☰ Contents · History of Uzbekistan

The Karakalpaks: life, taxes and uprisings

Lessons 20–21 · 2 lessons · S. Tillaboyev, A. Zamonov. O‘zbekiston tarixi (History of Uzbekistan, second half of the 19th – early 20th century), Grade 9, 3rd edition. “Sharq” Publishing House, Tashkent, 2019
21

Taxes and duties. Popular uprisings

Textbook: pp. 78–81
GoalDescribe the taxes and duties of the Karakalpaks and the uprisings of 1855–1859.
New words
land tax · solg‘uttax in favour of the clergy · ushrtax on livestock, one fortieth of the herd · zakotwartime tax · qozon puli
Explanation

The Karakalpaks paid taxes like other subjects of the khanate: a land tax called solghut, ushr in favour of the clergy, and in wartime qozon puli; herders gave one fortieth of their animals as zakat (according to the textbook, 9 som for 40 cattle and 2 som 50 tiyin for 40 sheep and goats). The heaviest duty was that one man from each family dug canals for 12 days; in war each community had to supply 1000–2000 soldiers or pay money. According to the textbook, as the Russian threat grew the khan spent heavily on defence and raised taxes, while Russia pursued a policy of trying to set Turkmen, Karakalpak and Kazakh clan leaders against the khan. In 1855 an uprising began under Ernazarbiy of the Qoldovli tribe: the Karakalpaks declared they would no longer obey the khan. In 1856 Said Muhammadkhan sent a large army; Ernazarbiy prepared a defence in the Qozoqdaryo fort, discord arose during the siege and he was killed. Some of his followers went to the Akmechet fortress and asked to pass into Russian subjecthood; according to the textbook, this appeal was exaggerated in interpretation. In 1858–1859 a new uprising with its centre at Qongirot was put down by the Turkmen commander Otamurodkhan, and the town of Qongirot was ruined. After Khiva became a protectorate, discontent also grew among the Karakalpaks of the Amu Darya Division: in the Biybozor and Nukus volosts a movement led by Bobo Goklan lasted nearly ten years (1881–1891), and in 1900 there were new protests in Nukus volost and the Qongirot beklik.

Worked examples
A family with forty cattle paid 9 som zakat; one man from a family had to dig canals for 12 days.
If a community could not supply 1000 soldiers it paid extra tax; in mobilisation 180–250 thousand som were collected from such communities.
Class activity

Make a table: name of the tax or duty, who pays (performs) it, what it is for. Write five rows.

Practice
1
Explain solghut, ushr and qozon puli.
2
In which year did Ernazarbiy’s uprising begin and where did its leader die?
3
Which town was the centre of the 1858–1859 uprising and how did it end?
4
Why might rising taxes and internal rivalry have led to uprisings?