Kazakh rebellions

Last updated

The Kazakh people have rebelled against state power in the forms of civil disobedience and armed resistance. The 18th- and 19th-century Kazakh rebellions are commonly referred to as national liberation uprisings. Between the mid-nineteenth century and 1916, Kazakhstan experienced 300 national liberation movements, wars and uprisings. [1]

Contents

18th century

Pugachev's Rebellion

Some Volga Kalmyks tried to migrate through Kazakhstan to Dzungaria (their historic homeland) in 1771, but were defeated by the Kazakhs. [2] The first joint action by the Kazakh and Russian people against autocracy was the 1773–1775 Pugachev's Rebellion; [3] land was the main reason for Kazakh participation. Nuraly Khan, faced with popular pressure, had unsuccessfully demanded that the Russian government remove grazing restrictions along the Ural River in 1742.

During the second half of the 18th century, the junior-zhuz Kazakhs of suffered as a result of Russian colonial policy and the aggressive actions of the Yaik Cossack army. The Russian government, protecting the Cossack troops, banned the nomadic Cossack way of life along one bank of the Ural in 1756. [3]

During the peasant uprising, led by Yemelyan Pugachev, the biy Dautbai urged the Kazakhs to support the rebels. The Kazakh detachments were united along tribal lines, and Syrym Datuly was one of their leaders. Kazakh troops were the main striking force in the capture of a fortress. Nuraly Khan tried to use the rebellion for the return of seized lands. The steppe aristocracy sought to weaken the imperial position in Kazakhstan. [4]

Sapura's Rebellion

Sapura's Rebellion, led by Sapura Matenkyzy in 1775–1776, was triggered by Russian Empire repression (including imperial prohibitions about land) and the Ural Cossacks. Ten thousand people participated in the uprising.

Syrym Datuly's rebellion

Junior-zhuz Kazakhs, led by Syrym Datuly, rebelled against the Cossacks from 1783 to 1797. In 1778, during armed clashes with Cossack detachments, Datuly's children were killed. [5]

The driving force behind the rebellion was the Kazakh poor, sharua Kazakhs who saw maintaining Nuraly Khan's power as the cause of their troubles. The deepening agrarian crisis in the second half of the 18th century weakened the khan's position and strengthened opposition to the successors of Abul Khair Khan. Concerned about the insurgents, Nuraly Khan moved to the Ural Cossack line. [6]

Junior-zhuz Kazakh participation in the 1773–1775 rebellion was a consequence of the khan's weakening position. During the uprising, relations between Nuraly Khan and Orenburg governor Iosif Igelström were strained because Igelström supported Datuly. The alliance between Igelström and Datuly centered on the destruction of Nuraly Khan's power in the junior zhuz. Before the struggle, Datuly believed that Kazakh displacement from their tribal nomadic lands could be ended by negotiation. [7]

During the 1783–1797 uprising, Igelström proposed a new system of governance for the junior zhuz. According to Igelström's plan, all power in the junior zhuz would be concentrated in the Frontier Court. Datuly supported Igelström's reforms during the uprising, but the Russian government refused to implement them in the junior juz because of growing anti-monarchist sentiment in Russia. Detachments unable to conduct military operations against rebel guerrilla units attacked peaceful Kazakh villages. To deprive the rebels of support from the auls, the head of the military board ordered the "Kirghiz-Kaisak bandits" pushed to the Emba. [6]

19th century

Bukey Horde uprising

In 1801, 5,000 Kazakh households headed by Bukey Khan moved to the Volga–Ural interfluve and began to form the Inner Horde. By the end of the 1830s, its population had grown to about 20,000 households and 80,000 people; land and pastures were distributed unevenly. In a short time, two-thirds of the land was owned by Kazakh feudal lords and Russian landlords. [8]

Jäñgir-Kerei Khan (1825–1845) regarded the horde's territory as the domain of him and his family, and popular discontent triggered a rebellion. It is divided into three periods:

  1. 1833–1836 – formation
  2. 1837 – development of the uprising: clashes between rebels and Tsarist detachments and supporters of Jäñgir-Kerei Khan
  3. 3 December 1837 – July 1838 – weakening and defeat of the rebellion [9]

The rebellion was led by Isatay Taymanuly and Makhambet Otemisuly. In 1812, Bukey Khan appointed Taymanuly leader of the Zhaiyk branch of the Bersh tribe. Taymanuly was tried by the Orenburg governor and acquitted in 1817 and 1823. In 1835, he wrote to the khan asking for protection for the people. Otemisuly, Taymanuly's friend and an elder of the Bersh tribe, played a major role in defining the aims of the uprising in his poetry: weakening the khan's power, improving conditions for the poor, and changing the imperial land policy.

The revolt began with actions against Jäñgir-Kerei Khan and his supporters. A detachment of 200 Cossacks unsuccessfully tried to capture Taymanuly, whose detachment of 1,000 men were joined by other detachments of the Bukey Horde. The rebellion became known in Saint Petersburg, and Nicholas I demanded severe punishment for its leaders.

The last battle between Taymanuly's detachments and imperial troops took place on 12 July 1838 in Akbulak. About 80 insurgents were killed, and Taymanuly was shot and seriously injured. A detachment of insurgents led by Otemisuly continued to fight, but he was forced to retreat to the Khanate of Khiva.

Otemisuly secretly returned to the Bukey Horde in October 1839, and was captured in 1841. In October 1846, he was murdered by followers of Sultan Baimagambet. Although treatment of captured insurgents was harsh, most took refuge among their fellow tribesmen and their prosecution was dropped. [10]

Kenesary's Rebellion

During the 1820s, part of the senior juz and the southern middle and junior juz were ruled by the Kokand and Khiva beks. In the lower Syr Darya, the Khanate of Khiva built a number of fortresses.

Kenesary's Rebellion, led by Sultan Kenesary Qasymov, lasted from 1837 to 1847 and aimed to preserve the independence of lands that were not part of Russia. Kenesary demanded that Russia restore the independence of the Kazakh Steppe under Abylai Khan, stop collecting taxes and dismantle the fortresses. His representatives, sent to deliver a letter to the West Siberian Governor-General and Tsar Nicholas I, were captured and punished.

The Kazakhs were led by Kenesary and Nauryzbai, his younger brother. In May 1838, Kenesary's detachments captured Akmolinsk. In 1841, Kenesary's troops captured the fortresses of Zhanakorgan, Sozak, and Ak-Mosque and he was elected khan. [11]

Successful military action by Kenesary in 1844 forced the Orenburg administration to begin negotiations to recognize the Orenburg region as part of Russia, and the tsarist government built fortresses along the Irgiz and Turgay Rivers. Kenesary failed to form a coalition against Tsarist Russia, leading to the rebellion's failure, and leaders of the main Zhetysu clans sided with Russia. [12]

1870 Adai uprising

Colonial dependence on the Kazakh steppe was strengthened by reforms in 1867 and 1868, in which Kazakh lands were declared the property of the Russian Empire. Kazakhs were taxed for working and living in nearby Russian settlements, and an unsuccessful rebellion began in the Ural and Turgai Oblasts. The Adai tribe rebelled against the reforms in Mangystau region in 1870, and the rebellion involved Kazakh workers for the first time. [13]

20th century

1916 Central Asian revolt

In Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, an anti-Russian uprising by the inhabitants of Russian Turkestan was sparked by the conscription of Muslims into the Russian military for service on the Eastern Front during World War I. The corruption of the Russian regime and tsarist colonialism were contributing causes.

Revolts against Soviet Russia

From 1928 to 1932, 372 uprisings took place in Kazakhstan. The rebellions were generated by the sovietization of villages, taxes in kind, collectivization and dekulakization. [14] [15]

Kengir uprising

The May and June 1954 Kengir uprising was a rebellion by political prisoners.

Jeltoqsan

The 16–19 December 1986 Jeltoqsan protests took place in Alma-Ata (present-day Almaty).

21st century

Zhanaozen massacre

The Zhanaozen massacre, over the weekend of 16–17 December 2011, occurred amid clashes between protesters and police who were attempting to evict them from a square in preparation for an Independence Day celebration. Activists said that security officers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. Authorities accused "bandits" of joining the protesters and beginning the riots, producing video to support their version of events. [16] Eleven people were killed, according to government officials, although opposition sources put the death toll in the dozens. [17] General Prosecutor Askhat Daulbayev said that "civilians, who had gathered in the main square to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the country's independence, were attacked by a group of hooligans". [18] The Kazakh opposition TV channel K-Plus broadcast the beginning of the unrest, as men purported to be oil workers ran on a stage, tipped over the speakers and pushed civilians before police arrived. [16] According to Daulbayev, local government offices, a hotel and an office of the state oil company were set on fire in the disturbances which followed. [16]

2022 unrest

The 2022 Kazakh unrest was an early-January series of mass protests against energy-price increases and increasing poverty.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petropavl</span> City in North Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan

Petropavl ; Russian: Петропавловск, romanized: Petropavlovsk) is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. The city is also known colloquially in Kazakh as Qyzyljar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temirtau</span> Place in Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan

Temirtau is a city in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. The population was 170,481 in the 1999 census, rising to 210,590 in 2015.

Isatay Taymanuly was a Kazakh hero and leader of a rebellion against Zhangir-Kerey Khan of Bukey Horde and the Russian rulers of Kazakhstan in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Kazakhstan Region</span> Region of Kazakhstan

North Kazakhstan Region is a region of Kazakhstan, with a population of 539,111. Its capital is Petropavl, with a population of 193,300 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakh Khanate</span> 1465–1847 Turkic state in Central Asia

The Kazakh Khanate, in eastern sources known as Ulus of the Kazakhs, Ulus of Jochi, Yurt of Urus, was a Kazakh state in Central Asia, successor of the Golden Horde existing from the 15th to the 19th century, centered on the eastern parts of the Desht-i Qipchaq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makhambet Otemisuly</span> Kazakh poet and political figure

Makhambet Otemisuly was a Kazakh poet and political figure. He is best known for his activity as a leader of rebellions against Russian colonialism. This activity is believed to have resulted in his murder in 1846. His first rebellions took place against Zhangir-Kerey Khan of the Bukey Horde. Because the rebellion was badly defeated and a bounty was placed on Utemisov, he had to flee the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jüz</span> One of the three territorial/tribal divisions in modern Kazakhstan

A jüz is one of the three main territorial and tribal divisions in the Kypchak Plain area that covers much of the contemporary Kazakhstan. It represents the main tribal division within the ethnic group of the Kazakhs.

The Badaber uprising was an armed rebellion by Soviet and Afghan prisoners of war who were being held at the Badaber fortress near Peshawar, Pakistan. The prisoners fought the Afghan Mujahideen of the Jamiat-e Islami party in an attempt to escape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bukey Horde</span> 1801–1849 Kazakh khanate

The Bukey Horde, also known as the Inner Horde or Interior Horde, was an autonomous khanate of Kazakhs located north of the Caspian Sea in between the Ural and Volga Rivers, but never reaching these rivers. The khanate officially existed from 1801 to 1845, when the position of khan was abolished and the area was fully absorbed into the administration of the Russian Empire. It was located in the western part of modern-day Kazakhstan. Its lands were spread over about 71,000 square kilometers.

Syrym Datuly Batyr was the leader of the Kazakh clan Bayuly and national anti-feudal and anti-colonial movements of the Kazakhs of the Little Horde in the years 1783-1797.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian conquest of Central Asia</span> Period in Russian and Central Asian history

In the 16th century, the Tsardom of Russia embarked on a campaign to expand the Russian frontier to the east. This effort continued until the 19th century under the Russian Empire, when the Imperial Russian Army succeeded in conquering all of Central Asia. The majority of this land became known as Russian Turkestan—the name "Turkestan" was used to refer to the area due to the fact that it was and is inhabited by Turkic peoples, excluding the Tajiks, who are an Iranian ethnicity. Upon witnessing Russia's absorption of the various Central Asian realms, the British Empire sought to reinforce India, triggering the Great Game, which ended when both sides eventually designated Afghanistan as a neutral buffer zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenesary Qasymov</span> Khan of the Kazakh Khanate (1841–1847)

Kenesary Qasymov, or Kenesary Qasymuly, Kenesary Khan was the last khan of the Kazakh Khanate, grandson of Ablai Khan, from the clan of Genghisid-Tore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenesary's Rebellion</span> 1837–1847 Kazakh uprising against the Russian Empire

Kenesary's Rebellion was the longest and uprising of the Kazakh people on the territory of modern Kazakhstan under the leadership of Khan Kenesary Qasymov against the Russian Empire.

Movement of Köktemir or Sapura's Rebellion — arose in the autumn of 1775 and was a new form of struggle after the tragic events of spring and summer, when the unrest of the Kazakhs in the Junior Jüz was brutally suppressed by punitive detachments.

Uprising in the Ural and Turgai Oblasts — anti-colonial uprising on the territory of modern Kazakhstan. The uprising was led by large Kazakh ancestors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amankeldı İmanov</span> Kazakh revolutionary (1873–1919)

Amankeldı Üderbaiūly İmanov, often referred to mononymously as Amankeldı or Amangeldy, was a Kazakh revolutionary who was leader of the Central Asian revolt of 1916 in Kazakhstan. Later fighting alongside the Red Army, he was killed under unclear circumstances in April 1919. He has since emerged as a Kazakh folk hero for his leadership of the revolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jäñgir-Kerei Khan</span> Khan of the Bukey Horde (r. 1823–1845)

Jäñgır-Kerei Han was the penultimate Khan of the Bukey Horde, ruling from 1823 to 1845, and the final khan to be formally appointed. During his rule, he sought to establish the Horde as a modern state based on the model of the Russian Empire, and enacted a number of reforms. He remains popularly known for his efforts to bring formal education to the Horde, but is controversial for his promotion of feudalism over nomadism, leading to Isatay Taimanov's uprising in 1836. In addition to his reign, he also worked as a pathologist, studying anthrax extensively, and an anthropologist, recording Kazakh national epics and weaponry.

The siege of Akmolinsk or battle of Akmolinsk occurred in 1838 in Astana, Kazakhstan during the Kenesary's Rebellion, which ended with the flight of the founder of Akmolinsk – Konurkuldzha Kudaimendin, along with a small detachment of Karbyshev and the destruction of the fortress.

Anti-Colonial uprising of Eset Batyr — uprising of the Kazakhs of the Junior Jüz against the colonial oppression of the Russian Empire.

References

  1. "Казахские восстания — Казахстанская Энциклопедия". ru.encyclopedia.kz. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. "Страницы истории Казахстана – Участие казахов в крестьянской войне 1773–1775". history-page.ucoz.ru. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Участие казахов в восстании Пугачева. Восстание "Невидимки" – История Казахстана". www.tarikh.kz. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. "THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE JUNIOR HUNDRED DURING THE NURALI KHAN RULE (1850s–1860s)". edu.e-history.kz. 2021. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. "Восстание Сырыма Датова — Казахстанская Энциклопедия". ru.encyclopedia.kz. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Страницы истории Казахстана – Восстание казахов младшего жуза под предводиительством Сырыма Датова". history-page.ucoz.ru. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  7. "Восстание казахов Младшего жуза под предводительством Сырыма Датулы (1783–1797 гг.) – онлайн-тренажер для подготовки к ЕНТ, итоговой аттестации и ВОУД". itest.kz. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  8. "Восстание под предводительством Исатая Тайманова и Махамбета Утемисова". e-history.kz. 30 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  9. "Народное восстание 1836–1838 годов в Внутренней (Букеевской) Орде под предводительством Исатая Тайманова и Махамбета Утемисова – онлайн-тренажер для подготовки к ЕНТ, итоговой аттестации и ВОУД". itest.kz. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  10. "Восстание Исатая Тайманулы и Махамбета Утемисулы (1836–1838 гг.)". megamozg.kz. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  11. "Восстание 1837–1847 гг. под предводительством Кенесары Касымулы – Национально-освободительные восстания Казахского народа в ХVIII-ХIХ вв". 18 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  12. "Восстание Кенесары Касымова". Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  13. "Адаевское восстание 1870 года". www.kazportal.kz. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  14. Заключение Комиссии Президиума Верховного Совета РК по изучению постановлений КазЦИК и СНК КАССР от 27 августа 1928 года «О конфискации байских хозяйств», от 13 сентября 1928 года «Об уголовной ответственности за противодействие конфискации и выселению крупнейшего и полуфеодального байства», от 19 февраля 1930 года «О мероприятиях по укреплению социалистического переустройства сельского хозяйства в районах сплошной коллективизации и по борьбе с кулачеством и байством» // Казахстанская правда. 22 декабря 1992 года
  15. Еркин Ракышев (2015). Документальный фильм "Темір нарком Темірбек".
  16. 1 2 3 "Kazakh oil strike: 10 dead in Zhanaozen clashes". BBC News. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  17. "Kazakhstan curfew on oil town Zhanaozen after fatal clashes". BBC News. 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  18. Kramer, Andrew (16 December 2011). "At Least 10 Die as Police Clash With Strikers in Kazakhstan". The New York Times. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2011.