Battle of Cegan Hill

Last updated
Battle of Chegan Hill
Part of the 1922 battles for Dushanbe
Date4 August 1922 [1]
Location
Chegan Hill, near Baljuvon, Bukhara
Result Soviet victory
 • End of the Enver Pasha's Rebellion
Belligerents
Flag of Turkestan.svg Basmachi Movement Flag RSFSR 1918.svg Russian SFSR
Commanders and leaders
Enver Pasha   † [2]
Devletmend Bey   † [3] 		Yakov Melkumov
Konstantin Kulikov [1]
Strength
25–60 men (4–5 of Ottoman origin) [1] [3] More than 3,000 [4]
Casualties and losses
30 dead including Enver Pasha [4] Approximately 3,000

Battle of Chegan Hill, fought on 4 August 1922, occurred near Bukhara between Basmachi forces under the command of Enver Pasha and Soviet Red Army units, within the framework of the Basmachi Movement against the Soviet Union. Enver Pasha was killed in the battle.

Contents

Background

Following the October Revolution of 1917, armed resistance emerged in Central Asia against Soviet rule, generally referred to as the “Basmachi” movement. In 1921, Enver Pasha entered Turkestan and assumed leadership of the Basmachi, gaining control over strategic locations such as Dushanbe. [1]

Battle

The battle took place on the morning of 4 August 1922, the first day of the Eid al-Adha. While Enver Pasha was holding a ceremony after the holiday prayer on Chegan Hill near Beljivan, the sound of Soviet machine gun fire was heard from the Dere-i Hakiyan valley to the east. In response to this sudden ambush, Enver Pasha immediately mounted his horse with his group of approximately 25 cavalrymen (4 to 5 of whom were of Ottoman origin) and launched an assault against the Soviet positions. [1]

Enver Pasha charged at the enemy with his sword alongside his cavalry at the front, but he was struck by machine gun fire and fell from his horse. He died on the battlefield together with his fellow cavalrymen. His famous grey horse “Derviş” was also shot shortly thereafter. [1] [5]

According to various Basmachi claims, Russian casualties numbered around 3,000 allegedly one hundred times greater than that of the Basmachis. [4]

Aftermath

This battle ended with the death of Enver Pasha and resulted in a significant morale loss for the Basmachi Movement. Soviet forces regained control over the region shortly thereafter. Enver Pasha's body was buried at the scene; his remains were brought to Turkey in 1996 and reinterred at Monument of Liberty Hill in Istanbul. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 İlyas Kara, Basmacı İsyanı: Türkistan’da Sovyet İşgaline Karşı Direniş (1918–1934), Yediveren Yayınları, Ankara, 2011, pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-975-16-4043-1.
  2. ↑ Fahri Türk, “The Transfer of Enver Pasha’s Remains from Tajikistan to Turkey and Its Reflections in the Turkish Press”, Turkish Journal of Politics, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006), p. 3 DergiPark Archived 2 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 Ali Bademci, Sarıklı Basmacı: Türkistan’da Enver Paşa’nın Umumî Muhaberat Müdürü Molla Nâfiz’in Hâtıraları, Ötüken Neşriyat, Istanbul, 2015, ISBN 9786051559987.
  4. 1 2 3 Ali Bademci, Sarıklı Basmacı: Türkistan’da Enver Paşa’nın Umumî Muhaberat Müdürü Molla Nâfiz’in Hâtıraları, Ötüken Neşriyat, 2nd ed., Istanbul 2015, p. 223.
  5. ↑ Ahmet Kandemir, “The Death of Enver Pasha”, Belleten, Vol. 66, No. 247 (2002), pp. 133–150, Turkish Historical Society. Full text: belleten.gov.tr Archived 1 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine • DergiPark Archived 1 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Zukhra Altymyshova, “The Struggle of Enver Pasha in Turkestan”, Belleten, Vol. 88, No. 310 (2024), pp. 235–258, Turkish Historical Society. PDF: ttk.gov.tr Archived 19 April 2025 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.