Actors of the Civil War in Turkmenistan: the truth and fiction about Junaid Khan

Abstract

The article describes about little-known pages in the life of one of the key military and political leaders of the Civil War in Turkmenistan, Junaid Khan — Kurbanmamed serdar (1862–1938). The historiography of the issue is criticized. Based on unpublished sources from the founds of state and departmental archives, the details of the biography of this figure related to his participation in the fratricidal confrontation are clarified. The theoretical basis of the study is a combination of military anthropology, problematic and comparative historical methods. Summing up, the author assesses the personality of Junaid Khan against the backdrop of the controversial era in which this military and political figure lived.

Keywords

• historical anthropology
• civil war
• white movement
• insurgency
• basmachi
• khiva khanate
• khorezm people’s soviet republic
• turkmenistan