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BRIEF HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TOPONYM
"NUKUS"
Jarekeev Muxammedyar Berdaxovich
Doctoral student of Karakalpak Research Institute of Humanities
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16416761
Abstract:
This article is dedicated to the study of the "Nukus" toponym and
the history of its formation. Studying the Nukus toponym will help us determine
a lot of information. The article presents the scientific views expressed by
historians, ethnographers, and philologist-toponymists regarding toponyms.
Keywords:
Onomastics, Nukus city, Nukus, toponym, toponymy, Nukus
ethnonym.
Introduction.
The city of Nukus, with its favorable natural and
geographical location, today has the status of a capital. Place names, or
toponyms, located within the city's territory constitute a small group of
geographical names in our republic. However, they have not yet been studied as
a special object of scientific research.
Studying the toponyms of the city of Nukus and the history of their
formation will help us determine a lot of information. Because they serve to
determine a number of factors, such as the location, customs, and occupations of
the people, clans, tribes, and peoples who lived and are living in that area. At the
same time, city toponyms reflect the characteristics and natural state of
geographical objects. Their comprehensive linguistic study will help find
solutions to a number of important issues in the history of Karakalpakstan in
Karakalpak onomastics.
Information about the political and economic situation, administrative-
territorial division, territorial distribution of the population living in the city, its
subordinate lands, settlements, villages, the culture of the population living in
them, and their professions has long interested scientists. Based on this,
researchers who traveled among the Karakalpaks and collected materials on the
history and ethnography of Karakalpakstan mentioned Nukus and some of its
place names. Because Nukus holds a significant place in our republic in
promoting the history, language, and honor of the Karakalpak people to the
world.
In historical sources and literature from past centuries, we encounter
"Memoirs of Nukus" in the Amu Darya valley. On a map compiled by Muravin, a
geodesist from the Russian envoys who traveled through the territory of the
Karakalpak Horde and the Aral Sea region, traveling to Khiva between 1740 and
1741, we see the "Nurkusa krepos" (Nukus Fortress) on the right bank of the
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Amu Darya River. From this, we understand that as early as the 18th century,
there was a Nukus fortress on the banks of the Amu Darya, inhabited by the
people of Nukus. [12]
Information about Nukus can also be found in foreign sources. For example,
in the 1870s, Major Herbert Wood, a British officer who traveled through the
lands of Karakalpakstan, published his collected materials in the January 1876
issue of the "Geographikal magazine" as an extensive article titled "The shores of
Lake Aral". [1] Within the chapters related to Karakalpakstan, section 19, titled
"Russia on the Amu Darya," provides information about the village of Nukus, the
port of Petro-Alexandrovsk, the military life of the Amu Darya, the
Quvanishjarma River, local boats on the Amu Darya, and the Yangidarya River.
The author writes that the village of Nukus, surrounded by mud walls on the
right bank of the Amu Darya River, was situated above the Quvonishjarma
River's outlet. Speaking about the presence of new Russian fortifications a
kilometer or two north of Nukus, he described mud-enclosed walls and two
round walls facing each other. It states that there were barracks for two
garrisons of infantry.
The names "Nukus tribe" and "Nukus fortress" appear in the work
"Shajarayi Xorazmshohiy" by the 19th-century Khwarazmian historian
Muhammad Yusuf Bayani. [10] In it, Bayoniy writes about 14 clans of the
Karakalpaks, stating that the "Nukus" clan joined the Mang'its, forming a hill,
and the Nukus people intermingled with the Keneges. Academician Ya. G'ulomov
uses this information in his work. History records that at the end of the 18th
century, the Karakalpaks formed their own khanate, headed by Sultan
Abdurahman, and in 1855, Zarliq To're ruled in Shimbay, establishing Nukus as
their center.
Thanks to our independence, full access to archives has been created. New
information about the history of Nukus, the capital of the Republic of
Karakalpakstan, is being discovered. Resolution No. 34 of the Council of People's
Commissars of the RSFSR dated January 13, 1932, concerning the relocation of
the former capital of our republic, To'rtko'l, to Nukus due to the risk of flooding
due to its geographical location, is among the important documents for the city's
history. Therefore, we present some information about this historical document
below:
The State Planning Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the
RSFSR, headed by Rogov, formed a commission consisting of six people, and
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Churbanov, Bekimbetov, Vikulin, and Starikov represented the Karakalpak
Autonomous Oblast. A meeting was held on January 17, 1932 (minutes No. 51).
The commission meeting primarily considered the issue of moving the
capital of the Karakalpak Autonomous Region to Nukus.
Considering the following situation, the relocation of the capital of
Karakalpakstan from To'rtko'l to Nukus was deemed necessary starting in 1932.
The reasons are:
Cotton growing and livestock farming are leading sectors in the national
economy, and the city of Nukus should be located close to most districts engaged
in these sectors.
Taking into account the proximity of Nukus to the historically industrialized
city of Khojeyli;
To facilitate communication between nearby districts. (To'rtko'l is close to
3 districts, while Nukus is close to 10)
The central location of the city of Nukus contributes to the economic
development of the national economy and facilitates the development of
construction projects here in the future.
It has been stated that Turtkul is a danger to the city during the Amu
Darya's flood and that the continuation of flooding will continue, while Nukus
must be recognized as a natural location. [7]
We find information about the city of Nukus in the works of H.Esbergenov,
S.Nurjanov, G.Khojaniyazov and V.Yagodin, V.Tatibaeva, K.Kunnazarov, who
considered it in a historical aspect. [2] O.Yusupov, in particular, published
several special articles.
H.Esbergenov, S.Nurjanov, G.Khojaniyazov and V.Yagodin provided
extensive information on the city's formation and development in their work
dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Nukus being the capital of the Republic of
Karakalpakstan. [1] It provides information on the history of population
settlement in the city of Nukus, the construction of the city of Nukus, and the
relocation of the Republic's capital to Nukus.
K. Kunnazarov, who extensively discussed the history of the city's
construction, skillfully narrated the history of our capital's construction based
on fact. [5] In it, the author, as a construction engineer, elaborates on the
construction projects he participated in.
O. Yusupov's articles can be cited as another important source providing
more detailed information about the city's history. [12] These articles provide
valuable information on the city's history, formation, governance system,
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election of volosts, governors, begs, begs, and division of lands into volosts, the
history of the Qizketken Canal's construction, the contribution of the population
of Nukus city to the Second World War of 1939-1945, its difficult life, writers,
poets, and educators, and the city's history during the years of independence.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, considering that people lived in the territory of
Karakalpakstan as clans and tribes, and that the village or city where members
of one clan gathered was named after their clan, and that this still exists today,
we believe the idea that the name of the city of Nukus originated from the name
of the Nukus clan of the Karakalpaks is closer to the truth. A number of studies
have been conducted on the origin of the term "Nukus," however, considering its
occurrence in the languages of other peoples, it is one of the issues requiring
deeper research today.
References:
1. Herbert Wood. The shores of Lake Aral // Geographikal magazine. 1876. – V.
III. – P. 190-191.
2. Есбергенов Х., Нуржанов С., Хожаниязов Ғ., Ягодин В. Нөкис –
Қарақалпақстан Республикасының пайтахты: әййемги ҳәм наўқыран қала.
Tashkent, 2002;
3. Татыбаева В. Нукус – столица Каракалпакской АССР. 1979;
4. Қунназаров К. Қарақалпақстанның қала ҳәм районлары. – Nukus, 2016;
5. Қунназаров К. Нөкис қаласының қурылыў тарийхынан. – Nukus, 2003;
6. Қунназаров К. Бес қала. – Nukus, 2010;
7. Есбергенов Х., Нуржанов С., Хожаниязов Ғ., Ягодин В. Nukus –
Қарақалпақстан Республикасының пайтахты: әййемги ҳәм наўқыран қала.
Тashkent, 2002.
8. Есназарова З. Қарақалпақстанның пайтахты туўралы айырым дереклер:
[Нөкис қаласына – 70 жыл] / Зульфия Есназарова // Устаз. – 2002. – October
17.
9. Қунназаров К. Нөкис қаласының қурылыў тарийхынан. – Nukus, 2003.
10. Шажарайи Хоразмшоҳий. – Tashkent: Мерос, 1992.
11. Юсупов О. Нөкис қаласы, оның өтмиши қандай болған? // Қарақалпақ
жаслары. – Nukus: 2002. №35-36;
12. Юсупов О. Нөкис қашан пайда болған? // Совет Қарақалпақстаны. –
Nukus, 1981, June 22. – №58.
