From the history of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan (1925-1991)

Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice

UDC 94                                             

The republics located in the Central Asian region are considered multi-ethnic states in which the history of the formation and spread of nations has gone through different stages. In particular, the Kyrgyz Republic, one of the countries in the Central Asian region, is a multi-ethnic country, which is currently home to more than 80 nationalities and ethnic groups. These nations migrated to this country at different stages of history and became citizens. According to 2013 data, the country's population is 5.663.100, of which 72.4% (4.099.400 people) are Kyrgyz, 14.4% (816.200 people) are Uzbeks, and 6.6% (375.400 people) are Uzbeks. Russians, 1.1 percent (63,000 people) were Dungans, 0.9 percent (49.100 people) were Tajiks, and 4.6 percent were Kazakhs, Koreans, Tatars, Uighurs, Dungans, and other nations [1].

Uzbeks living in Kyrgyzstan are the second smallest ethnic group after the Kyrgyz, with 898,363 in 2017, 918.262 in 2018, and 960.628 in 2019 and it’s 15 percent of the country's total population. The analysis of historical evidence and figures shows that over the past five years, the share of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan has grown significantly and is influencing the socio-political life of the country.

Uzbeks living in Kyrgyzstan are the second smallest ethnic group after the Kyrgyz, with 898.363 in 2017, 918.262 in 2018, and 960.628 in 2019 and it’s 15 percent of the country's total population [8]. The analysis of historical evidence and figures shows that over the past five years, the share of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan has grown significantly and is influencing the socio-political life of the country.

The purpose of this study was to comment on the dynamics of changes in the number of Uzbeks living in the territory of the modern Kyrgyz Republic from 1925 to 1990, as well as their territorial and geographical location.

The history of the formation and formation of the Kyrgyz Republic took place at the following stages. In January 1924, the XII All-Turkestan Congress of Soviets "Decided to end all preparatory work for the zoning of the Turkestan republics on the basis of economic and natural-historical features and to begin the reorganization of administrative and economic management accordingly".

In May 1924, the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Turkestan, which was followed by the Central Committees of the Communist Parties of Bukhara and Khorezm and the Central Asian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), promptly and expediently embarked on national division manner. This decision of the Central Asian party organizations was approved by the Central Committee of the RCP (b) in July 1924, and preparations for the national demarcation were planned to be completed by September 1924. On September 16, 1924, an extraordinary session of the Central Committee of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a decision on the national demarcation. The second meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the XI convocation approved this resolution on October 14, 1924, as a result of which the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In May 1925, it was renamed the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region [2].

The archival documents "Various materials on zoning" contain information about the autonomous region of Kyrgyzstan. Specifically, the documents contain data on the total population and its role in the design of economic development, as well as projects of the "zoning commission", general information on the districts, distribution of the population by region, general information on the population of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region, as well as information on the national composition and zoning commission reports.

The following reports are given in the table of data on the total population and the role of the economic situation in the design of regions. The total population of the autonomous region of Kyrgyzstan is 706.630 people, including 465.695 Kyrgyz and 65.9% of the total population, Europeans 135.460 people and 19.2% of the total population, Uzbeks 96.635 people and 13.7% of the total population. The rest of the groups numbered 8,840 people with a coefficient of 1.2 percent [3].

If we analyze by region, we can see that there are no Uzbeks in Frunze, Karakul and Naryn region. In total, 195,900 people live in the Osh region, of which 66%, or 129.275 people, are Kyrgyz, 30.4%, 59.645 people are Uzbeks, and 6.980 people are Europeans. Only Uzbeks living in the Osh region make up 61.7 percent of Uzbeks in the autonomous region of Kyrgyzstan.

The number of Uzbeks in Jalal-Abad province is about 34.940, or 27.7 percent of the region's population, and one in four of the population is Uzbek. In 1925-1926, Uzbeks in Jalal-Abad accounted for 36.1 percent of the total number of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan.

There were a total of 11.940 farms in Talas Province in those years, with a total population of 60,550. In particular, Kyrgyz are 40.420 people, Europeans are 8.080 people, Uzbeks are 2.050 people, and our compatriots make up 3.4% of the total population of Talas [4].

According to archival sources, 2050 Uzbeks live in the Alexandrovsky volost of Frunze region alone[5]. However, some documents also state that Uzbeks do not live in the Frunze region. In our opinion, it is not necessary to provide information due to the small number of Uzbeks living in the Alexandrovsky volost of the region.

However, some documents also state that Uzbeks do not live in the Frunze region. In our opinion, it is not necessary to provide information due to the small number of Uzbeks living in the Alexandrovsky volost of the region.

The special table of the "Regionalization Commission" of the national composition of the autonomous region of Kyrgyzstan (based on numbers) shows some differences from the above data.

Information on the number and ethnic composition of the population living in the Kyrgyz

Autonomous Region in 1926 [3].

Analyzing the data in the table above, in 1926, Russians (158.102 people) were second only to Kyrgyz in the autonomous region of Kyrgyzstan, then Uzbeks (117.906 people) as in third place. The most populated areas of Uzbeks were Osh (73.359 people) and Jalal-Abad (29.344 people). In the later stages of history, these regions remained densely populated by Uzbek communities .

The growth rate of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan slowed somewhat between 1926 and 1939, increasing to 33,645 over 13 years. Compared to the 1926 population, it is clear that one in three people has increased. According to the records of the results of the 1939 registration of the population, the population of Kyrgyzstan was 1.458.213 people, of which 151.551 were Uzbeks, registered as the third largest population after the Kyrgyz and Russians [6].

In 1959, the third census was carried out on the territory of the former Soviet Union. According to these data, the number of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan is 218.640 people, and the analysis shows that they increased by 100.734 people (0.85 times) compared to 1926 and by 67.089 people (0.57 times) compared to 1939 year. Between 1926 and 1959, the share of Uzbeks averaged 2.6 percent per year. This growth was mainly due to the demographic process. During this period, the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions were the leaders in the growth of the number of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan.

The dynamics of the Uzbek population grew rapidly, reaching 332.638 in 1970, in 1979 to 426.194 people, in 1989, it reached 550.096 people. In 1970, the number of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan increased 2.8 times compared to 1926, 3.6 times in 1979, and 4.6 times in 1989. The average annual growth rate during this 63-year period was around 5.8 percent. In terms of regions and cities, in 1989, Uzbeks numbered 205.858 in Osh region, accounting for 28.89% of the region's population, 175.705 in Jalal-Abad region, 23.64% of the region's total population, 45.201 in Batken region, or 14.5% of the region's population. In Chui region it was 12.096 people, 1.52% of the region's population, in Bishkek 10.390 people, 1.68% of the city's population, in Osh 100846 people, 47% of the city's population. By 1989, Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan accounted for 3.3 percent of Uzbeks in the former Soviet Union and 2.8 percent of the world's Uzbeks [7].

Thus, during the Soviet era, the number of Uzbeks in the Kyrgyz Republic has been steadily increasing. The demographic factor has led to the growth of the number of Uzbeks in this country. Representatives of the Uzbek nation lived first in the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions, and then in the Batken region. Other regions of Kyrgyzstan, including the capital Bishkek, were also home to ethnic Uzbeks. The Uzbeks were the third largest population in the republic and had a special position and place among the national minorities.