Page 1 of 13
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 700
The Place Of Resettlement Policy In The Transformation Of Turkestan Into
A Russian Colony
Shokir Safarovich Gofforov
Doctor of historical science, Professor, of Humanities and Socio-Economic
Sciences Department, SamMi
ANNOTATION:
The paper analyzes the prerequisites for Russia's military and political
expansion and its strategic goals in Turkestan, as well as the role of resettlement
policy in the period of colonization of the region.
KEY WORDS:Colonialism, Turkestan, Russian Empire, expansion, resettlement
policy.
In the middle of the XIX century, when the ruling circles of the Russian
Empire intensified military and political actions to expand their positions in
Central Asia, Russia had a vast territory - from the Caspian and Black Seas to the
Pacific and Arctic oceans. Poland and Finland were also under its control, but
imperial ambitions have beenpreserved. Emperors and the emerging Russian
bourgeoisie showed a growing tendency to master new large markets of mineral
and agricultural raw materials, to potential regions of sale of Russian products. At
the same time, special importance was given to the establishment of royal
domination in Central Asian khanates.
The unsuccessful military expedition of Bekovich-Cherkassy (1717-1718)
and the following two expeditions of N.N. Muravyov (1818-1820) were
undertaken under Peter the Great.) in Khiva, attempts to use the conflicts on the
Page 2 of 13
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 701
borders of the Kazakh khanates, as well as the Kokand khanate with China, the
confrontation between the Bukhara emirate and the Kokand khanate, the acute
political and diplomatic rivalry between Russia and Great Britain for influence in
the region testified to the far-reaching strategic plans of the emperor autocracy in
Central Asia. Moreover, Turkestan, rich in natural resources and geographically
conveniently located, was seen by the Russian authorities not only as an extensive
market for raw materials and sales, but also as an extremely important springboard
for further expansionist plans of the Russian Empire.
Numerous archival materials testify to the fact that the Emperor regime,
taking into account the inevitable negative reaction of England and a number of
Western European countries to the advancement of Russia into the depths of
Central Asia, especially towards Bukhara, Khiva and the borders of Afghanistan,
carefully concealed its military and political aspirations. Thus, declaring his
intention to limit himself to establishing his power only in the area from
Semipalatinsk to Tashkent, the Emperor regime in 1865 formed the Turkestan
region and included it in the Orenburg Governor-General's Office. At the same
time, however, preparations were under way to conquer the rest of the Central
Asian khanates. By 1867, the Turkestan region had been "attached" to a significant
territory that had previously been part of the Bukhara Emirate, and in this regard,
the Turkestan Governorate-General was established, directly subordinate to the
central government. The regional administration headed by K.P. Kaufman
continued its conquest policy in accordance with the strategic plans of the emperor.
In 1876, it was announced that the Kokand khanate would be annexed to Russia
and the Ferghana region would be formed in its place. Bukhara emirate and Khiva
khanate turned out to be vassal of Russian empire of the state. At the same time,
Page 3 of 13
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 702
the territories of the Kazakhs of the Middle and Small Zhuzes were annexed, on
the basis of which the Steppe Governorate-General was formed in 1882.
Russia's ruling tops, who were well aware of the military and strategic
importance and resource wealth of Central Asia, sought to establish substantial
colonial domination in the region. And for this purpose, in addition to a strong
army and an extensive military and administrative system of government, it was
important to create a reliable support in the face of the Russian population.
According to the inspirers and leaders of the colonization, this was especially
necessary in Turkestan, where the indigenous population of about 5 million people
was clearly hostile to the new government.
It was the imperial interests of the edges systemic colonization that
stimulated the migration policy and practice of emperors. They were supplemented
by the intentions of the emperor administration to solve acute social and economic
problems in the metropolis through the new colony. For example, the Emperor
government attached great importance to the resettlement of some peasants from
Russian villages in order to mitigate social conflicts in Russia caused by the lack of
land due to the development of capitalist relations in Russian agriculture. It is no
coincidence that as early as 1869 the rules on peasant settlements in Semirechye
were developed, which created favorable conditions for the influx of Russian
settlers to Turkestan.
Count K.K. Palen, who audited Turkestan in 1908, spoke quite frankly about
the strategic goals of the policy of relocating part of the Russian population to the
region. In particular, he wrote: "Except for the political motives that were
important for the conquest of Turkestan, from the very first days of its accession to
Russia, this region was of twofold interest to the Russian government: 1) from the
point of view of financial policy as a source of state revenues and as a new market
