Urkun
Encyclopedia
Urkun is the Kyrgyz
name for a 1916 revolt against Russia
n Tsar
ist forces and a mass flight to escape to China
. The events occurred at the Bedel Pass
border post near the Kyrgyz-Chinese border on July 30, 1916.
Accounts of the Kyrgyz death toll vary. Some claim that nearly half the Kyrgyz from the northern part of the country died during Urkun. Bruce Pannier put the death toll at more than 100,000 people. Russian sources admit that the revolt claimed the lives of up to 3,000 people.
History professor Tynchtykbek Tchoroev, author of a book on Urkun, believes the cause of the revolt to have been the call for conscription
issued by Boris Stürmer
:
In the eastern part of Russian Turkestan
, tens of thousands of surviving Kyrgyz and Kazakhs fled toward China. In the Tien-Shan Mountains they died by the thousands in mountain passes over 3000 meters high.
was disintegrating in 1991, interest in Urkun grew. Some survivors have begun to label the events a "massacre" or "genocide."
Some Kyrgyz historians do not believe the issue is cause for anti-Russian sentiment, because Russian liberals like Aleksandr Kerensky and some Russian historians were the first to bring attention to these events.
Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
name for a 1916 revolt against Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
ist forces and a mass flight to escape to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The events occurred at the Bedel Pass
Bedel Pass
Bedel Pass is a mountain pass in the Tian-Shan mountain range between Kyrgyzstan and China's Xinjiang province. It has an elevation of 13,800 feet .Historically, the Bedel Pass served as a Silk Road trade route between China to Central Asia...
border post near the Kyrgyz-Chinese border on July 30, 1916.
Accounts of the Kyrgyz death toll vary. Some claim that nearly half the Kyrgyz from the northern part of the country died during Urkun. Bruce Pannier put the death toll at more than 100,000 people. Russian sources admit that the revolt claimed the lives of up to 3,000 people.
History professor Tynchtykbek Tchoroev, author of a book on Urkun, believes the cause of the revolt to have been the call for conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
issued by Boris Stürmer
Boris Stürmer
Baron Boris Vladimirovich Stürmer was a Russian statesman. He served as Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Interior Minister of the Russian Empire for several months during 1916.- Biography :...
:
- "Already forced off prime farming land by newcomers from Russia and UkraineUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, the population finally revolted in 1916. The main reason was a call for men into Russia's Central AsiaCentral AsiaCentral Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n coloniesColonyIn politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
to serve in the Tsarist army fighting in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
under the Russian flag. The war in Europe was a strange and unnecessary conflict for the local nations. The uprising broke out across Central Asia and was brutally put down."
Russian Turkestan
Russian Turkestan was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire , comprising the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh steppes, but not the protectorates of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva.-History:-Establishment:Although Russia had been pushing south into the...
, tens of thousands of surviving Kyrgyz and Kazakhs fled toward China. In the Tien-Shan Mountains they died by the thousands in mountain passes over 3000 meters high.
Historical examination
Urkun was not covered by Soviet textbooks, and monographs on the subject were removed from Soviet printing houses. As the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was disintegrating in 1991, interest in Urkun grew. Some survivors have begun to label the events a "massacre" or "genocide."
Some Kyrgyz historians do not believe the issue is cause for anti-Russian sentiment, because Russian liberals like Aleksandr Kerensky and some Russian historians were the first to bring attention to these events.