bilig WINTER 2018/NUMBER 84 1-21 The Newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” and The Beginning of The Development of The History of The Press in Central Asia* Sundetbayeva Sandugash**1 Abstract “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” (1870-1917 years) was the first printed issue in Central Asia designed to meet the needs of the tsarist colo- nial administration for all round study of the conquered region.This article was written on the basis of archival sources on the history of this newspaper. There were scientific, scientific-practical, scientific and popular ar- ticles on the history, ethnography and folklore of the Central Asian people in the unofficial blog of the newspaper. On the pages of “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” one could find the characteristics of the condition of traditional cattle husbandry, description of the route of nomadic migrations in different regions and such issues were high- lighted as the development of agriculture, methods of farmery and harvesting. Articles about the ethnic culture of the people of Central Asia were regularly appeared on its pages. Researchers, interested in Turkestan region and Central Asia, could find on the pages of “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” an abundance of materials covering all aspects of life of the region, which is proved on the basis of the given scientific article. The political news taking place in society and world, the columns devoting to the World War I catch the eyes of readers. Keywords Turkestanskie Vedomosti, newspaper, printed issue, Turkestan re- gion, Central Asia. * Received: 22 June 2015 - Accepted: 15 August 2017 ** Researcher, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Faculty of Journalism- Almaty/ Kazakhstan [email protected] 1 bilig • Sandugash, The Newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” and The Beginning WINTER 2018/NUMBER 84 of The Development of The History of The Press in Central Asia • Introduction A country, which is aimed at civilization, the issue of newspapers and mag- azines is considered to be an indicator of its cultural development and as a special institution reflecting its political and social-economic state. The history of the development of periodical publications in Central Asia and Kazakhstan dates back to 1870. The representative of the Kazakh intelli- gentsia and Alash Orda Mirzhakip Dulatov said: “The accurate measure of cultural front of every nation and every country represents its printed issues. The nation which has powerful printed issues becomes stronger and more skillful”. We will not be mistaken if we say that his statement is appeared to be a measure of cultural image and informational space of national news- papers and magazines of the late XIXth century and early XXth century (Dulatov 1923). A prominent representative of Kazakh intelligentsia and Alash Orda Ahmet Baitursynov wrote in the dedication to the newspaper “Kazakh” the follow- ings: “According to the statistics 2173 newspapers and magazines were pub- lished in Russia including 1,396 in Russian and 867 in other languages in 1907. In its turn Mirzhakyp Dulatov stated that: “About 2500 newspapers and magazines were published before the revolution in Russia. The number of published newspapers and magazines was high in the countries which were ahead of Russia in its development. In Kazakhstan, Turkestan inhab- ited by Kazakhs and Kyrgyz 42 issues were published until today (1926)”. Then he specifies their names (Baitursynov 1913, Dulatov 1923)1. So, the newspapers and magazines constitute a unique Chronicle which widely cov- er different political and social events, cultural and historical processes of its time. The scientific value of the published materials in the XIXth century and ear- ly XXth century could be compared with archival heritage, as this national developed press described the life of the community and the local popula- tion without hiding anything. If we consider that periodical publications appeared in the period of colonization of Turkestan region by Russia, the protsarist oriented were aimed at the highlighting the life of the Kazakhs and other people of Central Asia. The study of political weight of the first issues is of great importance for science. According to a Bibliographer Alex- andr Alektorov: “A man, who set a goal to explore the history of Turkestan 2 • Sandugash, The Newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” and The Beginning bilig of The Development of The History of The Press in Central Asia • WINTER 2018/NUMBER 84 region, should get acquainted with the newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedo- mosti” (Alektorov 1900: 883). As it is known, the vast majority of the published papers in Russian lan- guage as “Turkestanskie Vedomosti2”, served an ideological weapon of col- onization policy of the Russian Tsar. This problem had not been undergone in-depth study during the Soviet era. The reason for that is the newspapers and magazines of the bourgeois and liberal character tended to write more about the Kazakh region, Siberia, Central Asia and it could lead to improper function of the statement “About the voluntary integration to Russia”. The newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” was closed in 1917 after the estab- lishment of the Soviet power. The newspaper was run by the tsar power and it was one of the reason of the closure of the paper. After gaining the independence, Kazakhstan showed its interest in the study of the history of the periodical publications of the XIXth and early XXth century using new approaches (Kazakh 1998, Aikap 1995, Dala Vilayatinin gazeti 1995). The History of the Development of the First Printed Issue in Central Asia In July 11, 1867 according to the “Provisional Regulations about the Ad- ministration in Semirechensk and Syrdarya regions” Turkestan province was formed. A number of researchers from Russia, as well as representatives of the local science were involved in the study of this region. This activity initiated by first General-Governor of the region Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman (Central’nyi Gosudarstvennyi Arhiv Uzbekistana: Fond I-1, Opis 35, Delo 2: 66, Ubilejnyi nomer k otkrytiyu, 1913). To combine the works and observations of these scientific and literary forces Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman supported the suggestion of a famous region Statistician S.A. Idarov to organize an official body (Otdel’noe mnenie chlena Turkestansko- go 1872). In accordance with the №75 of military national regulation of Turkestan General Gubernator from November 6, 1869 the newspaper “Turkestan- skie Vedomosti” was founded. It required a lot of scientific works and time to print the paper. All this responsibility rested on the first editor of the newspaper a staff Captain Nikolai Mayev and his Assistant, Titular Coun- selor A.K. Lazarev. They were sent to St. Petersburg to purchase newspaper necessities and acquire practical skills (Central’nyi Gosudarstvennyi Arhiv 3 bilig • Sandugash, The Newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” and The Beginning WINTER 2018/NUMBER 84 of The Development of The History of The Press in Central Asia • Uzbekistana: Fond I.-1, Opis 1, Delo 49: 735). This preparatory work took almost a whole year. In March 1870 Nikolai Mayev and A.K. Lazarev re- turned to Tashkent to start printing the paper. In April 28 (May 10) 18703 the first issue of the official newspaper of the “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” published in the printing house of Tashkent military district headquarter. The newspaper differed significantly from the released papers of provin- cial and regional statements. This newspaper was edited by military officers headed by General-Governor (Central’nyi Gosudarstvennyi Arhiv Uzbeki- stana: Fond I-1, Opis 20, Delo 1748: 301, Predislovie, 1870). The government pursued definite goals by publishing “Vedomosti”. The printed word was necessary to the authorities of Turkestan General Guber- nator to conduct and distribute their policy directed to the colonization of local people, as well as to distribute the literacy and education which was dictated by the economic and political development of the region. Thus, the printed word in Turkestan appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century as a new and powerful weapon of class, ideological and political struggle as a mean of solving the significant tasks of the Russian state. The appearance of “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” was one of the elements of Tsarist colonial policy of the Russian Empire. General-Governor of Turk- estan region Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman and the tsarist government set a goal, first of all, to open “... a wide and easily accessible way into the heart of Central Asia”. In other words, the task was to maximally facilitate the colonial occupation of land, as well as to “give everyone the opportunity to follow the performance of a huge work – introduction of a civil order, civilization and complete people security in the country which was under the rule of Islam and Asian despotism” (Central’nyi Gosudarstvennyi Arhiv Uzbekistana: Fond I-1, Opis 34, Delo 346: 91). Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman clearly understood what an enormous assistance would give him the newspaper in realizing this task. He was a Chief Editor during five years of its existence. Only in 1874 Konstantin Pet- rovich Von Kaufman allowed an Editor Nikolai Mayev to inform him about the most important materials intended to be placed in the newspaper. Such reports were done weekly on Fridays, i.e. 4 days before the release of the issue at 8 pm, and sometimes it lasted even after midnight (Dobrosmyslov 1910: 146-148, K 30-letiu “Turkestanskih vedomostei” 1900: 240). 4 • Sandugash, The Newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” and The Beginning bilig of The Development of The History of The Press in Central Asia • WINTER 2018/NUMBER 84 The newspaper was published from 1870 to 1873 in the printing house of the district headquarter, and since 1873 - in the printing house of the Chancery of the Governorate General. During the first year 17 issues were released in the form of 1.5 printed sheets. In 1871 it turned to periodical publication and was published weekly, on Tuesdays. Since 1893 the news- paper was published twice a week – on Sundays and Thursdays, the issue 9 from December 3, 1903 – 3 times a week, the issue 90 from March 2, 1904 – four times a week, from July 3, 1907 it became a daily paper.