Reflection paper

Jadidism in Arabic Arabic, “jadid” – new, is the general name of a movement whose

supporters sought renewal, the creation of new, modern forms of education such as schools,

printing houses, printed publications, methods and ways to achieve national progress. Jadidism

arose among the emerging progressive national intelligentsia and bourgeoisie at the end of the

19th - first quarter of the 20th century, in Turkic-Muslim regions specifically Crimea, Caucasus,

Volga region, Central Asia. Jadidism being an extremely intellectually progressive and powerful

movement of its time attracted my attention.

The Jadidism movement became the topic of my interest. The reason for such interest is

that I am from Kazakhstan, and the Jadudism being a Turkic-Muslim movement is closely

related to my state’s history, nationality, and religion. Therefore, it is an intriguing and important

historical point. Another reason why I am attracted to Jadidism is the ideas that have been spread

by this movement, specifically the idea of the restoration of the former power of Muslim peoples

through the simplification of traditional rituals and liberation from everything superficial and

fanatical. They proposed to reconsider the traditional socio-philosophical system not only from

the standpoint of the development of culture, science, and education, but (and this is the main

thing) also in light of the tasks of the anti-colonial struggle. In such a way, it can be seen that

Jadidism is a historically important movement, which makes me believe that people who have

never heard about it would be interested in learning more about it.

There are a number of papers in the field of history dedicated to Jadidism, yet it is

important to note that most of the data and research papers are available in Russian. It can be

assumed that Jadidism is not the major topic of broad scientific discussions and research in the

West. The topic of Jadidism takes place in the studies of the post-Soviet period by R. G. Landa,
L. A. Yamaeva, R. M. Mukhametshin, A. N. Yuzeev, R. A. Nabiev, A. Yu. Khabutdinov and

others. Among modern studies, the work of V. Yu. Gankevich, who specializes in issues of

Crimean Tatar pedagogy, is of particular interest. The content of the work makes it possible to

trace how I. Gasprinsky’s Jadidist reforms were first implemented in practice, and what trends in

the compact settlement of Muslim peoples were common to other regions. Analyzing the articles

of “Terjiman”, the author comes to the conclusion that this newspaper publication played a big

role in the progressive changes in the social life of the Turkic peoples. The works of L. A.

Yamaeva, D. Usmanova specialize in studying the level of socio-cultural and economic

development of the Turkic peoples of the Ural-Volga region, the reaction of various social

groups to language and school reforms, the renewal of Islam, the functioning of the first all-

Muslim party “Union of Muslims”, a section of public figures in the work of the State Duma.

In summarising the historiographical spectrum pertaining to problem blocks, it becomes

evident that there exists a notable dearth of knowledge regarding the topic at hand, specifically

the absence of well-defined and comprehensive understanding of the underlying conditions of

the Jadidist movement. In relation to the subject matter, scholars have examined various

dimensions of Jadidism's establishment, including religious renewal, educational reforms, the

national press, the "women's issue," and the political engagement of its leaders. Researchers have

primarily concentrated on analysing the movement's activities or conducting comparative

historical studies to understand the evolution of the educational landscape.

Most of the research papers are focused on the emergence and spread of the Jadid

movement in Turkestan at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries and their

activities. One of these papers has been published by Andijan State University, Republic of

Uzbekistan, Andijan. The paper, in detail, discussed the historical background of the movement
as well as the main ideas and reforms of the movement. This paper gave me solid ground for

further research on the topic. Many papers also focus on the influence of Jadidist ideas on people

and their historical importance. The most interesting research paper for me was dedicated to

the influence of the ideas of Jadidism on the process of socio-cultural and political development

of the Kazakh steppe in the period of the second half of the 19th and beginning of the 20th

centuries. This research paper got me questioning what the other states are, regions that have

been influenced by Jadidism movement except Kazakhstan and to what extent.

Before narrowing down the topic I wanted to find out how was Jadidism perceived in

different regions of Asia, I specifically focused on Russia and Kazakhstan since I am closely

related to these states from perspective of my origin. In such a way, I found out that Jadidism

was a Muslim movement and Muslims of the Russian Empire, in the perception of the Russian

political elite, as a rule, were religious traditionalists. Therefore, Russian Empire did not foresee

the force and influence that this movement could bring into the state. The perceptive of Russian

Empire on Islam and muslims have dramatically changed after the first activities undertaken by

the Jadidists. It can stated that renovation processes in the Muslim community at the turn of the

19th-20th centuries were largely a surprise to the top of society and forced them to think

seriously about the possible prospects for the further movement of Islam towards renovationist.

Therefore, it became fascinating for me to know further about Jadid intellectuals’ influence.

After the research that I have made online and on the basis of information that I learned I

started listing the topics that are relevant to Jadidism and that can help me to narrow down the

my research question:

- Intellectual movements.
 - Influence and impact of intellectual movements.

- Muslim movements in XIX-XX century in Russian Empire.

- History of intellectual movements.

- Jadidism in Central Asia.

- Jadidism Origin and Development.

- Turkestan states in XIX-XX century.

- Influence of Jadidism in Turkestan States.

- The conquest of Turkestan states by Russia.

The list of topics helped me to understand the direction in which I would like to continue

my research. Professor Beben explained during the lectures the importance of making a list of

topics since it allows for the transition from a broad topic to a focused topic. On the basis of that,

I have phrased my focused topic as follows: Jadid intellectuals and the conquest of Turkestan

states by Russia Specifically, the main interest is what was the role of Jadidism in the conquest

of Turkestan states by Russia in the XIX-XX century. Russian foreign activities are an

interesting and historically important topic. Starting in the 18th century, the Russian Empire

began to approach Turkestan territory, which meant the region that is located beyond the Syr

Darya. If we look from the side of the Amu Darya, from the south, this is present-day Tashkent,

and this is the present-day Tashkent region and present-day Southern Kazakhstan.

And in many ethnographic sources, on many maps drawn by Europeans and Russian

scientists, this particular region was called Turkestan. And so, naturally, the term was familiar. In

the 1860s, the Russian Empire conquered precisely this part of Central Asia, that is, it conquered

Tashkent and the Tashkent region and conquered the territory of what is now Southern

Kazakhstan, that is, the city of Turkestan (by the way, Turkestan or Yasy), Shymkent-Chimkent,
and so on. That is, she conquered precisely this region, which in local historiography was called

Turkestan.

The fact of the conquest of that territory by the Russian Empire is well known, yet not

everybody is aware of the attitude of powerful Jadids movements towards the conquest of

Turkistan. The research online and in library that I have conducted made me understand the

attitude of Jadid movement towards the conquest. Therefore, I believe it would be fascinating to

do deeper research regarding this event.

In such a way, the reader of my research can be interested in:

- Historical background of the Jadid movement and its development on the territory

of the Russian Empire.

- The influence of the Jadid movement on the society of the Russian Empire as well

as how the movement changed the attitude of the Russian elite towards Muslims.

- The attitude of Jadid intellectuals on the conquest of Turkestan states by Russia.

I tried to categorise the topics that could be interesting for the reader in such a way that the

following had to be considered in the paper: (i) historical background of the intellectual

movement; (ii) influence of the Jadid movement; (iii) main ideas and reforms spread by Jadids;

(iv) situation in the Russian Empire and its relation to Jadid intellectuals; (v) conquest of

Turkistan by Russia; (vi) role and attitude of Jadids in the process of conquest of Turkistan by

the Russian Empire. In order to fully cover the topics, I asked myself the following questions:

- What if the Jadid movement interned to the conquest of Turkistan by the Russian

Empire?

- Why was the Jadid movement so powerful that it made people follow it?

- What was the attitude of Jadids towards the conquest of Turkistan by Russia?
 - What are other intellectual movements that existed during the same period of

time?

On the basis of the information that I have collected and the questions that I have listed, I

formulated the research question as follows: What was the attitude of Jadid intellectuals towards

the conquest of Turkestan states by Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries? In such a way, I

summed up my research as following:

I am studying the attitude of Jadid intellectuals towards the conquest of Turkestan states by

Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries  because I want to find out how the Jadid

movement reacted to the conquest of Turkistan by the Russian Empire and what its attitude was

towards the conquest  in order to help my reader understand the historical importance of the

Jadid movement and its attitude towards the conquest of Turkistan by the Russian Empire.