Alash Autonomy

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1917–1920 Kazakh state in Central Asia

title: "Alash Autonomy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1917-establishments-in-asia", "1920-disestablishments-in-asia", "post–russian-empire-states", "short-lived-countries", "former-countries-in-central-asia", "states-and-territories-established-in-1917", "states-and-territories-disestablished-in-1920", "kazakhstan-in-the-russian-civil-war", "alash-autonomy"] description: "1917–1920 Kazakh state in Central Asia" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alash_Autonomy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1917–1920 Kazakh state in Central Asia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox former country"]

Field	Value
conventional_long_name	Alash Autonomy
native_name	kk
status
p1	Governor-Generalship of the Steppes of the Steppes
flag_p1	Flag of Russia.svg
p2	Russian Republic
flag_p2	Flag of Russia.svg
s1	Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1920–25)Kirghiz ASSR
flag_s1	Flag of The Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1920-36).svg
s2	Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
flag_s2	Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1918–1937).svg
image_flag	Proposed Flag of the Alash Autonomy.svg
image_flag2	Flag of Alash Autonomy.svg
flag_caption	Proposed flag (top)
Flag mentioned in 1918 (bottom)
national_motto	Оян, Қазақ!
Oian, Qazaq!
Проснись, казах!
Wake up, Kazakh!
image_coat	Seal of the Alash Autonomy.svg
symbol_type	Seal
national_anthem	«Оян, Қазақ!»
"Oian, Qazaq!"
"Wake Up, Kazakh!"
image_map	Alash Autonomy in 1918.png
image_map_caption	Alash autonomy in the summer of 1918.
capital	Alash-Qala
common_languages	Kazakh
Russian
religion	Sunni Islam
government_type	Provisional government
title_leader	Prime Minister
leader1	Alikhan Bukeikhanov
year_leader1	1917–1920
era	Russian Civil War
date_start	13 December
year_start	1917
date_end	26 August
year_end	1920
today	Kazakhstan
Russia
life_span	1917–1920
::

The Alash Autonomy, also known as Alash Orda, was an unrecognized Kazakh proto-state located in Central Asia and was part of the Russian Republic, and then Soviet Russia. The Alash Autonomy was founded in 1917 by Kazakh elites, and disestablished after the Bolsheviks banned the ruling Alash party. The goal of the party was to obtain autonomy within Russia, and to form a national democratic state. The political entity bordered Russian territories to the north and west, the Turkestan Autonomy to the south, and China to the east.

Ethnonym

The use of the word Alash is widespread in Kazakh culture. Most commonly, Alash is the group of three jüzes, territorial and tribal divisions of Kazakhs. It means that the name of autonomy can be used as a synonym to Kazakh. The ruling party wanted autonomy to unite all Turkic people from Central Asia, however the idea failed, as after several negotiations, congresses became a scene to show the unity of the Turks rather than serious talks about pan-Turkism.

History

After almost a century of Russian colonialism and policies of Russification, many Kazakhs began to openly support measures against the Russian state. In the 1870s and 80s, access to education was increasingly assured with the opening of schools and other educational institutions. Many of the future higher-up members of the Alash party were pupils during this period of time. In 1916, after the conscription of Muslims into the military for service in the Eastern Front during World War I, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz people rose up against the Russian government, with uprisings lasting until February 1917.

The state was proclaimed during the Second All-Kazakh Congress, held at Orenburg from 5 to 13 December 1917 OS (18 to 26 December 1917 NS), with a provisional government being established under the oversight of Alikhan Bukeikhanov. However, the nation's purported territory was still under the de facto control of the region's Russian-appointed governor, Vasily Balabanov, until 1919. In 1920, he fled the Russian Red Army for self-imposed exile in China, where he was recognised by the Chinese as Kazakhstan's legitimate ruler.

Following its proclamation in December 1917, Alash leaders established the Alash Orda, a Kazakh government which was aligned with the White Army and fought against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. In 1919, when the White forces were losing, the Alash Autonomous government began negotiations with the Bolsheviks. By 1920, the Bolsheviks had defeated the White Russian forces in the region and occupied Kazakhstan. On 17 August 1920, the Soviet government established the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which in 1925 changed its name to Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, and finally to Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936.

Government

Alash Orda (, "Alash Horde") was the name of the provisional Kazakh government from 13 September 1917 to 1918. This provisional government consisted of twenty-five members: ten positions reserved for non-Kazakhs and fifteen for ethnic Kazakhs. During their rule, the Alash Orda formed a special educational commission and established militia regiments as their armed forces. They issued a number of legislative resolutions.

Alongside the authority of the Alash Orda, independent Bolshevik councils sprang up which opposed the body's rule and aligned themselves with Vladimir Lenin in the brewing Russian Civil War. By 1919, the legitimate government of the Alash Autonomy had been effectively dismantled by Soviet forces, its territory being integrated into the nascent Soviet Union. On 17 August 1920, the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed by Lenin and Mikhail Kalinin; this would eventually become the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic and would remain the functioning authority in the region until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late-1980s.

Films

1994 The Word About Alash («Алаш туралы сөз»), documentary by Kazakhtelefilm and film director Kalila Umarov.
2009 Alashorda («Алашорда»), documentary by Kazakhfilm and film director Kalila Umarov.
2018 Strait time («Тар заман»), series by the Qazaqstan TV channel.

Notes

References

Матай, Нұра. (30 March 2017). "1918 жылы шыққан «Абай» журналының №12 саны табылды".
(2019-06-13). "Каким был государственный флаг Автономии Алаш?".
(9 January 2022). "'Wake up, Kazakh!' - Kazakh Patriotic Song". Ingen.
Koigeldiev, Mambet. "The Alash Movement and the Soviet Government: A Difference of Positions".
Ubiria, Grigol. (16 September 2015). "Soviet Nation-Building in Central Asia:The Making of the Kazakh and Uzbek Nations". Routledge.
Peimani, Hooman. (2009). "Conflict and Security in Central Asia and the Caucasus". ABC-CLIO.
Adle, Chahryar. (2005). "History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Towards the contemporary period: from the mid-nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century". UNESCO.

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