The Turkestan Uprising of 1916 and its Manifestations in the Emirate of Bukhara

The authors examine the prerequisites for the Turkestan Uprising of 1916, which was largely the result of the modernization of the territories of Central Asia, a region where a multi-million Muslim population annexed to Russia. One of the consequences of a “meeting” of two systems – the Russian imperial one and the local traditional one – was the aggravation of the national question, largely caused by the implementation of the policy of incorporation of the region. The interaction of a set of factors, including the resettlement of Russian peasants, led to the uprising of 1916 in Russian Turkestan. Despite the growth of protest sentiments throughout Central Asia, in a number of regions their manifestation did not take violent forms. One of the relatively calm territories was the Bukhara Emirate, although it was part of the orbit of the Russian Empire, but by being its protectorate, it retained a number of specific features. Gradually growing into the system of market relations, Bukhara’s economy retained pre-capitalist relations and tribal vestiges. The modernization taking place in the region led, on the one hand, to progressive changes in the economy and culture, and on the other, to a deterioration in the quality of life of a majority of the population. Therefore, there was a return to Muslim traditionalism due to the growth of discontent with the central and local authorities. The research reveals the political and socioeconomic situation in the Bukhara Emirate on the eve of and during the 1916 uprising. The authors come to the conclusion that the situation in Bukhara and in the Turkestan region during the 1916 uprising had many similar features, since the emirate itself was part of a single socio-cultural and economic spaces of Central Asia and thus experiencing the same consequences of its modernization as the entire region. At the same time, the specifics of Bukhara, for example, political autonomy, left an imprint on the manifestation of protest sentiments. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.