Table Of ContentSoviet Nation-B uilding in
Central Asia
The demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in new state- led nation- building
projects in Central Asia. The emergence of independent republics spawned a
renewed Western scholarly interest in the region’s nationality issues. Presenting
a detailed study, this book examines the state- led nation-b uilding projects in the
Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Exploring the degree, forms and ways of the Soviet state involvement in cre-
ating Kazakh and Uzbek nations, this book places the discussion within the
theoretical literature on nationalism. The author argues that both Kazakh and
Uzbek nations are artificial constructs of Moscow- based Soviet policymakers of
the 1920s and 1930s. This book challenges existing arguments in current
scholarship by bringing some new and alternative insights into the role of indi-
genous Central Asian and Soviet officials in these nation- building projects. It
goes on to critically examine post-S oviet official Kazakh and Uzbek historiogra-
phies, according to which Kazakh and Uzbek peoples had developed national
collective identities and loyalties long before the Soviet era.
This book will be a useful contribution to Central Asian History and Politics,
as well as studies of Nationalism and Soviet Politics.
Grigol Ubiria is a Research Associate at the Australian National University’s
Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and Central Asia),
Australia.
Central Asian Studies Series
1 Mongolia Today 8 Kazakhstan
Science, culture, environment and Ethnicity, language and power
development Bhavna Dave
Edited by Dendevin Badarch and
Raymond A. Zilinskas 9 Ethno- Nationalism, Islam and
the State in the Caucasus
2 Turkestan and the Fate of the Post- Soviet disorder
Russian Empire Edited by Moshe Gammer
Daniel Brower
10 Humanitarian Aid in Post-
3 Church of the East
Soviet Countries
A concise history
An anthropological perspective
Wilhelm Baum and
Laëtitia Atlani-D uault
Dietmar W. Winkler
11 Muslim–Christian Relations in
4 Pre- Tsarist and Tsarist Central
Central Asia
Asia
A. Christian van Gorder
Communal commitment and
political order in change
12 The Northwest Caucasus
Paul Georg Geiss
Past, present, future
Walter Richmond
5 Russia’s Protectorates in
Central Asia
13 Turkmenistan’s Foreign Policy
Bukhara and Khiva, 1865–1924
Positive neutrality and the
Seymour Becker
consolidation of the Turkmen
6 Russian Culture in Uzbekistan regime
One language in the middle of Luca Anceschi
nowhere
David MacFadyen 14 Conflict Transformation in
Central Asia
7 Everyday Islam in Post-S oviet Irrigation Disputes in the Ferghana
Central Asia Valley
Maria Elisabeth Louw Christine Bichsel
15 Socialist Revolutions in Asia 24 Ethnicity, Authority and Power
The social history of Mongolia in in Central Asia
the 20th Century New games great and small
Irina Y. Morozova Edited by Robert L. Canfield and
Gabriele Rasuly- Paleczek
16 Post-C onflict Tajikistan
The politics of peacebuilding and 25 Counterterrorism Policies in
the emergence of a legitimate order Central Asia
John Heathershaw Mariya Y. Omelicheva
17 The Politics of Transition in
26 Party System Formation in
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Kazakhstan
Enduring legacies and emerging
Between formal and informal
challenges
politics
Edited by Amanda E. Wooden and
Rico Isaacs
Christoph H. Stefes
18 Islamic Education in the Soviet 27 Institutional Reform in Central
Union and Its Successor States Asia
Edited by Michael Kemper, Politico-e conomic challenges
Raoul Motika and Edited by Joachim Ahrens and
Stefan Reichmuth Herman W. Hoen
19 The Military and the State in 28 Growing Up in the North
Central Asia Caucasus
From Red Army to independence Society, family, religion and
Edited by Erica Marat education
Irina Molodikova and Alan Watt
20 Politics and Oil in Kazakhstan
Wojciech Ostrowski 29 Soviet Orientalism and the
Creation of Central Asian
21 Political Islam in Central Asia
Nations
The challenge of Hizb ut-T ahrir
Alfrid K. Bustanov
Emmanuel Karagiannis
22 Caspian Energy Politics 30 Soviet Nation-B uilding in
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Central Asia
Turkmenistan The making of the Kazakh and
Edited by Indra Øverland, Uzbek nations
Heidi Kjærnet and Grigol Ubiria
Andrea Kendall- Taylor
23 Securing the Indian Frontier in
Central Asia
Confrontation and negotiation,
1865–1895
Martin Ewans
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Soviet Nation- Building in
Central Asia
The making of the Kazakh and
Uzbek Nations
Grigol Ubiria
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Grigol Ubiria
The right of Grigol Ubiria to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ubiria, Grigol.
Soviet nation-building in Central Asia : the making of the Kazakh and
Uzbek nations / Grigol Ubiria.
pages cm. – (Central Asian studies series ; 30)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Soviet Union–Foreign relations–Asia, Central. 2. Asia, Central–
Foreign relations–Soviet Union. 3. Nation-building–Asia, Central–
History–20th century. 4. Nation-building–Kazakhstan–History–20th
century. 5. Nation-building–Uzbekistan–History–20th century.
6. Kazakhstan–Politics and government–20th century. 7. Uzbekistan–
Politics and government 20th century. 8. Nationalism–Kazakhstan–
History–20th century. 9. Nationalism–Uzbekistan–History–
20th century. I. Title.
DK857.75.S65U24 2015
958.45'0842–dc23 2015013271
ISBN: 978-1-138-88528-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71555-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations x
Note on transliteration xii
Introduction 1
PART I
Theory of nationalism 7
1 Theorizing modern nationalism: general paradigms and
concepts 9
PART II
Historical framework 27
2 Central Asia before the Russian annexation: ethno-s ocial
context 29
3 Tsarist Central Asia 49
4 Central Asia from the February Revolution until the
Russian- Bolshevik reoccupation 73
PART III
From Lenin to Gorbachev 91
5 The formation of the Soviet Union: the Soviet federal
system 93
viii Contents
6 The national-t erritorial delimitation of Central Asia,
1924–36 99
7 Soviet census and passport policies: institutionalizing
Kazakh and Uzbek national identities 134
8 The korenizatsiia campaign in Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan 148
9 Soviet policy towards Islam in Central Asia 179
10 Soviet emancipation of Kazakh and Uzbek women:
conflicting historical interpretations 188
11 Economic development of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
under Soviet rule 200
12 Soviet population transfers: changing ethnolinguistic and
cultural landscapes of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan 208
13 Soviet construction of Kazakh and Uzbek national
histories 218
14 The evolution of the Soviet nationality doctrine and
policies, 1917–91: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan 228
Glossary 242
Bibliography 244
Index 266
Acknowledgements
This book is based on my doctoral thesis, which I completed at the Australian
National University’s Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and
Central Asia)—CAIS—in 2012. I owe my most sincere gratitude to countless
people who have supported me in this endeavour and it is only a few of many
more that I can name here.
First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and deep
appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Kirill Nourzhanov, for his invaluable guid-
ance, insightful comments, and support at each step of the way. I also feel hon-
oured and privileged to have had an opportunity of being advised by a
distinguished expert in Sovietology, the late Dr Geoffrey Jukes. Words fall short
to express my thanks to CAIS Director Professor Amin Saikal, who has kindly
provided me with a Postdoctoral Fellowship to rework my PhD thesis into this
book. A big thank you also goes to the entire staff and fellow PhD scholars of
the CAIS, past and present, for making my time at this distinguished education
and research centre such a rewarding experience.
Further, I am enormously grateful to my parents Demuri and Natela Ubiria,
whose support and inspiration enabled me to accomplish this goal. I particularly
thank my mother for being so supportive in whatever paths I have chosen.
And, of course, I would like to extend special thanks to my beautiful wife, Ia
Svintradze, for her love, understanding and patience throughout this project. It
would have been impossible for me to succeed in my work without her support
and continuous encouragement. Lastly, but not least, I thank my little son,
Archie, for being my daily inspiration.
