80 Years

Ferghana.ru has an unfortunately titled story on the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Uzbek SSR. In a way, it is also the 80th anniversary of Uzbekistan period, even if it included territory it lacks now and lacked territory it includes now.

Decision of the March conference became the starting point of the process of Uzbek statehood in its current borders. It was developed by resolution of the second meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR “On ethnic and territorial delimitation of Central Asia on the basis of peoples’ self-determination” on October 27, 1924.

In accordance with the document, the Uzbek SSR appeared on the map of the Soviet Union – along with the autonomous Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, and Karakyrgyz autonomous region (an element of the RSFSR). The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic that existed before that was divided, most of its territory absorbed by the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic that was a part of the Russian Federation then. Turkestan, Bukhara, and Khorezm central executive committees automatically self-disbanded.

I sometimes find their translations a little confusing and the way that Soviet administrative regions worked doesn’t make the above any easier. Basically, today is also the 80th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s delimitation.

The editorial addition makes this a little easier to understand.

By the late 1880′s the territory of modern Uzbekistan was included in the territories of the Syrdarja, Samarkand, and Ferghana regions of the Turkestan Province, Khiva Khanate, and Bukhara Emirate that were Russian protectorate.

Establishment of the Soviet power in Turkestan was proclaimed in November 1917 – March 1918.

The Khorezm and Bukhara people’s Soviet republics – precursors of Uzbekistan – were established in 1920. Two Soviet republics – Uzbek and Turkmen – were established in Central Asia by the fall 1924. A Tajik autonomy was formed in the Uzbek SSR (it eventually became a republic too), and Gorny Badakhshan Autonomous Region was formed within the autonomy. A part of the territory of Central Asia was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an element of Russia.

Delimitation of the Ferghana Valley split it into three parts divided among Uzbekistan (the towns of Namangan, Andizhan, Margelan, Ferghana), Tajikistan (the town of Khodzhent or Leninabad), and Kyrgyzstan (the towns of Osh, Dzhalal-Abad, Uzgen).

The Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, a part of the Russian Federation before that, was turned over to the Uzbek SSR in 1936. Bostanlyk district of the Kazakh SSR was absorbed by the Uzbek SSR (it became a part of the Tashkent region) in 1956.

This post was written by...

Nathan Hamm – author of 2973 posts on Registan.net.

Nathan is the Founding Editor and Publisher of Registan.net, which he launched in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with private and government clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural and political factors shape risks and opportunities and how organizations can adjust their strategic and operational plans to account for these variables. Nathan is currently seeking research, analysis, and consulting opportunities. He can be contacted via Twitter or email.

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