Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan (Historical Dictionaries of Asia
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History ASIA ABAZOV ASIAN/OCEANIAN HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES, NO. 49 he modern history of Kyrgyzstan resembles the “great game” played by the British and Russian empires for domination in central Asia. For centuries, the land populated by Kyrgyzs was T Dictionary Historical fragmented among various political entities, and at the end of the 19th century the Russian empire acquired control of the region. In 1991 Kyrgyzstan declared its independence and began building a democratic and market-oriented state, but the newly independent country soon found itself the subject of a political competition for influence among of KYRGYZSTAN powers such as China, Russia, and the United States. This competition resulted in the establishment of U.S. and Russian military airbases in Kyrgyzstan’s territory, in what some analysts describe as a new round of the great game. The Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan is the first comprehensive refer- ence book on this pivotal country, providing superb up-to-date details about the key players and issues in contemporary domestic and interna- tional politics. The dictionary consists of approximately 300 entries and is cross-referenced for ease of use by both experienced scholars and young students interested in the complicated and captivating history of Kyrgyzs and the Kyrgyz land. The substantial bibliography will assist readers in finding materials and resources in specialized subject areas. Rafis Abazov is a visiting scholar at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, New York. He is the author of two books and numerous arti- cles in Kazakhstani, Russian, and other international academic journals. He has contributed articles to the Encyclopaedia of Modern Asia and the Encyclopaedia of National Economies. KYRGYZSTAN For orders and information please contact the publisher Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 RAFIS ABAZOV fax 717-794-3803 www.scarecrowpress.com Cover design by Jennifer Noel Huppert ASIAN/OCEANIAN HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES Edited by Jon Woronoff Asia 1. Vietnam, by William J. Duiker. 1989. Out of print. See No. 27. 2. Bangladesh, 2nd ed., by Craig Baxter and Syedur Rahman. 1996. Out of print. See No.48. 3. Pakistan, by Shahid Javed Burki. 1991. Out of print. See No. 33. 4. Jordan, by Peter Gubser. 1991 5. Afghanistan, by Ludwig W. Adamec. 1991. Out of print. See No. 29. 6. Laos, by Martin Stuart-Fox and Mary Kooyman. 1992. Out of print. See No. 35. 7. Singapore, by K. Mulliner and Lian The-Mulliner. 1991 8. Israel, by Bernard Reich. 1992 9. Indonesia, by Robert Cribb. 1992 10. Hong Kong and Macau, by Elfed Vaughan Roberts, Sum Ngai Ling, and Peter Bradshaw. 1992 11. Korea, by Andrew C. Nahm. 1993 12. Taiwan, by John F. Copper. 1993. Out of print. See No. 34. 13. Malaysia, by Amarjit Kaur. 1993. Out of print. See No. 36. 14. Saudi Arabia, by J. E. Peterson. 1993. Out of print. See No. 45. 15. Myanmar, by Jan Becka. 1995 16. Iran, by John H. Lorentz. 1995 17. Yemen, by Robert D. Burrowes. 1995 18. Thailand, by May Kyi Win and Harold Smith. 1995 19. Mongolia, by Alan J. K. Sanders. 1996. Out of print See No. 42. 20. India, by Surjit Mansingh. 1996 21. Gulf Arab States, by Malcolm C. Peck. 1996 22. Syria, by David Commins. 1996 23. Palestine, by Nafez Y. Nazzal and Laila A. Nazzal. 1997 24. Philippines, by Artemio R. Guillermo and May Kyi Win. 1997 Oceania 1. Australia, by James C. Docherty. 1992. Out of print. See No. 32. 2. Polynesia, by Robert D. Craig. 1993. Out of print. See No. 39. 3. Guam and Micronesia, by William Wuerch and Dirk Ballendorf. 1994 4. Papua New Guinea, by Ann Turner. 1994. Out of print. See No. 37. 5. New Zealand, by Keith Jackson and Alan McRobie. 1996 New Combined Series 25. Brunei Darussalam, by D. S. Ranjit Singh and Jatswan S. Sidhu. 1997 26. Sri Lanka, by S. W. R. de A. Samarasinghe and Vidyamali Sama- rasinghe. 1998 27. Vietnam, 2nd ed., by William J. Duiker. 1998 28. People’s Republic of China: 1949–1997, by Lawrence R. Sullivan, with the assistance of Nancy Hearst. 1998 29. Afghanistan, 2nd ed., by Ludwig W. Adamec. 1997. Out of print. See No. 47. 30. Lebanon, by As’ad AbuKhalil. 1998 31. Azerbaijan, by Tadeusz Swietochowski and Brian C. Collins. 1999 32. Australia, 2nd ed., by James C. Docherty. 1999 33. Pakistan, 2nd ed., by Shahid Javed Burki. 1999 34. Taiwan (Republic of China), 2nd ed., by John F. Copper. 2000 35. Laos, 2nd ed., by Martin Stuart-Fox. 2001 36. Malaysia, 2nd ed., by Amarjit Kaur. 2001 37. Papua New Guinea, 2nd ed., by Ann Turner. 2001 38. Tajikistan, by Kamoludin Abdullaev and Shahram Akbarzedeh. 2002 39. Polynesia, 2nd ed., by Robert D. Craig. 2002 40. North Korea, by Ilpyong J. Kim. 2003 41. Armenia, by Rouben Paul Adalian. 2002 42. Mongolia, 2nd ed., by Alan J. K. Sanders. 2003 43. Cambodia, by Justin Corfield and Laura Summers. 2003 44. Iraq, by Edmund A. Ghareeb. 2004 45. Saudi Arabia, 2nd ed., by J. E. Peterson. 2003 46. Nepal, by Nanda R. Shrestha and Keshav Bhattarai. 2003 47. Afghanistan, 3rd ed., by Ludwig W. Adamec. 2003 48. Bangladesh, 3rd ed., by Craig Baxter and Syedur Rahman. 2003 49. Kyrgyzstan, by Rafis Abazov. 2004 Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan Rafis Abazov Asian/Oceanian Historical Dictionaries, No. 49 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford 2004 SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright © 2004 by Rafis Abazov All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Abazov, Rafis. Historical dictionary of Kyrgyzstan / Rafis Abazov. p. cm. — (Asian/Oceanian historical dictionaries ; no. 49) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8108-4868-6 (alk. paper) 1. Kyrgyzstan—History—Dictionaries. I. Title. II. Series. DK918.12 .A23 2004 958.43'003—dc22 2003019174 ∞™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. Contents Editor’s Foreword by Jon Woronoff vii Reader’s Notes ix Acronyms and Abbreviations xv Maps xvii Chronology xix Introduction 1 THE DICTIONARY 49 Appendix A: Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic 261 Appendix B: Tables 317 Bibliography 343 About the Author 381 v Editor’s Foreword There is an increasing tendency to give countries, especially developing countries and most particularly newly independent ones, “report cards” showing how well they’ve been doing and even to indicate their re- spective positions. Under these conditions, Kyrgyzstan might receive something like “needs improvement” or come in—more or less—in the second-to-bottom quarter. Shortly after it became independent in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan was regarded as one of the more promising new states. But when the lessons it was obliged to learn were poorly digested (or perhaps the lessons themselves were poorly thought out), it gradually slipped and lost favor. More recently, however, this small country with a mixed population and limited natu- ral resources has been making headway for many reasons: its political system and democracy, civil society, human rights, economic develop- ment, equality, and cooperation with the international community. It is much easier to understand Kyrgyzstan’s indifferent performance as an independent state with some insight into the previous decades and even centuries. The country began as a collection of tribes, and was then poorly absorbed and assimilated into the Russian Empire. Even before becoming an independent state, Kyrgyzstan was more or less rejected by its Soviet masters, classified as a semi-independent “republic.” Not many scholars have studied it, including its own, and not many have written about it; the country has for the most part been lumped together with the Russian and Soviet Empires, and even today normally appears just as part of the Central Asian Republics. So this Historical Dictio- nary of Kyrgyzstan is particularly welcome because it makes up for pre- vious omissions and fills a gap by providing basic information in a read- ily usable format. The dictionary contains the standard entries on significant people, places, and events; organizations and institutions; ethnic and political groups; and salient aspects of the economy, society, vii viii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD and culture. Both the chronology and introduction are unusually helpful in providing an overview of the country’s often halting progress, and the bibliography supplies references in English and other languages. This volume is one of the last Asian/Oceanian Historical Dictionaries, not surprising given the deficit in scholarship on this area of the world. I was therefore quite pleased to find a more than suitable author for this addition to the series. Rafis Abazov graduated from Kyrgyz State Uni- versity, later receiving his kandidat nauk (roughly equivalent to a Ph.D.) from a research institute in Moscow. He subsequently worked with the Centre for Social Research of the Kyrgyz National Academy of Science and has received fellowships to the University of Tokyo and the United Nations University in Tokyo, the University of Reading in the U.K., and La Trobe University in Australia.