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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the history of ordinary Russians in Tashkent by examining the petitions and complaints they submitted in the period between 1876 and 1916.

Paper long abstract:

Undertaking research is about the life of common Russians in Tashkent, the influence of practices constituting some part of life of Russians in that city. After conquering the Tashkent in 1865 by Russian imperial army it was divided in Russian part of the city (initially consisted of military people and their families, functionaries that afterwards was inhabited by Russian peasants of inner Russia) and a core population.

Analysis of people’s complaints and requests assumes the focus on rules and prescription of Tashkent’s officialdom characterized by economic shortages and security constrains. Postcolonialism’s key thesis like dichotomy of colonizer and colonized, representation of imperial “selfness” in conquered lands (as military and glorious procession in Russian part of Tashkent, with signified sense of cultural superiority before colonized majority). Stemming from above mentioned my hypothesis concern the probability of using postcolonial theory in terms of representation of ordinary life of “European people” that could partly be considered as subaltern. The research comprises the data of NAUz fund (The National archive of the republic of Uzbekistan)

На русском

Некоторые репрезентации повседневной жизни русских в колониальном Ташкенте. На примере их просьб и жалоб (1871-1916 гг.)

Предпринимаемое исследование касается жизни простых русских в Ташкенте, влияния практик, составляющих некоторую часть жизни русских в этом городе. После завоевания Ташкента в 1865 году русской императорской армией он был разделен на русскую часть города (первоначально состоявшую из военных и членов их семей, чиновников, которая впоследствии была заселена русскими крестьянами внутренней России) и основное население.

Анализ жалоб и просьб населения предполагает ориентацию на правила и предписания ташкентского чиновничества, характеризующегося экономическим дефицитом и ограничениями безопасности. Ключевой тезис постколониализма, как дихотомия колонизатора и колонизатора, репрезентация имперской «самости» на завоеванных землях (как воинское и славное шествие в русской части Ташкента, с выраженным чувством культурного превосходства перед колонизированным большинством). Вытекающая из вышеизложенного моя гипотеза касается вероятности использования постколониальной теории в плане представления обыденной жизни «европейского народа», который отчасти может считаться второстепенным. В основу исследования положены данные фонда НАУ (Национальный архив Республики Узбекистан).

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Paper short abstract:

Daily life of Russian Tashkent in the first post-revolutionary months (March-September 1917).

Paper long abstract:

The February Revolution of 1917 brought fundamental changes to the life of post-revolutionary Turkestan. Various strata of Turkestan’s society, regardless of their national, social affiliation, assigned their expectations and hopes to the revolution. The Turkestan society was united by the ideas of democratization, the revitalization of public life, the ideas of equality and political freedom that were put forward, made it possible to make plans for a new political future of the region without a tsar and imperial power, both in the Russian part of Tashkent and in its old city. To what extent the Russian population of Tashkent perceived the revolution could be proceeded by a set of documentary materials deposited in the archival funds of both Uzbekistan and Russia, materials of the periodical press, memoirs and visual sources.

The post-February everyday life in the Russian part of Tashkent was marked by the stormy political activity of various strata of Tashkent society - railway workers, teachers, doctors, engineers, students, officers, men and women, young people and the elderly. There were created trade unions, were held revolutionary evenings, the balls were organized.

The February Revolution of 1917 caused activity among the former imperial leaders of the region, "redirecting" their activity into the mainstream of the political struggle for the rights of the local population, both the city and the entire region, and also it became a time of certain "repentance" for 40 years of Russian presence in the Turkestan region, making relevant the issues of education, citizenship.

At the same time, the revolution became the impetus for the search for "enemies of the revolution", was the time to "pay off for past grievances", because the Turkestan Committee of the Provisional Government, as well as the newspapers, received a stream of papers about secret and overt "lurking" enemies of the revolution. The revolutionary fever affected not only the minds, public consciousness, rhetoric of the inhabitants of Tashkent, it was also reflected in the Tashkent Russian cuisine, clothing, folklore, and artistic creativity. However, as the political influence of the Soviets grew in July-August 1917, the situation in the city changed and from enthusiastic speeches and activity about the revolution, the inhabitants of the city took a temporizing attitude, which was clearly manifested in attempt of the Soviets to carry out the September coup in Tashkent.

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Paper short abstract:

The cultural reform movement in Turkestan in the beginning of the 20th century grew in political one due to the jadids which had great assistance from entrepreneurs. The tandem of the Jadids with entrepreneurs advanced jadids aspirations for national development and movement.

Paper long abstract:

The cultural reform movement in Turkestan at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, which grew into a political one in 1915, had a certain material and financial basis. Maecenas of Tashkent had a special role in it. At that time Tashkent was the center of socio-economic and political processes, accumulating the rapid growth of industry, changes in the agricultural sector, and cultural life. Significant changes have also occurred in public life due to the activities of the Jadids, for changes in national consciousness of the population through enlightenment.

The intensification of trade and economic relations with the Russian Empire, entrance of Russian capital into Turkestan contributed to the growth of entrepreneurship in the region. Local entrepreneurs also entered European markets. Some of them owned plants and factories with large capital. Among them there were such Tashkent entrepreneurs as Saidgani Azimbaev, Saidazimbay Mukhamedov and others. They provided great philanthropic assistance to the Jadids, because they understood that the development of Turkestan was impossible without cultural reforms. They sponsored Jadids’ schools and contributed to the organization of the first national newspapers. Saidazimbay published his own newspaper "Tuzhzhar", designed to increase the economic knowledge of entrepreneurs and their intellectual level.

Tashkent merchants and entrepreneurs invested lots of money in the organization of theatrical art. The Jadids of Tashkent, under the leadership of Minovarkora Abdurashidkhanov, in their political activities that unfolded in 1915-1917, closely interacted with their patrons, who understood that national development was impossible without obtaining political rights. Therefore, they jointly created societies and political parties, which aimed to achieve the autonomy of Turkestan within Russia. The tandem of the Jadids with entrepreneurs significantly advanced their aspirations for national development, and in this, Tashkent played a great role as a powerful force in the rapidly developed national movement.