Paper long abstract:

This paper makes use of archival documents and oral histories to explore the ties the Uzbek Academician Olim Sharafutdinov (1903-1943) to the Muslim Qadyriya Saint named Abdul Ghafur Akhund, Sahib of Swat (1794-1878), one of those who spread the Qadyriya in Central Asia. He was a legendary figure, who received in his own time great fame not only in the East, but also in the West. At the end of nineteenth century, Helena Blavatsky the founder of the modern theosophical movement, wrote enthusiastically about Sakhib: "Of the many remarkable figures of this century, Ghafur was one of the most outstanding". Descended from Abdul Ghaful Akhund's lineage of Qadyriya eshons in Tashkent, Olim Sharafutdinov joined the Jadid tendency, studied literature in Baku, and upon starting his academic career in Uzbekistan, he dropped "Sayyid" from his name, to remove his public link to a religious status group. Archival documents from the Russian colonial administration provide evidence the lineage's association with specific Tashkent religious foundations. Family oral histories that expounded on family archives offer a window into the ways that a man whose cultural capital was founded in the prestige of the Qadyriya order could make himself into a member of the Soviet Uzbek intelligentsia, offering one specific instance of a transformation that many in Uzbekistan aspired to, and that some achieved.

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses the experiences of the Uyghur emigres from Xinjiang in Soviet Republics of Central Asia, focusing on the ways in which connections to a Uyghur homeland manifested during the later years of the Sino-Soviet rift between the 1960s and 1980s. Based on oral interviews conducted in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan in 2016-2018, the current study is part of a larger oral history project devoted to understanding the individual experiences and larger significance of Uyghur migration from Xinjiang (PRC) to Soviet Central Asia in the middle of 20th century.

The period of late 1960s through the 1980s witnesses the nadir of Sino-Soviet relations. Many Uyghurs who migrated to the Soviet Union in politically-charged period of the 1950s and 1960s recall extreme Sinophobia as the defining characteristic of the 1970s-80s. Oral testimony attests to the emotional and physical resonance of these memories. As one interviewee observes, "The Soviets were really concerned about the Chinese invasion and the possibility of the World War 3." However, the fear of impending violence was not necessarily experienced as a negative or traumatic phenomenon. The Soviet vilification of China and resulting preparations for open conflict intersected with Uyghur feelings of attachment and longing for their homeland. As an interviewee noted, "We wanted this war, we hoped this will bring us independence."

Initial findings suggest that individual experiences varied widely, but a close sense of connection to the Uyghur homeland across the Sino-Soviet border was a prominent recurring theme. As participants grow old and the shadow of the Soviet Union fades, emigres are more willing to discuss experiences and perspectives that are not well-documented in other formats. Oral history represents a critical method for studying the Uyghur diaspora.

Paper long abstract:

The paper will discuss one of the latest episodes in the history of migration of the Muslim population from Xinjiang to Soviet Kazakhstan, relating to the illegal crossing of the Soviet-Chinese state border by a small group of young Uyghurs and Kazakhs escaping political repressions during the 'cultural revolution' turmoil in Urumchi (Xinjiang). The core of the group of six young people who crossed the border in early 1970 consisted of two daughters and a son-in-law of the former deputy of Chairman of the Xinjiang provincial government Mamtimin Iminov (Uyghur), who became a victim of the cultural revolution. Mamtimin Iminov had been arrested by the Red guards (Chin. hongweibing) and died in the prison after having been brutally tortured. The young people settled in Soviet Almaty, and two eventually became prominent intellectuals: Uyghur poet Dolkun Yassin (Yassnov), and Kazakh historian Alymghazy Dauletkhanuly. The paper draws on interviews of members of that group, only three of whom are still alive (Iminov's daughters, one of whom passed away quite recently), and puts this episode into the wider context of political developments in Xinjiang in the 1950-1960s, mass migration of the Uyghurs from Xinjiang to Soviet Central Asia, Soviet-Chinese confrontation of the 1960-1980s, as well as life and activities of former Uyghur political leaders in Soviet Republics of Central Asia.