Ibrahim Bek

Ibrahim Bek
Ibrohimbek Chaqaboev/Иброҳимбек Чакабаев (Uzbek)
Islamist Uzbek leader Ibrahimbek Chaqaboev
Islamist Uzbek leader Ibrahimbek Chaqaboev
Born
Ibrahimbek Chaqaboev

1889
Emirate of Bukhara
DiedAugust 31, 1931(1931-08-31) (aged 41–42)
Tajik SSR
NationalityUzbek

Ibrahim Bek or Ibrahim Beg (Uzbek: Иброҳимбек Чакабаев, romanized: Ibrohimbek Chaqaboev; 1889 – 31 August 1931) was a leader in the Basmachi movement, a liberation movement in Central Asia, which fought against the Red Army. He was a member of the Uzbek Lakai tribe in Eastern Bukhara and led an organized resistance against the Soviet military in the early 1920s.

A religious conservative and loyal to the ousted Emir of Bukhara he had little dealings with "reformist" basmachi who had jadids in their ranks. He actively fought against Enver Pasha during his brief time in Central Asia. Despite being a good guerrilla leader, Ibrahim was essentially a relic of an older time and was to find his increasingly sophisticated military tactics out of step with the political nature of the Russian Civil War.[1][2]

Bek and his Basmachi were engaged and defeated by Red Army units of the Turkestan Military District under the command of Mikhail Frunze in the spring of 1925. The Soviets asserted that Bek had been provided assistance by British intelligence services.[3]

Bek was eventually forced to flee south into Afghanistan, from where he along with Faizal Maksum led several cross-border raids back into the newly organized Soviet Socialist Republic of Tajikistan. Bek was subsequently handed over to Soviet authorities by Tajik villagers, and eventually executed in 1931.[2] By mid-1931, the Basmachi had been largely defeated by the Red Army.[4]

  1. ^ Ritter, William S (1990). "Revolt in the Mountains: Fuzail Maksum and the Occupation of Garm, Spring 1929". Journal of Contemporary History. 25 (4): 547–580. doi:10.1177/002200949002500408. S2CID 159486304.
  2. ^ a b Ritter, William S (1985). "The Final Phase in the Liquidation of Anti-Soviet Resistance in Tadzhikistan: Ibrahim Bek and the Basmachi, 1924–31". Soviet Studies. 37 (4): 484–493. doi:10.1080/09668138508411604.
  3. ^ Krivosheev, Grigori (Ed.), Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century, p. 41, London: Greenhill Books, 1997. ISBN 1-85367-280-7.
  4. ^ Krivosheev, p. 42.