I again saw Lenin at the end of June, when I visited Moscow for two days. He did not mention anything about our Party. I felt that, he, Stalin, Trotsky, Kamenev were not going to allow us to establish a separate national Party, however close we might be to their objectives in terms of our program. Jaroslavski and Stasova were only keeping us busy.
During our visits with Lenin, he gave me a big automobile made by Fiat. He wrote his order on a plain piece of paper with blue colored pencil. These automobiles once belonged to General Samsonov, who was once a Turkistan Governor General, who had lost the battle to Hindenburg at the Russian-German Front. But, it was very difficult to find gasoline in Moscow at the time. Despite that, they also gave me gasoline, and we brought this car to Saranski, and later to Baskurdistan. Even though this Fiat was very heavy, and burnt large quantities of gasoline, the fact that Lenin presented it to me increased my credibility in the esteem of the communists. However, nothing came of this superficial trust and compliment.
Deployment of our military units to Ukraine instead of Turkistan—
Our misfortune was that, Lenin regarding the Turkistan issues a side-show, announced on 9 July the principle of “everything against Denikin.” He gave me definitive orders to send our reorganized military units, complying with the opinions of Trotsky and Vatsitis, to Ukraine Front instead of the Turkistan Front at Samara, to help the 14th Red Army fighting against the Denikin forces in Ukraine with the proviso “for a very short period.” We kept two battalions and some technical units in Saransk, and sent the majority to the Kharkov Front. When our units arrived, the 14th Red Army was completely dispersed, and the committee running the war, the “Defense Committee,” had crossed over to the side of Denikin including their chief and all the staff, our units were forced to withdraw from Kharkov. When I arrived in the front, our units were fighting the Denikin Army near the city of Mirgorod, mentioned many times in the works of Gogol. Our Troopers had placed furniture in the train carriages, and were also keeping a few girls in each carriage. I had these furniture collected and burnt. I sent the girls to their own cities and villages. I also issued an order stressing that all this was against military discipline. Trotsky read that order and wanted to apply the same to all of the Russian units. But, when Vatsitis indicated that it would be impossible to apply such strict moral code to the Russian units, he gave up his idea. Trotsky told me all this himself. Apparently, Trotsky greatly admired the internal discipline of our units. He also knew that the politcoms, meaning political commissars within our units, were previously Regimental Imams. He heartily laughed stating “do we need to appoint Regimental Priests in order to bring an order to our units?” Because, the Red Army, with their Commanders defecting to the side of the Whites, had no longer any discipline.
At that time, our Regiments were in possession of many items, never found in our country, taken earlier from the German Army, brought from Europe; medications, medical equipment, tons of printing paper that has never been opened. I sent all of that to Sterlitamak in two different trains via Safran station near Ufa. Some military equipment was also sent there. We were only keeping the civilian administrative apparatus in Saransk. Baskurdistan Representative Council and our other active organizations were at the Eastern Front, in front of the Frunze forces. I sent Colonel Hasan Ahmerov to Belebey Sancak on 5 June, ordering mobilization. The people responded without hesitation. Ahmerov immediately began establishing the Baskurt Third and Fourth Infantry and Third Cavalry Regiments. Frunze provided plenty of ammunition to them. We gave a portion of the ammunition I sent from Ukraine to them as well. These newly formed units were going to stay on the Turkistan Front. Our aim was to settle in Orenburg with the Kazaks, as before. But the Russian imperialist friends of Lenin influenced him for the Soviet Government to insert a Russian Province in Orenburg between the Kazaks and Baskurts. They agreed to establish a separate Soviet Government in Aktube, and ours at Sterlitamak, distant from each other. Against all that, I went to Lenin, to protest the decisions. They were nowhere near changing their minds. Even Lenin, caressing me, stated: “let it stand for the time being; we can discuss this later.”
Once again activities in Baskurdistan—
In mid-June, the Kolchak Army began to disintegrate in every direction. On 9 June, when Ufa once again passed into the hands of the Reds, with the acquiescence of Frunze, gathering a representative from each province of our government located in Saransk, in the company of a Guard Company, I arrived in Samara. There (13 June) I met with communist magnates Rykov and Rudzutak in the company of Frunze. They were favorably viewing the formation of an independent government in Turkistan based on a national army, and the presence of the Baskurt Army in the Turkistan Front under the Command of Frunze. Rykov told me that Stalin was completely against the formation of an Islamic center in Orenburg; but he and Frunze did not see any reason why not. We spoke of good things. We took meals together several times. I wondered if the business was in the hands of these, what good results we could have obtained. We called Lenin good; Stalin, the devil. But, does it not indicate that Lenin also had a touch of devil in him by the fact that despite Lenin had good people such as Frunze, Rudzutak in his retinue, he gave the reins of the party to Stalin instead.
I moved from Samara to Belebey and from there to Sterlitamak. I was almost alone here. If it was necessary to travel, that was only possible with cavalry units. That precaution was necessary, because the presence of Kolchak and Cossack agents in the Russian villages was a possibility. I journeyed to my village, and saw my father, mother, siblings and relatives. Even though our village had changed hands several times, they had not touched my books and possessions; and they had not caused any harm to my parents. After the Reds withdrew, the Troopers of the Murtazin Brigade protected them. I established an expeditionary government in Sterlitamak, and began forming administrative apparatus in the places evacuated by Kolchak. I even opened a small officer training school. I appointed Kadi Nizamettionoglu, from the Qatay uruk, one of our valued officers, to administer that institution. Later on, that school was to grow into a large War Academy. A little later, a portion of the government arrived in Sterlitamak from Saranski. And, a representative of Murtazin, in the company of his relatives arrived, bringing his application to re-join the Reds and the Baskurt Army.
The prominent men of the country, who had earlier helped us in 1917 when we began our Baskurt national movement also arrived in Sterlitamak and asked what happened? What will happen? Where are we going? I invited the prominent men of the ulus who had been freed from Kolchak for consultations; there were sincere talks. I told them: “we had no other alternative but come to terms with the Reds. We could not have carried the country to Siberia or China. Now, it is necessary to be patient. The Reds did not allow us to settle in Orenburg with them, or sending our Army to the Turkistan Front. We of course regret all that, but we have no other alternative other than be in resonance with the regime in the formation stages across Russia. The Russian people decided to test Bolshevism on their own back. The only power that can overturn all this is the SRs and the idea of a Founding Parliament. That idea collapsed. No Tsarist general can satisfy the Russian people any longer. We also observed that it is not possible for us to journey with the generals and that it was completely useless for us to become adventurers. We came to terms with the Soviets. Now, we have no other road except to adjust to the Soviet Conditions in order to retain the control of our country. You need to enter into the officialdom, become members, and establish cooperatives, economic and cultural institutions to do just that. Our biggest deficiency is ignorance. We will work to eliminate that.” These statements, in the meetings where my father and maternal uncle were also present, spread across our country. Even though these meetings were small, comprised of only of twenty-five to thirty people, lasting from the morning until evening, as private discussions, their importance was great. I reported all that to Frunze in writing, also requested the removal of all eight Red military garrisons established across Western Baskurdistan. That was done, and I sent ‘milis’ units comprised of Baskurts to replace them.
Here, there is a small event worth mentioning: In our country there was a Kargali Tatar author by the name of Abdurrahman Hakberdin, whom I had known since 1904, a friend of my father’s, and earlier mentioned in these memoirs. He used to work as a controller in the gold mines of Sakir Remeyev. He had published small tracts under the name of Kutphane-i Ictihad. Most contained translated information from Russian and Ottoman sources. He also understood some Arabic and Persian. I knew that he used to harbor socialist ideas. But, it transpired that he was an old communist. Either that person or a friend of his approached the individuals and questioned them as to what was spoken at the small meetings. He thus gathered all that ‘information,’ mixing it with some falsehoods, reported me to the secret services of the Eastern front as “Velidov here is gathering all the bourgeois rich secretly and holding meetings with them.” General Avksentyev, deputy of Frunze, made a copy of what was reported and sent it to me as a display of friendship. He also wrote very unflattering words next to the name of Hakberdin, such as “Merzavets.” Later on I heard that Avksentyev called this person, or his friend working for him, and upbraided that person with: “Validov spoke with a few people and secured the peace, relieved us from maintaining garrisons. On the other hand, all you think about is creating restlessness in your own country, creating trouble for us. Get Lost!” Two months later, when Hakberdin heard that I was going to travel through Kargali village, he escaped somewhere, fearing that I would kill him. I left him a note as follows: “you were afraid that I would kill you. There is no need for that. You had already killed yourself. You advised that Caravansaray mosque ought to be demolished. Is there anyone who is crueler than those who advocate destruction of mosques and forbidding the mention of God’s name? [Here, Togan cites a sura from the Kur’an]. It is good that your advice is ignored; you are shameless. This is all I have to say to you.”
Strength of national autonomy ideal among the Baskurt—
About this time, a group of Troopers asked for permission to speak with me. They were from the Third Regiment, and did not join Kolchak, but refused to accept the Reds either. They had remained in the Katay province forests, to await the return of the Baskurdistan Government. I received them with great respect, had a calf slaughtered for them at the village of Isey. After having their bellies filled, I embraced them. For the first time, I learned that the staff under the Command of Major Tagan was under siege by the White Regiments at Levze village, and after fighting them for two weeks, surrendered on 17 March. Major Tagan ordered these Troopers to go seek Zeki Velidi, despite the snow and winter. Tagan’s friend Harun Kurbanali established a cavalry company which he called Ural-Altay Cavalry Company, showed much bravery. But, while fighting the Reds at the Beklemis Railroad Station he was martyred. The Troopers who were with him at that fighting hid in the Katay ulus forests. Major Tagan and Yoldibaev named other officer were sent to Eastern Siberia by Kolchak. Those two sent the ten Troopers they had with them, to join us. They hid in the forests, and found some of their friends who were likewise hiding in the same forests. After I arrived in Europe, I learned that Major Tagan had arrived in Far East in the company of some of his officers and Troopers of the Third Regiment. They were active for a long period, and finally arrived in Hungary with the aid of the Hugarian Ambassador in Tokyo. Later (in 1924) we were to speak in Germany and Hungary. A very brave soldier, Yoldibayev, collected some two hundred Troopers from among the Baskurt and the Tatars with the aid of the Japanese; he served them in cleaning-out the Honhoz bandits in Manchuria. I was now providing a feast in his village to these Troopers, who had insistently waited for their own government rather than giving up to the Whites or the Reds, was a matter to be greatly appreciated. Since I have witnessed several such examples, I believe that the Russians will not succeed in erasing the national feelings even after now.
Our Regiments, who were left with the Whites earlier, re-joining us—
On 12 August, I went beyond the Eastern Front, meaning, inside the Kolchak Army, in order to collect the remnants of the Murtazin Brigade and bring back to our side. With me was Tahir Imekov, a close friend and he was from the Imek subdivision. We left our village and became guests in the house of Berguli Haci along the River Nugus, in the village of Taskicu. The Baskurts from the vicinity heard of our arrival and immediately gathered and slaughtered sheep. There was also plenty of kimiz. We stayed there one night, and rested. This was my only rest for those months. Otherwise, I was traversing the Fronts in Orenburg, Samara, Saranski, Moscow, and Ukraine. Many times I was travelling with two or three carriages being pulled by a single locomotive. I arrived from Bektas and became a house-guest at the home of Ebubekir Molla Huseyinov in the Times township. There, Broydo arrived from the First Red Army, from Orenburg, to accompany me to Murtazin. He was a Jewish Socialist Bund Party member, and an author. In the beginning, he was a Zionist Socialist. Earlier, we were together in Taskent, in 1917. Later he would go to Khiva and turn that place upside-down, mixing it-up, and he was to become an adviser to Stalin in the Nationalities Commissariat. If I had known that he was such a troublemaker, I would have requested from Frunze to send somebody else from the First Red Army. I only had a cavalry company of one hundred twenty Troopers accompanying me. We found Murtazin’s Brigade on the East of Yayik River, and to the East of Kizil Township, in the village of Nogaybek of the Christian Tatars. The Troopers of the Brigade was comprised of very handsome youths and volunteers. But, they did not have and ammunition for their cannon. Their clothes were torn to shreds. I gathered all and relayed to them the amnesty announced by the Baskurt Government. All rejoiced. The inhabitants of Nogaybek are those who were forcibly converted into Christianity. In their churches they would worship in Tatar, but at home they would pray Moslem style, and consider themselves secret Moslems. I told them “now, you are free. There is no sense in hiding your religion. You can be openly Christian or Moslem.” But, they did not believe in the revolutions, nor were they giving-up their church. Murtazin’s Troopers burnt down the church in the village where we were. But, some women were seen crying. To me that meant they grew used to having their new religion or being of two religions during the past two hundred years of forced Christianity. Later on, they did not participate in our autonomy movement. Their national feelings were erased.
On 25 August, we crossed Murtazin’s Brigade to the West of Yayik. I sent them to Novosergiyevsk, to be refitted and rearmed. Broydo went with them. He advised and had the Turkistan Front accept his proposition of keeping this unit separate from the Baskurt Army. This showed to me and the Baskurt Government that the Soviets, after their refusal to let us settle in Orenburg, openly, for the second time, that their intentions were not good. We added additional Troopers to these poor Regiments. They became a Cavalry Brigade. After their rearming, Vatsetis sent them on to Ukraine Front.
My wedding—
At the end of August, on my return, I got married at the Abulcelil village to Nefise, daughter of Imam Haci Muhammed Haci. They were from the Tungevir branch of the Baskurts. Haci Muhammed Haci was a close friend of my father. The bride’s mother was the daughter of Seyh Zeynullah, well known in Troysk. I had seen this girl when I was young, and had corresponded with her. The matter of having me marry her was spoken of in 1904; that was a sort of being engaged. Since large scale events intervened, the wedding was delayed. We had the wedding there. The weather was beautiful. On the night of the nuptials, five cavalry troopers from the unit guarding Magnitogorsk arrived unceremoniously, woke me and handed me a telegram. Trotsky in Moscow was calling me to Magnitogorsk to speak with me via the telegraph. I immediately left. Today, Magnitogorsk is a Soviet industrial town with a population of over half a million. At that time, Magnitogorsk was a Russian Cossack village with one hundred home structures. It was probably twenty-five kilometers from Abdulcelil, we arrived galloping. The matter was so critical, Trotsky was still awake. When I arrived, he immediately joined me at the other end of the telegraph line. He was requesting that I send the Third and the Fourth Infantry Regiments and the Third Cavalry Regiment we were establishing at Belebey to fight General Yudenich who was moving on to Leningrad. I indicated that their training and fitting were not yet completed. I promised to order Colonel Ahmerov to send two battalions in two weeks at this time. The same night, I called the Colonel to the telegraph, described the circumstances to him. He told me that even the two battalions were not yet ready. Next morning, I relayed that information to Trotsky who again came to the telegraph. That was the beginning of Baskurt units’ fighting against Yudenic. I had not yet slept. I returned to Abdulcelil. I took my bride to a Baskurt village near Avziano-Petrovsk. We had our first night there. Since there was no telegraph nearby, Trotsky or Lenin could not reach me. After spending a few days there, I left a squad of guards to bring my bride. When I reached Sterlitamak, I was told Lenin was looking for me. A short while later he joined me at the telegraph, and repeated the same chant; he requested we definitely send an infantry and a cavalry regiment. He added that our loyalty to the revolution was going to be measured by that. I repeated my excuse that I could not send troops without training. I was digging-in my heels. My aim was not to sabotage as claimed by the Soviet historians, but to protect the Troopers who had just been inducted and not yet trained. Lenin and Trotsky’s aim was to use us for propaganda purposes, to scream “the Baskurts have arrived.” Trotsky had openly confessed that in his telegraphs. But, if we would not send any troops to Leningrad, they could cause trouble to out units in Ukraine. Raimov, who wrote our history, claimed that “Velidov was against sending his troops against Yudenic.” That is not true. Since we had signed a treaty with the Soviets, we would not even think of shirking our responsibility. Besides, we were determined, with all our might, to prevent the return of Tsarism in Russia.
In the telegram published in Lenin’s corpus (volume 35), the long admonitions laced with angry and profane words left no other alternative. In his telegram, he requested a portion of the Baskurt Army. We prepared those two Regiments without undue haste, battalion by battalion and company by company, sent them to Leningrad.
A poem by Sahib ibn Abbad read at the wedding—
Four or five days after me, my new wife (Nefise) arrived in Sterlitamak. We settled in the home of a rich person by the name of Hadi Mahdum Nogayev whose house we had nationalized. Hadi Mahdum, whose father was Kemal Isan, was from the Nogay Ogullari. Kemal Isan was also the Seyh of my father. Hadi Mahdum was a pleasure seeker, and had passed away. We allowed his wife and children to remain in a portion of the large house. His wife served us with great pleasure. At that time, my friends Talha Resul and Fethulkadir Inan arrived from Eastern Baskurdistan. They were fond of imbibing. Talha was the uncle of my bride. He found his happiness in the basement among the countless wine bottles left from the deceased owner. He was writing poems on the labels of the bottles and sending them up to me. One evening, Fethulkadir (now a Professor in Ankara, Abdulkadir Inan) had lost the street and the house where he was staying because he was so drunk, slept on the street. At the time he was busy writing a play on the historical character Salavat. I went to Belebey by car, sent the Troopers home, I returned to Sterlitamak, invited my father, mother, siblings, maternal uncle Habib Neccar, his wife, his children in order to perform the ceremony due to be performed by the groom’s side. My maternal uncle brought what I wrote on religion and Islam in 1911, having found it among his papers, the story of which I had related earlier. My maternal uncle stated: “perhaps your liberal ideas about religion and Islam may now be useful.” I responded with: “at that time, not performing namaz was a shame; now performing it is a shame.” We spoke about religion ad Islam’s future at length. My father, mother, maternal uncle were very happy that I was now married, because the bride was the grandchild of the Seyh who they regarded as a saint. In the evening, I offered a glass of white wine to my maternal uncle. The former owner of the house Hadi Mahdum had kept the best wines and champagne in the basement of his house. What I offered my maternal uncle was the best of them. My maternal uncle took the glass to his hand seemingly intent on drinking it, and even appeared to drink it. In actuality, I had heard of my maternal uncle, when he was teaching in Kazan, he used to drink with his friends named Sadir and Abbas, and that became the topic of folk songs. I even mentioned that in my memoirs. It was a surprise and made me happy that my maternal uncle was now drinking in my wedding. I asked that: do you remember you had slapped my face because I was smoking tobacco?” He responded with: “if you see me smoking tobacco, you slap my face; but not drinking this clear wine presented in a similarly clear glass will be a sin.” He recited an Arabic poem which I heard in my childhood: “we are confusing the clear wine with the clear glass; because of that we are confused; I do not know if there is wine and no glass, or there is a glass and no wine.” That poem that my maternal uncle recited was very appropriate for the circumstances, and I liked it. Sahib ibn Abbad was a tenth century Arabic author and he was a vezir of the Abbasids. He was famed for his liberal ideas and his brave and happy behavior in society. His words about wine confusing the minds were accurately describing our gathering. My maternal uncle’s and my father’s participating in this gathering reciting the words of Sahib ibn Abbad, in an unusual manner, made me truly happy. I translated the words of the poem to the Baskurt and Tatar Communists present in the gathering; we raised our glasses once again to the honor of Sahib ibn Abbad. I stated: “this is one of the benefits of the Soviet regime; the Seyh and the murid tore the screen between them that existed falsely for years. Now the Seyh and the murid can together imbibe wine.” They all laughed. But, according to what my father and the communist Rahmetullah explained to me the next day, my maternal uncle did not drink the wine, but transferred it to another glass when I had gone outside. In response to my maternal uncle reciting poems from the Arab poet Sahib ibn Abbad, I recited some poems from the Arabic poet Mutenebbi on wine. My maternal uncle was very happy that he taught me Arabic literature in the past. I told him that “my academic research remains in the domain of Russian. You having taught me Arabic literature did not help you.” He responded with: “You brought back the Arabic divan of Zamansheri and the tract on the discussions between Teftazani and Seyid Serif Curcan when you travelled to Turkistan the first time. Is there a grander and more valuable present than those? I take pride in having trained you.” That tract was written at the time of Temur, outlining the discussion between two scholars on the introductory statement of the Bakara sura in the Kur’an, in Arabic. In that work, the finest points of Arabic rhetoric and philosophy were examined. Those sweet discussions in Sterlitamak were the last time I saw my maternal uncle. The next morning I left for Safran in the company of a battalion. Despite that, those talks never left my memory. Often times, I related those discussions to others. Once, I told Barthold in Istanbul during 1926 at my residence, at a dinner with wine, and he was elated. That was because that particular poem was translated by German Orientalist Ruckert into German in verse, but Barthold had never thought that the said rare example of Arabic literature would be familiar to the Mollas of the Ural Baskurts. Barthold also added that my maternal uncle’s poetic understanding was very close to those of the Westerners.
Thirty seven years after the Sterlitamak wedding, in 1954 Germany, at a magnificent restaurant along the River Rhine, I told the same story at a gathering of Turcologists headed by the Danish scholar Professor Groenbach, holding a glass of very transparent Mosel wine in my hand. The French scholar J. Deny, who was also present, recited the excellent French translation of that poem by Sahib ibn Abbad by the French Arabist De Sacy in verse. My maternal uncle was very sincere in those talks. I asked him questions which he would not have answered in other times, and he responded with satisfaction. I asked him: “why did your youthful enjoyment of life, among the Tatars with your friends Abbas and Sadri, became a topic of a dastan amongst the Kazan residents? According to what Ahmed Sani states, the Tatars in Istanbul still know the poems about you. Why did you become a topic for a dastan; was your life of debauchery so much more outside the norms the Kazan residents had experienced?” My maternal uncle responded with: “we had fun occasionally, but, compared to the others, it was in a normal scale. The mollas, who were the enemies of Mercani wished to take revenge from him by making us infamous. In his works, Mercani stated ‘Islam never rejects philosophy and wisdom; and all of sciences are auspicious. All three of us, regarding those words as authoritative and progressive, we wrote separate commentaries on them. We had written them in Arabic; those enemies regarded all that as Profane. There were fights with the other mollas and even fisticuffs.” After arriving in Istanbul, I investigated this matter from Ahmet Sani and other former Kazan Residents living in Istanbul. I even obtained the lyrics of the said song from Iffet Hanim, the daughter of a Kazan Mirza, Terigul Omer Bey. My maternal uncle had passed away on 25 June 1925 and my father had written a good tract in the Chaghatay dialect on his life. In my father’s letter on my maternal uncle’s passing, my father stated: “your late maternal uncle received respect and was treated as a saint in the Yurmati lands. His burial received so many visitors from the outside that, no such burial crowd was seen in the recent years, especially during the Soviet period.” He of course had many interesting aspects in his life; one day all that will become the subject of research. His son and daughter had studied in Russian schools and obtained rank in society.
As a result, an Arabic poem recited by my maternal uncle at my wedding in the fall of 1919, was being recalled pleasantly later. To that wedding, our Army Commanders in Ukraine and Musa Carullah from Petrograd had sent telegrams of congratulations.
Efforts to return to Orenburg—
In Sterlitamak, our Government had established all administrative apparatus, and opened schools. Hospitals were opened by the medications and medical instruments I had sent from Ukraine. There was wide-spread activity. But, we were continually endeavoring for a return to Orenburg. Moscow had agreed to send our Army from Ukraine to Baskurdistan, to be added to the Turkistan Front, at my insistent requests, and the support of Frunze. While our Army was expected in Baskurdistan at the beginning of September, Trotsky and Vasetis diverted them to the Petrograd Front. They kept the Murtazin Brigade in Ukraine. They were working very hard to keep Murtazin away from us, and to cause him to cool from us. Murtazin was painfully aware of all this. Similarly, they were working hard to register some of the Baskurt intellectuals into the Communist Party, who had been in unity with each other, in order to cause mischief amongst them.
When the city of Aktube fell to the Reds, M. Kalenin, the head of the Soviet Government called for a meeting in Orenburg between 19-21 September to discuss the problems of the Eastern Front. Frunze, famed author Safarov, Communist leaders of Orenburg and Ufa provinces were present. I, too, was invited. I got on board the Fiat car presented to me by Lenin, left Sterlitamak toward Orenburg. I ordered horses to follow us, in case the gasoline was mixed and bad, and since the inner-tubes of the car tires were patched, so that we would not be left on a roadside immobile. The car broke-down several times on the way. The bad gasoline filling the exhaust-pipe was making sounds as if a cannon was being fired. When the inner tubes were punctured, we were repairing them. The Baskurt accompanying us were asking “why is this autonomy not moving forward?” They were confusing autonomy with automobile. Finally, we arrived in Orenburg. Here, the Safarov’s had outfitted an “Eastern Propaganda Train.” There was even an Arabic alphabet printing press in it. They also had representative who had arrived from India. They rose to speak during those sessions. Those individuals, whose names I forgot, mentioned that when they spoke with Lenin, there was a discussion of what had transpired between Velidov and Lenin concerning the Indian Mevlevi Bereketullah. Someone was translating their words from English into Russian.
It transpired that, these gentlemen did not realize that the Validov who was participating in the Orenburg Conference was the same one who spoke on Asian matters with Lenin. In return, it became apparent that these Indian gentlemen were close friends of Nehru; and I did not realize that. But, when I visited Delhi during the beginning of 1964, that gentlemen was not on this earth but heard that he earlier spoke of what he witnessed in Russia and spoke of me. Those Indians, in the presence of Kalenin, spoke of the necessity of forming national military units from the Baskurts and other Eastern subdivisions (Ozbek, Kazak, and Turkmen). But the Orenburg Communist Party Chief Akolov and aforementioned Broyda were against that idea and the presentation I made there. They were complete Russian imperialists. On 26 October, Frunze invited me and other Baskurt and Kazak intellectuals to Orenburg to discuss the problems of Turkistan. He opined that both governments needed to be located in Orenburg. During those days, he published good articles on the topic of Turkistan. They were later published in his memoirs. These were good turn of events, but were always being overturned in Moscow; the Orenburg and Ufa Communists were doing their best to overturn them.
Riza Kadi, Zakir Remey—
This time around, I spoke twice with the famed scholar of the Eastern Turks Rizeaeddin Fahreddin, and the great poet of the same, Zakir Remeyev. Rizaeddin (Riza) Kadi stated that he was praying for our initiatives, and that his sons ought to work with us. When Riza Kadi was leaving through the door, he held my head; his eyes were filled with tears. That was due to wondering ‘what will happen to us in the future.’ I told this scholar and a philosopher of our people: “we will search for the path to enlightenment by throwing ourselves into the fiery flames of life. Perhaps the next generation will benefit from that, provided we can prevent the death of the feeling of manhood. If that feeling remains alive, we will undoubtedly be a free nation.” Rizaeddin Fahrettin left a very good impression on me, despite his teary eyes, his demeanor of peace and representing centuries of wisdom, and his ability to work in his rich library in an era such as this. Even after we parted, I dwelled on his sweet words. Riza Kadi, on his way to the Mecca Congress, stopped over in Istanbul during 1926 and remembered our talks in Orenburg longingly. He related the aforementioned words to the assembled persons making us very happy. I saw the former millionaire Zakir Remeyev at that time or during the summer when I visited Orenburg the second time, who was living in a modest home. He was enchanted with the Chaghatay poet Ali Shir Navai. He told me that he had written a response to the poem I had recited to him twelve years ago. He was ill, and the pillow on which he had laid his head was not worthy of him. He stated that he was not sorry to have lost his wealth, but he was greatly worried about the fate of our people. He was living in the city of Orsk. As I was taking my leave, I recalled a piece from Ali Shir Navai: “you will say life is heavier than death; tears, the result of sinister sighs. Or, is it my lone head I laid on a stone calling it a pillow or a stone under my head filled with worry.” The pillow under his head resembled a stone. I left a certain amount of gold and paper money indicating, if necessary, I would help him.
Prisoners from Turkiye—
Upon my return to Sterlitamak, the problem of Turkish prisoners faced me. They had arrived from Siberia, gathered between Ufa and Samara, asked me to find a way for them to reach their homes. I obtained an order from Trotsky for securing railroad transport carriages for one hundred twenty soldiers, and sent a portion of them to Astrakhan and the rest to Tashkent. However, I had forcibly obtained the locomotives for those trains from the normal and military trains. All that caused arguments with Lenin and Trotsky at the telegraph-head. They regarded that move as some sort of banditry. Frunze thought I did the right thing. His trust and friendship made me think that if he was, and Rykov and their like were at the center of decision-making in the Soviet system, keeping their words and applying the written orders, I would not have chosen open rebellion. I had told the Pravda newspaper reporter that it was necessary to keep the word given when dealing with us Easterners. But, Broyda’s report, the original of which we had obtained in manuscript form, and portions of which were published by the Soviets in the recent times, was much more important for Stalin in Moscow than the activities of Frunze, concerning the organization of Russian communists in Russian provinces bordering Baskurdistan. Broyda stated in his report: “Orenburg became the common point of agreement amongst Russian Moslems. Validov ought to be kept away. Murtazin ought to be encouraged to oppose him. Means need to be found to cause divisiveness between the Kazaks and the Baskurt. Neployev did that, and he became a truly great politician. Validov must be isolated from all other Turks.” The Neployev mentioned here by Broyda was the governor of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Grozny, who lived in Orenburg to administer the East, and later served in Istanbul as a diplomat with great successes for his own country.
Baskiropomosc—
These intrigues came to a head, in a worst way, in ‘Help to the Baskurts.’ We had submitted the list of Baskurt property plundered by the Soviet Army to Lenin during the past May. Soviet Council of Ministers inspected the list on 6 October, and agreed to advance one hundred fifty million Rubles, and that they would pay more. Lenin and Stalin sent telegrams to us, as if it was an unequalled great grace they were granting us. In order to show that it was an affair by the Soviets, to gain the hearts of the Baskurts, Lenin sent some of his close friends to oversee that distribution. A little later it became apparent that the said money was allocated to break the unity of the Baskurts and to establish ‘committee of poor’ and communist cells. At the same time, Stalin had sent secret agents to be employed as propaganda spearhead among the temporary Western immigrants who were sent to Baskurdistan during the Great War. Their administration was trusted to Samoylov, sent by the Communist Central Bureau solely for the purpose of establishing the Communist Party organization. He was a close friend of Lenin and Stalin, later published his memoirs (1933) under the title “The Little Baskurdistan 1917-1920” explaining in detail the lessons from his activities. Even though I knew those activities were going to cause unrest in our country because of these inauspicious aims, I left for Petrograd Front in order to oversee the military units sent there. All business was left on the shoulders of Haris Yumagulov, who was the Head of the Revcom. On the day I was leaving, I heard that Orenburg Soviet Chief Akulov, commenting on my sending the Turkish prisoners of war to Tashkent, regarding that act as panturkism, which he wrote as an intelligence warning to the Party Headquarters. I was very upset. Moreover, the business of ‘helping the Baskurts’ was already bothering me. All that meant, whatever the Soviets were doing under the guise of good deeds, there was hidden a big injustice.
Our activities in Petrograd—
I had taken with me several trains full of foodstuffs, in order to help our army. Petersburg (Leningrad) was hungry. Everyone was looking at the trains with great hunger, since they were full of meat and fats. My old friend Professor Samoylovic, because he had brought a sack of potatoes from another province, was caught, and was thrown into the basement of the Nikolayevsk train station. I had them released, and gave them meat and fats. I also provided others, such as Barthold, Arabist Krachovski, Mogolist Valdimirtsev, Iranist Rosenberg, with meat, fats, and sugar. Because of that, those scholars were grateful to me until the end of their lives. When Barthold visited Istanbul in 1926, he was openly stating that. The night I arrived, Lenin’s old friend and the Chief of Komintern, Zinoviyev sent for me. He was also residing in the Astoria Hotel where we were staying. There were Soviet Commanders present in that meeting. They had exaggerated, and used that news for propaganda purposes, the arrival of the Baskurt units. I spoke of the needs of Baskurdistan, and stated that we needed to benefit from a portion of the plenty of scientific materials found in Leningrad. I asked for medical instruments, some clinics, printing presses, typewriters, hotel equipment, iron construction machinery, as I did in Ukraine. I was told to take away whatever I wanted. We were filling the trains that brought foodstuffs, with all that, and sending back. We also sent several specialist libraries. We constituted a list of Professors and the necessities in order to establish an institution of higher education and a school of medicine as well as a statistical administration in Sterlitamak. There were many specialists who wanted to join us, because of the hunger in the city. Musa Carullah Efendi, the Imam of the Petrograd mosque, was the person who was happiest because of the good will our Troopers have created in Petrograd. He stated: “Petrograd is a city of laborers and communists. They were going to take this city easily, expelling Yudenic, even without your Regiments. But this created goodwill is a good opportunity; make use of it.” He aided us in obtaining some of the educated medical doctors and Professors and sending some of the laboratories. I spoke with Zinoviev several times. He had differences of opinion and competition amongst themselves with Stalin and others. He would tell me those, and wished to gain me on his side. The Red soldiers stationed here would tear the featherbeds to make clothes from the fabric, letting the feathers fly in the streets. They would break the bathrooms and toilettes, valuable mirrors and lamps. Our Baskurt Guards were much more decent and very disciplined in comparison. However, our Troopers quartered in the Graf Rumiyantsev Palace had looted that place with my acquiescence. In a portion of that palace, at one time, the Japanese Embassy was located, and left their possessions behind when they left. Among them, there were embroidered items for presentation, silver pens, embroidered notebooks for diary keeping, picture albums. I had distributed those to our officers. While taking possession of that wealth, the Troopers would bring clothes from the wardrobe of Graf’s wife, valuable furs, and other expensive clothes for my wife Nefise who had come along with me to Petrograd. We did not accept any of that, not even a pin. Zonoviev later learned of that, and spoke of me with pride. A few months later, the Japanese Government demanded reparations from the Soviets. Lenin wished to collect from us. But, when we did not pay, Lenin reportedly stated: “all those possessions are now in the stomach of the wolf.”
Two of our Infantry and two Cavalry Regiments from the Ukraine Front were sent to Pskov Front to Petrograd during 16-17 September, on the orders of Trotsky. From the Troopers sent from Belebey under the Command of Colonel Hasan Ahmerov, three Infantry Regiments were being formed. The total roll comprised of eleven thousand men. Combat Troops amounted to six thousand two hundred thirty three. The rest constituted the supply Troops; they did not enter into firefights. They were parading these troops as a matter of propaganda on the streets. Despite that, since the Baskurts were regarded as a military race among the Reds, they were showing their sympathy, or were jealous of them. At the same time that the Yudenic forces attached exaggerated import to the Baskurt Troopers as “wild Baskurts” (dikiye Baskiry) became apparent when I was able to inspect their archives at the Hoover Institution Library. A separate war region was allocated to the Baskurts, and they constituted a separate group. The Headquarters was established in the Pulkov observatory, some fifteen kilometers from Petrograd. On the day of our arrival, there were severe fighting between our Third Cavalry and Third Infantry Regiments and the Yudenic forces, near Tsarskoye Selo. Our casualties in this full day of fighting amounted to seventy, including the wounded. There were few dead. One officer was wounded. Two days later, again severe fighting took place near Kulma village. That day we suffered one hundred wounded. None died. After that, since the Front was dissolved, were pulled back to the barracks in Petrograd. In the first day’s fighting, of the seventy casualties, some wounded and prisoners taken by Yudenic forces escaped and returned to their units. I visited the wounded in the hospital, distributed them the presents and food we brought from our country. Yudenic was done when Jamburg passed to the hands of the Reds on 16 November. Even though the Baskurt units were intended for the Turkistan Front, the permission was not forthcoming. A portion of them were sent to the Muraviev Barracks in Novgorod. The history of these battles was written by the Political Commissar of the Baskurt Group, Hidayet Sadiyev and the Commander of the Group, Alisev, under the title of “History of the Baskurt Revolution.” I still have the manuscript, but it still awaits publication. In that manuscript it is written that the eleven thousand Baskurt Troopers caused horror in Yudenic, as well as feeding the hope that these Troopers someday may turn their weapons against the Reds to bring back the Tsar, in a milieu found among the Petrograd residents. On the other hand, the group’s definitive action and manhood, despite there were no losses, raised the enmity and jealousy of the 7th Red Army, and that caused the Baskurt being sent to Novgorod Province. My friend, author Fethulkadir Suleyman (Abdulkadir Inan) was constantly with me during these times. We borrowed many historical works from Petrograd Public Library, Saltikov Library. We made many photocopies. At the time my aide-de-camp Ibrahim Ishakov was with me, as he would be in Turkistan later on.
Again Sterlitamak and again Moscow—
We left Petrograd on 15 November, and arrived in Sterlitamak on 17 November. Large ‘war booty’ trains followed us. On 17 November 1917, the Baskurt Autonomy was announced. We celebrated the anniversary. A lot of alcohol was consumed in the house that day. My father apparently arrived in the house that day, but when he observed the drinking and merrymaking, stated ‘estagfurullah’ [showing his humbleness] and left. He arrived again the next morning. He told me a story from Attar’s book Tezkire-i Evliya. Caliph Omar and Abdurrahman ibn Avf happened to enter a group of Moslems’ drinking party. Upon noticing that, Omar stated that “it is a sin to pry into the affairs of sin, let us leave.” So they left. Consequently, my father had left in order not to embarrass us when he had arrived during the evening. I responded with: “father, I am embarrassed that you expect to find the embarrassment of the time of Saint Omer here today. We no longer have any of that left.”
I could not remain is Sterlitamak long. We went to the VIIth Soviet Congress to meet in Moscow between 5-9 December. Prior to my arrival in Sterlitamak (during 8-11 November) First Communist Party meeting of Baskurdistan had met. Led by Yamagulov, Baskurt Communists fought with Russian Communists. There were approximately seven hundred Russian Communists in Baskurdistan. They regarded us Baskurts, those nationalists without a party, as the temporary administrators and themselves as the true owners. Among those elected to represent our Government at the Moscow Congress, and also participate in the Communist Party to meet concomitantly, my friend Abdulkadir Inan was also elected. From Kazakistan, Ahmet Baytursun and from Bukey-Orda, Tungacin had arrived in Moscow. They were my old friends. At the Party Congress, as well as the Congress of the Soviets, decisions were going to be made concerning the oppressed nations. So, we were offered time to make speeches. The Kazak delegation informed Stalin that whatever I was going to say would be sufficient for them. In the name of Kazak residents, Seyidgaliev volunteered to make statements. We (Kazak, Ozbek, and Baskurts) gathered to write down what I was going to say in the name of all of us. The “Seventh All Russian Soviet Congress Stenographic Records” contains (Pp. 17-18), in Russian, the speech I gave. The said volume is in the collection of the Stanford University Hoover War Museum. In summary, the contents are as follows: “we are loyal to the idea of world revolution. We, Baskurt, Kazak (Kirgiz) and All Turkistan is Moslem, but not bigoted. Mecca and Medina today is occupied by England. Since the culture of the Eastern Turkistan is different than Islam and Iran, whatever happens in Mecca and Medina is not causing great excitement amongst us. We, as neighbors of Russian proletariat, will deal with our internal problems.” It was Georgian Communist, friend of Stalin, Eliava who suggested touching upon the English and the Hejaz problem. We, on the other hand, refrained from making a foreign policy statement that would have aided the Soviet policies such as “we Eastern Russian Moslems condemn the English along with the World Moslems.” The Kazan Communist Seyidgaliev, for whatever reason, did not like our declaration (Pp. 15-17), and went on to state that the English occupied Mecca and Medina, and Abrurresid Ibrahim arrived in Kazan, and excitedly told everyone this at a place known as Otpazari, thus trying to blame the English. After the Congress, Eliava called me and Ahmet Baytursun, and indicated that he liked the speech, especially it ‘not touching the soap and the water.’ He specified that it was a diplomatic speech. As it was reported to us, Stalin stated “as if they have a separate policy,” meaning, he did not like it. Later on, Sultanaliyev told us. He, on the other hand, was accepting of our ideas.
This Congress was extremely crowded. At the time, the Mensheviks had not yet cut their ties with the Communists. The Jewish leaders, such as Martov, Lieber and Dan participated in the Congress. Lenin had ridiculed them by placing them in the Box of the Tsar. Amongst them, and some SRs, the tendency to merge into the Communists was strong. Samara Komuc Government Foreign Minister Vediniyapin was one. He saw me. His moral was depleted. That was because the Communists evaluated each person surrendering themselves to them with his future value to the Soviet cause. For example, Lenin regarded us as the men of the future due to his Eastern Policies, and valued us. Vediniyapin was regarded as, regardless of how valuable he was in himself, ‘his goose is cooked’ in a brutal manner. That was the cause of his sadness. I told him that “in Samara, Ufa and Orenburg, I took you to be a brave human; I see that events have bent you. You ought not to take them personally.” Later on, I heard that this revered person took his own life. I also spoke with Cernov, who was our guest, the Chairman of the SRs.
My seeing Chaliapin—
At that meeting, we attended, as a whole, a grand concert. At that occasion, Chaliapin sang the Russian “Dubinushka” song. The approximately two thousand attendees were accompanying the chorus line as one voice; despite that, Chaliapin’s voice and the words he sang were still discernible. Even Lenin and the Mensheviks had joined in. After the concert, I went to see Chaliapin in a small room behind the curtain. In the past, everybody complained of his extreme haughtiness. He did not behave in such a way toward me. Instead, he was very mild. During 1918, in order for them to broker an understanding between us and the Soviets I had named Chaliapin and Maxim Gorki to represent us. As soon as he saw me, he joked, laughing “you wrote me a letter, but I could not have helped. If you are going to do something similar in the future, do not write me.” Meaning, he regarded me as a future rebel. But, he made that joke, because we were alone. He added: “I am joking; I surmise you will be well-behaved from now on. But, it is not easy to endure these (Bolsheviks). Later, he left Russia and never returned. In 1935, I saw him in Kitzbuhl, Austria. I had first met Chaliapin in 1915, at Mosta-Maki, when I was with Maxim Gorki. I listened to him since 1910 as an opera artist. I loved his role inTsar Boris Godunov, and would applaud him excitedly.
Talks with Lenin—
At the end of this Congress, Lenin called me. It transpired that he wanted to talk about the writings of an Indian in favor of liberty, Muhander Partol. This person analyzed the issues of Central Asia from the perspective of non-Moslem Indian point-of-view, and suggested what the Soviets ought to do. Trotsky also told me about that writing. These Indians, Muhander Partol and his friends were expending maximum effort to overthrow the British yoke, to join the Moslems with the Hindus for the purpose. Two months prior to my talks with Lenin on this matter, he had sought me out through the Baskurdistan representative in Moscow, and we talked on many problems. I indicated to him that while it is important for a union of Hindu and Moslems, it was also necessary for the Soviets to recognize the political rights of the Central Asians and drew their attention to the fact that it is also important from the point of view of Indian independence. In the long article, Muhander Partol concentrated on the following: He proposed the establishment of a Hindu Nest in Turkistan. He named me in his writing. I thought that the real reason why Lenin gave me these two writings on Central and South Asia to me for comments was his thoughts toward how he could make use of them in the future. While we were discussing this matter with Lenin, I told him: “Afghans are going to give the privilege of constructing a railroad from Quetta via Kandahar to Kushka on the Russian border to the British. Are there no objections from the Russian side to this? More than likely, the region where this railroad goes through will fall under the Indian and British cultural influence in Afghanistan.” Lenin, without hesitation and off-the-cuff responded with: “what if that happens? They will introduce capitalism in that region. At the same time, a labor proletariat will also be formed. And, that will become ours. Capitalists will not carry coal to their locomotives.” I liked the fact that Lenin was such a realist and optimist. In the same meeting, Lenin queried me about the literature on Marxism, almost to the point of examination, how much I have been following it. In response, I showed him a work published by an author named Ulyanov on the ethnography of the non-Russians in the Kazan Province and the Chuvash. From this work, it was apparent that the author knew Tatar and Chuvash. I asked Lenin if that author was a relative of his. Was there a Tatar or Chuvash in his family? Lenin responded that he had not looked into his own family lineage, but he would, because he had not heard anyone from his family who may have published such a work. These talks were very sincere and sweet, and Lenin learned that I worked on scientific topics and ethnography. He stated: “Unfortunately, I never was involved in those topics; only economics were my interest.” I touched upon our republic and our future. He responded with: “there will be consultations in the commission of Kirghiz and Baskurt, headed by Kalenin and Rykov. You can sort this matter there.” He avoided expressing his own thoughts. He did that previously as well. I thought that he was not in favor. I left those discussions sad. While I was leaving, he stated: “I wish you were a member of the Party; I would very much like to work with you in that context.” I thought if he was sincere in his statement of “I wish.” More than likely he spoke with me without formality that day. I asked clarifications on some points of the work he published Against the Current and his volume Materialism and empereo Criticism which was written under the pen name Ilyin in 1909. About his last work, he asked me when I had read it. I told him I read it in Ufa during 1915. He stated: “that means, you read it when it was forbidden to read it under the Tsarist regime.” He asked me if I knew “Ilyin was me?” I told him that Tsurupa had told me. It drew attention to the fact that I knew Tsurupa, one of his closest friends, back in 1915. He asked me: “were you a member of the Party?” I told him: “no, I only knew Tsurupa, and he trusted me; he used to give me such banned literature.” Lenin stated: “that book is now quite old. I hope that work did not change your view of religion.” I said: “no, in order to work for the cause of the social revolution it is not necessary to believe in the formation of the universe by chance; I believe the universe is created consciously.” Lenin responded: “that is also the belief of many of our old friends. That is no barrier to becoming a Party member. I like our sincere talks.” We talked all this after he rose from his desk, while we were both standing. It was apparent that they were intent on making me a Party member.
The issue of joining Baskurdistan and Kazakistan—
Two days after those talks, Stalin repeated Lenin’s words to me, in the company of Kazak author Ahmet Baytursunov, and stated: “even though both of you are nationalists, we regard you as individuals who can adopt the social revolution idea, even though somewhat different than us. In both of your countries, a party life is beginning. We wish to see you in that organization. If the extra-party events and personalities do not take the form of an organization, they will be overtaken by events. Even though you are not Communists, I would like to work with you as Party members. As you already know, there are plenty of members from the Russians to all the others like you in the Party.” We told him that we would consult our friends and would respond. We knew that this invitation was being extended in order to make us a Party Member to take away our freedom by subjecting us to Party discipline. We spoke amongst us. Earlier, we had worked to have the Erk Socialist Party enter into Comintern as an independent member. Now, we proposed to join Uccuz from the Kazaks; Tude of the Ozbeks with Erk, and enter Comintern as “Southwest Native Communist Parties Union.” Stalin stated: “those matters are easy.” But, they did not accept our party as a member of Comintern as an independent unit. As a result, we became direct members of the Communist Party. Though the Eastern Communist Center, under the direction of Sultanaliyev was openly and seriously conducting propaganda against religion and Islam, Stalin ordered Turkistan, Kazak and Baskurt Communists not to propose that.
The Kirgiz (Kazak)-Baskurt Commission, founded under the direction of Kalinin and Rykov, consisted of two meetings at the end of December. This Commission was ostensibly going to discuss the joint problems of Turkistan, Kazakistan and Baskurdistan, how they were going to cooperate, establishment of Orenburg as their joint capital, and national army issues. In this Commission that regulated our relations with the Soviets, in addition to the Ufa Communist Party Chiefs of Kalinin and Rykov (among them, Eltzen), I represented Baskurdistan, along with Fethulkadir Suleyman (Professor Abdulkadir Suleyman), my aide-de-camp Abdurresit Bekbabov; from Kazakistan, Ahmet Baytursun; from among Turkistan Russian Communists, Korostilov, Muhammedcan, Huseyin Kincin, Abdulkerim Bukeyhanov, Tungacin; from the Ozbeks, Aralbayoglu Otarbay, Ibrahimoglu Huseyin participated. During the first session, we won. For the Second Session, the Russian members indicated they had invited to speak on behalf of Moscow Communist Party Center, the Tatar Communists Seyyidgaliev, Borundukov and Samil Osmanov. Even though the Kazakistan and Ozbekistan representatives protested that this Commission was established for the sole purpose of discussion and resolving the problems of Turkistan, Kazakistan and Baskurdistan with the Russian immigrants, and that Tatars did not have any such problems, all that did not matter. Tatar Communists were already invited. They were injected into the meetings. It was Stalin who did this.
A portion of the matters to be discussed in this meeting were already touched upon earlier as different agenda items during the First Baskurdistan Communist Party Congress that had met 1-11 November 1919 in Sterlitamak, as well as at the Moslem (or, East) Division Communist Organization Second Congress that met in Moscow during 22-24 November, and at the Seventh Soviet Congress. On the one hand, in his long speech to the Eastern Communists Congress, Lenin had addressed the issue of independence of the eastern branches (Lenin Corpus, Volume XXX, Pp. 130-141). At the Seventh Soviet Congress (5 December), a decision in the form of a declaration was issued under the title “Concerning the Oppressed Nations” stating the independence of the Eastern Russian Moslems and that they were taken under the guarantee of the Soviets in gaudy words. On the other, after the invasion of Aktube at the beginning of October, the Kazakistan Revkom (revolutionary Committee) government and Baskurdistan Government were removed to Sterlitamak. That policy, in addition to inserting a Russian Province centered in Orenburg in between, had been applied in reality. The arming of the Russian immigrants in Kazakistan and in Baskurdistan also began to be speeded, independent of our national armies. The Soviet historian Raimov (P. 361) calls that “the Party’s policy to isolate Velidov, and to separate the people from the bourgeois strata.” On one hand, during those struggles, Kalinin, taking up the issue of Tatar-Baskurt Union, had the pre-conditioned Tatar Communist Seyidgaliev state that the union of Baskurdistan and Kazakistan in a joint center would be an unnatural wedding. The type of men in the mold of the aforementioned Broyad and Pestkovsky, did everything they could in order to replicate what Niployev did during the time of Petro and Elizabeth, to separate the Baskurt and the Kazaks. When I showed their writings to Stalin, he stated “absurd” as if he was insulting them, “what value do these have?” On the other hand, they did not allow the Baskurdistan and Kazakistan having Orenburg as the joint capital. They even rejected the Tatar-Baskurt thesis, had the same Tatar Communists and Seyidgaliyev repeat that rejection. Rykov was behaving amenably at the Kalenin Commission toward us, but his word did not carry weight. Aktube was chosen for Kazakistan and Sterlitamak for Baskurdistan capitals. In that manner, this Commission solved the problem of the union of the Eastern Turks, in favor of the Russianness.
But, on this issue, not all the Tatar Communists were united in that thought. Mir Seyid Sultanaliyev had let Kalinin know in writing that he had ideas other than the three friends named. It was because of this: prior to the meeting of the Commission, Ufa and Orenburg Provincial Communist Party Chairmen Akulov and Eltzen saw Sultanaliyev and asked him to vote against the unification of Baskurt-Kazak administrations. Along those lines, they would look at warmly toward a proposal of Tatar-Baskurt union, if an Orenburg Russian Province and an Ural Russian Province were to be established, meaning Baskurdistan and Bukey-Orda were going to be separated by two provinces. At that point, Sultangaliyev understood that the objective of the Commission meeting under Kalinin was to separate the Central Asian Moslems from the Idil-Ural Moslems forever by inserting two Russian provinces in between. But, Sultanaliyev avoided telling his three friends (Seyidgaliyev, Samil Osmanov, and Burundukov) that the intensions of the TSK (the Central Committee of the Soviets) were bad. Sultanaliyev told me all this five months after the meeting of the Commission. Besides, Sultanaliyev had proposed, back in November 1919, at the Eastern Communists Second Congress, the establishment of the Little Baskurdistan from what is left over after the establishment of the Tatar-Baskurt Republic. In other words, Sultanaliyev had accepted the idea of Little Baskurdistan and Orenburg being under the administration of Kazak-Baskurt. In the recent years, thanks to the serious publications of Mr. A. Bennigsen and Mme. Lemercier-Quelquejay, the “Sultangaliyev Movement” has become known in the West. When Sultanaliyev himself was executed in 1929, and his close friends in 1937 [sic; different dates provided by various sources], Pravda and Izvestiya newspapers reported that “his guilt was proven that he had collaborated with Validov who lives in foreign countries and acts as an agent of imperialists.” In reality, however, there was no contact between myself and Sultanaliyev after I left Russia. On the other hand, the accusations leveled against us collaborating on the formation of a national ideology and program is true. This collaboration of ideology was formed at this Kalenin Commission, when the Russian policy was formulated to separate the Tatars and Baskurts totally and finally, from the Kazaks along the River Yayik by inserting two Russian provinces in between, all the way to the Caspian Sea. Until that day, Sultanaliyev was handling only the Tatar-Baskurt problem. After that incident, he accepted the fact that Little Baskurdistan needed to be unified with the Kazaks. My difference from Sultanaliyev was this: I was working on the issue of the Eastern Turks, while Sultanaliyev was concentrated on the Caucasus and Crimean Turks and wanted to unify them. But, he was unable to express what that unification was going to consist. That idea of unification was left over from the Tsarist period, from the Bureau of Moslem Fraction of the State Duma, and Russian Moslem Congress, and finally the idea left over from the Tercuman newspaper of “territorial Union of Moslems.” I also wanted to speak with the other Tatar Communists after the Kalinin Commission meetings, in a brotherly way, in order to learn of their ideas concerning the economic and vital aspects of the proposed Tatar-Baskurt Union. But, there was no consensus or express plan. They even wanted to include the Kasim Tatars, who were living near Moscow, to that union. In those regards, Sultanaliyev did not possess a different, clear idea than the others. Another feature of Sultanaliyev different from us was that he had joined communism with sincere belief, and had become a true enemy of religion, not like those of us who did out of necessity. The Russian members of the commission were nowhere near discussing the issue of Russian immigrants in Baskurdistan and Kazakistan. As a result, all this displayed the fact that the Kalinin Commission was going to follow the Russian policies established during the Tsarist period, and would finally remove the said republics. Raimov (P. 301) summarized the negotiations as follows: “though Validov lost the struggle within the Party organization, he did not give up the idea of continuing with it. He had sent the participants of the Second Moslem Communist Congress held in Moscow a telegram: ‘you must insist on the formation of a Kazak-Kirgiz Government to be headquartered in Orenburg, before the Soviet Government.’ He was proposing to join the Baskurt Republic with the Kirgiz (Kazakistan) Republic. That meant the joining of the Bourgeois nationalist Velidovists in Baskurdistan with the Kazakistan bourgeois nationalists of the Alas-Orda. At the time, Validov had already contacted the agents of imperialist English and had already proposed the formation of the federated Central Asian bourgeois republics. Now, in 1919, Validov is endeavoring to unite Baskurdistan and Kazakistan by military force, and leaning on English help as if it is the help of Turkiye, which they call a brother, working to separate from the revolutionary Russia.” According to Raimov, my cooperation with Enver Pasa in Turkistan was determined at that time, and supposedly Enver Pasa arrived in Russia by that agreement. In today’s Russia, this is the way history is written, with such falsifications. Otherwise, the Soviet historian also perfectly knows that Enver Pasa was not in Russia at the time, and that I had nothing to do with English imperialism.
On the decisions of the Kirgiz-Baskurt Commission, Raimov stated: “at this commission, Velidovist ideas of separating Baskurdistan from the revolutionary Russia was fully observed. Even though the majority of Commission members decidedly rejected the idea of Baskurdistan merging with Kazakistan, according to the dictum of the TSK (Communist Party Central Committee), or with any other country, it provided Baskurt ulus with the opportunity to live independently by itself.”
The problem of Bukhara—
While I was in Moscow, Trotsky and Mme. Stasova spoke with me to determine the removal of Bukhara Khanate, whether or not I could help with the Baskurt forces, and what I would want in return. In response I told them that it was necessary to remove the Emir. The condition was that it was also necessary for Bukhara to maintain the current semi-autonomous status, a national democratic government to be established based on a national army. On those points I consulted several times with the Bukhara seekers of independence Mirza Abdulkadir and his father Mirza Muhiddin. I indicated to them that the offer ought to be accepted only under the conditions I proposed; but, their only motivation was their hatred of the Emir. They had the idea that no conditions to be proposed to the Russians.
At the time, only God and I knew what was burning inside me. I was not telling anything to anyone. On the one hand, I was behaving that I was sincere in my talks with Stasova on the Bukhara problem; on the other, I was wondering how I could support the uprising taking place in Turkistan. Lenin, with whom I spoke sweetly a month ago, now appeared as the prince of two-faces. Stasova told me that I needed to speak with Lenin on the issue of Bukhara. I told her: “all right.” So we spoke. The consultation was short. I was content to repeat what I already told the Politburo. Concerning the Kalenin Commission, I blamed the Provincial Russian Communists of Ufa and Orenburg, stating that “the results had become a tragicomedy and that you are the only one who can sort it out.” These talks were the first time I was not sincere with Lenin. I lost all the respect I once felt for him. He offered me his hand, stating “let us talk” on the documents he had given me for my examination and analysis. Some evenings there were meetings with Russian friends with alcohol. The Communist friends I knew closely did not know anything about the flames in my heart lit by the Kalenin Commission related issues. In order not to let anything out, I would not drink and kept my mouth shut. I behaved as if nothing happened and as if I only did not get along with Eltzen and Akulov.
The thought of uprising again—
About that time, the Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Muhammed Veli Han and his deputy, who later became Minister of Education and Ambassador to Turkiye and Hejaz, arrived in Moscow. I spoke with them several times. I was present in the dinners honoring them. But, when the Foreign Affairs Commissar Cicerin invited me to be more deeply involved in foreign affairs, I avoided doing so on the excuse of military affairs. The results of the Kalenin Commission had disappointed me to the point of no longer caring about the Russian foreign and general political matters. Lenin had tasked me with the duty of analyzing Muhander Pratol’s reports and the problem of the English in Afghanistan. I was going to speak with him about those. But, as a result of the other commission’s decisions, I regarded going back to Lenin unnecessary. I wrote down my thoughts on the reports and sent them to him, and went to Petrograd from Moscow. After settling military matters concerning our military forces there, I left for our country with two or three trains full of soldiers and with my friends, in mid-February. For me, Moscow was now a center of lies, fraud and fake. While I was seeing our Afghan friends at the Moscow railroad station, I advised them, in the carriage allocated to them that they could not trust the promises they had received, in the Arabic language.
Our return to our country took a long time. At that time, a great inflation had Russia in its grip. The paper money I was allocated from Moscow for government and army expenses was large enough to fill a railroad carriage. By the time we arrived in Sterlitamak, they would have lost quite a bit of value. Our delay in our travels was due to the harsh winter, with non-stop snow storms. Between Moscow and Samara, our train stopped because of snow and storm. We remained there for a full week. Since the soldiers emptied their bladders and their food remnants on the carriage wheels, our train was covered in ice and could not move. We had picks and shovels brought from the surrounding villages to overcome the ice, but our efforts could not move the trains. Raimov, who wrote my activities of the period in a five hundred page book, had some truth in his falsifications. For example, he stated that “Validov became the head of the Turkistan Basmachi Movement. He had decided upon that at the time of the Kalenin Commission.” I had broached the subject of Turkistan case to three of my closest officers at the time. I gave Masalsky’s Turkistan Ulkesi [The Land of Turkistan] book to my aide-de-camp Ibrahim Ishakov, and advised him to learn the contents. He asked: “why?” When I told him that perhaps we would go there, his response was “let us do that.” That was what we had decided in Rozayevka in mid-February of 1920.
Talks with Trotsky—
At that time, Trotsky arrived in Rozayevka in his private train, and was on his way to Samara. He could not leave because of the snow either, and remained there for three days. Budyoni, who later became a Marshal, was there as well, and he called on me. Our mandatory stop at Rozayevka was a good opportunity for me to get to know Trotsky and his ideas. His carriage was previously one used by the Tsar. The radios were functional and he was sending orders everywhere by them. We spoke repeatedly. Trotsky was handling military affairs as well as writing one of his books. He was really energetic and a great organizer. He told me that he did not agree with the decisions of the Kirgiz-Baskurt Commission, and agreed with Rykov, told Lenin that they ought to make use of me especially on the Eastern matters, behave with sincerity toward me. It was Stalin who was insistent on separating Baskurts from the Kirgiz and Turkistan. He also told me that he was not happy with Stalin, and their fights between themselves. Zinoview told me many times all about those matters in Petrograd. I told him that it was a great mistake to send our troops, who were refitted in Saranski during the summer, to Ukraine instead of the Turkistan Front under Frunze. He stated: “that was a necessity. I agreed with Lenin that we needed to fight Denikin first. Yes, I had agreed to send your soldiers to the Turkistan Front from there, and I had told you that in person. Even though I issued the order to do so, it was Stalin who resisted sending them to the Turkistan Front. I had promised to give your army to the command of Frunze after their business was concluded in Petrograd Front. Lenin is under the influence of Stalin. Stalin is the worst enemy of keeping a disciplined body of dynamic Moslem troops in Turkistan.” He also added that Stalin had the idea of merging world socialist revolution with Russian imperialism and Russian national goals. “Those were the reasons why your soldiers were sent to the Novgorod Murayev Barracks,” he said. In other words, he was openly against Stalin. He was definitely working to gain me to his side. During our talks, I obtained information on his life in Europe before the Revolution, and his collaboration with Plexanov and other revolutionaries. In sum, Trotsky’s remaining in Rozayevska for three days due to snow allowed me to know him closely. When his seaside villa burnt down in 1927, in the Istanbul island of Buyukada where he was exiled, I had sent him a telegram to console him. In response, he wrote back a letter recalling those days pleasantly. Making use of the opportunity, I gave Trotsky a project to reorganize the Baskurt Army. He accepted all. On 5 April he issued a Military Order, published in official newspapers, indicating that the Baskurt Army was going to be encompassing an Infantry Brigade comprised of three regiments; a Cavalry Brigade comprised of four Cavalry Regiments, totaling a force of forty thousand. The Infantry Brigade would also contain an Artillery Company with twelve cannon, a battery of Haubisch with two cannon, a Signals Company, a Company of Combat Engineers. Also, for the Cavalry Brigade, a horse drawn Artillery Company comprised of four cannon, in addition to the a reserve Infantry Regiment and a reserve Cavalry Regiment in Sterlitamak, and I was designated as the War Commissar in charge of this organization. He also gave us airplanes and weapons for the militia (police) organization. In April, our troops added up to twenty seven thousand. He provided many automobiles and other transportation gear in plenty. He told me in person: “I fully trust you. I will help you any way I can. It is a pleasure for me to help those who do good work.” Stalin was keeping ammunition away from our army. Trotsky gave us plenty of that.
Senek uprising—
Soviet position became precarious at Ukraine’s Polish border. During April, Poles invaded Western Ukraine and Kiev. That caused an uprising among the Ural villagers who were suffering from the Soviet policies of property confiscation. The autonomy of Baskurdistan had helped us maintain our own economy, to protect ourselves against the Red bandits, based on our national army and national representative council. This was propagandized among the Tatars and was a visible, positive proof of our autonomy. The unarmed Tatar villagers in the regions of Ufa, Belebey and Minzele, began an uprising during January 1920, in a haphazard manner with ‘senek’ in their hands (used to collect straw during harvest) made of wood and iron. As a result, that movement was labeled the Senek Revolt. They had printed posters at the printers stating: “Zeki Velidi’s army began a movement to destroy Communism; he is arriving to help us.” When I was in Petrograd and Moscow, a Revkom (Revolutionary Committee) was formed in the center of Baskurdistan. As an independent country a Foreign Affairs Commissariat was established by that, and an individual by the name of Rakay was appointed as the Foreign Affairs Commissar who spoke several languages. This was going to be a joint foreign affairs administration for Turkistan and Kazakistan. Rakay was a communist sent from Moscow to organize mail and telegraph affairs in Baskurdistan. He liked the Easterners, especially the Kazaks and the Baskurts; he spoke Kazak Turkish and some of the European languages. He was a grandson of the famed Central Asian researcher Ryckov. We regarded those Russians born in Turkistan as Turkistanis. We wanted to see Frunze, a Romanian born in Bishkek, as the Commander-in-Chief of Turkistan Armies. Some of our friends wanted to see Rakay as the Foreign Minister of Turkistan. Meaning, they did not see that as anything negative. The Baskurdistan Head of Government Yamagulov was leading those. This nationalist communist thought that independent Turkistan would maintain relations with the Soviets in the future, and he was an enemy of the imperialist policies of the Russian Communists. When I was in Moscow, there were many battles between them. As a result, Yamagulov imprisoned the members of the Baskurdistan Communist Party Central Committee. On the other hand, Stalin secretly had sent arms to the Russian immigrants in Baskurdistan. He had also ordered the establishment of fortified regions (Ukreplennyi rayon) in various places of Baskurdistan as a base for them. The Baskurdistan Government did not allow that establishment and immediately abolished the fortified regions that were in place, returning the Russian soldiers sent from the Orenburg Front who was to defend those fortified regions.
Moreover, there was a serious struggle against the intrigues of the Aid to Baskurts Committee, which we are going to mention later. All these events in Baskurdistan were being regarded as a revolt against Moscow in the regions adjacent to Baskurdistan. Yamagulov, who was a deep communist in social and economic affairs, behaving with such draconian measures against his Russian friends, was going over the top. I did not agree with those actions. And the Russians believed that I was the kingmaker behind Yamagulov. Actually, in those days, I had great influence in the Russian provinces bordering Baskurdistan. With my single signal, all those provinces could be raised in revolt. On the other hand, I believed that such an uprising could only succeed as Turkistan being the center, and if it were to be held all across Russia. I was not at all in favor of siding with adventures with such small actions against the Soviets. While I was returning from Moscow, I was informed that people were gathering at the train stations in order to see me. Truly, in along the villages all across my itinerary, geese were cooked and plenty of alcoholic drinks were prepared. Along the way, in the Tatar villages, there were screams: “annex us into Baskurdistan; save us; gather all of us make us soldiers; take our sons and make them soldiers.” They were also inviting me into their homes for feasts. Those Tatar villages, when we had announced our first mobilization in 1919 June, had not responded to the call to send their sons to be soldiers. When I reached Sterlitamak on 24 February, all of the counties from the Ufa region sent representatives in order to urge us to annex them into Baskurdistan. We calmed them with the words ‘there is no need for an uprising’ and invited them to be calm. From the many Russian villages, representatives arrived requesting to be annexed into Baskurdistan. They had to be forcibly removed from the Government Building and from the vicinity of the home where I was living.
There were some interesting contacts with the Russians. There was a priest in Sterlitamak whom I knew prior to the Revolution. We had met because I was aware of the contents of the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible. I had not seen him in the Soviet period. One day, that priest sent me a typed verse from the Bible, in Russian: (Psalms 72:4) “He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.” In other words, he was directly encouraging me to revolt. Some other Russian opponents of Soviets also wanted to contact me. But, I was reluctant to accept those contacts. Social Democrats had an author from Siberia, who now calls himself a Communist by the name of Temofi Sedelnikov. He visited me at home to tell me that if there was a rebellion, it was going to be successful, and the Soviets could be forced to accept many conditions. Later on, he fell down a set of stairs and either his back or foot was broken.
Memoirs from Trotsky—
When Trotsky spoke with us in Ufa, he had already researched the Senek Rebellion.” His papers on that matter, after he was killed in Mexico, were scattered. A portion of them found their way to the Russian University [sic] in the city of Utrecht in Netherlands. According to what Professor J. Meijer wrote me, that archive contained notes on what Trotsky spoke with me on the Senek Uprising and telegrams I sent Trotsky. One a noted dated 2 march 1920, Trotski stated: “After settling the Sterlitamak problem and sending Yumagulov to Moscow, the circumstances became more amenable. But when Validov arrived in Sterlitamak from Moscow, all flared up again. Validov requested that the Communist Party Congress scheduled to take place in March not to be held at that date.” In a letter Trotsky sent to the Party Secretary Kretinski, he writes: “yesterday, while I was conversing directly with Validov at the telegraph, I asked him to describe to me what the position of the Baskurt Army was going to be concerning the revolt of all these Moslem peasants. Validov assured me that not a single Baskurt was going to participate in them.” Apparently, in one of the telegrams I sent Trotsky, I had invited him to Sterlitamak. Reportedly, Professor Meijer is going to publish the portions of Trotsky archive he had at hand. That Trotsky archive was in the hands of the International Social History Institute in Amsterdam, and is currently being published volume by volume. The then director of that Institute, Professor Postomus arrived in Istanbul in 1951 when I was the Chairman of the Congress of Orientalists, and he visited with me. He stated: “there are documents among Trotsky’s papers pertaining to you. We will publish them. Would you not also write your memoirs? If you do, the Brill Company will publish them happily.” Those documents found in Trotsky’s papers pertaining to me, as also requested by Professor Postomus, caused my memoirs to be published by the Brill Company [sic].
Writings of Erkebay and Kondrat’yev pertaining to those events—
About this time, Kondrat’yev, who had earlier served as a liaison officer between Komuc in Yekaterinburg and our governments, and Erkebaev, who was hidden in Siberia with him, both officers, had arrived. Kondrat’yev was a Russian friend who was in favor of our positions. He was an SR, meaning, a social revolutionary. At one time, he had worked with Major Tagan and with Erkebayev in the formation of the Second Infantry Brigade. I had mentioned that previously. Kondrat’yev told me that, if I decided to head the events that were taking place, I could count on the SR elements that were not in favor of making peace with the Soviets. In response I explained to him that Urals, especially Baskurts did not have the means to undertake a new uprising such as that; it was without a meaning and it was impossible. I had already told Erkebayev that Soviets would not leave me in the Urals, they would transfer me to Moscow; and that I would be heading to Turkistan from there. I gave money to Kondrat’yev and Erkebayev, for travelling and expenses, and sent them to join Major Tagan in the Far East. Both of them went to Siberia, then to Manchuria. From there both wrote comprehensive letters to Major Tagan in Tokyo, the Commander of the Second Brigade Commander, explaining what I had told them. The most important were the letters written by Erkebayev in Baskurt to Tagan, penned in the city of Harbin. Major Tagan had quoted those in his memoirs in Russian, but has been unable to publish, under the title “Baskurts in the far East.” During 1925 when we arrived in Hungary from Germany, Major Tagan gave me those very interesting letters. Erkebayev states that he spoke with me several times at the end of March 1920 in Sterlitamak. He wrote his impressions as follows: “The world is not regarding Bolshevism as a global threat. The Allies have sunk a large anti-Bolshevik Movement in Siberia-Ural and Ukraine. No sane person can now collaborate with a White General. Inside Russia, there was an idea to establish a Founding Parliament and the SR Party against Bolshevism to uphold democracy. They are now all dispersed. It is possible to gather all the Islamic peoples of Eastern Russia; but, there is no state that can protect and help them. Moreover, they do not have the military capabilities as we Baskurts have. The Russian people are scattered in their thoughts and are lacking the capability to concentrate on a single idea. Under these conditions, even if there is an uprising can become successful in the beginning, in the end it will become a disastrous adventure. It has been demonstrated that we cannot work with the Bolsheviks. However, I prefer to join, with my friends, the Turkistan uprising that is already underway. In reality, there is no hope of receiving any help from the outside. The Allies prefer the dominance of Bolshevism in Central Asia instead of an Islamic state. Therefore, instead of remaining in Moscow, to serve the aims of Moscow, or being hung by Moscow, I prefer to devote all my energies to regulating the Turkistan uprising and to inject an ideology into it. Find Major Tagan and his friends. If they can manage, have them join us in Turkistan. Or, they can work to gain the Japanese to our cause. If our efforts do not result in positive developments, we will leave together for foreign countries. Then, we will work for our cause outside.”
Since Erkebayev was one of my most trusted officers, and had even served as my aide-de-camp during the Celiabinsk period, I had told him everything for him to relay to Tagan. Tagan had brought all that with him from Japan to Budapest. Kondrat’yev’s letters from Harbin to Tagan in Tokyo in 1920 contains very valuable information on the details of the movement; all that is worth being published as a stand-alone volume. Even though I was listening to what was being told me in the Urals and Siberia by those who trusted me, and spoke with them, I endeavored to prove my trustworthiness to Moscow. I did not undertake any activity or make a speech that would undermine that. When our Head of Government Yamagulov was called to Moscow, Rev-Kom elected me head of Government on 25 February 1920. In practice that was always the case. However, I did not wish to officially undertake the Chairmanship of the Government, and always remained as Minister for War. I was careful to base the power on the Army.
The First Baskurdistan Communist Party Congress—
When I was at the Petrograd Front, a committee sent by the Russian Communist Party Central Committee convened the First Baskurt Communist Party Congress during 8-11 November 1919 in Sterlitamak. Since I was not a Party Member at that time, even if I was in Sterlitamak, I would not have been a participant but would have heard the discussions from Communist friends. After my return from Petrograd Front, according to what I was told, the great majority of the 700 participants were Russians and Russian Temporary War Immigrants from the provincial branches. We also heard that, beside the sessions where their Moscow Representative Sergeev-Artium and Samoylov, in addition to the very few Baskurt Communists, there were other sessions where only the Russian members were present. At the time, it was not possible to determine what those other matters were. Now, the Soviet historian R. Raimov’s “Formation of the Baskurt Soviet Republic” published in 1952, comprised of 520 pages (in Pp. 297-302), we can read the stenographic records of that Congress. Those stenographic records and documents are kept in the Central State Archive of the October Revolution (Fund. 1320. Therefore we now that the agenda of the Congress included not only general organizational issues, but also the Eastern Question; the problem of Tatar-Baskurts; and the Second Congress of the Moslem Communists. Along those lines, important issues included especially excluding Validov and other leaders of the Baskurts, and their efforts in forming the Baskurdistan and Kazakistan Republics in Orenburg and the means of preventing those, were discussed. It was also stressed that the Tatars were connected to the European Russian instead of Turkistan, and it was better for the Baskurts to be joined with the Tatars, meaning with Kazan, to undermine the union with Kazakistan and Turkistan. On that issue, Raimov, again basing himself the on the same material in the October Revolution archive, specifies: “Validov’s idea was to unite the bourgeois Central Asian Republics as a federation and separate them for the revolutionary Russia. He is endeavoring, and we must oppose all that in the Kalinin Conference on the Baskurt-Kirgiz (Kazak) to meet during December 1919.” All that meant that the Kalinin Commission agenda, in which we participated in Moscow, was already set and the decisions to be reached were all decided in the Sterlitamak Communist Conference one month earlier. Our Government Head Haris Yumagulov, who attended as an old Communist, was not even aware of those decisions. He later somewhat learned of all that from a Polish delegate who participated in those sessions. When I was in Petrograd, I had heard that some educated Tatar fell for the misinformation at the Baskurdistan Communist Party First Congress and sent delegations to Moscow in order to defend the aforementioned Communist theses at the Kalinin Commission. That made me sad. Shortly afterward the events developed as I relayed them above.
Moslem Communists who became servants of the Russians—
While I was in Petrograd and Moscow, there were events that transpired between the Revolutionary Committee and the Russians, which were finalized by Yamagulov’s summon to Moscow. During those events, two Moslem Communists, by the names of Samigulov and Ismailov, acting as Russian servants, were jailed by Yamagulov. The Russians (meaning Communist Party Center headed by Samoylov) appointed Samigulov as the Political Commissar of the Baskurt Army Units in Baskurdistan. Because of that, Yamagulov had them arrested. After I arrived, I had them released. They were mentioned in the Soviet press as “Validov’s personal enemies.” I never had anything to do with them. Both wanted to advance their careers by ‘appearing more Russian than the Russians.’ That was the cause of their extraordinary efforts to suppress every type of national autonomy movement, and their attempts to execute us; failing that, assassinate us. I invited them to my home after their release form the prison, in order to have a chat:
Question: You regard yourself a “left Communist.” I wonder, under which social and economic issue, I am to your right? Am I more conservative than you? What are those items?
Answer: We do not regard you more conservative in social and eceonomic matters; we are different than you in national issues.
Q: What are those differences? Do they matter in right or left?
A: We are against any type of autonomy. We find that harmful to the unity of the proletariat.
Q: Meaning, you find it harmful to the Russian and Tatar proletariat union. When there is autonomy, will those two proletariats be separated from each other?
A: Yes.
Q: Since the Party Members are atheists, the difference in religion does not matter. Since you would like to see the Tatar proletariat unified with those of the Russians, why do you call yourselves Moslems? Would it not be better for you to be working directly for the Russian organization?
A: We work wherever the Party assigns us.
Q: In that case, you are amongst us as representatives of Russian imperialism. It is best for you to go to Moscow. You work there. Your opposition to national autonomy is unrelated to leftism or rightism. The only difference between you and I is: You are much more loyal to your Russian comrades than we are. The truth is, you are their servants.
Four pan-Islamists becoming guests in Sterlitamak—
At the beginning of March, on a stormy day when plenty of snow was falling, somebody came to my house door and declared that he had arrived from Moscow. It transpired that, Resit Kadi, as he was known in Turkiye and in the Islamic world, when his full name was Abdurresit Ibrahim, had arrived. In the horse-drawn sled, there were two other comrades, wrapped in felt: Mevlevi Bereketullah and Mevlevi Abdulber from India. Those Indians were almost dead from the cold. They stayed in my house for a few days. They were both Indian seeker of independence and pan-Islamists. Even though they had nothing to do with socialism etcetera, they were thinking of collaborating with the Communists in order to free the Islamic world from the Western Imperialists. They were happy to see an Islamic state in the Urals, and thought that it was going to be the seed for a larger one to be established in Turkistan. Bereketullah already spoke with Lenin, who advised him to talk with me. They were unaware of the conditions prevailing in the seed of the “Grand Islamic State.” And, it was not possible to state everything openly either. Despite all that, I told them: “this idea is a dream. It is a sin to even attempt to unite the Kur’an with communism. You are speaking with the communists, but do not confuse that with religion. You might tell them that you wish to see it develop as a civilian political revolutionary movement.” In order for them to have talks, I had brought my father, who was the closest friend of Resit Kadi, and my Maternal Uncle Habib Neccar, to my home. Simultaneously, or a little later, the great religious scholar of the Kazan Turks, Musa Carullah also arrived. I got together with him in Istanbul during 1928 and 1948. We had appointed him an adviser to the Justice Ministry. He had made use of the free travel privileges accorded to the ministers and vice ministers of our government, and made a lot of money from salt trade. During the Bolshevik period, due to the irregularity of transportation modes, salt was not found in certain parts of the country. Until then he made his living from the sale of his books and the aid extended him by the booksellers. When all that stopped, he experienced difficulties in living. I advised Resit and Musa and Bereketullah esquires to journey to Islamic countries if they could, but not to reconcile communism with Islam and not to take money from the Soviets. All three were grateful to that advice after they left Russia. Abduresit Kadi and Mevlevi Abdulber again visited my home in Istanbul. Resit Kadi passed away on 31 August 1944 while he was the Imam of Tokyo mosques at the age of ninety four; Abdulber passed away in Izmir. Musa Carullah went to India via Kashgar, then to Japan. In 1948 he was my house-guest for six months. He then journeyed to Cairo he passed away on 25 October 1949 at the age of seventy four. Mevlevi Bereketullah passed away in France. All three individuals were the guests of the Baskurt Government, received respect and remembered us gratefully. Mevlevi Bereketullah wrote a letter to the members of the Congress Party in India, and to Mevlana Ebulkelam Azad, indicating they were staying in Sterlitamak as our guest, and received advice. Ebulkelam Azad told me this in 1950, when he was the Minister of Education of India, in the presence of Istanbul University President Kazim Ismail Bey. Resit Kadi had written a tract in Turkish, on the struggles of the Russian Moslems and their history, citing me and his stay in Sterlitamak in grateful words. He presented me with that in 1930 while he was staying in Istanbul. After hosting him for three weeks in Sterlitamak, I sent him via horse-drawn sleigh to the nearest railroad station, Safran.
During that time, the Alas-Orda Government in Eastern Kazakistan was dispersed. Members of that, Mir Azim Kidirbayev and Muhtar Avezov arrived in Baskurdistan during March. Later on Avezov became a Professor and Member of the Kazakistan Academy of Sciences, and died on 27 July 1961. Muhtar Avezov was very pessimistic compared to his visit to us in 1918. I repeated everything to Avezov what I had told Erkebayev. Even though he was a calm and passive person, he was genuinely interested in continuing the struggle in Turkistan; but he asked “you have everything here; you are in comfort. How can you leave all this behind?” When he arrived in New York City in 1959 as a member of the Soviet Delegation, referring to that visit he told one of the Kazak immigrants there “it was a polar star of a period in darkness.”
Visitors from Moscow in the capital of Baskurdistan—
When we arrived in Sterlitamak the struggle between the Baskurdistan Government and the Baskurt Communist Party headed by Sergeev-Artium, one of the closest friends of Lenin, Preobrajinski and Samoylov had reached a breaking point. In reality, I was made a member of that Party by the Communist Party Central Committee, but I was not given any documentation, or a membership card, showing that fact. Despite all that, I did not attend the Communist Party meetings. The Sterlitamak representatives of Moscow regarded me as a Communist Party member, and they did not hesitate to consult with me. Since Yamagulov was a party member of the old, the Central Committee called him to Moscow in order to reproach him. Samoylov published his memoirs pertaining to those days, and in it, he stated: “we knew that the most intelligent and mature member of the Baskurt leaders was Validov; we believed that he would not publicly approve of what Yamagulov did, regardless of his personal relationship with him. But, we erred. As soon as he arrived, he stated that Yamagulov’s actions were true. He did not allow the Second Congress of the Baskurdistan Communist Party meeting to take place, and he did not free all of those communists arrested by Yamagulov. That is true. Preobrajinski was a good marksman and hunter. One day, he suggested we go hunting someday together. He had heard that I was a good hunter. We did not make it. But, I invited him to dinner one day. My close friend Tahir Imekoglu asked me the virtue of that invitation. I told him that Preobrajinski is a member of the Politburo and he is one of the party Secretaries. There is plenty to be learned from him. He told me not to drink. In actuality, Preobrajinski was as educated and intellectual as Bukharin among the Bolsheviks leadership. He was not one of those Chekists who would search for anti-Sovietisms in every word uttered. He wrote, with his friend Bukharin and Kretinski, the book entitled “Alphabet of Communism.” He arrived at the dinner with a friend of his whose name I forgot. I immediately placed the question before them: ‘whether or not the fights between Marx and Bakunin are based on competition or animosity?’ He explained with wide context and foundation. He knew the history of his own sect well and exactly. In the meantime, I objected to some points contained in his comments and references to Lenin’s book entitled Materialism and Empereo-Criticism. He asked me if I had raised those criticisms based on my reading of Cernov’s book. I responded that, no, those were my own objections. He responded with: “in that case, these are important objections; you might write those or tell them in person to Lenin. He wrote that book in his youth and sometimes his arguments are absurd. But, he enjoys debating on those issues.” We spoke on many other issues. His accompanying friend immediately started drinking. He was downing drinks one after the other. He also was insisting that I accompany him in drinking. He also threw a deck of cards. I told him that I had not gambled since I was twenty years old, and did not like to get drunk on alcohol. Preobrajinski asked me what good is it to drink, if the drinker does not wish to become inebriated. I told him that I had a Master whose testaments I valued highly, though he had lived a thousand years ago. He was a mathematician, el-Biruni, who had lived in what is now Khiva. He asked me what Biruni said. I told him: “the intelligent man only pursues matters that satisfy his spirit and those that will remain eternal; the unwary can only be batted between drunkenness and gambling and cannot taste a pleasure. He asked me what Biruni did as a mathematician. I told him that he was the genius, the very first man to determine the circumference of the earth; you can read about that in Edward Sachau. He asked me about Omar Khayyam. I told him, he, too, was a great mathematician. Preobrajinski was truly devoted to atheism. In his Communist Alphabet, he stressed the fact that that was his central theme. One day, while we were discussing those matters, I told him: “Comrade Preobrajinski is it permissible to make such determinate statements about metaphysical issues? Perhaps you ought to have become a priest, and you had entered the path of communism by error.” Later on, his friends told my words to Lenin. Lenin responded by stating: “Validov discovered that correctly.” Preobrajinski was truly a cultured man. When I saw him in Moscow during May, he asked me “What news of el-Biruni?” He remembered what I had told him. He told me that if he had time, he would have studied the life of Biruni; that he loved those types of people. Perhaps he made time to take a look at Sachau.
At one time, I also invited Artium to dinner. He was a Chekist in the full sense of the word. He was one of the extreme theoreticians and practitioners of world communism, whose name is now given to a series of industrial centers from Ukraine to the Urals to Siberia. He was in favor of destroying the generation preventing the rapid success of communism. He stated: “what harm is there in eliminating ten thousand educated in a few days? We will train the next generation in the spirit of Communism, just like chicks in a chicken-coop.” He was by origin, Ukrainian. But, he hated Ukrainian nationalism. According to him, Russian language was destined to spread across all Asia. He was convinced that all future generations were going to be bilingual in English and Russian. To him, all speaking languages were living on borrowed time.
I used to talk quite a bit with Artium on Cernishevsky and Plexanov’s works. He liked those talks. He had learned the simple life of my family at the village. He enjoyed talking about his own adventures. He became a socialist as soon as he graduated the Higher Technical Institute, became friends with Lenin very early, and escaped to Paris. He was caught and exiled to Siberia several times while he was working on secret organizations among the laborers in Ukraine and the Urals. From there, he escaped to Korea, China, and finally to Australia, remaining there for eight years, working on propaganda and organization, published revolutionary newspapers. Despite all his travels, he had no idea about the intellectual life in the East, especially about Islam. He believed that Communism would join Buddhism in South-Eastern Asia, and conquer the world. He was an enemy of Islam. I wrote about these matters on 2 January 1966, in the newspaper Yeni Istanbul, in connection with the Vietnam problem. One of the Russian scholars who arrived in Vienna for the International History Conference indicated that he had read a Russian translation of that article in Moscow.
Artium believed in the necessity of destroying the human will, to turn the people into robots, in order to realize communism by the crassest means. According to him, in order to bring about socialism, it was better to utilize the imperialism of large states instead of the scattered will of the small nations. According to him, to reach the objective, all means were permissible. In other words he was a foolish missionary of world communism. In many respects, he was a mirror of Lenin. He had derived his information from Lenin. It was very important to speak with him in order to understand the bases of Lenin’s plans and philosophy. I thought that, to understand Lenin, it was necessary to read his works and speaking with his followers such as Artium.
Samoylov, who stayed the longest amongst us, did not have any other virtue or his personal ideas than being a communist doctrinaire. Although, he is the only Russian who portrayed his time in Baskurdistan by publishing his memoirs. These Russians were invaluable resources for me, in my learning of Leninism and Lenin’s thoughts about the future. Then, amongst them, there were Polish origin old Vaytsikovsky and Siromiatnikov, whom I knew as honorable personalities. They were completely different personalities than Artium, and normal individuals. I later learned that Siromiatnikov published interesting articles about his activities in Baskurdistan. There were other Communist Russians who wanted to follow positive policies in Baskurdistan. One of them was Mostovenko. This person wrote articles, like Samoylov, on his own activities in Baskurdistan in the journal Proletarskaya Revolutsiya (1928). According to him, Samoylov was acting in a very biased way. Samigulov, in order to keep the “Kazan authority,” was collaborating with those Tatars who became members of the Party for chauvinistic reasons, as well as those Russians who were the enemies of the Baskurts. Just like Kretisnki, the Communist Party Secretary, Mostovenko was definitely against those policies and individuals who wanted to fan inter-communal provocations in Baskurdistan. According to this person, what Stalin tentatively proposed in 1918, the Tatar-Baskurt Republic, Samoylov did that purely for the purpose of provocation. In addition, Mostovenko states that: “While Validov was expending energies to unite the tribes in Soviet Asia on the bases of a federation, in order to establish a large state, his definite aim was to found a state based on outside help. He had much wider view and ideas compared to his friends. He even kept in mind of the collaboration with Turkiye in his actions. Our (meaning, Soviet) policy of leaning on the Fortified Positions in Baskurdistan, neighboring Russian Provinces, and the competing elements amongst Tatars and Baskurts against the Baskurts, was in error. Kretinski and Slobov concurred in this.”
After we left Baskurdistan, Mostovenko wrote a comprehensive report to the Communist Party Center on 8 November 1920. I do not recall meeting Mostovenko in person. However, I had heard that he had named those provocation policies as a ‘policy of rascals’ as reported by Vaytsyxovski, at the time of these intense struggles when I arrived in Sterlitamak, and while I was speaking with the Russian Communists. This person’s throat had a hole in it. While he was speaking, he was plugging it with a piece of rubber. Probably, he was a clean Communist volunteer of the Moscow variety. Artium, Preobrajinski, Mostovenko and Vaytsyxovski, though they believed in the same policies, in their characters and in their tactics they exhibited very different aspects. But, their purity of their beliefs and their strength were getting lost against the devilish nature, thoughts and characters of their friends. Their common belief in the same objectives, and the hundreds of thousands of individuals they killed in the name of the revolution was providing them with the understanding of their great responsibility they incurred.
Help to the Baskurts and the fortified positions—
Known as Baskiropomoc, this sinister aid was the perfect example of most insincere, deceitful policy of the Soviets applied against us as mentioned above. During the first four months of 1919, the Red army severely plundered the middle and Southern Cantons of Baskurdistan. Five thousand three hundred seventy seven homes were completely demolished, all the foodstuffs were taken from fifty thousand individuals, thereby comdemned them to death by hunger. Thirteen thousand three hundred fifty four horses, six thousand two hundred forty two cattle, twenty thousand sheep, one hundred thousand pud wheat, twenty thousand pub meat and fats, four hundred thousand pud animal fodder, grass and cereals were plundered. In addition, clothes, rugs, kilims, felts, duvets, shoes, women’s jewelry taken by the Red Army were all documented by the Baskurt Government, and I had personally handed that list to Lenin. In reponse, on 6 October, Lenin had issued an order to issue one hundred fifty million Rubles of advance compensation under the heading of “aid to the Baskurts who suffered from the Red Army during the war.” Their intention was to distribute that compensation not via the Baskurt Government, but through a special committee by the name of “Committee to help the Baskurts” which they established specifically for that purpose. Against this ‘help’ the population was required to form “Committees of Poor” and “Communist Cells” in detailed and comprehensive orders and instructions. To oversee those, they first send someone with the name of Dudnik, and later (on 14 December), the aforementioned Artium. They were speedily establishing the “Committees of Poor” with alacrity, in collaboration with the local Communists. The newly established “Country Communist Party” was obligated to help them. As detailed above, the Turkistan Front (Turkfront), on the orders of Stalin, ostensibly to ‘secure the general order,’ was establishing fortified regions in Baskurdistan. To facilitate all that someone by the name of Spirin at the head of some Russian soldiers was sent from Orenburg. After I returned from Moscow, we returned them. Despite all that, Moscow was determined to establish ‘fortified positions command’ in Baskurdistan and they redoubled their efforts to do just that. Orenburg Communist Party was also endeavoring to subject the Baskurt Army units in the Turkistan Front to that Command. We requested that our national units to be under the Command of the Turkistan Front, and not to be involved in the internal affairs of our country under various excuses. The Baskurt country Communist Party Second Congress gathered between 7-9 March. I also attended, despite the fact that I was still not in possession of my membership documents. The Russian representatives immediately jumped in to discuss the ‘help to the Baskurts’ committees and the issue of the ‘fortified positions.’ The ‘temporary’ immigrants arriving during the First World War were all settled in the South Eastern Baskurt region of Baskurdistan, in the Usergen region Russian villages. Stalin and Orenburg Province had become their protectors. With their help, these Russian immigrants began transgressing the land ownership of the Baskurts. The ‘Committee of the Poor’ and the ‘fortified positions’ were going to support them as well. The Baskurdistan government became aware of this in time, and prevented all that from happening.
A scholarly talk during the great cidal—
As mentioned above, immediately after the visit of the four pan-Islamists, another freedom lover from India, and a pan-Islamist, Seyh Said Arabi Pencabi arrived in Sterlitamak. I hosted him in my own house at a time when our struggles with Moscow were at a peak. He had brought a letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs Chicerin in Moscow. Even though this person was from Punjab, he had lived in Burma. He had published a newspaper in Istanbul during the First Wolrd War. I had previously seen him in Moscow. He was a lover of Celaleddin Rumi and Sems Tebrizi. I had told him that Sems Tebrizi was known in the Sirderya basin as a Turk Yesevi Seyh, Turkish poems and wisdoms were attributed to him, and those poems were known by a dervish named Mollagul among the Baskurts, now deceased. He was astonished, because he knew Sems Tebrizi to be an Iranian. It was said that he was carrying all the works of Rumi and Tebrizi with him in all his travels, and he would read them as if they were the Kur’an. The problem of Rumi and Sems Tebrizi is consisted of: Celaleddin Rumi was originally from Balkh, and from his mother’s side, he was descended from the Kipcak Hans. (His grandfather had married one of the daughters of those Hans). Those Kipchak Hans were living in today’s Turkistan’s Murgap basin in Afghanistan and in the Vahs River Basin in Tajikistan. When Horezmshah had a disagreement with his mother, the army commanders close to him corresponded with Cengiz Khan, who was his enemy, and came to an agreement. Because of these issues, the Balkh Seyyids Bahaedding and his son, Celaleddin, who were related to the Kipchak Han and Beys from their mother’s side, openly sided with Cengiz, and left the lands of the Horezmshah. After journeying through Bagdad and Hejaz, they arrived in Asia Minor, amongst the Konya Seljuks. There, Celaleddin met a Turk mendicant dervish by the name of Semseddin, became friends through tasavvuf, and with that muse, he wrote poems to counter the poems of Sems and attained fame. Celaleddin presented this Turk mendicant dervish as Kipchak, even as “Kipchak king of the fools,” and attributed Kipchak poems to him. Celaleddin’s son Sultan Veled, in his own poems written in a mélange of Kipchak and Oghuz that he wrote from the mouth of Semseddin: “I am Yazirim.” At the time of Timur, Devletshah of the Samarkand also presented Sems Tebrizi a member of the Yazer Turks. During our talks in Moscow, I had told all this to Seyh Said, and that Mollagul of Baskurdistan knew the Turkish poetry of Sems, and that my father also learned them from Mollagul. Seyh asked me how he could get hold of those poems; he also indicated that he would visit Baskurdistan to collect those poems. He had now arrived, and immediately began obtaining information on Mollagul. I invited my father, had him transported to Sterlitamak, and introduced them. My father rendered quite a bit of help. Seyh wrote down Mollagul’s life, his oral poetry, and his repetition of Sems Tebrizi’s poems. I could not help him more, since it was a very complicated time frame.
After remaining in Sterlitamak for a period, and after visiting my father in our village, speaking with Mollagul’s relatives, Seyh Said returned to Moscow. Later, he returned to Istanbul, in the company of Zafer Hasan Bey from India, who is still alive today in Istanbul. I saw him once more in Istanbul. I later heard he went to Egypt around 1950 and he died there. I always feel sorry that I did not obtain a copy of what Seyh Said recorded about Mollagul, who he determined was a Sirdarya Kazak, in our country.
Since he was a guest of the Soviet Government, the Soviet representatives in Baskurdistan also came to see him off. However, Artium, who had listened to Seyh Said bragging about my knowledge of Arabic and Iranian poetry and history, stated: “Validov is quite a Grand Figure for the Urals.” As a result, the Moscow representatives wrote reports stressing the necessity of removing me from Baskurdistan, and Artium’s desire to see me work in Moscow. The assessments of Mohander Pratab and Mevlevi Bereketullah and Seyh Said of India that I needed to be working on the general problems of the East also added to those reports in describing me such a person.
The intrigues of Moscow representatives—
Basing themselves on the temporary immigrants and the Russian villagers in our country, the intrigues of Artium and his friends continued. We seriously responded to each of their actions. Since they were comprised of nine individuals, they were called the Nines (deviatki). They even convened the congress of the communist organization “Committee of the Poor” on 9 March without even communicating with the Baskurdistan Government or obtaining permission. In response we requested them not to mix politics into the aid to the Baskurt, requested they change the conference agenda, and requested that the money received be immediately distributed to the victims of Red Army plundering. When they refused, we intervened in the conference. All these events were described as “provocation” by the Soviet historians. One of those, Samsun Tepeev, in his 1929 volume “The Outline of the Baskurdistan National Movements,” summarized these: “All possibility of cooperating with the Baskurdistan Revolutionary Committee was removed. The nine member Moscow committee, headed by Artium, convened a Communist Party congress at the Usergen province. This congress was declared illegal, since it was convened without the permission of the Baskurdistan Government. The Baskurdistan Government sent a delegation of three individuals to investigate the related matters on site, to Usergen Province, comprised of two Validovists and Ivanov, a representative of the Moscow Nine. But, Validow moved with such speed that, when Ivanov arrived in Usergen, delayed by two days, all business was transacted. The two Validovists, as soon as they arrived, dismantled the Communist Party organization. They confiscated the membership cards of the Party members. Some members, if they were able, escaped beyond the country boundaries (Russian Orenburg Province); others were thrown into jail by the Validovists. So much so that, when Ivanov arrived, nothing was left of the Communist organization in this province. Ivanov returned, since there was nothing he could do.”
Despite the radical precautions we took, Artium managed to establish secret communist party organizations here-and-there, by deceiving the temporary immigrants living in our country and in Orenburg, and with their help. Meaning, Artium and his retinue established a parallel but secret communist organization to work against the Baskurt Government that gave permission to the establishment of the Official Communist Party. All this caused the interdiction of secret Russian immigrants and the arms they were smuggling into the country and related firefights. Spirin, even though not openly, instigated secret resistance and provocations. During the night of 10 March, directly behind the house where I was living in Sterlitamak, there was gunfire. Windows were broken; the guards responded, and the attackers escaped. But, it could not be determined where and how they had arrived, despite the investigations. That was because the attackers were placed in the neighboring homes by the Russians inside the Baskurdistan Communist Party for political audit, and escaped the same way.
The event was presented to Lenin. The Soviet Government tasked Trotsky and Frunze to investigate. Frunze recalled Spirin from Baskurdistan and appointed the Commander of our Baskurt First Cavalry Brigade Commander Axlov in his place. This Axlov was a Patlabasi Nogay from Northern Caucasus. He was a brave officer. Frunze sent me a telegram specifying that this new appointment was intended to show me his aim in appointing a new commander for the fortified region was not to interfere in the internal affairs of Baskurdistan. He also published an address to the Baskurt People. (The telegram and the address were published in his memoirs). Trotsky was hastily sent via a special train to Ufa. Four members of the Baskurdistan Government, and four representatives from the Moscow Party members (including Artium and Preobrajinski) were invited to Ufa. Ufa Province Soviet Chief Eltzin was also invited. Trotsky questioned both sides. In those talks, Preobrajinski was as calm as Artium displayed enmity. Preobrajinski did not utter a word to offend me. As a result, a decree comprised of twenty items was issued. Most of those items were in favor of us. Though the sixteenth item specified that “it will be endeavored to have Baskurdistan a Communist Republic within the great communist federation,” the fourteenth item specified “this country and her soldiers will remain within Turkistan Front.” The eleventh item read: “in the Tatar newspapers published in the neighboring provinces (Orenburg and Ufa), the efforts to show this country as recidivist autonomy is not advisable; they must be stopped.” In reality, the Tatar newspapers published in Orenburg and Ufa were very negatively against us, just like those of the Russians. Among them, Russians had sent two individuals, Samigulov and Ismailov, as their representatives, to the Baskurdistan country Communist Party. And, those two were working with all their might in order to scramble the affairs of our country more than the Russians. The Baskurdistan Government was forced to arrest them, and requested Moscow to withdraw them. On the other hand, among the Tatars, the aforementioned Kaspranski and Rahmetullin, two old Communists, were completely on the side of national thoughts and worked to that end.
Talks with Mufti Alimcan Barudi—
When I was in Ufa, Alimcan Barudi, who maintained his title as Religious Mufti of the Internal Russia and Siberian Moslems, asked to speak with me. We did. He stated: “Baskurdistan Autonomy found her place in history she deserves. Amongst the Tatars, the majority are supporting you. Though, a portion is still against you. I will try to overcome that.” I responded with: “Please proceed; but, you should have done that two years ago. As you see, all of the Ufa Tatars wish to join us and become our soldiers. But, those who opposed us in the name of supposed Islamic reasons have joined the Communist Party to collaborate with the Russians. They will not listen to you.” He agreed: “yes, you are right; there is no remedy against that. I am now afraid I might cause you damage with this meeting.” I told him: “I agree with you.” Alimcan Hazret asked me what remedies he needed to employ in order not to have his Muftiyat not to be completely demolished. He asked if it would be beneficial for him to see Trotsky who was in Ufa during those days. I told him: “If he does not agree to see you, you will be sad. It is best for you not to make any noise. He indicated that the building of the Muftiyat needed repairs. I responded to him, who had studied in Bukhara, and since he knew Persian well, in a pleasant way, by quoting the line from Seyh Sadi: “The owner of the house is after decorating the house façade; but, the house is about to collapse.” I added: “but, please do not lose hope; they will not take the path of abolishing your Muftiyat. Preobrajinski returned to Moscow in the company of Trotsky.
On the way back, I dealt with the business of our military units along the railroad. While we were at the Devleken station, the Tatar Communists Kaspranski and Rahmetullin relayed me an event which they considered very important. Apparently, the counter-revolutionary Abdullah Battal was at this station and that we needed to capture him. I asked them to bring him to me. He is today past the age of eighty, living in Istanbul as the author of many works, and had published many good works on the Tatar cultural life (with his current family name of Taymas), he represented another dimension of revolutionary efforts in our country. When the majority of Tatar educated were against autonomy during 1917-1918, Abdullah Battal and historian of literature Cemaleddin Velidi, and many others, struggled to support landed autonomy; they published newspapers. When Ufa fell into the hands of the Reds, they did not stay there and moved on to Kizilyar (Petropavlovsk) which was in the hands of the Kolchak administration. As a result, they were regarded as Kolchakists. Now that Siberia was in the hands of the Reds, he was on his way to join his family in Kazan. We spoke for an extended period. I freed him from the hands of the other Tatar Communists, and allowed him to continue on his journey freely. The Tatar Communists had made it a habit of catching the individuals who thought different then themselves, in order to ingratiate themselves to their Russian masters. Addressing those two individuals who witnessed the struggles at the Kalinin Commission, and the aftermath, I stated: “you realized with your own eyes that following one of your own for the sake of ingratiating yourselves to the Russian friends did not bring you any benefit. We must remember that the same process may happen to you, or the rest of us, in the future. Therefore, we must not do things we might regret.” This was a big lesson to them. Besides, the struggles at the Kalinin Commission in Moscow had already negatively affected these two Tatar Communists.
After the Conference in Ufa, Samoylov and Artium returned to Sterlitamak in order to carry on their primary duties of mischief. During 15-20 March Artium convened a local conference in the Usengen region in a Russian village and issued some resolutions. At that occasion, one of the decisions was, as verbalized by Artium on 19 March, that the Baskurt Government was not using the Baskurt language in government affairs, and that they were going to force the use of Baskurt henceforth. This was one of the results of the instructions given by Stalin in Moscow. In reality, we were publishing our newspapers in a common language understood both by the Tatars and the Baskurts. Artium had a Baskurt Communist by the name of Gubeydullin write some announcements “in Baskurt language.” In response, I had him and the “Revolutionary Committee” he had formed arrested, and dispersed the said committee. The negative activities of the Russian communist organizations operating out of Tasli and Arxangelesk factories were way beyond the limit. Samoylov stated: “Validov had them arrested, had them handcuffed, and had some had to run between two cavalry troopers on horseback on the way to the jail.” Until that day, I always went about in half military and half civilian clothes. A tailor I knew in Moscow made me a civilian suit. Samoylov did not like that, and stated: “will you allow me to criticize your outfit?” I told him: “Go right ahead; but our tailor is a Communist” in a jocular manner.
April congress of the ‘Help to the Baskurts’—
During the first week of April, Artium and other ‘Central’ (meaning Moscow) Representatives, convened the Congress of “Help to the Baskurts;” this time by procuring a permission from us. We did not prevent the gathering, even though we did not know the aims and the proposed work of this organization. But, when the Baskurts in attendance began complaining of the Russians making extremely negative references to our autonomy in their speeches, the Baskurdistan Government prevented the continuation of the congress on those bases. Samoylov, in his memoirs (Pp. 24-25) explicates what happened: “Validov having found encouragement from Trotksy’s actions supporting him at the Ufa meeting, he became wild. Since he was behaving in nationalistic manner against communism, was acting fearlessly in applying his decisions from a nationalistic perspective with reckless abandon, it became impossible for us Central (Moscow) representatives to work here. This was especially the case during the Aid to the Baskurts Committee Congress at the beginning of April. The Baskurt Leadership was extremely sensitive and took an inimical position against bringing the Baskurt Party under the influence of Moscow and the communists. At this congress, Moscow was being represented by Artium, Saxarev, Dauge and I (Samoylov). At the end of the speech given by Artium, members of the Baskurt Government, Validov, Tuhfetullin, Ilyas Alkin and another person arrived; without requesting permission from comrade Artium, who was presiding, began delivering speeches one after the other in Baskurt. When Artium specified that for such speeches permission had to be obtained from the Presiding Officer, Zeki Validov responded with very demeaning terms, calling him slovoc (lowly bum). Even though Artium became extremely angry, he was forced to refrain from engaging Validov in an argument. In their speeches, they were accusing us of being an enemy of the Baskurt people; that we wanted to take away their autonomy, keeping them all as prisoners, as if we were behaving like the Tsarists against all Easterners. Under those circumstances Artium could not continue with his work; he fell ill. He and I (Samoylov) sent a telegram each to Moscow requesting our withdrawal from Baskurdistan.” Artium died without recovering from that ailment.
The aforementioned Soviet historian S. Tepeev related the events transpiring in the “Aid to the Baskurts Conference” in his volume (p.72), in detail: he specified that I called Artium ‘slovoc;’ accused them of attempting to revive the colonialism and slavery of the Tsarist period; but that Artium could not respond; and that the change of inclinations (nastroyenye) in the meeting was palpable.
As one result, even though the Party organization was structured according to the wishes of Moscow, the real struggle caused the deep gratitude of our population. Especially our forcing out the Russian soldiers from Usergen under the command of Spirin; their replacement Ahlov being a Moslem; the arrival of the one hundred fifty million rubles having been obtained by the initiative of the Baskurt Government becoming known among the populace; and the distribution of that money to the victims, even partially, increased the reputation of the Government. The movements in the neighboring Russian provinces, especially within those regions inhabited by the Tatars, their desire to join with Baskurdistan, and the statements made in our favor, as well as the propaganda conducted by the imams showed the positive results of our internal autonomy. These truths were being voiced by those elements that were against our autonomy only two years earlier. During 1948, while I was visiting Ankara, General Kazim Karabekir sent word that he would be very happy if I were to accept a cup of coffee at his home. I complied, and visited him. It transpired that the general had in his possession the memoirs of a Turkish prisoner of war by the name of Sami who had spent the winter of 1919-1920 in Orenburg. That person [Sami] portrayed the hopes created by our autonomy based on our soldiers as a Turk land, on the Turgay and Orenburg Moslems. In addition, I had invited a man named Ali Ahmet for him to play the national airs on the Kuray (flute), for the purpose of recording them. The same person had played and recited for the Russian musical specialist Rybakov during 1895 such pieces that, Rybakov published them all in a thick volume in the Russian Academy of Sciences series under the title “Ural Moslems’ Music and Songs.” I had listened to that performer when I was a child, by journeying to his village several times. As a reward for the recordings he made, I had his teeth made and presented him with military uniform and a sword. He was very happy. He had personally witnessed the withdrawal of Spirin’s soldiers while he was returning to his home and wrote couplet-form poetry to celebrate. Unfortunately, I no longer have those poems. There is only a fragment in the hands of Ahmet Ziya Ozkaynak: “if the darkness causes us to lose our way/ this brave will turn us into the right path/ if our plump lands are attacked by the enemy/ this brave will save us.”
Our poet of those times, Fethulkadir Suleyman (Abdulkadir Inan) wrote some songs about me, and they were set to music. Dr. Tagan and Professor Jansky published them in Vienna. Another person bringing to life the events of those days was a young Tatar girl poet from the Bayik village of the Southeastern Baskurdistan. The satire she wrote under the name Spirin Battalion was very grand in grasping the events and in poetic quality. Unfortunately, her poems could not be taken out of the country. The lineage of this Bayik village was recorded by Otemis Haci, which he cites among the ‘Mangit Villages.’ They were of settled Tatars, different than those immigrating from Kazan; and unlike the rest of the other Tatars, they had joined in and supported all Baskurt uprisings during the past century. They also reared valuable scholars. Abdullah Ethemoglu, who was one of the foremost leaders of the Baskurt autonomy movement, was one of those Bayik Tatars.
The issue of the keys and Lenin—
The Soviet Government had accepted the settlement of Baskurt Government in Sterlitamak. Yet, they wished to keep this city within the European Soviet Union (RSFSR) and regard us as a guest. Even though this city was under the administration of the Baskurt Government, it also contained buildings owned by the Russians. Those buildings had Russian guards. One of those buildings was a grain silo once owned by a wealthy Russian named Kuznetsov. The Ufa city Soviet Government sent a telegram to the Soviet Central Government stating: “the Baskurt Government removed the Soviet guards from that structure, confiscated the keys, and occupied it.” At the beginning of April, one night, I received the news that comrade Lenin wished to speak with me via the telegraph. After the issue of sending our troops to Leningrad, Stalin and Trotsky had called me to the telegraph; but Lenin had not made the same request since then. I thought there must be an important issue. It transpired that the issue of the keys was the cause. Lenin immediately stated: “Comrade Validov, it appears you had confiscated the keys to the grain silo by force, which belongs to the Ufa province. You must return the keys and the structure immediately.” I responded with: “Respected Vladimir Ilyic, I do not have those keys; our government does not possess them either. They only exist in your imagination. Our neighbors, the Russian chauvinists, whisper something to you, and you are regarding that the truth. All news created concerning Baskurdistan is all of this type. I am sorry to observe that the imperialism left over from the time of the Tsars is growing, and the existence of little Baskurdistan is causing our neighbors to lose their sleep, to the point of rendering them insane. It is of concern to me that you believe them as well.” Lenin’s response was: “are you speaking the truth? Is it true that you have not occupied the said building?” I stated: “that is correct.” Lenin said: “in that case, I will have the matter examined, and I will let you know of the result.” Fifteen or twenty days later I journeyed to Moscow and saw Lenin. He told me: “he was sorry about this incident.” But, there was nothing else he thought besides surrendering all of Urals and the fate of Baskurdistan to those provocateur chauvinistic Red Russians which they knew well. I responded with: “even though you may regret that, you believe them more than us. We are unable to prevent that outcome. That is because; our Russian friends are convinced that the idea of Russian population serving the function of cement while building the grand socialist Russia is dominant. They believe that trust in us Easterners will be the primary cause of the great Russians to be dispersed. This was told us by our friends, comrades Artium and Eltzin probably one hundred times, without the need to hide their thoughts. You have only known me for the past thirteen months; but you had spent your entire life with them.”
Our departure from Baskurdistan—
On 28 April, Stalin called me to the telegraph, indicating I needed to journey to Moscow “in order to discuss important matters concerning the Baskurt Army. Samoylov will journey with you.” I immediately grasped the fact that this was a ruse to separate me from Baskurdistan. We convened the Government, and debated the issue. Many of the friends advised that I disobey the order, and tell all this to Frunze. I responded with: “in these matters, Frunze cannot have a policy independent of the Party central. That will not yield anything beneficial. I will obey; then, we will see what needs to be done. I will take my family, and go.” Stalin was summoning me as a member of the Party; in other words, in the name of the Party Central. But, I was not yet issued Party Membership documents. Even Tipiyev, who published the history of the Baskurdistan Revolution, while speaking of Kaspranski, the Political Secretary of the Baskurdistan Communist Committee, wrote that the latter was “giving all the Party paperwork to Zeki Validov who was not yet a member of the Party.” In other words, they were summoning me to the Party (Obkom) meeting, but in reality they were not regarding me a member of the Party. I knew that well. I told my closest friends that if I were to be kept in Moscow, we would be journeying to Turkistan to join the uprising there. We took some necessary precautions. All these preparations were to be undertaken by Allahberdi Caferov, who was going to stay in Baskurdistan, who would also head the Baskurt Government in my absence. I completed all this business in two days, and left for Moscow on 30 April. As soon as I arrived, I saw Stalin. Kamenev was with him. It transpired that a tri-partite commission was established, comprised of Stalin, Trotsky and Kamenev in order to examine the issues of Baskurdistan and our Army. Stalin stated: “it is necessary for you to stay here, in the center, for a period.” I responded with: “I arrived with that understanding.” I sent the car to our representative office, and was walking in the streets. By chance, I ran into the Polish Communist, who had a hole in his throat, I had mentioned earlier. I think his name was Vaytsikhovsky. This person told me things which I could never forget: “they [communists] telling you that you are made a member of the Party is for the sole purpose of taking away your freedom. Now, the Party is your swaddle; the great source of our chance is Party discipline. On the other hand, it is also the source of misfortune for the lovers of freedoms, our way of destroying free-will of humans. For me, you are a person who will be beneficially employed in the East, in your country, not in Moscow. While I was visiting your country, I followed all your actions with full sympathy. Along with a number of our friends, we recommended to the Party Central that we needed to benefit from your wide ranging talents suitably. But, we were unable to succeed.” During November of 1917, when we declared the autonomy of Baskurdistan and began establishing the First Baskurt Regiment, those who helped us, Captain Britz and six of his officer friends, were also Polish. They were later investigated and shadowed by the Russians because of that. The sympathy of the Poles toward the autonomy movements of the non-Russians was apparent even in the middle of the 19th century, when General Siyalkowsky, the Commander of the Baskurt units and Governor of Orenburg clearly demonstrated that. The national building named Caravansaray and the mosque in the style of Central Asia were built on Siyalkovsky’s sympathy.
Two days after arriving in Moscow, I saw Lenin. He repeated what Stalin said. He told me of the issue of the keys I had related above. He also added: “I know you as a person who can work with us on Russia-wide issues, not only on a small country. Your friends can handle the matters of your country. You can visit them occasionally. Now, you might get used to working in the center.” I knew that those words were stated as a form of sycophancy, but I behaved as if I believed in them. Lenin explained to me that they had tasked me with the duty of organizing Moslem military units under formation in the Crimean Front, as well as for the preparation of the constitutions of the Moslem Soviet Republics. For the purpose, I was being appointed a ‘member of the Nationalities Commissariat,’ with a guard commander as before. Lenin was telling me all this as if they were benefices. Cars were also allocated for my use. All that meant, they have not changed the external appearances. Lenin told me that the Baskurdistan Soviet Congress was going to be held without my participation, and suggested that I prepare a proposal for the cooperation of the Eastern tribes among themselves, and that I seriously participate in that direction in the work of the Comintern. I spoke with Stalin a second time. Those talks were ostensibly very secret. He constantly complained of Trotsky. As if keeping me in Moscow was Trotsky’s design. As if, Trotsky and Zirjenski were afraid of my influence increasing in the Eastern provinces.
Morals as understood by Lenin—
I was being summoned to the committee investigating the issues of Baskurdistan for consultations. During May, this commission issued a decision comprised of five items. With the addition of Kalinin and Lenin’s signatures, all that became the decision of the Soviet Government and was announced as such. As a result, our country was left as a province autonomous in the legal, educational, agriculture spheres but was subject to the RSFSR in external affairs, economics, treasury, post and telegraph and road-building. Our army was not in the Turkistan Military District, but subjected to the Volga Military District. Commission member Kamenev was against reducing autonomy to non-extant in this manner. He also suggested that there was a current to add the city of Ufa and many other Russian regions to our country, but all that was postponed for the time being. I again saw Lenin immediately after those decisions were announced. I told him: “During March 1919, we signed an agreement amongst us. We all signed. In that agreement, the rights of an oppressed nation, though not in full, were recognized. Now that fourteen months has passed, all that has evaporated.” Lenin responded: “Why are you speaking of such moral theories? What kind of revolutionary are you? How can you be stuck in such agreements? The agreement signed with you does not constrain anyone; it is only a piece of paper.” I told him: “we believe that the human relations are based on the compliance on what is written on that paper.” Lenin responded: “in that case, you are mistaken. You will learn a lot in our entourage. I seriously and sincerely wish that you will collaborate with us in all-Russian and world-wide issues. Arguing over a piece of paper written and signed based on transitory requirements is not worthy of you. You will see what important business we will be facing.” From those words, I sensed that he might be sincere in his desire to see me as a colleague and have me work on Russia-wide issues. While I was leaving, he gave me a batch of papers and stated: “after you read these, we will talk about them; but, you must submit your thoughts in writing.”
At Hotel Metropol, we the high Soviet personalities spoke on various topics. At the time, the task of shadowing people and Party members by Soviet officers was not developed much. It was possible to talk on many topics freely. At one point, I was telling Petrovski, Head of the Ukrainian Soviet Government, the constitutional drafts of the national governments, and my impressions of my talks with Lenin. I jokingly asked him: “since all options are permissible in the pursuit of the goal for Lenin, if he is told that his wedding his own mother would cause world revolution, would he do it?” Petrovski, without any hesitation stated: “of course he would wed his mother. Lenin always looks at at these issues from a tactical point-of-view. For example, he will consider the circumstances if they would turn the people away from us. His approach is not circumcised with religion or morals or tradition. His morals are only confined to the class struggles of the proletariat. Most of the allies of us communists are transitory. A portion of those left us when Lenin was fraudulently signing the banknotes. Primarily, the agreements are in force because they were necessary. On the other hand, I am not able to be as fearless as Lenin on these issues.” I asked: “is Lenin sincere in his thoughts of internationalism? Or, is the Russian nationalism is affecting his thoughts?” Petrovski: “Lenin is sincerely outside nationalism (vnenatsional) as he is walking toward applying communism world-wide. However, in terms of historical, geographical and economic terms, his talking of internationalism toward the societies living in Russia is nothing but a fraud. In those aspects, he is a Great Russianist. Instead of leaning on small nations to bring about universal communism, he regards the imperialistic traditions of Russians, Chinese and the English as the shortest route.” On another day, when there was nobody around, and while we were speaking alone, I asked Petrovski: “Grigori Andeevic, you are a party member for the past twenty-five years and you have been friends. Is Lenin defending the national benefits of the Great Russians? Or, is his siding, for example, in the Eastern Question, with the chauvinistic Russians a tactic? Why is he labeling the minority Communists as little bourgeoisie?” Petrovski gave the following response: “Lenin is defending the rights of the Great Russians even more so than Peter the Great. However, he supports the Great Russians, provided they are cleansed of capitalism, that they will become a shining example in the great realm of socialism among the nations. Even though he is not a Russian Nationalist, he supports the Russians with his policies. And, we are fighting Lenin constantly, even though we think differently than Ukrainian Nationalists concerning Ukraine. Lenin is unable to think differently about tribes that are Russian prisoners. This has reached such a level that sometimes we are reluctant to tell him all this. Lenin was an endless defender of small nations in his book Against the Current. But, the period of theory is now in the past. He now regards the revolutionaries and Party members from small nations such as you as small bourgeoisie, much the same way his Great Russian friends do. Those will remain small bourgeoisie until all of them accepts becoming Great Russians. As long as our mutual enemy is capitalism and capitalist imperialism, the deception between Great Russian Communists and the members of the Party from small nations will continue. It is necessary to accept this and to come to terms with it.”
What I heard from a sincere and old friend of Lenin, Petrovski, I told all to an Eastern Turk in whom I believed. I surmise it was Turar Riskulov. He relayed all of it to a communist friend of his in Bukey-Orda by letter. At the time, I thought of Petrovski telling me all this because he had a bone to pick with Lenin. During those days, a person by the name of Dr. Fuat Sabit arrived from Turkiye. This person, even though he was an old Turkist, he was leaning toward communism. In fact, his leanings seemed to be very deep rooted. One of the educated Tatars who studied in Turkiye, probably Necip Asri Bey of Astrakhan, thought that I wrote the aforementioned letter; he converted it into the Turkish of Turkiye and gave it to Dr. Fuat. Upon returning to Ankara, he gave that letter to General Mustafa Kemal. At that time, the contacts between the Turks of Russia and the Turks of Turkiye were very lively. I was thus amazed to learn what I told my friends about my talks at the Metropol Hotel had been noted and reached Turkiye and was useful. This Grigori Petrovski was my best source of learning about Lenin’s moral principles, and his relations with the Russian Nationalism. Of course, he told me all this believing that I too would remain loyal to Lenin, much like himself, despite what our people would suffer in the hands of the Great Russians. However, I learned that he had not changed his positive impressions of me after I left Moscow and began operating against the Soviets. This was specified by another close friend Rudzutak, who told another friend, Turar Rizkulov. I related Lenin’s morals and his regard for treaties at the “Left Socialists Congress” convening at Berlin during December 1924 (the current chief of the Left Italians, Nenni was also present) in the paper I presented. That paper is published in German and Russian Left Socialist compilations (Klassenkampf, 14.1, 1925; Znamia Bor’by No. 9-10, 1925). In it, I stated: “we Asians are used to respecting the pieces of papers regarded as worthless by Lenin. Previously we knew Lenin more different than Kolesov in Tashkent, Zwilling in Orenburg, and Artium at Moscow Center. Now, it is certifiably clear that they have no differences.” Due to the 19 May decisions, some of the educated in the Baskurdistan Communist Party resigned from membership. When Samoylov asked for their reasoning, they responded with: “we will not be a member of the party that regards signed treaties non-extant and issues the decisions of 19 May.” Samoylov mentioned this in his memoirs.
The business of the secret organization—
Back in March 1919, as Third International was in session, there was work in the town of Times [not to be read in English] where the Baskurt Government was at the time, to establish the Eastern Socialist Party to join the Third International as an independent party. During the same days, the Kazak intellectuals were engaged in parallel efforts in Tashkent. During March of that year, while the Baskurdistan Country Committee was being formed by the Communist Party, there were efforts to keep the socialism movement of Turkistan out of the communist party under the designation Earn Socialism, and have it become a direct member of the Third International. The Tatar educated Ilyas Alki, who was working in Baskurdistan, and his friends compiled a working program comprising twelve items. However, ZKRKP rudely rejected these preparations. At the time, from among the Ozbeks and the Kazaks several responsible individuals such as Nizamhocayev, Turar Riskulov, and Ahmet Baytursun were present in Moscow. The Moslem Countries Communist Center of the ZKP was about to dissolve. When there was no permission to establish an official, independent Eastern Socialist Party, we jointly decided to keep that organization together clandestinely. In that manner, we aimed at keeping the country communist parties of Turkistan, Kazakistan, Baskurdistan; Bukhara and Khiva together and in secret. We had already decided that fourteen members of the Baskurt national organization would go to Turkistan and work there. In Moscow, those projects were enlarged. We decided that a portion of those who would be working with the Soviets needed to be from among the Cedids, that they needed to have nothing to do with socialism. The other portion needed to be sincere socialists; that the two groups needed to works as two independent parties but work in unison. The keys to collaboration and both party programs were settled. We called certain friends from Tashkent and Kazakistan. The Soviet Government had allocated a mansion belonged to an old wealthy man for the Baskurdistan representative at the center of the city. All our talks were conducted there.
Our contacts with individuals from Turkiye—
At the end of May, from the leadership of Turkiye, Generals Cemal and Hail, Haci Sami and a few of the Union and Progress party guides arrived. With that, our talks with the Turks of Turkiye gained life. The primary impetus was the telegram sent to us from Erzurum by General Mustafa Kemal. This telegram was sent to me as the Head of the Moslem Orenburg Government. From there, the said telegram was routed to Sterlitamak, thence on to me in Moscow. In that telegram, the feelings of brotherhood were expressed, and suggestion was made for further contacts. This was the very first news we received from a Turkiye, which was engaged in a struggle, without intermediaries. Even though the title Orenburg Moslem Government was widely heard, meaning Baskurdistan, it was living the last breaths of existence as an autonomous republic. It was almost the same what happened to the Azerbaijan National Government in Southern Caucasus. General Halil was stating that the contacts with Russia without an intermediary necessitated the removal of Azerbaijan. General Cemal was talking, on one hand, of participating in the movement in Anatolia; and from the other, his desire to operate against the English in India with the aid of the Soviets via Afghanistan. The thoughts of the Turkish leadership seemed rather very complex, just as the ideas of those who were unable to understand the conditions of the Soviets. Especially the belief of General Cemal and Bedri Bey, in the imaginary and worthless conditions expressed in the French author Dr. A. Legendre’s Quo Vadis Europe, which was published in Paris during those days, caused us astonishment. This Frenchman was totally dismissing the Soviets; he was expressing the belief that the Soviet period would allow Europe to breathe easy, that it was necessary to collaborate with the Soviets, and that the real danger must be found in the movements of the Turks living in Central Asia who were the prisoners of the Soviets. General Cemal was deriving from all that: “observe, the Westerners are finding such a potential power in us. It is necessary to utilize that with the aid of the Soviets against the allies.” General Cemal was taken in by Cicherin’s devilishness, believed that the Soviets would task him with the duty of establishing an army from the Central Asian tribal units, and that he would utilize the imprisoned Turkish officers for that, and he would receive wide-ranging aid from the Soviets for the purpose. However, the Soviets were afraid of Dr. Legendre’s writings from a different point of view. They were scared of the organization of Central Asia especially by the Turks more so than they were afraid of their curent opponents in the battlefield, the Western allies. In contrast, I told Generals Cemal and Halil that I was preparing to journey to Central Asia for the purpose of working against the Soviets. General Cemal stated: “please do not do that; let us all of us join in and become one with the Soviets, and induct all of Turkistan in uprising into the army we are going to form.” I told him that those plans would cause nothing but a great heartbreak; on the other hand, the uprisings against the Russians, even though it may not yield an immediate successful result, would cause the formation of an affinity fighting against the Russian yoke; the primary enemy of the Turkistanis was the lethargy, the time lapse since the last martial movement, and getting warmed-up to the Russians.
At the Baskurdistan Representative Mansion, we gave large-scale feasts for the Turkish high representatives. At the same time, we discovered something new. These high representatives were alcohol-dependent. Our representative mansion was full with various types of alcoholic beverages. Since it was previously the home of a Russian wealthy old man, the cellars were stuffed with wine and other alcoholic beverages. If there was not a feast, none from amongst us would use any of those beverages, and did not see a need. Especially those colleagues who were regularly working in that mansion, there was none who drank any during regular meals; we had not made it a habit. On the other hand, Generals Cemal and Halil drank until they became drunk; the aide-de-camp Muhittin Bey and others became roaring drunks. They were continually asking for more. General Halil wanted to continue all this the next day as well. On the other hand, these leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress, quite different than the educated Turks in Russia, since they spoke as representatives of an independent state and commanders of her independent army. That verity made us proud.
At the Baskurdistan Representative Mansion feast, where we hosted our guests, I proposed a conference of Eastern Moslem Nations Conference to be held at Baku, since Azerbaijan was recently annexed into the Soviet Union. I suggested to our guests, the Generals, that at that conference they would find a chance to speak with various levels of representatives of Moslems who are prisoners of the Russians. I explained the matter to Stalin and Party Secretaries. We also spoke with some of the Azerbaijanis who had just arrived in Moscow, and with the ‘Moslem Communists.’ A short time later, there were planning sessions on this congress, with the participation of General Enver who had just arrived in Russia (during September).
During those talks, General Cemal was paying attention to the Turkish I was speaking. Only a few educated could understand the Turkish he was speaking. On the other hand, the Turkish I spoke was understood by Kazak, Kirgiz, Ozbek, Tatar, Azerbaijanis, by everyone. General Cemal asked: “is this language, understood by all, is it a different language?” I responded: “no, General; since I know all of these dialects, I am speaking with an accent so that everyone can understand me.”
Journey to the Ukrainian Front—
The Party Secretariat having transferred the Army Command de facto to Stalin, Trotsky’s Revolutionary War Council presidency now appeared artificial. Trotsky called me on the telephone and informed me that I was appointed Southern Front Director of Moslem Unit Formation, answerable to Stalin, indicated I needed to leave immediately. I endeavored to delay my departure by various reasons. Lenin telephoned the same hour, repeated the same words in a decisive language. He verified his words with a private note he wrote in pencil. So, I commandeered a locomotive, had the wagons allocated to me attached to it, and left for Southern Ukraine protected by the guard company I had in my retinue. I found Stalin in Kremencuk near Crimea. Stalin invited me to his car, we ventured in the direction where the military barracks were located around the city. He told me my duties. New military units were going to be established from Baskurts, Tatars and Northern Caucasus Moslems; I was appointed, with very wide powers, to the retinue of the Commander-in-Chief to establish those units. We were to leave for Kharkov that day. They attached my wagons to Stalin’s train. Stalin called me to the Tsar’s magnificent wagon, which was completely furnished with soft leather. We ate broiled chicken washed down with Georgian wine. He was very moderate. He was getting under my skin. Ostensibly, he was living for the small oppressed nations, him being an Easterner himself. He was blaming all on to Trotsky, who he designated as a Jewish Internationalist. He was telling me that he was the son of a Georgian author’s son, that he was raised in a nationalist environment, and that he understood us well. He was cussing-out the Russians, calling them chauvinists. Just like Lenin he was telling me that I needed to work Russia-wide, not to be concerned with the affairs of the small nations, that they would gain their rights eventually. However, I did not let him know that what he was telling me was not sincere, contrary to what I already knew about his parents, his youth environment, and that he was distorting the facts for my benefit.
The day after arriving in Kharkov, I fell ill. I spoke with Stalin at the General Staff headquarters, asked him a month off so I could go to Astrakhan for rest and recuperation and delay the formation of the Moslem military units for that period. He refused. He ordered me to perform my duty in in the name of the Party. I told him: “that was the reason for your including me in the Party, to order me about.” I faced him with his own lies. The critical conditions in the Front were maintaining their importance. He endured all. He stated: “we all became nervous wrecks.” Even though he had not allowed me to journey to Astrakhan, he did not prevent me from obtaining a locomotive. I returned to Moscow with the guard company in my retinue. I let Lenin and Trotsky that I was ill. Our friends whom we had summoned from from Tashkent and Kazakistan had arrived. I told them what I spoke with Lenin and Stalin in great detail. It was understood that, the conditions were the same everywhere, meaning eveyone was in stress.
Disputing with Lenin, his Nationality theses and related issues—
A few days after my arrival from the Southern Front, Lenin’s secretary called me by telephone and said: “Vladimir Il’yic wishes to speak with you.” I went at the appointed hour. Madame Stasova was with Lenin. Lenin told me that he was preparing theses for discussion at the Second Congress of the Comintern, meeting in Moscow during those days, on nationalism and colonialism. He wished to receive my considerations on those topics in writing as soon as possible, and after reading them he would also call me to discuss them in person. Those theses, published in Lenin’s collections, were comprised of twelve items. We read those theses together with our friends from Turkistan. I modified some of those, especially items 5, 11 and 12, and made some small additions to a couple of others. Among those, I proposed the clear definition of small bourgeoisie, I asked for modifications in what is meant by the proletariat’s leadership, their continuing ‘aid’ after the removal of colonies and capitalism. Two days later, I wrote my thoughts as an independent thesis, and handed them over.
Lenin had given me many papers during our previous meeting. They, too, were concerned with nationalism and colonialism. I also studied them. To honor me, he added the word ‘draft’ (nabroski) to his twelve item project. Then, he read what I wrote and discussed each with me. However, he was nowhere near accepting our proposals. I personally heard, from Lenin’s mouth: that they would only trust the representatives of the Russian proletariat in the colonies, and that our trustworthiness would be measured by our acceptance of their leadership. That distrust would also not be confined to the geographic borders of the Tsardom, but would continue after the completion of the world revolution and they wished to have the Western countries (England, France, Belgium, etc) under the leadership of the proletariat. All of this was Lenin’s personal thoughts; and that in the East, in order to settle socialism, the Eastern proletariat was not going to be trusted.
All that proved to us that it was now necessary for us to struggle against the Soviets in a serious and open manner. During those days, in Tashkent, Rizkulov, Nizam Hocayev and their friends were expelled from Turk Kommissia and from Turtsek, meaning from the Executive Committee of Turkistan. In their place, several others, defined as Internationalists, were appointed. Ahmet Tursun and I decided to leave Moscow on 29 June. What Stalin held back from me, I obtained from Kretinski and Preobrajinski, the Party Central Secretaries. I intended to rest in Astrakhan. Preobrajinski, recalling the days we spent in Baskurdistan, and our hunting together, regarded me a friend. He took me to his own home. He told me that, when they killed the Tsar, he only took two items from the Tsar’s belongings. One was a golden cup, which he gave to his own son; the other was a hunting rifle decorated in gold. He was giving that rifle to me as a present. I thanked him very much.
During those days, Dr. Nazim Bey or Bedri Bey arrived from the Committee of Union and Progress. He stated that there were items they wished to discuss. It transpired that he had ideas other than expressed by General Cemal, concerning my journeying to Turkistan to join the uprisings there. He told me: “perhaps your thoughts are more correct. Please act according to your own and your friends’ thoughts. In truth, we do not know Russia well. What we are being told by the External Affairs changes by the day.” I told him: “I cannot tolerate lies. If today there was any evidence that auspicious events were going to take place, I would have tolerated a bit longer. But, there is not even the weakest evidence that there will be such auspicious developments. All these matters are based on personal acquiescence. Since I am not taking an army with me, I would not be afraid of being responsible of casualties. I am only carrying my own head under my arm. My friends are already altruistic. Even if I were to ask them to stay behind, they will not.” I was travelling by car to see a dacha outside the city which they were intending to allocate us as summer residence. I was repeating the following couplet from Sofi Allahyar, thinking what would be the benefit of a magnificent dacha around Moscow: “you who have turned your face in resignation/ your walk is against God’s law.”
STRUGGLES IN TURKISTAN
On the way to Moscow-Baku-Ashkabad—
On 29 June 1908, I had left my father and went far-away cities for education. Now, on 29 June 1920, I was leaving Lenin, raising the standard of open rebellion, I was withdrawing to the mountains and deserts of Turkistan. If we were not successful, I would possibly move on to Europe. I may never see Moscow again. Fourteen friends from Baskurdistan, as planned before were to leave on the same day, toward Turkistan and Kazakistan. This piece of news was relayed to them in two letters, as I will relate shortly. A portion of friends and I were going to visit various places in Kazakistan and Turkistan, and organize them. We had planned all-together to meet in Bukhara at the beginning of 1921 after the initial gathering of a portion of us in the city of Kungrat in Khorezm, others making contacts within Ozbekistan and among the Basmaci, even in Kashgar. However, we did not know if the Emirate of Bukhara was going to be alive until then. I would personally journey from Moscow to Askhabad by way of Astrakhan and Baku, attend Baku East Tribes Conference, then cross-over to Western Kazakistan, to Khorezm via Ustyurt and finally arrive in Bukhara. All of these plans were realized by the end of the year, as planned.
I had sent my wife Nefise in the company of one of my soldiers, to travel by way of Samar-Volga steamboat. We were going to meet at Saritsin. We got underway with my guard company, Ahmet Baytursun of the Kazaks, and several other Kazak intellectuals, via Saratov. At the border of Bukey-Orda, near Botakol, two Kazak horseman were going to wait for us on the morning of 30 June. During the early hours of the morning, we stopped the train when we saw them. I had some of my works with me, one soldier and our rifles. We transferred them to the horses. I gave all other materials to my aide-de-camp Arif Muhammedyarof, who knew of our detailed plans, the hand-archive for transfer to the central museum we began to establish at Sterlitamak. I also gave the long-gun from the Tsar’s treasury to my aide-de-camp, so that he could send it to Preobrajinsky in Moscow. I wrote a letter to Preobjajinsky indicating: “it is better for you to keep this valuable long-gun at this time; if we are able to get together again, I will ask for it.” I was dressed as a Red-soldier, as were my friends. I had not told any of this to my soldiers on the train. I bid them good-bye. All of us were crying, including Ahmet Baytursun. There was the possibility of not seeing our country again. We had decided that we would go to foreign countries if we were unsuccessful. The train would go to Baskurdistan with my possessions and my papers. They would wait until we mounted our horses and disappear from sight; then they would get underway. We ran toward Aral Sor Lake, meaning due east. When we entered Baskuncak sands, the horse hoof-traces were disappearing. By the time the sun rose, we turned in the Western direction, away from Tsarev-Sariniyev and away from the villages, in the Bozkir. I wanted to see the ruins of the Yeni Saray city that was the Capital of Altin-Orda. We cooked our dinner in an abandoned, runied small house and spent the night there. In the morning, we visited the Saray ruins. But, we did not have the time to inspect them in detail or look for monumental writings. We rode toward Volga. Across Saritsin, we left our horses and the Kazak youths. We crossed, to wait for the steamboat due to arrive from Samar. Since the steamboat was late by three hours, we visited the city. Later, that city was known as Stalingrad. The original name was Sarig Sin during the time of the Hazars. Russians pronounced it as Saritsin. The entire city had the appearance of a ruined township. Grass was growing on the streets. I could not, naturally, have imagined that that city was going to constitute a turning point during World War Two. When the steamboat arrived, we discovered my wife and the soldier accompanying her waiting for us on the deck. All four of us left toward Astrakhan. In order to hide ourselves, we travelled in the third class. Upon arriving in Astrakhan, we did not spend any time there. Two or three weeks before leaving Moscow, I had sent an Inak, a man I trusted from my retinue to Astrakhan, to see Abdurrahman Molla. He was carrying a hand written note which stated “this man is an Inak [trusted person]” to tell Molla all the details verbally, and had already received an answer. Molla advised us to meet with someone named Sokur Nogay near the port, and from there he was going to take us to another friend known as Guzeyir at Buzan. That night, I left my wife and my soldier Haris Sisenbay at Sokur Nogay, and followed a man sent by the Molla, I reached Kizilyar (Krasniy Yar) and from there with a motorboat to Guzeyir. Molla had published the folk-songs he personally collected form Buzan as a pamphlet. He had also informed me that he was going to gather some folk-singers from Guzeyir.
Neneke–Can—
Buzan is an arm of the Edil River delta. It is mentioned in histories, even in the letter of the Hazak Han Yusuf’s letter. It is also mentioned along with River Kemelik in the oral histories of my lineage. I had a different reason for my searching for it. At the end of the last century, a Russian author by the name of Eugini Markov published his memoirs under the title Crimean Sketches (Ocerki Kirima). In that, he mentioned an Altin-Orda princess at the castle walls, in Cifit Kalayan, detailing her love story and a marble monument erected in her honor at that location. He had also attached a photograph of it. Supposedly that girl was the daughter of Toktamis Han, who fell in love with a Jewish youth, and when she could not marry him, she threw herself down onto the rocks. From the attached photograph, he indicated all that happened during Hicri 740, A.D. 1340. Ismail Limanov of Crimea had indicated that the Crimean and Astrakhan (Kundrav) Nogays knew all of those songs concerning this princess. I had written Molla about these. He told the soldier I had sent: “let him go and search for himself. Let him hire a boat from Krasnoyarks, and reach the home of Guzeyir Nogay’s home. I will prepare everything.” I did not waste any time and left to follow his instructions. At the home of Guzeyir, there were two guests. One of them was known as Balikci, a merchant of Nogay-Kazak descent. The other was a friend who arrived from the city of Yeni Kazan from Bukey-Orda. According to the instructions of the Molla, they had also prepared honey mead for me. There was also Kimiz, a type of meat known as Sor, other tasty Bozkir foods such as Qazi, Qarta, and all other types of pasta dishes were present. Arifullah from Yeni Kazan sang beautiful songs. Among those, the following couplet I now recall (stated as a means of reprimand, for the young man arriving earlier than the darkness has set in, as it was expected, for the girl he loved) from a pure Tatar song: “you arrive without knowing how to hook the door of the white summer house/ you do not know how to arrive, after the old-folks go to bed.” These poems, characteristic of Turk poems also containing the refined internal metering of alliteration and acrostics, were very attractive to me. The folk songs of the Kazan Turks are the same as the Altay Tatars, Mongols and even some of the Chinese. From that perspective, Kazan music has brought the old traditions down to our days. It is possible that they were descended from the Alci-Tatar branch who settled in the vicinity of Kazan during the Golden-Horde period. There was no instrumental music in our gathering; only songs were performed. During the deepening hours of the night, Guzeyir brought someone. The new arrival knew of only a couplet or two of Neneke-Can. However, there was no indication that those couplets were from Neneke-Can, as they contained no names or designations. They were indistinguishable from other Kundrav Nogay folk songs. They were reminiscent of the Teftilerv songs and airs of the Baskurts. Moreover, since I did not know how to read and write musical notes, I could not record them on paper. The friend known as Balikcili, related the following piece: “Friends arrived in the home of the friend/ they had topics to discuss/ How much honey can be bought for half an akca/ even then, that much honey will not be enough for the friends/ bring my gray horse, tied with Argamci/ we will sell it and make honey [mead] to drink/ we will turn the bees-wax into candles/ When friends visit, we will light those candles/ Those enemies spying on us will see the lights/ they will go away thinking we are drinking mead.”
Nogay folk-songs had us all excited. This last poem also had a parallel by the famed Iranian poet Hoca Hafiz: “generosity is short on time/ but, honor cannot be sold/ you must sell the sweater you are wearing in order to buy the wine and the rose.” The friend from Balikcili read very beautiful poems on Istirek Mirza and his son Ertargen Mirza (Tanrikul Mirza), the likes of which I had never heard before. That gathering caused us to re-live the times of Altin-Orda Nogay Mirzas.
Six years had passed after that gathering and I found the musical notes of this Neneke-Can in the library of the archeological museum of Istanbul, manuscript division (N. 1619), written in a collection compiled in the city of Saray of the Altin-Orda during 740/1340. I showed the photographs of those notes to the musicologists and historians of music in the Iranian History Congress convened by the Shah. However, they still remain unread. The fact that the composition of Neneke-Can had arrived in the Ottoman domains is a document showing how strongly the national Turk culture was established and developed in the palace. Besides, what else is there not among the cultural treasures of Istanbul? We did not sleep all night. I left for Astrakhan early in the morning.
Baku via the sea—
The large steamboats did not run directly between Astrakhan and Baku, because of the shallowness and narrowness of the waterways. There is one port that is twelve fut [feet] deep, and the Russians call it ‘dvednatsat futov.’ After staying at the house of Sokur Noyan another night, we arrived at this ‘twelve fut’ port in a small boat.
We arrived in Baku during 5-6 July. There, we met with the Tatar authors Hadi Atlasi and Abdullah Battal. Hadi Atlasi was a former member of Duma, an author and a historian. He had published works under the titles “Siberian History,” History of Kazan,” and “Suyunbike.” He escaped from the Bolsheviks, arrived in Baku; but, shortly afterward, the Bolsheviks occupied Baku. All the Azerbaijani elders were either already in other countries, or were in hiding. I only spoke with Mumtaz Suleyman, in secret. In Baku, I stayed at the home of Turkish Communist Mustafa Suphi. I knew him from Moscow. Even though he was a communist, he did not like their Eastern policies. He was especially sulky toward Stalin, because they were regarding the war prisoner Turks as the true communists instead of him. He was the one who proposed and invited me to stay at his home in Baku for my duration of stay there. He referred us to Emin Efendizade of Azerbaijan and Veli Ibrahim of Crimea. I spoke with him at length. I told him some of our plans in Turkistan. I was certain he would not tell the Russians anything. I knew that the Soviet Secret Police would be looking for me in Kazakistan and not in Azerbaijan, so I openly circulated in Baku. I visited the old buildings, han [not to be confused with Han—Ruler; office buildings of the old merchants], palaces, mosques and medreses. After spending a week there, we crossed over to Kizilsu (Krasnovodsk) on the Turkmenistan shores by steamboat. From there, we reached Ashkhabad at the end of July. We stayed at the home of Berdi Haciogullari of the Teke branch. I sent one of the two soldiers travelling with us to Tashkent, and I waited for my wife, who had been pregnant, to give birth. She gave birth to a boy; I called him Iris Mehmet. Iris means fate. This was the name of the Kocum Han of the Baskurts’ descendent, grandson of Kucuk Sultan’s Busak Sultan’s son [sic]. He had traveled to Turkiye, and was the brother of Murad Sultan who was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1709 at the Dagistan Terek castle and killed. After the senior leaders of the Kocumlu, Aldar and Orakay Sultan were executed, Iris Mehmed was elected Han, who liberated all of middle Volga from the Russians. He then took position of sieging Kazan, having reached a distance of thirty-eight kilometers from that city, was poised to take it. So, while I was wondering what I would call my first child, this hero’s name came to my mind. One of our soldiers was providing the communication with our friends in Tashkent. I spent all of August among the Turkmen around Ashkhabad and Merv. I was going to attend the Eastern Tribes Conference to convene in Baku during September. I sent my wife to Khorazm in the company of one of our soldiers, where we were going to meet during fall.
The days we spent in Ashkhabad—
We published the newspaper Turkmenistan with my old friend attorney Kokacan, who was the son of Berdi Haci. I wrote the entire first issue by myself. Meanwhile, we learned that the Cheka officers were looking for me everywhere. Moscow thought that I escaped in the direction of Uralsk from Bukey-Orda. However, they decided not to pursue me there, as they believed the Kazaks would not give me up. So, they started searching me in the region of Tashkent, Samarkand and Ashkhabad. They had tasked a Foreign Service officer from Moscow, by the name of Ostrovsky, to search for me. When I was living in the home of Kokacan, this Russian spoke with Kokacan in the garden. He spoke of me. Ostensibly, if he could find me, he was going to discuss the matters of the Baku Conference with me. Stalin had arrived in Baku, and added Emin Resulzade to his retinue; he also wanted to add me to his retinue. The two soldiers who journeyed with me were from the Salcuvut Branch, Haris Seksenbay and from the Burcen Branch, Ahmedcan Adnabay. These Salcuvut and Burcen were extremely loyal to our autonomy and national independence ideas. My aide-de-camp Arif Muhammedyarov and one of our Secretaries, poet Abdulhay Erkebayev were from the Salcuvut. We had very brave golden youths from the Burcen. This Ahmedcan, when we were forced to cross over to the Soviet side during February 1919, is the one on whose breast I had placed my head and we had both cried. I had not called him. He searched and found me. We had many such brave youths. They were taking the place of my old friend Ibrahim Kackinbay in my old army. My force in the army was based on the many Troopers and Sergeants who were personally loyal to me.
Berdi Haci and his son Kokacan gave me, my wife and these two youths, four Turkmen horses. We were staying in the outskirts of Ashkhabad, in the home of an Armenian woman. Sometimes, we would go out into the desert for a ride. We were thinking of travelling to Khiva on horseback via the desert, if I could not journey to Baku. We definitely had to be present in Kongrat during November. Even though the administration was in the hands of the Young Khivans and the Russians, the Northern portion and Kongrat was in the hands of Turkmen Han Cuneyt. Now at the age of eighty, Han Cuneyt was a soldier in the service of the Khiva Han when the Russians occupied Khiva in 1873. He never accepted the idea of making peace with the Russians; he bravely remained independent of the Russians. While I was still in Moscow, our friends and I had discussed and decided on what needed to be done: to stay in Ashkhabad to organize the extant national forces; to attend Eastern Tribes Conference in Baku; then travel via Astrakhan and Western Kazakistan to Northern Khorezm that was in the hands of Han Cuneyt, thence to Khiva. Fourteen prominent members of the Baskurdistan Government were going to reach Turkistan via different routes; a portion would buy horses for the army. About the work they were going to perform, two letters were sent from Moscow. One of them was meant to fall into the hands of Russians, and cause them to be astonished. That letter actually fell into the hands of the Russians. It was written in Baskurt, and the Russian translation containing many errors was published in Samoylov’s memoirs and in Tipiyev’s history, I had expressed my thoughts on how the Soviet Government was misleading the Eastern Turk Branches in relations, that the Russians were not going to allow a unification, that the Russians would take the administration into their hands, disband the national army. It also specified not to resist all that openly, that it was imperative for the Baskurt intellectuals to work officially toward establishing the development of the education and the economic administration of the country. It was also incumbent on those journeying to Turkistan and Kazakistan to work among the population until the Eastern Branches are awakened, to participate in the Soviet Congresses for the purpose of struggling, that it was necessary to establish an Asian or Eastern Communist Party. That those of us working in secret were few in number, therefore all the intellectuals must be loyal to the official work, and we would thus force Moscow to accept our conditions. However, the other letter was written in code and was included in the uncut copy of a new volume of Karl Marx’s Kapital.
In the second letter, the tasks of those fourteen and where they were going to reach were provided in detail. My friend Fethulkadir Suleyman (Abdulkadir Inan) was going to the portion of Kazakistan known as “Arka [Back],” to meet with Ahmet Isan, to work with the Kazak intellectuals in order to organize them. Thence he would journey to Khorezm, then on to Kongrat; if he could not make it, he would journey to meet our friends in Samarkand. Ildirhan Mutin (Secretary of Treasury), along with Ibrahim Canuzagov of the Kirgiz, would reach the Basmachi Chiefs Sirmemet and Aman Pehlivan in Ferghana, and they would wait for us there; that I was organizing Turkistan and Khorezm in person. That latter letter did not fall into the hands of the Russians. We all acted as written in that letter. In Baskurdistan, a government was established in the leadership of our friend Allahberdi Caferoglu. A little later (25-30 July), the First Baskurdistan Soviet Congress convened with a little more than half (%54) non-Moslems, and cussed us out as ‘Enemy of the People and the Soviets.’ Then, Moscow attached Baskurdistan to the Ufa center with the lies that “in order to enlarge Baskurdistan and annex more rich places to it,” where the Russians were in the majority.
In his writings, Samoylov ascribed our departure from Baskurdistan as a dark event, but also noted that I was not thinking of my personal benefit, even though the I had government gold in my hands, I had not taken any and left them in the treasury, and he recorded the fact that even though I was an enemy, I was a clean enemy. He also wrote of the characters of some of my friends. Even though we had not touched the official treasury, when it was apparent that I was going to be summoned to Moscow at the beginning of May, we had already sent the diamonds in my possession, especially the gold and paper money collected from the nobility, primarily from the estates of Paskov and Schott, to Kazakistan to purchase horses. In other words, we had ensured that the individuals who would be leaving Baskurdistan would not remain hungry on the way.
I established a cell comprised of three individuals in Ashkhabad from the Turkmen who would not be obvious, to perform the tasks in Turkistan and Khorezm, and insured their way of communication with Samarkand, Khokand and Tashkent.
Baku Congress—
Even though I advanced the first idea of the Baku Eastern Nations Congress (1-5 September) in the presence of Generals Camal and Halil, at the Baskurdistan Representative Offices, the entire affair was organized by Stalin’s Nationality Commissariat, and the Moslem Communist Center. Zinoviev and K. Radek were appointed to head the Congress. I was now going to escape. Despite all that, the Soviets regarded my presence at the Conference a verity, and they had taken precautions to catch me. I was informed that the secret police had tasked nearly three hundred officers to catch me in Baku, Astrakhan, Derbend, Krasnovodsk, and elsewhere. Apparently, the great majority of those officers knew me personally. I was also advised who were arriving from Kazakistan and Ozbekistan, via a special train. I met that train on 29 August at an insignificant train station called Bamian, to the West of Ashkhabad. I found Turar Riskulov and Ibrahim Canuzakov in a passenger wagon after I jumped off a merchandise carrier wagon. We settled how we were going to work in Baku, how we were going to communicate, before the train reached the Cebel station, one stop before Krasnovodsk. There, Turar gave me an interesting writing. After we left Moscow, Pavlovic, a specialist in Near East for the Komintern, at the Komintern Congress that was convened, distributed a mimeographed sheet to his friends who would be working in the Near East and Central Asia. That sheet was not provided to the Moslem Communists. However, a Polish Communist, whom I also knew, gave Turar a copy secretly. Later on, during 1923, A Tatar intellectual Osman Tokumbet brought a copy to Berlin. In that writing it was stressed that since the class stratifications such as capitalism has not developed in the Middle East, and among the nations of Arabs, Turks, Iranians and Afghans, other factors must be exploited. Those other factors included keeping the conflicts alive between the sects, and tarikat [religious cults]. Even after those factors are eradicated from the Soviet domains, it was necessary to continue those activities in the neighboring countries, and such conflicts must be supported; that it was also necessary to benefit from personal intrigues and disagreements between individuals, merchants and the seyhs. Since the grammatical rules in the languages of these nations are not regular, it was also necessary to make use of that factor to prevent the formation of literary languages amongst them. Given that, approaching the population at large would necessitate the fracture of a language into even smaller segments; that would be very important to make use, since the cultural workers and men of ideas in those nations form a very thin layer, it would be very easy to break them. My friend Turar gave me several other important documents to be utilized at the Baku Congress. He asked me to have them duplicated via the mimeograph method. I asked him to hand me those documents in Baku. I was going about in Turkmenistan in the garb of a Turkmen. Because of that, Turar’s friends thought I was a plain Turkmen and they did not show any interest in me.
I disembarked at the Cebel station at a location unseen by anyone. After the scheduled steam-boat for the day left the port, I walked around the city of Krasnovodsk and arrived at the port, and I saw that a military boat was ready to cast-off. It transpired that it was allocated to transport the ‘Azerbaijani Representative’ comrade Abilov and his retinue to Baku, from Tashkent, on the way to Turkiye. I approached and asked one of the guard soldiers if they would also take me along. He said “come on in.” I boarded. All of the soldiers were Turkmen, and they showed me a straw-mat where all the soldiers were staying; Comrade Abilov, whom I did not know well, and his retinue, was located upstairs. In the lower level where I was, there were approximately forty Turkmen cavalrymen, and their horses. They also had some sheep for them. They were designated to be the Embassy Guards at the Embassy in Ankara. The steam-boat got underway toward the evening. A little later, a tremendous storm broke. Toward midnight, the storm reached such strength I had not seen anything like that in my life. It felt as if the steam-boat was standing vertically. The horses were taken down to the lowest level. The sheep remained where I was. The waves took away the majority of them and the bales of grass. The Turkmen soldiers also brought along a lot of watermelons. They were severely seasick. The watermelons were scattered from where they were stacked. They were hurtling around the space where we were, as if they were soccer balls; they were exploding by slamming into the walls, or jumping on the Turkmen. The Turkmen were shouting “catch-it; catch-it.” I filled a large wooden-box with the ones that had not been split-open. I never get sea-sick. But, very few people were left on board the steam-boat who was not. About midnight, a lady who was working in the kitchen and the dining room emerged and told me: “a lot of food was prepared upstairs. Nobody is eating. All of them are ill. Go upstairs and eat.” I did. For His Excellency the Ambassador, wine, broiled chicken, many different types of dishes, Korezm or Carcuy melons were prepared. After eating all that, I went and slept on the futon shown me. I woke early in the morning. The storm had ceased. I spoke at length with the serving woman who offered me food in the middle of the night. I thought of giving that woman a letter she can hand over to comrade Abilov. I wrote him as follows: “Respected Comrade Abilov; I was your guest on board your ship. Even though you could not get anywhere near your dining table, I benefited from the tasty food. I thank you for the feast you provided me. I wish you success; Head of Baskurdistan Government, and Member of the TSK, Zeki Velidov.” The steamboat approached the landing. At that moment, I handed my letter to the server woman. I disembarked and disappeared. It transpired that that woman handed my letter to Abilov, who later told all that transpired to Turkistan Representative Turar Riskulov. Ostensibly, even if he had met me, he was not going to turn me over to his government. Riskulov regarded that statement as a test of himself.
In Baku, I went directly to the Turk Communist Party Center. I saw Mustafa Suphi. He told me that I was going to stay at the party central building, in the apartments allocated to Member of the Party Emin Efendizade of Azerbaijan and Veli Ibrahimov, who later became the President of Crimea. He told me not to be afraid of anything. Emin Efendizade was originally from Baku, and he was sent to Turkistan during 1917 to Turkistan. I had spoken with him there. Leter on, he arrived in Turkiye and I surmise he is still living in Turkiye along with his wife who was a Tatar. Since the Soviets could not imagine my settling in the Communist Party Center, this was a safe place for me. There, we spoke every day with a member of the Turkistan Representative Committee, Ibrahim Canuzakov, who was a Kirgiz in origin, and we would discuss what needed to be said at the congress, and the proposals to be made there. Those decrees I wrote were being proposed by Canuzakov or the Baskurt Representative Halikov. One day, Karl Radek, who was presiding the session stated: “Comrade Canuzakov, perhaps you already have a resolution ready in your pocket; why not read it.” Afterward, as a precaution, he stopped seeing me thinking they had heard he was preparing the resolutions outside the sessions. Riskulov, and my former aide-de-camp and Ethemov continued to see me. With their aid, I had functionally and actively attended the Eastern Nations Congress. General Enver, Bekir Sami and Yusuf Kemal also attended this congress, who had arrived in Moscow shortly before. However, I had not contacted them. They were unable to visit where I was. If I had visited them, I would have been caught. However, General Enver heard that I was in Baku, and communicated with me via intermediaries. He, too, as General Cemal did, thought it was unnecessary for me to be hiding from the Soviets.
The Baku Congress was a vehicle for us to re-visit our Moscow decision of settling in Bukhara and aided us taking practical precautions. I was going to meet with my friends Haris Yumagulov, my brother in law Talha Resulov in Astrakhan and we would journey together to Khoresm via Guryev-Ust Yurt. As soon as the Congress came to an end, we took our leave. Since agents of the secret police were looking for me at the port and the railroad stations, I left Baku for the Sumgait station by a phaeton I had hired. From there, I went to Petrovski in a compartment paid by Mollacan Halikov and my aide-de-camp Abdurresit Bekbayev. They had prepared a TSK, meaning Russian Central Executive Committee ticket, which I was a member on that date. In that manner I arrived in Perovsky comfortably. Both were members of the TSK, and I bid them farewell to both on that train. I never saw them again. They returned to Baskurdistan, and endeavored to help our people as much as they could. But, during 1943, I learned from prisoners of war that none of my friends remained alive as a result of the 1937 liquidations.
The letter I wrote to the RCP Central Committee on 12 September 1920—
In the city of Petrovski, there was an imam I knew by reputation by the name of Zahit Efendi. I stayed in his house, and wrote my now famed latter dated 12 September 1920 in which I addressed Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and Ryvkov, in four copies. Copies of that letter were also distributed more widely to my other friends via the friends who were at the Baku Congress. Thus a copy of it was brought to me in Berlin by my countryman Osman Tukumbetov during 1923. He later gave it to me. The summary of that letter, containing statements which nobody else had to courage to tell Lenin and Stalin and much analysis was published in my Turkistan Tarihi (Pp. 403-407). In that letter, it is stated: "It is apparent from the policies of the Central Committee of RKP(b), which is currently being implemented, you, like Artium and his friends, have accepted the Russian national chauvinist thoughts as the basis of your policy towards Eastern nationalities. Actually comrade Trotski elaborated on this while he was investigating these matters in Ufa, he pronounced the activities of aforementioned as a provocation sequence. Undoubtedly, he also made the same statement to the CC [Central Committee]. Despite that, the Russian imperialism remained as the policy. In the same session held after I and Ryskulov had departed, comrades Frunze and Kubyshev --like Trotski-- stressed that this policy of the CC was nothing but hypocrisy and deceit. In the same Turkkomisia (Turkistan Komisia) sessions, those members of the party who wish to perpetuate Russian imperialism behind a mask, openly stated their objectives; that of fanning the fires of artificial class distinctions among the Turkistan populations; to declare such nationalists as Ryskulov and Validov as the enemies of the laborers; to create loyal servants among the local educated under the category of "Octoberists," to crush us with their help. On the other hand, you must know that we cannot become the artificial class enemies of the local farmers and cannot allow ourselves to become the target of general mocking. You can find the required sacrificial lambs. But we cannot be those victims. The Congress of the Toilers of the East has clearly shown our fellow-countrymen in attendance that the attacks on the rights of Turkistanis is not simply the machinations of the local Russian communists, but consists of the policies of the CC. The attitude of the CC representatives, towards the Easterners in attendance, is the same as those commissars at the beginning of the 1917 revolution toward the peasant congresses, whose members were regarded ignorant. The CC Representatives not only prevented, by shouting down, those resolutions prepared by the delegates at their homelands, but also utilized the Red Guard soldiers in silencing them. The delegates were forced to accept only those resolutions written in Moscow and sent for the purpose. The fact that the CC regards the Eastern Nationality issues principally as a matter of land disputes, a peasant problem, indicates that the CC has taken a wrong turn. The CC can keep alive this artificial class differentiation among the Eastern peasants only by the force of terror. Our comments written in relation to these theses of comrade Lenin, before he addressed the Comintern on the colonialism issues, stressed that the social revolution in the East could not be confined to stratification (rassloenie); that this is a more complex matter. Since the European capitalist and laborers of the East are going to act jointly as the rulers of the colony, then the Eastern peasant will have to join forces with the wealthy Easterner. When you determine that the stratification is not taking place among the indigenous population, you will blame the local educated and declare a portion of the latter "class enemy petty bourgeois" and the remainder as left Octoberists "class enemy," and liquidate them. In their stead, you will conjure new left Octoberists. Finally, you will be left solely with the illiterate peasant who is only familiar with his donkey, ox and spade. I do not believe that you can alter your distrust toward the native educated of Turkistan. You can at least allow the educated Turkistan elite the opportunity to renovate and populate the Soviet Bukhara, whose Emir has fled." From the same location of Petrovski, I also wrote a letter to TSKP Secretaries and Members of the Politburo, Kretinski and Preobrakinski on the same date: “Though you and I had our differences in our understanding of socialism and nationalism, we cannot reconcile our positions with regard to the application of socialism in the development of great nations; as a person wishing to remain honorable, I have been honest with you two and many other Party members. I did not deceive you while I took the path of fighting against the Soviets and Communism. Those I have deceived are the likes of Stalin and other state officials who have deceived me. Those friends complaining of the masked Dictator's ridiculing the dignity and the self- determination of humans, inform me of the severe terror that is yet to come within the party. Like them, I fear that one day your heads may fly. I did not wait for my head to fall. Even if I were to die, I must do so while engaged in open struggle."
These letters were not without influence. Stalin made all sorts of promises in order to have me return to Moscow. Along those precautions, he sent Tatar intellectual Osman Tokumbetov to Ashkhabad, Bukhara and Samarkand where they thought I was. But, I avoided speaking with that person. According to what Turar Riskulov told me in 1922, Lenin had said of Rudzutak, whom he appointed as Turkistan Head of Government: “if this much distrust was not shown in him, Validov would not have gone to the mountains [sic].” In his volume “About the Nationality and Colonialism Problems,” published in 1933 (P. 122), Lenin wrote: “The Baskurts do not believe in Velikirus. Since Velikirus are more cultured then they, and used that discrepancy in order to plunder the Baskurts, that was the result. In the view if the Baskurts, Velikirus means oppressor and fraudster (ugnatel I mosennik).” I had known Kretinsky from Ufa since 1915; he was executed in 1937 along with Preobrajisnky, under infamous tortures and after making scandalous confessions. I saw Kretinsky in 1924, when he was the Ambassador in Berlin. He recalled the letter I sent from Petrovski and stated, laughing: “so, you threw the knot of the rope (pitlia) to my neck and to Preobrajinsky and saved yourself.” Of course, at the time he could not see himself being hanged thirteen years later. When he advised me not to change my citizenship and remain a Soviet citizen, I asked him: “are you possibly recommending that I return to Russia?” His response was: ”no, stay outside, but do not change your citizenship status.”
From Daghestan to Khorezm—
After staying in Petrovski a few days, I boarded a small steamboat at a tributary of Volga on the way to the twelve-fut. From Baku, I had sent a soldier to summon Talha Rasulov and Haris Yumagulov to the Twelve-fut landing, with whom I was going to travel. By chance, they arrived on the same day. We left on board a small fishing sailboat toward Goriyev. On board, the salted fish (vobla), that were dried at a fishing location, standing like sharp-peaked homes, were smoldering. They were emitting a tremendous odor. When we arrived at a location which the Russians called Jilaya Kosa, also known as Kanbakti, our boat could not approach the shore because of the adverse winds. The wind had taken the sea, which was very shallow, toward the South. Our boat stopped two kilometers away from the shore. We had very limited food and water. We remained there for a full day and night. On 17 September, we disembarked to Kanbakti. This was a fishing village and a landing for the Dossor (Dost sur) petroleum. We were the guests of the Kazaks. We assumed the identity of Kazan merchants. But, they told us we did not appear to be Tatars; you must be Istek Baskurts. From our behavior, they could definitely tell we were not Tatars. One of their elders stated: “The Baskurts have very capable soldiers. One of them, Zeki Velidi emerged; he will come and take our Kanbakti.” Upon hearing that, we became suspicious. A little later it appeared that they did not make that statement on any knowledge. We told them that we were going to visit the Aday branch to purchase sheep; we rented camels and horses to take us to a place called Sam at Ust-Yurt. We also slaughtered a few sheep, salted and stuffed them into skins to eat along the way. We also had them make blood-sausage called boce from the blood of the slaughtered sheep. We continued on our way along the eastern shore of the River Cian. Just before we ascended the Ust-Yurt high pastures, we encountered a dirge gathering known as “As” of the Kazaks at a Location called Kandirali. We were afraid that their chief, who was in favor of the Soviets, would appear. But, he did not. At that location, the cold had descended, and we purchased furs from the Kazaks. However, they were loaded with louses. We had escaped from the Bolsheviks; now we were attacked by the louses. From there, we ascended to Ust-Yurt by way of River Civindi and Cin. After travelling three days, we arrived at Sam. Three years later, when I had arrived in Meshed in Iran, and found the travelogue of the Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan [of the 10th century] during 1921, I was astonished to discover that he had travelled the exact same route a thousand years earlier when he arrived among the Volga Bulgars after crossing from Korezm. In Ibn Fadlan’s writing, this Cavindi River was written as Yagindi; the Cim River was exactly the same spelling. The Sam-Sam location is mentioned in the Khorezmshah history. The Arab geographer Yakut Hamavi mentions it under the name Sem of Magishlaq. He also related a portion of a poem, written after Atsiz of the Khorezmshah had occupied this territory. At that period, there was a strong border-guard castle here, built by the Korezmshah. Here, there was a mescit [small mosque] and an Imam. That Imam cooked us some camel meat. We were being tormented by the louses. Until that day, I carried with me binoculars, and some military uniforms. From the books, I had Emperor Babur Mirza’s memoirs, Kapital of Marx and a few others. I left all that to the Imam. I only took my pistol with me. I was not using my eye-glasses continually. I would only use it when I really needed to see something, then I would put them back into my pocket. From there, we journeyed amongst the Aday branch of the Kazaks. One day, we encountered a mass of black tents, and we stopped. An old Aday butchered a sheep in our honor. They were still unaware of the Soviet Revolution. They were aware that the Tsar’s money was no longer redeemed but would not accept Soviet money. They were only using what they called Kerenke, the Kerensky government money. That old man talked about the English, Japanese and Chinese politics. Even though the world news reached him orally and with a delay of two to three months, his analyses were correct. He regarded Bolshevism as the drunkenness of the Russian population whom he thought was continually imbibing vodka. This caravan was very crowded. The Kazaks were going to the Khorezm market in Kongrat. We joined it, but could not tell who was leading it. The caravan would move during the night, and stop by sunrise. Wherever we stopped, we would light fires using the Saxaul and Bayalis trees of the Bozkir [steppe], hold our shirts to the fire and cause thousands of lice to fall into the fire. Discovering that the lice would drop into the fire by the hundreds was new to us. One day, we arrived at a location called Bilevti, containing an old castle and remnants of fortifications. It turned out, two of the large Aday Branches were there, to settle their dispute called barimta that were fueled by reciprocal taking of hostages and plundering, before the judges. However, since the judges were biased, no solution was forthcoming. As soon as we arrived, their leaders approached me and stated: “God sent you; be a judge [be a Bey] for us.” I did not accept and responded with: “I do not know of your complaints; how can I be a judge?” They stated: “for us, your not knowing the details is a boon; since our Beys know the matter only too well; their decisions are not being accepted by either side.” I told them: “Edige once was a Bey here.” They liked that. They said: “Here, you are the true Bey.” Edige was the political and military leader of the fifteenth century. As he fled Altin-Orda, on his way to Korezm and Samarkand, he was asked by the population of a location to act as a judge. He had, and decided who the owner of a camel was. His decision was regarded as just, and is still recited in the dastan named after him. Among the Kazaks, the “camel of Edige” is famous. They [the Aday Branch there] were happy that I knew the story. I learned the details of the dispute. While the food was cooking in the cauldron, I told them: “if you are serious about my decision making, I will be the judge.” They accepted my offer. I endeavored to settle this dispute going back years and pitting these two large branches in a just manner. I judged that all the property that was plundered had to be returned. I thought that they would agree to my judgment, but would renege later on, and would re-start their fighting and warfare. Later on, we continued our journey. Four months later, Kazak representatives arrived in Bukhara, from Aktube. They informed me that the Beylik I performed amongst the Adays resulted in an excellent outcome, that all the property was reciprocally returned. Alihan Bukeyhan, who knew the Aday very well, congratulated me with a letter: “you have successfully wrapped a large bleeding and infected wound among the Kazaks.” On 20 October, we descended from the Cin heights, which the Arab geographers called “Khorezm Mountains,” and reached Khorezm plains. A day later, we approached the city of Kongrat, which is the first city in Korezm. A Baskurt intellectual Hurmetullah Idilbayev, whose name I had mentioned earlier, met us outside the city gates.
A few days in the city of Kongrat—
Kongrat is a provincial capital of the Khiva Khanate. Even though it is a small city comprised of several hundred houses, on the maps it is designated with symbols similar to that of Hamburg in Germany, Manchester in England, and Shanghai in China. “Kungirat” is the name of the Tatar Branch who arrived in the West with the sons of Cengiz Han. The root of it is the Turk word “Konurlar,” with a Mongolian plural suffix. The remnants of Kongrat are now living in various locations among the Kazak and the Ozbek. And this city was established by the Kongrat Branch Beys from the time of Altin-Orda and ruled over the territory in shifts until the arrival of the Russians. It was called Bakirgan village in Turk history and in the tenth century Arabic geographer’s works. Today, Bakirgan is located in the Northwest of Kongrat, containing the mausoleum of Turk mystic Seyh Hakim Ata Bakirgan who lived here in the twelfth century. Ata Bakirgan left Turkish language works for the Turks in verse, on religion and mysticism. The Russian scholar Zaleman and Professor Fuat Koprulu in Turkiye studied them. His volume entitled Baqirgan, that began to be published during 1857 in Kazan and remained continuously in print since has been used as a primary school textbook for a century. When I was a child, I had read it as a Turkish religion book, and had it memorized. While we were approaching Kongrat city, our caravan remained in Baqirgan village for an hour. I took advantage of that stop, and went to see his mausoleum. I wrote two couplets into the book of the old caretaker, who was a descendant, that I could recall from his aforementioned book: “the ruler does not take back the hilat [robe of honor] he awarded/ will God take back the faith he gave to his worshippers as a hilat?/ the true dervishes can ride a lion and use a snake as a whip/ they worship God by embracing their knees, placing their heads on adobe.” I knew that one of his descendants by the name of Ibn-Yemin had joined the Young Bukharans. However, he was not there.
My old friend Hurmetullah Idilbayev—
When we reached Kongrat at the end of October, as promised, another person from Baskurdistan had also arrived, in addition to Hurmetullah. We also learned that several of our friends arrived in Khiva as well. Hurmetullah was meeting all the arriving caravans every day, as our indicated date of arrival was coming close. Upon seeing us, he began crying with joy. I said: ”before all else, relieve us from the lice.” He said: “before all else, you need to visit the Ozbek Bey Baba Bek, who is governing this territory in the name of Han Cuneyt, and greet him. I informed him that my countrymen were arriving.” We entered a tea-house and consumed freshly baked flat-bread dripping with fat and black raisins and tea. These were great luxuries for us since Kangbakti. Later, we went to visit Baba Bek. He was seated on a cushion placed on the straw-mat located on the high ante-room location of the government building. He welcomed us. He offered us tea. He asked for the conditions in Russia. We gave short answers. However, we did not portray ourselves as political personages. We indicated that we wished to see Han Cuneyt. He told us: “Han Cuney is in the sands; you can see him if you were to journey to Urgenc.” I said: “I will go there; except, I would like a letter of introduction from you.” He said that he would write one.
Afterward, Hurmetullah and his friend, a Tatar from Orenburg took us to a house they rented for us. We immediately bought underware, western shirts and Khiva capan [a type of long overcoat] from the market, and entered the hamam [public bath]. There, we had our hair razored, shaved all of our bodily hairs. Those lice had entered all of the nooks and crannies of our bodies and hairs. There was no other solution to rid ourselves. All of the clothes we had shed, clothes, leather coat and all, we put into the fire-box of the hamam to burn. The people there almost jumped into the fire to rescue them. We did not allow it. They were grousing: “can one get angry at the louse and burn the fur?” But, as a result of that hamam process, and the new clothes we obtained, we had become brand-new persons. We laid-down and slept fully for twenty hours.
There was no business we could undertake in Kongrat. Haris Yumagulov asked permission to journey either to Kazakistan or to work secretly in Baskurdistan by returning to the Sirdarya basin. We also had observed that he could not withstand the rigors of travelling. We told him that he could detach himself from us, to journey in the direction of Sirdarya when we reach Cimbay. We thought that it was necessary for Talha Resul to remain in Kongrat, and follow the left bank of Amudarya; we purchased three horses. Even though the entire population of Kongrat was comprised of Turks, the remnant of Khorezm culture was dominant among them. They were living in houses resembling chateaus surrounded by thick high walls separating them. Their irrigation, market life was exactly as described in old books, in the old Krezm style. A small detail I can never forget: Arab scholar Yakut Hamavi, who saw Khorezm in the 13th century and wrote about it recorded: “The streets of Korezm is full of filth, because they relieve themselves in the streets.” The owner of the house where we were staying would become infuriated if she were to hear our going to the stable for our natural needs, she would shout: “do not defecate in my stable; it is like my home; there is the street.” Truly, their stables were relatively clean, but their streets were filled by piles deposited by individuals who would squat and completely cover themselves with their capan. Our friends Hurmetullah and Tatar Zakir were engaged in trade here, and earning money. Night before our leaving town, Hurmetullah took us to a local “chateau.” His woman was with him. Our hostess was a middle aged woman at the chateau. They had prepared a variety of local dishes; they very excellent and very tasty. They also served a cloudy wine that tasted almost like Bordeaux. Two young girls, as they presented drinking cups, were singing in a low voice, perhaps because they did not want to be heard from the outside. Hurmetullah had read many books about the nations of the world. Addressing me, he stated: “this is an example of Japanese Geishas in Korezm.” The reason for his bringing his wife to that locale was for the purpose of masking the objective of this as a family visit. But, his wife was unable to cover anyone else’s sins. Previously, that wife was distinguished with her generosity and Hurmetullah himself with his very wide tolerance. On the other hand, Hurmetullah used to accuse “our Muftu” Sait Miras, who was a womanizer, with the charge that he was aiding and abetting prostitution in our country, which never existed heretofore. In conjunction with that, while we were at a gathering of friends, I had related an historical anecdote: Ibn Kayiglig earned a high rank during the tenth century and was guarding the Byzantine borders. He would violently examine the passports and personal effects of those who wished to cross the Greek border. The Arab poet Mutenebbi, who tired of the length of the passport and customs control, wrote the following stanza: “Inb Kayiglig is protecting the Islam-Byzantine road with violence; however, the greatest road that needs to be protected passes through between the legs of his wife.” My brother-in-law Talha, who was a keen womanizer and drinker, perhaps made use of the Kongrat Geisha.
I saw the Governor Baba Bey once more, and obtained a letter from him for Han Cuneyd. I brought that letter home and sewed it inside the lining of my clothes. We left instructions to Hurmetullah, who was going to remain in Kongrat for the arrival of our other friends. We left, with Haris and a guide, toward Cimbay. Hurmetullah accompanied us for a long distance to see us off. I proposed that, if he were to choose, for him to join us in Bukhara in two months. He stated: “it is best for me to remain a guardian of our national movement here; I have many sins, let me die near Hoca Bakirgan.” That meant, a while back he was a nihilist just like the Russian intellectual type; now, over time, he became a believing Moslem. Perhaps his moral standards would also change. While we were departing he cried just like a child. I never saw him again. Even though Humetullah was old, he was an exact copy of his father, translator Sefer Ali Kart, who had aided us very much at the beginning of our Baskurt independence movement. While we were journeying on horseback, I was mentally recalling Sefer Ali and Hurmetullah and his brother, Army Officer Abdullah Idilbayev who was treacherously killed at Baymak at the beginning of the Baskurt National Army formation. The road from Kongrat to Cimbay, perhaps eighty kilometers, was crossing the Amudarya delta marshes. At many places, our horses were boarded onto small boats to cross canals and lakes. As recorded by old Arab geographers, wild boars were plentiful there. Cimbay had a new style school. We stayed at the house of a Tatar teacher of that school. Syphilis was raging. According to the teacher, many of the children were born of affected parents. We ate dinner in horror that night. Later on, when the Karakalpak Soviet Republic was established, the Karakalpak lineage educated fought this disease. They trained many medical doctors, and struggled with this disease fully, and won. But, during 1920, when we travelled through, the conditions were dire.
Our separation with Haris—
Haris Yumagul separated from me here. I never cooled-off of him because he told me that he could not withstand the rigors of a liberation movement. Later on, he fell into the hands of the Soviets. Or, he surrendered. His life continued in Moscow jails. Later, he was amnestied and even made a member of the Party again. In sum, I never saw him again. He was overly fiery. But, he could not understand, if necessary, living a life outside Russia due to his upbringing. He suffered much because of that. He was younger than I and he would have served very beneficially in Turkistan and even outside. Fifteen minutes after mounting his horse, alongside his guide, he returned once again to apologize profusely. I told him Godspeed, pray for us. Those educated who separated from us and returned home, such as Haris Iglikov and and poet Seyyidgeray Magazov, were simply killed by the Bolsheviks when they opened their doors. Since Haris was an old Communist, they made him suffer on his feet; his end remains uncertain. I read Samoylov’s and Mostovenko’s writings against him in the “Revolutionary East” journal, and answers by Haris to them with tears in my eyes. Later I heard that the answers Haris wrote were not even published.
I knew that there was a people’s poet among the Karakalpak by the name of Nureddin in Cimbay. I remained two days in order to see him. He knew the old Turk dastans, especially the Karakalpak and Kazak versions well. Earlier, the orientalist Biliayev had taken down some fragments from him. I saw Nureddin. He especially knew Edige, Toktamis and Temur dastans by heart. I took many notes. Among them there was the dialogue between the principle character Edige Bey of the Altin-Orda and his friend, Temur’s governor of Khorezm, Sahmelik Bey. It was not extant elsewhere. I saw a Dobruca Nogay in during 1925 in Kostence who knew well those dastans, and by chance his name was Nureddin as well. But the Karakalpak Nureddin Akin was the most capable and greatest of all the Kipchak dastan reciters I had ever met. He was excitedly reciting the portions on Khorezm from Temur and Edige dastans which was not extant in any other variant. He also recited the dialog between Sahruh, and his old friend Sahmelik, Sahruh desiring to come under Sahmelik’s protection, after he lost the battle with the Khorezm Governor Emir Sahmelik Bilgivut and his son Nureddin. Calling him “anda” and “my friend Semelik,” in verse references the Timur period as the golden age of two generations, proceeds: “My master, I was the one who served an entire deer roasted on a fire built on ice/ I was the apple of his eye, but, you, Master Edige are a very large figure/ you do not fit into the Beskala (Khorezm) continent/ it is best for you to find your son, and be reconciled/ he will fit your lap” [sic].
In the region between Kongrat and Cimbay andaround the Nukus road, there are Baskurt urugs [branches] who had settled in the times old. They were references as either Baskurt or Istek. They are from the Manqanay, Qayipnazar, Qara Terenci and Qalmurtay urugs. The Karakalpak are also divided, just like the Baskurts, into Tube (adminstrative subdivision), and their general meetings are also like the Baskurts use, called Ciyin.
While I was journeying to see Nureddin at his village, I encountered those Baskurt and spoke with them. According to their testimony, they had arrived here seven or eight “buvin”, meaning generations, ago. That means, they settled here possibly during the time of Kayip Han, around seventeen hundreds. However, another portion of Baskurts were here from even an earlier period. The new arrivals had joined the older settlers. These had participated in important political events during the time of the Kongrat Beys.
Turkmen Basmachi at Kuhne Urgenc—
Cimbay is not in Khiva administratively, but is attached to the Russian Amudarya Department in Dortkol (Petroalexandrovsky). When the rumor that Red soldiers were arriving from Qazali in Sirdarya basin began circulating, I hired a guide and left two days later. I arrived in Nukus on 2 November, which today is the cultural center of the Karakalpak Republic, and possesses a large airfield. Then, it was a small town. After spending the night, I journeyed to the Western shores of Amudarya, to the Xoceyli Township. Among the old Arabs, it was recorded as Ardaxusmitten, a flourishing settlement. The ranches here were the property of a rich man by the name of Ibn al-Furat, who was the wazir of Caliph of Bagdat during the 10th century. When Ibn Fadlan arrived, the director of those ranches was a Christian. However, the Caliph allocated the income of this region to the maintenance of the ambassador he had sent to the King of Volga Bulgars. According to the wishes of the Bulgar King, schools were opened; military fortifications were built there [sic]. Apparently, at that time, this region had sufficiently large revenues to meet the imperative expenditures of the state on Volga. On that day, I did not see any structures of interest there. At night, I arrived at Kuhne Urgenc (old Urgench), comprised only of the ruins of the old Khroezm capital.
The Khorezm name for Urgenc was Gurganc; in Arabic, it was known as Curaniye. When I arrived, Han Cuneyd was not there. At his apartments there was a Turkmen Bey and a few soldiers. They did not ask who I was; offered me tea. The Turkmen Bey asked what my occupation was. I told him I was a merchant, arriving from Kongrat. I presented the letter from Bala Bey. He had his Mirza read it, and returned it. I was told that the Han may arrive tomorrow. They were not concerned with me in any other way. I visited the ruins of the old city, the minaret of the 12th century, and the wife of the 14th century Kongrat Bey’s wife Tuberek Hatun’s still magnificent mousoleum; the burial site of Necmeddin Kura and others. Nobody was accompanying me. I took notes from the inscriptions when I could read them. Seyh Necmeddin was participating in the defense of this city with his weapons on hand when the Army of Cengiz was sieging it, and he was killed by a Mongol arrow. While he was dying, he was reciting the creed and he got hold of the hair of a Mongol trooper. When he died, those around him could not open his hand holding the hair; so, they freed the Mongol trooper by cutting his hair. Celaleddin Rumi portrays that event beautifully in one of his poems which he allocated to Seyh Necmeddin. I wrote the following couplet from one of the Rubai by the Seyh, on a corner of his turbe wall: “the dew of love turned the burial soil of the man into roses/ because of that hundred fights and incitements took place/ the scalpel of love touched its tip to the veins of soul/ one drop of blood leapt, they called it soul.” I signed my name underneath. Twenty-five years after my visit, Russian Archeologist Professor Tolstov comprehensively examined that site. I wonder if what I wrote on the wall in indelible pencil was still readable. An old Ozbek, who was serving as turbedar [mausoleum keeper] asked the meaning of what I wrote. I explained. He showed me respect. He fed me some of his pilav [rice dish] that was about cooked. Just about that time, a man from Han Cuneyd’s representative Turkmen Bey arrived to inform me: “Han is one tree (approximately five kilometers) away, at the home of such-and-such wealthy man. If you wish, you can go.” I left my guide there, and in the company of the two soldiers provided by the Turkmen Bey, I went to that village. It was a completely free standing ruined chateau. It was ringed by soldiers. I sent in the letter of Bala Bey with the soldiers who brought me here. A little later, I was invited in. Apparently, Han Cuneyd had not yet arrived. I was given an audience by one of his Beys by the name of Anne Bala. He asked me what I desired. I told him I had classified words. He had four or five individuals with him. He told me all these men were privy, and to proceed. I told him who I was, why I was here, and that I was on my way to Bukhara, and wished to see a statesman who would not accept the overlord-ship of Russia, and that I could send news later. He asked me if the Jadids (meaning, those Ozbek educated who were governing that region with the help of the Russians) would not kill me if I were to venture there. I told him: “no, I know a few of them; that I would ask them not to send Moslem soldiers against you.” He stated: “if they comply with your request, let us know by leaving ten rifles and ammunition at a certain village and house in Tashavuz; we will then know they have agreed to do as you ask.” He asked me about general world conditions. Actually, he knew a lot. I told him about the Baku Congress. Apparently Han Cuneyd knew about the Congress; he even wished to send someone to attend, but could not manage to find a way. I remained there for about two hours. We ate together. During our meal, another Turkmen Bey and another by the name of Niyaz Baksi asked me what the English policy was and what Turkiye’s position was. They told me that all their problems could be summarized as weapons and ammunition supply; that they were in contact with Ferghana and the Basmachi commanders in other countries. And I asked that they do not tell anyone I was here, since I was travelling incognito.
I was unable to see Han Cuneyd even later. I had met one of his sons in Urgenc. Han Cuneyd passed away after he sought refuge in Iran and Afghanistan, in a village called Teymene near Herat. When I arrived in Herat the second time, I thought I was going to see his son I had met in Urgenc. He, too, passed away. I saw his grandson.
I took my leave from Anne Bala Bey, and in the company of two-three guards, returned to Urgenc. From there, I returned to Nukus with the guide who brought me there the next morning via Hocaili. I spent the night at the home of a villager near Nukus, and paid the guide. With another guide, I went to Xocakol, and spent another night at Biy Pazar. In that largish town, a man behaved as if he knew me. I became very suspicious. Because, this place was in the jurisdiction of Russian representative posted to Dortkol and the Russian garrison there. But, my suspicions did not prove true. That person had journeyed to Orenburg, Nijninovgorod and Moscow for trade purposes. I had stuffed my eye-glass lenses into my collars, only to be used under dire conditions. I was wearing Khiva clothes. I was speaking with a Kazak accent. That person, despite my clothes and my speaking in Kazak, stated that I might be a mixture of Kazak and Tatar given my accent. I told him that we were originally from Orenburg, living in Kazakistan, and that I was engaged in trade. That saved me. Despite that, I avoided investigating the old remnants in that vicinity. I paid and left the guide I had hired in Nukus. The next day, without a guide, I arrived in the township now known as Seyh Abbas Veli containing the ruins of the old Kat City that had served as the capital of eastern portion of Amudarya in Khorezm. The tall defensive walls of this city were made of earth and still maintaining their old magnificence. At one time the old Afrig lineage of Khorezm, as well as the great scholars such as Ebu Nasir ibn-Iraq and El-Biruni lived behind them. Since nobody was following me, and I was alone, I went around quite a bit. I saw many written monuments and tombstones. But, since I did not have a camera, I could not record those writings to read later.
Ruins of Kat City—
When Mahmud of Gazna was occupying this region during 1017 A.D., the famed scholar and prince Ebu Nasir Ibn Iraq had hosted Mahmud’s entire army in his ranch, right next to the City of Kat. Today, Seyh Abbas Veli is a small township. Despite that, the famed Khorezm melons especially transported for the Abbasid Caliph Mamun inside zinc boxes are still available. I ate many till I was satisfied. Now, those melons are known as Seyh Abbas (Sabbas) melons.
On 11 August, I went to the Fridays Prayers. A short stature preacher delivered words. He was reciting Persian and Arabic hadis [words of the Prophet], translating and interpreting them. He was recommending preparations for the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed’s birth. He stated: “if there is no fear of God, His guidance, love and respect for the Prophet and his four friends, people will be misled by external influences and internal, secret desires.” In Turkish, he recited a poem: “if you do not support us, God, then the Devil will cause us to lose control.” He followed that with a Persian poem, attributed to the great Korezm Seyh Necmeddin Kubra, then an Arabic poem attributed to a scholar of Korezm, which he translated into Turkish: “we have love, belief and obedience to the Prophet and his four Companions. If, one day, we were to lose our religion, Ciz tirnak [copper fingernails] ghoul will destroy us in deserted desert.” He was elating the congregation with his beautiful sermon. I was astonished to witness his skill in bringing to life in simple Turkish the copper nailed ghoul that is believed to deceive the humans to lose their way in the desert, then would plunge his copper mails under their armpits and eat them. Afterward, I recorded the portions of the poems I could recall from among those he recited into my notebook. I wanted to meet the preacher. I entered a small grocery store close to the mosque, and asked how I could meet him. I was told he was: “just like Hizir that he does not stay in one place, he will stay at villages. Who knows where he is.” I thus understood that he did not wish me to know his whereabouts. Perhaps he tought I would report him to the Government. Time passed, and I discovered that that poem was written by the great scholar of Khorezm, Ali bin al-Imrani. It is discernible that the traces of Khorezm culture are still alive. That preacher of course learned all he knew from a master. Possibly, he was teaching them to his own students. However, he did not yet know that the factors that would separate the people of Khorezm from religion and faith were the Russian communists that had settled in Dortkol. After arriving in Khiva, I told the head of government Hoca Niyaz of this preacher and his sermon. I also advised him to take care of the valuable remnants of this old Khorezm treasures. But, when in March 1921 when some members of the Young Bukharan government escaped and arrived in Bukhara, they told me that they had provided support to those religious scholars who had remained in the Russian administration of Amuderya department, which was not within the jurisdiction of Khorezm. However, that aid had brought tragedy to them, since the communists at Dortkol had heard of it, arrested those who had been noticed by the Khiva government and killed some. I was very sad that I had brought them to the attention of Hoca Niyaz Haci, and brought evil upon them.
I stayed at Sah Abbas for two days. Even though the Russian garrison at Dortkol was near, nobody arrived from there to Sah Abbas. I spent the night at the home of the other grocer; an in the morning of 13 August, I hired a guide who had a horse, I departed for Khiva.
I crossed Amudarya on a boat, and arrived in Khiva in the afternoon. I had sent my family from Ashkhabad, and I needed to find them. Since she was a teacher, I thought that she would be hired as a teacher here, too. I found her without difficulty. My wife was appointed as a teacher. It also transpired that our officer who fled Baskurdistan, Osman Terigulov was appointed as vice-minister of defense of Khorezm. I saw my old friends, members of the government Molla Bekcan and Sultan Murad. The first one was minister of education, the latter, vice-head of Government. My arrival was a big event for my friends. However, I very jealously guarded the secrecy of my trip. I did not allow any visitors in our house; nor did I leave the house very much. One day (10 November), the members of the Young Bukharan government gave me a feast at the offices of the Government Head Pehlivan Niyaz Haci at the Han Saray. They had not invited some individuals whom they did not trust, among them War Minister Hasanov of Kazan, because they regarded him as a man of the Russians. Our talks were very pleasant. Pehlivan Niyaz Haci asked me why I did not remain in Moscow. He told me that, if I had, I would have helped them in the general affairs. I replied that, if it was possible to live in Moscow and still undertake beneficial activities, I would not have chosen to withdraw to the Bozkir and mountains, and told him the events leading to my arrival. We talked about how I could be of help while I was in Khiva, and a plan was made. I could only stay for a month and a half at the most. I needed to be in Bukhara at the end of December, as decided in Baku.
In Khiva, those from Turkiye, Tashkent and Baskurts—
I worked quite a bit in Khiva. It was important that my closest friend Osman Terigulov was the Deputy Minister of War, who had worked with me since 1917 in military organization, sometimes as my aide-de-camp. They immediately sent ten rifles and ammunition to the Deputy of Han Cuneyd to the location specified. While I was in Khiva, contacts were established with the mentioned Turkmen Bey. During the early hours of the morning, I was visiting old buildings, madrasas, mosques, and Lodges. There were several Turkish [in this case, Ottoman] prisoners of war in Khiva. Pehlivan Niyaz Government had brought them from Tashkent and opened a War Academy. They were headed by Ridvan Bey of Uskudar and Huseyin Bey. They were working with Osman Terigulov and and Huseyin Alikeyev of our Baskurt Army. There were approximately one hundred Ozbek students in their school. However, there were tremendous intrigues against them. Moscow representative Safanov wished to remove them and close the school. Later on, these gentlemen showed me great respect in Istanbul, having returned to their homeland. There were also nationalist officers, Mirserepov from the Ozbeks and and Kirgizov from Ferghana. All these individuals and Molla Bekcan were working altruistically for the advancement of contemporary civilization in Khiva. If the Russians had not prevented them, they would have performed very good deeds for the Young Kivan Government. I was advising them to be working peacefully, since Khiva was a country far away from the railroad, without openly joining in with the Basmachi movements expanding across Turkistan. However, if it became apparent that the Russians would not allow such a docile organization, and take drastic action against them, they needed to take counter action and avoid capture. I invited them to arrive in Bukhara. Sometimes, I would study the manuscripts in the royal treasury left behind by Hans of Khiva. No expected valuable work was found in this treasury. The important historical finding was the archival material pertaining to the Kongrat Beys of the Khiva Khanate. I advised their classification. The Minister of Education, Molla Bekcan was a youth educated in Istanbul. After leaving his offices, he would arrive in his cell at the medrese. He would cook his pilav with his own hands, and we would talk. Sometimes he would write. His volume on Khorezm Ozbek Music and few others were published. After the Young Khivan Government was dispersed, he arrived in Bukhara. However, he did not leave the official path; became a communist. He was executed during the 1937 liquidations in Tashkent. I spoke with President Pehlivan Niyaz Haci. One day he asked me: “the Russians are pressing us day-by-day; they do not appear to be trustworthy. What would you advise me to do personally?” I responded with: “One day, the Han Saray where you are residing may become your prison. If you are sieged, in order not to fall into the hands of the Russians, have yourself a secret passage constructed, to an adjoining building.” Pehlivan Niyaz: “is that all?” I said: “no, not the only item. However that is the first among all others. First, save your own life, then you can think about what you will be doing. For the time being, work with the Russians, and be useful to the population. Maintain very careful contacts with the Turkmen and the Ozbeks who are rebelling against the Russians; you may possibly need them one day.” When the Young Khivan Government was dispersed, Pehlivan Niyaz escaped from the Russians.
When my wife Nefise arrived here from Ashkhabad with her child, she found Osman Terigulov who had escaped from Baskurdistan. Molla Bekcan appointed her as a teacher. They took care of her well. They had hired a Kazak woman to care for my three month old son Iris. She had lice in abundence. When she was told to change her clothes, lice are jumping over to the baby, she would become very angry. She would state: “the source of filth is not lice, but flies. We Kazaks will move when a location would get dirty and flies increase. You all remain in the same place. Flies are everywhere; they land on filth first, then on your food. Why are you harping on lice and fleas?” However, she would sing beautiful lullabies to our child. The child would fall asleep immediately hearing them. For the sake of those lullabies, we endured her dirt; but, later on, she slowly became used to personal hygiene. She would wear clean clothes.
My departure from Khorezm—
While I was in Khiva, some of our friends brought news from Tashkent, Bukhara and Kazakistan. They stressed the fact that it was necessary not to be late for the Congress appointed for January of 1921. I followed their advice. The roads were very dangerous, because, Carcuy was full of Russian soldiers; whereas the regions where those roads crossed were in the hands of the Turkmen Basmaci. Taking along a force of bodyguards meant fighting them. The greatest saint in Khiva was Pehlivan Ata, whom the entire population still reveres him. His mausoleum is very well preserved and is flourishing. He had stated: “If you are a traveler, you must look to the road. You must keep yourself from fear and worry.” I did that. I left without a force of bodyguard.
With the aid of the War Ministry, I obtained a Red soldier identity, uniform and rifle from one of the Khiva military regions. I hired a guide from the Turkmen village of Sadver by the name of Mahmud, at the second station on the way to Carcuy. My wife and son, my orderly Haris Sisenbay and Ahmedcan were going to stay in Khiva until they were able to travel, and possibility of journeying to Bukhara became conceivable, until the spring. I left Khiva on 19 December. One night we stayed at Hezaresp city, and another at the home of the Turkmen guide in Sadver. From there, we were going to arrive in Carcuy in seven days, via a winding route through the Karakum desert in order not to fall into the hands of the Red Russians. That was the only road open to us. The Turkmen told me: “you are a Red soldier; you are carrying a rifle. The Basmaci will kill you. Because of you, they will kill me, too. I cannot go; find another guide.” I told him: “I am not afraid of the Basmaci; I am only afraid of the Russians.” Finally he agreed, after I offered him more money. He knew very well how to travel in the desert. The first night we slept in an abandoned Turkmen alacik (constructed of wood and mud, high plains house). The weather was very cold. We were able to withstand it with great difficulty. In the morning, we drank our tea and continued on our way. We were journeying on moving sands. There was no indication of a road. After we had passed, all of our traces were disappearing in a few minutes. At a location, I saw a deer, on a temporary hillock formed of the sands. I retrieved my glasses from the lining of my clothes, and took a better look. Since there was quite a distance between us, the deer was not running away from us. I fired at it with my rifle; I certainly hit it. Among the sands, there were patches of snow fields here and there. I wanted to move in the direction of the deer. My guide Mahmud stated: “do not go, definitely not; you will lose your way. My horse will be lost, too; what you shot is not a deer, it is a fairy. They take on the appearance of a deer to pull you deeper into the desert, and finally destroy you.” I ignored him, and moved in that direction. The Turkmen was repeatedly shouting: “do not go.” What was important for him, more than me, was his horse I was riding. I arrived at the hillock where I shot the deer. I had indeed hit the deer; there was blood on the patch of snow. The deer fell to the ground not being able to go far from there. I summoned the Turkmen. I told him: “here is the deer, let us slaughter it.” The Turkmen arrived, and killed the still alive deer. He took both legs and put them in his saddlebags. He left the remainder on the ground. He stated: “It is good that it was not a fairy; you are a good “mergen” (sharp-shooter). Tonight, we will build a fire and cook them to eat.” We travelled until the evening.
Becoming the guests of the Turkmen Basmaci—
All of a sudden, a Turkmen tent appeared in the middle of the sands. Mahmud said: “This is not the abode of a ‘carva’ (a person occupied with animal husbandry); he is not a ‘dayhan’ (dehkan; villager). He must be a ‘kaltaman’ (meaning, Basmaci). Let us not go toward that tent, let us follow another route.” I told him: “I trust in God. Whatever the result, let us go to that tent.” We did. Next to the tent, there were two saddled horses. Upon arrival at the tent, we greeted them, but did not dismount. It turned out this was one of the Basmaci. Both of them grabbed their rifles. Previously they were leaning on those rifles. The older of those two asked: “Why did you arrive? Where are you going?” I told him who I was, where I was heading, that I was at the headquarters of Han Cuneyd, I was going to Bukhara, and that the Basmaci were my comrades in arms, I was in Red soldier’s outfit in case we had encountered Russians on the way. He did not believe me in that instance. I told him: “if you do not belive me, we cannot be your guests; allow us to leave.” My rifle was on the side of my saddle. The guide Mahmud spoke with them as well. Finally, the older of the two stated: “allright, I believe what you told us. You are our guests. We do not have anything, but we have a fire.” We dismounted. The younger of the two was eying my rifle and the pistol on my belt. Finally, while we talked, these two Basmaci got used to us. They especially believed my narration of my visit with Han Cuneyd’s men at Kongrat and Kuhne Urgenc. While we were sitting around the fire chatting about Russian and world conditions, I got the impression that their belief deepened. I, too, placed my rifle under my knees. After we drank tea, the old one, addressing the young, said: “son, go get the ‘toklu’ (a one year old sheep), we will slaughter it for our guest.” We had not seen any animal while we approached the tent. A little later, the younger one brought a large pumpkin. The old Basmaci placed it between his knees, and cut off the top with the ritual statement of “in the name of God.” He stated: “this is the sheep we Kaltamans can offer a guest.” We all laughed. We produced the deer legs from our saddlebags, roasted on the fire. After our meal, we spoke a lot with our hosts. They were gathering and bringing saksaul [Anabasis ammodendron, or, holoxylon] wood from the outside. In short, we grew accustomed to each other. Without fear, with our clothes on and our rifles under our heads, we went to sleep.
In the morning, there was very hard bread cooked in the ashes and tea. We had those for breakfast. As a result, Anne Murad named Kaltaban (Basmaci) volunteered to serve us as an intermediary with Han Cuneyd and other Turkmen Basmaci. In fact, he performed that role in an excellent manner. When the Uskudar Seyh Ata and his companion arrived eight months later from Turkiye, this Anne Murad collected from Tashavuz and led them to the presence of Han Cuneyd in Karakum.
The adventure in Carcuy—
From there, we crossed the desert by Anne Murad’s help, on the way stopping to see their men. At a place called Denau, one day away from Carcuy, I paid Turkmen Mahmud. I arrived in Carcuy with another guide, ten days after leaving Khiva. After paying that guide, I was alone, with my rifle, amidst the Reds. I sold my horse. From there, the only way to reach Bukhara was by crossing the Amudarya via the railroad bridge and the train. In order to do that, it was necessary to obtain “propusk” (laisser passé), even though I was in Red soldier uniform. Because of that, I lived through an adventure there.
I had not yet taken a good look at the identity papers I had obtained in Khiva via the War Ministry. There was no need. I remembered that my name and family names were written as Abdulhamid Suleymanov. At the Ceka station when I showed my identity papers and asked for a propusk, the commissar asked me in Russian: “what is your name? What is your father’s name?” I told them: “Suleymanov.” They told me: “no, Suleymanov is your family name. What is your father’s name?” Once again, I said: “Suleymanov.” All of a sudden, there was a suspicion toward me at the Ceka station. I was told that those identity papers were not mine. I behaved as if I was a Khivan who did not speak Russian. The commissar ordered someone to go fetch the translator. My circumstances were dire, but I did not let it show on my face. A little later, a tall Azerbaijani translator entered. At the same moment, I saw that Halmurad was written as my father’s name on my papers that were placed on the desk. The Translator started from the top: “what is your name?”
--Abdulhamid.
--What is your father’s name?
--Halmurad.
--Your family name?
--Suleymanov.
--Now you are answering in this fashion; but why did you not tell us your father’s name earlier?
--I could not understand. I thought I was being asked my family name.
--Where are you from?
--Hocay.
--What does your father do?
--Runs the tea house.
--What else does he do?
--He has an orchard.
--When did you enter the military service? What is your date of birth?
I responded not in A.D. but in animal calendar.
--Are you a member of the Party?
I responded in bad Russian “no, I am only a candidate.”
The commissars laughed. What business I could have with the party?
--Why are you going to Bukhara?
--I have a paternal aunt there; I will see her.
As a result, I was issued a propusk. While the commissar was handing my papers to me, he observed: “it has been only twelve days since you were issued these; they are already worn-out. If you continue on in this fashion, soon nothing will be left behind. Wrap this entire well in paper of a cloth. He wrapped them himself and handed it to me. Thus I arrived in Bukhara, having obtained my propusk, with my rifle in my hands, at the Kagan station of Bukhara. I did not take the suburban tram; I walked and later hired a phaeton. I did not enter Bukhara from the crowded grand Qersi gate, but from the Mausoleum gate.
First days in Bukhara—
I went straight in to the home of an acquaintance by the name of Mirza Abdulvahit. The date was Saturday 31 December 1920. Mirza Abdulvahit was a bilingual Bukharan intellectual poet and author who wrote in Tajik and in Turkish. His bio is mentioned in Sadreddin Ayni’s volume “History of Tajik Literature.” He was a very frightened person. Three years later he had arrived in Germany heading the students sent by the Young Bukharan Government. When he discovered that I had arrived in Paris via Afghanistan and India, he sent me a letter relaying his regrets that he could not meet with me, and returned to Russia. I did not understand why I was provided the address of this person’s home. But, I noted that I could not stay there long.
Without letting him know of my thoughts, I indicated that I needed my residence to be away from major arteries. There, I was visited by my officers who were appointed to the Central Command Headquarters, Sultanoglu and my cousin Bayis, and the War Minister Arif, and a little later, Feyzullah Hoca. I was going to be settled in the home of another friend by the name of Hakimoglu Muhittin Mahdum and his vineyard. We went there. This was a guest house behind the main house, an outbuilding. The Hakimoglu family was completely Tacikified, were descended from the Beys of the Kines Uruk of Sehrisebz. Our condition was secure in Bukhara since Abdulhamit Arif was appointed Deputy Minister of National Defense and a Baskurt Officer by the name of Sultanov was a Commissar of the GPU. Since a relative of mine, an officer by the name of Bayisev was appointed Director of the National Library, I was able to greatly benefit from that. That library contained some thirty thousand manuscripts. When I found some free time, I was able to have them bring those I wished to see, to my residence. All that acquired a routine in a few months’ time. A portion of those personages who were appointed to the “Revolutionary Committee” were carrying the title “member of the Central Committee” (Ze-Ka). Their chief was Mirza Abdulkadir. Another portion was the “Executive Committee,” (Ispolcom) and their chief was Feyzullah Hoca. Minister of Education was Arif Yoldas; Minister of Treasury, Osman Hoca; Minister of War Abulhamit Arif [sic]; External Affairs, Hasim Sayik; Internal Minister, Muin Can; Justice, Mirza Abdurrahim. A little later, Osman Hoca was appointed TSKA Central Committee Chief. Serif Hoca named person was appointed Ambassador to Afghanistan. From Afghanistan, Abdulresul Han was the Ambassador in Bukhara. Osman Hoca was a son from the family of Atahoca lineage of Os, of Ferghana, who today lives in Istanbul. After he had studied in a Bukhara medrese, he went to Istanbul during 1910, established an “Educational House” residence for the Bukhara youths in Istanbul; after returning to Bukhara, he opened a “New” school of the Crimean Gasprinski style format, and he had published a newspaper. At the time of my arrival in Bukhara, he was an independent Minister [sic] of Eastern Bukhara Government.
Osman Hoca, much like Feyzullah Hoca, was one of the mainstays of the revolution. After the Bukhara Emir was expelled, the most important matters on the agenda were the matters of the Treasury and the capture of the Emir. After the Bukhara treasury was confiscated by the Soviets, and sent to Moscow, it is true that an important portion was given to the Turkish TBMM Government which was in dire need. At the time, all treasury matters were in the hands of the Osman Hoca and his deputy Nasir Mahdum. The former Emir was in the vicinity of Baysun when we arrived, and Osman Hoca was appointed the Chief of the “Eastern Bukhara Committee” tasked with capturing him.
Feyzullah Hoca (Hocayef) was a member of the millionaire family of Kasim Seyh of Bukhara. He had learned Russian privately. One of his two women was a Russian. In the past, he had visited Germany and learned a little German. Mirza Abdulkadir Muhittinof was a member of a family carrying the epithet “Mirza” (scribe). They, too, were millionaires. Abdulkadir also spoke and wrote Russian. Perhaps he was the intellectual among all. Osman Hoca, Feyzullah and Abdulkadir had trade relations with Moscow. They had established contacts with the Russians via that route. Because of all that, their family names acquired the suffix “of.” Abdulhamit Arif was an Ozbek from Kaxistuvan village of Bukhara. He had not studied at a medrese, he spent time among the Tatars, had some education in Russian. He was my secretary in Orenburg within the Baskurdistan Government. Later, we had sent him to Tashkent. He was a youth very close to the Tatars and the Baskurts. Among all, Arif was the one who best grasped the modern administrative apparatus. The Foreign Minister Hasim Saik was a Bukhara convert. He had studied at Istanbul Darulmuallim [Teacher Training School]. He could recite poetry in Persian. He had written a compendium of contemporary Bukhara poets. Later on, he was appointed Ambassador to Afghanistan. He was close to the Turks. He did not know Russian or any other foreign language. Education Minister Qari Yoldas was a Kiyikci Turkmen who had settled in Kerki. All of these Ministers, including that Turkmen would speak in Persian. Though, I recall that Arif did not speak Persian well. He was fond of speaking about Persian literature. When we arrived here, the Taskent Turks Munevver Qari, Sadullah Hocayev, Abdulkadir Qusbegiyev; from Samarkand, Ekabir Sahmansurov, and other educated from Tashkent, Samarkand and Ferghana were already there. Many of them were settled in state governance apparatus. There were a few Tatars as well. The Bukharans spoke in Turkish with the Tatars, Baskurt and Kazaks. All of these individuals, without exception had devotion toward Turkiye. They had learned about Turkiye by way of Azerbaijan literature and schools. Mirza Abdulkadir and Ekabir Sahmansurov, being Tajiks by origin, would read the journals published by Iranians in Berlin. Despite that, their political thoughts were on the side of Turkism. In 1917 I had published a journal in Xoqand, Ferghana, entitled Yurd, which I had done jointly with Asur Ali. One night, Mirza Abdulkadir told me that one piece I published in that journal pertaining to the subject of the Turk spiritual wealth, had elated the educated readers, especially pertaining to the dastans. Especially a poem from Alisir Navai was very effective: “if the Turk wears his helmet on his head, Susen will raise his Sesper/ and the leaves of the tulip rose will fly away like the black bosomed (dovadak) birds.” That gathering made a believer out of me that the Tajik origin Bukhara Youths had very much internalized the Turkistan spirit.
There were incompatibilities among them. Especially the competition between Feyzullah and Abdulkadir, having inherited that problem from the relations between two millionaire families, now combined with their positions in governance, had reached critical proportions. Russians were benefiting from that. These “Cedid [new]” Bukharans all fully collaborated with the Russians in order to remove the Bukharan Emir. Yet, they were all against Russian colonization. Their unity in that regard was praiseworthy. They would invite me to their homes for feasts during the nights, but I would not even entertain the thought that they would tell anything to the Russians about me because of their internal discord. There were those who were addicted to alcohol among them. However, none drank a drop during the feasts they gave in my honor knowing full well I desired it as such and they knew they needed to be sober.
The business of Organization in Bukhara—
Our primary business was to establish an army of Bukhara ostensibly to chase the Emir; and to bring representatives from Khiva, Turkmenistan and Kazakistan to establish a Turkistan National Union. In preparation we had sent representatives to all points in Baskurdistan, Kazakistan; to the Japanese in Gulca and the prominent Basmaci Chiefs in Ferghana and all the Kazak intellectuals. They all arrived at the end of June. Among the Baskurts who were in Kazakistan, Seyit Kirey Magazow was one. They had combed all of central Kazakistan, and established contacts with our friends. Ildirhan Mutin and Haris Iglikov, who were in the retinue of the Ferghana Basmaci Chief Sir [not to be read in English] Mehmet Beg; and Mustafa Sakulov, who was with Rahmankul Qorbasi. This Mustafa was travelling with Sadrettin Han, who was the Head of the Taskent Committee of the National Union, and stayed, with Rahmankul for a spell. Later, while he was secretly journeying to Taskent in the company of Arif Kerimi of the Tatars to contact the Japanese representatives in Golca, they fell into the hands of the Russians near Evliya Ata and were jailed. Ozbek and Kazak nationalists, somehow, intervened and freed them. Mustafa Sahkul and Arif Kerimi arrived in Bukhara. They had studied in Russian universities. Previously, they held government positions within the Baskurt Government. We also had invited to Bukhara the Kazak “Alas-Orda Committee” and Turkmen intellectuals as well. While we were waiting for their arrival, we had stayed at the ranch of a wealthy man whose lands were expropriated by the Government, North of Bukhara in a village called Xargos. From among our Baskurt Army officers, Evhadi Ismurzin, my aide-de-camp Ibrahim Ishakov and many other officers; Colonel Heybetullah Suyundukov with all his retinue arrived and took positions within the Bukhara military organization. Qersi, Sehrisebz, Nur, Guzar, Kermin military organizations (meaning Central Commands) were in their hands. Arif was appointing them all. Our aim was to prepare ourselves for a general uprising if the Russians would not allow us to form a national army, or to attempt to quash what was already extant, by joining with the Basmaci. For that, it was necessary to conduct wide-scale propaganda in order to tell the Basmaci the national aims. Our friends from Tashkent and Ferghana were successful in that regard.
Arifov tasked the war-prisoner [Ottoman] Turkish officers who were in Bukhara with the duty of establishing a military school. Some of them, headed by Ali Riza Bey, were working on establishing a gendarmerie organization as well. Since these official offices were known, and were working officially, and were under constant observation by the Russian spies, we were maintaining our contacts with them via roundabout means. During February, attorney Qaqacan Berdiyef of the Turkmens, the Kazak Alas-Orda representative Hayrettin Balginbayev and Muhtar Avezov, plus two other Kazaks, who I think are still alive, arrived. It was not easy to work with the Bukharans and the Kazaks. There were disputes between Bukharans and the Kazaks. In addition, there was a very influential group within the Ozbeks who regarded the intellectual Kazaks, who had studied in Russian institutions, as ‘missionaries.’ We gathered the Bukharan, Ozbek, Turkmen and Kazak representatives in Xargos, in our headquarters, and at a corner of the Emir’s Sitare Mah Hassa Palace to discuss the program of the National Unity in formation. Some members of the national government of Khiva, which was disbanded by the Russians, secretly arrived in Bukhara. We held talks with them as well, but the Kazaks were tired of the excessive length of those discussions, as well as the inhibitions of the Young Bukharans. Finally, as a result of those talks, we decided to establish three political parties. The first was the Cedid Party, which was not socialist, and based on religion. Next, was the socialist Erk Party. The third was the Kazak Alas-Orda party. All three united in a platform comprised of seven planks which I wrote: 1. Independence; 2. Democratic Republic; 3. National Army; 4. The establishment of economic administration, railroad construction, building of canals was to be consonant with Turkistan independence; 5. Education was to become completely modernized, and contacts with the Western civilizations to be undertaken without Russian influence; 6. Nationality issues were to be resolved according to their proportion to the entire population, as well as the benefits they will derive from the national natural resources; 7. Complete freedom of religion, and not to mix religion with the affairs of government. After the Kazaks left Dinse as their representative, and returned home, the Cedid and the Erk Party programs were established. All these three items were the primary successes of our gathering in Bukhara. In general, we had agreed to govern the country in a bipartisan fashion with one liberal and one socialist party; with a common agenda. Everyone was happy about that outcome. Seyyid Kirey Magazov explained the common seven item program in verse, which was a masterpiece.
Death of my son Iris—
My wife Nefise stayed behind in Khiva after I left for Bukhara. In June, she arrived in Bukhara with my young son. But, that year, there was a severe malaria wave gripping the vicinity of Bukhara. As a result of that, I lost my son. We buried him in the mausoleum of poet Musfiqi, who had passed away in 1583, having lived at the time of Abdullah Han. There, the caskets were stacked on top of each other. The fronts of those caskets were opened, and the new body was inserted. Later, the jackals would arrive and eat them. In order to prevent that happening to my son, I had Musfiqi’s mausoleum repaired with bricks and concrete in a sturdy fashion. I wrote on the mortar a partial poem from Musfiqi with the notation: “in my son’s memory: “our hearts are crying for you; we are ostensibly searching for you/ we are washing our faces with the bloody water with your longing.”
In Turkmenistan, since it was not possible to summon a doctor or a mid-wife, I had acted as the midwife. The boy had fiery eyes. An old friend in Bukhara, Nazar Toksaba, would do fortune-telling for him; he would visit us just for my son’s sake. He was a plain Ozbek; he would tell me to take his daughter as my daughter-in-law, and to bequeath him a grand-child just like my son. When I told him that it was difficult to keep even one woman when one is far away from one’s homeland, he stated “we will take care of my daughter and the offspring; you just provide the seed,” and laughed heartily. Nefise would take his joke seriously and tell me to take his daughter as daughter-in-law, so she could be a baybice (hatun), who would help her cope. Nazar Toksaba brought so many different medications; but we could not save Iris. He died in my arms. Molla Nazar cried more than me. I like people with emotions; I was more devoted to Molla Nazar after that event. I discovered I, too, was tried; it became apparent that I loved that boy. I would repeat Musfiqi’s poem and cry. Nefise would console me by saying: “God is great; we are still young, he will grant us children yet. Do not cry.”
Halmurad is not a ‘serf’—
I had become more acquainted with Metmurat or Halmurad, who was taking care of the vineyard of the house where we were staying at Xargos, because he aided me in burying my son Iris. He was a typical Bukhara villager, from a place called Xalluxan, meaning Karluklar. The Karluk was a stratum that had enormous influence in Bukhara in the past. He did not regard himself Ozbek, but plain Turk. I wanted to test him in terms of whether or not he had any class resentments toward his former employer, and asked: “your Bey was a very cruel official of the Emir. He escaped. Are you villagers not thinking of dividing his vineyard among yourselves?” He answered: “God forbid, if he returns, we will be his caretakers again.” I told him: “neither the Emir nor his Beys will return; the land belongs to those who work it. Now, whose property will it be?” He answered: “perhaps it will be the property of the Government; but not ours. Perhaps the government might distribute it. He was cruel, true; but God will hand his punishment at doomsday. He may have obtained a portion of the vineyards by usurpation. God will punish him for that, too. If I were to usurp his property, somebody else will usurp mine.” I spoke with Halmurad many times. He had a head over his shoulders. I asked him: “if your Bey were to seduce and rape your wife or daughter, what would you have done?” He said: “there is the Emir, and the Kadi [judge]; if those did not resolve the issue, we would have killed him. We were his caretakers; not his slaves nor are we gypsies. If such an even had taken place, I would have left and gone back to my village.” He was not at all like the “serfs” of the feudal European type. He was unable to think of “jus primae noctis” taking place anywhere in the world, where the Bey would spend the first night with the bride of the newlywed serfs. He regarded himself a soldier of his Bey, just as his ancestors were; meaning, if he were to have followers, he would become a small-scale Bey himself. He truly believed that. Revolutions have arrived; he had no business in them. He wanted to live comfortably as a Moslem caretaker. Around Tashkent, the land of wealthy Russians lost their lands that were distributed to the people. He had no business in that. He was basically stating: “Emir or the Bey may not return; but I pray for their safe return. “The ducks unaware of the existence of clear and clean snow-melt, will keep their beaks in muddy and salty water for years.” He believed that prosperity was tied to an independent Bukhara, and understood general politics. He admired and supported us for working for independence.
Poet Colpan and Professor Samoylovic—
While I was in Xergos, I would visit the home allocated to me every other day. The poet Colpan (Abdulhamid Suleyman) would always arrive and wished to see me. But, since he was a poet, fearing that he would accidentally let the word out, I would always decline to acknowledge my presence and would not see him. He somewhat resented that. One day, he left a poem: “if my being a poet had not left me under a cloud of imputation of disequilibrium, I would have seen you.” When he arrived the next time, I agreed to see him. He said: “your old friend Professor Samoylovic wishes to see you; could that not be out of only of friendship?” I told him: “that is the precise reason why I have been avoiding you; you could let slip a word. Samoylovic is a friend of mine. But, the Soviets catch their quarry by following family members and friends. How can we know that Samoylovic is not a Soviet spy? In 1925, shortly after I arrived in Ankara from Germany, Professor Samoylovic also arrived there. Naturally, his government had sent him. He urged me to return to the homeland. I told him the event in Bukhara, and stated: “for me, there is no return. I am now a citizen of Turkiye. The greatest skill of the Soviets is their ability to make the friends and family members a spy each to reach their enemies. I am not suggesting you are one of them. But the Soviet secret police succeeded injecting spies inside the families, and occasionally use naïve and innocent people such as Colpan. That is my general principle. Because of that, no Soviet agent could get near me in Turkistan. I wish all Western nations could understand this spying method of the Soviets.” In fact, until I crossed from Turkistan into Iran in 1923, only my organization, soldiers and suite could reach me. No unknown or suspected person could. Samoylovic remained in Bukhara several days. He attempted to see me via all types of friends. Undoubtedly, he was serving his government. However, despite their sacrifices, they could not fool anyone. Later, the Soviets destroyed him, too.
Seyh Ata—
About that time, the Seyh of the Uskudar [of Istanbul] Ozbek Tekke [lodge], Seyh Ata stopped over in Bukhara on the way back from Khiva. He was able to see Han Cuneyd in a crafty manner; he also spoke with Anne Mahmud whom I saw in the Karakum Desert during 1920, and Anne Bala with whom I spoke in Urgenc. Anne Bala was the one who indicated to me that “if the Cedids had good intentions, let them leave ten rifles with their ammunition for us.” Those rifles were left at the specified location, and he had received them; he stated about me that “he is a straight man; Han Cuneyd was sorry he could not see and host him.” In sum, Seyh Ata brought us fresh news from that direction.
Feyzullah and Molla Bekcan as characters—
As a historian, I feel privileged to have observed the best days of the Bukhara Republic as established by the Bukhara educated during 1920. They were held in high regard by the population, who were expecting good results. These two had money printed on silk cloth. Russians had taken away the gold of the Han; the treasury was empty. Despite that, the cloth money had an important difference than the money of the Kerenski and the Soviets: their exchange rate was constant. However, as we observe in Turkiye today, there was the thought of finding salvation on the left. Performing everything the Russians asked, becoming friends with everybody who did the same in order to get closer to the Soviets was seen as the shortest means of eliminating competing groups. Among them, Feyzullah Hoca and his friends were very wealthy millionaires. The Russians were showing everyone that they favored him among all the other millionaires. Feyzullah realized he was deceived, had pangs of conscience because of that, and he was executed after causing damage to his dear friends.
Molla Bekcan was one such educated in Khiva. He was a poor idealist teacher. He liked whatever was left. Since he did not know Russian, he did not know who were the Russian leftists or their ideas in the RCP. He had arrived in Orenburg during the summer of 1918, in order to have talks with our Government. He was intending to visit Moscow, if he could find a way. He did not hesitate to frame himself as an “internationalist,” and he believed he would be successful in Moscow because of that. His only aim was to destroy the Khiva Khanate and replace it with a new joint government with the aid of the Soviets and the Young Khivans. I had him read the Order Number One we had printed and distributed to our population describing that the Soviet regime could not be applied in our country. I also had him talk with the Baskurt Nationalist Salah Atanagolov, who collaborated with the Soviets and then returned home. Afterward, he told me: “so, you do not believe this regime. Let us try it in Khiva once. The conditions are different there. I am a teacher of literature and history. Under the Soviets, that will remain so.” In response, I told him: “according to the Soviets, there is no Turk history of literature. They will only portray the Russian invasion as the most brilliant period of our Great Nation. They will have you give speeches out in the squares, where you will stress that the only way forward is Sovietism; later, they will kill you stating you have nationalism in your heart and throw your remains into the trash heap. It would be very good if you were to remove Isfendiyar Han as the Khiva Han, and replace him with a government of nationalist intellectuals; but not with Soviet aid.” He could not journey to Moscow; perhaps my words had an effect, and he returned home. This time, three days before my departure from Khiva at the end of 1920, there were very sincere talks within the inner rooms of the Republican Palace of Kiva among three individuals. Hoca Niyaz was convinced that the Russians would not allow this republic to live long. Molla Bekcan believed that accepting all the leftisms the Russians wanted would extend the life of the republic. I told him: “the leftisms wanted from the non-Russians are different than the real Russian leftism. Russian left communists are most reckless extremists. What is required of the non-Russian communists is to completely internalize the Russian ideals, which are: to swallow the nations that are prisoners of the Russians; to make the Russians superior in population, economics and cultural fields in the world; to have every non-Russian leftist agree to all this as if it was his own decision; to have them destroy all national feelings of their own nations from their foundations, only to live by the bread. If you are a leftist, you will in the end have to accept that your nation will become Russian.” Hoca asked what could be done if there was no benefit from the leftism of Bekcan. I answered: “Russians will take you seriously only if you are able to resist them by force of arms. Do not prevent the Ozbeks from joining the forces of Han Cuneyd. Some of your young men need to journey through the desert into Iran, and work to have the voice of Khorezm heard across the world. We are on this path; let my friend Molla Bekcan join the same road. There are others who can be Minister of Education. The Russians will allocate large numbers of aircraft and wireless radios in pursuit of suppressing the rebellion in Turkistan. You must work to have the counter-movement live in Karakum. The only thing you must do is to frame the movement in a format where it can be pursued inside and outside the country and to enable the individuals who will pursue the struggle anywhere.”
After the Russians dispersed the Khiva Government, they did not ask Molla Bekcan to “come join us, you were a leftist, work with us.” He was beaten in jail and was tortured much, and then executed. The famed Crimean author and poet Sevki Bektore had been jailed in Turkistan and in Siberian camps; he was later able to escape and arrive in Istanbul. He and one other friend were able to see the young left-socialists, among them Molla Bekcan, in detention. Molla Bekcan would tell them our talks in Khiva, and would cry in penitence that he would not leave for other countries in order to work for the independence of Turkistan.
The Programs of Erk Party and the Cedids—
The Erk Party program originally comprised of twenty-seven items; it was reduced to nine, as follows, as a result of discussions in Bukhara:
1.The Society's aim is to have a free Turkistan, and that the Turkistanis to take charge of their own destiny.
2. Free Turkistan's form of government is a democratic republic.
3. Freedom can only be obtained through a national army. National government can only be based on a national army.
4. Turkistan's freedom is dependent on economic freedom. Turkistanis must have control over the decisions concerning: the general outlines of the economic policy; deciding the balance of vocational and agricultural training and the level of importance to be accorded to each; designating the locations and the directions of future railroads and irrigation channels.
5. Contemporary and professional education must prevail. The acquaintance with the European civilization should be undertaken directly and not through Russians.
6. Nationality issues and the exploitation of the nation's natural resources will be organized according to census and prevailing proportions.
7. There will be freedom of religion. There will be no mixing of religious and state affairs.
As it can be noted, this program is primarily non- religious in character, and demonstrates religious tolerance. Shortly afterwards, the effort was expanded. According to Togan, the aim was to accommodate a full spectrum of political views then prevailing in Turkistan under a single umbrella, which, in today's terms, would be akin to a Popular Front. During this period, the Sosyalist Tude (party) was formed, later changing its name to Erk Party, and its program was shortened from 27 statutes to 9:
Erk Party Program
1. on the economic plane: In order to accomplish socialism; land, water and mineral wealth must be nationalized and village life collectivized.
2. to adapt, in a planned manner, the labor organizations of industrial countries to Turkistan. The farmers must also be regarded, from an organizational point, as laborers.
3. Turkistan must free itself from colonizers and become self-governing. This is the first and fundamental step for stratification and the acquisition by the farmers of means to fight for their own rights.
4. the government in free Turkistan will be the democratic system supporting the farmers and those supporting self-renewal without barriers. Turkistan parliament, provincial and city councils will be established and elected by the general population directly.
5. Establishment of the national army will aid the governance and the application of socialism.
6. In Turkistan, the nationality and minority affairs are governed according to census figures and in representative proportions.
7. on the educational plane: Affairs are to be arranged such that, the native population will have direct control of the country's governance; the national government will undertake all contemporary governmental services, modern transportation, railroads, post and telegraph, agricultural and industrial organization. Cultural affairs must be organized to reflect the strong national local culture, to remove foreign, meaning Russian influences. To establish business and trade schools in order to effect general education are among the principal objectives of education.
8. Religious affairs are kept totally separate from the affairs of the government.
9. Turkistan Socialist Party can participate in an "International," provided that such a gathering is composed, in principle, of parties like itself, for the purpose of fighting for the freedom of oppressed nations.
The detailed Program may be found in my Turkili Turkistan volume (Pp. 411-414) and the discussion pertaining to the aims and application of Socialism in Turkistan was published in Prague, after we left Russia, in Russian.
Jadid Terakkiperver Party Program
1. To live as an independent nation, based on native culture, is the principle precept of life. This is the ideal of all nations. We aim to have an independent Turkistan with a national government. Nationality is based on the unity of language, religion, tradition, literature and custom.
2. The nature of government in free Turkistan is republic. Sovereignty is in the hands of the national assembly, councils for the provinces and cities, elected according to democratic precepts.
3. Members of the central government are appointed by the President, with the approval of the national assembly. Governors of the provinces are appointed by the central government. Chairmen of the provincial and city councils are elected by the members of those assemblies. The regulations governing the election of the members of the provincial councils are established by the first Kurultay (congress) of independent Turkistan.
4. In Turkistan, non-Turk minority communities will have full civil rights. Turk elements must work rigorously and collectively to preserve the Turkistan culture.
5. Turkistan national government will depend on its national soldiers. Military service is mandatory.
6. Provincial governments will establish local police forces, which will be under the jurisdiction of the national defense organization.
7. There will be freedom of religion in the country. The State guarantees the freedom of the performance of religious rights. Foreign (religious) missions will not be permitted to operate in the country.
8. Freedom of the press and publication and the personal freedoms will be secured through the constitution.
9. Taxes will be proportional to income. So will the inheritance taxes. In Turkistan, taxes that are the remnants of medieval times will be abolished.
10. Principles of land ownership will be based on the fact that water, land and the mineral wealth under and on the land, and the forests belong to the state. Land will be given to villagers as private property.
11. Private persons cannot engage in directly buying and selling of water and land with each other. These transactions can only be enacted through the state. Laws pertaining to ownership are determined by local custom and jurisprudence.
12. Turkistan's freedom can only be ensured with economic independence. In this vein, Turkistan will strive to establish and develop modern economic relations with neighboring countries.
13. The principal issue of land in Turkistan requires that the whole nation work with all its might to irrigate and expand cultivation. Water management must be handled with great care.
14. In Turkistan, especially Kazak, Kirgiz, and Turkmen provinces, the most important issue is the transition from nomadic to settled life. This problem can be solved by irrigating regions alongside large rivers. No immigrants can be brought to Turkistan other than ethnic Turks and Moslems.
15. The solution to the problem of workers in Turkistan is dependent on the development of industry. Working conditions of the workers, working hours, rights of child and women laborers are determined according to methods prevailing in developed countries.
16. Equal justice for everyone shall prevail. This will be accomplished, without regard to differences in religion and sect, by accepting and applying modern laws.
17. General free education is to be striven for. Citizens can establish private educational institutions, provided that they are not against the interests of the state.
18. Importance shall be attached especially to the establishment of trade schools and to sending students to Europe.
19. Turkistan being the hearth of an ancient civilization, those monuments of civilization accumulated throughout centuries will be preserved, organized to serve the development of the national civilization.
It must be categorically stated that the proposed future administration of Turkistan by two parties, one radical national and other socialist, was not influenced by any outside thought. This developed due to local conditions and in 1921 through consultations with the educated leadership representing the local population of Turkistan. The Alash Orda was added to others to form a three party system. At the time, during deliberations, Turkistan nationals were not aware of the existence of the two party systems in England and in America.
Formation of Turkistan National Union, and the First Congress—
We prepared the Party Programs as well as the “Joint Platform” but we could not establish the Joint Committee. The primary reason was a sort of competition between the Bukharans and the Taskentians, as well as the distrust shown by the Bukharans and Taskentians toward the Kazaks. Because of that, there was not the possibility of electing the President of the General Committee. The Bukharans were convinced that there was nobody from amongst them who could perform the expected activities. Especially the Abdulkadir Muhittinov and the Feyzullah Hoca groups did not even wish to hear the other being nominated for the position. We Baskurts wanted to nominate Munevver Kari of Tashkent, but the Bukharans did not accept that. On the other hand, the President of the Committee, when required, would need to give-up open living and go underground. Munevver Kari wished to remain official, what may come. We proposed Sadreddin Ayni, a leader of the Tajiks; he, too, wished to remain official. Besides, those who supported him were very few.
During July, the member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Ismail Suphi Soysallioglu had arrived in Bukhara. He was travelling, ostensibly, as a Turkish member leaning toward the Communist Party. As such, he obtained the conditions to travel freely in Turkistan. He even visited Khiva. However, he was tasked with duties by General Mustafa Kemal. This person spoke with me several times; then, at my request he spoke with the competing Ozbek and Tajik representatives. He was concerned with the impasse in the establishment of the Joint Committee, and proposed all parties to meet at a suitable place at night. We met the evening of 30 July, at the home of Mirza Abdulkadir. Suphi Bey apparently spoke with all parties in advance and proposed that I be elected to the Presidency of the Committee, which was accepted by all. At the evening meeting, he made a good speech, repeated the same proposal. It was agreed upon unanimously. Members of the Central Committee were also elected. As a result, I became active as the President of TMB [Turkistan National Union], meaning the Joint Committee, on 2 August. During those critical days, a People’s Deputy sent by General Mustafa Kemal from Turkiye was decisively influential in the establishment of a national center in Turkistan and over the Kazak Alas-Orda representatives, especially over Dinse and the Afghan Anbassador Abdurresul Han [sic].
Mirza Abdulkadir very much appreciated that outcome, and gifted me a thick silk prayer rug containing beautiful writings on it, and a gold watch containing inscriptions.
Osman Hoca sent me a letter from Sirabad, expressing his happiness in my appointment as the President of the Society. Osman Hoca also wrote that he was in favor of armed rebellion against the Russians without reservations. He was the Independent Representative of Eastern Bukhara. Between 2 and 5 August, the “National Unity Congress” met. This was the Fifth Congress since the meetings in Moscow. The Society was designated as the “Union of Moslem Central Asian National Vami Society.” For the Society, a Seal had been commissioned by a Tajik Member of the Society for use by the Central Committee. I still have that Seal, on which the word “Orta [Central]” was spelled as “Otar.” We all laughed, and it remained as such. The draft by-laws of the Society were approved at that meeting. It was decided to convene another Congress in Samarkand during September, to immediately contact the Basmaci groups, and send them political advisers. Two deputies were set to Mustafa Sahkul, who was originally sent during June. They remained with the head of Basmaci Devletmend in the region of Kulab, representing the Society, and established contacts with the Lakay tribe whose chief was unbendingly Emirist.
