STUDIES ON THE MIGRATION OF TURKESTAN INTELLECTUALS

https://doi.org/10.57033/mijournals-2026-8-0143 Javlonbek KHUSHNAZAROV a

a Master’s Student, International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan STUDIES ON THE MIGRATION OF TURKESTAN INTELLECTUALS (EARLY 20TH CENTURY) Abstract. This article examines the migration of Turkestan intellectuals in the early twentieth century from historical, political, and social perspectives. The main causes of migration are identified as the colonial policies of the Russian Empire, Soviet-era repressions, and intellectual migration within the framework of the Jadid movement. The author divides this process into three main stages, analyzing its directions and consequences. Special attention is given to the activities of Turkestan intellectuals in Germany, Turkey, and France, highlighting their contribution to preserving national identity and promoting enlightenment ideas. The study concludes that this migration was a strategic effort aimed at preserving the nation’s intellectual potential and establishing the foundations of modern statehood.

Keywords: Turkestan; Jadid movement; intellectual migration; political emigration; Tsarist Russia; Soviet repression; national awakening; Hijaz migration; education abroad; Mustafa Choʼqay; diaspora; cultural heritage.

INTRODUCTION Today in Uzbekistan, the impartial and honest study of the nation’s new history and the investigation of the heritage of the ancestors who laid the foundations of our national statehood have been elevated to the level of state policy. The migration processes of the early twentieth century were not merely a matter of movement from place to place but a strategic effort to preserve the intellectual potential of the nation and to develop it on the basis of world standards ekstremistikand for this reason the study of this topic is of the highest contemporary relevance.

The migration of Turkestan intellectuals and the history of the Jadid movement have been widely studied by scholars including Sherali Turdiyev, Begali Qosimov, and Qahramon Rajabov (Turdiyev, 2006; Qosimov, 2002; Rajabov, 2011). Mustafa Choʼqay’s activities and the fate of students educated in Germany have also been illuminated on the basis of archival documents. However, the study of the migration process as a unified system ekstremistikencompassing both its intellectual and its forced political dimensions ekstremistikstill requires further scholarly development. The early twentieth century corresponds to one of the most complex, contradictory, and simultaneously intellectually elevated periods in Turkestan’s history. The intensification of Tsarist Russian colonial oppression, the socio-economic backwardness of the local population, and technological transformations occurring worldwide confronted Turkestan intellectuals with urgent historical tasks that could not be postponed. The Jadid movement that took shape in this period promoted not only religious-educational reform but also the ideas of restoring national statehood and mastering modern science. As the practical expression of these ideas, the process of migration of Turkestan intellectuals to foreign countries emerged.

The article aims to conduct a complex analysis of the causes and principal directions of Turkestan intellectuals’ migration and of the political-educational heritage formed as a result of that migration. The specific objectives are: to identify the historical and sociopolitical causes of Turkestan intellectuals’ migration; to provide a scholarly account of the stages of the migration process; to illuminate the contribution of compatriots who studied and worked abroad to the development of the idea of national statehood; and to assess the impact of Soviet repression on the nation’s intellectual stratum. METHODS The article employs historical-analytical and comparative methods. Primary sources include archival materials, historical documents on the migration of Mawarannahr scholars to the Two Holy Mosques, Hajj travelogues and emigrant diaries (Mansur Buxoriy, cited in Yuz yil oldingi haj, 1892/1892, p. 75), and memoir literature including Choʼqay’s collected writings (Choʼqay, 1992). Secondary sources include the historical monographs and dissertations of Uzbek scholars produced since independence ekstremistikprincipally Turdiyev (2006), Qosimov (2002), and Rajabov (2011, 2007)

Vol. 8, (Issue 2/2026) ekstremistikand international scholarship on Hajj geopolitics and Sufi pilgrimage from Central Asia. The analysis proceeds chronologically, examining three principal stages of migration: Tsarist-era migration, Soviet-era repression and forced emigration, and intellectual migration for educational purposes.

RESULTS The migration of Turkestan intellectuals can, for analytical purposes, be divided into three principal stages. The first stage is the migration that arose during the Tsarist era. After the territory of Turkestan was incorporated into the Russian Empire, local intellectuals came under political and social pressure. As a result, some progressive intellectuals were compelled to move to other regions in order to continue their activities or ensure their safety. This migration was predominantly forced in character and was connected with preserving national consciousness and the idea of independence. This first stage is directly connected with the intensification of Tsarist Russian colonial policy. The entry of the Russian Empire into Turkestan at the end of the nineteenth century, the socio-political instability, and the colonial wars gave rise to widespread migration processes in the region. In particular, the unrest that arose in Kazan in 1892 / 1309 AH led many Kazan Muslims ekstremistikincluding intellectuals and students ekstremistikto move to other regions, especially to the sacred centers of the Islamic world. This process also served to strengthen scholarly-cultural ties between Turkestan and Volga Muslims (Yuz yil oldingi haj, 1892:88–95).

In that period, special religious schools and institutions were established in Mecca and Medina for the reception of emigrants and students. In particular, Medina became an important center of learning for Tatar and Turkestani students. There they had the opportunity to study the Arabic language, Qurʼanic recitation, and Islamic sciences in depth. Among the Tatar students who migrated to Medina in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were such notable figures as Izzuddin Afandi al-Qozoniy, Qurbon Ali ibn Vali Allah al-Qozoniy, and Zarif Afandi al-Qozoniy. Among the intellectuals who moved from the territories of Turkestan and Bukhara to the Hijaz there were individuals who performed various social functions; for example, the Bukharan Muhammad Ali served as a guide for pilgrims from Bukhara in Medina. Abdul Nabi Bukhari also occupied an important place in this migration process; he migrated to the territory of the Two Holy Mosques before 1313 AH (Mansur Buxoriy, cited in Yuz yil oldingi haj, 1892:75).

The second stage corresponds to the period of the Bolshevik revolution and the subsequent occupation of Western Turkestan by Communist Russia ekstremistika fundamental turning point in the history of the region. The new regime sharply changed not only the political management system but also the religious, social, and economic foundations of society. These processes gave rise to large-scale oppression, pressure, and ultimately waves of forced migration.

The policy conducted by Communist authorities was directed first and foremost against the institutions of Islam. As a result, 26,000 mosques ekstremistikincluding several prominent mosques in Bukhara and Samarkand ekstremistikand 15,000 schools were closed or demolished, of which 7,052 were directly Islamic educational institutions. Religious-spiritual heritage also suffered serious losses: libraries were burned and Qurʼan copies were confiscated. As a result of these political and social pressures, various strata of the population were compelled to leave their homelands (Oʼzbekiston yangi tarixi, 2000). These forced migrations can be divided into three principal groups: representatives of the scholarly community (shaykhs, scholars, qadis, imams); representatives of the economic stratum (merchants, farmers, and property owners); and participants in armed resistance movements (qurboshis).

The third stage corresponds to intellectual migration undertaken for educational purposes. This process was of a relatively positive character compared to the previous stages and was motivated by the aspiration of intellectuals to acquire learning and modern knowledge. Turkestani youth and intellectuals traveled to various scholarly centers and sought to apply the knowledge they acquired in their homeland, serving to develop enlightenment ideas in society.

In the early twentieth century, Turkestan intellectuals saw the path to rescuing the nation from ignorance in training specialists who had seen the world and mastered modern technologies. This process took shape first in the direction of Turkey (Istanbul) and subsequently in the direction of Germany (Berlin). From 1909–1910 onward, through the efforts of Bukhara and Tashkent Jadids, students were sent to Istanbul. The “Bukhara taʼlimi maorif” (Bukhara Educational Enlightenment) society took upon itself all the expenses of the students (Rajabov, 2011:45–48). Fitrat wrote his famous works precisely while studying in Istanbul. These works sharply increased the interest among Turkestan youth in studying abroad.

Vol. 8, (Issue 2/2026) By 1922, migration entered a new stage. The government of the Bukharan People’s Soviet Republic managed to send 73 young people to Germany. The “Koʼmak” (Aid) association established in Tashkent collected funds from the population and covered the travel expenses of the young people. Students were placed in higher technical schools in such cities as Berlin, Darmstadt, and Cottbus. Young people such as Sultan Matqul and Ahmadjon Ibrahimov became known as the most talented representatives of the German engineering school (Turdiyev, 2006:12–18).

Political migration: Mustafa Chuqay and “Yosh Turkiston.” The bloody events of 1917–1918 ekstremistikin particular, the suppression of the Turkestan Autonomy by Soviet forces ekstremistikcompelled part of the national elite to leave the country. Without doubt, the greatest figure of Turkestan political migration is Mustafa Choʼqay. He lived successively in Turkey, France, and Germany, and elevated the question of Turkestan’s freedom to the level of international diplomacy.

The journal “Yosh Turkiston” (Young Turkestan), published in Berlin under Choʼqay’s leadership from 1929 to 1939, became a symbol of solidarity for intellectuals in emigration. The journal exposed the economic plunder of Turkestan, cultural repressions, and the true face of the Soviet regime. Choʼqay, under the slogan “Turkestan belongs to Turkestanis,” called upon all Central Asian peoples to unite (Chuqay, 1992:82–95). DISCUSSION The three-stage model of Turkestan intellectual migration proposed in this article reveals a pattern that is significant for understanding the broader history of colonialism, resistance, and national identity. The first stage ekstremistikHijaz-oriented migration ekstremistikrepresents a form of cultural-religious preservation in the face of Tsarist pressure, in which the sacred geography of Islam served as a refuge and a site of scholarly reproduction. The second stage ekstremistikSoviet-era forced migration ekstremistikwas qualitatively different: it was systematic, violent, and aimed at the deliberate destruction of the intellectual and religious infrastructure of Turkestan society, as evidenced by the closure of 26,000 mosques and 7,052 Islamic educational institutions (Oʼzbekiston yangi tarixi, 2000).

The third stage ekstremistikvoluntary intellectual migration to Istanbul and Berlin ekstremistikrepresents the most strategically important dimension of the process from

the perspective of national development. The Jadid decision to send young people to European technical schools was a conscious act of counter-colonialism: it recognized that the tools of modernity ekstremistikengineering, political journalism, international diplomacy ekstremistikcould be turned toward the goal of national liberation. The careers of Fitrat in Istanbul and Choʼqay in Berlin and Paris exemplify this strategy at its most coherent (Turdiyev, 2006; Choʼqay, 1992).

The three stages are not simply sequential but structurally interrelated: the religiousscholarly networks formed during the first stage provided the social infrastructure through which Jadid reformers of the third stage mobilized community support; and the suppression of the Turkestan Autonomy that drove the second stage simultaneously confirmed the Jadids’ diagnosis that Turkestan’s survival required not only military resistance but a long-term intellectual and diplomatic strategy pursued from abroad (Qosimov, 2002; Rajabov, 2007).

CONCLUSION In conclusion, the migration of intellectuals in the early twentieth century is an enormous opportunity that was lost but remains permanently recorded in historical memory. In the current period of independence, the rehabilitation of these individuals’ names and the study of their scholarly-political legacy abroad serves to strengthen our national statehood. The migration of Turkestan intellectuals was not merely a consequence of colonial and totalitarian pressure but a strategically organized response to existential threats to national identity, intellectual heritage, and the aspiration to independent statehood (Choʼqay, 1992; Turdiyev, 2006; Rajabov, 2011). The three stages identified ekstremistikHijaz-oriented religious migration, Sovietera forced emigration, and voluntary intellectual migration for educational and political purposes ekstremistiktogether constitute a unified historical process in which the nation’s intellectual potential was preserved, relocated, and ultimately reimported in service of the future independent state. The continuing rehabilitation and scholarly study of this heritage remains an important task of contemporary Uzbek historiography and Islamic studies (Qosimov, 2002; Rajabov, 2007; Oʼzbekiston yangi tarixi, 2000).

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