Islam and nationalism in west Turkestan (Central Asia) on the eve of October revolution¹

Paper prepared for delivery at the Mid‐West Slavic Conference, Chicago, May 6, 1983.

Summary

West Turkestan at the eve of the October revolution was a colony of the tsarists with the exception of the Amaret of Bukhara, which was a pro‐tecterate without any right in conducting its external affairs. The colonizers believed in the supremacy of the Russian way of life, and after witnessing the resistance of the Muslims to russification, they attempted in destroying Islamic institutions by outlawing their sources of support (such as waqf), and also coopting many of the Muslims into the colonial bureaucracy. In general, the tsarists tried to rule the area indirectly and did not interfere with the religious and civic ceremonies of the Muslims. They, however, did manipulate the population of the area by dividing them into many administrative units and inflaming ancient rivalaries among various ethnic groups when suited them. They destroyed any movement which tended in wresting the power from the colonialists. Various societies were organized by the Turkestanis in order to modernize their society and eventually rid their lands from the invaders. Many of the membership of these local organizations advocated Pan‐Islamism and/or Pan‐Turkism, both of which aimed at the liberation of Turkestan. They were crushed by the Russians. A group of mostly intellectuals, the Jadidists, who had the backing of the very small middle class such as the merchants and some Russian inteligentsia aimed in reforming their societies from within. Their programs which aimed at the modernization of the area was resisted by the Amirs and also by some of the ‘uluma, the religious leaders. The Russians also saw in the Jadidis't program a program for national liberation. Consequently at the eve of the October revolution these intellectuals (the Jadidists) were caught between the Amir and the ‘uluma on the one hand, and the Russian colonizers on the other, and were rooted out completely. Some who survived joined the Soviets (who came to power in 1918) and others, usually the betteroff ones either left the area or joined with beks, bais, and the ‘uluma to organize a grassroot opposition to the Soviets, the Basmachi movement which plagued the Red army for many years.

Notes

Paper prepared for delivery at the Mid‐West Slavic Conference, Chicago, May 6, 1983.