Literary Culture and Social Change Among the Northern Kyrgyz, 1856-1924
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Visions of Community: Literary Culture and Social Change among the Northern Kyrgyz, 1856-1924 Jipar Duishembieva A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2015 Reading Committee: Elena Campbell, Chair Glennys Young Ali Igmen Program Authorized to offer Degree: Near and Middle Eastern Studies Program ©Copyright 2015 Jipar Duishembieva University of Washington Abstract Visions of Community: Literary Culture and Social Change among the Northern Kyrgyz, 1856-1924 Jipar Duishembieva Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Elena Campbell, Associate Professor Department of History This dissertation examines the transformations in the northern Kyrgyz society and culture between the mid-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. I explore how a deeply-held and territorially-oriented sense of collective belonging among the Kyrgyz developed within the Russian imperial context through the efforts of the Kyrgyz poets and intellectuals during the late tsarist period. I search for this sense of collective belonging in the literary culture of the northern Kyrgyz. In the absence of written culture, oral tradition served as the primary depository of the northern Kyrgyz collective memory. Oral poets were the ones who shaped group identities and created various versions of Kyrgyzness based on culture, lifestyle, religious belief, social practices, and moral values. By the late imperial period, these existing conceptions of Kyrgyzness served as a fertile ground for the first generation of Kyrgyz intellectuals to develop their own visions of Kyrgyz community. They started collecting and writing what they believed to be the history of their people, thus contributing to the creation of the nationalistic narrative and participating in a broader discourse on the nation in the intellectual circles of the Central Asian elites. Breaking with existing scholarship, my analysis of social upheaval and cultural development among the Kyrgyz under the Russian rule reveals that the idea of the Kyrgyz nation, promoted by the Kyrgyz cultural and political elite during the creation of the Kara Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast in 1924, was a direct product of the historical experiences and socio-cultural transformations of the late-imperial period. Poems, historical narratives, genealogies, administrative reports, newspaper articles, memoirs, and travel accounts serve as a source base of this dissertation. Using methods of literary and historical analysis, my dissertation examines how discourses on Kyrgyz identity and community developed, where those discourses took place and in what form, and how they shaped the way the Kyrgyz imagined themselves within the broader Central Asian and Russian imperial settings. TABLE OF CONTENTS Note on Transliteration…………………………………………………………………………..iii Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….....1 Chapter One: Northern Kyrgyz Tribes Before the Russian Conquest Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...22 Northern Kyrgyz of the Nineteenth Century: Social Roles and Responsibilities…………………………………………………………………..23 Tribal Community………………………………………………………………..35 The Qing Empire, Kokand, and the Kyrgyz……………………………………..38 Feuds between Kyrgyz and Kazakhs…………………………………………….41 Tribal Wars: the Bughu and Sarybaghysh……………………………………….45 The Russian Advance……………………………………………………………55 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….64 Chapter Two: Northern Kyrgyz under Russian Rule Introduction………………………………………………………………………66 Administrative Division of the Northern Kyrgyz Territories……………………68 The Manap Phenomenon among the Northern Kyrgyz………………………….74 Peasant Resettlement and the Northern Kyrgyz…………………………………79 Development of Urban Centers………………………………………………….87 Imperial Confessional Politics and the Kyrgyz Nomads………………………...92 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...104 Chapter Three: Laying the Groundwork: the Northern Kyrgyz Aqyns and their Literary Milieu Introduction……………………………………………………………………..106 Sources of Kyrgyz Identity: Zhomoqchus, Aqyns, and Kyrgyzness……………108 Zar Zaman Poetry and the Kyrgyz Aqyns’ Reflection on Social Change………117 i From Oral to Written Literature: Moldo Qylych Shamyrkan uulu……………..124 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...133 Chapter Four: The Northern Kyrgyz Intellectuals: First Attempts at Defining the Nation Introduction……………………………………………………………………..135 Ishenaaly Arabaev and His Intellectual Pursuits……………………………….137 Writing a “Kyrgyz” History: Osmonaaly Sydykov and His Tārïkhs…………...155 A “New” Kyrgyz History: Belek Soltonoev and Qyzyl Qyrghyz Tarykhy………172 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...183 Chapter Five: The Revolt of 1916 in History and Collective Memory Introduction…………………………………………………………………….186 The Northern Kyrgyz and the Revolt…………………………………………..190 Memorializing the Revolt: Kyrgyz Intellectuals Respond……………………..199 Memorializing the Revolt: Kyrgyz Aqyns Respond……………………………203 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...220 Chapter Six: From Culture to Politics: Creating the Nation Introduction……………………………………………………………………..222 In the Service of Empire and Nation: Abdykerim Sydykov……………………224 The Alash Party: Exercise in Future Kyrgyz Autonomy……………………….228 From Alash Orda to the Kyrgyz Mountain Oblast……………………………...235 “The Kara Kyrgyz must Develop Separately”: the Second Attempt at Kyrgyz Autonomy………………………………………………………………………246 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...255 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...259 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………263 ii Note on Transliteration I used the Library of Congress system of transliteration for Russian language materials. I omitted the use of the Russian “soft” sign in frequently used words (volost, oblast, etc.). I used j instead of dzh in some non-Russian words (jigit, Andijan). For Kyrgyz publications in Cyrillic script, I used the Library of Congress system of transliteration with a few changes. I differentiated between q and gh before back and k and g before front vowels in the main text. I used y for commonly used words such as, bay and biy. Turkic people of Central Asia used Arabic script till the late 1920s. Currently, there is no standard to transcribe Turkic language texts written in Arabic script into Latin script. I transcribed Turkic language publications (Kyrgyz and Kazakh) in Arabic script into Latin as close to their modern pronunciation as For terms from Arabic, I used ā and ū to designate long .غ and gh for ق possible. I used q for vowels. I used ï for y or ы sound in Turkic language words written in Arabic script. All translations in the text are mine unless indicated otherwise. The Russian empire used the Julian calendar until February 1918, which was twelve days behind the Gregorian calendar in the nineteenth century and thirteen days behind in the twentieth century. I did not alter the dates from the Julian calendar, in Russian documents written prior to 1918. Dates after 1918 correspond to those in the Gregorian calendar. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the help, encouragement, and intellectual and moral support of my mother, Layli Ükübaeva, who shared with me her appreciation for Kyrgyz literature and instilled a passion for learning at an early age. My father, Nurdin Duishembiev, has always been there for me, silently supporting my academic and personal decisions, never questioning any of it. Because of my parents’ love and support, I am who I am today. I am greatly indebted to my dissertation committee members, Elena Campbell, Glennys Young, Ali Igmen, and Florian Schwarz, for believing in me. My advisor, Elena Campbell, has shown me tremendous support throughout the course of my studies. She has been a great source of inspiration as a scholar - reading and re-reading my work, posing challenging questions, and always encouraging me to look at my topic from a different angle. She has also been a great source of inspiration as a human being, always compassionate and great at finding the right words in a time of crisis. Thank you for guiding me and sharing your wisdom as a scholar, a mother, and a friend. Ali Igmen has known me from the time when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Washington. He encouraged me to apply to the Ph.D. program and has shown his unwavering trust and support throughout the years. Glennys Young helped me to improve my dissertation tremendously with her critical comments and questions. She always did so in a graceful and encouraging way. Florian Schwarz helped me to identify and refine my research question during the initial stages of my studies and stressed the importance of what I do. I am especially grateful to Professor Ilse Cirtautas, Apa, for taking me in when I first came from Kyrgyzstan to the United States and for years of support throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. I would like to thank Dan Waugh, Raimonda Modiano, Laurie Sears, Selim Kuru, Guntis Smidchens, and Shaun Lopez for assisting me in various stages of my studies at the University of Washington. Joel Walker has offered invaluable help at the final stage of my dissertation writing. Daniel Prior has provided his valuable comments and detailed feedback on my writing samples on many occasions. Jean Rogers never left any of my questions unanswered. Michael Biggins and the staff of the University of Washington Libraries iv have always been helpful in obtaining necessary material for my dissertation. Marta Mikkelsen and the REECAS Center provided me with an amazing opportunity to teach Kyrgyz. At the University