Population Movements in Turkestan Military Governorate According to the Russian Yearbooks (1867-1917)

Abstract

The Turkestan Military Governorate was created by Russians in 1867 after the invasion of Turkestan, and it continuously expanded until 1882. The classical borders of the governorate were determined in 1899, and it was ruled by the military governors appointed by the Russian czar. This study aims to analyze the population patterns under the administration of the military governorate based on geographical and temporal unity by relying on the official registers. In this study, the Russian yearbooks were used as the main source, but the literature created during the Soviet era and aftermath was also consulted. The social movements, the applied settlement policies, and the changes in the population structures such as urban-rural, male-female, sedentarynomad, religion-ethnicity were analyzed according to regional and transformational patterns. Accordingly, Fergana and Samarkand provinces were densely populated and received immigrants. Yedisu and Siriderya provinces had the most non-Muslim population because of settlements. According to the data, rural, seminomadic and Muslim characteristics of the population weakened while urban, sedentary and nonMuslim characteristics were strengthening in the provinces.