The Kyrgyz Khanate, also the Kara-Kyrgyz Khanate or the Ormon Khanate, was a khanate of the Kyrgyz people established in the northern part of the territory of present-day Kyrgyzstan that existed from 1841 to 1867. The khanate was proclaimed as a result of the confederation of a number of northern Kyrgyz tribes at the initiative of Ormon Khan in 1841, who became the first ruler of the khanate. After the death of Ormon Khan, his son Umetaaly would succeed him and continue to govern the fragmented khanate, where he would later face Russian annexation in 1867, eventually ending the khanate rule.
History Names in Russian documents In various Russian documents from the 19th century, the settlement area of the Kyrgyz ethnic group was called Dikokamennaya Orda, or the Orda of the mountain warlords. The term Dikokamenny is a combination of two words дикий-dikiy (savage, uncivilized; warlord) and каменный-kamenny (the word kamen in the Russian language at that time can be translated as mountains), while the word Orda, according to Mahmud al-Kashgari’s 11th-century dictionary, "Orda" is defined as "the city where the khan resides". In the 20th-century dictionaries of ancient Turkic languages, it is translated as "the place where the khan resides" (in Russian, резиденция хана). The well-known orientalist Benjamin P. Yudin expanded this definition, stating that in Russian, hence the meaning of the word Orda is a steppe nomadic state or a nomadic union. Academician Vasily Radlov noted the following about this.
Meanwhile, the word Kara-Kyrgyz roughly means "the Black Kyrgyz", as it was known to the Russians prior to the revolution.
Pre-unification status
Starting from the mid-18th century, the Kyrgyz of Central Asia were divided into two main groups based on their regional and geographical locations: Arkalik (northeastern Kyrgyz) and Andijanik (southwestern Kyrgyz). By the 1830s and 1840s, this division became more defined. In the 19th century, the Kyrgyz were conquered by the Khanate of Kokand and was unified into one nation as their subject and was introduced with Islam. During the Kokand period, the Kyrgyz tribal leaders received the titles of datka and parvanachi, and some of them began to aspire to become a paramount chief leader. In the year 1841, Madaly Khan's power was relinquished by the Bukharan Emirate, and the Kokand people were transferred to Bukhara. Soon after in the same year, a popular movement occurred near Namangan led by a military leader named Nüzüp biy Esenbay, he led the Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Kypchak tribes to join this movement to take the advantage of Kokand political situation by having Sherali Khan installed as a puppet monarch in an effort to reform the khanate. As external threats and unstable political situation in Central Asia grew due to various conflicts including the encroaching Russian Empire, which had been establishing outposts nearby. Various tribes in Central Asia began to take actions as a response to the situation, the Sarybagysh chief Ormon Niyazbek began to unite the tribes of the northern Kyrgyzstan, and would soon become their unified Khan.
Prior to the foundation of the Khanate, a popular figure among Northern Kyrgyz tribes had emerged, Ormon Niyazbek uulu, he hailed from one of the most influential clans of the Sarybagysh tribe, he was the great-great-grandson of Mamatkul Biy, a biy of the unified Kyrgyz tribe who struggled against the Dzungar Khanate in the 18th century, thus making him able to rose to prominence and become a tribe chief at the age of 25 and was experienced in tribal management. Ormon also had a skillful military knowledge, he is trained to ride a horse, able to perform a sword and spear fighting, skilled at kurash wrestling, and had participated in a conflict at the age of 18, these knowledge made him able to gain control over other tribes.
Ormon Khan Period Foundation
As Central Asia undergoes significant political shifts in the 19th century, the Kyrgyz people found themselves aligned with this momentum, the Kyrgyz tribal elites held a kurultai in the summer of 1842 near Kochkor village, west of Issyk-Kul, discussing on how to deal with the internal and external issues, a decision was made to unite the northern Kyrgyz tribes, and at the suggestion of a Sarybagysh clan chief Jantay Batyr, it was decided to declare Ormon Niyazbek uulu as the Khan of the northern Kyrgyz people. According to Soviet historian Saul Abramzon, there were several participants who attended the kurultai ceremony, some of them were elite members of the Solto tribe, Sayak tribe, as well as elite members of the southern Kyrgyzstan as representatives of the Kokand Khanate.S. Abramzon. У истоков манапства: Экспедиционный очерк. Советская Киргизия, 1931, p. 2–3.
In accordance with ancient nomadic Kyrgyz traditions, Ormon was dressed in red shoes, seated on a white felt, and was crowned as Khan by having a tebetei placed on his head. Nine white horses were sacrificed to honor the participants of the kurultai. The chiefs and elites then took an oath of allegiance by cutting of a branch () as a symbolic gesture of making a binding commitment or promise, and by this coronation ceremony, the supreme authority of Ormon Khan over the northern Kyrgyz tribes was confirmed.
A new state The new khanate was still rudimentary, so Ormon Khan sought to strengthen it, he established a legal code whom he referred to as the Ormon ukuu, meaning Teachings or Edifications of Ormon that also includes a number of folk rites, edicts, and a decree that declared Ormon to be the sole khan of the Kyrgyz.
In the diplomatic relationship of the khanate, Ormon had several groups of envoys whom he sent to various neighboring countries and tribes such as the Uzbeks, the Russians, the Kokand Khanate, and the powerful Kyrgyz tribes in a special diplomatic mission. But the external affairs of the khanate was far from being honest, it was noted that the khanate would act against foreign envoys from Kokand, Tashkent, and Kazakh by acting "manipulative, arrogant, and deceitful", therefore the affairs were described to be Terror Ormonicus due to Ormon's fraudulent acts against envoys from his neighboring countries. An instituted restrictions were also applied for merchants from Uzbek controlled cities of Ferghana and Tashkent who wished to conduct business with the Kyrgyz tribes.
The khanate had a military force, which was adapted to be able to quickly defend against external attacks. The military also included Ormon's personal guard, which consisted of the 30 most accurate shooters in the khanate, armed with wick guns and was commanded by Chergyn, one of Ormon's sons. The khanate army also operated a military workshop, which would be set up near the yurts. During campaigns, the army was accompanied by a military band consisting of a kerney and two surnays player. Ormon established his khanate capital in the village of Baisoorun in the Semyonov Gorge. Around the 1840s, he had an adobe fortress (korgon) constructed at the San-Tash pass, designed to protect him against any internal threats, his fortress became also served as a summer capital.
Wars against Kokand and Kazakh
With the establishment of an independent Kyrgyz state, the Kokand khanate wanted to keep the Kyrgyz status as a subject and attempted to make Ormon Khan an ally by bestowing him the title of parvanchi, despite this gesture, Ormon refused to pay tribute to the Kokand, breaking its Vassal status. In 1842 and 1843, Ormon Khan's army began assaulting and destroying the Kokand fortresses in the Issyk-Kul and Naryn regions, driving out the Kokand cavalries, and around the same time, Ormon's army also attacked and sacked the Kokand khan palace in Balykchy. In 1844, the Kara-Kyrgyz Khanate forces occupied fortresses at Bishkek, a local stronghold of the Kokand. These actions carried by Ormon Khan has increased his authority over the Kyrgyz nobility, as well as demonstrating his capability of becoming a leader equal to that of the Kokand khans.
Around the year 1846, the Russian Empire was zealous at conquering Central Asia, in the territory of the Kazakh Khanate, a rebellion had occurred led by Kennesary Qasymov, the Kazakh khan. With Kennesary being driven out from his territory by Russian forces advancing from Orenburg, he and his army retreated to the Zhetysu region, on the border with the Kyrgyz tribes in the Chüy and Ili valleys. Seeking opportunity for making an alliance, Kennesary sent envoys to Ormon Khan, requesting to make an alliance hoping to fight against both the Russians and the Kokand. After receiving the message, Ormon consulted Kennesary's proposal with tribal elders, contrary to what was Kennesary had hoped for, Ormon rejected the proposal and instead turned against Kennesary by attacking subjects loyal to him. As a response to Ormon's hostile actions, in the spring 1846, Kennesary and his army invaded the Kara-Kyrgyz lands, raiding the Solto and Sarybagysh tribes. Kennesary began invading again in April 1847, he led the army of around 20,000 to the Chüy Valley, encamping at the village of Maitobe near the modern city of Tokmok, intending to conquer the Kyrgyz tribes and becoming their Sultan. Ormon Khan was seeking Russian assistance, but instead he failed to receive it, he then decided to lead the Kyrgyz to repel the invading army. In expelling Kazakh invaders from Ormon's territory, he used his military knowledge to build a strategy, he had successfully tricked Kennesary forces into thinking that Ormon had forces larger in size than Kennesary, this was achieved by splitting the forces into ten small groups, then Ormon led the army into a high place at the mountain passes in Shamshy and Onbir-Jylga. At the passes the Kyrgyz forces would chop down trees and shrubs, producing dust, and create multiple campfires, this gave the Kazakh a false impression that a large group of Kyrgyz reinforcements had marched through the mountain pass and that the Kyrgyz had the numerical advantage.
With a confused Kazakh forces, Ormon Khan encircled and attacked the Kazakh forces at Maitobe. Early in the battle, a large number of Kazakhs were dispersed by Ormon's trumpeters, and Jantay killed the Kazakh prince Seren with a lance. After this, two Kazakh sultans, Rustem Aspandiaruly and , betrayed Kenesary and deserted from the battlefield, taking a large portion of his army with them. The remaining Kazakh forces retreated to a quagmire near Mykan. The Kazakh army was completely defeated at Mykan, and Kenesary was captured. Around 32 Kazakh sultans were killed in the battle. The captured Kenesary was executed at the Chukar Sengir Hill near the Kara-Suu River, and his head was sent to the Russian commander at Omsk and later brought to Emperor Nicholas I. The Russians were happy with the death of Kennesary, and rewarded the Kyrgyz leaders, granting Ormon and Jantay with gold medals and gold-embroidered robes. Ormon was also personally given a golden saber and was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Russian Army. On 22 August 1847, the Kyrgyz and Kazakhs officially signed a peace treaty at the Kazakh city of Taldykorgan.
Expansion to Ili According to a recorded information from Belek Soltonoev's work "Red Kyrgyz History", during the winter of 1850–1851, Ormon Khan led around 600 retinues along with 80 unmounted horses across a snow-covered ridge pass on the north of Issyk-Kul, breaking through the snowdrifts to reach the Ili region. After reaching Ili, the Kazakhs in Ili received Ormon Khan with respect and pledged their allegiance to him. In this way, he managed to stop horse theft and fighting between the Kyrgyz and the Kazakhs.
On March 23, 1852, in a letter written by Ormon Khan to the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas I, he expressed his intent to define the land areas of his khanate and aimed to settle on the right bank of the Ili River, bordering with the Kazakhs, intending to move the khanate capital there.