Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic


The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, originally called the Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic, was an autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic located in Soviet Central Asia which existed between 1918 and 1924. Uzbeks were the preeminent nation of the Turkestan ASSR. Tashkent was the capital and largest city in the region.

History

During the Russian Empire, the Turkestan ASSR's territory was governed as Turkestan Krai, the Emirate of Bukhara, and the Khanate of Khiva. From 1905, Pan-Turkist ideologues like Ismail Gasprinski aimed to suppress differences among the peoples who spoke Turkic languages, uniting them into one government.
This idea was supported by Vladimir Lenin, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks in Tashkent created the Turkestan ASSR. But in February 1918, the Islamic Council and the Council of Intelligentsia met in Kokand city and declared a rival Turkestan Autonomous Republic, battling Bolshevik forces until the 1920s as part of the conservative Basmachi rebellion.
The Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic was officially proclaimed on 30 April 1918. However, his sphere of influence at this time was limited to only a few railway junctions.
In the late 1917, the TSFR was cut off from the RSFSR by the revolt of the Orenburg Cossacks, but held out, despite being surrounded by hostile states, until the arrival of the Red Army in September 1919 after the Eastern Front Counteroffensive.
Meanwhile, a power struggle among the Communists ensued between those favoring a Pan-Turkist government like Turar Ryskulov and Tursun Khojaev, and those in favor of dividing Soviet Turkestan into smaller ethnic or regional units, such as Fayzulla Xoʻjayev and Akmal Ikramov. The latter group won, as national delimitation in Central Asia began in 1924. Upon dissolution, the Turkestan ASSR was split into Uzbek SSR, Turkmen SSR with the Tajik ASSR, Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, and Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast.

Chairmen of the Central Executive Committee

  1. Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseevich, Solkin, Andrey Fedorovich, contributor
  2. Tobolin, Ivan Osipovich
  3. Votintsev, Vsevolod Dmitrievich
  4. –
  5. Kazakov, Aristarkh Andreevich
  6. Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseevich
  7. Apin, Ivan Andreevich
  8. Ryskulov, Turar Ryskulovich
  9. Biserov, Mukhammedzhan
  10. Rakhimbaev, Abdullo Rakhimbaevich, Khodzhanov Sultanbek, acting, prev.
  11. Tyuryakulov, Nazir Tyuryakulovich
  12. Rakhimbaev, Abdullo Rakhimbaevich
  13. Khidir-Aliev, Inagadzhan, Dadabaev Butabay, vrid. prev.
  14. Aytakov, Nedirbai
Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars.
Initial dateFinal dateName
15 November 1917November 1918Fyodor Kolesov
November 191819 January 1919Vladislav Figelskiy
19 January 191931 March 1919Post vacant
31 March 191912 September 1919Karp Sorokin
12 September 1919March 1920Turksovnarkom defunct
March 1920May 1920Jānis Rudzutaks
May 1920September 1920Isidor Lubimov
19 September 1920October 1922Kaikhaziz Atabayev
October 192212 January 1924Turar Ryskulov
12 January 192427 October 1924Sharustam Islamov