Central Asian revolt of 1916

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Central Asian revolt of 1916
Part of the Asian and Pacific theater of World War I[3][4]
Date 3 July 1916 (16 July 1916, N.S.Tooltip New Style) – February 1917 Location Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia Result Russian victory Revolt suppressed
Belligerents
Russian Turkestan  Emirate of Bukhara[1] Kazakh tribes[1]	Turkic tribal confederations[2] Kazakh rebels Kyrgyz rebels
Commanders and leaders
Aleksey Kuropatkin Nikolai Sukhomlinov Mikhail Folbaum Muhammad Alim Khan[1]	Kanaat Abukin †[5] Mokush Shabdanov[6] Kokumbay Chiny [ky] Baatyrkan Rayymbek[7] Amankeldı İmanov Äbdiğapar Janbosynūly Alibi Dzhangildin Sami Bek[a] Ibrahim Tulayaf Makush[9] 5 Ottoman officers[10]
Strength
14,5 battalions, 33 hundreds[11]	Unknown Small number of escaped POW volunteers[12]
Casualties and losses
97 killed, 86 wounded and 76 missing[13]	Tens of thousands dead and captured[14]
~100,000–500,000[15][16][17] Central Asian civilians (Turks, Tajiks) dead 2,325 Russian civilians dead[18] 1,384 missing[18]
^ According to Abdulla Gyun Dogdu, Sami Bek was a Rebel leader of Turkish origin.[8]

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History of Kyrgyzstan
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Early history Achaemenid Empire 542–330 BC Macedonian Empire 329–312 BC Seleucid Empire 312–189 BC Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250–152 BC Xiongnu 204–53 BC Han China 101 BC–185 AD Kushan Empire 30–375 Former Liang 301–376 Rouran Khaganate 330–555 Former Qin 383–386 Later Liang 386–403 Hephthalites 440–560
Medieval history Kyrgyz Khaganate 539–1207 Göktürk Khaganate 557–603 Sasanian Empire 559–628 Western Turkic Khaganate 603–657 Tang China 657–751 Umayyad Caliphate 706–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–875 Uyghur Khaganate 791–840 Tibetan Empire 794–842 Kara-Khanid Khanate 840–1089 Seljuk Empire 1089–1141 Qara Khitai 1141–1212 Khwarazmian Empire 1212–1221
Early modern history Mongol Empire 1218–1266 Chagatai Khanate 1266–1347 Moghulistan 1347–1514 Golden Horde 1368–1446 Timurid Empire 1370–1505 Uzbek Khanate 1437–1471 Kazakh Khanate 1465–1757 Khanate of Bukhara 1501–1709 Yarkent Khanate 1514–1705 Dzungar Khanate 1680–1758 Khanate of Kokand 1709–1876 Qing China 1757–1841 Emirate of Bukhara 1841–1876
Russian Vassalage Russian Empire 1876–1917 Urkun 1916–1917 Turkestan Autonomy 1917–1918
Soviet rule Turkestan ASSR 1918–1924 Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast 1924–1926 Kyrgyz ASSR 1926–1936 Kyrgyz SSR 1936–1991
Independent Kyrgyzstan 1st Kyrgyz Revolution 2005 2nd Kyrgyz Revolution 2010 3rd Kyrgyz Revolution 2020
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The Central Asian revolt of 1916, also known as the Semirechye Revolt^[19] and as Urkun^[20][a] in Kyrgyzstan, was an anti-Russian uprising by the indigenous inhabitants of Russian Turkestan sparked by the conscription of Muslims into the Russian military for service on the Eastern Front during World War I. The rampant corruption of the Russian colonial regime and Tsarist colonialism with regards to its economic, political, religious, and national dimensions are all seen as contributing causes.

The revolt led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz and Kazakhs into China, while the suppression of the revolt by the Imperial Russian Army led to around 100,000 to 500,000 deaths (mostly Kyrgyz and Kazakhs, but also Tajiks, Turkmen, and Uzbeks) both directly and indirectly. Deaths of Central Asians were either the result of violence by the Russian army, disease, or famine. The Russian state was not able to restore order to parts of the Empire until after the outbreak of the October Revolution, and the subsequent Basmachi revolt (1916–1923) further destabilized the Central Asian region.

The USSR regime's censorship of the history surrounding the Central Asian revolt of 1916 and the Basmachi revolt has led both Central Asian and international researchers to revisit the topic in the 2010s. The revolt is considered a seminal event in the modern histories of several Central Asian peoples. Special importance is given to the event in Kyrgyz historiography due to the fact that perhaps has many as 40% of the ethnic Kyrgyz population died during or in the aftermath of the revolt.

Alexander Kerensky and some Russian historians were the first to bring international attention to these events.^[21]

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