State administration and military affairs in the Kokand Khanate

In 1805 Alim Khan was the first to form a regular army of about 10,000 (navkariya) in the khanate, largely of mountain Tajiks; under Umar Khan it reached 12,000, and Khudayar Khan brought rifles from the Ottoman state and formed a relatively modern artillery. Beside the regular troops, irregular forces such as the qilquyruq, qorqozon and qora cherik were kept as auxiliaries; in the 1830s–40s there were about 30,000 soldiers in all. The army consisted of sipoh (cavalry), gunners, sarboz (infantry) and a special select section; service in the regular army passed from father to son, and a family’s only man was not called up. High posts: mingboshi, amiri lashkar, qushbegi, batirboshi, qal’abon, to‘pchiboshi, to‘qsoba, pansadboshi; before battle the army was divided into vanguard, maymana (right wing), maysara (left wing) and centre. For military costs a “rifle money” tax was introduced; according to the textbook a yuzboshi was paid 147 silver tangas a year and an ordinary soldier 43. Fortresses were in three groups: in major centres (Tashkent, Margilan, Kokand, Andijan, Namangan), under local governors (Turkestan, Chimkent, Aulie-Ata, Ura-Tepa, Pishpek, Ak-Mechet) and small ones along roads; there was no military school to train officers, and the level of training was low.