Pretsarist And Tsarist Central Asia: Communal Commitment And Political Order In Change (central Asian Studies Series)

PRE-TSARIST AND TSARIST CENTRAL ASIA This study, written from the perspective of political sociology, represents the first comparative examination of Central Asian communal and political organisation before and after the tsarist conquest of the region. It covers Turkman, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and other tribal societies, analyses the patrimonial state structures of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanates of Khiva and Khokand, and discusses the impact of the established tsarist civil military administration on the communal and political orientations of the Muslim population. Changing concepts of collective identity are described in reference to acknowledged or refuted claims of political authority by various population groups. The study also provides some evidence which helps us to understand the region’s resistance to democratisation and the continuity of patrimonial politics in newly independent states. Paul Georg Geiss is a Research Fellow at the German Institute for Middle East Studies, Hamburg. He specialises in the social history and comparative politics of Central Asia. PRE-TSARIST AND TSARIST CENTRAL ASIA Communal commitment and political order in change Paul Georg Geiss LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2003 by RoutledgeCurzon 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeCurzon 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2003 Paul Georg Geiss All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-01072-8 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-31177-2 (Print Edition) FOR CHRISTINA Dynasties, kingdoms, and cities may at any time be dependent upon one man, and when that man is removed from his place, the dynasty crumbles, or the city is destroyed, or the country is thrown into confusion.1 And listen to me now and mark my words: a commander is not elected. He is appointed by a superior.2 For where there is nothing in common between ruler and ruled, there is no friendship either, just as there is no justice.3 CONTENTS List of illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgements 1 2 3 viii x xii Introduction 1 Previous research 3 Political community and normative order 6 Methodological problems 11 Sources used and contemporary literature 12 Structure of the book 15 Tribal communal commitment 28 The tribal unit 28 Tribe as a community of law 33 Tribal units and changing tribal confederacies 38 Patrilineage and descent groups 44 Residence groups 54 Relations between descent and residence units 60 Residential communal commitment 88 Neighbourhood community 89 The impact of Islamic law (sharia) 91 Kinship and residency 92 Tribal and residential communal commitment 93 Conclusion 94 Pre-tsarist tribal politic