Ethnic and state delimitation of Central Asia resulted in establishment of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR) on October 27, 1924. The Last Empire fell in 1991, and the republic became Uzbekistan, a sovereign state. Is there anybody in Tashkent to remember it? Independent journalist Sergei Yezhkov - exclusive from Tashkent.

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Had the Soviet Union survived, the Uzbek SSR would have been celebrating its 80th anniversary today. History does not work with the subjunctive mood, however, and the authorities in modern Uzbekistan are clearly loath to remember the date. On the contrary, they did everything possible in 13 years of sovereignty to do away with the recent history.

The beginning of the ethnic and state delimitation of Turkestan, once a subject of the Russian Empire, took place on the last day of January in 1924. It was the day when the organizational bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks instructed Central Committee Secretary Ya. Rudzutak to convene a conference in Tashkent.

The Communist Party was not all that monolithic then, and concepts certainly varied. Some party functionaries insisted on preservation of the economic and ethnic integrity of the region. References to common roots of the "Turkish tribes" were made. Other functionaries perceived a Turkestan split on the ethnic principle enabling all peoples to retain their cultures, traditions, and ways. There were linguistic nuances to be counted in as well - even despite the commonalty of language per se.

The delimitation conference took place in Tashkent in March 1924. It was this conference precisely that came up with the approach that was acted upon at a later date and lasted through the existence of the Soviet Union.

Decision of the March conference became the starting point of the process of Uzbek statehood in its current borders. It was developed by resolution of the second meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR "On ethnic and territorial delimitation of Central Asia on the basis of peoples' self-determination" on October 27, 1924.

In accordance with the document, the Uzbek SSR appeared on the map of the Soviet Union - along with the autonomous Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, and Karakyrgyz autonomous region (an element of the RSFSR). The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic that existed before that was divided, most of its territory absorbed by the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic that was a part of the Russian Federation then. Turkestan, Bukhara, and Khorezm central executive committees automatically self-disbanded.

Had history taken a different path, future of the modern Uzbekistan might have been wholly different. Back in 1917 (when the October revolution was staged in Russia), Central Asia was not in the focus of attention of Russia alone. Great Britain and some European countries were eyeballing the region too. Rich soil and a climate permitting cultivation of cotton (given the right circumstances, it would have become possible to challenge America's dominance in this sphere) attracted the attention of British and French secret services. In fact, even Americans themselves were not idle. US Consul (one R. Tradewellay) was working side by side with his European colleagues.

It was they who fomented (actively careful to but remain out of the spotlight) a counterrevolutionary revolt in Tashkent in the second half of January, 1918. The revolt was led by K. Osipov, ex-ensign of the Tsarist army who had defected to the Bolsheviks and was military commissar of the Turkestan ASSR at the moment.

The Tashkent revolt was to be joined by armed uprising in other areas, specifically in the Ferghana Valley where Basmach gangs (Basmach - a wealthy local, bitter enemy of the Soviet power) and units of the White Guard were expected to reinforce the rebels.

The very first episodes of the revolt made it plain that the rebels certainly meant business. Osipov began with extermination of Communist activists, 14 Turkestan commissars who essentially formed the republican government. Referring to the necessity of an urgent meeting, Osipov invited V. Votintsev (Chairman of the republican Central Executive Committee), N. Shumilov (Chairman of the Tashkent Council), his deputy V. Finkelstein, I. Fomenko (Chairman of the republican Emergency Commission or the CHeKa) to the barracks of the 2nd Siberian Infantry Regiment and had them executed. Other commissars and editors of Turkestansky Kommunist and Krasnoarmeyets newspapers were executed or killed in suppression of the revolt.

By the morning of January 19, enemies of the Bolsheviks already controlled most of Tashkent. In fact, the Bolsheviks themselves retained the Freedom House, the fortress, and railroad depots. Vastly outnumbered, the Bolsheviks got unexpected support from the population of the so called Old City. Vicious street fighting ensued, and the rebels were defeated four days later.

So, what does the memory of the capital of Uzbekistan retain of those tragic events, anything but the rare buildings that may remember something yet?

The memory retained practically nothing. As soon as the new (the current) regime was installed, it mounted an energetic campaign aimed at destruction of monuments of history and architecture of the Soviet period. The eternal flame of the memorial erected to commemorate the executed commissars was put out, the memorial itself dismantled. The beautiful monument to 14 Turkestan commissars on the square near the railroad terminal was dismantled soon after that. At some later date, the authorities destroyed the pantheon with the remains of victims of Osipov's revolt (the commissars), Yu. Akhunbabayev (one of the leaders of the Uzbek SSR), some activists of the first years of the Soviet power, and General S. Rakhimov. The authorities had the area fenced off, brought excavating machinery, and razed the memorial to the ground overnight. A horrendous flower garden with walks for pedestrians replaced the pantheon. Dig anywhere and you are bound to uncover the remains.

What remains of the Tashkent fortress whose contours were still discernible 15 years ago or so is partially occupied by offices of secret services (the walls there are a meter thick) and partially by services of Islam Karimov's presidential administration. The president's residence known as Oksarai is located on the territory of the fortress too, just where a park for children was in the Soviet period.

The Freedom House has been occupied by the military, the Officer Club, under all regimes. What remains of the barracks of the 2nd Siberian Infantry Regiment houses a special college of the National Security Service (successor to the KGB).

What else? It goes without saying that 70 plus years of the Uzbek SSR whose principles of self-determination were laid down by Vladimir Lenin and developed by Stalin's Constitution in 1936 could not help leaving a mark. Uzbekistan new several periods of advanced economy, science, and education. In accordance with Lenin's decree, the best scientists from Petrograd and Moscow were dispatched to Tashkent in 1918 to establish the first university in Central Asia. (The memorial plaque that could be seen on one of the buildings barely years ago was removed and destroyed on the order from the authorities.)

The first such period took place in the first years of the Soviet power, the second - paradoxically enough - in years of the Great Patriotic War which is usually referred to in Uzbekistan as World War II. Long echelons with equipment and machinery of major industrial objects from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia trudged to Uzbekistan in the early 1940's. It is to this evacuation that Uzbekistan owes the appearance of the Tashkent Plane Manufacturer named after Chkalov, Tashkent Factory of Agricultural Machinery, and a dozen other enterprises - many of them grinding to a screeching halt nowadays.

Heyday in architecture was sparked by a tragedy - the earthquake of 1966 that destroyed old buildings and put an end to the so called single-storey Tashkent. All of the Soviet people came to help and built the capital of Uzbekistan practically from scratch, making it a modern city. It is impossible to find even a mention of this international action in the Uzbek media nowadays. Even the men and women who built Tashkent, their descendants and families, have mostly left Tashkent by now.

It should be noted that the regime energetically advertises the so called historic and cultural roots of the Uzbek people. Unique as they are, they are nevertheless no more unique than those of other peoples.

Constantly referring to Medieval theologians and religious figures who ever lived on the territory of Uzbekistan, the authorities dismiss recent history partially or completely - or distort it. As though the Soviet power and the Tsarist Russia before it did not bring anything for Uzbekistan but yoke and lawlessness.

Neither do the authorities ever mention the fact that the first geographic society of Uzbekistan was founded by Fyodor Kerensky, the father of Alexander Kerensky who became prominent in Russia during the 1917 February Revolution. (Fyodor Mikhailovich's house or, rather, the flat he lived in is where the Sheraton stands nowadays.)

The authorities never mention the fact that a considerable part of historical legacy of Uzbekistan was discovered, studied, and described by Russian and Soviet scientists. Or that it was the Soviet power that rebuilt the Registan architectural ensemble in Samarkand from ruins.

Now matter how we regard it, it was the Soviet power that preserved for the future generations the beautiful Ichak-Kala complex in Khiva, Ark in Bukhara, etc.

Soviet scientist Mikhail Masson and his wife Galina Pugachenkova spent years in Uzbekistan and restored the history of the people and the country from their findings. Galina Anatolievna Pugachenkova whose contribution to science is truly invaluable is mentioned but sporadically and in passing.

The regime does not want the people to remember that the construction of subway in Tashkent began after the earthquake or that the first trains began running by the 60th Anniversary of the Soviet Union. Everything that serves as a reminder of the recent Soviet past has been dismantled and removed from subway, leaving empty spaces. Everything from the past is to be done away with - with nothing to replace it with for the time being.

What else does Uzbekistan lack nowadays? The house of Russian actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya, the one where she died of consumption, is no more. No more tombs of Fyodor Kerensky's relatives at Botkinskoye Cemetery near the Temple of Alexander Nevsky. Massive crosses of cast iron with barely noticeable inscriptions were moved aside so as to make room for other prominent dead...

There is practically nothing in Uzbekistan that relates to its recent past. Even its young citizens do not remember what October 27, 1924, meant. Most of them choose not to be bothered and not to remember.

Forget the Soviet period for a moment. The young do not even know that the unique Oman's Koran (the one General Kaufman discovered in a stable in Samarkand and took with him to Kazan) was returned to Uzbekistan when Uzbekistan retained sovereignty. Only recently someone used a razor blade to cut out 15 pages from the holy book smeared with the blood of Mohammed's dedicated follower. The pages were smuggled abroad, put up for sale in Europe, and bought by the emir of Qatar for a hefty sum.

The author knows that every political elite that makes it to the top (particularly the elite that aspires for a radical rearrangement of the state and society) is inevitably selective about history - some events are deliberately forgotten, others are given a different interpretation... The authorities of Uzbekistan are not an exception. They had better remember. At least sometimes, at least something. Perhaps, someone will remember them too.

From Ferghana.Ru editorial office:

By the late 1880's the territory of modern Uzbekistan was included in the territories of the Syrdarja, Samarkand, and Ferghana regions of the Turkestan Province, Khiva Khanate, and Bukhara Emirate that were Russian protectorate.

Establishment of the Soviet power in Turkestan was proclaimed in November 1917 - March 1918.

The Khorezm and Bukhara people's Soviet republics - precursors of Uzbekistan - were established in 1920. Two Soviet republics - Uzbek and Turkmen - were established in Central Asia by the fall 1924. A Tajik autonomy was formed in the Uzbek SSR (it eventually became a republic too), and Gorny Badakhshan Autonomous Region was formed within the autonomy. A part of the territory of Central Asia was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an element of Russia.

Delimitation of the Ferghana Valley split it into three parts divided among Uzbekistan (the towns of Namangan, Andizhan, Margelan, Ferghana), Tajikistan (the town of Khodzhent or Leninabad), and Kyrgyzstan (the towns of Osh, Dzhalal-Abad, Uzgen).

The Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, a part of the Russian Federation before that, was turned over to the Uzbek SSR in 1936. Bostanlyk district of the Kazakh SSR was absorbed by the Uzbek SSR (it became a part of the Tashkent region) in 1956.

Ethnic and state delimitation of Central Asia made the region stable, but the problem of a highly confusing arrangement of ethnic settlements denies a solution, creates tension, and foments conflicts in the region.

Sergei Yezhkov, independent journalist