CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY (ISSN: 2767-472X)
https://masterjournals.com/index.php/crjh
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VOLUME:
Vol.06 Issue01 2025
10.37547/history-crjh-06-01-04
Page: - 12-14
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The issue of women in the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic
(1920-1924)
Rahmonova Surayyo Xolqo‘zi qizi
PhD student at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
Received:
23 November 2024
Accepted:
25 December 2024
Published:
27 January 2025
INTRODUCTION
After the establishment of Soviet power in Turkestan, the
Khiva Khanate, which had existed for several centuries,
was one of the first to be abolished. The impact of this
change also affected the social life of the people, especially
women.
The economic and political crisis in Turkestan in the 1920s
led to the following situation in Khorezm. In 1920, the
resolution of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of
Khorezm stated that there were many poor people in
Khiva, and that it was necessary to build labor colonies and
shelters for women, children, and the elderly so that they
would not die of hunger.
In such a situation, in order to improve the social life of the
population, in particular, their health, in 1920 the TASSR
sent 3 doctors, 8 paramedics, 1 dentist and 1 midwife to
Khiva to open 3 hospitals. However, these numbers did not
allow providing medical care to all the population. When
considering the issue of women at that time, the Women's
Work Department in Turkestan recognized that although
reaching the Khorezm Republic required great difficulties
(riding on horseback and camels in the desert), work
among women yielded results. This was evidenced by the
fact that 3 women were delegates, 4 of whom were
members of the Soviet Congress, and 5 women formed
colleagues in the Women's Work Department (of whom 1
was Kyrgyz and 3 were Uzbeks). However, these numbers
were very few for the entire Republic.
The Soviet political system, which was gradually entering
into force, attempted to make changes in the social life of
women. One of these was the resolution of the Khorezm
Council of Ministers on July 3, 1921 on the procedure for
concluding and dissolving marriage. It stipulated that if a
marriage existed among those who had not reached the age
of marriage, the bride would not meet the groom until she
reached the specified age, but the groom would provide the
bride with food and clothing. After reaching the age of 16,
the marriage would be voluntary or irrevocable. From the
date of publication of this resolution, early marriage was
prohibited, and violators of the resolution were sentenced
to 5 years in prison by a tribunal. If the husband did not
provide his wife with sufficient food, tortured her, or beat
her to the point of leaving scars on her div, and this was
confirmed by witnesses, the woman could divorce him in
accordance with Sharia law. If the husband did not beat his
wife or torture her but did not provide her with sufficient
support, the husband would divorce her with his consent.
If the woman's application contained lies and slander, the
wife would be returned to her husband. If a woman
opposed the decision, she was punished accordingly. This
decision can be understood as a form of compromise
ABSTRACT
This article aims to shed light on issues related to the social life of women in the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic in 1920 -
1924, such as education, family and marital relations, and the activities of the Department for Working with Women.
Keywords:
Economic hardship, marriage, education, Ministry of Education, early life, resistance, schools.
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between the traditional order and the new one by the Soviet
authorities of the USSR.
Gradually, the women's issue began to spread more widely.
In 1923, a Women's Affairs Department was established in
Khorezm, not only in the capital, but also in the regions.
However, it was emphasized that the women of Khorezm
were not interested in participating in the changes taking
place. In 1924, when the Women's Affairs Department
made a report on March 8 and the situation of women in
the East, working women were completely exempted from
the 12-hour work day, but the event did not go well. The
Women's Affairs Department also held 4 talks with Uzbek
women that year. When the issue of establishing a regional
department for working on women's issues was raised,
there was a problem of finding a worker to work in it. In
this regard, a personal request was made to the Central
Asian Bureau to send a worker for this Khorezm issue in
the East. This situation also symbolized great Russian
chauvinism. During this period, not only in Khorezm, but
also in other Soviet republics, heads of Russian nationality
were appointed to manage women's issues.
The five-year collection of the Women's Work Department
provides information about the activities of Khorezm
women that contradicts the above facts: In 1924, at the
conference of the district volosts, women did not remain
silent as before. They demanded marriage, land and water
laws. In 1923, the aul soviet had 14 members, later 39
members. One of them was a Turkish woman. In a number
of districts, girls were accepted as active participants in
Komsomol work. In January 1924, 41 Uzbek women
participated in a hashar to establish a Women's Work
Department as an aid to the Red Army. In New Urgench,
girls worked in a general Komsomol club, even
participated in theater performances. Khiva itself had
national actresses. Such facts were more intended for
propaganda purposes.
From this time on, women began to appear openly in the
theater. Abdusalomov, Safoev, Dauletov, Otajonov,
Boltaev, Murotov and others allowed their wives to walk
without a veil. However, the existing changes also served
to break the traditional society. The Department for
Working with Women was often approached with the issue
of separation.
One of the most important issues in the social life of
women in the dark era was education. In 1920, the People's
Commissariat of Education was established in Khorezm.
Bekjon Rakhmonov was elected People's Commissariat of
Education. With the establishment of the People's
Commissariat of Education, schools were opened in the
cities (Khiva, Urgench, Dargaza, Khozorasp, Khata,
Kattakungrad and Kungrad), and in connection with the
opening of schools, a need arose for teachers. Priests who
graduated from religious madrasas were appointed to them.
That is why the schools opened by the Soviet government
were like old schools and did not serve their purpose.
According to the letter of the head of the department for
working with women, it was noted that the desire of
Khorezm women to study was high, especially among
young people. There were also schools for adults, and in
Khiva itself there was a school for the elimination of
illiteracy for delegates. It is interesting that girls entered
general schools in the villages of Taraz. Girls also studied
in such general schools in Khanka and Gurlan.
By the way, it was stated that everywhere in the old schools
there was always coeducation, and the attitude of the
people to coeducation was favorable, and the establishment
of a separate women's school was a wrong path that led to
the disintegration of the coeducation of the younger
generation.
Elders and mullahs began to turn the people against the
new schools, thinking that they would take them to
Moscow and baptize them. Believing this, the population
withdrew their children from schools. After this event, the
Ministry of Education issued an order to compile a list of
children of school age from 7 to 15 years old. On the day
after the announcement of this decree, believers, scholars,
judges and rich people gather in Madamin Madrasa.
At this meeting, all the clergy spread propaganda not only
against the Ministry of Education, but also against the
entire Soviet republic, that they were violating Sharia law,
that the Russian Tatars had sent them to Khiva for this very
purpose, and that they intended to marry all the Khorezm
girls to the Russians. They called on all citizens to join the
holy war against the Soviets. This rally was dispersed by
the youth association.
As a result of the rally, the Ministry's order was canceled
and the education of children remained in the hands of the
clergy. The influence of elders and clergy among the
people increased, and as a result, almost all the schools
opened by the Ministry of Education that year were empty,
and the marriage of minor girls amounted to 75 percent.
CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY (ISSN: 2767-472X)
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These actions of the Khorezm people arose as a kind of
protection of their daughters from the invading non-
religious people. This proves that in addition to economic
hardship, there were also the above reasons for marrying
off girls who had not yet reached the age of childbearing.
According to the report on educational work in Khorezm,
the number of students attending one of the girls' schools
was 75. There were 3 girls' schools in total: in Khiva,
Kungrad, and Urgench. The lack of books in the national
language of the population in almost all schools in
Khorezm, the lack of teaching aids and allowances,
severely hampered educational work in the region.
On December 27, 1923, the USSR asked the TASSR to
provide Khorezm students with clothing. Their condition
was very deplorable, almost naked. As a last resort, it was
stated that if measures were not taken to satisfy the
students, they would have to satisfy them at their own
expense, and this money would have to be paid for by their
students in Tashkent.
According to a report sent by Safayev and Abdusalomov
to the Women's Department in Tashkent in January 1924,
about 200 girls were studying in Khorezm, 40 in Khiva,
and 65 in Yangi Urgench. In 1924, 9 girls from Khorezm
came to Tashkent to study. The fact that on March 19,
1924, a petition was written on the women's Internet asking
for firewood for the bathhouse indicates that the material
and technical support for girls' education was insufficient.
Although the USSR was not as conservative in its views on
women as the nomadic Turkmen and Karakalpak cultures
in the USSR and the USSR inhabited by ethnic minorities,
it created its own system of protecting women from
invading non-religious peoples.
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