‘Delimitation of National Boundaries in Soviet Central Asia’ by Feizulla Khodjaev from The Communist. Vol. 2 No. 9. February, 1925.

One of the first cells of the RKSM (Revolutionary Communist Youth Union) of Uzbekistan at the printing house No. 1. Tashkent, 1922-23.

The Russian Revolution was in fact a revolution among many nations of the Czarist Empire. Imperial Russia was an expansionist, colonizing state and an essential component of the Soviet experience was its attempt to do justice to the demands for self-determination expressed by many inmates in the Empire’s ‘prison-house of nations.’ Here translated from Uzbek is Feizulla Khodjaev, then Chairman of the Council of Nazir of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Bokhara addressing the new organization of Central Asian republics. Khodjaev, Fayzulla Xoʻjayev, was associated with Bukharin’s tendency in the Communist Party, was sentenced to death and executed on March 13, 1938 as part of the ‘Trial of the 21.’

‘Delimitation of National Boundaries in Soviet Central Asia’ by Feizulla Khodjaev from The Communist. Vol. 2 No. 9. February, 1925.

Political Boundaries in Central Asia.

The Disintegration of Nationalities in Central Asia. National Hatred.

THE division of Soviet Central Asia into independent national republics now being carried into effect, marks an event of great political, economic and cultural importance. The development of the economic and cultural life of the peoples of Central Asia within the existing political boundaries, is absolutely impossible, and one has only to study, even superficially, the national composition of any of the Middle Asiatic countries to be convinced of this. Each nationality has its own characteristic manner of life with its own national economic and cultural peculiarities. The existing division of Central Asia into the republics of Turkestan, Bokhara and Khorezm, is an entirely artificial one, which splits up each of the nationalities occupying these republics into fragments. The existing boundaries are the result of the annexatory ambitions of hostile feudal lords (Emirs and Khans) who in their own interest exploited the disputes and collisions which took place between the nomadic and the settled peoples owing to economic differences (land and water).

Mikhail Kalinin and Fayzulla Khodzhaev at the Founding Congress of Uzbekistan. 1925.

Czarist Russia, after overcoming Turkestan, transformed the Khanates of Bokhara and Khiva into colonies, and in order to enslave them completely, strove to sow hatred, enmity and conflict between the various nationalities.

The October Revolution liberated the people of Turkestan. Shortly after the peoples of Bokhara and Khorezm also secured their freedom, and the Communist Party and the governments of the Central Asiatic Republic set themselves the task of putting an end to national enmity and abolishing the last relics of this deplorable heritage of Czarism.

Until quite recently it was impossible to accomplish this complicated and difficult task owing to the ceaseless struggle which was being carried on against dashnaks and the agents of imperialism. Only now have we succeeded in working out a plan for the territorial division of Central Asia according to nationality which will serve us in the radical solution of the problem.

New Boundaries Correspond with National Economic Needs.

The organisation of national republics according to geographical peculiarities and customs offers the peoples of Central Asia tremendous possibilities for future political development.

After the delimitation of boundaries has been completed, the newly-organised republics will consist of areas in which peoples are united according to uniformity of economic conditions and of manners and customs.

By this method of division the economic forms of the various republics will be most clearly brought out and the relations between the various elements of national economy will be clearly defined; this will facilitate the establishment of a definite system and sequence in the economic life of the Central Asiatic people as a whole, thereby providing a sure foundation for intensive development in the future.

For the Toilers of Central Asia.

The establishment of the Uzbec Republic, the autonomous Tadji Republic, the Turkomen and Kirghiz Republics, and the autonomous region of Kara-Kirghiz, correctly and according to historical requirements, solves the problem of national territorial distribution. The toiling masses of Central Asia, fully conscious of the necessity for the measures taken, have firmly and confidently proceeded to create the various new republics.

The idea of creating the independent Socialist Republic of Uzbec as an organic part of the U.S.S.R. met with the full support of the toiling population of Bokhara; not only the organised peasants (dekhans) and workers of the city, but even the populations of small and out-of-the-way villages have perfectly well understood the importance of the measures taken, and responded by numerous resolutions of approval. The desires expressed by the toilers of Bokhara have now been fulfilled by the Bokhara Central Committee. In order that the masses may be able to understand the tremendous importance and benefit to be derived from these measures, it is necessary that the Party and Soviet organisations, and especially the comrades who were present at the recent session of the Bokhara Central Executive Committee, should devote themselves to popularising the schemes of national territorial divisions among the population.

Kurultai of Women of Uzbekistan, in the center Jakhon Obidova – Deputy Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the UzSSR. 1931.

Let us proceed to a detailed review of this question.

Why the Delimitation of National Boundaries is Necessary.

The Cause of the Enslavement of the Toilers.

At all times the causes permitting the enslavement of the peoples of Central Asia and others have been the same, viz., ignorance and isolation from world culture. It was due to these causes that our people even in the 20th century were made to bear the heavy yoke of Asiatic feudalism.

Ignorant and deprived of all rights, they were not allowed to enjoy the fruits of their arduous toil; they were never able to satisfy their hunger, and while creating riches for their oppressors, were themselves obliged to live a life of wretchedness and deprivation.

At the head of a handful of national oppressors stood the tyrant Emir possessing unlimited power; the people were his slaves in the real sense of the word; over them the Emir possessed full mastery of life and property.

The Tyrants’ Quarrel.

Some sixty or seventy years before it came into the power of the Russian Empire, Central Asia broke up into three Khanates–Bokhara, Khorezm and Fergana, representing the remnant of the wide dominion of Timur. The struggles for supremacy and for the crown between the Emir rulers and the hostility between the nomadic and the settled peoples arising out of disputes over land and water, were the economic and political causes which increasingly aggravated the relations between the Central Asiatic States, leading them into ceaseless warfare, enfeebling their international and external power, and profoundly disturbing the basis of national well-being. National conflicts were aggravated by prejudice. In order to overcome these enmities, in order once and for all to abolish the economic causes of hostility between the nomadic and settled peoples, and in order in every way to facilitate the cultural progress of the peoples of Central Asia and their economic well-being, the nations, which have only just emerged from the epoch of feudalism, are now proceeding to give effect to their national rights and are organizing themselves into separate national republics. Only the fanatic Turkites will refuse to admit that age-long hostility and disorder will thereby be abolished. The ideas of the Turkites with which we must deal, are devoid of all justification.

Tashkent. November 1906. The Old Regime.

Pan-Turkism.

The Pan-Turk Idea.

The idea of the Pan-Turks amounts to this, that in Central Asia there is one natural tribal division of peoples into two main sections-the Turks and the Tadjis. From this premise the Pan-Turks arrive at the belief that all the Turkish races, whether Uzbec, Kirghiz, Kaisaks, or Turkomen can be united into a single whole in spite of the differences of economic life and national customs.

This is, of course, a profound and dangerous error which even a superficial acquaintance with a history of Central Asia and with the existing fundamentally different conditions and needs of the various Turkish races renders at once apparent.

Our View of Pan-Turkism.

We assert that when proceeding to unite peoples, we must be guided entirely by similarity of customs and manner of life and identity of economic needs, and not by racial origin. We ask the advocates of Pan-Turkism, who assert that the Turkish race represents one single whole, to point out a single instance in history when, moved by consideration of the identity of their origin, the Turkish race and states lived together in peace and harmony in spite of conflicting economic interests. History in fact, demonstrates the contrary. Timur and Bayazad, both Turks, were always enemies. Timur conducted a brutal warfare against the other Turkish Khanate, took its ruler captive, harried it with fire and sword, and subjected it. It is obvious that Timur and Bayazad were not moved by considerations of racial similarity; their ambitions were directed against each other; each strove to overcome the other and compel the vanquished to cover the expenses and increase the riches of the victor, in spite of identity of race. It is also obvious that the cause of wars was not the desire for national unity, but motives of policy and economic advantage. Osman, Chinghiz, Timur and their like, all apparently strove to maintain and strengthen Turkism, but a dispassionate investigation of historical facts and the relations between the Turkish races, fails to reveal the unity of the Turkish peoples. And today still we find differences existing between the various Turkish races even occupying one territory. In brief, the assertion that peoples can be united into a nation on the principle of racial identity, or that the race is the nation, is entirely devoid of foundation.

How Nations Develop.

Tribes of one and the same people living in different places, under differing geographical and climatic conditions, will inevitably develop different manners of life and peculiarities to the given locality and the given forms of labour.

Fayzulla Xo’jayev, first head of the Bukharan People’s Soviet Republic.

No nation acquires peculiar national characteristics in the first period of its existence. The formation of the nation does not depend upon racial or religious identity, but results from the economic and other forms of human cohabitation and characteristic of various epochs. Consequently, Turkism was condemned to failure from the very start by history, and by the very nature of things. Indeed it is a fantastic theory which does not correspond with the real demands of life; it is not a principle which governs the conduct of the Central Asiatic peoples.

The methods of life which develop in any epoch depend upon the character of the forms of labour and the conditions of human society; the idea of a nation is, therefore, determined by history, its language, its economic conditions, and the unity of its territory. The cultural demands of a nation increase from day to day; its language becomes perfected and reflects its characteristic psychological peculiarities; the methods of labour also improve, the cultural level rises, and the nation gradually proceeds to the final stage of its development.

The Interests of the Toilers Above All.

The Turkish tribes and peoples to-day differ from each other very widely, not only in their manner of life, but also in language, which is the key of the whole matter; they finally differ in their outlook and in the stage of their cultural development. Now that in the teaching of Lenin, Marxism has reached its maximum of clarity, and when the aims and measures taken by the Soviet Government are based entirely upon considerations of the interests of the toilers, and of historical consistency, the idea of Turkism, not only from the point of view of the Communists, but also from the point of view of plain common sense, must be regarded as an unhealthy idea enveloped in empty and useless utopian phrases. It is impossible forcibly to unite peoples whose manner of life differs· profoundly; it is impossible to establish peace among backward natio11s with differing psychologies, without satisfying the vital requirements which resulted therefrom.

If the boundaries between peoples, are wrongly and unnaturally defined, their life becomes abnormal. This constant abnormality reflects unhealthily upon the national wellbeing, hampers national development, and becomes one of the main causes of national enmity and hostility.

The International Importance of the National Question.

The Imperialists Cannot Solve the National Problem.

Other countries besides ours are faced with the national problem. But not everywhere can it be solved so easily and with such advantage to the toiling class. It is of no use expecting a solution of the national problem from the imperialist powers who maintain many millions of the toilers of the East in a state of slavery and artificial national hostility. Our solution of the problem became possible only after the October victory of the working class led by the Communist Party. This is recognised by the toilers and by the oppressed peoples of the whole world, and all from the sons of the East languishing under the yoke of England, France and America, to the African negroes, are occupied with the question of their own emancipation and are following our solution of the national problem with the greatest attention.

An Example for the Oppressed Nationalities.

Chekists of the UzSSR.

The peoples of Central Asia emancipated by the revolution, have before the eyes of all the oppressed nations of the world proceeded to the independent decision of their fate. The peoples of Turkestan for seven years have been engaged in constructing their own manner of life, and endeavouring to improve and protect it by their own efforts. For four years now the peoples of Bokhara and Khorezm are living and governing their country without the Emirs and their officials.

Having driven out the Emirs and their followers, the peoples of Central Asia set up their organs of administration upon the soviet principle, and proceeded to reconstruct the shattered towns and disorganised agriculture; they have now made great advances towards the improvement of their economic situation. Our labours have met with success. In spite of the banished Khans and the supporters of the Czar, the peoples of South Asia are building up a new life by their independent efforts and are taking all necessary measures for the preservation and consolidation of their conquests. Today, the peoples of South Asia are abolishing the last relics of Emirism and Czarism-the old false divisions and boundaries, and on the principle of the self-determination of nations, are setting up new national republics. Is this not a great example for the oppressed nations beyond the frontiers of the Soviet Republics?

The Communist Party and the National Question.

Our Slogans.

Our Party has taken all the factors into account, and from its very formation has regarded the national question as one of its fundamental tasks, taking the view that one of the chief prerequisites for world-wide social revolution is a correct attitude towards and a correct solution of the national problem. Our solution of the problem is based upon the following principles:

(1) National self-determination: every nation has the right of independent existence.

(2) Complete freedom for national minorities the protection of their national economic rights, and the organisation of the nations into a powerful union of toilers.

(3) The complete removal of national antagonisms, and the taking of radical measures to guarantee peace and free labour.

What Lenin Taught Us.

Even before the revolution, Lenin in his book entitled “The National Question in the Imperialist Epoch,” wrote:

“Victorious Socialism must not only introduce the complete equality of nations, but also afford oppressed nations the right of self-determination, i.e., of free political existence. Socialist parties, who do not make it clear in all their activities now, during the revolution and after their victory, that they will emancipate the enslaved nations and will establish relations with them on the basis of free union-free union is a hollow phrase without the right of separation- are guilty of a betrayal of Socialism.”

January 27, 1924. Gogolevskaya Street, Tashkent. V. I. Lenin’s funeral.

After the October Revolution these words of Lenin were put into practice. Many Socialist parties of the West, as Lenin foresaw, betrayed the workers and the social revolution by their treatment of the national question. The Russian Communist Party, however, having fought the national chauvinist policy of the Czarist government and the Kerensky Government, always and everywhere in the decision of political economic, and social questions, defended the interests of the toiling class as a toiling class, independent of nationality.

What our Party has Done for the Oppressed Nationalities.

Our Party has not divided peoples according to colour, religion or nationality. It did, in fact, apply the principle of self-determination to the extent of separation to all the nationalities emancipated from the yoke of the Russian imperialists; and in 1917, when Czarist government received its fatal blow, when in October the working class drove out the government of the capitalists, and power passed into the hands of the workers, from that moment our Party begun to put its slogans into practice. In securing the national rights for the Tartars, the Kirghiz, the Armenians and other peoples, the Russian Communist Party was a guiding star. On the ruins of the Czarist system, our Party organised a workers’ government, basing itself upon the free and equal federation of the national republics. The Party made it one of its immediate tasks to overcome the remnants of national hostility and thereby guaranteed the permanence of the Union. In our Soviet state today, the relics of the former forces of counter-revolution have almost disappeared; economic life is being restored, and behind the Party and the Third International stand millions of toilers of the most varied nationalities. The revolutionary movement was not confined to Soviet Russia; it passed to the oppressed nations of the East. The invincible revolution of the toilers of Soviet Russia has pointed out the path of self-determination to the nations of the whole world; the Soviet Union has been a living example to the peoples and nations as to how to live and how to build up the new life.

Lenin and the Communist Party always urged upon the workers the necessity of fighting to better the lot of the oppressed nationalities. When the Czarist government and the capitalist powers sowed enmity among the nations by means of religious and other forms of provocation, the Communist Party defended the interests and the rights of the oppressed, exposed the baneful activities of the enemies of the workers and instilled into the toilers a spirit of opposition to the capitalist world. It taught the small nationalities that their emancipation from imperialism depended directly upon their emancipation from the beys, Emirs, and the officials, and that for their own interest the small nationalities in their struggle against imperialism should make common cause with the toilers of the whole world in a united struggle against the bourgeois order. The Communist Party, as the vanguard of the working class, always occupied a unique position in regard to the national question, and always asserted that the small oppressed nations do not represent a uniform national class force; the backward nations were themselves divided into classes- the bourgeoisie and the poor.

Uzbek SSR. 1930s Reading a newspaper.

What Our Party Demands.

On the question of the emancipation of nationalities, our Party places no conditions: but in relation both to the small and large nationalities it regards it as its duty to accomplish:

  1. The separation of the toiling masses of the emancipated nations from their oppressors- the beys, and the transfer of power to the toilers themselves; and
  2. The education of the toilers in the spirit of internationalism.

And we, Uzbecs and Uzbec Communists, now emancipated from the yoke of the Emirs and the beys and from the violence of the Czars, must pay serious attention to these tasks and never forget our national and revolutionary obligations. We must energetically oppose all who dare to interfere with the rights of the nations; otherwise the national problem will not be solved as we want it to be solved, and as it should be solved; we shall not achieve our aim and shall fail because our approach to the problem was incorrect. We are now on the eve of the solution of questions which could not be solved for centuries, and which only now, under the experienced leadership of the Communist Party, can be solved painlessly. We must remember the past and reflect carefully on the present, and solve all problems which arise according to concrete conditions and concrete facts. In the solution of these problem’s we must study the future and find a path leading to a new, a cultured, a full, and free life.

What the October Revolution Gave Us.

Results of the Policy of Russian Imperialists.

The aggravation of relations between the Central Asiatic Khanates resulted in the impoverishment of the population on the one hand, and on the other facilitated the invasions by other races and the foreign imperialists.

The British capitalists, in conjunction with Czarist Russia, endeavoured to seize possession of our country and to transform her into a colony. The Russian imperialists feeling themselves impotent in face of the European states, turned their attention to the East. The result of the policy of Russian imperialists was the occupation of Bokhara by Russian troops 65 years ago. The government, and together with it the fate of the peoples of Bokhara was handed over to an Emir bought by Russian capitalism.

Tashkent. Delegates to the 2nd Congress of Soviets of the Turkestan Republic. 1918.

After the defeat of Transcaspia, Tashkent and Semerechia passed into the hands of Czarist Russia, and Bokhara became a semi-colony of Russia, although officially it was known as an independent khanate.

If we examine the history of our country we will find that during the Middle Ages she boasted of many learned men and writers. To her there flocked from all parts of the world people thirsting for knowledge and enlightenment; Bokhara was a centre of culture with thousands of students. Internal warfare reacted disastrously upon the development of the country and finally brought her into a position of subjection, with the result that the number of illiterates among the population at present has attained the appalling proportion of 99 per cent. All cultural and educational organisations disappeared; unilluminated darkness has descended upon the former centres of culture of Bokhara. It was impossible to end such a state of affairs during the period of Czarism, since according to the laws which then prevailed, the people were not only deprived of the right of deciding their own fate but even of interfering in affairs of state; they were slaves before their despotic government. Could a people which languished under the yoke of its enemies hope for a cultural revival?

The Excesses of the Emir and His Retainers.

Beyond the gates of the chief town ruled the governor of the Czar, who decided all affairs according to his arbitrary will. The government of the Emir possessed revenues amounting to several million roubles, and the whole of these colossal funds were dissipated in the orgies of the Emir and his retainers. Huge gifts were made to the Czar and his generals in the form of cash. Thanks to these gifts, the Emir enjoyed the support of the authority and power of Czarist Russia in enslaving the Turkomen, Tadjis and other nationalities inhabiting our country, whom he then exploited mercilessly. Not one of us, even to-day, has forgotten the shameful and degrading plight of our country. Turkestan and Khorezm suffered from a similar fate, and although between them and Bokhara differences existed, they did not refer to questions of law, but to the imperialist policy and the methods of oppressing the nation. After what has been said, it will be asked where were the strivings of our peoples towards Turkey and how were they expressed; or was Turkism itself one of the chief causes of our cultural backwardness?

Stages in our Victory.

Would it be unjust to consider the overthrow of the Emir in Bokhara and the transfer of the rule of Nicholas in Russia to the workers as the foundation of the edifice of our emancipation, and a landmark in our independence? This cannot be denied, and our peasants and proletariat know it. The delimitation of national boundaries is the second stage in the victory of the toilers and the strengthening of the Soviet power. Only the delimitation of national boundaries will secure a firm government of the workers and remove the causes of national and religious antagonism, the last weapon in the hands of the priesthood and the other survivals of the Emirate. Only the measures which are now being carried out under the leadership of our Party will help us successfully to complete the struggle against ignorance, inertia and prejudice.

Our Allies.

We are not alone in the fight. With the growth of imperialism and capitalism, the world proletariat is also growing and strengthening itself. The workers are rising up against oppression and injustice; in defending their own, conquered freedom they are overcoming national intolerance and national antagonisms, since until the existing religious and other differences are utterly destroyed it is impossible to imagine the peoples living together in peace. To this we Communist Uzbecs in the East must strive to attain.

Tashkent. 1924 Old Town. Mahalla “Degrez”. International Women’s Day on March 8.

In our country the world war ended in social revolution. The Russian workers, led by the Communist Party created separate national republics where formerly an open policy of Russification had been carried on, and thereby showed that they had undertaken a correct and revolutionary solution of the national question. These republics, led by the Communist Party, and constituting a single union of Soviet Socialist Republics, are stronger than ever before. The attempts of the European imperialists to destroy the workers’ and peasants’ government, and to enslave the workers anew, wreck themselves upon the formidable cliffs of the internal power of the Union of Soviet Republics and the will of the world proletariat. The world proletariat does not desire and, in its own interest, cannot permit our destruction; by their protests and by other more active measures they are compelling the imperialist bandits to desist from their policy of intervention. Thus, our unity with the proletariat of the world, based upon common interests, is the best token of the future unity of the nationalities of the world.

The Defeat of the Russian Colonisers.

We are fighting with the revolutionary proletariat of the world under one flag, and under this flag we shall defeat the colonisers. The October Revolution drove the colonisers out of Turkestan and gave power into the hands of the population. When the peoples of Fergana and Turkestan were fighting the Russian nationalists and colonisers, the Central Asiatic Communists assisted the native population, and even went further than the native population in attempting to free these districts from hostile elements. Towards the end of 1919, the population of Khiva rebelled and drove out their Khans and their retainers. The population of Khorezm emancipated itself and organised a revolutionary government which was recognised by the R.S.F.S.R. on Sept. 2nd, 1920.

The Communist Party and the revolutionary Young Bokhara Party overthrew the Emir. The workers and peasants of Bokhara wrenched the power from the hands of the oppressors and set up their own Soviet Republic. The work of emancipating the nations of Bokhara is now proceeding upon right lines. The policy is to destroy the artificially created superiority of one nation over another, and to create healthy inter-national relationships. This was the policy advocated by the Communist Party, and the policy which is being firmly and undeviatingly pursued by the Soviet Government. There can be no other path towards national emancipation. The peoples of Turkestan, Bokhara, and Khorezm have learned this from the October Revolution. Their national consciousness has become strengthened; the way has been cleared for the introduction of real national reforms in the place of miserable patchings and palliatives.

The Practical Solution of the National Question.

Re-fashioning the Map of Central Asia.

The complete solution of the national question in Central Asia is rather belated. After the October Revolution the question of the limitation of boundaries was not immediately decided upon, and conflicts over land and water and other national differences continued. There were certain collisions, during which blood was spilt, and as the result of which several tribes emigrated to Afghanistan. The Communist Parties of Bokhara, Khorezm and Turkestan decided to undertake a reconstruction of their national life and to remodel the map of Central Asia on the principle of real self-determination.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Semashko – First People’s Commissar of Health,, V.P. Lebedeva head Department of Maternity and Infancy, L.Ya. Brusilovsky organizational department and Berezin secretary of N. Semashko during the trip Bukhara, 1925

On this subject our Party and trade union organisations and the non-party masses express the opinion that the limitation of national boundaries in Central Asia should aim at creating autonomous regions of Uzbec and Turkoman Republics and Tadji and Kara-Kirghiz. Bokhara is populated by four chief nationalities: the Uzbecs, the Tadjis, the Turkomen and the Khara-Kirghiz. The other nationalities and tribes are insignificant in number. The question now facing us is not only one of creating national republics, but also of granting wide national rights and privileges to the smaller nationalities inhabiting these republics. The toiling masses of Bokhara have expressed their opinion on this question, and it may be regarded as being already settled.

National Enmity will Disappear.

By settling the question of national territorial division politically, we shall put an end to all conflicts over land and water in Bokhara, Samarkap.d, Tashkent and Horezim; and create the foundation for the economic revival of these countries. For many years the Uzbecs, the Turkomen and the other nationalities inhabiting regions which were not clearly defined- have been living in a state of constant hostility; they were confined to unnatural boundaries set up with the purpose of the oppression of one nation by another. The economic and social differences in the lives of the nations were ignored when the former boundaries were set up: the guiding principle was the satisfaction of the whims and caprices and the swelling of the revenues of the Emir and his retainers. In accordance with the principle of imperialists- “divide and conquer,” the Uzbecs and Tadjis were forced to live within the same boundaries ip enmity with semi-nomadic Turkomen and nomadic Kirghiz. These savage ambitions were known to all, but were concealed under a veil of fine words.

The Soviet Government is proceeding to define boundaries in accordance with the agreement and express desire of the peoples inhabiting Central Asia. As a result of the new territorial distribution carried out in accordance with economic, social and ethnographic conditions, every nation will now create its own state.

No Other Solution.

Fayzulla Xo’jayev, first head of the Bukharan People’s Soviet Republic.

In the first years of the revolution, all our energies were devoted towards the suppression of counter-revolution. In spite of tremendous obstacles we issued victorious from the internal strife. The time has now come to carry into effect the obligations assumed by the October Revolution. Our resources will not be devoted to satisfying the whims of Emirs and the depravities of courtesans, upon which millions were formerly dissipated, but will be employed in satisfying the cultural needs of the country, in assisting her development and strengthenh1g the power of the Red Army. The landowners with their petty ideology have been destroyed. Having settled other problems, we must now proceed to satisfy the current demands of life. A glance at the new map of Central Asia will convince us that there is no other way of improving our economic situation. On this map you will no longer find the Tadjis of Samarakad isolated from the Tadjis of Eastern Bokhara. Everybody knows that we drink the waters of the river Sarzeraphshana and use them for irrigating our fields, and only when the Uzbecs of Bokhara and Samarakand unite, will there be no cause for conflicts over the question of water. The question of water, the fundamental problem of Central Asia, will solve itself. What will happen if we destroy our former artificial boundaries? Will it be a bad thing for the two and a half million Uzbecs of Bokhara to unite with the Uzbecs of Turkestan and set up an Uzbec-Socialist Soviet Republic with a population of seven million? The result will be that the old errors and misdeeds will disappear and we shall become real masters in a clearly and correctly defined country, the national republics of which will be full members in the powerful union of Socialist Soviet Republics.

A New Era in the East.

This event will be of tremendous historic importance. A new era is beginning in the East. The new national republics, voluntarily supporting each other with forces united will carry the cause of the emancipation and the renaissance of the peoples of the East to a successful conclusion.

The creation of Soviet Republics on the basis of self-determination will like a magnet attract the other oppressed nations into the Soviet family.

The East is turning over the most important page in its history.

FEIZULLA KHODJAEV (Chairman of the Council of Nazir of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Bokhara.)

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