Abstract:

The terms Central Asia have been used by the world community for many years as a political-geographical concept in relation to the land called till 19th and 20th centuries. This land is the birthplace of numerous outstanding people.

The works on the history of the region created in the 19th - at the beginning 20th centuries give evidences that the area was mainly called Turkestan. The maps of Turkestan created in the very period show the geographical area under this name is much bigger than of what we call Central Asia today.

Many works and memoirs that serve as important sources for the study of political, social, economic, historical and cultural aspects of Turkestan were created. However most of them are understudied. Since intellectuals and enlighteners from Muslim areas were prohibited to publish their books due to established colonial rules and restrictions at the beginning of the 20th century, they had to to publish their works in parts in the press. Such works are a lot in the Muslim press under the colonial rule of the Russian Empire. Some works were damaged by repressive policy of Soviet government or were hidden from the repression and have not yet been identified. Only their names are known.

The Jadidist movement and its representatives founded the national press in the area and cooperated with brotherhood nations in publishing newspapers in the early 20th century. Along with articles, official documents, poems, messages, the works of intellectuals were published on newspapers. Importantly, such published works are not mostly memoirs or ordered information or messages.

These are the works created on the basis of the events they witnessed and experienced while living at the beginning of the 20th century. Among such works, it is possible to cite the work “Turkistonda bugungi hayot (Life in Turkestan)” by Abdurauf Muzaffarzoda, a Tatar enlightener settling in Turkestan and participating in the national press of the area. The work mainly focuses on geography, people, traditions and economic potential of the area. It describes the area as one of the hearths of world science, and analyses the reason of that led Turkestan to backwardness.

The work of Abdurauf Muzaffarzoda published in the press will be analyzed at CESS conference. The extent to which the social and cultural landscape of Turkestan at the beginning of the 20th century was correctly described by the author of the work was illuminated by comparative analysis.