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Abstract

The early Soviet transformation of Central Asia is often portrayed as a moment when modern national identities replaced older social structures rooted in tribe and lineage. Yet such narratives risk overstating the rupture produced by Soviet modernization. In early Soviet Kyrgyzstan, the emergence of national institutions did not displace genealogical politics; rather, lineage networks continued to structure political authority, factional alignment, and access to state power. This paper examines the rivalry between the so-called “nationalist” and “socialist” camps among Kyrgyz political elites in the 1920s and argues that their struggle functioned as a ritualized political arena in which lineage hierarchies were renegotiated within Soviet institutions. Drawing on archival documents, secret police reports, and Kyrgyz genealogical records, the paper shows that the two factions reflected different positions within lineage society. The “nationalist” camp drew heavily from established manap (hereditary lineage chieftain) descent lines, whereas the “socialist” faction included more activists from historically subordinate or less entrenched lineage branches. For many of these actors, socialist discourse offered a political language through which internal genealogical competition could be reframed as class struggle. With the creation of the Soviet Kyrgyzstan, lineage rivalries that had previously unfolded at the local level were elevated to the republican scale. Political elites mobilized supporters through genealogical networks that extended across regions, producing factional alignments rooted in lineage constituencies. At the same time, Kyrgyz factional struggles unfolded within a colonial administrative structure dominated by European cadres. Despite their rivalry, leaders of both factions periodically called for unity among Kyrgyz activists to counter European influence within the Soviet apparatus. By examining these dynamics, the paper argues that early Soviet nation-building in Kyrgyzstan proceeded through the transformation rather than the disappearance of lineage politics. The Soviet political arena became a space where genealogy, nationalism, and socialism intersected, producing hybrid political practices that challenge conventional narratives of Soviet modernity in Central Asia.