Memories of the 1916 rebellion

May 13, 2015

Students of Anthropology have been engaged in the realization of the ethnographic project “Memories of the 1916 rebellion” supported by the Student Intellectual Life Committee (SILC) and Anthropology Department. The aim was to reconstruct an objective picture of the 1916 Great Revolt in Kyrgyzstan by gathering stories of elderly people. During two months, from March 3 to May 3, 2015, students and their supervisor, Aida Abdykanova, visited 4 provinces: Chui, Issyk-Kul, Osh and Jalalabad.         

Issyk-Kul province

From March 6 to 9, anthropology students visited towns and villages of the Issyk-Kul region, and stopped by Balykchy, Cholpon-Ata, Karakol, Ak-Bulun (near the border with China), Tosor, Karakol. During 4 days, they interviewed 10 persons, whose parents and grand-parents were affected by the uprising of 1916. Personal stories shared by the informants were helpful to reconstruct the whole picture of the uprising. Students notably conducted a survey to understand what people associate with the word "Urkun". Field work in the Issyk-kul region allowed students to learn more about Kyrgyz culture and experience Kyrgyz hospitality. During the project, students could also visit various historic sites, interact to people, and even take some time off to play with children.

Chui province

During the field work in Chui region, 16 persons were interviewed. 9 were from Bishkek and 7 were from other towns and villages of the Chui region. As the capital and the largest city in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek city was taken as a separate unit. Students had an opportunity to take interviews in the Asyl-Bash (Sokuluk city) village where the revolt started in the northern part of Kyrgyzstan. Thanks to the informants of the Chui province, students could learn the exact date when the uprising started, which cannot be found in textbooks. In Bishkek, one Russian woman told an interesting story about how her family was saved by Kyrgyz people. All these stories made students understand the importance of respect of ethnical diversity; that there are no bad nations but only bad people.

Osh province

The main fieldwork took place from April 29 to May 9 in the south of Kyrgyzstan. For many students, it was the first visit to this part of the country. Accompanied by supervisor Aida Abdykanova and head of Anthropology Department Cholpon Chotaeva they arrived to the city of Osh on April 29. They spent one day in Alai district where they travelled to the villages of Alai and Chon-Alai. They discovered another Kyrgyzstan with mountains of different colors. In Chon-Alai, students visited a secondary school, and were pleasantly surprised with the nature and behavior of locals. Everyone was very kind and hospitable: the same country, but still so different from Bishkek. In the evenings after the interviews, they could do some sightseeing in Osh city, at Sulaiman – Too and Sulaiman-Too Museum, and learned the history of each building during a walk along the main streets of the city.

Jalal-Abad province

After two days of fieldwork in the Osh province, students went to Jalal-Abad region. On the way, they stopped to Uzgen city where they witnessed the Asian - Eastern diversity of the Uzgen bazar and uniqueness of Uzgen historical center. Jalal-Abad region made quite an impression on students. It was very beautiful and green. It is a province with a strong Islamic influence. In the city of Jalal-Abad, a lot of women were wearing hijabs. They visited villages in eastern Jalal-Abad province, including Mazar Bulak and Kalmak-Kyrchyn. There, unfortunately, students could hardly find people who were able to share memories of their parents and grandparents. For the last evening, they visited the resort place near Jalal-Abad with chloride-sulfate waters.

During the research in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan, 9 informants were interviewed. In the south, people were less informed about the revolt and they often confused the uprising of 1916 with the “basmachi” movement.                                    

During the 2 months of the study, students were able not only to find answers to their questions but also be better acquainted with Kyrgyzstan. This fieldwork was very productive. It taught them how to conduct research by working as a team, communicating with people, interviewing them, becoming familiar with the way they lived. They were also able to combine work and pleasure. Throughout the project, they collected information not only for their project publications but also for a documentary film about the history of 1916 uprising on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Students interviewed the offsprings of the participants as well as the witnesses or victims of the 1916 uprising. They tried to reconstruct 1916 revolt not only from historical documents but also from the stories told to them by ordinary people, thus approaching the issue from an anthropological perspective and by using the emic approach.

In 2016, a conference will be organized by the American University of Central Asia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1916 revolt. The 1916 Rebellion remains an important moment of the Kyrgyz history, and its people, especially the youth, should be aware of it.

Students would like to thank AUCA, SILC and the Anthropology Department for supporting their research project. Special thanks are going to Associate Professor of Anthropology Department Aida Adbykanova, as supervisor of the project.

Mir Mahamad Basira

Anthropology Department

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