The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

ly the lands of the non-Uzbek nomads and the khanate of Kokand that were integrated into the Russian Empire, while the bulk of Bukhara and Khiva technically remained outside the Russian boundary. These continued to be ruled by khans, who, though vassals of the Russian throne, remained independent in their internal affairs. The annexed region was organized into the Turkestan governor-generalship (guberniia), headed, as were all other provinces in the Russias, by a military governor-general ruling from Tashkent. In the beginning, his authority extended over three provincial areas: Ferghana, composed of the lands of the former khanate of Kokand; Samarkand, which com- The Province of Turkestan 7h \ xomk Central Asia KAZAKHI 182 ARAL ses “Wil, GY o. 2% 1864 Ki Pe Saw, Meeps WSYLEEY ‘ | Pop CE LV Ke79 fleet Gs, My LE Vy WZ we Z | yy ER ASD Yyy 1815-1855 beg cd V3 hive and Bukhara ie WH 1855-1876 fectorates until 1818 % ee | Wi After 1876 AFGHANISTAN Bs A map showing the expansion of Russian influence in Central Asia dur- ing the nineteenth century. prised the former northeastern section of the khanate of Bukhara; and Syr Darya, which included various territories previously under the administrations of vassals of the khans of Bukhara, Kokand, and Khiva.”’ No major changes were made in the social organizations of these native provinces in Central Asia after Russian conquest, and traditional features in the system of administration were preserved. While the higher officials — governors, their staffs, and district chiefs (uezd) — were Russians or European Russian subjects (Ukrainians, Tartars, or Germans), the subordinate officials of the Muslim villages and towns were native Uzbeks, Kirghiz, Sarts, or Tadzhiks, who were elected as before by the local natives.» The court system remained under local control except in lawsuits involving non-natives and criminal cases that were very serious — these were handled by Russian crown courts. This application of the principle of extraterritoriality seemed to work well. Civil suits between the natives were settled by Muslim 72 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites judges (kazi), also elected by the people.?* The Russians, however, remained dominant. In the cities, Russians founded neighborhoods designed primarily for non-Muslim populations, but the natives were not prohibited from settling in the new towns (novii gorodi), as the Russian districts were called. Governor-General von Kaufmann Russian control of the provinces began officially on July 11, 1867, when Czar Alexander II signed a decree creating the guberniia of Turkestan.” Three days later the military chiefs of the czar were summoned to administer the region,*' and General Konstantine von Kaufmann was chosen as administrator and military commander of Turkestan. This servant of Czar Alexander had an intense zeal to russianize Turkestan. Kaufmann sought to