The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (TASSR; ; ), originally called the Turkestan Socialist Federative Republic, was an

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Ma ...

of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

located in Soviet Central Asia which existed between 1918 and 1924.

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

were the preeminent nation of the Turkestan ASSR.

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

was the capital and largest city in the region.

Name

History

During the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the Turkestan ASSR's territory was governed as Turkestan Krai, the

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara (, ) was a Muslims, Muslim-Uzbeks, Uzbek polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rive ...

, and the

Khanate of Khiva The Khanate of Khiva (, , uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva xonligi, Хива хонлиги, , ) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarazm, Khorezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid Iran, Afsharid occupat ...

. From 1905, Pan-Turkist ideologues like Ismail Gasprinski aimed to suppress differences among the peoples who spoke

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

, uniting them into one government. This idea was supported by

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, and after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

of 1917, the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s in

created the Turkestan ASSR. But in February 1918, the Islamic Council () and the Council of Intelligentsia (Uzb. ''Shoʻro-i Ulamo'') met in Kokand city and declared a rival Turkestan Autonomous Republic, battling Bolshevik forces until the 1920s as part of the conservative Basmachi rebellion. The Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic was officially proclaimed on 30 April 1918. However, his sphere of influence at this time was limited to only a few railway junctions. In the late 1917, the TSFR was cut off from the RSFSR by the revolt of the Orenburg Cossacks, but held out, despite being surrounded by hostile states, until the arrival of the Red Army in September 1919 after the Counteroffensive of Eastern Front. Meanwhile, a power struggle among the Communists ensued between those favoring a Pan-Turkist government like Turar Ryskulov and Tursun Khojaev, and those in favor of dividing Soviet Turkestan into smaller ethnic or regional units, such as Fayzulla Xoʻjayev and Akmal Ikramov. The latter group won, as national delimitation in Central Asia began in 1924. Upon dissolution, the Turkestan ASSR was split into

Uzbek SSR The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Uzbek branch of the Soviet Communist P ...

(now

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

Turkmen SSR The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Soviet Central Asia, ...

(now

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

) with the Tajik ASSR (now

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast The Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, abbreviated as Kara-Kirghiz AO or KAO in the former region of Soviet Central Asia, was created on 14 October 1924 within the Russian SFSR from the predominantly Kyrgyz part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet ...

(now

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

), and Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast (now

Autonomous Republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Ma ...

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, is an autonomous republic and part of Uzbekistan. It spans the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan. Its capital is Nukus (' / ). Karakalpakstan has an area of , and has a population of a ...

Flag

File:Turkestan Autonomous SSR Flag.svg, Flag of Turkestan ASSR (1919–1920) File:Flag of Turkestan ASSR (1921-1923).svg, Flag of Turkestan ASSR (1921–1924)

Chairmen of the Central Executive Committee

# Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseevich (April – May 1918), Solkin, Andrey Fedorovich, contributor (April – 2 June 1918) #Tobolin, Ivan Osipovich (2 June – 5 October 1918) # Votintsev, Vsevolod Dmitrievich (October 1918 – 19 January 1919) #– (19 January – 31 March 1919) #Kazakov, Aristarkh Andreevich (31 March – July 1919) #Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseevich (July – September 1919) #Apin, Ivan Andreevich (September 1919 – January 1920) # Ryskulov, Turar Ryskulovich (January – 21 July 1920) #Biserov, Mukhammedzhan (21 July – August 1920) # Rakhimbaev, Abdullo Rakhimbaevich (4 August 1920 – May 1921), Khodzhanov Sultanbek, acting, prev. (12 May 1920 – ?) # Tyuryakulov, Nazir Tyuryakulovich (May 1921 – June 1922) #Rakhimbaev, Abdullo Rakhimbaevich (June – October 1922) #Khidir-Aliev, Inagadzhan (October 1922 – 1 January 1924), Dadabaev Butabay, vrid. prev. (August – September 1923) # Aytakov, Nedirbai (9 January – November 1924) Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars ("Turksovnarkom").

References

External links

Uzbekistan
at worldstatesmen.org, accessed 23 July 2009.
AUTONOMOUS TURKESTAN SOCIALIST. THE SOVIET REPUBLIC
{{Coord, 41, 18, 40, N, 69, 16, 47, E, display=title Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Early Soviet republics Soviet Central Asia States and territories established in 1918 States and territories disestablished in 1924 Communism in Kyrgyzstan 20th century in Kyrgyzstan Communism in Uzbekistan 20th century in Uzbekistan Communism in Turkmenistan 20th century in Turkmenistan Communism in Tajikistan 20th century in Tajikistan 1918 establishments in Russia 1924 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Former socialist republics Post–Russian Empire states