Information on the Population of Kyrgyz in the Second Half of the 19th Century
DYNAMICS OF POPULATION AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION IN THE 19TH CENTURY
There are no accurate data on the population of the Kyrgyz in the early 19th century. Their settlement area differed somewhat from the modern one; from the 17th to the 19th centuries, it extended significantly further west. Karategin (Tajikistan) was populated by Kyrgyz, who were displaced there by the Dzungars in 1635-1636. After the fall of the Dzungar Khanate (1755-1759), the Kyrgyz returned to the Tian Shan, while those who remained were gradually displaced from Karategin by Tajiks and remained only in the easternmost part of this area - next to the Alay Valley. In the third quarter of the 19th century, small groups of Kyrgyz numbering 100-1500 people still lived in the Zeravshan Valley (Peoples... 1963. p. 155).
At the end of the 19th century, there were 20 settlements and six irrigation canals in the Bukhara part of the Zeravshan Valley that were called "Kyrgyz."
The descendants of the Kyrgyz who previously inhabited the Zeravshan Valley are presumably the residents of the Bukhara, Gijduvan, Kerminin, and Shahrisabz districts, who identified themselves in 1924 as the Uzbek tribe of Kyrgyz. They numbered 5,600 people (Peoples... 1963. p. 155). According to the administrative structure developed in the Russian Empire, from 1855 to 1863, part of modern northern Kyrgyzstan was included in the Ala-Tuu district of the Semipalatinsk region of the West Siberian Governorate. In 1865, the Turkestan region was established, which was transformed in 1867 into the Turkestan Governorate, consisting of the Semirechensk and Syrdarya regions. In 1876, the territory of the conquered Kokand Khanate was transformed into the Fergana region of Turkestan, and later the Samarkand region was выделена from it, to which the Khojent and Jizzakh districts were transferred from the Syrdarya region (Zhelehovtsev, 2009. p. 27). In 1872, the Jizzakh district was annexed to the Khojent district, but later became an independent unit again. In 1903, the territory of Pamir was выделилась from the Osh district of the Fergana region but later rejoined it (Terentyev, 1874. p. 22).
The main part of the northern Kyrgyz territories - the Przhevalsky (Issyk-Kul) and Pishpek (Tokmok) districts - was included in the Semirechensk region, while a number of volosts in the eastern part of the Talas Valley and the western part of the Chui Valley up to Kara-Balta were included in the Auliye-Ata district of the Syrdarya region. The majority of the southern areas were included in the Osh and partially in the Andijan, Namangan, Margilan, and Kokand districts of the Fergana region, as well as in the Khojent district of the Samarkand region (Zhelehovtsev, 2009. p. 28). In 1886, the Regulation "On the Administration of the Turkestan Region" came into force, and the Turkestan Governorate was renamed the Turkestan Region, which included the Samarkand, Syrdarya, and Fergana regions (History... 2009. p. 240). The Semirechensk region was transferred to the Steppe Governorate in 1882, and in 1899 it was again included in Turkestan.
Kyrgyz lived in the territory of 73 volosts that were part of the districts of four regions. The districts were divided into volosts, and the latter into aiyls. The volosts had 2-3 thousand households (yurts), while the aiyls had 100-200.
Information on the population of the Kyrgyz in the second half of the 19th century can be found in the works of Russian and foreign travelers, with their data fluctuating between 300,000 and 850,000 people (Bunyakovsky, 1872. p. 119).
Statistical studies of the population began after its incorporation into the Russian Empire. Information about the population of the Turkestan region was collected by regional statistical and economic parties of the Resettlement Administration and census departments. In 1869-1870, the number of Kyrgyz in the Semirechensk region was recorded as follows: in the Tokmok district - 123,227 people and in the Issyk-Kul district - 47,000 people; in the Auliye-Ata district of the Syrdarya region - 28,850 people (Materials... 1872. p. 126, 127), totaling 199,077 Kyrgyz of both sexes.
In the mid-1870s, according to data compiled by district chiefs of the Fergana region, there were 12,934 yurts in the Andijan district, 3,638 in the Namangan district, 1,355 in the Kokand district, 3,468 in the Osh district, 2,350 in the Margilan district, 1,867 in the Chimiyon district, and 680 yurts in the Chust district. The majority of these were nomadic Kyrgyz (Zhelehovtsev, 2009. p. 31).
The most complete general information on the population of the Kyrgyz in 1885-1889 is provided by N. A. Aristov. According to his data, 137,218 people lived in the Przhevalsky and Pishpek districts of the Semirechensk region, 47,800 people in the Auliye-Ata district of the Syrdarya region, 110,000 people in the Fergana region, and 9,370 people in the Khojent district of the Samarkand region; additionally, there were 10,000 people in Chinese territories, and 4,000 people in the Bukhara Emirate, totaling 318,388 people (Aristov, 1897. p. 124, 125), i.e., within the Russian state - 304,388 people.
