and settled populations. The relatively small number of trade-industrial, even agricultural populations in the northern part of Kyrgyzstan led to herders selling their products in cotton-growing and industrial areas of the south. Cattle and livestock products were supplied there through fairs or by organizing drives across mountain passes. Thus, in the early 20th century, industrial animal husbandry began to emerge in Kyrgyzstan. In Northern Kyrgyzstan, agricultural products also entered the trade turnover. Most of them were sold locally, but a certain portion went beyond the region. A significant share of agricultural production was accounted for by the Kyrgyz.
After the 1880s, the area under cultivation for technical crops (primarily cotton) expanded in the Fergana Valley, and an industrial population emerged. This led to an increased demand for food products from the settled population, which accelerated the process of the Kyrgyz settling down and increased the area under cultivation. Thus, trade (especially in the early 20th century) gave a strong impetus to the development of the internal market in Kyrgyzstan. However, it should be noted that due to the "division" of Kyrgyzstan among several regions, it found itself within two regional markets—the Fergana and Semirechye markets, the centers of which were located outside the territory of Kyrgyzstan. This circumstance complicated the formation of the internal market.
During the colonial period, small commodity production in Kyrgyzstan developed slowly.
Gradually, with the development of capitalism, some types of local crafts were increasingly reduced, and some, such as the production of household metal and wooden items, lost their former significance. Now the needs of the Kyrgyz for these goods could be met by factory products brought from Russia. Nevertheless, many types of home crafts continued to exist, closely tied to the nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle of the local population. The products made here were competitive with industrial goods from Russia. Therefore, with the annexation of the region to Russia, there was even some development of such crafts. This is evidenced by data on the number of artisans in Kyrgyzstan.
From the 1880s to the 90s, small enterprises processing primarily agricultural raw materials emerged in the cities and large villages of Kyrgyzstan. Over 30 years (1883-1913), their number increased from 165 to 569. These were enterprises in the processing and extractive industries, large mills, etc. In most cases, they were based on the use of manual labor. Seasonality of work was characteristic of many cottage industry enterprises.
In the early 20th century, relatively large capitalist enterprises appeared in both the processing and extractive industries. This was associated with the penetration of Russian and partly foreign capital. By their technical and economic indicators, they corresponded to capitalist enterprises of factory-type in central Russia. These included cotton ginning factories in the villages of Aravan and Naiman, breweries, leather factories, and several wool washing facilities in Pishpek, Przhevalsk, and Osh, as well as large coal mines and oil fields on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian government aimed for the natural resources of the region to be primarily utilized by Russian capitalists. Nevertheless, some foreign entrepreneurs and shareholders still penetrated Turkestan. This was usually accomplished through the participation of foreign capital in joint-stock companies established in Russia or in companies where the majority of members were Russian subjects. Thus, in the early 20th century, firms such as the "Administration of the Andreyev Trade and Industrial Partnership," "Ludwig Rabenek Manufacturing Partnership," the Fergana Oil and Mining Joint-Stock Company "Chimiyon," the Joint-Stock Company "Kyzyl-Kiya," and several others began to operate actively in the region.
In 1913, there were 32 enterprises of various sectors in Kyrgyzstan: seven coal mines (employing about 1,000 workers), two oil fields, two cotton ginning factories, seven wool washing facilities, two oil mills, two breweries, five roller mills, and several other enterprises. Among them, the largest were the wool washing factories in Tokmak (100 workers) and in the Pishpek district (235 workers), the brewery in Osh (84 workers), and two coal mines: in Kyzyl-Kiya (598 workers) and in Suluktu (207 workers).
If, in general, the processing industry was dominant in terms of size and technical-economic indicators in the Turkestan region, then in Kyrgyzstan, it was the mining industry. The capital of most joint-stock companies operating in Kyrgyzstan (there were more than 10, and their turnover was about 10 million rubles) was invested in mining. It accounted for 50% of the production and 59% of the workforce.
For some time, the Kyrgyz paid taxes to the tsarist authorities similar to those paid to the Kokand Khanate. Later, new taxation mechanisms were developed according to local conditions. According to the adopted norms, nomadic herders paid a tax of 2 rubles and 75 kopecks for each yurt. Since the land was considered state property, a payment of 3 kopecks was required for each sheep grazed, 30 kopecks for a horse, and 50 kopecks for a camel. From 1882, the tax rate increased and reached 15 rubles during the First World War.
The settled population was subject to two types of taxes. A kharaj was levied on grain areas, and a tanap on garden and vegetable areas. Tanap is a measure of area, and kharaj amounted to one-tenth of the harvest and was paid in kind. In 1886, the procedure for collecting tanap was slightly modified. This type of tax was renamed obrok and had to be paid on all arable land, regardless of whether it was cultivated or not. In addition to the taxes established by the tsarist government, local bai-manaps, relying on traditional patriarchal-feudal law, imposed additional levies and payments on ordinary people: for grazing livestock—chep ooz, for honoring manaps—chyghym, in kind from livestock and grain—zhurtchuluk, for sustenance—soiush, for driving livestock through their territory—tuyak pul, for weddings and funerals—koshumcha, and others. Religious officials had their own tax system. Corruption among local officials became a common occurrence.