Siberian bukharans in the first post-revolutionary decade

Abstract

The article deals with the problems of the Siberian Bukharans’ community in the first decade after the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Bukharans played an important role in the history of Western Siberia for several centuries. But the significance of the Bukhara community in the economic life of Siberia decreased steadily; there took place rapprochement in the form of assimilation with Siberian Tatars. In the early twentieth century, the reforms, revolutionary changes and war became an ordeal for Siberian Bukharans. As a result of the state policy, both imperial and Soviet, the most important factor in preserving the Bukhara identity - the Bukhara volost - was destroyed. After the end of the civil war in Siberia, the Bukharans in the bulk were in opposition to the Soviet power. In many areas of Siberia in the early twentieth century there was a drop in the population of Bukharans. The largest and most organized community of the Siberian Bukharans in Soviet Russia was preserved in the Tarsky district of the Siberian territory - more than 11 thousand people. In the focus of the research there are problems of the economic, political and cultural development of the Bukharans in the Tarsky district in the mid-1920s. The documents found by the author indicate the degradation of the Siberian Bukharans’ economy. It was caused by the fact that after the victory of the Soviet government, a significant part of them did not connect their future with Siberia anymore, the Bukharans expected permission to leave the USSR, mainly to Turkey. The article introduces new scientific archival documents which reflect the policy of the state in connection with the desire of the Bukharans to leave the USSR. The central Soviet government did not allow this, but ordered to improve the work with this group of the population. Despite the fact that the Soviet leaders in Siberia tried to improve the economic and cultural situation of the Bukharans, they failed to completely eliminate the “resettlement sentiments”. From 1927, the Soviet government ceased to recognize the Bukharans as a separate ethno-social group, including them in the number of Siberian Tatars or for some time using the name “Tatar-Bukharans”.

Keywords

• Siberian Bukharians
• Siberian Tatars
• Bukhara volost
• Tarsky district
• Soviet policy and the national issue