1.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
2.
Khanate of Kokand
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The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian state that existed from 1709–1876 within the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan. The name of the city and the khanate may also be spelled as Khoqand in modern scholarly literature and he built a citadel as his capital in the small town of Kokand, thus starting the Khanate of Kokand. His son, Abd al-Karim, and grandson, Narbuta Beg, enlarged the citadel, Narbuta Beg’s son Alim was both ruthless and efficient. He hired an army of Tajik highlanders, and conquered the western half of the Fergana Valley, including Khujand. He was assassinated by his brother Omar in 1809, omar’s son, Mohammed Ali, ascended to the throne in 1821 at the age of 12. During his reign, the Khanate of Kokand reached its greatest territorial extent, the Kokand Khanate also housed the Khojas of Kashgar like Jahangir Khoja. Following this, Madali Khan, who had received Conolly in Kokand, the Emir, encouraged by the conspiratorial efforts of several influential figures in Kokand, invaded the khanate in 1842. Shortly thereafter he executed Madali Khan, his brother, and Omar Khans widow, Madali Khan’s cousin, Shir Ali, was installed as the Khan of Kokand in June 1842. Over the next two decades, the khanate was weakened by a civil war, which was further exacerbated by Bukharan and Russian incursions. Shir Ali’s son, Khudayar Khan, ruled from 1845 to 1858, in the meantime, Russia was continuing its advance, on June 28,1865 Tashkent was taken by the Russian troops of General Chernyayev, the loss of Khujand followed in 1867. In 1868, a treaty turned Kokand into a Russian vassal state, the now powerless Khudayar Khan spent his energies improving his lavish palace. Western visitors were impressed by the city of 80,000 people, insurrections against Russian rule and Khudayar’s oppressive taxes forced him into exile in 1875. He was succeeded by his son, Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan, whose anti-Russian stance provoked the annexation of Kokand by Generals Konstantin von Kaufman, in March 1876, Tsar Alexander II stated that he had been forced to. Yield to the wishes of the Kokandi people to become Russian subjects, the Khanate of Kokand was declared abolished, and incorporated into the Fergana Province of Russian Turkestan. Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan fled to India through the Pamirs and he died in 1893 in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. His family is now inhabitant in Mir Tayyab Ghari, Peshawar, the Khans of Kokand had a connection with the Timurid Empire. From the time of the last Timurids to that of the first Khans of Kokand there was a period of more than two hundred years, the Khans genealogy was connected with Babur through a legendary figure, Altun Bishik. In the legend, a baby of Baburs family was left in a bishik when Babur fled prosecution, the child was named Altun Bishik, after its imperial cradle, and in the legend he lived from 918-952 AH / 1512-1545 AD
3.
Qing dynasty
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It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the base for the modern Chinese state. The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, in the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Banners, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into an entity, which he renamed as the Manchus. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, in 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia, the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their title was Emperor, they used khan to the Mongols and they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. They governed using Confucian styles and institutions of government and retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the system in dealing with neighboring territories. The Qianlong reign saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea, New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a conservative leader. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformist monarchists such as Kang Youwei, after the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. The Wuchang Uprising on October 11,1911, led to the Xinhai Revolution, General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on February 12,1912. Nurhaci declared himself the Bright Khan of the Later Jin state in both of the 12–13th century Jurchen Jin dynasty and of his Aisin Gioro clan. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing in 1636, there are competing explanations on the meaning of Qīng. The character Qīng is composed of water and azure, both associated with the water element and this association would justify the Qing conquest as defeat of fire by water
4.
Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
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The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic located in Soviet Central Asia. During the Russian Empire, the Turkestan ASSRs territory was governed as Turkestan Krai, the Emirate of Bukhara, from 1905, Pan-Turkist ideologues like Ismail Gasprinski aimed to suppress differences among the peoples who spoke Turkic languages, uniting them into one government. This idea was supported by Vladimir Lenin, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, but in February 1918, the Islamic Council and the Council of Intelligentsia met in Kokand city and declared a rival Turkestan Autonomous Republic, battling Bolshevik forces until the 1920s. The latter group won, as national delimitation in Central Asia began in 1924, upon dissolution, the Turkestan ASSR was split into Turkmen SSR, Uzbek SSR with the Tajik ASSR, Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, and Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast. Chairmen of the Council of Peoples Commissars Uzbekistan at worldstatesmen. org, accessed 23 July 2009
5.
Flag of Russia
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The flag of Russia is a tricolor flag consisting of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for Russian merchant ships and it remained in use until the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1917. During the Soviet Unions existence, it used the flag with the red field with the hammer and sickle. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the tricolor was re-introduced as the flag of the Russian Federation in 1991 in the 1,2 ratio. The Tsarist tricolor was fully restored in 1993 after the crisis as the current flag. Two accounts of the flags origin connect it to the used by the Dutch Republic. The earliest mention of the flag occurs during the reign of Alexis I, in 1668, and is related to the construction of the first Russian naval ship, the frigate Oryol. A different account traces the origins of the Russian flag to tsar Peter the Greats visits to Arkhangelsk in 1693 and 1694, Peter was keenly interested in shipbuilding in the European style, different from the barges ordinarily used in Russia at the time. In 1693, Peter had ordered a Dutch-built frigate from Amsterdam, in 1694 when it arrived, the Dutch red-white-and-blue banner flew from its stern. Peter decided to model Russias naval flag after this banner by changing the sequence of colors, the Russian tricolour flag was adopted as a merchant flag at rivers in 1705. Two other Slavic countries, Slovakia and Slovenia, have similar to the Russian one. On 7 May 1883, the Russian flag was authorized to be used on land, and it became an official National flag before the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896. From that time period, a 1,2 red flag featuring the abbreviated name RSFSR was used, during the Second World War the white-blue-red tricolor has been used by the collaborationist troops of Andrey Vlasov, who was allied with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union. It was not until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the tricolor was brought back as the flag of the new Russian Federation. The modern era flag underwent a change in 1993 and has been official since 2000. A variant of the flag was authorized for use by Tsar Nicholas II before World War I. Or was never made the state flag. All of the Soviet Republics flags were created by introducing a small, for Russia, the change was an introduction of the left-hand blue band
6.
National anthem
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The majority of national anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The countries of Latin America tend towards more operatic pieces, while a handful of countries use a simple fanfare, a national anthem is usually in the national or most common language of the country, whether de facto or official, there are notable exceptions. Amhrán na bhFiann, the anthem of the Republic of Ireland, was written in English, the current national anthem of South Africa is unique in that five of the countrys eleven official languages are used in the same anthem. One of the two national anthems of New Zealand, God Defend New Zealand, is commonly now sung with the first verse in Māori. The tune is the same but the words are not a translation of each other. God Bless Fiji has lyrics in English and Fijian which are not translations of each other, although official, the Fijian version is rarely sung, and it is usually the English version that is performed at international sporting events. There are several countries that do not have official lyrics to their anthems, one of these is the Marcha Real, the anthem of Spain. In 2007 a national competition to write words was held, other anthems with no words include Inno Nazionale della Repubblica, the anthem of San Marino, and that of Kosovo, entitled Europe. National anthems rose to prominence in Europe during the 19th century, the oldest national anthem belongs to the Netherlands and is called the Wilhelmus. It was written between 1568 and 1572 during the Dutch Revolt, but did not become the anthem until 1932. The Japanese anthem, Kimigayo, has the oldest lyrics, which were taken from a Heian period poem, in contrast, the music of Qaumi Taranah, Pakistans national anthem was composed in 1949, preceding its lyrics, which were written in 1952. The Philippine anthem Lupang Hinirang was composed in 1898 as wordless incidental music for the ceremony declaring independence from the Spanish Empire, the Spanish poem Filipinas was written the following year to serve as the anthems lyrics, the current Tagalog version dates to 1962. Spains national anthem, the Marcha Real, written in 1761, was among the first to be adopted as such, in 1770. Denmark adopted the older of its two national anthems, Kong Christian stod ved højen mast, in 1780, and La Marseillaise, Serbia became the first Eastern European nation to have a national anthem – Rise up, Serbia. – in 1804. Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu, the anthem of Kenya, is one of the first national anthems to be specifically commissioned. It was written by the Kenyan Anthem Commission in 1963 to serve as the anthem after independence from the United Kingdom, National anthems are used in a wide array of contexts. Certain etiquette may be involved in the playing of a countrys anthem and these usually involve military honours, standing up/rising, removing headwear etc. In diplomatic situations the rules may be very formal, there may also be royal anthems, presidential anthems, state anthems etc. for special occasions
7.
God Save the Tsar!
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God Save the Tsar. was the national anthem of the former Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833 and was first performed on 18 December 1833, the composer was violinist Alexei Lvov, and the lyrics were by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which Workers Marseillaise was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government. During the Soviet era, authorities altered Tchaikovskys music, substituting other patriotic melodies, such as the Glory chorus from Mikhail Glinkas opera A Life for the Tsar, charles Gounod uses the theme in his Fantaisie sur lHymne National Russe. William Waltons score for the 1970 film Three Sisters, based on Chekhovs play, is dominated by the theme, in 1842, English author Henry Chorley wrote God, the Omnipotent. Set to Lvovs tune and published in 19th- and 20th-century hymnals as the Russian Hymn. S, maurice Jarres score for the film 1965 film Doctor Zhivago uses this song in several tracks, most notably in the Overture. Russian Anthem Museum ) ) National Anthem Info Brandenburg Historica 2014, military Music and Tradition in Imperial Russia, 1700-1917. „God Save the Tsar. “ in the House of the Union
8.
Tashkent
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Tashkent is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. The officially registered population of the city in 2012 was about 2,309,300, due to its position in Central Asia, Tashkent came under Sogdian and Turkic influence early in its history, before Islam in the 8th century AD. After its destruction by Genghis Khan in 1219, the city was rebuilt, in 1865 it was conquered by the Russian Empire, and in Soviet times witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Soviet Union. Today, as the capital of an independent Uzbekistan, Tashkent retains a multi-ethnic population with ethnic Uzbeks as the majority, during its long history, Tashkent has had various changes in names and political and religious affiliations. Tashkent was settled by ancient people as an oasis on the Chirchik River, in ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer capital of the Kangju confederacy. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the town and the province were known as Chach, the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi also refers to the city as Chach. Later the town came to be known as Chachkand/Chashkand, meaning Chach City, the principality of Chach had a square citadel built around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, some 8 kilometres south of the Syr Darya River. By the 7th century AD, Chach had more than 30 towns, the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng 玄奘, who travelled from China to India through Central Asia, mentioned the name of the city as Zhěshí 赭時. The Chinese chronicles Suí shū 隋書, Běi shǐ 北史 and Táng shū 唐書, in the early 8th century, the region was conquered by Muslim Arabs. The modern Turkic name of Tashkent comes from Kara-Khanid rule in the 10th century, after the 16th century, the name evolved from Chachkand/Chashkand to Tashkand. The modern spelling of Tashkent reflects Russian orthography and 20th-century Soviet influence, the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219 and lost much of its population as a result of the Mongols destruction of the Khwarezmid Empire in 1220. Under the Timurid and subsequent Shaybanid dynasties the citys population and culture gradually revived as a prominent strategic center of scholarship, commerce, in 1809, Tashkent was annexed to the Khanate of Kokand. At the time, Tashkent had a population of around 100,000 and was considered the richest city in Central Asia and it prospered greatly through trade with Russia, but chafed under Kokand’s high taxes. The Tashkent clergy also favored the clergy of Bukhara over that of Kokand, however, before the Emir of Bukhara could capitalize on this discontent, the Russian army arrived. While a small contingent staged an attack, the main force penetrated the walls. Although defense was stiff, the Russians captured the city two days of heavy fighting and the loss of only 25 dead as opposed to several thousand of the defenders. Chernyayev, dubbed the Lion of Tashkent by city elders, staged a campaign to win the population over. The Tsar liberally rewarded Chernyayev and his men with medals and bonuses, but regarded the general as a loose cannon
9.
Russian Empire Census
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The Russian Imperial Census of 1897 was the first and the only census carried out in the Russian Empire. It recorded demographic data as of 28 January 1897, previously, the Central Statistical Bureau issued statistical tables based on fiscal lists. The second Russian Census was scheduled for December 1915, but was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I one and it was not rescheduled before the Russian Revolution. The next census to take place in Russia only occurred at the end of 1926, the census project was suggested in 1877 by Pyotr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, a famous Russian geographer and chief of the Central Statistical Bureau, and was approved by Tsar Nicholas II in 1895. The census was performed in two stages, in the first stage the counters visited all households and filled in the questionnaires, which were verified by local census managers. The counters simultaneously visited all households to verify and update the questionnaires, despite this being the only census they ever took, Historians were able to find out the Russian Empires population in earlier periods of time still from collecting city censuses. The data processing took 8 years using Hollerith card machines, publication of the results started in 1898 and ended in 1905. In total,119 volumes for 89 guberniyas, as well as a summary, were issued. The results of the census are too broad to publish, the total population of the Russian Empire was recorded to be 125,640,021 people. In this case, the population of Russian ethnicity was inflated, thus for example, the number of Poles is underrepresented. Imperial officials classified the Ukrainian and Belarusian languages as belonging to Russian group and labeled those nationalities as Little Russian for Ukrainians, Первая всеобщая перепись населенiя Россiйской Имперiи. Изданiе центральнаго статистическаго комитета министерства внутреннихъ делъ,1905, Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и регионам The First General Census of the Russian Empire of 1897, breakdown of population by mother tongue and districts in 50 Governorates of the European Russia
10.
Population density
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume, it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and most of the time to humans and it is a key geographical term. Population density is population divided by land area or water volume. Low densities may cause a vortex and lead to further reduced fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it, commonly this may be calculated for a county, city, country, another territory, or the entire world. The worlds population is around 7,000,000,000, therefore, the worldwide human population density is around 7,000,000,000 ÷510,000,000 =13.7 per km2. If only the Earths land area of 150,000,000 km2 is taken into account and this includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is also excluded, then population density rises to over 50 people per km2, thus, this number by itself does not give any helpful measurement of human population density. Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates, cities with high population densities are, by some, considered to be overpopulated, though this will depend on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure and access to resources. Most of the most densely populated cities are in Southeast Asia, though Cairo, for instance, Milwaukee has a greater population density when just the inner city is measured, and the surrounding suburbs excluded. Arithmetic density, The total number of people / area of land, physiological density, The total population / area of arable land. Agricultural density, The total rural population / area of arable land, residential density, The number of people living in an urban area / area of residential land. Urban density, The number of people inhabiting an urban area / total area of urban land, ecological optimum, The density of population that can be supported by the natural resources. S. States by population density Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Density
11.
Turkestan
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Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan, literally means Land of the Turks in Persian. It refers to an area in Central Asia between Siberia to the north and Tibet, India and Afghanistan to the south, the Caspian Sea to the west, of Persian origin, the term Turkestan has never referred to a single national state. Muslim geographers first used the word to describe the place of Turkic peoples, Turkestan was used to describe any place where Turkic peoples lived. Anatolia during Ottoman rule was referred to as Turkestan by Ottoman writers, on their way southward during the conquest of Central Asia in the course of the 19th century, the Russians took the city of Turkestan in 1864. Mistaking its name for that of the region, they adopted the name of Turkestan for their new territory. It includes present-day Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang. Often, the history of Turkestan dates back to at least the third millennium BC. Many artifacts were produced in that period, and much trade was conducted, the region was a focal point for cultural diffusion, as the Silk Road traversed it. Turkestan covers the area of Central Asia and acquired its Turkic character from the 4th to 6th centuries AD with the incipient Turkic expansion, Huns conquered the area after they conquered Kashgaria in the early 2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns empire, Chinese rulers took over Eastern Turkestan, arab forces captured it in the 8th century. The Persian Samanid dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success, the entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the Göktürks until the conquest by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in 1220. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son, Chagatai and the became the Chagatai Khanate. Timur took over the portion of Turkestan in 1369 and the area became part of the Timurid Empire. Eastern portion of Turkestan was also called Mogulistan, and continued to be ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan, known as Turan to the Persians, western Turkestan has also been known historically as Sogdiana, Ma waraun-nahr, and Transoxiana by Western travellers. Tajiks and Russians form sizable non-Turkic minorities and it is subdivided into Afghan Turkestan and Russian Turkestan in the West, and Xinjiang in the East. Aladdin, an Arabic Islamic story which is set in China, the title Malik al-Mashriq wal-Ṣīn was bestowed by the Abbāsid Caliph upon the Tamghaj Khan, the Samarqand Khaqan Yūsuf b. Western Liaos rule over Muslim Central Asia reinforced these Muslims view that Central Asia was a Chinese territory. For example, Turkestan and Chīn were identified with each other by Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārak Shāh, with China being identified as the country where the cities of Balāsāghūn, the Liao Chinese traditions and the Qara Khitais clinging helped the Qara Khitai avoid Islamization and conversion to Islam. The Qara Khitai used Chinese and Central Asian features in their administrative system, although in modern Urdu Chin means China, Chin referred to Central Asia in Muhammad Iqbals time, which is why Iqbal wrote that Chin is ours in his song Tarana-e-Milli
12.
Governorate (Russia)
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A governorate, or a guberniya, was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire and the early Russian SFSR. The term is translated as government, governorate, or province. A governorate was ruled by a governor, a word borrowed from Latin gubernator, sometimes the term guberniya was informally used to refer to the office of a governor. Selected governorates were united under a governor general such as Grand Duchy of Finland, Tsardom of Poland, Russian Turkestan. There also were military governors such as Kronshtadt, Vladivostok, aside of governorates, other types of divisions were oblasts and okrugs. This subdivision type was created by the edict of Peter the Great on December 18,1708 On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them, in 1719, guberniyas were further subdivided into provinces. Later the number of guberniyas was increased to 23, the term guberniya, however, still remained in use. These viceroyalties were governed by namestniki or governors general, correspondingly, the term governorate general was in use to refer to the actual territory being governed. The office of general had more administrative power and was in a higher position than the previous office of governor. Sometimes a governor general ruled several guberniyas, for the guberniya as subdivisions of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, see Administrative division of Congress Poland and Governorates of the Grand Duchy of Finland. For the guberniya as subdivisions of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic and the Ukrainian SSR, after the February Revolution, the Russian Provisional Government renamed governors into guberniya commissars. The October Revolution left the subdivision in place, but the apparatus was replaced by guberniya soviets. Actual subdivisions of the Soviet Union into particular territorial units was subject to numerous changes, eventually, in 1929, the subdivision was replaced by the notions of oblast, okrug, and raion. In post-Soviet republics such as Russia and Ukraine, the term Guberniya is obsolete, there is another archaic meaning of the word as the word denoted a type of estate in former Lithuania of the Russian Empire till 1917. History of the division of Russia List of governorates of the Russian Empire Governorate-General GOELRO plan Ignatov. History of state administration of Russia
13.
Kazakh Steppe
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Before the mid-nineteenth century it was called the Kirghiz steppe, Kirghiz being an old name for the Kazakhs. The steppe extends more than 2,200 km from the area east of the Caspian Depression and north of the Aral Sea and it is the largest dry steppe region on earth, covering approximately 804,500 square kilometers. The Kazakh Steppe lies at the end of the Ural Mountains. Much of the steppe is considered to be semi-desert, grading into desert as one further south. The Turan Lowland lies in the part of the steppe. The Pontic Steppe lies to the west and northwest, to the south lies the Kazakh semi-desert and the Kazakh upland ecoregions. The Kokchetav Massif in north-central Kazakhstan harbors an enclave of the Kazakh upland, the region has a semi-arid, continental climate, with most of the area falling under the BSk classification under the Köppen climate classification system. The steppe receives from 200mm to 400mm of precipitation in an average year, average temperatures in July range from 20C to 26C, and -12C to -18C in January. Very high winds sweep across the plains at times, because of low rainfall, the steppe has few trees, and consists of mostly grasslands and large, sandy areas. Animals that can be found in the steppes of Kazakhstan include the Saiga Antelope, Siberian Roe Deer, wolves, foxes, badgers, Mongolian gerbils, the western part of the Kazakh Steppe is very sparsely populated, with between two and three people per square kilometer. As one heads east across the plains, the density increases to between four and seven people per square kilometer. Kazakh people make up the majority of the living in the area. Russia leases approximately 7,360 square kilometers in the region of the steppe for the worlds oldest space launch facility. The movie Tulpan was shot and set in the Kazakh Steppe, saryarka — Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan West Siberian Plain Category - Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands CIA, The World Factbook,2004 World Wildlife Fund. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08, saudi Aramco World, surfbirds. com, Map of the Kazakh Steppe
14.
Emirate of Bukhara
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The Emirate of Bukhara was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana and its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarkand and the emirates capital, Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarezm, and it is now within the boundaries of Uzbekistan. The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of rulership by the Manghit emir, Shah Murad. Moreover, both of its neighbors, the Khanate of Khiva and the Kokand Khanate, as well as its predecessor, in 1747, after Nadir Shahs death, the ataliq Muhammad Rahim Bi murdered Abulfayz Khan and his son, ending the Janid dynasty. From then on the emirs allowed puppet khans to rule until, following the death of Abu l-Ghazi Khan, in 1868, the emirate lost a war with Imperial Russia, which had colonial aspirations in the region. Russia annexed much of the territory, including the important city of Samarkand. In 1873 the remainder became a Russian protectorate, and was surrounded by the Governorate-General of Turkestan. The Red Army launched an assault in March 1920. The Emirate of Bukhara was conquered by the Bolsheviks and replaced with the Bukharan Peoples Soviet Republic, today the territory of the defunct emirate lies mostly in Uzbekistan, with parts in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It had also included present northern Afghanistan between 1793 and 1850, the emirs daughter Shukria Raad Alimi worked as a broadcaster in Radio Afghanistan. Shukria Raad left Afghanistan with her three months after Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979. With her husband, also a journalist, and two children she fled to Pakistan, and then through Germany to the United States, in 1982, she joined the VOA, and has worked as a broadcaster for VOAs Dari Service, editor, host and producer. Located along important trading routes, Bukhara enjoyed a cultural mixture, including Persian, Uzbek. The city of Bukhara has a history of Persian architecture and literature. Prominent artists of the include the poet Kiromi Bukhoroi, the calligrapher Mirza Abd al-Aziz Bukhari. Throughout this period, the madrasahs of the region were renowned, pink Rows Signifies progenitor chiefs serving as Tutors & Viziers to the Khans of Bukhara. Green Rows Signifies chiefs who took over reign of government from the Janids, the Russian conquest of the Bukharan Emirate, military and diplomatic aspects in Central Asian Survey, Volume 33, issue 2,2014, p. 180-198
15.
Khanate of Khiva
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The Khanate of Khiva was a Central Asian Turkic state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740–1746. The Khans were the descendants of Shayban, the fifth son of Jochi. It covered present western Uzbekistan, southwestern Kazakhstan and much of Turkmenistan before Russian arrival at second half of 19th century, in 1873, the Khanate of Khiva was much reduced in size and became a Russian protectorate. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Khiva had a revolution too, in 1924, the area was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union and today is largely a part of Karakalpakstan and Xorazm Province in Uzbekistan. The region that would become the Khanate of Khiva was a part of the Chagatai Khanate with its capital at Old Urgench, however, Timur regarded the state as a rival to Samarkand, and after a course of five campaigns, he destroyed Old Urgench completely in 1388. In 1505, Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani captured Khwarezm from the Timurids, the Safavids defeated Shaybani in 1510 and took control of the region. But in 1511, the Uzbek group the Yadigarid Shaybanids rebelled against Safavid rule, due to a shift in the course of the Amu-Darya in 1576, Old Urgench was finally abandoned. The political center of the region shifted southward, and, in 1619, much of Khivas later history was framed against the khanates relationship with the great powers Russia and Britain. Upon receiving the men, the Khivan khan, Shir Ghazi, set up camp under the pretense of goodwill, then ambushed and slaughtered the envoys, peter the Great, indebted after wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, did nothing. The khanate was a dependency of Nadir Shahs Persia between 1740-1747, Tsar Paul I also attempted to conquer the khanate, but his expedition was woefully undermanned and undersupplied, and was recalled en route due to his assassination. Tsar Alexander I had no ambitions, and it was under Tsars Nicholas I. A notable episode during The Great Game involved a Russian expedition to Khiva in 1839, the expedition, led by General V. A. Perovsky, the commander of the Orenburg garrison, consisted of 5,200 infantry, at the same time, Britain, anxious to annex Khiva, launched its own effort to free the slaves. Major Todd, the senior British political officer stationed in Herat dispatched Captain James Abbott, disguised as an Afghan, on Christmas Eve,1839, for Khiva. Abbott arrived in late January 1840 and, although the khan was suspicious of his identity and he left on 7 March 1840, for Fort Alexandrovsk, and was subsequently betrayed by his guide, robbed, then released when the bandits realized the origin and destination of his letter. His superiors in Herat, not knowing of his fate, sent another officer, Lieutenant Richmond Shakespear, after him. Shakespear had more success than Abbott, he convinced the khan to free all Russian subjects under his control, the freed slaves and Shakespear arrived in Fort Alexandrovsk on 15 August 1840, and Russia lost its primary motive for the conquest of Khiva, for the time being. A permanent Russian presence on the Aral Sea began in 1848 with the building of Fort Aralsk at the mouth of the Syr Darya
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Syr-Darya Oblast
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Syr-Darya Oblast was one of the oblasts of the Russian Empire was part of Russian Turkistan. It was founded after annexing northwestern part of Khanate of Kokand, Chimkent and it bordered with Turgay Oblast, Akmola Oblast, Semirechye Oblast, Samarkand Oblast, Fergana Oblast, and semi-independent states of Khanate of Khiva and Emirate of Bukhara. The area of 504,700 km ², the greatest stretch of longitude - about 1173 kilometers in width is about -747 km. Syr-Darya region occupied by about 70% of the total area Turkestan, with the exception of the regional city of Tashkent as having 155,673 residents in the Syr-Darya region of large cities do not. With the exception of Russian - and some Orthodox Old Believers and other Europeans, Christians and Jews, today, the territory of the former Syr-Darya Oblast is in eastern Uzbekistan and southeastern of Kazakhstan. Syr Darya region on the map of Turkestan,1.25 MB Library Tsarskoye Selo, a book on the history of the Syrdarya Region, PDF
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Astrakhan
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Astrakhan is a city in southern Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on two banks of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of 28 meters below sea level. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 520,339, the oldest economic and cultural center of the Lower Volga, it is often called the southernmost outpost of Russia and the Caspian capital. The city is located in the part of the Volga delta. The distance to Moscow by road is 1,411 kilometers, Astrakhan is in the Volga Delta, which is rich in sturgeon and exotic plants. The fertile area formerly contained the capitals of Khazaria and the Golden Horde, Astrakhan was first mentioned by travelers in the early 13th century as Xacitarxan. Tamerlane burnt it to the ground in 1395, from 1459 to 1556, Xacitarxan was the capital of Astrakhan Khanate. The ruins of medieval settlement were found by archaeologists 12 km upstream from the modern-day city. In 1556, the khanate was conquered by Ivan the Terrible and this year is traditionally considered to be the foundation of the modern city. In 1569, during the Russo-Turkish War, Astrakhan was besieged by the Ottoman army, a year later, the Ottoman sultan renounced his claims to Astrakhan, thus opening the entire Volga River to Russian traffic. The Ottoman Empire, though defeated, insisted on safe passage for Muslim pilgrims. In the 17th century, the city was developed as a Russian gate to the Orient, many merchants from Armenia, Safavid Persia, Mughal India and Khiva khanate settled in the town, giving it a cosmopolitan character. For seventeen months in 1670–1671, Astrakhan was held by Stenka Razin, the city rebelled against the Tsar once again in 1705, when it was held by the Cossacks under Kondraty Bulavin. A Kalmuck khan laid a siege to the kremlin several years before that. In 1711, it became the seat of a governorate, whose first governors included Artemy Petrovich Volynsky, six years later, Astrakhan served as a base for the first Russian venture into Central Asia. It was granted town status in 1717, in 1702,1718 and 1767, it suffered severely from fires, in 1719 it was plundered by the Safavid Persians, and in 1830, cholera killed much of the populace. Astrakhans kremlin was built from the 1580s to the 1620s from bricks taken from the site of Sarai Berke and its two impressive cathedrals were consecrated in 1700 and 1710, respectively. Built by masters from Yaroslavl, they retain many features of Russian church architecture
18.
Orenburg
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Orenburg is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia, lies on the River Ural,1,478 kilometers southeast of Moscow. Its geographical location is in the boundary of Europe and Asia, Orenburg is also very close to the border with Kazakhstan. The city is in the basin of the current of the River Ural. The highest point of the city is 154.4 meters, several historians have tried to explain the origins of the citys name. It was traditionally accepted that the word means a fortress on the River Or. In all probability, the word combination orenburg was proposed by I. K, kirillov, who was the founder of the city. In 1734, in accordance with his project, a package of documents was worked out. This was the point for Orenburg as a fortress city near the place where the Or. On 7 June 1734, A Privilege for Orenburg was ordered by Empress Anna Ivanovna, while a construction site of the main fortress changed many times, the very name Orenburg has not changed since its founding in 1743. Between 1938 and 1957, the city was referred to as Chkalov, named after the famous Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov, although he was not born in and never lived in Orenburg, and never visited Orenburg. In 1954, Chkalovs 5-meter bronze sculpture was erected on the occasion of his 50th birth anniversary, Orenburg is unofficially called the Asian capital of Russia. In 1734, the Russian Empire began expanding its control and influence in Asia starting from the construction of the city called Orenburg on its eastern border. For this purpose, a settlement was founded here in 1735 - at the place where the Or, the initial site was chosen for settlement during the expedition of I. K. Kirilov, who initiated developmental activities in the region and he argued that the city was necessary. for opening up transit routes to Bukhara, Badakhshan, Bulk, and to India, making it possible to receive wealth from there — gold, lapis lazuli, and garnet. After his death, a new administrator of the Orenburg expedition and he did not considered this place to be convenient for construction of the city, because it was constantly flooded by the spring high waters. This encouraged to launch in 1739 preparations for building a new town with the old name downstream the river Ural on the mountain Krasnaya, the old settlement was named the Orsk fortress. On 6 August 1741, the new town was founded, however, its construction did not start. The location on the mountain Krasnaya — treeless, rocky and remote from the river — was also inappropriate for building the town, a new administrator of the Orenburg expedition, Ivan Neplyuyev, was appointed
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Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky
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Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky, born Devlet-Girei-mırza, was a Russian officer of Circassian origin who led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia. A Muslim by birth, and the son of one of Kabardas rulers, Alexander converted to Christianity and joined the Russian service, although the dates and circumstances of these events are not on record. In 1707, he was commissioned by Peter the Great to study navigation in Western Europe, from there, he was sent back to his native Kabarda and persuaded some powerful men there to support the Russian Tsar in his operations against the Ottoman Empire. Prince Gagarin, who was a governor at that time. They returned with a sack of sand, allegedly extracted from the Oxus. The fable was given credit, and the Turkmen brought to St. Petersburg. Tsar Peter, informed about the wealth of Khiva, was desperately in need of gold to proceed with the Great Northern War. On 14 February 1716 a contingent of 7,000 troops was placed under the command of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky as a Muslim by birth, Bekovich-Cherkassky received these orders in Astrakhan, where he was engaged in the surveying work, preparing the first map of the Caspian Sea. He was promoted captain and commanded an expedition in Turkmenistan. He left some of the Cossacks on his way in order to set up the forts in Krasnovodsk and Alexandrovsk, back in Astrakhan by February 1717, Bekovich raised another army and started towards Khiva, together with some engineers and land surveyors. It was many months later that several Tatars returned and brought the news of the catastrophe that befell the Khivan expedition. The newly built forts in Turkmenistan were at once evacuated, what exactly happened with Bekovich-Cherkassky remains a matter of some controversy. According to a few surviving members of his contingent, they advanced to within 120 km from Khiva, after three days of bloody fighting, the Khivans were routed. Seeing that the enemy was very numerous, Bekovich-Cherkassky understood that diplomacy had a chance of success. The Russian officer, accompanied only by 500 of his men, the khan pretended to surrender to him, welcomed him warmly, persuading him to divide the Russian army to dwell in five separate towns in order to facilitate foraging. The Khivans then attacked the five towns one by one, slaughtering most Russians, selling the others as slaves, Peter the Great did nothing to avenge the defeat since he was still occupied by the war with Sweden, and also by the hostility of the Ottoman Empire. It was more than a century later that the Russian Empire resumed its military expeditions into Central Asia, Khivan campaign of 1839 Khivan campaign of 1873 Archive of documents pertaining to the Bekovich-Cherkassky Expedition
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Peter the Great
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Peter the Great, Peter I or Peter Alexeyevich ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan V. Through a number of successful wars he expanded the Tsardom into a larger empire that became a major European power. He led a revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, westernized. Peters reforms made an impact on Russia and many institutions of Russian government trace their origins to his reign. From an early age, Peters education was put in the hands of tutors, most notably Nikita Zotov, Patrick Gordon. On 29 January 1676, Tsar Alexis died, leaving the sovereignty to Peters elder half-brother and this position changed when Feodor died in 1682. As Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the Miloslavsky family and Naryshkin family over who should inherit the throne, Peters other half-brother, Ivan V, was next in line for the throne, but he was chronically ill and of infirm mind. Consequently, the Boyar Duma chose the 10-year-old Peter to become Tsar with his mother as regent and this arrangement was brought before the people of Moscow, as ancient tradition demanded, and was ratified. Sophia Alekseyevna, one of Alexis daughters from his first marriage, in the subsequent conflict some of Peters relatives and friends were murdered, including Matveev, and Peter witnessed some of these acts of political violence. The Streltsy made it possible for Sophia, the Miloslavskys and their allies, to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, Sophia acted as regent during the minority of the sovereigns and exercised all power. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat, a large hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, while feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and this throne can be seen in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow. Peter was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his name and he engaged in such pastimes as shipbuilding and sailing, as well as mock battles with his toy army. Peters mother sought to force him to adopt a conventional approach. The marriage was a failure, and ten years later Peter forced his wife to become a nun, by the summer of 1689, Peter planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by two unsuccessful Crimean campaigns. When she learned of his designs, Sophia conspired with the leaders of the Streltsy, Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars. Peter forced Sophia to enter a convent, where she gave up her name, still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Natalya Naryshkina and it was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an independent sovereign
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Mikhail Chernyayev
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Mikhail Grigorievich Chernyayev was a Russian general, who, together with Konstantin Kaufman and Mikhail Skobelev, led the Russian conquest of Central Asia under Alexander II. A member of a family, he was educated at the Nicholas Staff College, entered the army in 1847. He did duty on the staff of the Army of the Caucasus for a time, wintering at Chimkent, he captured Tashkent the following year. He bought, and edited with success, the Russkiy Mir in Slavonic interests. He rashly proclaimed Milan Obrenović IV King Milan I of Serbia in September, and in October Aleksinac and Deligrad were in the hands of the Turks, an armistice was concluded, and Chernyayev resigned his command. In 1877 he visited Austria in connection with his propaganda, but was expelled, in 1879 he organized a Bulgarian rising, but was arrested at Adrianople and sent back to Russia. In 1886 his opposition to the Central Asian Military railway caused him to lose his seat in the council, Chernyayev died in 1898 at his country seat in Mogilev Governorate. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Tchernaiev
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Khujand
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Khujand, formerly Khodjend or Khodzhent until 1936 and Leninabad until 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan and the capital of the northernmost province of Tajikistan, now called Sughd. Khujand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, dating back about 2,500 years and it is situated on the Syr Darya at the mouth of the Fergana Valley and was a major city along the ancient Silk Road. Khujand is the site of Cyropolis which was established when king Cyrus the Great founded the city during his last expedition against the Saka tribe of Massagetae shortly before his death. Alexander the Great later built his furthest Greek settlement near Cyropolis in 329 BC, the city would form a bastion for the Greek settlers against the nomadic Scythian tribes who lived north of the Syr Darya River. According to the Roman writer Curtius, Alexandria Ultima retained its Hellenistic culture as late as 30 BCE, the city became a major staging point on the northern Silk Road. It also became a hub and several famous Persian poets and scientists came from this city. Khujand was captured by the Muslim armies in the early 8th century under Qutayba ibn Muslim, in the late 9th century, however, it reverted to local rule and eventually incorporated into the Samanid Empire. It came under the rule of the Kara-Khanid Khanate in 999 but after the division of Kara Khanids in 1042, it was part of Eastern Kara Khanids. Karakhitans conquered it in 1137, but it passed to Khwarazmshahs in 1211, in the 14th century, the city was part of the Chagatai Khanate until it was incorporated into the Timurid Dynasty in the late 14th century. The Shaybanid dynasty of Bukhara next annexed Khojand, until it was taken over by the Kokand Khanate in 1802, in 1866, as most of Central Asia was occupied by Russian Empire, the city became part of the Russian Governorate of Turkestan. The threat of forced conscription during World War I led to protests in the city in July 1916, in 1929, it was incorporated into the Soviet Republic of Tajikistan after being part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic between 1924 and 1929. The city was renamed Leninabad on 10 January 1936 and it remained part of the Soviet Union until 1991, with the independence of Tajikistan, Khujand became the second largest city in the nation. It reverted to its original name in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 1996 the city experienced the Ashurov protests during which citizens called for the President, the popular protests were followed by a protest from the citys prisoners, many of whom had been sentenced to long jail terms for minor crimes and who were living in poor conditions. The protest led to the Khujand prison riot in which between 24 and 150 prisoners were killed, in the early 2000s many residents of Khujand had little to no access to water, and what water they did have was unsafe to drink and had to be boiled. Residents pay for their supply, which in turn helps Khujands municipal water company to continue to renovate. The project is in its stage of development, and should be completed by 2017. Khujand Airport has regularly scheduled flights to Dushanbe as well as international destinations. There is also a connection between Khujand and Samarkand in Uzbekistan on the way to Dushanbe
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Jizzakh
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Jizzakh is a city and the center of Jizzakh Region in Uzbekistan, northeast of Samarkand. The population of Jizzakh on April 24,2014, was approximately 152,642, Jizzakh was an important Silk Road junction on the road connecting Samarkand with Fergana Valley. It is at the edge of Golodnaya Steppe, and next to the strategic Pass of Jilanuti in the Turkestan Mountains, controlling the approach to the Zeravshan Valley, Samarkand and Bukhara. The name Jizzakh derives from the Sogdian word for small fort, after the Arab conquest of Sogdiana, Jizzakh served as a market town between the nomadic raiders and settled farmers. The Arabs built a series of rabats at Jizzakh, housing ghazis to protect the people, by the 19th century, these blockhouses had evolved into a major fortress for the Emirate of Bukhara. Russian General Mikhail Chernyayev, the “Lion of Tashkent” failed in his first attempt to take Jizzakh, the old town was mostly destroyed, its remaining inhabitants evicted, and Russian settlers brought in. In 1916, Jizzakh was the center of an anti-Russian uprising, in 1917, Jizzakh most famous native son, Sharof Rashidov, future secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, was born. Modern Jizzakh is quietly tree-lined European, with almost nothing remaining of the pre-Rashidov era, the city has two universities, with a total of approximately 7,000 students, and is home to a football team, Sogdiana Jizzakh, which plays in the Uzbek League. Sharof Rashidov Memorial Museum Provincial Museum Patokh Chodiev Hamid Olimjon Sharof Rashidov JZ. UZ - Information portal of Jizzakh region
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Istaravshan
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Istaravshan is a city in Sughd Province in Tajikistan. Located in the foothills of the Turkistan mountain range,78 kilometers southwest of Khujand, Istaravshan is one of the oldest cities in Tajikistan. Before 2000, it was known as Ура́-Тюбе in Russian, Уротеппа in Tajik, the city lies on the main road connecting Tajikistans two largest cities, Khujand and Dushanbe. The accompanying 1923 map of gives the location of the ancient city of Cyropolis as being a close approximation to that of modern-day Istaravshan. List of cities in Tajikistan Osrūshana Official web site Istaravshan RISOL Internet Learning Center Istaravshan IREX OpenStreetMap
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Samarkand
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Samarkand, alternatively Samarqand or Samarcand, is a city in modern-day Uzbekistan and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, at times Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of Central Asia, by the time of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. The city was taken by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, the city was ruled by a succession of Iranian, Persian, and Turkic peoples until the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered Samarkand in 1220. Today, Samarkand is the capital of Samarqand Region, and Uzbekistans second largest city, the city is noted for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur and is the site of his mausoleum, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the citys most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city, the city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts, embroidery, gold embroidery, silk weaving, engraving on copper, ceramics, carving, and painting on wood. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures, the name probably originates in the Sogdian words asmara, stone, rock and kand, fort, town. Along with Bukhara, Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia, archeological excavations held within the city limits as well as suburban areas unearthed evidence of human activity as early as 40,000 years old, in the late Paleolithic era. A group of Mesolithic era archeological sites were discovered at Sazagon-1, Zamichatosh, the Syob and Dargom canals, supplying the city and its suburbs with water, appeared around the 7th to 5th centuries BC. There is no evidence when Samarkand was founded. Researchers of the Institute of Archeology of Samarkand argue for the existence of the city between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Samarkand has been one of the main centres of Sogdian civilization from its early days. By the time of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia it had become the capital of the Sogdian satrapy, Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BC. The city was known as Maracanda by the Greeks, written sources offer small clues as to the subsequent system of government. They tell of an Orepius who became ruler not from ancestors, while Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexanders initial conquest, the city recovered rapidly and under the new Hellenic influence flourished. There were also major new construction techniques, oblong bricks were replaced with square ones and superior methods of masonry, Alexanders conquests introduced into Central Asia classical Greek culture, at least for a time the Greek models were followed closely by the local artisans. After the Kushan era the city declined, it did not really revive until the 5th century, Samarkand was conquered by the Sassanians around 260 AD. Under Sassanian rule, the became an essential site for Manichaeism. After the Hephtalites conquered Samarkand, they controlled it until the Göktürks, in an alliance with the Sassanid Persians, the Turks ruled over Samarkand until they were defeated by the Sassanids during the Göktürk–Persian Wars
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Zeravshan River
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Zarafshan River is a river in Central Asia. Its name, spreader of gold in Persian, refers to the presence of gold-bearing sands in the reaches of the river. To the ancient Greeks it was known as the Polytimetus and it was also formerly known as Sughd River. Tajikistan aims to construct several hydro-electric power stations on Zerafshan River and has signed the MOU in November 2013 with Zarvon Corporation for the financing, all previous MOUs have been voided. Zarafshan, a city in Uzbekistans Navoiy Province, called the capital of Uzbekistan. Zarafshan Rines, George Edwin, ed. Zerafshan, Бартольд К Истории Орошения в Туркестане1965 V. V
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The Great Game
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This resulted in an atmosphere of distrust and the constant threat of war between the two empires. This would protect India and also key British sea trade routes by stopping Russia from gaining a port on the Persian Gulf or the Indian Ocean, Russia proposed Afghanistan as the neutral zone. Historians consider that the Great Game ended on 10 September 1895 with the signing of the Pamir Boundary Commission protocols, the 1901 novel Kim by Rudyard Kipling, made the term popular and introduced the new implication of great power rivalry. It became even more popular after 1979, the term the Great Game was used well before the 19th century and was associated with games of risk, such as cards and dice. The French equivalent Le grand jeu dates back to at least 1585 and is associated with meanings of risk, chance, the term The Great Game is attributed to Captain Arthur Conolly who had been appointed as a political officer. In July 1840, in correspondence to Major Henry Rawlinson who had recently appointed as the new political agent in Kandahar, Conolly wrote, Youve a great game. The expediency, nay the necessity of them will be seen, One common popular use of the term is related to spies and their military value or political influence on the peoples of a region. It was introduced into mainstream consciousness by the British novelist Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim and it was first used academically by Professor H. W. C. The use of the term The Great Game to describe Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia became common only after the Second World War and it was rarely used before that period. The start of the 19th Century saw the Indian subcontinent ruled in part by independent princely states, during the 19th Century a political and diplomatic confrontation existed between Britain and Russia over Afghanistan. It later became known as The Great Game and this resulted in an atmosphere of distrust and the constant threat of war between the two empires. If Russia were to control of the Emirate of Afghanistan. Napoleon had proposed a joint Franco-Russian invasion of India to his Imperial Majesty Paul I of Russia. In 1801 Paul, fearing a future action by the British against Russia and her allies in Europe, decided to make the first move towards where he believed the British Empire was weakest. He wrote to the Ataman of the Don Cossacks Troops, Cavalry General Vasily Petrovich Orlov, directing him to march to Orenburg, conquer the Central Asian Khanates, Paul was assassinated in the same year and the invasion was terminated. Napoleon tried to persuade Pauls son, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, to invade India, in 1807, Napoleon dispatched General Claude Matthieu, Count Gardane on a French military mission to Persia, with the intention of persuading Russia to invade India. However, Britain was left with concerns about being able to defend India, in 1810, Lieutenant Henry Pottinger and Captain Charles Christie undertook an expedition from Nushki to Isfahan disguised as Muslims. After the disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 and the collapse of the French army, following the Treaty of Turkmenchay 1828 and the Treaty of Adrianople, Britain feared that Persia and Turkey would become protectorates of Russia
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Governor-general
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Governor-General or governor general, in modern usage, is the title of an office-holder appointed to represent the monarch of a sovereign state in the governing of an independent realm. Governors-General have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, in modern usage, the term governor-general originated in those British colonies which became self-governing within the British Empire. In these cases, the Crowns representative in the federated Dominion was given the title of governor general. Another non-federal state, Newfoundland, was a Dominion for 16 years with the Kings representative retaining the title of governor throughout this time, since 2016, the title governor-general has been given to all representatives of the sovereign in independent Commonwealth realms. In these countries the governor-general acts as the representative, performing the ceremonial and constitutional functions of a head of state. The only other nation which uses the designation is Iran. In Iran, the authority is headed by a governor general. As such they held the prerogative powers of the monarch. The monarch or imperial government could overrule any governor-general, though this could often be cumbersome, the governors-general are entitled to wear a unique uniform, which are not generally worn today. If of the rank of general, equivalent or above. The report resulting from the 1926 Imperial Conference stated, in other words, the political reality of a self-governing Dominion within the British Empire with a governor-general answerable to the sovereign became clear. British interference in the Dominion was not acceptable and independent country status was clearly displayed, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were clearly not controlled by the United Kingdom. The governor-general, however, is appointed by the monarch. Executive authority is vested in the monarch, though much of it can be exercisable only by the governor-general on behalf of the sovereign of the independent realm. Except in rare cases, the only acts in accordance with constitutional convention and upon the advice of the national prime minister. The governor-general is still the representative of the sovereign and performs the same duties as they carried out historically. In some realms, the monarch could in principle overrule a governor-general, in Australia the present Queen is generally assumed to be head of state, since the governor-general and the state governors are defined as her representatives. However, since the governor-general performs almost all national regal functions, to a lesser extent, uncertainty has been expressed in Canada as to which officeholder—the monarch, the governor general, or both—can be considered the head of state
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Konstantin von Kaufman
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Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufmann was the first Governor-General of Russian Turkestan. His family was German in origin, but had been in the service of the Tsars for over 100 years, Kaufman graduated from Nikolayev Engineering Institute, now Military Engineering-Technical University, as a military engineer. Von Kaufman entered the engineering field in 1838, served in the campaigns in the Caucasus, was promoted to the rank of colonel. On the capitulation of Kars he was deputed to settle the terms with General William Fenwick Williams, in 1861, he became director-general of engineers at the War Office, assisting Count Dmitry Milyutin, the Minister of War, in the reorganization of the army. The western part of the Khanate of Kokand along the Syr Darya had already captured. He accomplished a successful campaign in 1868 against the Emirate of Bukhara, capturing Samarkand, during the Khivan campaign of 1873, he attacked Khanate of Khiva, took the capital, and forced the Khan to become a vassal of Russia. This was followed in 1875 by the campaign against Kokand, in which Kaufmann defeated the khan, Nasreddin, after an anti-Russian uprising against the previous ruler. The fiction of Kokands independence was ended, and the rump of the Khanate in the Ferghana Valley was annexed. This rapid absorption of these Khanates brought Russia into proximity to Afghanistan, the various temporary statutes under which Turkestan was administered from 1867-1886 gave von Kaufman a great deal of latitude in policy. In 1868 he contacted experts in Moscow to identify Alexie to create an expedition to document the countries natural history, whilst Kaufman was still extending the borders of the Russian Empire, he was creating a team to investigate and document the new territory. Kaufmans team included statisticians, the Fedchenkos, the war artist Vasily Vereshchagin, Kaufman wanted an investigation of a newly and scarcely explored region. Kaufman set up a Tashkent outpost of the Moscow Society of Devotees of Natural Science, Anthropology, the Fenchenkos made three separate explorations between 1868 and 1872. Kaufman targeted the 1872 Moscow All-Russian Technical Exhibition as an opportunity to display the research of this new part of the Russian empire. Skobelev, although being the military governor of the Fergana valley, directing matters from Margelan. General Cherniaev, the conqueror of Tashkent in 1865, was appointed as his successor, there are various species of plants are named after him including Eremurus kaufmannii, Eremostachys kaufmanniana, Tulipa kaufmanniana, Gentiana kaufmanniana, and Statice kaufmanniana. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Kaufmann. «Кауфман» in the Русский Биографический Словарь, jean-Marie Thiebaud, Personnages marquants dAsie centrale, du Turkestan et de lOuzbékistan, Paris, LHarmattan,2004
30.
Semirechye Oblast
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The Semirechye Oblast was an oblast of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern Kazakhstan and northeastern Kyrgyzstan and it was created out of the territories of the northern part of Khanate of Kokand that had been part of Kazakh Khanate. Its center was Verniy, now Almaty, Russia seized the Zhetysu region in 1854 and control over the region was recognized in the Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Russia and China. As of 1897, the Semirechye Oblast was divided into 6 uyezds, kazakhs constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of Russians and Taranchi
31.
Samarkand Oblast
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The Samarkand Oblast was an oblast of the Russian Empire between 1868 and 1924. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day central Uzbekistan and northwestern Tajikistan and it was created out of the northeastern part of Emirate of Bukhara. It consisted of the uyezds of Samarkand, Dzhizak, Katta-Kurgan, as of 1897,860,021 people populated the oblast. Uzbeks constituted the majority of the population, significant minorities consisted of Tajiks and Kazakhs. William Henry Beable, Governments or Provinces of the Former Russian Empire, Samarkand, Russian Gazetteer and Guide, London, Russian Outlook – via Open Library
32.
Amu Darya
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The Amu Darya, also called the Amu River and historically known by its Latin name, Oxus, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, at Qaleh-ye Panjeh in Afghanistan, in ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Greater Iran and Turan. In classical antiquity, the river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος Ôxos in Greek—a clear derivative of Vakhsh, in Vedic Sanskrit, the river is also referred to as Vakṣu. The Avestan texts too refer to the River as Yakhsha/Vakhsha, in Middle Persian sources of the Sassanid period the river is known as Wehrōd. The name Amu is said to have come from the city of Āmul, in modern Turkmenistan. Medieval Arabic and Muslim sources call the river Jayhoun which is derived from Gihon, however, this name is no longer used. Hara and to the river of Gozan (that is to say, the Amu. the Gozan River is the River Balkh, i. e. the Oxus or the Amu Darya. and were brought into Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan. The rivers total length is 2,400 kilometres and its drainage basin totals 534,739 square kilometres in area, the river is navigable for over 1,450 kilometres. All of the water comes from the mountains in the south where annual precipitation can be over 1,000 mm. An ice cave at the end of the Wakhjir valley, in the Wakhan Corridor, in the Pamir Mountains, a glacier turns into the Wakhan River and joins the Pamir River about 50 kilometres downstream. Therefore, the Chelab stream may be considered the true source or parent stream of the Oxus. The Panj River forms the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan and it flows west to Ishkashim where it turns north and then north-west through the Pamirs passing the Tajikistan–Afghanistan Friendship Bridge. It subsequently forms the border of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan for about 200 kilometres, passing Termez and it delineates the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan for another 100 kilometres before it flows into Turkmenistan at Atamurat. As the Amudarya, it flows across Turkmenistan south to north, passing Türkmenabat, use of water from the Amu Darya for irrigation has been a major contributing factor to the shrinking of the Aral Sea since the late 1950s. Historical records state that in different periods, the river flowed into the Aral Sea, into the Caspian Sea, about 1,385,045 square kilometres of land is drained by the Amu Darya into the Aral Sea endorheic basin. This includes most of Tajikistan, the southwest corner of Kyrgyzstan, the northeast corner of Afghanistan, part of the Amu Daryas drainage divide in Tajikistan forms that countrys border with China and Pakistan. About 61% of the lies within Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Of the area drained by the Amu Darya, only about 200,000 square kilometres actively contribute water to the river and this is because many of the rivers major tributaries have been diverted, and much of the rivers drainage is dominated by outlying desert and steppe
33.
Kokand Khanate
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The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian state that existed from 1709–1876 within the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan. The name of the city and the khanate may also be spelled as Khoqand in modern scholarly literature and he built a citadel as his capital in the small town of Kokand, thus starting the Khanate of Kokand. His son, Abd al-Karim, and grandson, Narbuta Beg, enlarged the citadel, Narbuta Beg’s son Alim was both ruthless and efficient. He hired an army of Tajik highlanders, and conquered the western half of the Fergana Valley, including Khujand. He was assassinated by his brother Omar in 1809, omar’s son, Mohammed Ali, ascended to the throne in 1821 at the age of 12. During his reign, the Khanate of Kokand reached its greatest territorial extent, the Kokand Khanate also housed the Khojas of Kashgar like Jahangir Khoja. Following this, Madali Khan, who had received Conolly in Kokand, the Emir, encouraged by the conspiratorial efforts of several influential figures in Kokand, invaded the khanate in 1842. Shortly thereafter he executed Madali Khan, his brother, and Omar Khans widow, Madali Khan’s cousin, Shir Ali, was installed as the Khan of Kokand in June 1842. Over the next two decades, the khanate was weakened by a civil war, which was further exacerbated by Bukharan and Russian incursions. Shir Ali’s son, Khudayar Khan, ruled from 1845 to 1858, in the meantime, Russia was continuing its advance, on June 28,1865 Tashkent was taken by the Russian troops of General Chernyayev, the loss of Khujand followed in 1867. In 1868, a treaty turned Kokand into a Russian vassal state, the now powerless Khudayar Khan spent his energies improving his lavish palace. Western visitors were impressed by the city of 80,000 people, insurrections against Russian rule and Khudayar’s oppressive taxes forced him into exile in 1875. He was succeeded by his son, Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan, whose anti-Russian stance provoked the annexation of Kokand by Generals Konstantin von Kaufman, in March 1876, Tsar Alexander II stated that he had been forced to. Yield to the wishes of the Kokandi people to become Russian subjects, the Khanate of Kokand was declared abolished, and incorporated into the Fergana Province of Russian Turkestan. Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan fled to India through the Pamirs and he died in 1893 in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. His family is now inhabitant in Mir Tayyab Ghari, Peshawar, the Khans of Kokand had a connection with the Timurid Empire. From the time of the last Timurids to that of the first Khans of Kokand there was a period of more than two hundred years, the Khans genealogy was connected with Babur through a legendary figure, Altun Bishik. In the legend, a baby of Baburs family was left in a bishik when Babur fled prosecution, the child was named Altun Bishik, after its imperial cradle, and in the legend he lived from 918-952 AH / 1512-1545 AD
34.
Transcaspian Oblast
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Transcaspian Oblast, or Transcaspia, was the section of Russian Empire and early Soviet Russia to the east of the Caspian Sea during the second half of the 19th century until 1924. Part of Russian Turkestan, Transcaspian Oblast corresponds roughly to the territory of present-day Turkmenistan, Transcaspia was conquered by Russia in 1879-1885, in a series of campaigns led by Generals Lomakin, Skobelev, and Annenkov. Until 1898 Transcaspia was part of the Governor-Generalship of Caucasus administered from Tiflis and these abuses were fully exposed by the Pahlen Report of 1908-10. During the revolutionary period of 1917-19 parts of Transcaspia were briefly occupied by British Indian forces from Meshed, the oblast was one of the last centres of Basmachi resistance to Bolshevik rule, with the last of the rebellious Turkmen fleeing across the border to Afghanistan and Iran in 1922-23. As of 1897,382,487 people populated the oblast, turkmens constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of Kazakhs and Russians
35.
Mikhail Skobelev
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Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev was a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Dressed in white uniform and mounted on a horse, and always in the thickest of the fray, he was known. During a campaign in Khiva, his Turkmen opponents called him goz zanli or Bloody Eyes, british Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery wrote that Skobelev was the worlds ablest single commander between 1870 and 1914 and called him a skilful and inspiring leader. Skobelev was born in Saint Petersburg on 29 September 1843, later, dressed as a Turkoman, he intrepidly explored in a hostile country the route from Khiva to Igdy on the old riverbed of the Oxus. He was promoted to major-general, decorated with the Order of St George, in the Turkish War of 1877 he seized the bridge over the Siret at Barboşi in April, in June they crossed the Danube with the 8th corps. Skobelev commanded the Caucasian Cossack Brigade in the attack of the Green Hills at the battle of Pleven. An infantry division under Skobelevs command assailed the Grivitsa redoubt to the north, schakofsky managed to take two redoubts, but by the end of the day the Ottoman forces succeeded in repulsing all the attacks and retaking lost ground. Russian losses amounted to 7,300, and the Ottomans to 2,000, the Romanian 4th division led by General George Manu took the Grivitsa redoubt after four bloody assaults, personally assisted by Prince Carol. The next day the Turks retook the southern redoubts, but could not dislodge the Romanians, from the beginning of September, Russian losses had amounted to roughly 20,000, while the Ottomans lost 5,000. In January 1878 he crossed the Balkans in a severe snowstorm defeating the Turks at Sheynovo, around 8,000 Turkmen soldiers and civilians, including women and children were slaughtered in a bloodbath in their flight, along with an additional 6,500 who died inside the fortress. The Russians massacre included all Turkmen males in the fortress who had not escaped, the defeat at Geok Tepe and the following slaughter broke the Turkmen resistance and decided the fate of Transcaspia, which was annexed to the Russian Empire. The great slaughter proved too much to stomach reducing the Akhal-Tekke country to submission, Skobelev was removed from his command because of the massacre. He was advancing on Ashkhabad and Kalat i-Nadiri when he was disavowed and recalled to Moscow and he was given the command at Minsk. The official reason for his transfer to Europe was to appease European public opinion over the slaughter at Geok Tepe, some have suggested that he was suffering from delusions of grandeur and showing signs of political ambition. In the last years of his life, Skobelev engaged actively in politics, supporting the ideas of Russian nationalism and he has also been credited as one of the earliest promoters of the concept Russia for Russians. At the beginning of 1882, he made speeches in Paris and in Moscow and he was at once recalled to St Petersburg. While he was staying at a Moscow hotel, on his way to his estate in the country, in Russia he was a very popular man at the time of his death, and not surprisingly, his death aroused suspicion among many. After all, he was a young and vigorous man
36.
Mikhail Annenkov
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General Mikhail Nikolayevich Annenkov was a Russian nobleman, author, military officer, and renowned engineer. An important figure in the history of the Russian conquest of Turkestan in the 19th Century and he was also involved in the planning of the Trans-Siberian railroad, which was under construction at the time of his death. He also played a role in the Pendjeh Crisis of 1885. In the 1870s, Michael served as Military Attaché to Germany, during the Franco-Prussian War and his writings on German military tactics during the war were widely read. By 1878 he had appointed a Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Army. During the Russo-Turkish War General Annenkoff was placed in charge of transportation, in the 1880s, General Annenkoff served on several campaigns in Central Asia, most notably against the Turkmen population. In order to troops and supplies, he completed laying more than 1,000 miles of track in less than three years, which brought him immediate engineering fame. He was honored by scientific bodies throughout Europe, including being appointed a vice-president of the International Congress of Geography and he later became a planner and chief promoter of the Trans-Siberian railroad. General Annenkoff was also involved in the annexation of Emirate of Bukhara as a client state of the Czar, upon the death of Emir Mozaffar al-Din in 1885, General Annenkoff marched into Bukhara and put Emirs younger son on the throne. The Russian troops that were left behind placed the Emirate of Bukhara under control of the Russian Empire, in 1878 the Vicomte de Vogüé and Miss Alexandra N. Annenkova were married at the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. In 1883 General Annenkov married Dagmar von Oesterreich, the marriage was dissolved in 1889. General Michael N. Annenkoff died in 1899, reportedly from suicide, there was suspicion that he had misappropriated funds from the Transcaspian Railway. At the time, he was a member of the Imperial Military Council in St. Petersburg, Анненков Ахал-Техинский Оазис и Пути к Индии1881 Ген-Лт. М. А. Терентьев История Завоевания Средней Азии19063 Vols
37.
Nikolay Girs
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Nicholas de Giers or Girs was a Russian Foreign Minister during the reign of Alexander III. He was one of the architects of the Franco-Russian Alliance, which was transformed into the Triple Entente. Girss family was of Scandinavian ancestry, in reality, the young tsar did not intend to embark on wild political adventures, and was fully determined not to let his hand be forced by men less cautious than himself. In accordance with the desire of the tsar Girs followed systematically a pacific policy, rivalry between Britain and Russia grew steadily over Central Asia in the Great Game of the late 19th century. Russia desired warm-water ports on the Indian Ocean while Britain wanted to prevent Russian troops from gaining a potential route to India. In 1885 Russia annexed part of Afghanistan in the Pandjeh Incident, however Girs and the Russian ambassador to London Baron de Staal set up an agreement in 1887 which established a buffer zone in Central Asia. Russian diplomacy won grudging British acceptance of its expansionism, persia was also an arena of tension, but without warfare. He died on 26 January 1895, soon after the accession of Nicholas II and his son Mikhail Nikolayevich von Giers acted as last Imperial Russian Ambassador in Constantinople until the beginning of World War I in 1914. He was married to Anna Helena Giers about 1725, the first one was Johan Kristoffer von Beetzen Anna Helena Giers was born on 12 January 1707 and died on 7 April 1779 in Lanehed, Bokenes, Sweden. She was buried at the Bokenes Church on 27 April 1779 and she was one of four children, and her father was the famous Ambjørn Giers who was born 1670 in Gøteborg, Sweden, and died 1745. Ambjørn Giers was buried at the Domkyrkans kyrkogård on 7 May 1745 and he was in 1738 the head of the military leaders in Gøteborg, Sweden, and also the periodically Landshøvding in Gøteborg and Bohuslen. He was married to Britta Larsdotter 17 September 1701 and she was born 1674 and died 1744 in Gøteborg. Ambjørn Giers father is called Major A. Giers in the books there is not so much information about him. Anyhow, Major A. Giers was married to Brita Ambjørnsdotter Syvia and he had four sons, Ambjørn Giers, Nils Giers, Eric Giers and he who is one of the fathers of the Russian branch Lorentz Giers. He was a Russian foreign minister for 13 years and received the highest Order of the Russian state and his father was Karl Ferdinand von Giers. His father was Karl Cornelius Giers, and his children started to use the name de Giers or von Giers and he was raised in Denmark in childhood and named like the father to the Giers-familys Russian branch. And his father was Lorentz Giers, and his father was Major A. Giers from Sweden. His father was Konstatin von Giers and his father was major-general Alexander von Giers
38.
Trans-Caspian railway
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The Trans-Caspian Railway is a railway that follows the path of the Silk Road through much of western Central Asia. It was built by the Russian Empire during its expansion into Central Asia in the 19th century, the railway was started in 1879, following the Russian defeat of Khokand. Originally it served a purpose of facilitating the Imperial Russian Army in actions against the local resistance to their rule. However, when Lord Curzon visited the railway, he remarked that he considered its significance went beyond local military control, construction has begun in 1879 as a narrow-gauge railway to Gyzylarbat in connection with the Russian conquest of Transcaspia under General Mikhail Skobelev. It was rapidly altered to the standard Russian gauge of five feet, originally the line began from Uzun-Ada on the Caspian Sea, but the terminus was later shifted north to the harbour at Krasnovodsk. The Railway reached Samarkand via Bukhara in 1888, where it halted for ten years extended to Tashkent. The permanent bridge over the Oxus was not completed until 1901, as early as 1905, there was a train ferry across the Caspian Sea from Krasnovodsk to Baku in Azerbaijan. The Tashkent Railway connecting the Transcaspian Military Railway with the network of other Russian and European railways was completed in 1906, the railway permitted a massive increase in the amount of cotton exported from the region. This increased from 873,092 pudy in 1888 to 3,588,025 in 1893, also sugar, kerosene, wood, iron and construction material were imported into the area. These rising trade figures were used by Governor-General Nikolai Rozenbakh to argue for the extension to Tashkent, reshetnikov offered private funds for the same purpose. The railway, as the most important means of communication in the area, and it was thirty five railway workers who founded the Tashkent Soviet on 2 March 1917. They decreed that the administration of the railway should be transferred away from Ashkhabad and sent Commissar Frolov to that city, a move that proved unpopular. In turn railway workers along the end of the railway initiated a break away from the Bolshevik oriented Tashkent. Both railway and workers also played an important role in the Russian Civil War, troops of the British Indian Army participated in some of the battles along the railway line. Tashkent was an important bastion for the Red Army, during the Soviet period and beyond, the railway was administrated from Tashkent. The railway starts at the shore of the Caspian Sea at Turkmenbashi and heads southeast. The important junction on the route and locomotive depot is located in Bereket city some 340 km to the east. Also at this point the Trans-Caspian railway intersects the newly constructed North-South Transnational Railway which connects Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, after Bereket, the route runs parallel to the Karakum Canal
39.
Caspian Sea
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The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the worlds largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It is in a basin located between Europe and Asia. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, the Caspian Sea lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia. In its northern part, the Caspian Depression lies 28 to 130 m below sea level, the sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1023 m below sea level, which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal. The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness, the sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 and a volume of 78,200 km3. It has a salinity of approximately 1. 2%, about a third of the salinity of most seawater, the word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people who lived to the southwest of the sea in Transcaucasia. Strabo wrote that to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea, but the tribe has now disappeared. Moreover, the Caspian Gates, which is the name of a region in Irans Tehran province, the Iranian city of Qazvin shares the root of its name with that of the sea. In fact, the traditional Arabic name for the sea itself is Bahr al-Qazwin, in classical antiquity among Greeks and Persians it was called the Hyrcanian Ocean. In Persian antiquity, as well as in modern Iran, it is known as the دریای خزر, Daryā-e Khazar, ancient Arabic sources refer to it as Baḥr Gīlān meaning the Gilan Sea. Turkic languages refer to the lake as Khazar Sea, in Turkmen, the name is Hazar deňizi, in Azeri, it is Xəzər dənizi, and in modern Turkish, it is Hazar denizi. An exception is Kazakh, where it is called Каспий теңізі, old Russian sources call it the Khvalyn or Khvalis Sea after the name of Khwarezmia. In modern Russian, it is called Каспи́йское мо́ре, Kaspiyskoye more, the Caspian Sea, like the Black Sea, Namak Lake, and Lake Urmia, is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea. It became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift and a fall in sea level. Due to the current inflow of water, the Caspian Sea is a freshwater lake in its northern portions, and is most saline on the Iranian shore. Currently, the salinity of the Caspian is one third that of Earths oceans. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world, the coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. The Caspian is divided into three distinct regions, the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian
40.
Qadi
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The word qadi comes from a verb meaning to judge or to decide. The term qadi was in use from the time of Muhammad, and remained the term used for judges throughout Islamic history, thus, the qadi was chosen from amongst those who had mastered the sciences of jurisprudence and law. In constructing their legal doctrine, these legal scholars took as their point of departure the precedents established by the qadis. During the period of the Abbasid Caliphate, the office of the qadi al-qudat was established, among the most famous of the early qadi al-qudat was Qadi Abu Yusuf who was a disciple of the famous early jurist Abu Hanifa. The office of the continued to be a very important one in every principality of the caliphates and sultanates of the Muslim empires over the centuries. The rulers appointed qadis in every region, town and village for judicial and administrative control, the Abbasids created the office of chief qadi, whose holder acted primarily as adviser to the caliph in the appointment and dismissal of qadis. Later Islamic states generally retained this office, while granting to its holder the authority to issue appointments, the Mamluk state, which ruled Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1516 CE, introduced the practice of appointing four chief qadis, one for each of the Sunni legal schools. A qadi is a responsible for the application of Islamic positive law. Thus the first qadis in effect laid the foundations of Islamic positive law, once this law had been formed, however, the role of the qadi underwent a profound change. No longer free to follow the guidelines mentioned above, a qadi was now expected to adhere solely to the new Islamic law, and this adherence has characterized the office ever since. A qadi continued, however, to be a delegate of an authority, ultimately the caliph or, after the demise of the caliphate. This delegate status implies the absence of a separation of powers, on the other hand, a certain degree of autonomy was enjoyed by a qadi in that the law that he applied was not the creation of the supreme ruler or the expression of his will. What a qadi owed to the ruler was solely the power to apply the law. Similar to a qadi, a mufti is also a power of Sharia law. Muftis are jurists that give authoritative legal opinions, or fatwas, with the introduction of the secular court system in the 19th century, Ottoman councils began to enforce criminal legislation, in order to emphasize their position as part of the new executive. This creation of the hierarchical secular judiciary did not displace the original Sharia courts, until the Qadi’s Ordinance of 1856, the qadis were appointed by the Porte and were part of the Ottoman religious judiciary. This Ordinance recommends the consultation of muftis and ulama, in practice, the sentences of qadis usually were checked by muftis appointed to the courts. Other important decisions were also checked by the mufti of the Majlis al-Ahkdm or by a council of ulama connected with it and it is said that if the local qadi and mufti disagreed, it became customary to submit the case to the authoritative Grand Mufti
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