Russian Language Instruction in Bukhara and Khiva
On Special Departments at the Main Madrasas
"Kyrgyz Steppe Newspaper"/from open access
As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, a great wave of awakening surged through Kazakh intellectuals, sparking a passionate quest for knowledge. This outpouring of intellectual zeal led to an explosion of new magazines and newspapers being published in Kazakh, heralding the dawn of a new era in sharing culture. However, what these intellectuals wrote went beyond only spreading knowledge. Soon, a variety of publications emerged, covering topics like business, society, politics, art, and humor. Qalam invites you to explore snippets from Kazakh publishing culture and history, offering a glimpse into the important issues of the past.
In the Steppe Governor-Generalship, which at that time included the northern and eastern regions of modern Kazakhstan, Russian-Kazakh schools began to open as early as the first half of the 19th century. In contrast, the situation was quite different in Turkestan Krai, which was only conquered by the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. Although the Khanate of Kokand was abolished, both the Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara formally continued to exist as protectorates. Due to the near absence of Russian settlers in Turkestan and the decision not to promote Orthodoxy among the Muslim population of Central Asia, the focus was placed on spreading the Russian language in local religious or confessional schools, namely madrasas. For this purpose, a special secret commission was formed in 1884 under the leadership of the Turkestan Governor-General, General Nikolai von Rosenbach.
The local population resisted, and in response to their protests, the Tsarist government often made concessions and adjusted the rules. At the same time, they disseminated information about the benefits of learning Russian, claiming that the initiative to promote Russian language education came from the local population. Such messages also appeared in Kazakh newspapers, for example, in Issue No. 1 of Dala Uälaiatynyñ Gazetі—the Kazakh version of Kirgizskaia Stepnaia Gazeta—in 1894:
"Kyrgyz Steppe Newspaper"/from open access
Russian Language in Bukhara and Khiva
The governments of Bukhara and Khiva, recognizing the benefits of learning Russian for their subjects, intend to petition the Russian government to establish special departments for teaching Russian at the principal madrasas of Bukhara and Khiva to both young and adult natives.
The Kirgizskaia Stepnaia Gazeta (In Kazakh, Dala Uälaiatynyñ Gazetі) was a special supplement to the Akmolinsk (1888–1905), Semipalatinsk (1894–1905), and Semirechensk (1894–1901) regional gazettes. It was published in Omsk in Russian with additional content in Kazakh.