Siege of Khiva (1922)

Siege of Khiva
Part of the Basmachi movement
Date April-May 1922 Location Khorezm People's Soviet Republic Result Initial Basmachi victory; Basmachi forces occupied Khorezm People's Soviet Republic Soviet forces recaptured the region later in 1922
Belligerents
Basmachi movement	Russian SFSR Khorezm PSR
Commanders and leaders
Molla Abdulkahhar Junaid Khan	Unknown
Strength
15,000 (claimed)	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

The Siege Of Khiva (1922), was a military engagement during the Basmachi Movement in Central Asia, led by Junaid Khan of Khiva and Molla Abdulkahhar against the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic.

Background

After the overthrow of the Khanate in December 1920, the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was established. ^{[1] [2]}

In November 1921, Junaid Khan signed a peace treaty with the Khorezm Republic, while waiting for an opportune moment to seize control of Khorezm. ^[3]

However, he soon began reorganizing his forces—estimated around 15,000 men in 1922, ^{[4] [5]} although this figure might have been exaggerated, as estimates vary. ^[6]

During this period, Enver Pasha, the former Ottoman general who was leading the anti-Soviet insurgency in Bukhara sent convoys and letters to Junaid Khan who was offering resistance to the Bolsheviks in the Karakum desert. ^{[7] [8]} Several Turkmen tribes also joined Junaid khan, who also held the title of "Commander of the Army of Islam" alongside Enver Pasha. ^[9] As a result, the territory under Khivan Basmachi control expanded significantly. ^[7]

Khiva offensive

In April 1922, Junaid Khan captured the Boldumsaz District. ^{[10] [11]} On April 12, he attacked the Chovdur tribes, who were allied with Soviets, inflicting heavy casualties. ^[12] In later days of 1922, Basmachi uprisings broke out against the Soviet government in Khiva, ^[13] where the Soviets suffered a heavy defeat against Junaid Khan and Molla Abdulkahhar in Khiva. ^{[13] [14]} Abdulkahhar later participated in the siege of Khiva alongside Junaid Khan during the uprisings. ^[13] This led to Junaid Khan and Molla Abdulkahhar to seize control of Khorezm. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]}

Aftermath

By mid-1922 due to increase of Soviet reinforcement in the region, a portion of Junaid Khan's troops began negotiations with the Red Army, and about 150 Basmachis eventually surrendered. ^[20] In June 1922, Molla Abdulkahhar was also defeated by the Red Army units in Bukhara and was forced to retreat. ^[21]

References

1. Edgar, Adrienne Lynn (2006-09-25). Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan. Princeton University Press. p. 38. ISBN   978-0-691-12799-6.
2. Publications, Europa (2003-09-02). A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia. Routledge. p. 269. ISBN   978-1-135-35680-4.
3. Kotelnikov, Vladimir (2024). Soviet Military Aviation in Central Asia 1917–41. Helion and Company. p. 13. ISBN   1804516422.
4. Kydyralieva, Saltanat (2015). Türk ve Rus Kaynaklarına Göre Türkistan’da Basmacı Hareketi (1916–1924) / Basmachi Movement in Turkestan According to Turkish and Russian Sources (1916–1924) (PhD thesis) (in Turkish). İstanbul, Turkey: İstanbul Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Tarih Ana Bilim Dalı, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Tarihi Bilim Dalı. p. 260.
5. Gutliyev, Gurhangeldi (August 2017). Türkmenistan’da Basmacı (Milli Direniş) Hareketi ve Cüneyt Han (The Basmachi [National Resistance] Movement in Turkmenistan and Junaid Khan). Department of History, General Turkic History (Master’s Thesis) (in Turkish). Gazi University Institute of Social Sciences. p. 50.
6. For example, Kydyralieva gives the number of troops under Junaid Khan as 1918 in the page 219, meanwhile "K. B. Muhammetberdiyew/Y. Orazgylyjow, Türkmenistanyn Taryhyndan Materiallar" book gives 4,000 and ÇELEBİ, Ercan Yaş Türkistan Dergisine Göre Türkistan Milli Mücadelesi even gives 80,000 in page 157 of his thesis.
7. Ali Bademci, 1917-1934 Türkistan Milli İstiklal Hareketi Korbaşılar Ve Enver Paşa, Ötüken Yayınları, İstanbul 2008 p.412
8. Wheeler, Geoffrey (1964). The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia (PDF). New York: Frederick A. Praeger. p. 110.
9. Emre Esen, Türkistan’da Basmacılık Hareketi p.62
10. "Джунаид-хан Мухаммед-Курбан Сердар". Arboblar.uz (in Russian). UZINFOCOM. Retrieved 9 October 2025. Уже в апреле 1922 года он вновь начинает войну, захватив город Порсу.
11. Turkestan v Naçale XX Veka p.624 https://books.google.com.tr/books/about/Turkestan_v_nachale_XX_veka.html?id=ieTozgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
12. RGASPI,f.122,op.4,d.59,l.93-94ob
13. Hayit, Baymirza (1997). Basmacılar: Türkistan millî mücadele tarihi (1917–1934) (in Turkish). Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı. p. 205. ISBN   9789753893053.
14. Kara, İlyas. Enver Paşa Basmacılar İsyanı (in Turkish). p. 132.
15. Bademci, Ali (2008). Korbaşılar ve Enver Paşa-II (in Turkish). Istanbul, Turkey: Ötüken Neşriyat. p. 122.
16. Beyoğlu, Nevzat Kösoğlu. Şehit Enver Paşa (Martyr Enver Pasha). Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş., T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, 2013, p. 623. ISBN 978-605-155-270-5.
17. Beckett, Ian, ed. (15 May 2017). Modern Counter-Insurgency. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781351917025 . Retrieved 14 October 2025. in 1920, stimulated by some positive measures by Soviet authorities, the rebellion flared up again and in 1921 spread to the eastern part of the Emirate of Bukhara (the southern regions of today's Uzbekistan and western Tadzhikistan) and later to the Turkmen area of Khorezm
18. Baymirza Hayit, Basmacılar / Ruslara Karşı Basmacılar Hareketi [The Basmachi: The National Liberation Movement in Turkestan Against the Russians]. Istanbul: Babıali Kültür Yayıncılığı, 2006, p. 277.
19. Entsiklopedik Luğat, vol. 2 (Tashkent: Özbek Sovet Entsiklopediyasi, 1988), p. 117: "In the spring of 1922, the Basmachi occupied much of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic; similar movements also occurred in Ferghana and Khorezm at that time."
20. Kotelnikov, Vladimir (2024). Soviet Military Aviation in Central Asia 1917–41. Helion and Company. pp. 13–15. ISBN   9781804516423.
21. Hayit, Baymirza (1992). Basmatschi: Nationaler Kampf Turkestans in den Jahren 1917 bis 1934 (in German). Köln: Dreisam Verlag. p. 273. ISBN   978-3-89452-373-2.