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Seige of Tashkent
Part of The Russian conquest of Central Asia
The Capture of Tashkent by General Chernyayev, 1890, painting by Nikolay Karazin
Date First Siege: 1 October 1864 Second Siege: May – June 1865 Location Tashkent, Khanate of Kokand (Present-day in Uzbekistan) Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Khanate of Kokand
Commanders and leaders
Mikhail Chernyayev	Alimqul † Syzdyk Sultan
Strength
1,951 (During second siege)	30,000 (During second siege)
Casualties and losses
41 dead 179 wounded

The sieges of Tashkent was last major clashes in the Russo-Kokand war [ru], fought between the Khanate of Kokand and the Russian Empire. As a result of two campaigns, the Kokand Khan Alimqul died, and the Russians occupied the city, thereby strengthening their position in Central Asia, and starting to campaigns in Bukhara

Background

Tashkent was a key city and center of Turkestan.

It's capture had become a crutial part of the Czar's foreign policy, but some have argued that Russia's focus on it was greater than its actual influence.

Conflict within Kokand allowed Russia to conquer Kokand's subjects in the Kazakh Steppe in 1864. Further division was present, as the clergy were willing to ally with the Khanate of Bukhara, and merchants were willing to accept Russian rule due to heavy taxation from Kokand.

One month earlier Shymkent had fallen to Russian forces.

As for Tashkent, I beg your Excellency vigilantly and closely to observe everything that occurs in this town, and to assist the moral party that wishes to separate from hostile Khoqand and through your actions to direct the formation from Tashkent of a polity, independent from Khoqand and Bukhara, but a vassal of Russia.

Governor-General of Orenburg Province Nikolai Kryzhanovsky told Chernyayev to form a state independent of the Central Asian states from Tashkent, permitting him to attack the city.

Prelude

In May 1865, Chernyayev began the march to Tashkent after receiving news that Bukharan forces were 15 miles away from Tashkent, and preparing to launch an assault. On April 29, Chernyayev's forces reached Fort Niazbek, a garrison of 7,000 Kokand soldiers just south of Tashkent. Chernyayev would launch an attack on the city, successfully capturing it at a loss of only seven men wounded. Niazbek lay upstream of Tashkent on the Chirchik River, which served as Tashkent's primary water source. Chernyayev ordered his engineer company to divert the river, cutting off water supply to Tashkent. While in Niazbek, reinforcements called by Chernyayev arrived, bolstering his numbers to 1,900.

Upon hearing of Niazbek's capture several days later, Alimqul sent riders to inform provincial leaders, and immediately rode to Tashkent accompanied by 6,000 soldiers and 12 guns from the Ferghana valley.

Sieges

First Siege

After the fall of Shymkent, Chernyaev's ambitious plans only intensified, his new target became Tashkent, one of the largest cities in Central Asia with a population of 100,000 and a large garrison of 10,000. On September 22, 1865, Chernyayev marched on Tashkent, gathering 1,550 soldiers and 12 cannons at his disposal. In addition to the large garrison and the population, the city was well equipped with artillery and high walls (24 versts). On October 1, the Russians began bombing the city in what they thought was the weakest place, punching a hole there, in fact, only the upper part of the wall was damaged. The columns under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Obukh, shouting "hurrah", stormed the city, but as soon as they approached, they saw their mistake, the soldiers were forced to go down into the ditches and shoot back, suffering heavy losses, Obukh was mortally wounded. Chernyaev, who was watching this, decided to save the troops and ordered to open fire from all artillery at the garrison's shooters, temporarily forcing them to stop shooting, the Russians retreated back in order. During the siege, the Russians lost 16 killed and 62 wounded, including four officers, the Kokand people lost one weapon (fell during the shelling) and 200 dead, Tashkent successfully defended itself.

Second Siege

On May 8 Chernyayev reached Tashkent, and began to study the defenses and contact allies within the city. Chernyayev came to the conclusion that his comparatively small numbers would render a siege impossible, and that the city could only be captured through a sudden assault. This was enabled by the length of the wall, which caused defenses to be spread extremely thin.

On May 9, Alimqul himself decided to attack Chenyaev's troops, gathering up to 7,000 and a lot of artillery. Russian Russian army began shelling the Russian camp at 6 a.m., but it did not bring any sense, after waiting for the right moment, the Russians with the 4th companies themselves launched a frontal offensive hitting the center and flanks, Alimqul's troops offered very weak resistance, and the guard rushed to flee first, the infantry retreat was worse and its part was overtaken, abandoning artillery and leaving 300 corpses on the battlefield, the Russians lost 10 wounded, in addition, General Alimqul himself was killed. The entire ground army soon dispersed, abandoning the defense of the city. While Chernyayev hoped that the power vacuum would empower the pro-Russian faction within the city, residents focused on other option. One group attempted to form an independent state led by Sultan Sayyid Khan, and elders asked Muzaffar bin Nasrullah for support, which he expressed interest in. Chernyayev's expedition lacked the numbers to fully enforce a blockade of the city. Instead, he dispatched patrols to harass citizens attempting to gather food from gardens outside the walls or graze their animals. Before the main assault, which was scheduled for June 15, Chernyayev visited the troops where he kindly communicated with them and mentally prepared for the upcoming storm. At 2 a.m., the Russians attacked him, with priest Andrei Malov at the head of the columns, who encouraged the attackers. The Russians easily climbed the walls of the city from different sides, but immediately began to suffer losses in the battles for the towers, Captain Wulfred was wounded in the arm in such an attack, although he successfully took one weapon. Another detachment of Abramov, while occupying a kind of bridgehead, immediately staged a march to the gate to release the main forces, overcoming artillery fire, he occupied tours, and then reached the gate, during which the soldiers found their lost licorne, which Kokand's captured in Ican. After the gates were opened, a systematic offensive towards the city center began, the soldiers met very strong resistance, shots were fired from everywhere, from houses, corners and roofs, the brought artillery helped to clear it for the troops. At the same time, 5,000 Guards tried to evacuate the city, the Russians were able to organize a pursuit and captured all the banners. By evening, the city was cleared and officially surrendered on June 17.

Aftermath

On August 1866, the city was officially annexed after a year of deliberation.

Allworth argued that the importance of the idea of Tashkent may have encouraged the entire conquest of Central Asia.

Notes

1. date by Julian calendar, according to the new style, it will be 27
2. According to the Gregorian calendar it was 29

References

1. ^ Hopkirk 1994, p. 306.
2. ^ Allworth 1999, p. 59.
3. ^ Levi 2017, p. 194.
4. ^ Levi 2017, p. 195.
5. Pierce 1960, p. 24.
6. ^ Hopkirk 1994, p. 307.
7. ^ Morrison 2021, p. 245.
8. ^ Egorshina & Petrova 2023, p. 539.
9. Terenryev 2022, p. 317. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTerenryev2022 (help)
10. Terenryev 2022, pp. 317–318. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTerenryev2022 (help)
11. Terentyev 2022, p. 318.
12. Egorshina & Petrova 2023, p. 540.
13. Terentyev 2022, p. 319.
14. Hopkirk 1994, p. 307-308.
15. Terenryev 2022, p. 331. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTerenryev2022 (help)
16. ^ Levi 2017, p. 196.
17. ^ Morrison 2021, p. 244-245.
18. ^ Egorshina & Petrova 2023, p. 541.
19. Terentyev 2022, p. 337.
20. Terentyev 2022, p. 339.
21. Terentyev 2022, p. 340.

Citations

• Terentyev, Mihail (2022) . История завоевания Средней Азии [The history of the conquest of Central Asia] (in Russian). Vol. 1. Moscow: АИРО-XXI. ISBN 978-5-4481-1325-3.
• Egorshina, O.; Petrova, A. (2023). "Завоевание Кокандского ханства" [The conquest of the Kokand Khanate]. История русской армии [The history of the Russian Army] (in Russian). Vol. 19. Moscow: Edition of the Russian Imperial Library. ISBN 978-5-699-42397-2.
• Pierce, RIchard (1960). Russian Central Asia 1867-1917: A Study in Colonial Rule. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52031-774-1. #TODO
• MacKenzie, David (1974). The Lion of Tashkent: the career of General M. G. Cherniaev. Athens: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-0322-2. #TODO
• Hopkirk, Peter (1994). The Great Game: the struggle for empire in central Asia. New York: Kodansha. ISBN 978-1-56836-022-5. #TODO
• Allworth, Edward (1999). Central Asia, 130 years of Russian dominance: a historical overview. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-1521-6.
• Ploskikh, Vladimir (2014). Киргизы и Кокандское Ханство [The Kyrgyz people and the Kokand Khanate] (in Russian). Bishkek: Neo Print. ISBN 978-9967-19-187-7.
• Levi, Scott Cameron (2017). The rise and fall of Khoqand, 1709-1876: Central Asia in the global age. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-6506-0.
• Morrison, Alexander (2021). The Russian conquest of Central Asia: a study in imperial expansion, 1814-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03030-5.